It’s been a lovely week and we’ve enjoyed a slower pace this week to catch up with things around the ‘Barn.’ I’ve got some diverse photos showing some of the nature we encountered for your pleasure, so let’s get started, shall we?
Our exposure to some of the beautiful springtime things we were able to experience began last weekend when we celebrated Mum’s great granddaughter’s 2nd birthday. How in the dog did that happen? Two years of laughter and joy with that little munchkin {happy sigh}. We went to her house to watch her play on her slide, and pop bubbles all over the backyard while BBQing. It was a lovely day. While watching her have a blast, we notice their snowball Viburnum bush was in full bloom. Oh my heavens, what an absolutely divine scent. It added a lovely accent to all the birthday festivities.
The Mum: That shrub was so heavenly that I’ve put it on my list of plants to possibly add to the new landscape. So intense, sweet, and spicy, it’s often described as a mix of vanilla, cloves, and baby powder…a perfect scent for an outdoor birthday party for an adorably little girl who loves being outdoors.
Wilson: Don’t get too excited, Mum. Viburnum tends to favor moist soil so it might be difficult to get one established with our water restrictions.
The Mum: Good point, but I’m still leaving it on my list of plants to consider. Maybe not now but eventually, presuming the forecasted El Niño is full of moisture. Just think how lovely the air would be with a bed of these colorful babies surrounding it.
Wilson: That Hyacinth sure is colorful and like the Viburnum, possesses quite a fragrant addition to the garden. We’ll plant that hyacinth once it’s finished blooming but in the meantime, it provides a nice pop of color on the back patio along with lovely perfumed air.
The Mum: With the temps moderating to what we normally would expect in springtime, we took the opportunity to get in an extra walk yesterday afternoon. The clouds had built up and we had a tiny smattering of raindrops but mostly it was just cloudy. Our forecast has a tiny chance of rain in it but we suspect it will only cloud up and not actually provide any relief. Still, we’re enjoying the uppers 60’sF (20C) over last month’s 90F (32C) any day of the week.
Wilson: While the canal is way down in water levels, you can imagine how mind blowing it was to see this Blue Heron standing in a shallow puddle. Mum couldn’t believe her eyes! She frightened the poor bird with her squeal but we walked farther down the canal and luckily found him again. Mum was really bummed she wasn’t carrying her big camera with her as she’s lately begun to carry it to better capture the wildlife along the trail we walk. This photo was from her cell phone. It’s not great but better than a sharp stick in the eye and it made her happy to see that cool bird.
The Mum: It was so exciting to come across that fella. I’m glad we decided to walk along the canal banks rather than take our usual route on the Ralston Creek Trail. The unpaved path along the canal recently had some serious tree trimming and has allowed us to see some of the exposed undergrowth. Check out this Golden Currant bush that was exposed and in bloom, so it was a terrific and scenic walk.
Wilson: The new smells were so fascinating for my sniffer and I was quite happy to slowly take in all those amazing scents.
The Mum: It was a very fun walk for both of us. When we returned home, I noticed you were happy to watch an episode of PBS’s “Nature – Baby Steps | Becoming Elephant.” It never ceases to amaze me how much you closely watch animals on TV and when this episode featuring the Retiti Elephant Sanctuary came on featuring a young calf named Long’uro who had part of his nose removed due to a hyena attack. His disability will impact his life forever in ways that were quite striking. You were riveted throughout the episode (you can see it below) until the fundraising pitch came on and then you lost your focus. But as soon as the animals returned, there you were watching intensely. I half expected you to pledge online.
Wilson: {excited animation} Mum it was so cool listening to the sounds that elephant made. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. What a great episode. I do hope you support PBS…we will have to watch that program more often!
The Mum: Yes, House Pony, I’m a support of public broadcasting but will make an extra donation so we can guarantee seeing programs like that in the future. It’s fun to watch you take in programs with animals that capture your interest and I smiled the whole time you watched it. It was hilarious that you repeatedly lost interest during the fundraising breaks but resumed watching in earnest when they went back to broadcasting the episode. You know you’re too funny, right?
Wilson: Mum, I’m simply a naturalist at heart. Well that’s it from us. We hope you have a wonderful weekend and are able to find some amazing sights that Nature shares with us. Have a great weekend!
Live, love, bark! 🐾
SPRING is REELLY ‘springing’ there Wilson an Miss Monika!! Our snow iss gone but no flowerss xcept fore tHE bee-draggelled Snwo drops. Wee toetally enjoyed ore fotoss! an Wilson yore just so cute!!! Fore reel! Hope you found sum ‘guud sniffss’ out there!
***nose bopss*** BellaDharma an **blowss kissess** BellaSita Mum
Many thanks, BellaDharma and BellaSita Mum. Glad you enjoyed the photos. Hopefully, Spring will start showing signs in your area soon.
If only we cuud get past 50 F an North wind blowin; Spring wuud hav a chance up heer Wilson an Miss Monika!!
Happy 2nd birthday to your great granddaughter Monika and what a beautiful viburnum and hyacinth, I can imagine their lovely scents! Wishing you and sweet Wilson a blessed weekend too! 🤗❤️🐾 xxx
Many thanks, Xenia. That viburnum was absolutely divine and a welcome harbinger of spring around here. Hope you’re doing well after your break. 💙 🩷
Oona: “Wilson, you have done a reasonably good job of camouflaging yourself on that sofa. Oona understands it is not easy for a dog of your size and coloration, so she gives you high marks for the effort.”
Java Bean: “Ayyy, is it time to bark at the TV? I will be right over!”
He’s calculating like that since the rule is “no dogs on the sofa.” So much for rules. LOL
It’s funny he doesn’t bark at the TV but watches intently.
What a happy little girl! Love it!!
Aww, Wilson, you have great taste in Tv shows. Love elephants and all kinds of wildlife and nature.
Lovely flowers. Imagining their sweet scents! Ahhh! 💕
Happy Weekend friends! Have a wonderful one! 😊
That viburnum was simply heavenly!
Yup, Baby Halia is the love of my life. She’s such a little pill.
Wilson is a HUGE fan of the Nature series. It’s hilarious seeing him watch it. Here’s hoping you have a wagnificent weekend.
Your granddaughter is a sweetie pie for sure!
Happy Birthday #2! Yes indeed, where did the time go?!
I have a viburnum in our yard, but don’t recall if it is scented or not. It won’t bloom till much later…
I took the time to watch that PBS episode, Elephants are such amazing creatures! Nice to see a rescue to wild for them all!
Thank you. Wasn’t that episode simple inspiring? It made me smile throughout it. Loved how they worked to help each species succeed. Love happy endings.
Have a terrific weekend.
The blooms do look delightful, I wouldn’t blame you for wanting one of those plants. I pray you get rain soon and so can watch the nature in your area really take off.
The birthday girl certainly looks full of joy, I wish her many happy returns of the day.
Thank you! Sadly our 10-day forecast is set on dry. It’s such a shame but nothing we can do about it.
Baby Halia is such a total joy, I’m so blessed that she’s lives in town. Have a wonderful weekend.
Beautiful blooms and adorable little girl.
Thanks, Ellen. She’s quite the pill but such a sweetie. Glad you enjoyed the flowers. Have a wonderful weekend.
WOW did you find lots of interesting things out there Wilson! I like that fun bird too!
Thank you, Terry. You’re too kind. Some weeks things are a bit lean and then other weeks we get lucky. Wishing you and all the kitties a cat-tastic weekend!
This was a very diverse collection, Wilson wasn’t kidding! And those hyacinths! That looks like a painting! What a cutie pie your great granddaughter is. You are blessed.
Here’s to mums and mums and more agreeable weather this weekend!
Thank you, Marc. You’re too kind. I know I’m biased about Halia but she just seems so doggone adorable, not to mention overflowing with personality galore. 😉
Hyacinths are a favorite spring bulb of mine for their color and fragrance and when I saw that one at the grocery story no less, I knew I had to bring it home. Best wishes for a super duper weekend!
What a beautiful name to boot!
A painting I tell ya!
Thanks mama, to you as well.
Thanks, Marc. Her name means ‘remembrance’ in Hawaiian. She was named after all the grandparents who didn’t get to meet her.
Hyacinths are such showy flowers. Their only shortcoming is they don’t last long enough. 😉
Wow, that is not only a beautiful name, it carries a special significance.
Such is spring and summer.
PS. I love PBS! Back when BozoBezos got me really pi**ed off, I cancelled my “subscriptions” to Masterpiece and Documentaries via Prime and started a subscription directly with my local PBS station. And I still donate when I can separately from the subscription. I particularly love all of Ken Burns’ programs, but the nature programs are great too.
PBS is beyond fabulous. Especially all the nature centric episodes which appeal to both Wilson and me. 😉
Most importantly: the great-granddaughter is absolutely adorable and precious!!! 💜💜
Secondly, your photos brightened my morning! I always love your photos, but these were timed perfectly. And made me wonder: are hyacinths and that other bush (mind is blank on its name) shade-worthy or do they need plenty of sun? About the only place in my back yard where they’d be safe from the dogs’ constant trampling would be at the back wall of the house; but with the shade from the 2 oak trees, they wouldn’t get much sun except for early morning and possibly very early afternoon as the sun starts its trek along the south of the house.
Thirdly, no out-of-the-ordinary plans for the weekend. Maybe a ride in the car, I don’t know yet. I have food shopping to do in the afternoon tomorrow while the pet sitter is here. We’ll see.
Sue
Aww, thank you Sue for the sweet comment. Halia is so full of personality; it’s been such a joy to watch her grow up these past two years. I just love her more and more each day.
All bulbs do best with 6 hours of sunlight and really need to be cautiously planted with dogs as they are quite toxic if a pup tries to munch on them. But they could be added in a planter to put the kibosh on any potential noshing by curious pups. And you can place the planter where the sun is the best too. 😉
Enjoy whatever you are able to do this weekend. We hope it’s pawsome!
I happened to catch the last 15 minutes or so of that PBS elephant show this past week. Will have to catch up and watch all of it, I really enjoyed what I saw.
That YouTube link is the full episode. We didn’t see the beginning where it explained how Long’oru lost so much of his trunk. His story was even more inspiring. Have a great weekend!
Looks like a lovely walk and a chance to get some fresh air. The photos were excellent cause they give us an idea of the beauty of your neighborhood. Thanks for taking us along, Monika.
Thank you for the nice comment, John-we’re always grateful when you come along with us. We’re trying to get more familiar with the surrounding areas. Love encountering new critters and seeing that heron was a big surprise. Have a wonderful weekend!
Love the cute nose of Wilson 😀
Thanks. He has such a big nose- it’s hard to hide. Have a lovely weekend.
We bet it was nice to slow down a little this week, and you found some beautiful Spring sights!!
xoxo,
Rosy & Sunny
It sure was. Glad you enjoyed the photos. We’re trying to get fully integrated within the neighborhood so our pics show the wide array of critters and don’t get boring. We hope you have a fantastic weekend!
Love the flowers and flowering things. When we left home there were no flowering things yet, maybe when we are back in a couple days. Glad you had some time to relax a bit too.
Thanks guys. It was nice not to have to drive back and forth this week and let us catch up on things that needed to be taken care of around here. Glad you enjoyed the blooms. Trees are slowly beginning to emerge here which will green things up here. We’re looking at different places to visit close by to find different scenes of nature around us. Hopefully by the time you get back home you’ll see some signs that spring is ready to pop. Have a safe trip home and a great weekend.
Joy just exhudes from that adorable little munchkin! How wonderful to have been part of her celebration. Those blooms are delightful. Hmmm…. Mayhaps I shall have to look into getting some!
Have a fantabulous weekend!
Halia is such a breath of fresh air filled with loads of personality. Glad you enjoyed the blooms. Spring is the season of rebirth and after a lousy winter, very much welcomed. Yesterday I drew up a plan for the new garden since I bought a couple of bags of daylilies and peonies earlier in the week (I can’t help myself this time of year) and am planning the placement of spring bulbs for next year once I get the soil amended. It’s some of the worst clay I’ve ever seen and that’s saying something! I thought my last garden was bad. Pfft…it was nothing compared to the new space. Sigh. But am looking forward to bringing things to life here. Have a marvelous weekend!
She is cute as a button! Yes, spring is the time for rebirth.. Here, we still have a few patches of snow – with today’s rain, much of it shall disappear, no doubt. I have seen greenery popping up, announcing daffs and such so there is hope! I bought a bunch of bulbs that I cannot wait to plant. I suck at gardening (read: lazy) so… if it blooms, it is in spite of me!!
I shall and hope you shall as well.
She’s quite a character and makes me laugh so much when she waxes on about life as she sees it. Which she does on a regular basis. I love having conversations with her these days. Talk about opinionated!! LOL
Planting bulbs is a pain since we all love the ease and immediate rewards of perennials. Spring bloomers should be planted last autumn to bloom now. But a few minutes of showing them in the ground generally is always rewarded at some point in time. Bulbs are the easiest to reap rewards-just don’t plant too deeply. Here’s hope spring makes a well timed entrance this weekend for you!
I love it! Waxing on about life at the age of two!
I know what you mean. I originally picked up packs of bulbs, realised they were not perennials and put most of them back and picked up other stuff. And I thank you!
She has very strong opinions about many things. “No, no” are prominent in her vocabulary. 😂
I don’t doubt that, either!!
Your little great granddaughter looks like she’s full of life and adventure. The plants that you showed us today were all beautiful; I wish I could smell them, too! Wilson, I love, love, love how you watch the animals on the TV. I wish my crew had more interest in that kind of thing. They’e only interested in the “live show.”
Thanks. Yes, Halia is full of life, adventure with soooo much personality. She’s such a hoot and went bonkers over the bubble machine.
I’ve never had a dog like Wilson who took so much interest in watching critters on TV. It makes me smile whenever he ‘vegges out’ (though he’s actually quite engaged and will respond if he thinks something is not right when an animal is in distress). Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.
What you said here about Wilson and animals on TV brought back memories of Callie…she, too, would watch intently whenever Sam & I were watching any “critter” program on tv. And would – as you said – respond when she felt something wasn’t right. And if I was watching Dog Whisperer (back in my “didn’t know better” days), she would bark at Cesar or one of the dogs as if to say “no no no that’s all wrong!” 😂
It’s the cutest thing to watch them watch. Wilson gets very animated if there’s any distress or potential injury or rough-housing-he’s sooo protective. He gets very upset about that. Once he rushed the TV where I thought he might knock it over!
Callie was so sweet and smart. That whole domination thing wasn’t necessary and I’m glad people figured that out.
That’s really amazing about Wilson!
That’s wonderful that you watch educational tv wilson! Chester sleeps through it. He doesn’t even notice it is on! You are a smart boy!
Thank you, Martha. I swear this boy is a HUGE fan of PBS and watches anything with critters. He cracks me up and gets very animated if any creature exhibits distress. Wishing you and Chester a lovely weekend-give that sweet boy a good ear rub from me.
Delightful post between Wilson watching TV and your great granddaughter enjoying her day.
I love my Viburnum carlesii, Korean spicebush. It perfumes the whole yard. In your case, maybe a Philadelphus, or Mock Orange, might be more drought-tolerant? Easy to care for, too.
Thanks, Eliza. Glad you enjoyed this week’s post. Oh, to have the enthusiasm of a TV watching dog or a toddler enjoying the sweet innocence enjoying the simple life…
I so love that viburnum but do think a mock orange might be a suitable substitute. I’ll be lucky if I get the daylilies and a few peonies in the ground. The soil needs so much enrichment because of its heavy clay makeup, it’ll be a miracle if any shrubs get planted. But one can always hope, right? 😉 Enjoy a lovely weekend.
Loved the photo of the birthday girl on the slide. Oh, to have that kind of energy again!!
Oh yes, it would be lovely to be as energetic as she is! She’s quite the little busy person. LOL Enjoy a lovely spring weekend, Debra.
You too!
Thanks for taking us along to the party and the walk along the canal. The flowers are beautiful and I love the shot of the heron.
Our first cat absolutely loved watching “Big Cats of the Serengeti,” when it was on PBS. He would sit on the ottoman and simply stare at the TV. We didn’t dare change the station.
Thanks, Dan. We enjoyed your company on our outings. I’ve never had a dog who was so engaged watching TV programs. He always responds to animal sounds and has to check it out more closely. When he does, it always makes me smile. Have a wonderful weekend!
Lucky girl to have a spring birthday! So much better than a January one!
If it’s any consolation, there have been plenty of April and May snowstorms around here. 😉 Enjoy a terrific weekend, Kate.
ooh what a fab tv watcher you are… and we love the heron… ours here is a really hero-n he escaped the cam of the mama 87 times LOL
Thanks. Those herons are pretty shy apparently. We were just lucky it didn’t fly away and just went down the canal a little bit. Have a wagnificent weekend!
What a happy little girl! And, of course, a dog in attendance!
Thanks, Helen. Oh yes, a pair of dogs as well as a pair of kitties. She loves her critters. Have a wonderful spring weekend!
Oh my – what a precious photo of your Mum’s great grand-daughter on her slide! That’s a great smile she’s “growing” !! AND can we say again what beautiful countryside photos you have where you are now…….pretty sights and smells. Mother Nature has different sounds, sights and smells for every single part of the Earth doesn’t she. Sending you all hugs from us!
Love, Pam and Teddy too
Thank you-she’s such a joy to watch growing up.
This new neighborhood truly nourishes our souls and we’re enjoying finding the new parts of it. Have a wonderful weekend.