Spring Birds that Visit

One day a crow landed on the bird feeder, but couldn't get any seeds as it is a squirrel-proof and obviously crow-proof feeder.  The chain in front of the crow is from a hanging bird bath.

Varied Thrushes come through every spring.  They love the seeds on the dried flowers in the planters on the deck.

Several hummingbirds overwinter here and we keep the feeders full for them.

Black Headed Grossbeaks migrate through every spring and autumn and I was lucky to catch this one at the feeder.

And this squirrel thinks he is a bird - he "flies" over to the feeder from the deck, but never can get any seeds.  He is persistent and tries every few days.

What birds come through and visit your yard every year?

Spring Babies

It was a surprise - we weren't expecting it when we saw this little Canada Goose family.

 Mom and Pop and two babies

Have you seen any baby birds this spring?

Crocheting Hats for the Homeless

While I've been recuperating from my 10 days in the hospital I eventually had enough energy to begin crocheting again.  So I picked up a crochet hook and began on my project of making hats for the homeless in our town.  

 These are a few of the hats - so far I've made around 70 hats this year.

 I decided to make some pom-poms from some of the hats with the little scraps of leftover yarn.  And then some of my bears decided that they needed to wear hats, because they are sick and need to go to the doctor. They think they get candy when they go to the doctor - silly bears.

 The moose is the doctor - he has a badge and a shiny sequin stethoscope.   

 Buddy E, the frog, is the nurse and he hops about taking care of the "patients"  He thinks he gets candy for taking care of patients.

The bears finally took off their hats after a very long wait at the doctor's office, and went in search of some candy - I can hear them rummaging around in cupboards and drawers - oh well.

Mother's Day Gifts

We celebrated Mother's Day a little late - but it was super fun! 

One of my gifts was this fabulous Heron outdoor hanging.  Our son-in-law Jason designed and made this.  He based it from a photo that I took.  The outer ring is designed to represent the shutter of my camera.  It hangs above the double living room windows.  It is about 2 1/2 feet across.

This is the photo I had taken several years ago that Jason used to design the heron hanging.

He has amazing talent in design and in making up what he has designed.  When you need something designed - signs, stickers, flyers, 3D modeling and printing or laser cut projects, he is the one!

Visit his website Dauntless Design Works and find out the fantastic things he can create.  You'll be glad you did!

Another great gift was from our son and his family from West Virginia.  A big gift certificate for Uber Eats.  We get to pick  a restaurant in our area and have our meals delivered.  Hmmm, what shall we order?

Pretty Flowers

While recuperating I've received so many pretty flowers.

 This Fuchsia was a birthday gift - received the day before I went to the hospital.  It is growing and blooming on the deck and I can see it from my chair in the living room.  The hummingbirds love it, but I've not been able to catch them as they flit about.

I also received a lovely pot of clumping yellow bamboo - I'll get a photo of it when it is planted in the yard.

 So many pretties!

 Green carnations!

 Red carnations - the scent was wonderful!

 Lots of daffodil bouquets.

 Such beautiful Gladiolas!

 More daffodils! I love this photo - some reflections in the window from indoors, and the deck outdoors appears to be right next to the window - it is actually about 8 or 9 feet away.

 We  completely missed the daffodils and tulips in Skagit County this year, but our daughter brought me this lovely narcissus bouquet.

 The scent was fabulous!

 And a bouquet of yellow tulips alongside the narcissus bouquet.

I'm Back

It has been a long time - a lot of work - and lots of help from our family, but I'm seeing the light at the end of the tunnel - the far, far tunnel, but at least there is a light.

I no longer have to have someone with me 24 hours a day - the girls still come every day during the week - and Don is here nights and weekends, as always.  I enjoy having the girls here - and realize they have their own families and lives to tend to also.

I'll try and get some posts out, as my energy level allows.  I've sure missed reading all the fun blogs that I was following - but Bloglovin' has decided that since I was gone for so long that I was no longer interested in following blogs - and they deleted my list of blogs that I've been following - they even deleted my account - though they still send me notices of blogs that were on that list - go figure!

So I will slowly build up my list of blogs to follow - and hope I find everyone that I used to follow.

 Here is some of the silliness at our house.  I have been able to begin making hats for the homeless again - it is something I can do with the level of energy and stamina that I have.  Some of my bears decided that they wanted to test the hats - then they decided they needed to see a doctor too - Doctor Moose - and the frog nurse - you can play "find the frog nurse", he is wearing a yellow and green pom pom on his head.  

 The bears are in the waiting room - hoping to see the doctor soon.

Thanks for stopping by - I'll try and get to your blogs as soon as I can find them again.

Update on JoAnn

No photos today folks -, this is Don, JoAnn's husband. I wanted to answer a few questions she's been receiving and catch you up on what is happening . After 10 days in the hospital she has been home for a few days now. She is improving slowly, has someone from the family with her 24 hours a day, has home health nurse visits as well as PT visits. Right now her goal is to gain her strength back so she can get back to normal activities. All infections are healing well and responding to treatment, nothing new has developed, thank goodness. She still isn't up to individual communications, but really appreciates all your care and concern,and does love hearing from her friends. The family and I thank you all for being so thoughtful and kind. Progress seems slow but it is happening.