WE HAVE BUD BREAK

I see some interesting/fun things from my window. Last week I noticed that the buds on our silver maple trees had swelled quite a bit. They must have been really tasty because the squirrels were going out of their way to munch on them. I saw several furry acrobats creep precariously far out on tiny twigs to taste those tempting tidbits. YUM.Then this week the little maple tree flowers burst through the buds. Apparently the flowers don't taste good because the critters haven't been after them this week.

A month later I took the following picture. I just thought it would be fun to add it here to see how the "buds" have progressed. Now they are turning into those pesky maple tree helicopters.Speaking of squirrels. Something funny happened the other day. I was looking out the window towards the back yard. It was early morning so the sun was shining from the front of the house. A young squirrel was having the time of his life running up and down Tiny Tree. (Tiny Tree is a Colorado Blue Spruce which is planted too close to the silver maples. When we first moved into this house, in 1980, Tiny Tree was only about 14 inches tall. Helena could jump over him. Tiny is now about 20 feet tall, but he will always be "Tiny" to us.)

Suddenly in mid-run, the squirrel stopped and scooted over to the maple tree. He scampered up a good distance and just started scolding for all he was worth. He was looking my way, so I thought perhaps he didn't like me spying on him. Then I saw the real problem, for a shadow passed by! It was a shadow of one of the cats walking by on the roof! I suspect it was Mollie, although I could not see her. (Mollie was above me on the roof, and the sun was behind me, so the shadow was cast in front of me.) In a second or two the shadow went back the other direction, and then I heard a big THUMP on the roof in the same direction the shadow was going. Who knows what it was.

Every year when we have bud break, our deck gets covered with maple tree bud scales. Yes, it's a bit messy, but it's a sure sign that spring is on the way.

We also had some colorful crocus break through.

And speaking of budding--Here's Andy at 10 weeks. He's getting bigger, and cuter all the time! Hey 'lil buddy! what's up?

HAZEL TAKES A TURN

Hazel is growing up. She will be 5 months old in a few days.
The doctor said it's time for her to take a turn at eating cereal.

So far she hasn't liked it much.

AND--Speaking of taking a turn, she turned over for the first time earlier this week. She had been really close for awhile, and she finally made it! She looks like she is saying, "How did I get here?"

YAY Hazel!

A SPOT OF PURPLE, AND A LITTLE BRIDGE

Yesterday it was 74 degrees out and actually felt like 74. Yay for spring. Jim even took advantage of the nice weather and pruned the mimosa tree in the front yard, and the monster Mock Orange bush in our back yard. The Mock Orange was threatening to take over the world, so now it's much tamer. It feels nice and open back there now. And speaking of nice and open… We discovered our first crocus were indeed open! Glad to see them. It's amazing what a little warm weather will do.

I sat in the swing house, petting a nice warm purr box, by the name of Mollie, in my lap. I was just lazily watching Jim work, and not watching, and thinking and not thinking. It was lovely, and nice. I was thinking about something I saw the other day. We drove Kirsten to school and happened to pass a house with a little bridge in the yard. On the bridge was a small paper which looked suspiciously like it might be a For Sale sign.

For the last two years I've been wanting to go to the garden center and have someone draw up a landscape plan for around the swing house. Design has never been my strong point, so I thought it would be safer to have someone else draw up the plan. It's especially not good when bushes and things are involved. Once we stick something in the ground, it's a bit hard to move it if I decide I don't like it there. I want to include in this plan a weeping pussy willow, and some kind of small tree or bush that blooms. Outside of that I don't really know, or didn't until I saw the little bridge.

Now I'm thinking that it would be great fun to add that bridge before our grandchildren come to visit this summer. I can see a little path leading from the swing house to the bridge and out the other side. Perhaps some little feet could trip trop over the bridge. There might even be enough room for a real live 4-year-old troll to hide underneath.

But as I was sitting there, something interrupted my tranquility--rather loudly in fact. The freeway was especially noisy today. When the wind blows from the south, it not only brings warm weather, but the noise and sometimes the fumes of the freeway. I wonder… I wonder if it would be possible to make a tiny stream go under the bridge, and if we could install a little waterfall, then perhaps the sound of the freeway wouldn't be so loud. We could even attract birds, and perhaps a frog or two. I wonder how that would be?

I don't want a lot of water--just a happy little addition to that cozy corner, with just enough of a flowing stream to play Pooh Sticks now and then. Wouldn't it be fun? Nice memories are made of things like that.

Addendum: Well, that was yesterday. Today, Sunday, Jim suggested that we go for a drive. We don't go out and buy things on Sunday, but he agreed to take me to see if we could actually find the bridge. After all, I had seen it so quickly as we passed by, and he didn't notice it at all. Was it really there, or if it was for sale, was it still there?

We got in the car and began to retrace our path. We kept going and going and going. We passed one little community and lots of empty space and headed into another group of houses. Nope, it wasn't there either. Finally I had a hunch we were getting close, and suddenly there it was!Jim thinks it's about eight feet long. We don't know the cost, or if it's even realistic, but at least now we know exactly where it is. Something interesting is that we rarely drive Kirsten to school, and when we do, we never go that way… We shall see!!!