My edible garden

I didn't know pansies are edible

Yesterday my neighbor Lynn and I took a trip over to Bellingham's Garden Spot Nursery, which is just beginning to ramp up for the spring season. Although there are lots of empty shelves for the new items that will be arriving, I saw this already created edible garden and had to have it. Everything in this pot is good to eat, which surprised me! I didn't know that pansies are edible, but Lynn told me they are a spicy addition to any salad. That's sage in the front and parsley in the back, with lots of other goodies for me to enjoy. For now it's to delight in looking at it, and later maybe I'll partake.

Today it's raining and it will continue for most of the day. I walked to my yoga class and took a couple of pictures of the daffodils I noticed last week. Although they are not as fresh as they were, when I showed SG this picture he said it looks like they are peeking around the corner to see who's coming.

The daffodil Gang of Four

After he said that, it's all I can see when I look at it. Makes me smile; I hope it does the same for you. Everything is blossoming out, and here the first day of March is coming in like a lion (lots of wind and rain), which I hope means it will go out like a lamb. According to Wikipedia, the phrase is credited to a poem by Lorie Hill:

March roars in like a lion

So fierce,

The wind so cold,

It seems to pierce.

The month rolls on

And Spring draws near,

And March goes out

Like a lamb so dear.

Don't you just love the internet? Every bit of information is right there at my fingertips! This is something I didn't know just a few minutes ago. Ain't life grand?
:-)

More rain and gardening news

Lake Padden this morning

Saturday again so soon? I texted my neighbor Lynn to see if she would be joining me for our walk with the ladies, and she said yes. We headed out on a fine misty morning to Lake Padden. When we left, it wasn't raining and the forecast said it would be nice. But on the way there, I saw raindrops gathering on the windshield, getting heavier as we got closer to the lake. Of course I had not brought my raincoat because I fully expected it to be nice.

Twenty of us showed up, and everyone was surprised by the rain, but I was the only one who had left her rain gear at home! I grumbled about my lack of foresight as we set out to do our twice-around the lake jaunt (5.2 miles). Before too long, the rain had stopped and I never did get wet, so I was happy, but I won't make that mistake again! Rain gear, just in case.

Have I told you about Lynn? She moved here with her son from Everett a few months ago, and I've learned she was a master gardener in years past. She's got a spot in our community garden and has started to improve it. You will see some of her efforts in a later post, but for now this is her front porch garden:

Lynn's pretty spot, which will be fun to watch as it grows and changes

You've seen her crocuses in past posts, but I notice she's trimmed them back and that the hyacinth is beginning to bloom. She feeds the birds and we've been really enjoying seeing and hearing them. It's fun to dig around in the dirt and I am beginning to feel the pull towards my own garden spot.

Picture taken by Kelly McClurg

Oh, and we met a photographer who wanted to take a picture of us at the end of our hike. Kelly McClurg sent me this just moments ago! Isn't it wonderful?
:-)

Is it really still February?

Today's trail on Fidalgo Island

We saw from the weather forecast that we were likely to have a wonderful sunny hike on Fidalgo Island near Deception Pass State Park, where we spend a fair amount of our winter hikes that are not in the Chuckanuts. Ten Senior Trailblazers drove south from Bellingham for about an hour to start our hike.

Fidalgo Island is north of Deception Pass

I've been adding maps lately, since I have a few bloggers who seem to really appreciate them, and it also helps me when I'm trying to orient myself. I guess it's time that I started to pay attention. This map (which I snapped while at the trailhead) shows that Fidalgo Island has both Bowman Bay (our starting point) and Ginette Hill. W've often hiked up to an old orchard and then headed back down to Bowman Bay and taken some short treks from there. Today, however, we went up to Ginnette Hill and tried out some new trails that are being created in the area. We went to some places we hadn't visited before.

An old log cabin

We found an old log cabin that has been abandoned for a long time, but we didn't really know who lived there, until we continued farther along the trail. We found a tunnel to an old mine. We looked into it, using our iPhone cameras to see farther in. A spooky place with a foot of water in the bottom.

The mine opening

Although it isn't easy to see from the picture, there really is plenty of water on the floor of the opening, and we couldn't see much except that it was definitely a mine entrance. What they were looking for when it was operative is not obvious, but probably the miners had created that log cabin and used it while the mine was in use. We followed the new trail for awhile, but it began to get very sketchy and so we decided to backtrack and find the orchard that we have visited  before.

Bob taking a turn on the swing

There is an old ancient apple tree in this orchard with a swing. We've loved to play on it on previous trips, but this was a first time for Bob and Chris (and me!). It was such a lovely day that when we stopped for lunch, nobody would have thought it would be the LONGEST time we have ever spent in a lunch spot. It was warm and beautiful and sunny, so we stayed for way more than an hour.

Elder teenagers having a blast

In this orchard area, where we know an old farmhouse must have stood sometime in the past, we spied several non-native plants in bloom, starting with violets and snowdrops.

violets and snowdrops in the middle

As we enjoyed our leisurely lunch, every once in awhile we would get a waft of the smell of violets, which were all around us. I found this lovely spot that also included some snowdrops in the middle, all in bloom. Isn't it still February? This seems awfully early, but nobody was complaining.

Daffodils in bloom, with more to come

Around the corner we found some daffodils already reaching for the sun, with plenty more to come in the near future. Look at all those green sprouts! It was just lovely, but finally we had to gather ourselves together for our return journey. By the time we had reached the cars, nobody was all that interested in our usual trips to increase our distance. We had covered just under seven miles and around 1,600 feet up and down, less than usual, but nobody was complaining.

Wheee!

As I sit here writing this post, with my face aflame from all the sunshine it absorbed today, I will leave you with this picture that Chris took of me on the swing. In all these prior years I have not taken the plunge, but this year I did! It was fun!
:-)

These doctors just keep getting younger

Dr Patrick Blair

Meet Dr Patrick Blair, my new Primary Care Physician (PCP). It was five years ago now that I wrote about my new doctor at the time, Dr Brent Whitehead and how young he looked. Brent has gone onto to a different clinic, and I was given a new PCP without any input from me. I saw him for the first time yesterday, and I was amazed that he's even YOUNGER than my previous doctor, who looked so young to me. I'll bet he isn't even thirty yet.

But lucky me, Patrick is a gem! We chatted for awhile about various things and I learned that he is just out of residency and this is his first job. He is from South Dakota but his wife grew up in Seattle, so they ended up here. He loves it as much as I do. I realized when I read that earlier post that I had decided to lose ten pounds I had gained and that I've kept it off since then. I patted myself on the back, but so did Patrick! He said that whatever I'm doing, I should keep on doing it. All my lab numbers are good, and he ordered a bone density test since it's been awhile. He cautioned me, however, that the drugs available for osteoporosis are not as effective as weight-bearing exercise.

I told him of my activities and he was suitably impressed and said that hiking and walking are the best things I could be doing for my bones. He told me that it's important to keep flexible and when I told him about my yoga classes, he suggested that I continue with them, so I will consider that my "prescription" when it comes time to sign up for the next semester.

Today when I took the bus to my yoga class, I got off a little early so I could walk in the brilliant sunshine and enjoy the sights of our early spring. I saw daffodils in bloom, and the trees everywhere are sprouting blossoms and tiny new green leaves. We have three days of sunshine and blue skies ahead, with above-normal temperatures, so I suspect that you'll be seeing lots of springtime pictures on my Thursday post.
:-)

More signs of an early spring

Flowering plum trees in Fairhaven

Last year we had a very early spring, so much so that by the end of April all the tulips at the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival (held the entire month of April) were all gone. We may have the same situation this year, but it's only the middle of February and anything can happen between now and then.

This morning when I woke thinking about the ladies' walking group, it was raining heavily. I don't mean just a light mist, but rain pounding on the roof. Oh well, I thought, get ready with all my rain gear and head out anyway. By the time I got going, it had pretty much stopped raining, but it was cold and windy. And then... an hour and a half later when we returned to the starting point, it was getting sunny! It doesn't take much to make me happy when the sun comes out like that.

Lynn's crocus coming right along

You know you will be seeing a picture of these pretty crocuses (croci?) in full bloom once the sun finally hits them. We've got some great weather coming in a few days, with nary a raindrop to be seen by midweek. Until then, I'm going to have a chance to use my raincoat after all.
:-)

Oyster Dome 2016

Me, Rich, Chris, Noriko, Peggy

This was our group today. No leader, as you can see here, so nobody did any paperwork and we set off to be a rogue group of Senior Trailblazers!

Keys on a stump at the beginning of the trailhead

Another one of those days when it rained all night and the weather forecast for Thursday was iffy. The five of us showed up this morning, and today, as you will see, we had a bit of everything. Except rain. These keys had been left on a soggy stump right at the beginning of the hike, probably lost the day before (since it was so early). Nice of someone to leave them; there seem to be a LOT of car keys.

Crew still working on the trail

It was November when we last went up this trail, and the trail crew had improved it immensely back then, as you can see from this post. Today I was pleased to see that all the worst parts have been completely replaced with a much better version, adding switchbacks and smoothing out the most treacherous spots. This worker is almost finished removing the rock from this section of the new trail. The temperature was perfect for hiking but a bit windy, as we made our way up to Oyster Dome.

Samish Bay from Oyster Dome

 When we reached the Dome, it was suddenly very windy and cold. As you can see from the overcast sky, we also didn't have any indication that the day would improve. It was early, so we scurried down from Oyster Dome and set off for Lily Lake where we would be in the trees and protected from the wind.

Lunchtime at Lily Lake

Most of the time as we ate our lunch, we didn't have much wind, but every once in awhile a gust would find us, so we didn't exactly linger long. We've been here when it's been sunny and warm, but this wasn't one of those days. But still, no rain made us feel like we were incredibly lucky. Plus the small group made it easy to enjoy each other's company.

Map showing where we went today

After lunch at Lily Lake, rather than turning around and heading back the way we had come, we decided to do our usual loop/lollipop hike. (Al calls it a "lollipop" when we make a loop but return on the same trail we started on.) See the red steep lines on the left? That's where we started up to Oyster Dome, and then we took the light green line up, then backtracked a little to the blue line that took us to Lily Lake. See the "You Are Here" indicator? From there we headed south to Max's Shortcut and the Larry Reed trail to Samish Overlook.

The view of Samish Flats and Samish Bay from the Overlook

This is probably the wettest I've ever seen Samish Flats, because of all the rain we've been having lately. But there is another thing we noticed immediately: blue sky beginning to appear. It was windy here, too, so we didn't stay long but headed back to the cars via the red line on the map.

Chris and Noriko basking in the sunshine

And on the way back down to the cars, on that final stretch, we saw plenty of sunshine! What a treat that nobody expected. All we hoped for was a hike with the rain not being too bad. Peggy said it was all her fault: she wore her rain pants, rain hat, and rain boots. How could it possibly rain on us?

Red currants in bloom

When we reached the cars, I took this picture of a sure sign of spring: a sprig of pretty pink blossoms! We had covered somewhere around nine miles and 2,500 feet up and down, so we were all tired but so pleased that we'd had such a great day. I know that some of my hiking buddies will read this and be sorry they didn't come because of the forecast. Another day when we beat the odds! Yessirree!
:-)

More downtown art

Entrance to parking garage

Scattered around Bellingham one can find some very interesting art. Although I don't park in this "Parkade" very often, it's open and free on the weekends, and I couldn't find any other place on Sunday than a spot in here. Everything was taken on the street and I suspected I'd find something if I entered the garage. Most people don't realize they don't charge for Saturdays or Sundays. (shhh! don't tell!)

This series of windows caught my eye, and then I realized that they aren't really there. My first indication that something was amiss is the picture of the sea in the lower left corner. And there is, unfortunately, no candy shop either. I'm not even sure if there are any bricks or whether it's all painted concrete. The sky provided a needed clue, though, since there isn't any!
:-)