Morning In The Garden

Daylight Saving Time couldn't have begun any more beautifully than it did for us here in Seattle this morning. I was up at 7:30 PDT, while Tom indulged his biological clock and slept in until 7:30 Standard Time. I went on line to read blogs, and it wasn't until about 9:00 that I made the trek down the driveway and out to the street to get the newspaper. The sun was shining, and birds were singing, and otherwise it was about as quiet as it can be in a large metropolitan area. I decided to grab my camera and stay out for a while. The sun rays were slanting in through the trees from the eastern sky.

Mush of spring beauty must be appreciated at ground level, as with these violets. They are coming into bloom and they remind me of my mother, who's name is Violet. Western Red Currant is one of the natives we encourage in the garden.

I love the bright chartreuse of euphorbia. Tom worked on cutting back the sword ferns yesterday and is almost finished. We have lots of them and it's a big job, but it really makes a difference later on, as the old fronds go brown. In the wild you will see them with their brown skirts. They must be cut back before the new fronds start to unfurl, which will be early this year.

Pulmonarias come in many colors, and are one of the first plants to bloom in spring.

There are many wonderful new hybridized hellebores, but this old one is still one of my favorites. Known as Lenten Rose, they are an old garden flower. The start for this one came from Tom's boyhood home in Puyallup.

Moss covers the brick path to the secret garden.

The mouse plant is blooming! You have to get way down and dig into the foliage to find the blooms with their brownish bodies and long tails.

The camellias took a beating in last week's rain, but a few persist.

This old rhodie blooms right by the front door. It's a scraggly old thing and each year we say we should take it out, except when it once again blooms.

The Daphne Odora was hit hard in the December freeze, but it is blooming heavily along the front walk, and the fragrance is heavenly. The leaves will regrow. It's a survivor.

The buds on the full moon maple are swelling against the blue sky.

Tulip buds are emerging.

The Camellia came from a cutting from a bush that grew on the little Oregon farm where I grew up.

I love the blue of grape hyacinths, which are just beginning to open.

So is the bleeding heart.

And this clump of trilliums is going strong, while others aren't even up yet.

This Camilla was from a cutting from our next door neighbors plant.

The hosta are emerging.

And back in the house, that funky little silverware vase is perfect for a little mouse flower.

Happy Springing Ahead, everyone!

Oh, except Arizona and Hawaii, that is. And Good Day to you too.

Ups And Downs

My mother called me yesterday, about 5:30 in the evening, to see if I was all right. I immediately thought, "Oh no", because I realized it was Thursday and I hadn't called her on Wednesday. A while back Mom had an infection in her foot, due to her inability to see very well or feel very much. My sister the nurse got her fixed up and we all agreed to check in on her more often. None of us live close by, so we each picked a day to call. I chose Wednesday, and faithfully every Wednesday I have been calling about 4:30. That is until this week. I forgot. That's the problem with having an assigned time, of course, and I had been writing it on my weekly planning calender, but I didn't do that this week. I made my mother worry about me. That's not good. But as I told her when she called, "I don't even know what day it is," which is sort of how it's been. I have been completely absorbed in my projects here at home, being so busy, busy, busy that I hardly knew up from down. And just to prove it, I have to show you my last project. It has been a while since I did any machine embroidery, so each time is a relearning process. There is so much to remember, getting the machine set up, selecting the colored threads and racking them, putting the proper stabilizer on the garment to be embroidered, and then getting the sweatshirt, in this case, hooped with the design area centered and straight, and finally on to the machine. I got through all of that and began the embroidery. As the first color was finishing, I wave of dread spread over me. I had forgotten to check the orientation of the design, to check up and down direction. Sure enough, it was upside down! Well, too late now. This stuff can't be ripped out without chewing up the fabric. So I just proceeded, knowing the project was ruined. When it was done, I took a photo of it and emailed it to Isaac, who was the intended recipient, showing him what his silly grandmother had done, telling him I would do it over on another shirt, but I was sending this one anyway. He could use it as a play shirt. But if he did wear it to school, he could explain that it was Boeing's new plane and they were testing it by doing a roll over. Well, then Jill emailed me back with her bright idea. I should just add a second plane right side up and we would call it "Air Show Stunt: Boeing Showing Off". And so I did. We are finally experiencing some winter weather here in the Pacific Northwest, which means temps in the 40's, blustery, and wet. It can be bone chilling because of the high humidity. We've all been spoiled by the balmy weather we had in January and February. Yesterday, after I finished the first stage of my up-side-down embroidery and was disgruntled, and Tom was thwarted in his desire to be outside gardening, we decided to go see Avatar at the afternoon showing. SouthCenter Mall is just down the hill from us, where the movie is still showing in 3D. We did a little shopping, had lunch and then watched the show. And what a show it was! It was amazing in it's technology and imagination. There was great beauty. But there was also tremendous violence, and crashing and bashing and gnashing of teeth. Between the monsters and the monstrous humans, there was always something or someone in danger. By the end of two hours I was checking my watch to see how much longer I had to endure. I was ready for it to be over. Finally after two and a half hours preceded by a half hour of previews of equally violent shows, we staggered out of the theater, just wanting to move about freely, safely, and quietly. And then I had just settled in back home when my mother called.

Accessorizing

It has been a while since I finished the rainbow dress, but as well as everything else that has come along to keep us busy, I have been working on the accessories. With no pattern to follow for this stuff, I've been making it up as I go along, and learning to do new things with my serger too. I purchased a hat and a sweater and then decorated them to match the dress.

Irene will be well dressed for Easter Sunday, and then for going to tea at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver for her birthday.

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Son Jake is not interested in Sunday dress up or going to tea, but he does love the accessories that go with being a Seattle Sounders soccer fan. Yesterday we spent much of the day creating more tifo. With the season opener just two weeks away we have to be ready. We finished two flags yesterday and I have four more to do the finishing on. These will be going to other members of the supporter group.

And now I think I need to get outside for a walk and some fresh air.

I'm closing up shop for today.

Fancy Nancy

Yesterday was International Women's Day.

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Irene probably didn't know this, but she must have felt the vibe of powerful women world wide celebrating, because she asked her mother if she could dress up.

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As Jill said, she didn't need to ask, and the answer was "Of course!". Here she is, in her finery, with her art work displayed on the refrigerator behind her.

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I have no doubt that she will take her place in the world of powerful women. She already has the power.

Academy Awards

Last year, with five nominated movies, we made a special effort to see all of them before the awards. It was fun to find places where they were still showing and then do our own critique. But this year, with ten movies nominated, we just didn't even try. We haven't watched very many movies this year, and while there are a few we would eventually like to see, most don't really appeal. We did watch The Hurt Locker last night, because it was available on Comcast On Demand. It was good, but war is hell, and it was hard to watch. We saw Up In The Air at Christmas time, and enjoyed it, but it's hardly a Best Picture. We haven't seen Avitar, and aren't ready to run right out and see it. I would like to see The Blind Side and Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart. But yes, I will be watching this evening. In fact, as I post this, the Red Carpet pre-show is already on. Gotta' check out those gowns and hairdos. It'll be fun, low key entertainment, and hardly something I have to be glued to the TV set for. Are you watching? Do you have favorites? Which nominated movies or actor roles have you seen?

A Day For Gardening

Last week we planned out our raised bed vegetable and cut flowers boxes and made a list of seeds. This morning at 10:00, which is our typical hour in the morning to actually get going, list in hand, we headed to a local nursery to shop for seeds. I was also looking for a new pot to go with plants we bought last weekend when we went to a container gardening class. We're breaking the rules by having mixed rather than matched pots, but we prefer variety. Back home we planted up new pots and reworked old ones, leaving space for items to be added later when it gets warmer. Not that it wasn't warm today! Up to 59 degrees,with the sun on the patio, I was working in short sleeves and getting hot. To clean up, first you have to make a mess, and then you finish by cleaning everything up again. Tom got the lawn mowed while I was finishing up on the patio. Then I cleaned off all of the pollen scuzz on the patio furniture, and we still had time to sit and enjoy some wine and cheese before the sun's rays got too low to warm us. I have been concentrating on indoor projects mostly, although I did get the roses pruned Thursday afternoon, so I hadn't really been in the yard much. Before coming in I took a look around to see what I could see. I found a clump of Trillium coming into bloom! Known as Wake Robins in the old days, they surely mean the robins will soon be appearing on the lawn to catch the worms. With daylight saving time starting next weekend, maybe I'll be up early enough to see the early birds catching those worms.

The native shrub Red Currant is also coming into bloom,

And the magnolia stellata is in full bloom.

Last weekend I cleaned up the pots on the front porch and stuffed them with primroses and pansies.

Tomorrow morning we'll be out bright and early to help set up a plant sale for the Northwest Perennial Alliance. We may come home with a few more plants. It sounds like we have tomorrow afternoon yet before winter returns to the northwest. Rain and temps in the 40's with mountain snow are in the forecast. You can bet there will be some grumbling, because we are all spoiled.

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What a glorious early spring-before-it's-officially-spring we've had.

Happy Birthday, Jill!

Today is our daughter Jill's 37th birthday!

Now that just sounds far too old. But then when I think about it, she has accomplished a lot in her 37 years. She graduated with academic honors and athletic letters and as an accomplished flute player from high school. She earned her BA from Central Washington University in three years, and had her Masters Degree a few years later.

Then she uprooted herself and moved to Colorado, taking her chances in finding a new life. She did. She became a first grade teacher in Fort Morgan, and met her future husband, Corey, an officer in the Morgan County Sheriff's Department. They got married here in Washington State, on the flanks of Mt Rainier, and then returned to Colorado where they bought a house and started a family.

Jill is a master teacher, now working as a reading specialist, a wife and homemaker, and mother to our two beautiful grandchildren, Isaac and Irene.

When her Grandmother Reeder was still alive, she and Jill always shared birthdays. Bernice Reeder was born on March 3, 1910. Yesterday she would have been 100 years old. I would make a cake for the two of them, and it often worked out that the candles would work for both of them. For example, when Jill was 9, Bernice was 72, 7+2=9, when Jill was 12 Grandma was 75, 7+5=12. Yesterday Jill figured out that now she would be 37, and 3+7=10, on her grandmother's 100th birthday, so, she said, it sort of still works!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JILL!

Oh, and you might like to know that I got Isaac's vest done finally, and made a matching tie, too!

I'm just a person who sews, not a seamstress or a tailor, so this is not an easy kind of thing for me to do. But Isaac asked me for it, so it is a labor of love for him and his mother.

Amazing!

We now know that the Chilean quake shifted the Earth's axis by three inches. What's more amazing, that the quake had this affect, or that we can measure it!

Running Away For The Day

We needed to get back to Whidbey Island on a sunny dry day, first to finish up some gardening chores, and then to just enjoy a warm day at the beach. With a forecast for 60 degrees we knew that this was the day. We stopped first at Jake's house in Seattle to deliver a pot full of primroses for his front porch. We do try to beautify his life now and then. Heading north, we had only a short wait for the next ferry at the Mukilteo crossing. The clouds were thin and high, so the mountains were out. At the beach garden the daffodils we planted last fall had burst into bloom. We had some competition from the action across the road, where the new cabins were getting their septic systems installed. They did stop during our lunch break on the deck. It was so quiet and peaceful.

With the work done, we walked over to the beach. We checked out the driftwood

and the shells,

and the wild life. This immature eagle was also enjoying the beach.

Gulls, terns, and crows added their "music" to the scene. The tide was partially out, and with no wind, the water was still.

Across the channel I saw this heron acting strangely, in a pose I'd never seen before.

Then I noticed there were two herons, who were apparently having a face off. It is that time of the year. Slowly the second heron turned and sauntered away, until, after a safe distance, it took flight.

(Click in photo to see these guys all puffed up.)

It is hard to capture in words or photos the scene, the quiet, the serenity, with only the crunch of the sand under foot, an occasional far off plane engine, the fluttery song of the rafts of birds on the bay, occasionally interrupted by the thrashing of wings and water, as a group of surf scoters took flight and then landed again.

Back at the cabin we sat in the sun and talked a bit, and then went for a walk on the dike, along the lagoon.

Again the quiet was punctuated only by the occasional bird song or duck quack. The wild cherry tree was in glorious bloom.

We returned home in the late afternoon, beating the traffic. I'm feeling very lazy. Tomorrow we'll get back to our to-do lists, but for today, it was great to have a day off. That includes not cooking. We're off for a burger.

Sunday Morning

Soon I'll go out and collect the newspaper and have breakfast while I scan most of it. It's dry, 45 degrees, with clearing skies forecast for later in the day.

I want to put in a little time on my sewing projects, go for a walk, and watch the USA/Canada Gold Medal Hockey match, on here at noon. We went to a container gardening class yesterday at a nursery, and we bought plants. It's time to rework my patio pots. We also need to get back up to Whidbey to work on weed control when we have a dry day, which looks like tomorrow. The prediction is for sunny and 60.

We can't do it all. I'll have to pace myself.

It's the last day of the Olympics! Hurray! I've enjoyed watching much of the competition, but I"m ready to take my life back. And I have a bunch of shows that I recorded during the games that I need to catch up on.

Tomorrow we welcome another new month, the month when Spring officially begins. For those of you still buried under ice and snow, hang on, it's coming.

The Rainbow Dress

The Rainbow/Easter/Birthday dress for Irene is finally finished! I'm happy with how it turned out, and I think Irene will love it. I just hope it fits! It's hard to do these things long distance. As you can probably tell, I don't spend hours a day on a project until it's done. There are so many other things to do. Now I'll get started on Isaac's vest, and a few other little surprise projects that involve learning new tricks on my serger and maybe doing some more embroidery. This morning, after Friday morning breakfast with our teacher friends, I drove downtown to see a cardiologist. This was on a referral to discuss the results of the earlier echocardiogram. The confirmed news is that I do have moderate stenosis (narrowing) of the aortic valve. The good news is that there are no other issues. My heart is in good shape. The uncertain news is that it isn't known if the condition is progressive, and if so, how fast. In fact, my after-visit summary says, "At this point there are no indications this is causing any problems and is not likely to for some years. You have no restrictions or need to do anything differently." So the result is that I just go on about my life, trying to live healthfully, and have a repeat test in two years. While the doctor did say that at a normal rate of progression, we could be looking at a valve replacement in eight to ten years, I told him that I didn't intend to even think about it until the next test in two years. Then we'll know if it's progressive. Until then I plan to continue to be my usual abnormal self. And one again, I'm thankful for good insurance and the care I'm getting through Group Health Cooperative. No bills, no paperwork, not even a copay!

Projects

I've got to get back to finishing Irene's dress. I just have handwork to do, so I'll work on it while I'm watching Olympic hockey this afternoon. And yes, there will be pictures. Isaac decided he wanted me to make something for him, too, and suggested "a vest for dress up occasions" as he put it in an email. But he made it clear he doesn't want a dress. When Irene had her measurements taken, he had his done, too. So this morning Tom and I went shopping. I was surprised Tom wanted to come along, but I guess, like Isaac, he doesn't want to be left out. We bought a pattern, and fabric for the vest, plus a hat and sweater that I plan to embellish for Irene's outfit. Besides Easter, we will be going to high tea at the Brown Palace Hotel in Denver for Irene's birthday in April. So we'll all be having a "dressy occasion". I should make something for myself, but that just doesn't sound like much fun.