WALK AT RANDALL PARK
This week we decided to take a walk at Randall Park since we hadn't been there for a while. As soon as we got there, we ran into a lady walking her dogs. This little cutie was bringing up the rear and we just couldn't resist stopping and petting her. Her name is Miss Minnie and she is a Brussels Griffon. I had never even heard of this breed, let along seen one, but she was as cute as a button! I had to take her picture.
 |
| Miss Minnie |
Apparently it was "dog walking time" as we also encountered a couple walking this cute little dachshund. I have a soft spot in my heart for this particular breed since we always had doxies in our house when I was growing up. This furbaby's name is Carmen.
 |
| Carmen |
Both of these dogs were excited to have someone stop and talk to them, so it was difficult to get a picture in perfect focus. I figure a picture that's a little bit fuzzy is better than no picture at all.
Dogs were not the only animals we saw at the park. There were numerous geese and ducks there, as is the norm at this park due to the pond. We passed this Canada Goose who was resting on one leg.
 |
| Is he doing the Hokie-Pokie? |
Over at the pond, there was a brood of ducklings swimming around with their mother. She had her hands (wings?) full with this bunch. You can hear the Red-Winged Blackbirds in the background.
The park is currently undergoing a make-over of the walking path. It looks like it will be a very nice path when they are done with it.
 |
| Renovating the Park |
BIRDS AT THE FEEDER
Since we brought home the bird feeder that was at Dad's house, we have had a lot of birds in the back yard. This year Summer Girl doesn't seem to be too interested in them, which is a good thing. In year's past, she regularly left us "presents" on the back porch, which was quite disturbing. I hope she is over that phase of her cat-development.
I have managed to get some pretty good bird pictures so far. I just got my hummingbird feeder put up as we saw one buzzing around the patio last week. It seems that they know when I am out there with my camera, because they always seem to fly away as soon as they see me. I'm hoping I can "sneak" up on them at some point. Since I didn't manage to get any hummer pictures, here are a couple of pictures I took this week of other birds.
 |
| Mr. Red-Wing Blackbird. You can just barely see the red on his wing. |
 |
| Male Goldfinch |
One morning I was looking out the bedroom window, which affords a great view of the backyard feeder. There were a couple of male Red-Winged Blackbirds on the feeder, but I also saw what looked like a really large sparrow. I ran for my camera and got a picture so I could look it up in my bird book. I found that it was the female Red-Winged Blackbird. As usual with female birds, she was not as colorful as the male, but still possessed a beauty all her own.
I also was able to get this video of a male Goldfinch at the thistle feeder. I was sitting quite close to the feeder, so he was a little bit wary and kept his eye on me the whole time. I love the way you can see the beautiful black and white markings on his wings. A female Goldfinch joined him near the end of the video.
GRILLING SEASON IS HERE!
One reason I love to see Spring roll around is because it is the beginning of grilling season. I know, people say, "you can grill any time of year!" But, trust me, you don't want to be outside grilling during a Yakima winter. Last weekend I got my little Lodge Sportsman cast iron grill out, oiled it up, and grilled one of my favorite things in the whole wide world...asparagus! You are probably wondering how my asparagus patch is doing. Well, I only have 5 plants that survived the winter and they did not produce any asparagus spears big enough to pick. I found out that I need to put some dirt around the crowns and fertilize them, so I plan to do that this summer. Hopefully they will produce some bigger spears next year. I had to content myself with asparagus that we bought at the Big Red Barn, which is also known as Washington Fruit Place @ Barrett Orchards. Doesn't this look yummy? |
| Asparagus!! |
BIRTHDAY PUZZLE
We finally finished the puzzle that I gave Linda for her birthday. It's a panorama puzzle, and I almost didn't get it because the measurements were 2 inches wider than our table. But I loved the picture so I went ahead and got it. It was a lot of fun to do but was quite challenging. We have found that the hard puzzles with a lot going on in the picture are the most fun to put together.
 |
| Only 700 pieces but still a challenge |
We finished it a couple of days ago, so now we have put together all of our new puzzles. We have a "re-run" set up on the table now and are just getting started with it.
 |
| Any guesses? And don't cheat and look at the box |
ARTY PHOTOS OF THE WEEK
We've had some pretty warm days this past week, a couple of them up in the high 80's. That's the kind of weather when I like to sit under the tree in my lounge chair and just do nothing...except take pictures and watch nature.
 |
| Sunshine through the leaves |
 |
| Hosta, up close and personal |
PARTING SHOT
We have several framed prints of bird paintings by Anne Worsham Richardson, an artist who lived in Charleston, SC. Whenever we went to Charleston we always made a point to go by her gallery and look at all of her beautiful bird paintings. Sadly, she passed away in 2012 at the age of 92. Apparently Summer Girl approves our choice of this print that we bought at her gallery, titled "Pileated Woodpecker with Dogwood Berries". Visit this website to view more of her paintings: ArtNet.com.
 |
| The cat has good taste |
I hope everyone enjoyed all the pictures and videos on this week's blog. Be sure to visit again next week for more of the same!
No comments:
Post a Comment