Sunday Mish-Mash

Last night was the "super moon" and while I didn't get to see it just as it rose, I did manage to get a couple of shots of it once it had cleared the hills to the south of the cabin.  It was spectacular!

I spent the weekend at the cabin and it was so nice to be up there, in the quiet, where things are blooming and the phone doesn't ring.  I read a lot of magazines, worked in my journal and read.  It was heaven.  A nice break from the Festival craziness that May always brings.  My lilacs are just beginning to be in bloom.  Next weekend they should be in their full glory, but alas, I won't see it.  I will be in California celebrating my son-in-law's graduation from law school (a truly good reason to miss the lilacs).

The rhododendrons at the cabin are in full bloom now (and I, of course, forgot to take photos).  I have all pink up there.  In town, at the house, my red rhoddies are blooming like mad and the yellow azaleas are a lovely counterpoint to all the red.

The fiddleheads of emerging ferns are everywhere....

....and the hydrangeas are putting out leaves of the most lovely green.  Some of them are showing little bits of the blossoms to come.

I have done a fair amount of work in my journal lately, more than I consistently do when I'm not traveling.  For some reason, I am compelled to journal when traveling, but at home journaling often gets put on the back burner as mundane everyday life takes over.  That's sad.  Journaling about everyday things makes for some really interesting reading years later.  I am trying to do more, and at least for the last couple of months, I have been fairly consistent in sticking to the plan.

The little canvas (below) is one I have just completed for a self-portrait project through the Art House

Co-op.  (By the way, the Art House Co-op has a series of ongoing art projects, many of which are free, to take part in, if you are interested.  Check them out!)

I carved a stamp using a self-portrait photo I took a while ago.  It was fun and I was happy with the results.  

The best part?  I'll be able to mail in my little canvas tomorrow, nine days before the deadline.  If you know me at all, being nine days early for any deadline is just plain amazing.

Easter Flowers

I woke up to the most spectacular spring morning.  The sunrise was gorgeous.  The daffodils were back lit and breathtaking.  Birds were singing.  The sky was blue.  A gentle breeze blew just strong enough to make the wind chime sing a little song.  In other words, a perfect morning.

I had some lovely quiet time to work on my journal while I  sipped iced tea and enjoyed the view from the windows at the cabin.  I love Sunday mornings like this!

Happy spring!

Independence Day Parade

I attended the Independence Day Parade in Arlington, Washington. Arlington is a small town located in Snohomish County, north of Everett. I feel right at home in Arlington as it reminds me of the small town where I grew up (Sumner, Washington). I haven't been to an Independence Day parade for several years and I really enjoyed this one. It started on the stroke of five and ended just at six o'clock, and within that hour were some wonderful moments of small town American life that, I am sure, were played out all over the US on this July 4th. I'm going to share a few of mine with you.

Arlington boasts of a really good hardware store and one of my favorite outings on a Saturday at the cabin is to go into town and check out the aisles at the store, which seem to have everything you can think of and some you would never would. As evidenced by the following photo, they even have a great old truck! And then there was the OxyClean Man! I've seen him before, in local parades, and he's very funny. His favorite line is, "Oh! A camera! I liiiiiike that!"
And then there is the The Great Stilly Duck Dash. Every year the Rotary Club of Arlington sells tickets and the proceeds support a number of worthy causes....scholarships and youth projects. There are a number of rubber ducks, all with a number, and they are launched into the Stillaguamish River near Lincoln Park and then cross the finish line at Haller Park downstream. There are some serious money prizes, but mostly it's just fun to be a part of the Duck Dash. Good cause and good fun!
And the rainbow caterpillar went by, with many striped legs....
I love farm machinery! Tractors are about the best part of the Arlington parade. Lots and lots and lots of tractors....John Deere tractors and International Harvester tractors and others whose names I've already forgotten. Beautiful tractors that make grinding noises when the gears are changed and rumble with diesel engines revving....The lady on the tractor below looks very noble and "Rosie the Riveter" to me. I love her flag bedecked tractor and her attitude.
John Deere green.....

Early Summer at Grant Creek

Lilac Time

This is a giant Tiger Swallowtail and they are huge--maybe 2 inches across.

I spent last weekend at Grant Creek, enjoying the late spring flowers, if not the weather. One day was stunningly beautiful, the rest of the time? Gray, rainy, icky. It's been an awful spring here. We've had mostly gray days, way too much rain, chilly temperatures and if it weren't for the flowers, it would seen there was no spring. The older I get the more I crave the sun. I guess I must list this paragraph under "feckless whining" and just move on. So, without further sniveling on my part, enjoy some of the beauty my camera caught last weekend!

My wisteria has taken off. It has climbed to the top of a thirty foot cedar and is blooming away like mad from the very top of the tree. My jaw about hit the ground when I looked out the kitchen window and saw this mass of wisteria floating way overhead!

I discovered this past weekend just how many lilacs I have planted at Grant Creek over the years that I had forgotten all about. For some reason, this is the year they all decided to bloom and I was amazed at the different colors of lilacs that greeted me. In front and in back, many different shrubs. Both of the miniature form "Miss Kim" were in full bloom, too, and the delicious scent of those lilacs wafted into my open bedroom window all night. Now, if only the one and only yellow lilac I have would bloom! I guess I have something to look forward to next year.

Besides all the lilacs and the wisteria, there are many other beautiful plants blooming....rhoddys, lupine, bachelor's buttons, chives and even the lowly weed buttercup is making a spectacular show of its sunny yellow flowers. It is beautiful there.