Last week, it was leaf-blowers. This week it’s air-hammers and saws. And these guys. See the post on the ground on the other side of the street (by the far orange cone)? I saw that a week ago and thought, hmm, new post somewhere. And, when I saw these two bucket trucks from down the street, I thought: aha, that new pole is going up! But…………………no! Will revisit this street tomorrow and see what the fix-it status is.

In other news, the first volleyball practice I’ve seen this year here. Two groups!

Some trees are blooming…

…and some are not. [There wouldn’t be that skinny shadow if there was more vegetation on those branches.]

Found my first dogwood with open blossoms*! Probably they’ve been open for a couple of days, and I just found them…the tree is not in my usual area for roaming.

I also found a small bush of small azalea blooms of large pinkness. Cute, ¿no?

* I was mentioning the other day that I hadn’t found any open buds, yet. Problem solved.

This was not predicted. We went AGAIN, for the third day in a row, OTP, that is: outside the perimeter. This time for high-quality veggies…and other stuff. No plans to go OTP tomorrow. Seriously. Might get an affliction or something if we did…. Today’s adventure, however, was all electric—gas engine never came on…shows how short a distance OTP we went (not even a tenth of a mile).

More tree blooming documented…plum or cherry, I believe. Saw dogwoods with swelling buds, but no open blooms (in this neighborhood). And that’s the botany-bloom report.

Been seeing these Dandy robustus (not their real name), but today’s the first I noted them in full seed-puff spheres. Not this one, however….

And so the circle-cycle of the seasons rotates another notch.

For the second day in a row, we ventured outside the perimeter, shopping this time. At one of those hunter-fisher-outdoor-y (and overpriced, IMHO) places. With kayaks against the front wall. So ornamental. So yellowy-green.

We started off with the black drink (not the Ilex version—duh!), shared with our lovely guests who were passing through from Pair-eeee (whatta time change!) en route to the Athens of Georgia. Glad they stopped over with us….

Sometime later…. With the fennel sprouts, we waved gubbbbb-eye….

Okay, I gotta give you a flower-cluster, too. Brilliant azaleas.

Instead of catching the week’s-end summaries and cogitations late afternoon via ray-dee-oh and tee-vee, we launched a mooooo vee, “Boyhood,” geeze, amazing…wonderful…much better than “news” about shootups and shootouts and DC-capital games and cancer and yikes!

Somehow I got the weather prediction wrong yesterday—the line of storms is due tonight. Here are more tree-blooms that will be damaged.

Today was the third day in a row reaching the 70s (whew!), and I admit that after I got going on my walk, I began looking for a bit of shade—first day of the year I can admit/report that!

I believe this is a Lady Banks rose; it’s a vine, as you perhaps can tell. The blooms are small for roses, perhaps an inch across. Delicate.

Found several azaleas beginning to bloom today. This white specimen shows small buds, large buds, and open flowers. Lovely!

Tried my fave bison meatloaf tonight in the new range; loving the convection oven! Still have to fine-tune my understanding of how the convection-y part works…. More fun menus ahead!

Botanist’s daughter’s evening report: redbud buds and blooms may not survive tonight’s weather without becoming ragged or dropping. [Sigh.]

Still enjoying blooming bulbs.

I do like Japanese/deciduous magnolias; I especially enjoy the dark pink ones.

Starvation food—maybe no longer appropriately classified that way, since dandelion greens now are sold at Whole Foods.

Chew-bot is a robot goat, a Canadian transformer-like toy. As seen on “Corner Gas.”

We made a pilgrimage to see the Earth Goddess. She’s clearly awaiting spring.

In a sunny part of the garden, tulips…

…and more tulips!

In another water feature…a reflection of leafless tree above.