Tuesday, April 1st
So…here we are back in our house again. There’s definitely more space here than in that mini-apartment in Madrid. Wow. And speaking of space, the refrigerator here is empty. Can we survive on olives, pickles and ketchup? Probably not. We’re really missing that unopened bag of potato chips that we left behind in Madrid. Someone must have thought it was impractical to pack potato chips into an already bulging suitcase. We did bring some nuts from the plane, didn’t we? They must be here somewhere…
Outside, the yard is…uh…somewhat overgrown. Some of that grass is ten inches high. Makes the house look like it’s been abandoned. The neighbors can’t be too thrilled.
Wednesday, April 2nd
A little damp, but not really raining much. In the back yard, there is very little trace of the flowers that bloomed while we were gone. The crocuses have totally disappeared. The hyacinths are still standing, but their blossoms are all kaput. T sent is a couple of photos a few weeks back; otherwise we would have missed them both completely.
Some other flowers, however, were nice enough to wait until we got back: flowering currant, dwarf iris and tulips.

Thursday/Friday, April 3rd/4th
Better weather. It turns out that there were two big wind storms while we were gone. Lots of limbs came down into our front yard. A neighbor kindly removed some of the larger ones so as to make the house look a little less deserted. The grass really does need serious attention. M is working on it.
Saturday, April 5th
Good weather. M has finished the first round of lawn mowing. E is getting over a cold and is still taking antibiotics for an ear infection. The antibiotic cannot be taken with dairy, so E is having almond milk in her morning coffee. She is not thrilled.
Sunday, April 6th
E tried a new yoga class out at L’s house. She liked it very much.
Monday, April 7th
J and L from Utah arrived today for a visit. They’ve been visiting J’s daughters in Idaho and Washington. L is still working as a wrangler at a horse ranch and riding school. J is between construction projects. In theory he is debating about whether to take on a new project or to retire. No one is betting he will retire.
Tuesday, April 8th
We took J and L on a hike today over at The Crestmont Land Trust acreage near Cardwell Hill. We walked through intermittent rain, but the area was very lovely. We saw lots of that bright yellow green that only comes in early spring. Here and there we’d see a mountain cherry in bloom. For contrast, there was the dark green of the fir covered hills to the south. There are also a lot of oaks in the area. They are still leafless, so what you see now are thriving colonies of furry moss and papery lichens.

We also found a large eruption of fawn lilies, more of them in one place that we had ever seen before.


In the evening J and L helped us start a puzzle.

Wednesday, April 9th
J and L left this morning, just as we started on the hardest parts of the puzzle. They’re no dummies.

Thursday, April 10th
M did more lawn mowing today. Yes, we know, he just did that five days ago. Five days can be a long time in the spring.
We had dinner at B and B’s place. One of the B’s cooked thick chunks of halibut that the other B had caught on a fishing trip to Alaska. This was followed by lemon meringue pie! What a feast.
When we got home, we were drawn back into the puzzle. By 11:00 or so, it was done.

Friday, April 11th
We had our friend H over for dinner. She brought dessert: strawberries, wafer cookies and dulce de leche flavored spreadable caramel made with water buffalo milk. She also told us about the treatment she’s been getting to cure her occasional vertigo. Apparently it involves having your head twisted around at a certain angle, so as to revitalize the crystals of the inner ear. H is a great dinner guest.
Today’s quiz question: Which of the following was the country of origin of our dulce de leche water buffalo milk spreadable caramel? A. Cambodia B. Canada C. Colombia (Answer down a ways.)
Saturday, April 12th
Sunny weather today, with at least two more sunny days forecast. Okay! M went over the storage place and unwrapped the Jaguar. We drove up to Burgerville in Monmouth for lunch. Since the temperature was only 55 degrees, we left the top up. After lunch the temperature was up to 58, so we took the top down and went home the long way via Elkins Road and Airlie.
The tulips are still doing well out back. Our backyard camera has detected several incidences of a woman sneaking in and stealing some of the nicer blooms. Some of these have made it into the house.

Sunday, April 13th
A quiet day. We had our traditional Sunday breakfast of pain au chocolate and coffee. Later in the day, that woman snuck into our back yard again, this time making off with most of our rhubarb. It appears that a pie is in the offing. I can smell it now.
Answer to the Quiz: How the heck should we know? Do you know how tiny the print is on a tub of water buffalo spreadable caramel? Well…finally we dug out a strong magnifier; it’s from Colombia.