Before and After

I know they are weeds, but (when they aren't in your lawn) they are the sunniest, cheeriest little blooms.  Close up they look like chrysanthemums...

 The bloom stage is pretty, but I much prefer the after---all that glorious cloud-like structure, soft and layered.

 There are always a few tenacious seedlets that cling despite the breeze...

 ...and then, you are occasionally lucky enough to find the lone ballerina, on point.

Sunny Day

Well, sunny afternoon to be precise, but sun!!!!  D came up for dinner, and we took the amazing Roma out to Rattlesnake Lake for a pre-dinner walk.  Good thing she was on her leash, or she would've chased every bird, squirrel, rabbit and duck in sight or scent.  She was beside herself with sensory overload.

The lake was gorgeous--that deep lovely jade green color that just seems so quintessentially NorthWest.

 Plus, the sun reflecting on the water made for the most wonderful abstract shots, and really showed the color of the water.

 Most of the stumps are still submerged because the lake is so high.  Just a few lucky ones show above the water.  In the summer, this one is mid-way up the shore, and you can get inside it.

                     
 We weren't the only ones who were taking advantage of a sunny afternoon.  This fisherman even brought his best fishing buddy along!

Curls and Spirals

I love this time of year when the ferns are uncurling.  They come up in their perfect little fiddleheads and spiral in on themselves, and gradually unwind and open up.  The fiddleheads are so intriguing, though, that everything is tucked in, in miniature.

 Had to play with some texture with this one....

 And not everything that spirals is a fern.  Yes, the "slugs in drag" are back--I fling 'em as soon as I find them.  This dude has been around (hiding) for several seasons to be this big.  No longer....it was a good run (or ooze--snails oooooze their way through the garden) while it lasted.

Sunbreaks

We are having some sunbreaks.  For those of you who don't live in SoggyLand, that means that the sun occasionally breaks through the clouds and/or rain, giving us just a little taste of what's on the other side of all that grey stuff over our heads.  Some of the breaks have been big enough to even spot BLUE sky!!  It's not a myth!

                                With all our rain, the rivers are full and the falls are roaring....

 A couple of nights ago, on a wet gloomy evening, the sun was low enough in the sky to peek under the clouds before going behind the mountains that rim our valley.  The cherry tree across the street was highlighted as if in a stage spotlight.  Unfortunately, my piggy-dirty windows didn't help the clarity of the shot.

 And the new leaves on the aspen tree caught the light and glowed like they were lit from within.  After seeing these, I really need to get those windows washed. 



Flip Flop

Spring?  What spring?  Several mornings a week I awake to this--FROST!  Mt. Si usually has a fresh covering of snow; today is no exception.  Of course, the rain rolls in and washes all of it away (except for the snow at the top of Mt. Si), but we are having a looooong wait for spring to arrive.

In fact, the snow level was so low this morning that Rattlesnake Ledge even had snow on it.  And May starts in just a few days....

 But---I did get a few hours of sun last Saturday, and made the most of it, mowing the yard, edging, doing some weeding and garden clean-up (de-mossing, for those who don't live in the Pacific NW.  Every winter a lovely carpet of moss grows over the gardens, and you need to peel it off every spring).  While I was cleaning, this little guy popped out from the middle of a clump of emerging daylilies.  Of course, I had to run back inside and grab my camera.  He was enjoying the sun so much he was still in the same position.  He eventually headed for my pond---which is full of frog eggs and tadpoles.  The frogs have definitely been doing more than singing!  I need to get some chemicals in the pond and kill off the tadpoles or I will be afflicted, like Pharoah of old, with a plague of frogs!!

It's on it's way

We have actually had a couple of dry semi-days, with one full one thrown in.  Today it is raining like crazy and there is a driver's warning for the Pass because of new snow--20 minutes from my place.  What a difference a few hundred feet make.  I'll settle for the (ugh) rain; I couldn't handle snow this late in the year.

But, when it has been dry, I've been out with my camera, stalking anything colorful...

 or not so colorful--I love hydrangea petal skeletons.  Amazing that all that structure is hiding beneath those gorgeous shades of blue.

This year the elk have overlooked my poor pathetic heather, so it is blooming.  Most years it is sheared off before it has a chance to show its colors.  

And of course, a rain drop or two.  They're there; might as well take advantage!!



Weather changes

The saying goes that if you don't like the weather in Seattle, just wait a minute or two.  That's certainly been somewhat the case lately.  We have had a LOT of days like this:

 ...and like this

 ...leading to mornings like this

 ...and tucked-away treasures like this.

 We're even starting to see some color in the neighborhood, which is a nice change!

 And, we even had a DRY day yesterday, with that bright shiny thing in the sky.  I love the pop of a yellow forsythia against the blue sky...and the resulting refractions.

 My favorite puddle aka Magic Window shows the changing seasons--the spring blossoms on the trees, while Mt. Si has a fresh mantle of snow. 



Color Break

It has been so grey and gloomy and rainy and wet that I finally had to take a color break and go nursery crawling---just had to find something blooming that wasn't drenched and sopped and beaten down to the ground.

Unfortunately, the tulips at the nursery were already spent and past their prime, but even fading tulips have a beauty about them, revealing the hidden inner structure.

 I found a split-trumpet daffodil, which I think are the glamour queens of the daffy world.  They look like they wear fancy layered ballgowns.

 A two-tone grape hyacinth, larger than the solid dark blue variety, boldly holding forth against the gloom.

 Some sweet little double jonquils with tiny little buttery blooms.  The buds not yet opened were about the size of the end of your thumb, but what these lack in size they make up for in fragrance.  I could've stood and sniffed here all day!

 And, of, course, water refractions.  It was pouring rain while I was at the nursery, but I stood under cover and caught this before it was knocked off by the downpour.

 A bonus on the tip of a calla lily (my favorite to photograph).

Trekking at Animal Kingdom

When we were at WDW, I went on an extra-curricular excursion that I had signed up for several months in advance.  Animal Kingdom now offers (for an additional fee, of course) a 3-hour guided hike/jeep safari through some of the back areas of the wild animal park.  The groups are limited to 12, and the guides are very knowledgeable and you can ask questions until you can't think of any more.  We hiked along the river, past the hippo pool and then over the Nile crocs, and ended up in our own safari jeep.  We would scoot in and out of the tour groups, pull over on the side of the road to observe the animals, take little side roads that the tour didn't take, and stopped at a boma (a safari camp) for a lunch break.  After that, more jeep touring and animal watching.  I took the tour for the hike and for the opportunity to take photos, and I was not disappointed.  Great experience.  I would do it again in a heartbeat!

We had to cross two rope suspension bridges during the hike--they went over the hippo pool and the croc pool.  I am NOT a fan of heights, but we were outfitted with vests that had a safety line on the back, which attached to the overhead cables.  Plus, the sides of the bridges were quite high, and there was netting on the sides and below.  You could NOT fall--it just looked and felt that way.  The strategically missing slats, and the "broken" slats made it tricky for someone like me who has short legs--some of those gaps were quite a stretch.  It was scary going directly over the crocs, especially with the bridge bouncing because someone was coming behind me, but it was still a lot of fun.

 What a ham, smiling for the camera.  Did you know that a group of hippos is a bloat....as in a bloat of hippos?  How appropriate!!!

 At the croc pool we hooked our safety lines up to a metal track, and were able to lean out over the edge of the cliff to look down on the crocs.  Yes, I did.

 Two species of giraffe--the 2 smaller ones are reticulated giraffes, and the larger one is a Masai giraffe.  They were all really curious and got quite close to our jeep.

 From his expression, I don't think he particularly liked breakfast.....

 Lunch at the boma came in a 2-layer tin.  Each layer contained food.  We had melon balls and brie, yogurt with cranberries, smoked salmon with dilled cream cheese, proscuitto, air-dried beef, pita rounds, jicama and cucumber salad, and a delicious apricot nut bar.  Add to that a mango-passion fruit drink and it was a delicious meal.  Even the orchid was edible (slight grassy aftertaste...)  It was really fun to sit in the shade at the boma, eat this delicious meal and watch the animals out on the "veldt".