Sadie had some dog company today. Skylie a 5 YO Golden retriever/Yellow Lab mix and Bendi, a 10 week old Yellow Lab pup. Sadie had a lot of fun playing with the Puppy. She hasn't any chances to play with other dogs let along puppies. She used to live with puppies so she knows how to play with them and be gentle. She pushed Bendi around with her nose and batted with her paw. Very cute!

We went to  see Leon Russell last Friday night. These are two of the worst photos I have ever taken, The first is us in a mirror, with the flash!

Photos were not allowed during the concert, so while the band was leaving the stage I held the camera up over my head and snapped one photo.......

Heron, Geese, Sap Sucker, swallow

I am way behind on posting photos, so here are a bunch. 


This Heron came walking out of the bushes and was immediately attacked by Red Wing Black birds. You can see the reflection of one  BB in the water, the real bird is mostly in the reflection of a post. The RWBB is smart to chase the Heron off, Heron is not at all above taking eggs/baby birds out of the nest. The RWBB comes swooping down and almost lands on the back of the Heron. After a few minuets the Heron has had enough and flies off. 

A family of Canada Geese, the first photo, in the pouring rain, was taken about a week before the others. I may have gotten carried away with all the pics, but it's hard to stop at a few when you have all this cuteness. Between Jim and I we probably took at least twenty.  I might try to make some note cards from a couple of the good shots. 

 A woodpecker hit the dining room window. He was okay and flew away, just left a few feathers behind.

First photo is a Black Headed Grosbeak, they nest in the woods nearby, and sing a very beautiful song.

Second photo is an Evening Grosbeak. They travel in flocks and call to one another constantly.

This is an excellent example of the Red Breasted Sapsucker that drills all the wholes in our trees. They also drum on things, signs, bird houses, electric transformers, ladders, picnic tables,  anything to make a loud noise to attract mates or mark territory.

Jim was lucky to catch a Cormorant when it came up with a fish. 

Okay, last bird photo. 

One of my favorite birds, a swallow. An amazing flyer, sleek, fast, able to make incredible turns, with the sweetest chirp. 

Tree Swallow. 

This Rhododendron is called "Taurus". We bought it in honor of our Mothers, who are both astrological sign of Taurus. It is a beautiful deep, rich red, always dependble and blooms end of April to first of May.

Place mats

Finally finished sewing place mats for the GKids. Approx 13 1/2 X 17 1/2.  Pink is for Addy, Dinos for Riven. This is my first attempt at doing applique. I practiced zillions of forks before I felt confident enough to   work on the real thing. Some outlines are a little shaky, but for my first time, not too bad. In real life the utensils on Addy's are a darker green. 

Bird Nest

Look at this cute little bird nest under the hard hat sitting on top of an upright piece of drift wood. I have not seen the bird, Jim was unable to identify, other than to say "it was small and brown". I will update when/if we can identify.

Chickadee in Woodpecker hole

We have a very dead tree in the yard with lots of woodpecker holes, some small and shallow, some large and shallow, and a few just (almost) right! There is a Chickadee working on one hole getting it cleaned out to it's satisfaction. You can hear it working inside chipping away at the rotten wood. The tree is so rotten I hope it does not fall before the chicks fledge. Here are a few photos. First, the hole.

Next the Chickadee.

This is the Chickadee with chips in it's beak from hole cleaning.

Sarvey Wildlife Center

I went to an event today to raise money for the Sarvey Wildlife Center, They take in injured/orphaned wildlife and if possible nurse back to health and release back into the wild. What can't be rehabilitated are used as educational animals. I made a bid in the silent auction and won a huge plastic container full of garden and bird things. Over 20 items for a bid of $65.00. Check it out!

Sadie May, Skunk cabbage

Sadie and I take a walk after dinner almost every night. Last night she had a little snack on the fresh grass. Behind her you can see the yellow Skunk cabbage flowering, it smells a little skunkish, but also fresh and clean, I like it.

Water in Back yard

Remember how high the water was in the backyard? It has taken this long for the water to subside. I was looking forward to getting out to the boat house, but Thursday it rained hard all day and Friday it rained pretty good too, so the path to the boat house flooded again! First photo was taken Thursday in the afternoon just as the water started coming up, Thursday AM the path was dryish and walkable, second photo was taken today, Saturday, in the afternoon. How long it will take to go back down? No one knows.

KSER Pledge Drive

This week KSER ( the wacky radio station I listen to and were I volunteer) had it's Spring pledge drive. I helped out with phone answering for several days. Here are a couple pictures. The "wall of CD's" is pretty impressive. I took this picture when the place was almost empty, but at times the place was packed, usually around lunch! The goal was $43,000, at last count they had reached $40.000.

March Snow

This morning, Tuesday March 6th, we woke up to appx. 2 inches of snow. It was mostly gone by 11 AM. Look how pretty the back yard was with the blue sky and sunshine. Sadie and I took our morning walk in the snow. She had to squint her eyes it was so bright. Do they make doggie sunglasses?

More Eagles!

Can't get enough of Bald Headed Eagles! Our local couple hung out on the dead cottonwood for awhile this afternoon. Female on right, much bigger than male.

Tim Dorsey

Saturday night I went to a book signing. There were only about 25-30 people there. The author, Tim Dorsey, writes very funny books about Florida, similar to Dave Barry and Carl Hiaasen. His protagonist, Serg A. Storms is a serial killer, with several coexisting mental illnesses, but he only kills people who need to be killed. His sidekick, Coleman, is a 40 something stoner described as idiotic, but I kinda like him.  I have not actually read any of his books, I download them from the library and listen to them on my MP3. As Authors go, Tim was very accommodating to his fans. Gladly signed as many books as you wanted and started the photo line himself.

Some clown behind me took this photo. There was no hair and makeup people so this is the best I could get.

Kayak Point

On the way home we stopped off at Kayak Point to have a look at the water. The water was a choppy wind blown brown, made me want a tall glass of chocolate milk! Accross the cove at McKees beach there was a mud slide that took out two houses, don't know why we didn't take any photos, I guess we were to entralled watching the who-ha with our binocs.

Cool old Barn

This is a cool old barn, too bad it was not kept up. If you can zoom in on the tree with the big nests, look at the top nest as zoomed in as you can. What do you see in the nest?

Looking for snowy owls

There is a Snowy Owl irruption this year across the northern  US. They have been spotted just North of us in Stanwood. Last week we took a little trip to try and find them. It was the day after the Big Rain. The sun was shinning but the wind was 'bout blowing my wig off. We hit two different spots where they have been seen, but, alas, it was not to be. No Snowy Owls.  Here is what we did see.

Snow Geese!

They were taking turns doing  puddle baths.

Northern Harrier!

Also called a Marsh Hawk. He flew over Jim and checked him out up close and personal, made for a good photo opt. Bottom photo shows the trademark white feathers at the top of the tail, makes it easy to identify.

Pintail Ducks!

This was a pleasant surprise. Usually big flocks of ducks like this are plain old Mallards.