Springtime in the Pacific Northwest

I got home late last night after visiting my three sons for a few days in the Seattle area, flying down with my two daughters and my granddaughter. The weather was rain, rain, and more rain, with an occasional short tease of blue skies and sunshine. We spent a couple of days in the Skagit Valley. There were still some Snow Geese hanging around. There were beautiful fields of daffodils in bloom.

The month of April is the Tulip Festival in the Skagit Valley. Things are a little slow this year, and we were a little early for the tulips. We did visit the RoozenGaarde display gardens where we saw some of the earlier varieties in bloom, and some very close to blooming. Next week a lot more are expected to be in bloom.

It was a windy and gray day, but the rain held off long enough for us to walk around the gardens and take a few photos.

The Tulip Festival is in its 28th year, but tulips were first grown in the Valley in 1906 with bulbs from Holland. By 1997 700 acres were used for bulb farming.

The fields of daffodils were beautiful, and every so often you could see a tulip blooming in the tulip fields.

We spent a couple of days on Vashon Island too, and my almost-two-year-old granddaughter Sydney enjoyed some time with her cousins Bright and Lyra who are 8 and 5.

During a short break in the rain, we visited with a few other residents on Vashon Island.

Sydney was very excited to see cows as she doesn't get to see too many here in Fairbanks. Bright and Iris had a short discussion, although they did not divulge what they talked about.

There were a few horses too, and they came up to the fence to get some grass fed to them.

The snow here in Fairbanks has begun melting, and five geese and 15 snow buntings have been reported at Creamer's Field. It looks like I'll have to stop by there when I go to the grocery store tomorrow and see if I can spot any of the early arrivals.

Animals at Old Bedford Village

Animals played an important part in early Pennsylvania life. While we were at Old Bedford Village we met several. There were a couple of horses, Belle and Nikki. One, I don't know which, came to ask for some treats. After a few pats, we walked away.

Belle or Nikki, whichever one it was, didn't seem to appreciate that we didn't give her any treats.

Next we met Molly and Martha. Their names were on the fence, but they didn't choose to say which was which, so again I can't tell you if Molly was white.....

Or brown.

They too came over to ask for treats.

Molly, or perhaps it was Martha, seemed a little more insistent about getting a treat.

In her frustration with us, she resorted to tasting the fence

I do not believe it tasted good.

There were also birds flying around, and many more singing in the trees.

There was a resident cat who was lying on a bench surveying her kingdom. She asked to be scratched behind the ears, but in the contrary way of cats rewarded me with a scratch when I complied with her request.

At a hitching post there were a number of mighty steeds waiting to be mounted and perhaps rode off into war against the Indians.

No village is complete without some friendly animals.