Spring Flowers Galore!

 We're right at the peak of our spring flower season. It began quite early this year due to the warmer than usual winter. But it's really cranking out the blooms at the moment. Too soon it will be a fond memory so both myself and Dan Miller have been out photographing, capturing them while we can.

 All of these flowers are Dan's. He lives about five miles north of Pinehaven, on S Clayton Road, in New Lebanon. He's not skimpy about planting bulbs - nor his care for flowers and gardens in general. He goes big time ... and the results are awesome.

 First, here are Dan's photographs, taken today (04/18/16) ...

And here are the photos I took last Saturday (04/16/16):

Behind Dan's house is a mostly hand-dug pond. Look who moved in ...

 So today's Pinehaven blog is dedicated to Dan. Beautiful flowers ... wonderful guy.

A Home-cooked Meal

 Yesterday (04/02) Tom arrived with various food items: a veggie roast, fresh asparagus, mashed potatoes. He also came with the proper bowls for preparation; he even brought a knife for the asparagus.

 I, in turn, supplied the dinner rolls, slaw and the pineapple-angel food cake I made on Thursday.

 As soon as he walked in the door I fired up the oven as he got to work ...

 First step ... wash the asparagus. Tom then cut off about the bottom 2" of each stalk and cut the rest of the stalks up into fairly small sections.

 Here he's preparing the Hollandaise sauce for the asparagus.

 Mom and I had never made cooked fresh asparagus before. Tom prepares it in the microwave. He placed a small amount of water in the bottom of a covered bowl and ran the microwave about 2.5 minutes, steaming the dish, He repeated this several times until the asparagus was tender. Even the stalks were done.

 We got the meal on the table at about 1 pm. Mom was "starving". I filled her plate first and then Tom and I dug in. He also brought a bottle of carbonated pomegranate-blueberry lemonade (see the bottle on the left). When I first opened it, it began spraying everywhere. I had it in the sink at the time - I somewhat expected this - but I didn't prevent a mess. My hoodie heads to the laundromat tomorrow.

... and here's a close-up of my plate. A slice of the veggie roast is on the left.

 Great meal and great times. Dishes followed.

Eastern Bluebird

  I am always happy to see the Eastern Bluebird on our property. They are not rare but seem hard to spot. The angle of view either shows off their royal blue or their feathers appear dark at many angles, and not blue at all.

 While the breast is described as "a warm red-brown", I like to think of it as apricot,

 Of course this is a male. The female is almost brown-gray atop and a more subdued apricot for the breast,

 I took these shots a few days ago, on March 28. I happened to walk by a second floor window and look down upon a maple. This bird was sitting there, looking about. I had plenty of time to get my camera and compose a couple of shots.

 The lighting was a bit difficult, though, as I was shooting into the sunlight and through a couple of panes of glass. Both shots are of the same bird; he merely turned around.

 But what joy to watch him for a few minutes, myself slightly above and he completely unaware of my presence. He seemed just to be enjoying an early spring day. For that matter, so was I.