Snow Geese on Sewer Ponds, Hines, Oregon

My friend, Terry Keim, sent me this photo today. She lives in Hines and walks on a nature trail that goes by the town sewer ponds.  What looks like snow on the ground are actually snow geese on the sewer pond. They like the warm water and I've heard you can trace migrating geese from city to city on their sewer ponds.  Terry is active on Facebook and posts her photos, poems and observations on a regular basis. Thank you, Terry.

Baby Greens Garden

Last week when it was sunny I snapped a photo of our baby greens garden. I started cool weather plants on our sun porch which is not heated but gets warm durning the day.  My idea is to grow "baby" greens which seem to be all the rage now. I can snip them off before they get big and have salads for us. I also sprout mung beans in a jar which are great in salads. I'm growing seeds from that the library gave out for readers to grow. I got tatsoi, radicchio, sorrel, radishes, bunching onions, cauliflower, and kale. The idea is to let some go to seed and give back to library.  I also planted spinach and three different kinds of tomatoes from seeds we saved. I also planted a row of spinach in one of our raised beds and the snow will be good for them. I'll plant more spinach outside this week. I've already transplanted some of the greens into bigger pots.

Greens are a little bigger.  Photo below shows a robin outside the window look for a bite to eat.

I've transplanted quite a few more and they are growing well. I planted more spinach, lettuce and peas in the raised beds outside. We had a few radish greens already. But the plants need to get a little bigger.

My World Today

It's Sunday March 15, 2020 and we've awakened to snow the last two mornings.  This morning it snowed most of the morning.  John went to mass against my recommend to stay home and self-distance.  In just two weeks our world has turned around. Now the corona virus dominates the news and has changed everything.  We bought in food. I don't go to town anymore than necessary. John went to water meetings this week, did the mail, bank, post office and library routine and shopped for groceries.  I'm having a great deal of trouble putting weight on my right leg and so it is hard to get around. I use my new, spiffy roller walker pictured below.

 Here's my world: books to read beside my reading chair, walker by the chair. On the table is my beading stuff. I'm making a necklace that Aunt Nancy made for me that broke into prayer beads.  It's white outside because it's snowing. We don't use the telescope now because it's a wee bit cold to be out at night.  Stars are gorgeous though on clear nights. Space station has been going over in the mornings about 6 AM.

Winter White outside the dining room window. Left is avocado plant we started

Looking out of the window east into the snow. The plants sit on my beading table. This past week I saw my first robin. The magpies are enhancing a nest in the Russian olive tree by the pond.  The king birds are back and of course the sparrows and starlings never left.

Hot Springs

It seems long ago now but the first week in March John and I went to the Crane Hot Springs abut 45 minutes south of us.  The weather was sunny and up near 70 so we went on a Monday and Friday after our aborted trip to the CCL conference in Vancouver, Washington.  It felt good to bounce around in the pond and move my legs.  The water was comfortably hot, the breeze a little brisk.  It's a big pond where the water entering is boiling hot and by shooting it up and circulating it cools down. We took noodles to help us float around.

My hat says "Make Earth Cool Again". I got it at the Citizens Climate Lobby Conference. I'm very cool and modern.😊