Sunny Saturday

 

A bright start to the weekend enabled us to take a morning walk at Meadowlark.  

 

The redbud trees - in shades of pink and purple - are in colourful full bloom.

 

The tulips were also looking great in the bright light..

 

 

 

 

 

Visitors..

 

This morning a little group of white-tailed deer were making their way along the side of the creek and sampling some of the greenery which is becoming quite lush with the recent rain and warm temperatures.

 

Unfortunately I wasn't quiet enough..

 

The deer soon moved along and I got on with my preparations for some VIP visitors due to land at Dulles this afternoon.

 

Here they are!!  Still smiling despite a very early start and long flight.  The second US adventure begins...

Rain, Thunder and Tornado Warning..

 

The rain started early this morning and by lunchtime the bottom of the 'garden' was a big puddle and the creek - which has been dry most of the winter - was a brown raging torrent.

Thunderstorms rolled around and it was a good day for tidying and cleaning indoors - so the office - especially the beads and jewellery got a little more organized.

 

After lunch the power went out for a few hours - apparently a number of trees had come down in the wind of the last storm.  Although I didn't find out until afterwards, a tornado warning had been issued for our area..

 

But it didn't materialize - at least not here.  In Washington it did touch down and several trees were apparently pulled up or snapped off and thrown around on the Tidal Basin.

Tomorrow is due to be chilly and windy, then back to Spring weather, hopefully!

Maple Tree Flowers

 

The tree next to the house has developed vibrant green buds over the last week which are opening up as bright green/yellow flowers.  No leaves as yet.

 

These flowers are, apparently, quite tasty - the squirrels are spending quite a bit of time devouring them - no photos I am afraid.

The tree is a maple of some kind, possibly a Sugar Maple - perhaps that makes for interesting tasting flowers!

 

Hoping for Hummingbirds

 

Today was the warmest day of the year so far - when I collected David from work the outside temperature was 29C and at 7pm we were able to have dinner outside on the decking, it was still 26C.

Hence we have filled the hummingbird feeder in the hope of catching the eye of a passing bird or two as they migrate north from Florida.

The only slight fly in the ointment is that Friday's day time temperature is due to dip to 9C - with 3C overnight - which is not the best welcome for our other important visitors who are flying in from Heathrow!

Shopping for Summer..

 

At the supermarket on Saturday we saw these rather jazzy spades for the beach..

Just love the idea of calling them 'Dune Spoons'!

Sunday in Washington

 

We headed into DC on the metro this morning to meet my cousin Fiona, who is visiting with a school group.  After a few days exploring in New York, they were enjoying some sightseeing in Washington - today focusing on the National Mall and Tidal Basin.

 

We met up at the Lincoln Memorial where it was busy as the Cherry Blossom fun run had just taken place and, on the first sunny morning in a week or so, lots of people were out and about.

 

We headed for the Jefferson Memorial, walking around the tidal basin under the cherry trees.

 

Peak bloom was last weekend but, despite very heavy rain this week, the blossom was still looking good..

Particularly with the backdrop of blue sky.

 

 

We then headed to the Washington Monument..

 

After lunch we explored museums on the National Mall, before walking up to Capitol Hill.

 

Newly released from its veil of scaffolding, the Capitol building and dome was looking very bright in the sunshine.