It snowed there. A lot. So perhaps I should not complain overly much about the drizzly gray skies here and the Lack of Spring when folks elsewhere are still using shovels to get to their cars, and when ball park groundskeepers can't find the green beneath all the white.
On the other hand, last week it was wet and gray and rainy and drizzly and cold here. Not snow cold, but definitely Not Spring. It started out in a promising manner--here is a pic from last Monday:
Blue sky!!! And it cracked 60 degrees for the first time in forever. Of course, the presence of Wintering Ducks such as the scaup below should have warned me that Spring had not truly Sprung.
When it is nice, I have to drop everything and rush out with the dogs to make sure they (and I) get exercised.
Truman even thought it was warm enough for wading.
This outing was to Log Boom Park in Kenmore, with a second stop at Lyons Creek park a mile down the trail.
On our walk back to the car, while we waited for a traffic light, Pippin expressed his feelings for Truman:
On Tuesday it rained. I told myself that it could have been snowing, so don't complain. I complained anyway.
On Wednesday it rained. But not until 10am! The key to happiness in a Seattle Spring is to leap at any chance of non-rain. The non-rain happened between 8am and 10am, so that's when we hopped in the car and rushed off.
Look at that sunshine! I rushed to the Fill to see birds, and then stopped at Magnuson Park to sketch at the community garden there.
Swallows are a good sign that Spring is nearing -- and there were Tree Swallows about.
As well as this very fine Downy Woodpecker, which is not a sign of Spring but a nicely photogenic bird anyway:
Ah, another Spring sign--tulips!
And dachshunds soaking up the sun!
Then we went home, and it rained. I complained.
On Thursday it rained, though before it started drizzling, I managed to snap a few photos of my garden to show that some flowers are managing to bloom, like this quince:
There are tiny blooms on the Bleeding Heart, though you probably can't see them well in this pic:
The Euphorbia blooms are green, so not all that thrilling:
The vinca, on the other hand, is a lovely purple:
The Forget-Me-Nots are bursting out all over:
And the native flowering currant, Ribes sanguineum, is always spectacular at this time of year, and the hummingbirds love it.
We hosted Winston and Chloe on Thursday for the whole day. They got wet.
At one point the Evil Neighbor Dog turned up on the other side of the fence -- they've never seen him, but they know he is Evil and always attack the fence to show him who is in charge:
Well, Winston leaps to the fray -- not Chloe. She is 14 and prefers to nap the day away. Pippin loves her, though it is unrequited. By late afternoon, however, she is resigned to putting up with a tiny amount of Pippin's attentions.
On Friday it rained. I don't want to talk about it.
On Saturday it rained. Tina and I went on a sketch outing but none of my drawings turned out well. I really don't want to talk about it.
Sunday was Truman's sixth birthday! It was NOT RAINING in the morning!! So I took him and Pip on the 3M Park Tour: Montlake Fill (more swallows!), Magnuson Park (we met another dappled dachshund named Mochi there), and Meadowbrook Pond (where all the wintering birds had departed! could this mean Spring is around the corner?). It was swell.
Then we came home, and the drizzle began.
The forecasters are promising us a "mostly sunny" day on April 19. I await it with bated breath, and my car key in hand.
In the meantime, I regularly repeat my new mantra: At least it's not snowing.
Cheers to all my friends in Minneapolis. Stay warm out there!
I think we're pretty darn lucky with weather most of the time. And we don't have to deal with tornados and/or hurricanes! Still, it's hard on someone like you who lies to get out and about.
ReplyDeleteYour photo of a swallow reminded me of something I've been meaning to mention to you for ages. A long while ago you gave me "Swallows and Amazons". I tried reading it, but couldn't really get into it and put it aside. About 2 months ago I saw a BBC movie of the same. It was quite good and not at all what I expected. As books are always better, I might just have to try reading it again. Have you seen the movie version? If so, what did you think of it?
I own the movie version and it's a very good depiction of the book, which of course is better! I like it because it shows youngsters being self-reliant and enjoying adventures on their own. Good, simple fun.
DeleteOkie dokie then. Guess I will give it another try. I have a couple library books to get through first.
DeleteLovely sketches and I'm very fond of that flowering currant. Whenever I see one I ask Scott if he thinks we should get one. Unfortunately, his standard response is "Where would it go?" and to that I have no good answer. What sort of root system do they have?
ReplyDeleteI also have heard that talk of a sunny Thursday. I think it's to convince the suicidal to hold on for a few days longer.
Scott makes a good point. Ribes get big. I think mine's at least 8 feet long and 4 feet wide and it's taller than I am. On the plus side, I've never had to water it. And there are the hummingbirds. On the minus side, I have to whack back a good 3 feet from the top every year to keep it from getting top-heavy, and I have to keep an eye out for runners. I didn't pay attention one year, and one day I suddenly found a Ribes offspring a few feet away...and it was already 3 feet tall. It blooms for a few weeks in Spring, quite lovely, but the rest of the year it's just a great big shrub with a determined ambition to take over the yard. Just say No!
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