Easy Does It

 This one's for you, Caitlin. I put Easy Does It into the ground this morning and now it is looking a bit weepy! When I pulled it out of my large pot I found that it didn't have much of a root system and the soil was very moist. One plus was finding lots of earth worms in the bottom! I think the potting soil I used was too heavy and it didn't drain well. Hope it survives the summer in the new spot.

 Crown of Thorns is doing wonderful. I'll put the pot under the lemon tree where it will be watered by a sprinkler. It has been growing for about 4 years now.

 Easter lilies are in bloom...always just before we depart. Next year I should probably divide the clump as I see fewer blooms on each plant each year.

Hybiscus

Saying Farewell

Annie, Brooke and Oliver visited with us in Thousand Palms in April. We enjoyed a longer visit than planned since Brooke came down with the flu. Grandma and Grandpa didn't mind the extension at all!

Cropping Photos

Shooting the blossom:

Now to find a neutral background.

I was playing with my camera's macro setting trying to get a good shot of the Christmas cactus bloom. Looking for a spot not in direct light, I carried it into the bathroom and shot it with flash. I thought the result was more interesting but knew it needed cropping:

 

It's fun playing with images...remember the old days when you had to chop up the photo paper!

Homesick?

This is a snippet of weather for all you who are homesick for Petersburg!



Wish I could have captured all the rain on film...

Hanging

Walking to town on a blustery day: when I carry a camera my eye seems to see! I thought this hanging stop sign was something...

Bear Creek Walk

Today we headed out to Sandy Beach for a walk on the trail towards Bear Creek. It was 29 degrees so we bundled up!

Looking out from Sandy Beach:

From the parking lot we headed for the new Troll's Bridge that crosses the creek:

This lone chimney stands tall at the beginning:

 

We came upon Joe painting with his dog. I don't know how he kept his fingers warm:

 The trail skirts Frederick Sound the entire mile:

 The Sokui Islands: (where do you look for the correct spelling...)

Looking back towards Sandy Beach and Petersburg Mountain:

 

There must have been a large blow down since this enormous root ball was turned on end. Four trees had fallen over, crossing the path.

 A look across at Horn Cliff:

Bear Creek aka City Creek:

The old steps up from the creek:

 Looking out from Bear Creek:

 Then the trail became icy as we headed for Frederick Point Road:

 Out onto the road:

 Trees covered with frost everywhere:

 Water was still flowing through this culvert near Sandy Beach:

 One last snap shot from the car of Devil's Thumb:

Louvers

Ken brought the doors back today that he had sprayed. The yellow one is for the bathroom. Here they are attaching the hardware. We'll install them in a few days to allow the paint to harden.

The End is Near!

Cutting in the paint.

 

Stashing furniture proved to be a task...we had Rob's tall ladder so decided to use the space above our closet. While in the bedroom we were able to reach the light bulb that had gone dead a year or two ago. Our tall ladders are not tall enough to reach that high.  After vacuuming the top of the closet, John handed me plants, chairs, etc. to stow.

The final wall to be painted ~ it had many popped nails that were unsightly. Mr. Spackle was quite stressed with all the hassle of trying to keep ahead of Ken the painter and having the spackle cure on time.

Chaos

I wanted to show some of the chaos we've been living with the last week. 

  

John has been Mr. Spackle and tried to get all the holes filled along with resetting bum nails.

First up was to spray the ceiling. Took down the lights and painted the plastic ends of the tracks that had turned orange from the light.

Dust is the name of this game...it is everywhere and will be for quite a while longer!

Mr. Spackle loves Wally's tool...it holds his mud.

 

This is what our living room looks like at the moment...