Kasvatusta

We've been growing a few things.


Pea sprouts for salads. Children just because.


Tomato seedlings, so happy together!

Cautiously creeping farther from winter...

The weather really is a boring topic, especially for a blog.  But I really need to mention that it hailed four times yesterday.  And today, it was so warm and sunny, I thought it would be fun to barbecue for dinner.  But by the time the coals got going, I began hearing the hiss! hiss! hiss! of large raindrops hitting the fire.  It all went downhill from there.  In Oregon there is a saying- if you don't like the weather, wait five minutes.  I imagine lots of places have that saying, but this next picture is a good example.

Here are some things coming to life in our yard right now, all of which are native plants and don't need any help from me, thank goodness.

Big-leaf maple...

Douglas fir (which is the tree on the Oregon license plate)

Oregon grape (the state flower)

Sword fern

And my deck chairs, which were prematurely brought out and cleaned off, rained on, hailed on, then re-stacked and put back under the eave.  Oh, well!

Iloa

I've been too sick this week to create anything positive, so as an emergency plan, let me find you some images of carefree happiness from last summer's archives. I second that Amy, back to around-the-house next week!

The best garden in Oregon!

Now that I have been to the tulip festival two years in a row, I suppose I will have to make it a tradition.  Last year, I took plenty of wonderful color-filled pictures there.  But this year, I got a little bored, feeling like I was taking the same pictures over and over again, so I took a few black and whites, and I think I love them even more.  It revealed something in the flowers that just isn't seen in color. And yes, these are all technically tulips, even if they look like peonies or roses!

Next week will be a return to more around-the-house type pictures, as our almost month-long parade of grandparents has come to a close!

Tavallinen perjantai

It was just an ordinary Friday. We walked to the store...

to buy this gorgeous bread, available only on Fridays and made in a local one-man bakery, in the archipelago.

We observed signs of spring...

fluffy like a baby bird.

We played outside.

"Take a picture of it!"

We were mostly pretty happy (not counting the half hour after she came from school and wouldn't speak a word).

We waited for Isi (Daddy) to come home, which on Fridays in an especially festive moment.

Scenes from a playdate...

These pictures were taken almost a month ago, on one of those unseasonably warm early spring days.  I think it was almost 70 degrees (21C)!  Thanks to E&E for always being great hosts!

Hiirenkorvia

I put some birch branches in a vase, and about a week later there was green. In Finnish, the brand new leaves are called mice ears. And if someone noticed my ring last week, yes, there is a connection - we were married in May.

Diary of a coconut.....

A not-so-small shoot from a not-so-small seed...

A young coconut is loaded with coconut milk, which is so pure, it has been used during wartime for blood transfusions.  It's not anything like the thick coconut milk you get in the store-it's more like coconut-flavored water.

The meat of a young coconut is like a creamy jelly, but is only in a thin layer.

As the coconut matures, the meat thickens and hardens as the liquid disappears.  Thanks to my father-in-law for scaling a ladder (twice) and wielding a machete like a pro.  What a day!

Music and flowers

If only I could post the sounds and smells....