Backyard guests

For several years we have had a family of house sparrows nest in the barn bird house in the backyard. This year there are at least 2 babies. Mom and dad spend most of their day flying back and forth with food for the ever open mouths of the hungry young ones.

There's a lot of chirping going on while they wait for the next worm.

Mom

Dad

Bottle tree, the beginning.

Last year our evergreen tree in the back yard died. We cut most of it down, leaving about 15 feet of trunk and 2 main branches. It's kind of sculptural and I wanted to keep it. But it needed something. So it has become our version of a bottle tree. They were (are?) popular in the South and have been odd roadside attractions for years. Bede helped cutting dowels and drilling holes into the tree. He had a difficult time with the randomness of it all. He like things neat, orderly and symmetrical. I do not.He still thinks I am crazy and doesn't get it at all, but worked hard nevertheless. Now I need to beg, borrow and scrounge for colorful bottles. Unfortunately the wine I prefer comes in green or clear bottles. I have been saving bottles for a year now with this in mind. I will need to find some other colors. Some red, blue, yellow would be awesome. The plan is to plant some sort of climbing vine at the base of the tree to weave between the bottles, maybe even flower in the spring. This is just the beginning...

Oh, and the skull is from Bede Jr. from Texas. A gift for his mother one year. I love it! How many moms can say they got a skull as a present? It too has been in the yard in various locations waiting for the "right" spot. I think it has found a home.

Baby butterflies

Bede and I were sitting on the front porch enjoying the a well deserved break after a day of yard work. We noticed several butterflies landing on a shrub just in front of the porch. They seemed to be recently emancipated from their cocoons and were drying their new, wet, colorful wings in the late afternoon sun.

Magical.

Happy times...

Things are happening in the garden. Good things. Flowers are blooming, some are getting ready to bloom. The grass is lush and green. The willow tree is out of control. We have had to prune it twice already this year. it is all so lovely. This is just the beginning. I haven't begun to plant anything yet. Soon, very soon...perhaps today I will do a little plant shopping. I would so rather shop for plants and things for the garden than for clothes or anything else for that matter.
Spring makes me happy!

Cheers...

I recently purchased a tall glass container to hold all the wine corks I have been saving. The scary thing is...I am the only one at my house that drinks wine. When this gets close to the top it's time to send grams to rehab!

Old times, new times...

We visited one of our former homes from the Army days.

This is the house we lived in while we were stationed at Ft. Lewis, WA, now called Joint Base Lewis McChord, (JBLM).

One afternoon, while we lived here, I was upstairs and heard a voice outside saying, "Mom, look at me!" It sounded very close. I looked out the window you can see at the top right of the house. I saw Bede Jr. up in the evergreen tree at least even with me if not higher.He was about 6 yrs old. He was very pleased with himself. I was a little freaked to see him so high up in the tree. He loved to climb that tree. We came to an agreement that he could climb, but not so high.

This was the home that Andrew came home to the first time. He was born here at Madigan Army Hospital. It's quite a coincidence that I was a 30 year old with a newborn very near Tacoma, and now Joanna is a 30 year old with a newborn in Tacoma. 25 years later, how things come around.

Point Defiance Park

We took an afternoon to walk through Point Defiance Park. The weather was not as sunny and clear, but if it's not raining...it's a good day. So they say in the Puget Sound area.

Don't step back any closer to the edge....

That's Mt.Rainier in the background. It's not often that the great mount makes an appearance. We were lucky this day!

Key Peninsula, Herron Bay

One afternoon while we were visiting in Washington State, Bede and I took a drive across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge to Key Peninsula. We drove some back roads and went through a tall stand of evergreen trees, like driving through a tunnel and suddenly came upon Herron Bay. At the end of the road was a ferry dock. The ferry was just coming in from Herron Island. Across the bay were the Olympic mountains. It was absolutely breathtaking.

We watched the ferry unload as the ferry pilot chatted with everyone. It was obvious that most if not all the passengers were regulars, well known to the pilot.

Pike Street Market, Seattle

We spent a few days in Tacoma for Sweet baby Margot's baptism. While we were there we visited Seattle with Bede Jr. and his lovely fiance, Brittany. Enjoyed a rare sunny warm day at the Public market. So many colors, flowers, fruits and veggies, fish, and thousands of other people enjoying the sunny Saturday.