After yesterday's fine, warm weather, today is cold, overcast and windy, it even rained for a bit this morning. 
It might be Spring but Oregon isn't quite there yet!

 

I had to scramble to find some pictures to show for this week, I guess there wasn't much that caught my eye.
Here's one thing I that did though ... the Ospreys are back on their nest at the river!

 

 

                                                             

 

Like I said in my previous post they have some cleaning up to do .. maybe some weed-whacking?

Oregon's state flower, the Oregon Grape, is starting to bloom (left) and the Red Maples (right), always early, have put out their tiny, but showy, flowers as well.

      

And look who's back as well!

                                  

 

                                    Always a thrill to hear the distinctive buzz of a hummingbird!  

 

This lonesome male Wood-duck showed up in the pond this morning  as well.
Isn't he beautiful? Last year he brought his wife .. maybe he went ahead to check things out?     

 

            

And the little brown calf I noticed over a week ago at the neighbors has been joined by a few more. I counted four new ones!

Well, I'm afraid that's pretty much about all the excitement we had this week!

Since the weather still isn't that great it's not yet time to start any vegetables or sow flowers or plant any plants although I'm very happy there are a few that are starting to show some growth all by themself! Like my Rhubarb:

I was thinking about making a strawberry-rhubarb pie for Easter and it looks like I might have some of my first homegrown for that!
The raspberries are showing signs of life as well:
 

                              

And look at these (future) blueberries!

Otherwise I've mostly been reading, making my way through even more books than usual.
That, and some binge-reel-watching ..
It's terrible but it's hard not to get 'reeled into' doing this, once I start I just can't stop watching ... there's so much interesting, fascinating, funny stuff out there!

Addicted? Me? Nahhh ..

 

Doesn't that look Springy Y'all?
Which it actually IS of course, since Friday morning 10.45 to be precise .. 

I'm happy about it, but mostly for most of the rain to have stopped ...  I'm not looking forward to warmer weather at all.
If it only could stay as it is right now, around 60-65F, now that would be bliss!

                                                                                        

The Vinca I planted on the little grassy slope in front of the front door is starting to flower and I brought some daffodils and primroses back from the supermarket:

I also noticed that the blackberries around the pond are sprouting new leaves so I brought out the hedge-trimmer (best tool for the job) and 'went to town on them' to 'nip them in the bud' .. quite literary!

Once a week I walk to the pond in town, which is my longest hike, one mile to get there, 1 mile around it and one mile back, and used the zoom on my camera to check on the Osprey nest which sits on top of an old  telephone pole next to the river:

                                                           

It looks like the residential Osprey-couple that comes back here every year to raise a brood, will be in for a surprise ... 'honey, there's grass growing in the living-room'!
Hopefully they'll be OK after some thorough spring-cleaning.

Let's see, what else? Oh, yes, It's been quite busy on our little road all week.
Those big trucks? Well, they're working on bringing all electric lines, for the second half of our road, underground!

There's a whole bunch of guys showing up every day which is a big change from usually not encountering anybody at all. 
There's a lot of waving and greeting going on and there's one guy in particular who tries to stop me every time for a little talk ... there's always one isn't there?

It's OK and you can say it adds a little interest to my walk, but I'm going to be happy when they're done .. I know, 'bah-humbug!'... I'm so not social.

I almost forgot .. it was St Patrick's day on Tuesday. As usual, I made corned beef with all the fixings:

I was tickled pink to find a 'point cut' this year at Safeway! In previous years I always had to make do with a 'flat' cut since nobody would carry the 'point' which is a much leaner cut and only half as tasty!
I guess most people want leaner meat/food these days but believe me they miss out on the deliciousness of a fattier meat. It's so much more tender and flavorful, it melts in your mouth!
And since we've stopped eating meat, with only the very occasional exception, I think we're going to be just fine.

Of course I also took the opportunity to bake some Irish Soda-bread. I split the dough in two and added raisins to one of them:

As usual ... delicious (with a big pat of butter of course!)

And how about some cuteness overload:

On my way into town, just out of the gate,  I heard a cow mooing loudly in the meadow next door . After locating her, half hidden under some low trees/shrubs, I saw the reason why ..

     

She had a baby! I was just a minute to late to see it being born. She was already starting to clean it up ..

                                              

When I came back about 3/4 of an hour later, it was already up and nursing!
So freaking cute!

                  

Yup! Spring has sprung! 
Despite everything that's happening in the world, life goes on ..
 for now.

 
I just looked through last year's posts of March and it turned out I posted exactly the same picture at the time!
Talking about 'in a rut' or maybe 'history repeating itself' ...
Oh well, I thought those blossoms were pretty than and I guess I still do, nothing wrong with that.

Same for this one, of the weeping willow at the lower gate:

                                                

It's first leaves of the prettiest light green/yellow are unfurling ... willows are always early but this year everything seems even earlier than before!

And look at this:

The first Red Angus calf is 'on the ground', as they say. No doubt a lot more will follow, it's a small herd but they all look like they're ready to pop!

We have a few more ducks starting to visit the pond. I've seen several Buffle-heads and Hooded Mergansers and a few small groups of Mallards.

(Btw, did you know a group of ducks is called a 'paddling' when in the water, a 'waddling' on land and a 'team or flock' in flight?
Not me ... well, know I do!)

We've had a few decent days this week, sunny and even warm enough to have coffee outside (in the sun)!

                        

I'm scrambling to find anything else to say about this week and I didn't take many pictures either. 
When I told James I seem to repeat exactly what we did last year and that I'm really not doing much with my 'wild and precious life'  ... he disagreed. 

"Look at all you're doing ... making from scratch: yoghurt, bread, hummus, coleslaw, dried fruit, and sprouts, morning smoothies and most of our cookies and pastries (oliebollen!), you're growing vegetables and flowers, you compost, keep birds, bees and bats and make sure to buy eggs from happy chickens.

Add to that the spinning, knitting, embroidering, painting, puzzling, walking in nature every day and of course reading.
                                                   "I don't call that 'nothing'!"

OK. OK. If you look at it like that I guess that's not too bad ...

Also, I finished one of the most difficult puzzles I have. Took me an insane 4.5 weeks to do so but hey, I did it!
I guess that counts for something! It's not quite a 'wild' life but I like it and that's all that matters!

This week's full moon

Daylight Saving Time (DST) began this morning, on March 8, which is the earliest possible date for the change,

 because the second Sunday in March fell as early as it could on the calendar!
By law, DST starts on the second Sunday of March and ends on the first Sunday of November, ensuring a consistent schedule regardless of the specific date. 

                                                    

Yeah, this is sort of me when I try to figure out what this did to the time-difference between us here in the pacific north west and Amsterdam (makes a difference when calling).
Normally it's 9 hours, so now it'll be 8 ... right?

                                 

Any-who ..  we set our clocks forward before going to sleep and I still managed to wake up at my 'normal' time, which is (around) 6.45, despite it being an hour earlier than yesterday .. go figure!

              

This deer, peeping out from behind the tree, almost seemed a little shocked to see me out so early .. it must not have gotten the memo about the time-change!

No question about how he got is name by the way ... it's a 'white-tail deer' for sure! 

                               

Now here's something you don't see everyday .. or actually what we don't see .. any day:

                                      
                                         

Early one morning, I glanced out of the window while setting the table for breakfast and I see something swimming in the pond ... which is not that unusual at all but this was not the usual duck or goose.
At first I thought this was a ground-squirrel, and yes, they can and do swim according to Google, but I've since chanced my mind and I'm pretty sure this is actually a Muskrat!

He's just moving too smoothly, swims too easily and than dives down and disappears in what I suspect is an underwater burrow in the side of the dam between the ponds. 
And although I thought at first that his tail was hairy I now think it's actually not. 
He's also only out when it's either dark or pretty late or early which is more normal for a rat than for a squirrel.
So ... we have a musk-rat ... now what? They can do damage to dams so I'm afraid we might have to trap it ..

Other than that I don't think I have much else to rapport on. 
The weather is all over the map with quite a few warmer days of temperatures in the high 50s, low 60s even, alternating with still cold, foggy and of course rainy days.

Just like last year, my Rhubarb is already unfurling its leaves, and quite rapidly too, I swear it grows at least an inch a day!

 

                                                    

The Cherry trees are turning more pink each day !

And on the sunny days the first daisies are showing up in the grass, they really make it look like its Spring, don't they?

The ornamental cherry on the property is already flowering! 

Well, I learned something new this week! 'Never too old' I guess ...
Apparently, the start of spring can be defined in two different ways: meteorologically or astronomically. Astronomical seasons differ from meteorological seasons because equinoxes and solstices define them. Meteorological seasons are based on weather patterns and cycles, which is why the dates differ.
Because of the elliptical shape of the Earth's orbit, the lengths of the astronomical seasons are not uniform, they vary between 89 and 93 days. 
Meteorologists do not like this variation. Therefore, they came up with meteorological seasons, which last exactly 3 months, year after year.

So it largely depends on whether you follow the weather changes or where the earth is in its orbit around the sun.
Meteorological spring begins on March 1, while astronomical spring starts around March 20.

          

Regardless ... signs of Spring are 'springing up' around here! 
Besides the white Cherry in our own yard, there's a much more pink one in the neighbor's yard as well.

And the first Daffodils are flowering:

                                                            


Here's another sign ... I broke my 'winter' mug ... yup, time to switch to a more spring-like one!



Since the weather had been good for a couple of days, that is .. it didn't rain, and hopefully all the mud had dried up a bit, we decided to go for a walk on Sunday.

But of course not before we had some coffee first!
This time we tried yet another coffee place we hadn't been before, the Bad Dog Bakery in McMinnville.
They had a food cart for several years, building a loyal following, consistently selling out of their delicious breakfast sandwiches. 

 

About a year ago they teamed up with Summon Coffee,  a small-batch roastery and coffee shop, and now share a space in the same building, offering 'a welcoming space where coffee and pastry lovers unite'.

The interior is rather sparse, typical for the industrial trend of these days of painted concrete and mismatched, simple and mostly re-used furniture.

It's a little too 'cold' for me and the coffee, as is often with these popular newfangled and hyped up 'small batch' roasts (or wines, or breads or cheeses etc, etc), was not quite my taste either, as in (in this case) too 'harsh/bitter'.
Why try so hard these days to change so many things that were just fine as they were?
(And lots of people claiming that, 'oh yeah, this is so much better'. Really?) 

Fortunately the pastries were excellent ... although basically variations of either donuts or cinnamon rolls. 
Sigh, I guess I miss the European 'gebakjes', like these ...

                                       

OK, enough drooling over (not to be) pastries, I swear, I gained a few pounds just posting these pictures ... time to hit the trails!

To do so we drove to Miller Woods, a beautiful park about 15 minutes outside of Mcminnville. 
This 130-acre Conservation Area was donated to the Yamhill Soil and Water Conservation District by Frieda Miller in 2004. 
It's composed of pasture and hay fields, shady woodland and conifer plantations with a few old-growth Douglas-firs still standing.

 

We decided to hike half of the 4.5 mile outer loop today, leaving the other half for when we return. Something we quickly realized we certainly will do, it's so beautiful here!
  

This gorgeous oak, one of a pair actually, flanks the main trail from its start out of the parking lot:

The trails lead you through a varying landscape. The perimeter loop (4.5 miles) is mostly in wooded areas on a packed dirt path, circling, and at certain point traversing, some large, open meadows and fields.

 

The place is covered in birdhouses, they're everywhere! 
Alongside a path through one of the meadows a whole row of Blue-bird houses were placed on poles. 
I used the maximum zoom on my camera to take a picture of what I thought was a blue bird sitting atop one of them, but what actually turned out to be a Kestrel:

                                                 

There were tens of chickadee-size nesting boxes hanging from trail-side trees.
None of them showed any sign of life yet ... we definitely have to come back a little later this Spring!

            

We enjoyed the beautiful rustic trails throughout the woods, alongside small creeks and over several bridges.

                 

    

                  
We sat down on several of the many benches, listening to the quiet of the forest around us. 
It was incredibly peaceful ..

Deer are common here, and rather unafraid of hikers and we actually saw two of them.

                      

Eventually we ended up at Otter pond where the first flowers of the Western Skunk Cabbage were opening. 
(The plant is called skunk cabbage because of the distinctive "skunky" odor that it emits when it blooms.)

                               

Like I said, we'll go back for sure. 
This turned out to be a real gem of a place and we still have the other half to explore!