Life with Andrea

Springtime in February 

It really is not supposed to be 63 degrees and sunny for three or four days in a row in February.  I'm not complaining exactly, but this is not real.
The daffodils are up.  Our crocuses are past their prime.  I've got flowers on the flowering quince, and leaves on the currant.  The forsythia is budding.  Does this SOUND like February?
My friends and family on the east coast are suffering through another blizzard - I spoke with one friend today who said she had -6 degrees today, and her pipes were frozen.  She's got about 35 inches of snow.  And I need to mow the lawn.

Anyway, we have had a lovely weekend.  Yesterday, Bob and I met our friend Jerry Porter and we walked up the lower Macleay trail from the city to the Audubon center.  Then, we met several birds, one of whom spoke with us in a very erudite manner.  He one is not supposed to encourage semiwild ravens to talk, but when he says "Hi Ari", it's hard not to say "Hi" back.

Several of the birds were out of their cages.  I really liked the falcon, possibly a peregrine falcon, very pretty.  After we saw the birds, we walked through some trails.  There was a pond - and at the pond, there were newts!  I have never seen a salamander or a newt.  Turns out newts are a type of small salamander - so not all salamanders are newts, but all newts are salamanders.  They live in the water and look like chameleons, but they're not lizards.  So says Jerry, very insistently.   It's hard to see him in the water, but he's just about in the center of the picture.  We saw SEVERAL of them, in different places in the pond.  

So, SAturday, we took a walk and we had lunch in Portland, and we were tired.  But, that does not mean we are done - because the weather continues to be lovely.  Today, we walked along a new part of Burnt Bridge Creek Trail (new to us).  We took Baxter with us today (dogs are not welcome at Audobon but they are on today's trails).  At one point, we saw a pond - new and hitherto unexplored by gillaspys.  So, we walked around it a bit, Baxter got uncomfortable when he had to jump over a rivulet.  There were lots of ducks.  I looked for newts, but of course I did not have the patience to look hard, and so I did not see any.  Still, it was lovely and sunny and new to us, and we all enjoyed onr SECOND day in a row in the sunshine!

This last picture is of part of the "stone house" on the Macleay trail in Forest Park.  Someone had set up pretties - incense and scarves and candlesticks.  It has no roof, but it makes a nice landmark and resting spot.