Pink Tulip and Green Forest

Design - "Pink Tulip"

Designer - Stone & Thread

Fabric - 32 count Light Mocha Belfast linen

Fibers - GAST & WDW - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 24 March 2014

Completed - 24 March 2014

The weather has turned rainy and blustery and cold.

Padma thinks we should have an Indoor Day!

   

I agree with Padma.  So let's take a walk back in time and see what was at its prime on a sunny day this past week.

First up is my Mystery Tree.  

It is growing on a steep brush-filled bank, so I've not been able to examine it closely.  I am enjoying its bright green leaves and brick red bark from afar.  

I am also enjoying watching the Cottonwoods leaf out.

They light up the Douglas Fir forest like chartreuse beacons. 

This part of the Big Creek is about 1/2 mile from my house.  I like the wide 

U-curve the creek takes around the trees.

I featured one of my 'store bought' Bleeding Hearts a couple of days ago. This is our native Pacific Bleeding Heart (Dicentra formosa).

The Common Horsetails (Equisetum arvense) are just beginning to push their way up out of the ground. 

Skunk Cabbage (Lysichiton americanus)!

I don't think I've ever featured this plant before.  I saw a nice big patch in a boggy spot during a recent drive. The big yellow blooms have not fully opened yet. The smell will attract all sorts of bugs who act as pollinators.

Lots of the native shrubs are now leafing out.

I stumbled across this Mystery Plant. I've marked it and I'll go back later to see if it blooms as that will help me identify it.

I don't need any help identifying the buds of a Big Leaf Maple 

(Acer macrophyllum).  The finches and grosbeaks like the flowers and buds.  I'm hoping that this signals their return to this year in the next few days!

First Day of Spring - Belated Celebration

Design - "First Day of Spring"

Designer - Sam Sarah Design Studio

Fabric - 32 count Natural Light linen

Fibers - Crescent Colours & DMC - 2 strands over 2 threads

Started - 23 March 2014

Completed - 23 March 2014

Well named design for this time of year, and by yesterday the weather was almost summer-like - 74F. 

Here's a riddle.

How do you know it's an unseasonably warm March day?

Is it the deer posing with the daffodils?

The deer shedding their heavy winter coats?

The sight of a hawk against a cobalt blue sky?

The red feathers of a male House Finch deepening in color day by day?

The welcome sound of a Sapsucker quietly...

tap-tap-tapping away?

Or more loudly drumming a courting call?

The white rump feathers of a female Flicker brightly flashing in the sunlight?

Nope, it's none of the above. 

You know it is an unseasonably warm March day when a brush bunny is all 

s t r e t c h e d   o u t  enjoying the afternoon sun.

Hey lady, can't you see I'm napping?

Summer-Like Weather Summer Stitch

Well, it's time to get working on another in the series.

I've kitted up Cottage Garden Samplings "August's Poppy".

Bright bright colors on this one - it should be fun. 

The weather the past few days has seemed almost summer-like too. I've been outside without a coat or sweater or tights - just a summery polo dress.  The cats and I have been loving it.   

My primroses are at their peak now.  I bought several "Hose in Hose"
varieties from Log House plants about three years ago and they've grown and grown and grown. The deer nibble on them once in a while, but mostly leave them alone.

More primroses and pansies on the Front Porch.

Along with some small bulbs too.

The daffodils I planted in late October are blooming now. 

Can't go wrong with daffs!

Usually after one year I then plant out the bulbs in a flowerbed. As you can see, if it was a 'mix', I don't even bother to separate the bulbs.  I like the yellow daffodils with the blue muscari. 

Daffodils, muscari, and tulips!

The north side of the house is extremely shaded.  The hellebores are just now blooming in full force.

The plant that is amazing to me is this Bleeding Heart.

This is what it looked like on March 10th.

And here it is on March 23rd - all ready to burst into bloom.

It is in a dark corner and the foliage really lights up the area.

Sunny Saturday

What has Tom-Cat SO engrossed on a cold, frosty morning? 

The California Quail? 

A House Finch?

A Scrub Jay?

The deer?

A brush bunny?

Do you think they get an 'ice cream headache" from eating frost covered grass?

Nope, none of the above Tom-Cat says.

Nothing, but nothing can top Chipmunk Watching as the #1 rated feline pass-time. 

This guy lives behind the shop, and comes around my greenhouse, then down the walkway to the bird feeders in the backyard. 

I keep telling him, for his own health, he'd be better off living in our big woodpile.

As attentive as Tom-Cat is, Solomon becomes semi-hysterical at the sight of a chipmunk.

I'm doing my best in insure his survival.  I keep chanting to the cats, "No food with faces!"

I've Got Mail

I've had a couple of wonderful surprises in the mail this past week.

Maggee at Stitching Devotee gifted me with this most appropriate photo frame.  Thanks so much Maggee! 

And look at this.  Charts, linen, Victorian Motto threads, and three colors of boucle! All I can say is: Wow! Parsley, who has the blog Seasons of My Mind and hosts My Garden Journal SAL, gifted me all of the above for taking part in the SAL.     

So keep yours eyes open, you never know when you too might be the recipient of a RAK!

Tiny Violet and Small Blurry Birds

I've just begun stitching Blackbird Design's violet.

Love the colors.

I mentioned yesterday that I'd seen several birds on my recent walk.

As I left the house, a female Flicker was hard at work at the suet feeder. 

And the hummingbird feeders were active too.  There are now enough hummingbirds in the area that I can watch Feeder Fights! This is a male Anna's Hummingbird.

And here's a female Rufous Hummingbird. I saw a couple of Rufous Hummingbirds on my walk - but no photos.

Kinglets are difficult birds to photograph as they rarely stay still. 

I misspoke when I said there were Hutton's Vireos in the plum tree. As it turns out, there were Ruby-crowned Kinglets!  You can see a small flash of red on the top of this one's head back of its eye.

Later in my walk I came across a group of Golden-crowned Kinglets. Once again, tough birds to photograph. 

See the bright yellow patch atop the head?

I heard a very soft tap-tap-tapping and found this Red-breasted Sapsucker hard at work opening up new wells. You can see the brighter colored newly drilled holes to the left of the bird. 

It looks like this tree is going to become a 'regular' belly-up-to-the-bar for the bird.

And here's my latest New Bird!

A Brown Creeper.

Nope, the photo is not upside down, the bird is! Brown Creepers work trees in a spiral searching for small insects and spiders. They are weak fliers, and fly to the base of a new tree then work their way up in circles looking for food. They prefer to work on very large trees, and According to All About Birds: Brown Creepers burn an estimated 4–10 calories per day, a tiny fraction of a human’s daily intake of about 2,000 calories. By eating a single spider, a creeper gains enough energy to climb nearly 200 feet vertically.

At the Quarry Pond I came across my new trio - the turtle and the Mallard couple. 

It turned into a very nice sunny afternoon. As I walked up the steep part of our driveway, I came across a pair of Bewick's Wrens enjoying refreshing dust baths.

I stayed back from them, but they appeared unconcerned.

Their long upright striped tail and white eyebrow make them easy to identify.

Our California Quail and brush bunnies are also big fans of dust baths. I think I prefer water to dust for my bath, though the wrens seemed very content.

As evening arrived my small flock of Bushtits came by.

They used to show up around 4:00pm, but now with longer days it is 6:00pm

I'd missed seeing them for a couple of weeks.