04-30-2026 An Explosion of Spring

My favorite Easter bunnies

I thought that March was gorgeous, but it was nothing compared to the pink explosion of dogwoods all over Grants Pass. I drove around town in awe, stopping whenever I could to capture the magnificent pinks that were in so many yards.  Our town seems to be the perfect place for the plums that come first, and as they fade, the huge fluffy cherries begin to bloom, and just as they are beginning to fade a bit, out come the dogwoods.  It is simply breathtaking and colors my mood pink for the entire month.

Just a few of the dogwoods and lilacs in bloom in Grants Pass

Of course, the pinks would be less spectacular without the brilliance of yellow daffodils everywhere.  I always think I love fall the best until Spring explodes in our little valley.  Fall is brilliant and intense, but Spring is so full of promise.  Everything feels new and refreshed and full of possibility.  It is uplifting in a way that fall is not.  So remind me that I said this when fall comes around, and everything turns technicolor orange and red.  Right now, I am enamored with the fluorescent lime green of new leaves against the pink dogwoods.

Been a long time since we experienced an Easter morning like this one

Happy Easter Brunch

The month began with an early Easter.  Sometimes I have a big Easter family gathering, but this time, Melody and Robert needed to stay at home.  I decided to have a simple brunch for us to share with Deb, Matthew, and Katty.

Coyote guarding the lower pasture on Easter morning

Anyone reading this blog for any length of time knows that I am in love with seasonal decorating.  This year, I didn't bring down ALL the Easter decor boxes, but I did get the most important ones, including the bunnies.

Deb made superb deviled eggs

Once Easter was over, Mo and I returned to the yard and garden projects.  It was important to get everything related to the water system up and running before the rains ended.  We have 4 different locations for sprinkler timers, with 2 to 4 stations for each timer.  It keeps us busy making sure everything is running well, especially as things start to heat up and dry out.  Another big spring project completed this month.

This kind of color in April is a month early this year. It usually doesn’t look like this until May

I do love my chartreuse hostas

Mid-month, we took a much-needed MoHo break and traveled to the Oregon Coast for some ocean time.  When we made our reservation for Honeyman State Park just south of Florence, we planned to take the kayaks.  There are so many great kayaking lakes in the area, and the last time we were there, we knew we had to return to try out Woahink Lake and a few others.

Lunch break along the Umpqua River on our way to the coast

However, Mother Nature had other ideas.  The prediction for our week at the coast was for hard rain every single day.  All day.  We decided that trying to haul the kayaks in pouring rain and then getting them down off the car wasn't worth even the tiny possibility of a bit of clear weather.  We left the kayaks at home.

Mo and Mattie are enjoying the rain at our site at Honeyman State Park

Mo loaded up enough firewood for at least two big fires in case there was a break in the weather.  We have no problem sitting out by a fire in a sprinkle or two.

An afternoon break in the rain gave us a chance for a campfire

We planned to spend our time sitting in the MoHo, reading, playing cards, relaxing, and just enjoying the beauty of the gorgeous forest around us at Honeyman.  

It turned out to be an amazing trip even without the kayaks. On our first day there, it poured all day and all night and half the next day.  The sound of rain on the roof was deafening and yet somehow relaxing.

A little town break in Florence for fish and chips at Mo's

Then the sun came out.  We decided to visit the Visitor Center in Florence to see if there was anything around town that we had missed on previous trips to Florence.  Almost everything that was suggested by the docent was along the coast highway, and there wasn't a thing in town other than the waterfront area in Old Town Florence, where we have been many times.

Only the light keeper's house is visible from the parking lot at Cape Perpetua

We decided to drive north toward Cape Perpetua to finally get a closer look at what has to be the most photographed lighthouse on the Oregon Coast.  It was built in 1892 and perched about 200 feet above the ocean on a forested headland, not down at the water like most lighthouses.  That height gives it an incredible reach, and the original Fresnel lens is still working today.  We have driven past it on Highway 101 more times than I can count, always admiring it from the overlooks, and somehow never thought to actually go visit it.

It was our lucky day because the lighthouse was open and the sun was out in all its glorious splendor.  The trail to the lighthouse was only a half mile.  I had sticks, and I knew I could manage a half mile even if it was uphill.

The Keeper's House was closed, but even from the outside, it was beautiful

The views of the lighthouse from the parking lot and from the trail were wonderful, and Mo and I realized that we had only seen the lighthouse from the overlooks and viewpoints along Highway 101.  We marveled that in all our years of passing this lighthouse, we had never actually visited it.

The Cape Perpetua Lighthouse

View of the bridge on Highway 101 built by the CCC in the 1930's

Cape Perpetua Lighthouse

This little hike and visit to the lighthouse was the highlight of our coast camping trip this time around.  

Our second favorite part of the trip was spending a bit of time on another sunny morning hiking the sand dunes at Honeyman with Mattie.

Climbing the dunes is a challenge

Impossible to capture Mattie when she is running in the sand

Time for a rest

Bright enough for sunglasses!

We climbed a few dunes and then Mattie raced around in the sand as she always does, but we have noticed that her racing ends much sooner than it used to when she was younger.  Like me.  I managed to get to a spot where I had a nice hole in the sand that I could use as a chair.  I definitely didn't try to climb anything particularly steep.  Still, that time on the dunes in the morning sun was delightful.

In spite of the dour predictions for constant rain, we had a lot of gorgeous sunshine on the Oregon Coast for our little getaway.

Mo hand weeding the false dandelion

We returned home to late April flowers and more work in the pasture, weeding out the prolific false dandelion that takes over the grass without vigilance.

The end of the month was celebrated with our final setting of all the water timers and watching everything work perfectly.  For Now.  We do have to keep a close eye on things because no matter how good it all works, something will eventually blow out and a great geyser of water can empty our well cistern in no time.  Vigilance!!

Our very own dogwood bloomed for a full month this year

03-31-2026 A Beautiful Yellow and Pink and White March

 

The flowering plums were in full bloom by March 7

I haven't kept up well with writing about ordinary life lately.  What writing energy I have in the early mornings is taken up with the chapters of the "book".  Writing about a life can be all-consuming, with stories coming in the middle of the night, demanding to be written right NOW!  But this morning the "right now" moment is realizing that two months have come and gone and I have no record to remind me of ordinary life.

Our little pink flowering plum is beginning to mature and bloomed by the 7th of March

So often when Mo and I are trying to remember something, it is the blog that is our reference.  I no longer write for an audience, and sometimes even hesitate to send out a notice that another post has been published.  I am still deciding if I will send this one out via email, but there are a few readers out there who seem to find my posts through whatever method they have used to follow over the years.  

I work on the flower beds. Mo gets the water wheel running again

I don't want to look back and wonder what happened to all the pink and white glory that was March this year.  Spring burst out a month earlier than usual, and by the end of the month the temperatures were hitting 82 on sunny afternoons.  It felt more like May most of the time.

The oak leaves popped out by mid-month in the brilliant warm sunshine

Mo and I used the great weather to do all the winter garden cleanup that was left over from a very rainy fall.  Sometimes we don't manage to get the flower beds cleaned up until May.  Somehow it all felt quite leisurely, at least in my memories of the month.  A delight.

During a lovely Sunday morning lunch date, Deb took a nice photo of Mo and me 

It wasn't all yard work.  Mo had a birthday, and this year, since we had just returned from California, Mo decided that a birthday trip wasn't a necessity.  We went to brunch with Deborah on a Sunday morning, and spent another afternoon at Red Lily enjoying good wine and more sunshine.

Mo caught a good photo of Deb and Sue on a Red Lily afternoon

I took a break from gardening chores mid-month and drove north to Brownsville to visit Daughter Melody.  Robert was on a work trip, so we had three lovely days together to talk and play.  Life isn't always perfect, and we somehow managed to get through a silly misunderstanding with love and hugs.  Sometimes it is surprising what comes up in moments like these.  

Melody and Sue 

Neither of us could actually remember what triggered it.  Melody and I are so close that it is rare when we have to work through "stuff".  I almost skipped writing about this part, but that is writing our life as if everything is just perfect all the time.  We all know that no matter how much love there is, misunderstandings can happen.  

Morning coffee on the front porch with Melody

The guest room wall at Melody and Robert's house

Melody redid the downstairs craft room and turned it into a guest room for Mom so I wouldn't have to climb stairs when I was there.  The bed was luscious with silky sheets and a down comforter.  Melody is a rock collector, and hand-wrapped many of her favorite specimens in copper wire so she could hang them in this sinuous curve on the guest room wall.  She says she loves it because she can see everything and take down any piece she wants to fondle.

Late in the month Daughter Deanna and her husband Keith came south from Northeastern Washington to spend a few days at Deb's house.  They brought some lovely cold frames and spent time helping Deb set up her raised beds.  I think they hauled at least 4 yards of good soil using our little Colorado, which can only handle a yard at a time.

Grandson Matthew, Katty, Keith, Deanna, Deborah and Mo

It was a Deb week, not a "mom" week, but everyone still came to Sunset House for a family dinner on the deck and a nice, long visit until late evening. I didn't even have to cook since everyone decided ordering pizza delivery was a great way to spend some family time.

The last day of the month was our book club gathering at Connie's home.  It was Jennifer's birthday so we took the time to not only discuss the book but honor Jennifer.  I am so tickled that Deb is now in our book club.  She made the cake, a fabulous caramel cheesecake thing for Jennifer.  Deb loves to do birthday cakes and makes them for friends and family and all her co-workers for their birthday.  Seems as though she is always saying, "I need to make a cake for.....".

Jennifer was tickled with the cake

We read "Wild Dark Shore" this month, and it elicited a great discussion.  I loved the book.  It was intense, and based on the idea of a world seed bank at risk due to climate change.  The ending isn't perfect, but the book is well written.  

Our book club group is enriched by our diversity.  Jennifer and Robyn at the top left, Connie on the top right, Deb on the middle right. Kristin on the lower left, the group mixing in Connie’s kitchen, and Stephanie on the lower right. It is a fun group of mostly like-minded people, but all have such different perspectives, which makes our conversations rich and enlightening.  I learn a lot from these women.

In retrospect, I see why I may have skipped writing about March.  It was lovely and quiet.  We recuperated from our winter travels with home time, gardening, cooking, visiting with friends and family.  A beautiful month.

Our little girl Mattie, at almost 12, is going a bit gray