My niece Barbara's henna'd hair just shines in the sun. And the sun shines in a clear blue sky today - how nice: warmth and light! We gave her a ride to the Island from the UW hospital, which is close to her job.

David and I were there for his first post-op follow-up appointment today, and basically the news is good. Everything is healing on schedule, and looks good, but there is still a lot of healing left to do. There is still swelling of the tongue and throat, which makes it difficult to talk, and to swallow. It all takes practice, but the bad news is that he will get just about all healed up, then will go through the radiation and some chemo treatments, which will cause swelling again and make it hard to swallow for a while. But the good news is, after that, he will be all done with treatments, and can get on with things.

Poor little bitty birdie. He hit my window, but I didn't find him until the next day, laid out like a specimen in a box of weavings. As near as I can tell, he is a warbler, maybe the Orange-Crowned, which is pretty common in this area.

After committing him to cyber-immortality, I buried him in the woods, where he can hear his family singing.

A couple of days ago I posted an image composed of several photos, one of which was text from a journal by my ancestor Adellah Donnenworth. My sister asked about the book, so here are some photos and information. Adellah was my maternal Great-Grandmother: the photo below is of her and my mother, Jean, around 1922. She was born in 1875 and died in 1931 from cancer. She married Homer Zimmerman, and my grandmother Edna was born in 1898.

Her "Botany Record" is dated 1889, so it probably was a high school assignment when she was around 14. It is a list of plants recorded over the course of the month of May, with a page of very detailed information devoted to each plant. I don't remember how I acquired it, but it is very fragile and brittle, but too beautiful to put away.

Didn't get a shot today - somehow the day just slipped by without me thinking about my camera. Oh, well. It is time for a David update, instead.

He continues to improve every day, but the changes are smaller, although still significant. His walking and talking gets better, he is able to close his lips and swallow easier. Incisions are healing well, swelling is going down. He'll still have a long way to go, but he's getting more sleep and feeling better. Next DR appointment is Friday, so we'll know more by then. Thanks again to everyone who has held us in their hearts during this time!

A big storm is brewing out in the Pacific. As a result we are having high winds, last night and all day today. It is pretty sunny, but cold, and trees and branches are going down everywhere. This willow is rapidly falling apart - literally. The multiple trunks reach a certain size, and with the aid of the wind, are leaning and falling. Unfortunately, that is our driveway right under the leaners. Guess we'll see what's left in the morning . . .

Over the years I've played around in Photoshop, trying to create digital art with my photographs. Here is my latest collage, where I've used a photo of the Mohican River, some text photographed from my great-great-great something Adellah Donneworth's 1889 Botany Record, my mom's cat John, and some texture photos of rust and trees. It will have special meaning for my mother, so I'm sending her a print for Mother's Day. Luckily, she no longer has a computer, so won't see this blog entry, and I can keep it a secret! ;)

Raining this morning, the sun came out in the afternoon to sparkle on the remaining raindrops beaded on the lily leaves. Love it!

Also love violets, but haven't had much luck growing them. I do have one hardy plant bravely sticking it out in my garden. I'll hold out hope that it will spread next year!