Our backyard visitors this afternoon...

A pair of deer visited the backyard today. Looked like they were searching for greens amongst the snow. What crazy weather to end the month! Vil checking them out from the kitchen window...

Spring...come back! We miss you!

Dear Mother Nature, I’m writing to say
Your season are fighting, it’s snowing today!
Where is the spring that was here yesterday?

Winter came back and wants to play.

I see the blossoms, now buried in snow
And the where are the worms? The birds want to know.
They still are chirping, but their beaks are quite cold.
This chilly weather is now getting old.

We’re ready for springtime, for blooms and for bees
We’re ready for sunshine and leaves on the trees
We’re ready for hummingbirds and frog songs at night
This cold snowy weather…it just isn’t right!

So dear Mother Nature, please do have a talk
Tell old man winter to “take a long walk”
And bring back our springtime, tell Winter he’s done
And we’ll enjoy spring time, and warmth from the sun.

Thanks!

While I was in the Watershed... Vil was busy too!

Building the retaining wall around the driveway takes FOREVER! Just ask Vil who has been working on this wall for 5 or 6 full days. He is so dedicated to this task and his patience never ceases to amaze me. It's really looking nice! There is much more to do, but it's exciting as it's the first step before we can pave the driveway.

The Beautiful Cedar River Watershed

Oh... how I LOVE my job! As part of my job, we do stewardship project for the environment and Saturday we did a tree planting in the restricted Cedar River Watershed! Seattle is one of only half a dozen cities its size in North America to use a protected wilderness to supply clean and affordable water. The Cedar River Municipal Watershed, 90,500 acres of forest land just east of North Bend, supplies more than two-thirds of the water King County residents and businesses use, over one hundred million gallons a day.

Close your eyes and imagine the most pristine forest you can- void of people, rich in nutrient, plenty of rain and sun rays, and untouched by developement and human hands. This is what we got to see on Saturday. A haven for animals and native plants alike. There are only a few roads through the watershed, which is highly protected and a no-trespassing area (unless you are an invited volunteer). Our job was to plant 436 native trees and shrubs on some creek banks in a decomissioned road. What a job, and what a joy! It was a spectacular day- sunny and chilly as spring often is in the Northwest...and the birds chatted away as we worked. Afterwards, we got a tour of the rarely seen Cedar Falls- a protected waterfall, with nearly perfect water (no surface contaminent, which is almost unheard of in the US). I felt so happy planting in this gorgeous place. Not only is it right around the corner from our house, but it's also such a special place. As a side note, I found out that the water at our house is taken from the watershed (it seeps through the moraine, and is purfied underwater until it hits the well). No wonder it tastes so amazing!

Driving in, this was our view. They bus you in because cars are restricted.

Our crew...Anita and her husband Bill planting away...Pure forest beauty...Close up of some beautiful moss.

The spectacular Cedar Falls...

Cedar Butte

The pack of the 3 of us was off again this week. This time our destination was the beautiful peak of Cedar Butte- a great walk not far from the house! We saw lots of great mossy greens and plants, and enjoyed a nice break and view at the top. With spring here it's the perfect time of year to get out.. no bugs and a very comfy temp to hike. A few pictures...

The benchmark at the top- put there in 1937...
Summit in front of a great mossy tree...
Neat moss, close up- can you tell it rains here a lot?
A view of Rattlesnake Lake from the trail..

Summit and Papa talk at the top..
Neat bark..
Vil on the top- you can't tell, but this tree is growing on a very steep hill side- if he were to step backwards here, he would fall about 1000 ft. down.
Summit and I..

Hawaii!

I can't believe my last post was nearly a month ago. So much has happened since I last posted! First of all, Spring has Sprung! Looking at all that snow is really crazy now- hardly a stitch left.

February was a CRAZY month and flew by. We celebrated Vil's birthday on the first- then a few days later Maya arrived! She was gracious enough to come stay for a few weeks to care for our house and dog while we were on vacation. She came a week early to get reacquainted with Summit. Getting prepared for vacation at work is always a blur- so many hours in preparation for being away. Next thing we knew, we were celebrating our 4th anniversary on an airplane on our way to Maui. We had a fantastic vacation and enjoyed 9 days of playing in the ocean and relaxing.

We arrived home on 4 days ago on Monday, and Maya left on Thursday. It was very sad to see her go- we are trying to figure out how to get by without someone doing our dishes and cleaning our windows :). Bless her hardworking heart!

Today is leap day, and the month is officially over. While it was awesome, I'm also enjoying our Spring weather and looking forward to bulbs and the Easter bunny.

Here are some pictures videos with pictures from our trip! Enjoy!