HAPPY EARTH DAY ~~ PUZZLING UPDATE ~~ SPRING IS FINALLY HERE! ~~ PARTING SHOT

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

This past weekend was a blast because we had a visit from daughter Emily and her husband John along with their two girls, Micheal Ann and Maya. We all had a great time on Saturday when we went to the Yakima Arboretum and discovered that it was the Arbor Festival, in observance of Earth Day being on Sunday. John wheeled into the parking lot right away, so Linda & I followed suite. It was a gorgeous, mostly sunny day but a bit chilly when the sun went behind an occasional cloud. There were lots of people there with their kids, enjoying nature and the nice weather.

A big attraction at the festival was this tortoise who was roaming around the yard eating grass and dandelions. He seemed to especially enjoy the dandelions. I told Linda later that we should have borrowed him to put in our yard to eat up all the dandelions. He would have had a feast!

Another big attraction for some was the booth that had live snakes, lizards and scorpions. This booth was presented by Central Washington University. I was not too keen on the snakes, but I did manage to touch one. Micheal Ann and Emily seemed to be quite taken by a boa constrictor by the name of Roberta.

ROBERTA HAS NEW FRIENDS!

A BEARDED DRAGON & A CORN SNAKE

Another popular booth was one which housed a couple of bunnies and a small pig. Visitors were allowed to enter their pen and hold the bunnies and pet the pig. Really, any kind of animal at this festival was an instant rock star with the kids!

MAYA & JOHN ENJOYING THE NICE WEATHER

While there at the Festival we strolled around the Arboretum grounds. It was so beautiful with all the trees, shrubs, and flowers starting to bloom. I do believe that there is no lovelier place in Yakima in the Spring.

Our thanks go to Donald and Helen Jewett for their financial support to the Yakima Arboretum, which enabled us to enjoy such a wonderful afternoon as a family, entirely free of charge. We thank them as well for their many other contributions to charitable entities in this area, including the Yakima Greenway.

THANK YOU!

Later that afternoon we had a little birthday celebration for Linda and John, and then we all went out for dinner at Cowiche Canyon Kitchen & Icehouse. Everyone enjoyed some fabulous food and the adults were treated to some fantastic beer and wine. Linda and I both had the Milk Stout Nitro from Left Hand Brewing and I must say it was exceptionally tasty.

PUZZLING UPDATE

Linda and I continue to be addicted to jigsaw puzzling. She did a couple almost completely by herself while I was busy being sick. However, she graciously waited until I felt better before she started on this one.

"THE CRAFT CUPBOARD" PUZZLE

Emily had sent this to us and it arrived the day after we left to go down to Carpinteria, so it was almost a month before we got back and I felt well enough to work on it. I thank Linda for being so patient and waiting! We both absolutely love this particular type of puzzle because they are so interesting. The puzzle brand is Ravensburger and the artist who does these particular illustrations is Colin Thompson. I am always so amazed at the intricate little details that appear on almost every single piece of these puzzles. Below are pictures of a few examples that I took from this puzzle.

THESE LITTLE PINK GUYS ARE SO CUTE!

SPRING IS FINALLY HERE!

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Spring has finally arrived in Yakima! The daytime temperatures have slowly been creeping up. One sure indication that Spring is here is when Linda and I can sit outside on the weekend and have our drinkiepoo. We were able to do just that this past weekend. We got our lounge chairs out and kicked back underneath our tree with a tasty gin & tonic. We delighted in watching the Goldfinches flitting about in the tree above us. We even had a young Eurasian Collared Dove fly up and make a shaky landing on a nearby branch. There is nothing I would rather do than sit outside on a nice day, under the tree, and watch birds. It is especially nice if I can enjoy a G&T while doing so!

FLEDGLING DOVE

AMERICAN GOLDFINCH

PARTING SHOT

Of course, with the arrival of Spring we haven't had the pleasure of Summer Girl's company inside the house as often as we did in Winter. I don't blame her, I would be outside as much as possible, too. Here she is staking out a place in the grass to spend some time enjoying the sun.

JUST LOOK AT THAT SWEET FACE!!

SOME OF LINDA'S BEAUTIFUL TULIPS

That's about it for this week, my friends. Please check back again next week for more pictures and musings!