Highly accomplished

Good weekend. I planted a good number of flowers. Here are the striped petunias in the new plant hanger, both of which I bought at Van Wingerden's last weekend:



Isn't that pretty?

I put these wall flowers on either side of my door. They tend to grow in odd shapes, but the flowers are delightfully fragrant:



And I put these gorgeous pansies in a worthy pot:



You can also see the mowed lawn in the background, which is another accomplishment. Yay, me.

And I hung up this and some other plaques or whatever they may be called:



All that work was on Saturday. I have been having a quiet Sunday. I sat out on the deck for a while this afternoon but kept dozing off, so came inside to sleep more comfortably on the couch. Now it's evening. It looks kind of windy and dark outside. I wonder if it will rain. I was out walking my dog around the yard about an hour or so ago, and the air temperature is warm; however, I have all the doors and windows shut because the wind puts stuff in the air that kicks off my allergies.

Early in the a.m.

A slightly overcast morning. I'm awake early, which is nice. I woke up naturally. Yesterday and the day before, I was so sleepy during my commute that I went to bed early both evenings. So now I must be caught up. I'm having a cup of coffee in the extra half hour I now have. A quiet morning with coffee. What could be better?

Perhaps this evening I will finally mow the lawn. We've been having such lovely sunny dry weather that I am safe to procrastinate so, being tired, that's what I've done the last two evenings after work. I've intended to mow but then not done so. No rain is in the forecast until Sunday, so I can wait as long as until Saturday evening. No pressure.

Time, time, time. Everything takes time, and time is limited.

A little later: What was I raving about when I said it was overcast? When I went out to walk the dog, the sky was blue from end to end, not a trace of cloud. My impression of darkness when I looked out the window must have just been that it was still so early that there were shadows on the lawn.

Tinkling

This evening I finally finished cleaning out the little pool and set up the manneken pis. It was too dark to take a picture by the time I finished, but light enough to work. This is a delightful time of year, close to summer solstice, when the days are so long that I can work outside until 9:00 p.m.

I cleaned the pool, wiping it out with vinegar water to get rid of any mold or whatever might be there. Then I filled it with fresh, clear water and set up the little peeing-boy fountain. Plugged it in, and everything worked great right off. I had swept the pavers around the pool, and I planted some yellow begonias and white bacopa in a shallow pot and set it next to the water. I found my metal frog and placed it in position by the edge of the pool, and I re-hung the strawberry basket, which I had removed while I was working there (so I wouldn't knock it around with my head).

There's something particularly sweet about the sound of water splashing at dusk.

I feel so efficient

I accomplished a fair amount today. I met a friend in Birch Bay for breakfast. The road between Lynden and Birch Bay has a construction area where the road is closed, and I figured out an efficient way to get around it. On my way home again, I stopped at Van Wingerden nursery and made some satisfactory purchases of flowers and a hanging pot. I remembered to go to the drug store and pick up my prescription refills. (My insurance plan changes tomorrow, June 1, and I will not immediately have a new card, which would complicate my pharmacy purchases.) I visited with my folks. I took out the garbage. I planted some flowers. I did several loads of laundry. I washed my hair.

Another paving stone

Well, and today when I came home I abandoned my intention to mow the lawn. I decided to wait until Saturday. It's supposed to rain tonight but stop by the weekend.

Good intentions

Every spring a big job out on the deck is to empty out the little pool, clean it, and refill it with clean water so that the little manneken pis can, well, pis.



Every winter the pool fills up with leaves that decompose, so the water-leaf mixture becomes black and sludgy. When I empty it out, I take the water-leaves out bucket by bucket and dump them over the retaining wall onto the lawn. Later the messy leaves get picked up by the lawn mower.

This weekend is Memorial Day, and my family will come over on Monday. I want the deck and yard to be nice. I want to empty the pond, then mow the lawn so that everything is tidy.

The lawn is ready to be mowed, so I decided that when I got home this evening I would empty and clean the pool, then tomorrow I can mow. That was my firm plan all day, right until I came home from work and, as I was approaching my door, I looked at the pool and thought, "No way."

So maybe I'll just have to mow tomorrow and do the pool on Friday and just have messy leaves or bring the mower out for just that little bit of cleanup.

Oh, dear. We all know what place is paved with good intentions. I'd better justify myself. I was just sick for two days. I don't have the strength. It will just have to wait. No one is harmed by my leafy pool of dirty water.

Sick day

Today I am home sick (not homesick) again. My dog got a walk around the back yard this morning instead of a walk around the neighborhood, which bewildered him somewhat, but then he is no stranger to bewilderment.

Mid-morning, I did a little therapeutic sitting in the sun:



I wore a hat to shade my face, but I deliberately exposed my arms and shins to the sun. The deck is still quite messy, unswept, weedy, but fortunately sitting in the sun does not require tidiness.

Before I came back inside, I decided to take some pictures to show the difference between calibrachoa and double calibrachoa, which I mentioned the other day. Here is calibrachoa:



And very pretty it is. Here is double calibrachoa:



And here:



And since the double calibrachoa is in with the strawberries, I took some pictures of berries in progress.

Here are some blossoms:



And some very green and immature berries:



So there you go.

Mildly ill

I was just checking the weather. I would like to mow the lawn again in the next couple days, and, fortunately, I don't see rain in the forecast until possibly Friday. I have to wait until I feel up to it.

Yesterday I was having intestinal symptoms of an unspecified nature and also developed a mild headache. I made sure to go to bed on time so I could get a good night's sleep, and I felt okay this morning, except tired. But as the morning went on at work the mildly aching head, waves of nausea, and a sense of dizziness crept up on me and before lunch I came home. This afternoon I slept well over three hours straight. I feel better than this morning, but not tip-top. I hope to get another good night's sleep and I hope that will complete the cure.

Strawberries and things

Last night I planted the creeping jenny around the edge of these barrels, as is my tradition. Usually the interior is double impatiens, but I haven't seen many of those this year and didn't want the colors I did see. I was going to just buy regular impatiens and was opting for all white, but the store I was at didn't have enough white impatiens. Later I saw these white begonias so got them instead.



Now that I see them together, I'm not sure it's a great match, with the begonias' dark leaves and the bright green creeping jenny. We'll see how it looks as they mature.

For a couple years, I've had a hanging basket of strawberries. A couple made it through the winter, and I bought some more, and decided to mix flowers in, too. These purple double calibrachoa were so pretty, I couldn't resist. Ordinary calibrachoa is like a miniature petunia, a trumpet-shaped flower, but these have the extra petals. I do have some ordinary calibrachoa as well, for other pots, in other colors.



Obviously I have not yet hung this hanging pot.

Yard work and gardening

While the lawnmower was being serviced, the grass got very long. On Monday I mowed it, but in the back yard I left the grass catcher assembly off, so that I would not have to keep stopping to dump out the heavy, damp grass. That was something my dad used to do: mow one day without catching the grass, let it dry out on the yard a couple days, then drive the mower over the yard with the grass catcher on and the mower blades up high -- not to cut but to spin and pull the grass in -- and pick up the grass. That way you had less and lighter, dryer grass to deal with. Because the grass this time had gotten so long, I still had a lot to deal with, even though it was dry and light. On Wednesday, I think it was, I did the picking up. Now the law looks quite respectable -- for now.



In a few days it will need to be mowed again, but it will not be so meadow-like as before.

These are the red begonias I planted on Thursday:



And these are flowers still waiting to be planted:



In the black tray on the left in front are eleven French lavender (lavendula dentata). I didn't think I would find any this year, so when I found these in front of Rite-Aid, of all places, I was so excited I picked up the whole tray and put it in my cart.

Coffee, please, please, please

This morning I poured water into the coffee maker, and it immediately overflowed. Apparently at some previous time--I'm guessing yesterday morning--I put coffee in, filled it with water, but forgot to ever turn it on. So I turned it on now, and I cleaned up the water that was pooling in the counter and dripping down the fronts of the drawers to the floor.

Once again, proof that I am incapable of making coffee until I have had some coffee.

A few thoughts

My computer has been wonky. I think I have it resolved.

All my red begonias are planted.

Last night I was reminded of the fact that I am incapable of handling a garden hose without getting my own feet wet.

Cutting remark

Today after work, I mowed the lawn. Kind of a soothing task when you have a riding mower.

Woof

Busy day. My dogs are barking.

Morning and evening

Every workday morning I look at some piece of my home and yard and think, "When I get home this evening, I'll take care of that. I'll do this or that task." Almost every workday evening I think, "I'm too tired. The world won't end if that waits another day."

Pym pleasure

I didn't plant anything last night because I was exceptionally tired and went to bed early. Today and tomorrow, rain is forecast. Do you say "forecast" or "forecasted"? It is not raining yet.

I'm trying to thing what else to write about besides the weather and my own sleep patterns, which are frequently recurring, yet intrinsically uninteresting, topics in my blog.

Yesterday I found out a co-worker of mine is a fan of Barbara Pym. It is unusual to come across someone who even knows about her. My co-worker has not read all of Pym's novels, however, so I am bringing in Some Tame Gazelle for her to read.



I love Barbara Pym. There is a Barbara Pym Society.

First planting

Yesterday, after I got home from work, and after I walked the dog, and after I ate some dinner, and after I chatted with my folks on the phone, then I did some planting. I planted a calla lily, six red begonias, and six white bacopas in a barrel on the shady side of my deck.

Here is a blurry, through-the-screen picture. The other four begonias on the ground are destined for hanging pots.



After planting, I was a little worried that the bacopa will overwhelm the begonias. The red begonia blooms are so beautiful. In the past I've had just the begonias and lily in this pot. But I figured, oh, well. That's what you do in gardening. Try something and if you don't like it then next year do it differently.

More flowers, one less lilac

Well, by afternoon yesterday the sun was out and it was beautiful. I stopped at two places on the way home to get more flowers. Since double impatiens seem to be rare I thought I'd settle for ordinary impatiens, but I wanted it white. Garden Spot had pink impatiens but a lot of pretty white begonias, so I bought those. I also picked up sage and thyme for my herb barrel. Then I went to Haggen, where I had seen some healthy, big calla lilies last Friday, and I bought one.

When I got home, I walked my dog around the back yard and found that a white lilac tree had fallen down. It had been growing on a slope by the creek, and a few years back my dad had it staked to grow more upright. Now the plastic ties to the stake had broken and was lying on the ground with the top dangling in the creek. It fell at the roots, so my theory is that the ground is so saturated that it could not hold the tree firmly at that angle, and when the full weight of the tree pulled against the straps they broke.

I was kind of sad because I remember that my sister-in-law had given my dad the plant as a gift some years ago.

Steady

It is raining steadily. It makes me not want to walk the dog.

Even more

Yesterday I bought even a few more plants, but I didn't plant anything yesterday because I had places to go and it rained.

Plants to plant

I have a lot of plants to plant. There are the plants I bought last week, still waiting to be transplanted:



And in my car are many more that I bought yesterday at the Barkley Haggen. Red begonias, purple verbena, a couple of wall flowers, two red and one yellow nicotiana, a marigold, some parsley, a couple of pansies, and perhaps more that I can't remember right now. Those are in my car, in cardboard flats, waiting for me to carry them down to the deck.

Oh, yes, lemon balm.

Anyway, I hope to at least get started planting today. We'll see what the weather does. It's not raining right now, but it is overcast, and the paving stones in the deck are damp.

There's a big crow walking around the lawn. Crows are so big compared to some of the little twitterers we get around here that when I catch sight of their movement from the corner of my eye, I expect to see a squirrel or a cat when I look, but no, it's a crow.

Waiting for the walk

I woke up extra early this morning, so my dog thinks it's time for his walk, but it's not. He hangs around me, puts his chin on my lap, wanders over to the couch and jumps on it but stares at me and, when I make some move that could be misinterpreted as being about to get up, comes running over and puts his paws on my lap, gets pushed away, lies down, sighs audibly, etc. Lots of noise of nails going clickety click on the floor.

It's a bit overcast outside. It looks like it may have rained a little bit overnight, but it's not raining now.

I have had a cup of coffee. That is important.

It's Friday. One more day of the work week, then the weekend. That will be a pleasant change. It's good when both your workplace and your home are places you like to be. I'm blessed.

Well, now it's getting closer to the actual time for my dog's walk. He'll be beside himself with joy. He is every morning. He's pretty cute.

Soft in the evening

Today was our Very Warm Day. In the morning, the temperature was so lovely that I wished I could stay home and putter* around the yard and my deck. The late afternoon was almost too warm for me. The low 70s are perfect for me; the high 70s begin to become oppressive. Right now, though, it's lovely again. It's about 8:00 p.m. and the temperature is just cool. I have windows open and the air is fresh but not cold.



*I think someone at the Festival of Faith & Writing talked about "the sacrament of puttering." And I've quoted this before, from Elizabeth von Arnim's The Solitary Summer: "Every now and then I leave the book on the seat and go and have a refreshing potter among my flower beds, from which I return greatly benefited, and with a more just conception of what, in this world, is worth bothering about, and what is not."

Sweet box

Here we are at the mid-week. Today is supposed to be the first of our two exceptionally warm days. 76 is the predicted high here in Lynden, 25 for you metric types. I'll be in my office with a fan on. My co-workers often feel cold, whether because of cold weather or the air conditioning in hot weather. They even will run little space heaters at their work stations. Meanwhile, I tend to feel too warm at work, so I have a fan to run.

Yesterday I planted some baby bushes called sarcococca ruscifolia, also known as "sweet box." I planted them near the property line between my neighbors and me. One mature bush of this variety is already there, and I added the others to make a line of them. The new ones are quite small. There used to be a fence right there, but over the years it deteriorated, and a while back the current residents and I pulled it down. But it's a place that calls for some kind of partition, so I got these.

They are nice bushes with shiny dark green leaves that don't fall off in the winter, and they get tiny white flowers that smell very sweet. When I first moved up here from California, I thought the bushes were a variety of jasmine.

Spring lullaby

We're expecting some days of very warm weather, culminating on Wednesday with a high of 78! That's almost too warm. Anyway, since it's spring and I'm sleepy I found this "Lullaby of Spring," by Donovan. Boring visual but pretty song.

Hi Noe!

Yesterday I went to my favorite plant nursery, Hi Hoe. I took a friend with me to show her how great it was. Well, there weren't as many plants there as I expected, and the secret garden was unmowed with most of the plants dug up. Guess what? The owners are selling off what they have in stock and after the end of May they're closing down and moving to another town.

Last year, another good nursery, Bakerview Nursery in Bellingham, also closed down due to the owners retiring.

On the up side, Vander Giessen Nursery right in Lynden is expanding.

And so it begins

Yesterday I made my first flower purchases of this spring. After work, I went to the Garden Spot Nursery and bought black petunias, white bacopa, and creeping jenny, which may bear yellow flowers in the future.

The petunias and bacopa are for the same barrel as my honeysuckle. I have planted many colors of petunias in there in years past, generally tending to opt for purple. I was planning on buying purple again when I saw this black variety. Last year I had a small pot of black petunias, and they are gorgeous. A change this year for this barrel is that I am adding white bacopa to mix in with the black petunias. They should look very pretty cascading out of the barrel together. Right now, of course, they are tiny starter plants.

The creeping jenny is for around the edges of the two barrels by my water feature. I always put in double impatiens in the center and creeping jenny around the edge, again with the idea that it will trail over the edge of the barrel. Some years it does. Some years I have only been able to find "golden" creeping jenny, with yellowish leaves, but yesterday I found the basic plant, with dark green leaves.

I did not find any double impatiens, so I will have to keep looking for that. In recent years I've had a hard time finding that, but each year I finally have found it somewhere. Impatiens is a flat, five-petal flower, but double impatiens is fuller, with petals more like a mini-carnation.

I did make one earlier plant purchase last weekend, but not flowers for my deck. It was some starters for a shrub called fragrant sarcococca, or sweetbox. That is for a hedge along a certain edge of the property.

Morning routine

My favorable jet lag is wearing off. Today I woke up nice and early, but not easily. I could tell by how dark the windows were that was overcast outside and now I can hear it raining hard. I'm not excited for the dog's walk in a little while. I hope it lets up.

I have been sitting here with my light thing that's supposed to help my sleep patterns. I have it working on a timer, and when it automatically shut off, I thought for a moment that I was losing power. Thankfully, no.

I'm having a cup of coffee. Oh, the bliss of that first warm sip. When I'm done with it, I will get dressed and walk the dog, no matter what the weather. When we get home, I'll change into my work clothes, then fix myself some breakfast -- probably toast with peanut butter and another cup of coffee. I will read from my Kindle while I eat.

I've found a method that helps me get out the door on time to go to work. I get fully dressed, shoes and all, before eating breakfast, and also put necessary items (cell phone, lunch) in my pockets and purse before eating breakfast. That way when I suddenly realize that it's time to go I just have to put the poor little dog in his box, pick up my keys and purse, and go. Previously, I ate, then put on my socks and shoes and got my phone and lunch together, put the dog in his box, and left. I always underestimated the time that would take me, especially finding a pair of matching socks, and consistently left the house five minutes later than I wanted to. No amount of getting up earlier fixed that last-minute delay. The sense of running late added stress to my commute. The new way is a distinct improvement.

Well, I've finished my coffee, and I don't hear the rain pelting as hard. It's probably an opportune moment to walk the dog. Good day to you, whoever you are.

Good morning

Since I have come back from "back east," I find that jet lag is working in my favor, in that I am easily waking up early in the morning. The fact that it's getting lighter in the morning helps, too. We're heading into the time of year that makes atonement to us for the dark winter mornings that feel like the middle of the night.

Yesterday was Easter, Resurrection Sunday. The Lord is risen. He is risen indeed.

While I was gone, spring made advances here in Western Washington. Azaleas and rhododendrons are blooming. Trees have their sweet, tender little early leaves. Magnolias and fruit trees are blooming. Tulips are up. It's a beautiful time of year.

Soon I'll put on my dog-walking clothes and walk the dog. Then I'll get dressed for work and eat some breakfast before heading into Bellingham for a day of useful toil.

Reunited

My bunkie was glad to have me home again.

He spent the time I was away boarding at the vet's office. They know and like him there, and I know they took good care of him, but he still was ecstatically happy when I picked him up. And I was happy, too.

So far his only sign of PTSD is a tendency to lick me more than usual -- which is a lot. Oh, well. He'll soon regain what level of sanity he's capable of.

Enjoying the comforts of home

Out and about

Well, I'm back. I've been away from home for almost two weeks. I visited my brother and his wife in Toronto, Ontario,



and from there I drove in a rental car



to Grand Rapids, Michigan, to attend the Festival of Faith &Writing at my alma mater, Calvin College.

My sister was at the Festival;



she came from California, and we stayed with our aunt and uncle who live in Grand Rapids. Our aunt also attended the Festival. Then I drove back to Toronto and came home from there.

My sister wrote a blog entry about the festival and did such a fine job that I don't need to repeat her effort: Festival of Faith & Writing 2014.

I reserved an extra day of vacation after my return, so I could have one day at home relaxing, recovering from jet lag, and doing a bit of laundry and/or housework before going back to work.

Two books

I have been reading two books in the last few days, turning to one or the other as the mood strikes me. One is Life, God, and Other Small Topics: Conversations from Socrates in the City, edited by Eric Metaxas, and the other is The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett.

The Metaxas book is a collection of talks given at the "Socrates in the City" forum he organized in New York City. Each speaker's chapter includes the introduction Metaxas gave, the talk, and the questions and answers following. Chuck Colson and N.T. Wright are two of the names I could recognize right off the bat, as well as Metaxas himself whose biography of Bonhoeffer (Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy) I've read.

The other is a childhood favorite that I still like to revisit. I think of it when I go to Hi Hoe Nursery in the spring because they have a secluded area called a "secret garden."

Branches, cages, cars, and coffee

It seems like I blog on weekends. The weeks go by quickly.

In the late afternoon today, I worked more on clearing up the back yard. The branches I've been cutting off have been lying around, and I'm trying to pile them near the creek. There's so much brush and so many thick blackberry stalks that it's all quite a lot of work. I got some aerobic exercise out there.

This morning I went to the DOL (in Washington, we have a DOL: Department of Licensing; when I lived in California, it was the DMV: Department of Motor Vehicles) to renew my driver's license. Before I left, I imprisoned my dog in a cage.

Is this the saddest picture ever?

I have to lock him up because if he has free range of the house when he's alone, he wreaks havoc (or "reeks havoc," as a student of mine once wrote in an essay). Solitude makes him insane.

In between the DOL and the yard work, I visited with my folks. We had coffee, looked at pictures, and spoke on the phone with both of my out-of-state siblings.

Automation

Today I did manage to accomplish that great deed, the taking out of garbage.

Yesterday was a good but a long busy day. I knew my afternoon would be free today, so I planned to do some yard work, weather permitting. In the morning, when I walked the dog, the weather was beautiful. Through the morning hours taken up by church and some family tasks, it clouded over, but by the time I had eaten a little lunch it was sunny and beautiful. Perfect weather for yard work.

But I felt so, so tired. I tried to whip up my energy to get out there and work, but I couldn't. So I said to myself, Why not take Sunday as a day of rest? What a concept. So I sat in my recliner and I slept for close to three hours.

I woke up slowly. I was tempted to have a cup of coffee, but I thought that would give me such a boost I might not get to sleep at a normal hour tonight, setting myself up for a difficult Monday morning. So I resisted that urge and am doing the fairly non-demanding task of sticking a few loads of laundry in the wash. I hope to have a good night's rest.

I am so glad that washing clothes is so simple and no longer involves boiling water, standing and rubbing everything up and down a washboard, dipping, twisting, wringing, and the like. It used to be one of the worst household tasks. I read that when pre-industrial women had any household money to command, the first job they would hire out was always washing clothes. Now, throw it in the washing machine, twist a dial, push a button, and go away and do something else for while. Come back, throw it in the dryer, twist a dial, push a button, and go away again. Yay for modern civilization and the comforts of a mechanized society!

Tea

Saturday morning. Today, my sister-in-law and I are going to help my mom host a "sisters-in-law tea" in honor of my mom's birthday, which was last week. It will be her sisters-in-law mainly. I need to put some things in my car and go pick a few things up from the store, but first I am having a leisurely morning.

It is chilly and overcast, but not raining, this morning. I have already walked the dog, so he is settled down. I have a lovely cup of coffee. Too cold yet to sit outside on the deck.

Since the time change, when I get home from work, I take the dog on a little walk around the back yard, and almost every afternoon I pause in the walk and saw one or two of the lower branches off trees. That is how I am getting my pruning done.

Aaoooo

Monday. Maandag. Montag. Måndag. Lundi. Lunes. Lunedi. Dé Luain.

At 22:10:25 PDT on Monday, 17 March 2014 the waning moon's phase was 97.72% full.

I went and found a video of wolves howling, but my dog didn't like it.

Like spring

We've had a couple of spring-like days. I'm glad. I feel sorry for people in the Midwest and East who are still getting winter weather.

Spring is the Period
by Emily Dickinson

Spring is the Period
Express from God.
Among the other seasons
Himself abide,

But during March and April
None stir abroad
Without a cordial interview
With God.

His bow

Last week Thursday when I was driving home I saw a rainbow. I tried to drive correctly while digging out my phone to take a picture. By the time I got the phone situated over the driving wheel, the rainbow was fading.

But if you look closely, perhaps you can see it in this picture looking across the fields:



And when I got to the stoplight at Hannegan and Pole Road, I took this picture that has the non-picturesque SeaMar Clinic in the foreground:



It's a wee little rainbow, but I'll take it.

I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

Genesis 9:13

Yay me

Because the evenings are longer now with Daylight Savings Time, I determined to do something constructive after I got home from work. That is why I ... drum roll ... took out the garbage! Not just insignificant garbage, but garbage that had been piling up a tad. A bit. Okay, a lot. But it's all in the garage now, waiting for garbage day.

Like Whitman, I celebrate myself. The sound of the belch'd words of my voice loos'd to the eddies of the wind .... I am silent, and go bathe and admire myself .... The scent of these arm-pits aroma finer than prayer.

Maybe not.

Well, at least I don't have too much garbage in my kitchen.

Toil

I worked in the back yard for several hours this afternoon, ruthlessly cutting back blackberry bushes and trimming branches off some trees. I hope to work my way around the yard trimming trees and bushes. One of my goals is to drive the lawn mower this summer without getting slapped in the face by any low-hanging branches.

Yesterday and today

In February, I mentioned it had been a dry winter. It has rained since then, and it rained a lot last night, so that there is a noticeable difference in the creek level between yesterday and today.

Yesterday:



Today:



Movie of yesterday:



Movie of today:

Loss

Today I lost a cousin to the same dreadful disease that took my brother.

I know that my Redeemer lives.

Silver thaw

This evening, all the branches, twigs, and every surface were coated with ice as it rained and froze. This is a "silver thaw," which is a prettier name than "crud." I do hope the roads are drivable tomorrow.

Crud

Today we are having a recrudescence of winter. Don't you love the word "recrudescence"? It's great for the reappearance of something you don't like because it has the word "crud" in it.



Freezing rain is a type of crud.



My footprints are in the crud from when I walked the dog. His footprints are lighter because he is lighter. Still, here are some bird footprints.



The irises that have poked their leaves out of the ground may rue the day.



Even with the snow and freezing rain, if you look closely, you can see green leaf buds on the bushes by the creek.



The honeysuckle has got baby leaves, and in the bottom third of the picture, just to the left of the contorted filbert, there is a robin.



While I was out on the deck taking pictures, this guy had to climb into the chair to keep an eye on me through the window.



It's a good day to spend indoors with him.

Tuesday

Well, I was back to work today. I did get my car hung up on a snow drift in my driveway, but a co-worker gave me a ride to and from work. The snow is now going through all the messy stages of melting.

Meanwhile, here's a picture of my dog.



Because he's cute.

And more

Today...

More and more

Saturday it snowed, so I went outside to take a picture before it disappeared.



But overnight it snowed some more.



And Sunday it snowed some more.

Tech savvy

Today at work, our e-mail program went down. I called our tech guys in Seattle and one of them called me back to tell me to unplug then plug back in a certain box among all the boxes and wires in a certain area of our workplace. He has dealt with me before so he described the box carefully: green with the name of a certain company on it. I asked if anything else would go off too, and he said the internet would go down while it was unplugged. It was late afternoon, so I warned those who were still there about the internet going down.

The boxes and wires have a large metal cabinet in front of them, and they sit jumbled together on a bookcase with the power cords going behind the bookcase and then coming out to the front to a power strip. First I was heaving the cabinet out of the way and one of my coworkers said, "Maybe we should have our own tech guy in this office." "What, you don't think I know what I'm doing?" I jested (for of course I didn't).

I found the box I needed and groped around in back and uplugged a cord from an outlet. Oh, wait, that was from a different box. I made sure I had the right box and I tried to follow the cord with my hands, but it wound down too far behind the bookcase. I pulled it up to make the part in front move, so I'd know which to unplug from the power strip and lifted all kinds of intertwined cords along with the power strip. I unplugged something. Still wrong.

A coworker who had been attending a teleconference meeting came out of the conference room and said, "Everything just froze up." "Oh. Sorry."

Finally I unplugged the correct cord. I counted to twenty then re-plugged. I went to my computer. No e-mail program and no internet. I called the tech guy back. He was confused. He said, "I'm on your server right now from here." I looked back at the jumbled boxes and wires and saw one plug still unplugged. "Oh, wait a minute," said I. "I'll be right back." I put the phone down and went over and plugged in the cord. I came back to my computer and, voila, everything was working. "Okay, never mind," I told the tech guy.

And that's how I solved our technical issue today at work. Hooray for me.

Tweet

Well, I did clean the floor Monday. It was kind of gross job, but I did it.

Now I've been back to work for two days.

This morning, as the dog and I started our walk, I thought, "No ice. No rain. No wind. What a beautiful morning!" And it was.

Now a vision test. Do you see the robin in this picture?



Finally, a random thought sequence. Writing about a robin made me remember the old pop hit "Rockin' Robin," in which background singers sing, "Tweet, tweet," etc.



And thinking "tweet, tweet" made me remember a joke e-mail my aunt forwarded the other day about older people adjusting to new technology: "Someone asked me, 'Do you tweet?' I said, "No, but I fart a lot.'" Ha, ha! I love a good fart joke.

And with that, I wish you a lovely good night.

Procrastination

There is a dirty job I need to do -- cleaning up the gunky floor where a washer and dryer stood for decades -- and I don't want to do it. I keep putting it off, but today I have off from work and I am determined to do it.

That's why I'm sitting here at my desk, blogging.

So, yesterday, my dad asked me if the pussy willow was blooming yet, and I could not remember seeing any buds, so I said no. He seemed surprised, so I double-checked this morning. I walked the dog by the tree and did not see any buds on the branches.

But when I was across the yard from the tree, I saw some at the very top.



The tree from across the yard (above).



The top branches (above). See the little knobbies?

Meanwhile, another sign of spring: iris leaves are coming up (below, along the left side of the leafy path).



I hope I get more blooms than in previous years. I probably should transplant them to someplace more congenial.