Red rhododendrons are blooming!

More silly kitty pictures - this is Abby, who lives with Carol, where we go for Art Group. Don't you just want to curl up with her?

 Fun with cereal boxes!

 Well, my big find at the thrift store was this sweet little brass wire basket, which someone decided to 'cute' up with ribbon and chick. Of course, it is all hot-glued in place, so I'll have to figure out a way to melt the glue to remove the ribbons without pulling the wires out of shape.

 I did get the chick and grass out, and some of the bows. Tookers decided to help out at that point by dealing with the chick.

 After raining all day and night, the pond is full to capacity, and the overflow is working overtime. We can hear the roar of the water here at the house, almost 1/8 mile away! Below, the overflow stream is spreading, but it all gathers at the ditch above, where it is eroding the sides. The overflow route will likely need some repair this year.

Fine weather for a duck! Or two, as this pair of mallards in the swamp seem very happy in the downpour today. Things are really showing their green, now, although it's still pretty cold. We're all hoping for a real summer this year!

This was shot through the car window - I really like the blurry bits where the rain was running down the glass.

Well, after a false sunny start yesterday, today we actually had a WHOLE DAY without rain, and it was even sunny most of the day! I checked the front garden, and was delighted to see leaf buds on the Japanese Maple tree my art friends had given me for David. I had worried about it over the winter, as it is in a pot, and could have frozen or dried out. But it looks good, and we will get it in the ground sometime this spring.

My friends came over from Seattle today, and we went to the Earth Sanctuary to see if there were any early birds. In the middle of one of the ponds was a cormorant, with a bufflehead duck joining her on the log. Some mergansers and mallards, and a couple of turtles completed the wildlife.

 But the pond was pretty, and for a while we had some blue sky, as reflected in the lily pads. Later, of course, we had rain.

They recently completed the stupa and prayer wheels, so we followed the instructions to go around it clockwise. In the niche is a Buddha draped in colorful silk scarves. Here is a quote from the owner:

"The pre-eminent symbol of Buddhism, a stupa represents the fully enlightened mind of the Buddha, radiating spiritual power and amplifying prayers, Pettis said. A Victory Stupa is one of eight types of stupa, and its principal function is to extend life. Stupas usually contain sacred scriptures, prayers and other sacred objects that extend peace to visitors who walk around it in a clockwise direction while reciting prayers or mantras to purify negative karma brought on by personal troubles, and to refresh spiritual thoughts."

 Buddha in his niche.

 The row of prayer wheels.