A Sunny Day!!

Western Oregon winters and springs are usually wet, but not this wet. Today was the first all dry, sunny day in months. And what a glorious day it was! After morning chores, I had a riding lesson at the barn where I bought Mr. Smith (Rogue Hill's Skybird) fifteen years ago. This was the first time his breeder, Jean Sauer, had seen him since he left as a 5 month old weanling. Here is the truck and trailer ready to head out... for Sunday, actually, when I have a clinic at the same barn... I took this after we returned. Perhaps I'll remember to take Mr. Smith's photo on Sunday.

Back home I was happy to have an email from Yoko assuring me she was fine after the 7.1 aftershock yesterday in Japan. She had gone to bed early because she was tired from her hike in the mountains to see wildflowers. The strong quake woke her up. Yoko was glad she was home and not on the mountain when the quake hit. Her photos of flowers she had seen on her hike inspired me to walk through our yard, arboretum and woods looking at flowers in the sun... something I've seldom been able to do this year.

The red flowering currants I planted years ago were in full colorful bloom in the arboretum.


Shirley accompanied me, as always, on my hike. You can tell how seldom we see shadows on the ground or bare tree branches outlined against the sky by the photos I took. Seeing Spirit Mountain without a halo of clouds obscuring the top has also been uncommon of late.

























In the woods, the flowers looked rather bedraggled from all the rain. Trillium were fading, spring beauties carpeted the ground in places, and bleeding hearts were just beginning to open. A few yellow wood violets peeked out here and there.












Agency Creek was full and sparkling in the late afternoon sun.











Back up at the house, daffodils, though pounded by rain and hail, seem to pick themselves up and keep on blooming. Even the woodshed is framed with them. The front walk is daffodil-lined, as is the path from house to shop (with a little help from the faithful primroses). In all the beds, daffodils dominate, although the Hellebores (Christmas Rose) are also still in full bloom (maybe because the weather is still Christmas-time weather although it's nearly Easter.)























Cold, wet weather may not be done with us yet. Yesterday, after a brief sun break when I rode Mr. Smith and then mowed the arboretum paths, the skies opened up and dumped a ton of hail on us. Here is the path from house to barn before and after the hailstorm.










But what a glorious sunny day we had today!