Fireworks of a different kind

An explosion of pink blossoms appeared on my street over the weekend.

Beware of falling blossoms

These delicate beauties tell me that spring has arrived.

Arizona dreaming

Ten on Tuesday — the viral edition

1. I am woefully behind in my scrapbooking ventures.
2. On Friday morning, I was slammed by sinus pain and congestion that arrived on the heels of a night marked by little sleep. My husband is still recovering from his own bout with what appears to be a virus, yet he managed to share his germs with me, inconsiderate of my plans to go away for the weekend. He strongly suggested that I stay home instead.
3. On Friday afternoon, the friends who had driven down from Canada to meet me halfway between their homes and mine at our mutual destination discovered my plight and offered to drive further to pick me up if I was unable to drive. At such generosity I could only think that If they were foolish enough to care not for their own health, why should I be miserable at home when I could be surrounded by friends and sleep in the Canuck Party Trailer?
4. So I packed my supplies — cold medicine and Kleenex included — and drove north to the scrapbooking retreat, minus my actual scrapbooking materials. This was not an oversight.
5. Scrapbooking retreats are not just for scrapbooking. While my friends cropped, I finished up 2 fleece blankets and made earrings (I don’t know how many — I stopped counting.)  Some of the earrings were set aside for the upcoming farmer’s market season, some were given as gifts, and some were sold then and there.
6. Made-to-order earrings created on-site is a good way to save on time, packaging and shipping.
7. I managed 8 hours of sleep each night of the retreat — a first among all such ventures.
8. Taking “shots” of Guaifenesin every 4 hours helps chase down the Sudafed and Tylenol but did not entirely solve all ills. My hoarse voice did not gain relief from such common assistance. Prophylactic Fireball may have helped save the weekend thusly.
9. This is an ingenious invention:
   https://www.etsy.com/listing/184646893/personalized-flask-in-a-book-finding
10. Composing a blog post while watching the Laurence Olivier version of “Hamlet” can be credited for the strange writing here.

A St. Patrick’s Day Prayer

I got home from a meeting last night to find that KCINNOTX had been thinking of me. This card was in my mailbox. Thanks, BB! 🙂

No beer was turned green in the making of this card or the celebrating of this holiday by either of us.  We prefer our Guinness unadulterated. Please pass the corned beef and cabbage!

MTM: from yard to park

The iconic clock tower is all that is left of the railroad depot that originally dominated this piece of land. Burlington Northern donated the land for Expo 74 and the result is a lovely park that anchors various events in downtown Spokane.

This is what it looked like before it became a park:

The former passenger depot, built in 1902

The old rail yards became the location of Expo ’74. Now known as Riverfront Park, the Spokane River flows past meadows used for outdoor concerts, the opera house, the convention center, sculptures, walking and biking paths, and an historic 1909 Looff Carousel.

Above photo found at https://flic.kr/p/6kNWCz

This is a “recipe” that was used by another city just 12 years later, when Vancouver, British Columbia, hosted Expo ’86. Old rail yards and run-down property were turned into a beautiful showplace for the city to enjoy long after the Exposition left town.
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**The photograph showing an Expo ’74 official program was found at https://www.flickr.com/photos/expomuseum/3505956193/in/set-72157617763182810
**All other photographs are my own, although obviously I took photos of old public images that were on display for all to see at Riverfront Park.  

Happy Pi Day!

Pumpkin Pi

To be cut and served at 9:26 AM, Pacific Daylight Time

Seasonal Shift

Who told you to bloom
when it isn’t Christmastime
but now in mid-March?

Year of the Goat

Children of all ages enjoy feeding the goat used napkins and other bits of trash.

Last summer, the City of Spokane marked the 40th birthday of our infamous garbage-eating goat. There was birthday cake served to the people who came to the party and a special beer served at the Irish pub across the street from the goat’s park home.

I have been remiss in sharing with you the interesting places we have here, so I will be making an effort in posting My Town Monday pieces on a semi-regular basis.  What better time than the lunar new year named for a goat?

Did you celebrate the lunar new year over the past two weeks? 

 

Tenacity

Tweet!

The sounds of spring:

 

Just listen to the first 10 seconds. 🙂