Primrose blooming - something ate the blossom on the left, tho.

Forest floor litter - several different types of tree seeds: large is a fir cone, the long one is an alder catkin, and the small are alder cones. Upper left is also some kind of seed carrier, but not quite sure what!

Aunt Vicky and her husband Joe are visiting for a couple of days, and brought dinner over tonight. It was great to catch up!

 This is my artwork for our Coaster Swap - this month's theme is "Religion". I used photos that I took - the mausoleum is in a cemetery in Akron, and when you open the doors . . .

. . . you see a colorful stained glass window that I saw in a church in Grand Rapids. It was fun to do, and I like how it came out!

 Flowering cherry tree buds - bursting with promise! I love to photograph this tree, and looking back to last year, it was in full bloom March 25th. We're waaaaay behind this spring . . .

But, there are already a few bees bumbling about the early blooming rhodies, covered with pollen. That's a good sign!

MONDAY, MARCH 28, 2011

Busy at work today - no pictures! And, it's gray, cloudy, windy, sputtering rain - in general, blah!

Check back to last weekend - I finally added the last of the Retreat photos for Saturday!

 I love the movement of water. This is at the upstream end of the culvert, where it pulls the water in. Below is the downstream side, gushing out over the gravelly bottom.

Well, so much for our spring-like weather! It's gray again, although not QUITE as cold . . .

 Well, I am guardedly optimistic that Spring may be here, at least for a couple of days. The flowers seem to think so, too - daffodils blooming in a sliver of dirt between the pavement and the Freeland Hall. They rival the sun for cheerfulness! And tonight the peepers are going wild, and the stars are hanging heavy and bright in the darkness before moonrise.

 Quick stop at the Freeland Park, as the water was calm and reflective and crows, seagulls and ducks were squabbling companionably over somethings-or-others in the sand.

 Finally - a lovely spring day! Sunshine and 60's? Nice and warm, anyway. David brought out the smoker he's been working on to fire it up and see how it performs.

 It has a fire box in the back, and with a few pieces of alder, he got temperatures over 400F in the ovens within 15 minutes!

That was way over his expectations, so he's very excited. It has an oven above the firebox, and the large ovens in front. It can be used to smoke, grill or bbq - holds a LOT of food - works like a charm! The clients will be very happy - and so are we!

 It poured all day yesterday, so today's sunrise and blue skies are very welcome!

A jet draws across the sky.

Ahhh, to be home again with a kitty in the lap!

 Sunday - the last morning. I didn't take any classes, but Beth made a pendant. She had a great time - she was one of several younger new members, and it was really fun to get to know them.

 Another class was a woven doll - I even took this class several years ago, but never finished it. I might even find it and see what needs to be done!

On the right, Donna Crispin is the teacher for the woven dolls, and Karen is another student, and one of my friends. She'll be coming to the Island next month for a day of bird watching and beach combing.

Then, it was all over, and time to go home. It is always sad to leave everyone, but on the other hand, we are exhausted and replete with baskets!

SATURDAY, MARCH 19, 2011

 This is my Saturday class - a medallion woven with willow spokes, skeined white willow, and redbud bark strips. It will eventually create a zig-zag lightening pattern, if I'm lucky!

 Here the class is trying to get the beginning started - you usually need about 4 hands, and a lot of patience!

This is the teacher's example - she's using her medallion as a hair piece. Surrounding it are the willow spokes we're using. To create the pattern, a specific number of spokes are added when the space between them gets too wide for the stitches. Teacher had it all figured out, but the rest of us were confounded most of the time! In the end, it all worked out.

 It was also a really nice day, and I finished in class early enough to walk around the lake - on the high trail, because the low trail was under water! Carleigh and Kailie took the canoe out - they even saw a beaver! Below is a view of the main Lodge from across the lake.

Saturday is a busy and fun day at Retreat - in the evening we have a live auction. Different folks volunteer for the action, and they often dress up. George put on his gambler clothes, and Sheila was his helper. It's often fast-paced and exciting as 2 or 3 people bid against each other for that special item! This is the Guild's main fund-raiser for the year, and this year raised more than double the amount of previous years! 

FRIDAY, MARCH 18, 2011

I didn't take a class today - instead, I helped with the Gallery. Everyone is encouraged to submit some of their baskets for the gallery, and we put their name and information about the basket in the computer so we can print out a nice card to display with it. So that's what I did today - this is a shot of about half of the entries! We have a lot of very talented Guild members.

At the table next to me, they were making an openweave basket using barks. David chose three different colors for his.

I did get out for a quick walk, but it was raining all day. And the lake was very high from all of this winter's rains - above is the lake trail, underwater. Luckily they have another path around the lake, so I wandered in the rain for a bit.

After dinner we had the marketplace - everyone was busy checking out all the cool stuff. Later, the gallery was open for viewing during the Gala, when we gather to have dessert and visit with everyone at the gallery. It is always very inspiring!

THURSDAY, MARCH 17, 2011

 This is a photo of all the students' work in my Thursday class, "Eye Dazzler". Mine is the black one at the bottom. None of them are finished, but most just needed the rest of their beads around the edges.

 Here is Kay, the teacher, showing the class how to begin the project. It is made with waxed linen in three colors, and we added spokes to vary the design. It was fun to learn! I haven't quite finished mine, because I'm not sure what I want to do with it, so it will be an on-going project.

Sally, Michael, Hanna and Karen at the registration table in the main lodge.

So, I traveled a couple of hours to the Northwest Basket Weavers Spring Retreat, where we relax, take basket classes, and eat and eat and eat! Here are some pics:

 This sweet little basket is called "Lavender Lace", and it was my Wed. evening class. The teacher even provided the lavender -  smells so good!

 While I was waiting for the ferry, I walked around the little bay where the ferry docks. I completely filled this bag with garbage!

 On board the ferry, there were lots of framed photos of Native baskets and basketweavers -seemed prophetic!

Here is a view from the balcony at South Lodge - there were three different classes going on - lots of busy weavers!

It was a great day!

Well, instead of going down overnight, the water is actually higher today! Now it is in the driveway bed,

and Caveman is trying to make it go down! He's standing at the culvert, making sure it's clear of flotsam and jetsam.

Well, we didn't get the huge wind gusts that were forecast, but we DID get lots of rain, and plenty of wind to go along with it. The swamp is filling up, and threatening to go over the driveway - the culverts are striving to keep up, but are drowned. The whirlpool above is at the culvert inlet, and the outflow is roaring!

The water is right up to the driveway, though.

And, it's still raining, filling all the low spots in the woods and overflowing from the swamp.

The stream from the upper pond is flowing wildly, too!

The forecast is for high winds - gusts up to 75 mph. So I'm hurrying to get my computer stuff done!! Just in case. . . The winds swept the sky almost clear just before sunset, with a few gilded clouds flying by in front of the sun. It soon clouded up again, and the wind continues.

It's been a very wet winter - the swamp has been running at full capacity most of the time. These views are peeking through the trees along the driveway.