We're only a week into April and Oregon has already surpassed it's average rainfall for the month!
Just like last year it's too cold and too wet, the ground is completely saturated and after a very windy week on top of everything else I've seen several huge trees on my walks that have toppled over.

                                  

          

I pass several of these giants on my walks.
Fortunately they're still leafless which helps a little for not being blown over .. it's hard to imagine a tree like this would but apparently it happens.
No damage on any structures that I can see and I haven't heard of people being hurt but it's a little scary, there are so many large trees lining the roads and properties around here .. heck, we're parked under one!

Coming around Doug's house I was hit by a wonderful smell, which turned out to be this pretty little shrub:



It's a Daphne Odora commonly called winter daphne because of its late winter flowers. It smells divine!
I guess it's a little late this year, like everything else ..

                                                                        

Just a little further in the yard I heard a loud hammering, something hitting metal at a rapid speed:

It's a Red-breasted sapsucker, a male. It really beats me why he'd like to hammer on metal .. it makes me cringe to see him doing it!

               

Some sources are telling me that Sapsuckers are named for their habit of drilling rows of shallow wells in shrubs and trees, and then lapping up the sap with their brush-tipped tongues, while others state they do not actually drink sap, but drill holes to catch insects in the tree sap?

Hummingbirds apparently often make use of sapsucker wells and may rely on them if they arrive before flowers bloom and especially the Rufous Hummingbirds often nest near sap-wells and may follow a sapsucker around during the day to feed on fresh wells.
This might be why I suddenly have a Rufous around the house!

Let's see, what else .. last Sunday we once again ended up at the McMinnville Gallery Theater for a performance of Harvey, the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy by Mary Chase, written for Broadway in 1944 and adapted into the 1950 film starring James Stewart.

It's a charming, funny play about a friendly man who claims to have an unseen (and presumably imaginary) friend Harvey, whom he describes as a six foot, three-and-one-half inch tall pooka resembling a huge, white rabbit.

                                 

Almost committed to a psychiatric hospital by his sister (who mistakenly ends up in there instead), he eventually is accepted for the gentle soul he is, seeing rabbits or not ..

Like I said, charming, but this performance didn't excite me as much as the previous ones we've seen.
Nevertheless, it got us out of the house for a couple of hours and there really isn't much else going on at the moment.

Lately I've been baking bread again on a regular base. This week I tried my hand at baking one in my Instant-Pot.

 

It's yoghurt setting creates a perfect warm and moist environment of 110F for letting the bread rise after which you pressure-cook the bread in the same pot!

                                 

It looks a little odd right there, but after a couple of minutes under the broiler to give it a some color it actually turns into a decent looking and very nice tasting bread!
Who knew?

                                                 

OK, that's about it for this week.
Just for fun, here's a few hilarious April 1st jokes I came across in the online dutch newspapers:

"From next Saturday, Customs will experience a global first. In addition to the current team of detective dogs, Customs agents will be starting a pilot program with the deployment of detective cats. The new team of “Customs Cats”, aka customs cats, will be specially trained to use their unique skills in locating prohibited goods and detection of suspicious passengers".

Or this one:

"Every racing season, the teams in Formula 1 face the challenge of having the fastest car appear at the start. After the changes to the cars in the 2022 season, it will be the circuits' turn in 2023. We at Prommenz can proudly say that we have engineered and are allowed to build the very first roundabout in Formula 1. In addition to being more sustainable and promoting road safety, the roundabout also gives drivers the opportunity to overtake opponents in a whole new way. This makes the races even more spectacular

We have been working hard for months to make this project a great success. After a long toil, we can present to you: the very first roundabout in Formula 1".

And how about this:

"The UvA is starting a trial in which intelligent drones will be used to enforce the smoking ban on campus. The drones detect cigarette smoke and, based on actual wind measurements, geo-fencing technology and facial recognition, can determine exactly where and at which target the smoke is coming from.
A precision syringe with water in the drone can aim at the mouth of a smoking student or staff member from a height of 5 metres and extinguish the cigarette".