St Patrick's Day

My Irish eyes are smiling. Well, at least the 15% of my DNA that is Celtic. The other 85% that is Scandinavian is smiling too. You know how much people from the Norse lands love sunshine. And daylight. And anything green is good.

We survived the time change with the customary sleep disorders and have been basking in sunshine and days that each get a bit warmer than the one before. That means we have been working in the garden as well as taking our walks. That makes us happy too. 

We attended the first high school track meet of the season on Thursday. It got cold sitting in the stands, but it was dry. 

 It's fun to be back there cheering on our grandson and his teammates. We can also reminisce on the days when Jill and Jake participated in track there too. 

Saturday morning the Sounders played an away match in Chicago. That gave us a good reason to sit in comfort from 10:00 to noon to watch our guys win, 4-2. Being at a match live is fun , but watching from home is much warmer.  :-)

Charlie the Borrowed Cat says "Hi". 

He is very happy to have us outside so much. He checks in frequently as he makes his rounds of the neighborhood.

We all wish you a Happy St Patrick's Day. May you have sunshine on your shoulders and a smile in your eyes. 

It's Beginning to Look More Like Spring

It's time to get that snowy scene off of my blog and replace it with something more spring like. We had sunshine and a high of 53 degrees today, with a promise of warmer days to come. 

There are a few things blooming now that everything is recovering from being smashed by snow. 

The first little Tete-a-tete daffodils are beginning to bloom. The primroses are recovering. 

 The hardy cyclamen are looking cute and perky.

 The snowdrops stood back up to finish their flowering. 

 Most of the helebores survived being bent.

 This large white one was flat most days after the snow cleared, but with the warmth is sort of standing up. 

There are a few crocus here and there.

My mother's camellia is starting to bloom.

This white one will be blooming soon.

Tom has been spending time in his greenhouse, where he is over-wintering tender plants, growing on his geranium cuttings, and starting his tomato seeds. 

But since it was mild and dry today, I decided to spend the late morning and all afternoon working in the yard. It was time to prune the roses. 

This bed is a bit of a mess, and is overrun with ranunculus. They are pretty when they bloom in spring, but spread like weeds. 

I got busy pruning the roses, and then cleaning out under the roses and eliminating some of the ranunculus, so we would be ready to put down rose food. Tom came and helped dig the Lambs Ear border, add compost, and reset the divisions. 

 Almost done.

 All done, cleaned up, and put away. The bed is now shaded by the huge house under construction next door, but we got to work in the sun.

Tomorrow we'll start on another bed. Spring is coming. 

Not More Snow!

Yes, more snow. This was the scene outside our bedroom window this morning.

It looks like we got about 1.5 inches. Fortunately I didn't have to put on my high top rubber boots to go out to get the paper this morning. My rubber clogs would do. 

 With the temperature just above freezing, it slushed up fast on the streets.

 Now it's melting fast. Good riddance. After our February Snowmageddon, we are not fond of snow here in Seattle. As it is, the kids are now going to school until June 25th. 

Sunday Birthday Celebration

Sunday we celebrated Jill's birthday with her kids, her brother Jake, her Aunt Jan, and us, her parents, also known as The Rents.

Jill requested MEAT and PIE, cherry pie to be precise. That has always been her favorite. Tom and I fulfilled the request, preparing pork ribs, corn bread, oven roasted potato wedges, fresh asparagus, and fruit salad. There was good eatin', but of course I have no photos of the food or the eating. I was busy. There is only the photo of the table, taken earlier in the day, before I got busy.

There were daffodils on the table, of course, my mother's dishes, my aunt's goblets, and my grandmother's embroidered table runner, which back in her day would have been a "dresser scarf". 

There were gifts: a "Gus the Bus" tee shirt for camping.

 A table topper and set of four place mats that I made, using scraps left over from making dresses for Irene in years past. 

Here's a close up:

 And there was birthday pie. 

Jill's real birthday was Monday, March 4th. As she does annually, she took the day off from work in order to go around and collect and eat all of the free food one can claim on your birthday.

A Grand slam from Denny's, and a pancake stack from IHOP.

 Coffee and a donut from Krispy Kreme

There was a burger and fries from Red Robin, which she ate before remembering to take a photo.

A fancy drink from Starbucks.

 A dessert from Panera.

A slurpee from 7-Eleven.

And her left over piece of pie from Mom. 

She assures her public that she does not eat that way usually, only once a year.

She's back to work today, hopefully without a stomach ache. We do know she's a year older, but not necessarily wiser. Wisdom is not yet her goal.