WET AND WILD

Yesterday morning I was standing on the canal bridge 

near our house.  You can see the blue roof of our porch in the upper left.

This was the view from the south side of the bridge.  

The canal provides passage for irrigation water from the river 

to farmland on the other side of town.

On the north side of the bridge debris was being cleared 

to make way for the spring filling of the canal.

The water flows under the bridge…

…and on its way to give a drink to potato and hay fields when the weather
 doesn’t cooperate.  Once again our neighbors can tease us
about having waterfront property.

As I walked passed the golf course I could see what I thought 

was a dog running down the fairway.

Nope.  A coyote on the way home from a night of hunting.

I’m guessing it is a momma on her way back 

to feed a den of babies somewhere near the river.

She wasn’t slowed down by the sand trap.

On my way back home I noticed the canal was almost full.

It’s a good thing.

There are a lot of dirty birds in the neighborhood.

LATE TO THE PARTY, LATE WITH THE NEWS

I know, I know.  The Northern Rockies are probably 

just behind Alaska when it comes to getting warm weather.

But we've had a few hours of sunny warmness in the 

past few days so I finally planted the Siberian Iris bulbs I bought a month ago.

Our daffys are finally in bloom.

The tulips I planted along the canal bank should be in bloom

just in time for Mother's Day again.

Unfinished Business

Our local paper only comes out three times a week.  The story that went with the photo of the cougar up the "power poll" (see previous post) was  published online.  Sad news for the big cat.  It was shot not long after the picture was taken and left for dead.  Shooting a lion is illegal and out of season.  Fish and Game Officers are investigating.  They said many human foot tracks were left in the snow where the lion was found and they know what kind of gun was used to shoot it. 

Both gray wolves and lions help themselves to livestock when they are hungry.  Farmers sometimes defend their investments even when the predator is protected.  The shooter also may have been concerned for family and pets or just looking for bragging rights.

LIONS AND BANANAS--OH MY!

Clipped from our local newspaper.  This happened just a few miles away.

Nothing more was added to the photo. 

Not  even a reason for the wrong spelling of pole.

  We'll just have to guess the rest of the story.

DH and I went out to eat at a restaurant that features sushi.  

Even though the menu was well written, 

none of the raw fish entrees sounded good enough to eat to either of us.

DH ordered a burger with fries and liked it a lot.  I decided to go with

"Life's short, eat dessert first," and asked for the tempura bananas.

"Bananas dipped in tempura batter and fried to a golden crisp,

dredged in cinnamon and sugar, topped with caramel sauce, 

whipped cream, cherry and a side of vanilla ice cream."

I thoroughly enjoyed it.  The only thing I would change

is perhaps a drizzling of chocolate syrup.

QUILTS

Last Saturday morning,
well over one hundred ladies of our church 

gathered to tie quilts to be given to humanitarian aid. 

The quilts will be sent wherever there is need

 to help victims recover from disaster.

As they say, “Many hands make light work.”

The quilts were already assembled and bound.

  All that was needed was for them to be tied.  

Within an hour the finished products began to stack up.

Not long after noon forty-five finished quilts were counted. 

We then had to clear out the area for an after-funeral luncheon.  

The unfinished quilts went home with several ladies,

 and by Sunday many were returned completed.

“Though little dangers they may fear,

When greater dangers men environ

The women show a front of iron;

And, gentle in their manner, they

Do bold things in a quiet way.”

                      Thomas Dunn English

quote borrowed from Button's Thoughts  post about repairing their barn