April 23 — Que bonito mi jardin!

It's a beautiful morning. The Tulip Magnolia is leafing out and dropping flower petals like a candy cane carpet. The Cerenthe has multiplied to a patch three times the size of last year. I brought one stalk home the year before that. I had been weeding with Kendal Smith at the Senior Center and I came upon this lively purple flower invading the bocci ball court. Of course we couldn't have that so I pulled it up. It came out of the ground easily and had a nice little root system still attached. Well, I certainly couldn't dump it with the other weeds, soooooo, I took it home and popped it into the mound out in the middle of my garden. It didn't look too perky for the next few weeks and then I lost track of it. But last year.......wow! It formed a patch about four by four feet. This year it's more than three time that big and those gorgeous little shingled flowers are a symphony of purple floating two feet above the ground. The lilac tree is more magnificent than it has been since I planted it fifteen years ago. It must be that everything in my garden actually likes the icy cool weather we've had at the end of this winter. The Noyo Chief Rhododendron is a vibrant jewel. The new Weeping Elm given to me by the MLPA has all kinds of blossom like growth just as the beautiful fanlike leaves are sprouting out.

I walked to the river with Bobby. It took me twelve minutes to go down and nineteen minutes to return. The river is still flowing quite generously. Bobby waded out about two feet in the shallows, looked at the current just beyond him and wisely returned to shore. There are still a few Trilliums standing with stubborn petals in tact both inside and outside my back gate. The little pink blossoms on the beds of redwood sorrel are like tiny sparkles that call out to you on your way up the steep hill from the river. Bobby was so watchful of my progress. He stopped and waited each time I paused to catch my breath. What a little trooper. All in all, a delightful return to a walk I haven't taken for a long time. There are a dozen reasons one can call on to avoid that walk. The occasional wild cat. The occasional individual shooting his gun out there in the forest somewhere. The huge dog on the loose from the new house built just south of us several years ago.

But all went well and it encourages me to visit it again soon. The minute I walk anywhere near the back garden gate Bobby looks like he's going to explode, he gets so excited. The next trip will be sooner than later if he has anything to do with it.

I made another trip to the river to show it to my friend Maj-Britt who was visiting from Berkeley. We each used a cane which I have decided helps quite a bit in the climb up the steep hill. Most likely it also helps while negotiating the  descent  because of the amount of gravel that has been placed  to protect from gullywashers that can cause instant revines in the steep roadway. We had a good walk and Bobby seemed thoroughly pleased to be showing us the way.