Also while we were hunting for Spooky Forest at Timberlake Park, I spotted this little gang of flowers. :)
UPDATE: I learned today (March 30) from Kenji's mom that these are Trillium flowers, and they are illegal to pick in the State of Washington (and in some other states as well). I didn't pick them, or step on them. I only took pictures.
For Christmas, the library gave me a Starbucks gift basket full of coffee-type stuff as a thank-you for delivering books to shut-ins last year. The metal basket-like container from this has been sitting on our dining room table for a month and a half now, just kind of getting in the way. So while I was dusting earlier today I figured out something to do with it.
Those flowers are metal tulips we got a couple years ago from some art museum gift shop. They are taped to the top of a couple of boxes inside the basket, and there's fake grass covering the boxes. Inside the tulips are little votive candles. Well, it's kind of a fire hazard so they can't be left burning unattended, but it still looks kinda cool when the candles aren't lit.
Now that our front steps have been replace and are looking nice, we have to spruce up the plant life surrounding them. Over the last few weeks we've removed all the little bushes that were in the front, several of which were half dead and generally funny looking, and we've also cleaned up the weeds. Actually Kenji did most of that stuff.
Yesterday we bought ten perennial plants and twelve packets of wildflower seeds at Metropolitan Plant Exchange, and this morning we planted all ten plants and spread seeds from six of the packets. The other six packets of seeds we'll plant in the fall as per the package instructions.
So it looks pretty nice at least for now. Hopefully the new plants grow and prosper, and don't get all trampled by neighborhood kids.
Yesterday, when we got home from Massachusetts, we saw that our weird plant that shot up out of nowhere (well actually it shot up out of one of our spikey plants) has blossomed.
We don't know what the heck it is. Even with flowers, we're not sure we like it!
After visiting the Windsor Dam and the visitors center, we all headed over to the Quabbin Summit, where there is a tower and a lookout that offers a 360° view of the area. In the distant background of this photo, you can see Mt. Monadnock all the way in New Hampshire.
This little bench is a nice place to sit to take in the scenery.
It was from that little bench that I spotted these little wildflowers:
After taking pictures of the wildflowers, I took a picture of Mommy, Daddy and Kenji sitting on the bench, with the Quabbin Summit tower in the background.
Wild turkeys are not an unusual sight in my parents' yard. Yet seeing them is still impressive. This one we spotted when we arrived home after dinner this evening. He was in the front yard, and began to run away when he saw us pull into the driveway. I stopped the car before pulling all the way in, and managed to snap this distant, blurry shot before he wandered off into the woods.
A few minutes later we saw that Mr. Turkey had flown way up into a tree. I didn't even know turkeys could fly, since the only turkeys I've ever seen were either waddling around in my parents' back yard or in the woods, or on a large platter on the Thanksgiving dinner table. I did take some pictures of the turkey in the tree... but he was so far away that you can barely make him out in the photos. So instead here's a picture of one of the day lilies growing in the garden.
Last fall I planted some flowers in front of our house. Today, they finally opened up!
April 22
May 2 - before work
May 2 - after work
UPDATE: May 4 - afternoon
