Spring Is Here

I think spring must have officially arrived. The flowers are all blooming something crazy, and I even saw the first honey bee of the season yesterday.

And old barn in the middle of a field of mustard flowers in full bloom.

First honey bee of the season.

Mustard flowers in full bloom at sunset.

Blue bells.

A bit of pink. These trees were so packed with blossoms it was crazy.

A lone red tulip.

Black and White Sunday: Flower edition

The black and white version

And in full color

From When There Was Sun

Well, the Pacific Northwest is now experiencing typical spring weather. That is to say, it is overcast, raining heavily, and no end in sight. I'll admit, I actually kind of like the rain. I grew up here in Oregon, so the rain kind of just feels like home. Plus, we really need the rainfall. Oregon is world famous for being green (we are technically a rain forest, after all), but to be that green, we need a lot of rain.

In any case, my point is, rain doesn't make for good picture taking weather. And I would have to clean the house to take pictures inside.

So, here are some pictures from the garden expo I went to a few weeks ago. It was unseasonably sunny and warm for a few weeks, and it just happened to coincide with a lot of fun events, this garden and plant expo being one of them. It was hot and sunny enough that I actually got a bit of a sunburn.

So while it was technically a plant and garden sale, and there were a ton of plants for sale, I ended up taking more pictures of the other types of booths. Hand-thrown pottery and custom bird houses were among my favorite photos once I got home and looked at them all.

But my real favorite was the oca. Oca is a small tuber grown in South America. It is sometimes referred to as a sweet potato or yam, even though it really isn't one. It can be eaten raw or cooked and comes in a ton of different varieties. The different colors taste slightly different, and some are better prepared certain ways. I've only really tried these once, but it was enough to motivate me to buy a bag of the tubers to plant in my garden. So far, I have a few of them planted with my current tomato in a pot, a few in my raised garden bed with the rest of the vegetables, and some in my straw potato tower. I might have put some in the pots with the herbs too, but I actually don't remember. I guess I'll find out if they start sprouting up...

Just look at the amazingly rich colors! Man, I really super love the oca. I really hope mine all grows well so I have plenty to eat and plenty for planting next year. The tubers are supposed to be even more brilliant than these when you harvest them. But, the tubers are all these great colors, the leaves are just amazingly fun to look at, and they taste awesome. What more could you want in a plant?

And so ends my post about pots and plants.

Tasty Tuesday: Pallo's Mouth

Happy Tuesday! I drove up to Portland yesterday evening to pick up Pallo, who did not appear to have missed me terribly. The dogs did get a dried duck foot each, though, as an awesome-dog reward for be my awesome dogs. 

Then today, I was walking around town and went into a thrift store. And what did I find but a set of 52mm macro filters. The macro filters I have right now are 55mm, so I have to use a 52-55 step-up ring to use them with my 50mm prime. With the 52mm filters, I won't have to use the extra ring, and I will be able to fit the same lens cap on with or without the filter. 

However, the extra set of macro filters resulted in me stacking the three 52mm filters, threading on the step-up ring, then stacking on the three 55mm macro filters. Then I took super-close-up pictures. And because it is Tasty Tuesday, I took pictures of Pallo's tongue and teeth. Because then it is almost like I planned this. (Plus, dog teeth is apparently one of the number one search terms that leads people to my blog. Go figure.)

I also took a few pictures out in my garden (which is pretty sad and pathetic so far this year, other than some sprouting pumpkins from the compost and the very enthusiastic marionberry climbing the fence). This little lady bug was on the marionberry leaves.

Then, I went to try for a picture of this great dandelion puff. But Martha saw me going for it and ate half of it before I could grab it from her. So I was left with only about three seeds total still on the stem of which to take a picture.

Wordless Wednesday: Shades of Green

I miss flyball

I have now had to miss flyball practice for work two weeks in a row. I miss it. Its driving me nuts. I'm sure the dogs aren't too pleased by the lack of flyball either. Its making my mind go into researching mode. I've been researching flyball boxes, including: different styles, materials, ball hole placement, flexibility, launchers. I've been watching training videos. I've been doing touch stick practice with my dogs, but don't have enough room to do any wall practice still.

Basically, I just need to get back to flyball practice before my head explodes.

I've even gone from researching flyball to just researching in general. Books on urban homesteading, gardening, raising chickens, rabbits, goats, and other animals are all appearing in my house unbidden. I mean, I like gardening and all, and I love getting fresh produce from my garden over the summer, but seriously? These books are pretty depressing sometimes.

One of them shared the golden gem that if we stopped using lawn mowers in the United States for one year, it do as much for reducing carbon emissions as removing one in every five cars from the roads. Thats just sickening. We spend that much waste of gas and time and resources on something so pointless as a lawn?

Or how about the wonderful little fact that 40% of the food produced in this country ends up in landfills, uneaten, much of it even before the expiration dates? Talk about a depressing book to read.

But on to happier things.

I managed to finally get a good picture of Koira barking (yelling) at me to THROW THE BALL!


And a good picture of both my dogs together, which seems rather rare actually


One of Pallo trying his hardest to look just like a real Vallhund instead of the funny looking corgi something mix he more likely is


Koira leaping for joy (or a ball, you know, same thing)


And a picture to add to the Funny Expressions album of my dogs, with the title:

Intense Desire


Followed by the question for readers: Do my dogs look too skinny?

And, lets not forget the Blog Hop

Wordless Wednesday: I can't wait for my garden to look like this again

(Don't forget to leave a comment on any post between Monday and Friday this week for a chance to win a leather dog collar.)

Winners!

Pallo and I are winners!

Back at the end of February, I entered this picture of Pallo in Fido's City Guide's February Pet Photo Contest. http://fidoscityguide.com/wp/



Thanks to a total of 25 votes (mostly through my great friends and family, who I bugged with Facebook), the picture was the winner of the month!

Evanger's (http://www.evangersdogfood.com/) is the company sponsoring the contest. Just this week, I received my box of prizes from them. I was told the prize would be dog food. It was so much more.



Sure, I got a bag of dog food. The package also included cans of dog and cat food, four types of dog treats, a bird food supplement, a 2011 calendar, and a number of coupons.

Since I don't have a bird, the bird supplements will be headed to our local humane society as a donation, along with a couple of the types of canned food that I don't care to feed myself, but which the dogs there will be very happy to get. The treats will be greatly enjoyed by my crew, and the kibble we will save and use as treats as well.

Pallo is a great fan of Evanger's treats.



When I drug all our prizes outside for some good sunlight pictures, Koira decided it was the perfect opportunity for some sun bathing.



And I couldn't resist taking a picture of the budding leaves on my blueberry bushes. I put the bushes in last year in the spring, and they produced a few berries for me. I'm hoping for a bigger crop this year.