Not the Delft

This reminds me of paintings in the Rockwell Kent book of famous paintings given to me by a long-forgotten aunt on the day I was born...yes, on the day I was born! There were paintings from all the famous "schools" and I liked the Dutch school with all the boats and harbors. There were often reflections like the ones in this photo that Bob took...plus I like the word "Delft". Of course, there weren't cranes, loaders and skyscrapers, but who's complaining. I still can't get over how lucky we are to have things like this to look at. It could be worse.

Yergggh!

The one sunny day was just a fluke. It’s just not right...we’re starting to wonder how we can adapt our lives to cope with a permanent gray, wet, moldy climate: • special sunlight bulbs in all our rooms   • fans simulating warm ocean breezes   • CDs of bird calls and children playing   • seasonal foods flown in from wherever they have seasons   • white noise to drown out the sound of dripping
It’s a start.

Strait of Georgia

"Nature is not a place to visit, it is home."  —Gary Snyder

Looking across the Strait of Georgia as the sun sets. It changes with every passing second. We talk about how lucky we are to live in the Pacific Northwest.

Finally, a sunny day with no wind...

A day to bask in the warmth, like a lizard on a hot rock. I helped Michelle rake and move pots around the garden, fed treats to the horse, took a turn pushing the kids in the tire swing, worked on a mosaic, drank lemonade...then discovered that I'd lost my car keys. By that I mean I lost a 5 pound set of keys with 1 remote control car opener and 1 remote garage opener, car key, truck key, elevator key, gate key, mailbox key and key to the kid's house with a large carabiner to hold them all together.

Before I go back today to retrace my steps through the house, barn and 3 acres looking for them, you can bet I'll use some mojo...perhaps an incantation to St. Anthony—



Tony, Tony,
look around.
Something's lost
and must be found!

and maybe a sacrifice. Oh, never mind with the sacrifice.

End of the month nonsense...

Tomorrow is the last day of April and an old verse from childhood has flashed through my mind:

Thirty days hath September,
April, June, and no wonder,
All the rest eat peanut butter,
Except grandmother,
and she drives a Buick.

I Googled it to see if I had it right and found about 20 other versions.
Learning the months of the year, how to tell time & fractions were the most stressful aspects of primary school. Except for the day Robert Zimmerman threw up in our classroom and the janitor came in and threw sawdust on it while the rest of us hung our heads out of the second story window. OMG, now I can't stop thinking of the trials of third grade. The days Miss Thompson wouldn't let us leave until we could tell the time on our pie-plate clocks, or see Jesus in a picture of vegetation, or standing in front of the class reciting some of the more hideous verses of Proverbs. And the terrible day they were asphalting the playground and the men with the dripping, black-smoke belching, asphalt melting barrels told us that if we inhaled it it would make us smart.That held as much appeal as the witch's oven in Hansel & Gretel, but we did it anyway and staggered back to our classes after recess.

West Seattle Farmer's Market

Bob brought home these dazzling flowers and a mixed dozen fresh-this-morning brown & blue eggs. They were delicious. I ran to my computer and looked up chicken raising. Maybe I could pay the children to feed & clean...but there are cats...and coyotes...but what if I build a sturdy chicken coop...

I took the flower pic with my cell phone.
egg photo source

Grandkids R 2G2BT...

When Shannon told Macie not to bake cookies while wearing her Easter dress, this was the result. Our Macie is amazing, though it looks like she didn't appreciate the paparazzi.

Tulips from the Metro...

I had to take a picture of these tulips before their petals drop. They're beautiful, even in the dark...

Grandkids R 2G2BT...

Nate's eagle has personality. It looks very stern...I wouldn't want it to catch me eating chocolate eclairs!

Spring migration in the lawn...

"I prefer to have some beliefs that don't make logical sense."
— Louise Erdrich

Grandkids R 2G2BT

 










Jack repairs the greenhouse. Ashley feeds the goats and horse.

Is awesomer a word? Well it should be. —unknown

Spring poem...

Spring is here
It brings good cheer
Robins chirp
Frogs burp

The flowering cherry & plum trees are blooming. You have to catch them fast, because it seems like the flowers disappear in a flash. I hope the sun is out tomorrow so I can get some shots before the blossoms drop & everything leafs out. I love the predictability of the seasons here. I hope it never changes. I hope the globe never warms.

Annual Paper Organization Project

Once a year I attempt to organize my paperwork. This year it's gotten away from me again. I threaten with colored file folders and fashion labels. I get special boxes for hanging files. This time I got a stick and hurled epithets, even some of those I learned at logging camp. Finally, I realized that I'm retired now. I don't have to give a rat's patootie anymore. I made tea & sat down...the papers lay down quietly with an occasional riffling sound. It works for me.

I'm thankful...

to be breathing, on this side of the grass. Whatever comes, comes.

Quote by Ron Perlman

Grandkids R 2G2BT...

top photo by Laura Davis
bottom photo by Ellie Thomson





Our Ellie & Jolie are so dang cute.
And it looks like somebody has a Hipstamatic app on her cell phone.

Emergencies

The older I get, the harder it is to keep calm through emergencies. I move like a robot through the days—leaving a trail of wrappers & receipts. I lose my cell phone & keys in the dark recesses of my purse. I stack bags of garbage in the laundry room & forget to take them out. I throw my clothes on the closet floor & when I need to dress, roll the pile over, like a dung beetle, until I find something to put on. But that will change this morning...Bob is better...still in the hospital with wires & tubes, but much better. I'm so grateful & can now take out the garbage & hang up my clothes.

Murphy's Law

items are from Cabela's website





When we moved to our condo, we gave away all of our camping gear. So, of course, last summer we decided we want to tent camp again. We went to Cabela's and now have a four man tent, Coleman stove, cookware, extra wide cots, air mattresses, sleeping bags good to 20*F (as if), many tiny plastic bottles, a cooler with wheels and a come-along handle, and a Dutch oven in cast iron. I should make a list of the rest of the things I will need: compass, bird diary, multipurpose tool (with knife, corkscrew and tweezers), kindling, eyelash curler, iPhone survival app...e Book Reader...Kit Kat bars...etc.

Wildlife

Nisqually opens with new boardwalk and estuary.




This guy (or gal) made such a perfect model—I thought maybe his (or her) feet were velcro'ed to the stream bottom. I love it when this happens because usually by the time I get my cell phone out of my purse, drop my keys and loose change, and clean my glasses, the subject has picked up in disgust and left. Although, in retrospect, Bob took this photo with his Nikon 5000. He's always ready, organized, silent and sneaky. The animals puff up and present their best profile. Most of the wonderful photos I post on this blog are his (the strangely misshapen and unnaturally colored ones are mine). We make a good pair.

Just call me grace...

We were in Vancouver, BC on Saturday morning, on the way to breakfast, when I tripped on a curb and fell onto my knees. Shit oh dear, as they say. The two Bobs helped me to my feet and I went on my way with my dignity battered—not to mention my knees. By Sunday morning they had all the colors of a Wurlitzer jukebox and I expect they'll get worse for a couple of days (the knees, not the Bobs). It sure is apparent that doing this at age 69 is a lot more problematic than age 16...

Profound sadness for Japan...

 Juan de Fuca Plate









Since I posted a story about Jack's school volcano, and pictures of Mt. Kilauea, there has been word of what happened in Japan. If only we could make disasters "unhappen". We're watching the news each day and are stunned all over again.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we live on the Cascadia subduction zone (also referred to as the Cascadia fault), a type of convergent plate boundary that stretches from northern Vancouver Island to northern California. This is a similar fault to that in Japan.