I went for a bike ride yesterday, for the first time this year. The rain had stopped, and although it wasn’t sunny, it was a nice day. And as I rode, I saw some signs of spring.
My Mom always called this bush spyria. When I moved back to the west coast, I got a book of plants of British Columbia, and although most folks call it ocean spray, Mom was right– spyria is the correct name. I shouldn’t be surprised. π
What is happening in your neighbourhood? Any signs of spring yet? Drop me a line and let me know.
We have bald eagles around our land, and this winter, starting in December, a couple of eagles built a nest in a cottonwood tree just down from the house. Here it is, full of twigs and tree limbs. We kept seeing them flying past our house, carrying big branches in their claws, and followed them around until we found what they were doing. There is an eagle parked in the nest now, so we figure the eggs have been laid. That means they should hatch in 5 weeks, around the 12th of April. Very exciting. I’ll keep you posted. π
This little cup is a keepsake that we brought back with us from the Island of Rhodes some years ago. We much enjoyed Rhodes, very historical, lovely old buildings, and a nice swim in the Mediterranean Sea. The cup is lovely, isn’t it, and no, it’s not made in China. On the bottom it reads ‘Hand Made by Neofitoy Keramik, Fauraki-Rodos’. You can see the flowers are hand-drawn, even see the brush strokes. To give you an idea of the size of the cup, here is a picture of my husband’s hand holding it.
We hardly ever use them, but on occasion I have brought them out to have a tea party with my wee grandsons. We do that on the lawn so when the cups fall, (which they inevitably do) they don’t break. π
We had a big snowfall after Christmas that lasted several days and nearly snowed us in. One of our neighbours has just moved here and I haven’t even met him yet. But he plowed the whole road and cleared access, as the public plow usually fills in our road entrance and blocks us in.
Then a second neighbour very kindly plowed our long driveway as he cleared his own.
A third neighbour has a creek running through his land that empties into the ditch that parallels our road and drive. Here it is now, a gentle stream.
I was out for a walk the other day and this is what I observed.
What do people do in your neighbourhood? Drop me a line and let me know.