the arboretum

last weekend marked my seemingly now annual trip to the arboretum on the university of california santa cruz campus. looking back at my photos from last year, my visits were 366 days apart...apparently my need to get out of the house and see flowers in bloom occurs with some regularity. last weekend was also the hummingbird festival at the arboretum and the birds did not disappoint! i was buzzed by a number of allen's hummingbirds as the males performed their spectacular mating flights and dives. it also proved to be an excellent opportunity to try out my new binoculars as the male's perched on the tops of trees to try to get the females to take notice. 


two of my favorite gardens at the arboretum - the australian and south african - were in bloom, but a bit behind where they were last year. nonetheless, it was a beautiful afternoon to spend amongst the hummingbirds and the flowers.

tide pools and coral reefs...kind of

i recently returned from a trip to D.C. for a scientific conference. on my last day in the city, i sauntered over to the smithsonian natural history museum. while there are many amazing exhibits in that museum, there was one reason for my visit...the crocheted coral reef exhibit! i had read about this exhibit a few months ago in smithsonian's magazine but had forgotten about it. during a particularly stark talk on the future of coral reefs, the speaker mentioned the exhibit...as in "hopefully this is not the only coral reef our children will know." i certainly hope that my nieces and nephews will get to snorkel and dive on many coral reefs in the future, but this exhibit was impressive nonetheless!

crocheted coral reef exhibit at the smithsonian in d.c.

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despite the cold front that blew through last weekend (see my poor bok choi below), the days were sunny and beautiful. pete left for washington on saturday morning so cassie and i took a field trip up the coast to the fitzgerald marine protected area just north of half moon bay. it had been a long, long time since i have been in the intertidal for fun...or at least without a quadrat and transect tape! i had a great time poking around the many tide pools and taking photos of the critters. cassie isn't allowed in the mpa so we went for a hike along the coastal trail in half moon bay after the tide came in. she managed to roll in a mud puddle, so i am pretty sure the day was a success from her view point as well. :)

cold days...we even had snow on friday night!

all are safe...

initial reports suggest that all my friends and their families in christchurch, new zealand, are safe. the city and nearby areas were largely leveled, however, so their lives are a long way from normal. i will let you know if there is anything we can do to help them rebuild their lives.

an early spring?

it is hard to believe that i am sitting outside for the second weekend in a row in early february in a tank top and shorts. it is days like these when i realize that THIS is the california dream. with either foolish optimism or real belief that winter is on its way out, i planted the spring veggie seeds in the garden last weekend. the daffodils are blooming...so it must be time, right?! hopefully within 70-80 days we will be feasting on chard, beets, lettuce, spinach, carrots, and spring onions from our garden. the bok choi and cilantro starts have been going strong for a few weeks and are definitely enjoying the warm weather too. rain is in the forecast for this week, however, but we still need several more good rains this season to make it through the summer without severe water restrictions. not so much the california dream... 


this is one of my favorite times of year - the days are getting longer on both ends, trees are blooming everywhere, and the migratory birds are starting to come through.


for all of you still buried in snow and ice, a few photos of hope!
be well.

 pete's handmade concrete patio table
(and prototype for our future bathroom counter top)

 bok choi

 spring veggie seeds are in the ground!

 mini iris

the tell-tale sign of spring...

a beautiful weekend in tahoe

we headed up to tahoe for the weekend to spend some quality time with a handful of pete's co-workers. it was my first time to lake tahoe and my first time skiing on an actual mountain (the hills in minnesota don't really count). it was fun to play in the snow without the thermometer being below zero!

jenny, andrew, and pete

i survived our skiing adventure!

emerald bay, lake tahoe

a belated christmas on the frozen tundra...

why we travel to minnesota in january is a mystery to me...as much of a mystery as the people who choose to live in that ungodly cold state! the temperatures did make it above zero this year, though, so that was an improvement. the house grew increasingly warm as my whole family descended on my parents' house for our belated christmas get-together. lefse making, pheasant hunting, snow fort building, and continuous cooking was the agenda for the weekend.

nearly the whole family...we forgot to take the photo before brian left

 kieran with his fire chief hat and new turnout boots!

 luke (2) and kieran (4) in the snow

alexandra lynn - her first christmas

in addition to celebrating a late christmas, we also celebrated madeline's end of treatment for leukemia! when i asked her what the best parts of being done with treatment were she said, "my port is gone and i can eat ice cream whenever i want." we have all learned so much from her over the last two and a half years and i know that she will continue to guide us through the next phase of watching and hoping the cancer doesn't return.

the bravest 12-year old i know

cassie turned 13 in december! she still has some spunk left in her and shows her puppy spirit on a regular basis. she has slowed down a bit and has either lost her hearing or chooses not to listen to us more often, but she is a bright spot in our lives. 

cancer FREE!

it is with GREAT hope, joy, and excitement that i report that my niece, Madeline, is officially finished with chemotherpy! after 26 months of treatment, she is leukemia free! the only wish for her 12th birthday came true...

thank you all for your support and well wishes during her journey!