OK - you get three guesses! David went clamming - these are the cooked neck muscles from horse clams. Enough said....

I had to go measure a house on the beach today, darn it! It was a minus tide, so I just had to take a walk all the way out there! Found an abandoned and broken Moon Snail shell.

The water was smooth and gentle, and earlier the sky was mostly clear, but the clouds are moving in. Maybe a spot of rain tonight . . .

Here is my Chestnut-backed Chickadee, in a maple tree eating the leaf buds. This is another through-the-window shot - he sure is fun to watch!

I found several spider hatches this afternoon - teeny tiny itty bitty babies crawling every which way on the nearly invisible web.

Here's another one in the chive plants.

Only a couple of days after mowing the lawn, it is covered with the brilliant gold of dandelions! Who knew they had such wonderfully curly stamens?

The birds are going crazy during this nesting season! We have a pair of chickadees who evidently want to nest in the house with us this spring! This chair is on the porch, next to my window, and I was under the lively eye of this guy most of the morning. It's too bad I can't let him in!

But the sun was shining, and the woods are coming alive with the warmer weather. Someone lost this feather, floating in the swamp.

Fern fronds are quickly uncurling on the mossy bank.

We'll miss you, Gretchen!

Gretchen with some of her artwork - she loved making art, but didn't much like having her picture taken.

Aahhhhh, the first mowing of the season. The cut grass smells so good and sweet . . .

and it was warm enough to lay down, nose to blade.

The cherry trees are blooming everywhere! Our little tree at the end of the driveway is a week or so behind the ones in town, but it popped out in the past couple of days.

After the showers this morning, the frilly flouncy blooms were covered in sparkling drops.

Another clear and warm spring day, but we had a bit of local fog in the early morning. It filtered through the trees, lit from above by the rising sun. I love seeing this phenomenom, and wandered around in my bathrobe to find the best view.

The sun is setting later and later, but we've had so much cloudy weather I hadn't been able to see the sunsets. It was a big surprise to see how much further north on the horizon the sun is setting. And, our trees have grown so large, I don't have a good viewing area any more. But, I do love the trees!

Cory stopped by to get a haircut. He likes his mohawks!

This is what I worked on yesterday - lining the inside of my basket with more photos and a white paper with silver glittery strips. Love that sparkle!

I wanted to still be able to see the random-weave structure, and that worked out well. Now I think I'm finished with it, but, the beauty of this type of project is that you can add more whenever you want . . .

Today was the Candlelight Initiation for David's ECV group. Some of the group comes the night before and camps out in the yard, then they have their initiation of new members, "Poor Blind Candidates" or PBC's. Afterwards,

they eat meat, (David)

potatoes, (David and Rabbi)

and salad! David devised a shooter salad this year - it proved very popular. He's the forkin' cook as well as host, but there are plenty of guys that help out with the food and clean-up.

And then there are the Hawkers, selling the Red Shirts and other paraphernalia, always a popular place. And they spend time visiting with guys they haven't seen for several months, and in general having a good time! It's a great group of guys, and we were lucky to have nice weather, as well.

FRIDAY, APRIL 17, 2009
Our friend and neighbor Marjorie gave us an old-fashioned primrose to plant on Amy's grave, so I did just that.

Here it is by the rock, and next to Buzz's hydrant. Thank you, Marjorie!

The Graffiti book came! Another Photo Art Journal project completed.

This one is an accordian book; all the pages are connected so you can spread it all out if you want.

Here are some of the pages. There were lots of great shots!

Some parts of one of my suncatchers, doing their job!

Well, Amy's time finally came. She went to join Buzz today, and David and I buried her next to him by the fire hydrant. I took these photos before she went to the vet's office. She could hardly stand, but did get to share my lunch - chicken! We'll miss her... She was the soul survivor; we are now pet-less for the first time in our 37 years together. And child-less. A completely empty house. Just for ourselves!

The cold and rain continues, but the forecast wind and thunder didn't appear! During a brief lull in the action, the salmonberry blossoms called to me!

In the swamp, the willows and brambles show the first signs of green, another hopeful sign.

SUNDAY, APRIL 12, 2009
Happy Eoster, the Feast of the Goddess of Spring! This pot looks like an easter basket, with all the colorful spring bulbs blooming. But, if you look closer, you'll see it's not so spring-like! Cold and very wet. Brrrr! But regardless of the weather, the world continues it's thrust towards renewal and new life. A cause to celebrate!

The plum tree is the first to bloom in my garden. Last year there were only 3 or 4 plums, but this year the tree is loaded, so I'm hoping for a good harvest.

Shooting the photos in the tree I was surround by heavenly scents.

Calm water in the harbor today as two pairs of Red-breasted Mergansers floated by, alternately diving and swimming. On a further buoy, a Double-crested cormorant suns (?) .

Overhead, the line of clouds showed a front moving slowly north, taking any chance of sunshine with it.

As I drove down our driveway, the owl suddenly appeared next to me, with the Sharp-shinned Hawk on it's tail! Apparently, with the nesting season upon us, territorial wars are developing when the owl ventures too close to the hawk's favorite area. It was amazing to see them maneuver through the thick undergrowth just a few feet off the ground.

More work on the kitchen-sink fleece felted basket. I spun some of the fiber and twined around the spokes, then knotted the spokes and tucked them back into the twining.

Now I'm spinning up some more of the fleece, and I plan to make a flat braid to apply to the rim, covering the knots and making a nice finish. Then I may wet it again, and reshape it with the medium/water mix to the final form. We'll see!

And today at Thursday Art day it was Jamie's birthday! Happy Birthday, Jamie!