Saturday, April 2, 2022

A Wildflower Walk

 On March 29, after deadheading daffodils until my sciatica screamed STOP!!, I hiked through the woods (my sciatica loves when I walk... does not like bending down and straightening up.) The first wildflowers are blooming, carpeting the forest floor. I took a zillion photos. Well, of more than wildflowers...

Spring Azure butterfly

One of the many Cardamines, also called toothworts and spring queens and more

Wood Violet

cardamine

more cardamines

The Chocolate Lily is in bud

sessile trillium

Claytonia sibirica is another with many common names. I call them candy flowers

Greater Bee Fly (maybe)

Tiger Lily just coming up


some sort of Anglewing, I think

First Bleeding Hearts to bloom

Oregon Bluebells in bud

Common Mergansers on the creek

Western Sweet Coltsfoot

The Southwest wildflower meadow after Johnny's blackberry mowing (and before the wildflowers are up, except wild strawberries, which are thick)

That was Tuesday, March 29. Today, Saturday, April 2nd, I walked through the woods again and took more photos. That story on another blog post. It's spring!

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Homeward Bound

Steve and family traveled Friday, Saturday and Sunday before landing happily at home Sunday night, just in time for online schooling to resume on Monday.  Munazza sent photos...

"Volcanic landscapes"... (Mt. Lassen area...)

 



"Best for last"... home...

 

 
 
 
 
 They cooked every meal for us while they were here. We were very spoiled. We are now back to eating our own cooking. We like being spoiled. Come back soon!
 
 

Monday, March 28, 2022

At the Farm... Day Two

 It had been over two years since we've seen and measured the grandkids and their parents. Their heights the last time they were here, and every previous time, are written on the door frame of our kitchen.

Cedrus is right where Kestrel was at his age

Kestrel is almost as tall as his dad

Steve is still the tallest, but Kestrel is catching up

And then there's Johnny...

 I didn't get photos of Munazza or myself, but she is just a little taller yet than Cedrus and also now taller than shrinking me!

They wanted to see waterfalls so we drove up Yoncalla Road to the nearby waterfall on a tributary... But first they had promised me a concert so a concert we had... with talented Kestrel playing guitar and singing while talented Cedrus played the piano. Those kids are amazing.


And then to the waterfall!





I'm not quite sure what's happening here. If everyone is taking photos of everyone else or of themselves?

Cedrus modeled for me next to a big tree on the path down to the top of a hidden waterfall

Cedrus and Kestrel by another huge doug fir

The next day we were off to McPhillip's Park and the beach north of Cape Kiwanda...

At the Farm Day 3

Since Steve and family had rain and fog and wind on their drive up the Oregon Coast, we took them to "our" beach on the north side of Cape Kiwanda. It was a beautiful day with a very low tide, no wind, ...and lots of other people on spring break. But the beach was so wide that everyone had plenty of room to be isolated from everyone else. I took the opportunity to do my mile walk south for CoastWatch while the others played.

But first there was the requisite stop to ooh and aah over Gunaldo Falls, which actually has a decent amount of water this time of year.

Someone said that if you narrow your field of vision to just the waterfall and stare at it for several minutes, when you then look to the side, the trees or whatever is there will look like they're moving upward. But your supposed to be close to the waterfall when you do it. So they thought it might work from far away, as we were from Gunaldo Falls, if you used your hands to narrow your vision. I was too busy taking a photo of these strange people covering their faces while facing the waterfall to try it, but I'm told it didn't work.

And then it was off to McPhillips Park and the beach. It was a very low tide as I walked south toward the Cape.

From high on the dune, it was a long look back to where the family was playing on the beach.
From that distance, zoomed in with my camera, it looked like they were wandering around separately.
As it turned out, Steve was making a huge maze with his walking stick and the others were trying to find their way through it.

Closer it became more apparent...
Parasailors were having a different kind of fun over the dune.

And then it was back home. The first baby goats of the year had arrived the second night of their visit, so before packing up and leaving on Friday, all had to come see the new babies.

I managed to get photos of the baby goats, but not the people. They did get to hold them.
 



Time to leave the farm and head home to California.

 

Out the driveway

Great to see them all. They sent photos on their way home... Next post...

Sunday, March 27, 2022

At the Farm... Day One

Our California kids and grandkids at the farm... The kids arrived Monday night with supper for all from the  Bay View Thai Kitchen restaurant in Depoe Bay. Delicious! We will definitely be visiting that restaurant again. On Tuesday, we hiked through the woods and arboretum.

Cedrus tries out the bouncy bridge

Kestrel and Johnny

Cedrus and Kestrel meet Annie

Steve meets Annie, too

At Agency Creek on our farm

Cedrus is outgrowing our little Cedrus tree, Cedrus Deodora

Kestrel helping Johnny with his new camera

They discovered this skunk cabbage with an insect stuck to it and thought the insect was being eaten, but skunk cabbage is not carnivorous. Insects just love its rotting flesh smell.

 

On Wednesday we drove up the road to the waterfalls off Yoncalla River road. That will be in the next post... Day Two