Spring '14

The Spring Equinox of 2014 passed last week, so I thought to document what it looks like out here this time of year might not be a bad idea.

Who plants a random daff under the porch? Yeah, not me. So HOW did it get there?

We had a number of very lovely days, those teasers when you think it's safe to hang the hammocks and start taking your reading material outside for a little vitamin D.
But not 24 hrs. after these photos, the rains have returned.
I like the rain; rain is good; rain grows things; rain is water; water is life.
But the rains have caused a great deal of havoc around here lately, though this time it's not flood related.
Saturated hills are giving way, which is a normal occurrence up in the mountains and timberland, yet on occasion causes inconvenient road blocks.
Haunting me right now, however, is the horrific slide in Oso, Washington- an area I'm familiar with having lived in Seattle, which is south about 55 miles.
Half a foothill just broke away letting gravity take over: it's mind blowing.
That is an enormous amount of Earth.
Oregon state has an interactive map online listing previous breaches and fault zones.
Fortunately, according to this information, we aren't in danger and most of the destruction looks to have happened in February 1996.
(I'd like to have known about this report when we were house hunting. What other state agency notices have been missed? This will prove to be a hot topic post tragedy in Snohomish County WA as will logging/clearcutting practices.)
As I look around our humble abode and grumble about how to improve upon it, maintain it, and all the rest, I am grateful to have our homestead in any state, in any given season.
With apologies to John Bradford, "There but for the grace of the Goddess..."

Oy! The bee hive is a mess and needs fixed before next month when we WILL finally have bees to live in it!

Remember when this looked pristine and new? (RC in the background henning around.)

*These* I did plant and they turned up well

Beasties enjoying some short-lived rays

I've tried to contribute to the local "Daffodil Drive" with limited success

 I've got nothing on the fields of flowers along the route

Too impatient to build a compost system out of pallets, CAM impulsively purchases this netted contraption

The winterized Herb Spiral already producing oregano and mint (of course.) And why can't my rosemary grow into the fabulous bushes I've seen in others' yards?

Letting things get a little trashy before major spring cleaning

New additions, but what happened to the old?

Time to hang the tacky Dollar Store decor! (And then it blew off the following day.)

Readying the Quarantine Coop for new flock additions

No winter garden this year, sadly, but experimenting with a new growing system

Just some of the blow down from earlier storms

Hoping the roses perform before the dreaded Black Spot gets to them

Does this look dead to you? I think it didn't make it through the winter.

One Helper Dog

At some point, all these random debris piles will become part of the Annual Big Burn

Garden of Shame: blueberries and lilacs haven't done shit in years but whatever's established itself within the brick enclosure (needing reworked) grows crazy big and I just let it so that *something* looks verdant around here

Remember when I was so excited to discard tarps? Yeah, this is the PNW and will never happen.

Keeping up with Bramble Island is a thankless, never-ending job

Hummers have returned and are entertaining as ever; still keeping the Wild Ones in seed, much to Large Marge's delight

Gals got back to work earlier than I expected; RC (blue), Obrahma (beige), Large Marge (! I thought she was spent- dark brown) and not shown Rhoda (tan and huge)

RIP Lucy-Lu & Brigid (Impressed the daffs planted in the fall actually bloomed; the poppies are artificial and red by suggestion that having plants this color in all four corners of the property, we'll keep the bad spirits away.)