Has spring come to your world yet? Spring has slowly been making its way to our little corner of the world. 

My windowsill stays lined with pretty pops of color in early spring until color arrives in our world outside.

Someone else is enjoying the warm sunshine streaming through the window too!

Pulling into the grocery store one sunshine-filled afternoon, I spotted these happy dogs in the back of the pickup, enjoying a nice day to town!  It was the cutest thing to see, but I just can't imagine having that many big dogs!

 

The rest of the world has increasingly become a cauldron of chaos, but I'm thankful for the chance I have every morning and night to walk and see the splendor in the skies, and the world around me.

After a cloudy day with little to no sunshine, the skies opened up to this purple and pink decadent display.

A late winter snowstorm moved through our area last week. It was a wild, windy and bitter cold day.  We didn't get much snow, but our temps dipped down into the low teens.  We walked anyway, bundled up.  The dogs were the only ones who were truly thrilled with the change in the weather!

I'm sure the grocery shelves in your area have looked like this as well.  Thankfully the shelves in our local stores here have been restocked after the initial mass panic. Our home was not in panic, we have everything we need.  We've been stocking back extra for years, and I'm thankful we have.  It is in times like this that you appreciate having lots of canned goods, paper supplies, and plenty of wild game to eat!

We took a small hike a couple of weeks ago, and this was the view that met us at the top of the rocky outcrop - magnificent!

We hiked at a friend's place, and also got to visit with their animals.  Meet Mr. Llama! Isn't he handsome! I think he was even smiling for the camera!

Our friend showed how they like to get right up in your face space!  They don't know what #socialdistancing is! {smiles}

Feeding the alpacas was such fun! Our friends showed us how much they loved their treats!

I think I'm officially smitten with the alpacas!  They have the cutest personalities!

Beyond adorable! They have the funniest personalities too...

This beautiful butterfly flew by my window recently. I was able to capture a few pictures of it.  It was sitting, preening on a rock outside by the bird feeders.  I looked it up and found out it is a mourning cloak butterfly. It is one of the longest living butterflies, living 11-12 months! Wow!

Another beautiful sign of spring in our area is the emergence of the buttercup.  Tiny and poisonous, yet these beautiful little flowers populate the hillsides with their bright yellow blooms.  Always exciting to find them growing, usually next to a mound of snow!

I've been making homemade kombucha for many years.  Kombucha is a fermented tea with probiotics and is a wonderful immune system builder.  Below I will share my kombucha recipe.  It is quite easy to make, and much cheaper than buying it! I make my kombucha with green tea but black tea works great too.

Recently our bible study ladies put together care packages for the local nursing home.  On the day I was to deliver them, the Activities Director contacted me and advised that they are no longer accepting care packages per new guidelines.  We still had fun putting them together, and will look forward to the day when we can deliver them to the residents.

 

While on the phone with the nursing home activities director, she asked if our group would make face masks for their health care workers.  I told her we would do our best, and we delivered 20+ masks to the nursing home,  and plan to make more.... if we can get more elastic.  Local stores are out.  It is amazing in the world we live in what things overnight become a hot commodity!

I'm sure all of us have been affected by the recent Covid-19 virus that has crippled our world.  Since making the masks for the nursing home, I decided to make some masks for our family too.  In this world where fear is rapidly making inroads into our lives and homes, I want to encourage each of you that in the midst of all this fear, our faith will sustain us and get us through these days, and yet it is also good to protect ourselves as best we can. 

Our state is currently in a "shelter-in-place" mode, and it is strange to see businesses that were thriving even a week ago, closed for 3 weeks.  Store shelves have plenty for the most part, although there are a few items that are now hard to obtain, but thankfully we have been blessed to have a full pantry and our needs are supplied.

But... there is something exciting about Spring when the snow starts to melt, and we start to see the ground again.

My chickens are thrilled to have mud to dig in again :)

As the snow melts it compacts and on frosty mornings, the ice collections are intricate works of art!

I must have color in my world!

Keeping color in my living room windows helps to keep color in my world until the color arrives outside my windows.

This one... she is sad.  She loves snow, and seeing it melt makes her sad.  Her favorite thing to do is roll and play in the snow.

Our bird feeders have been like Grand Central Station all winter.  I love watching the birds through my office window. We have two stellar jay pairs that visit every day.

It's comical to watch our resident squirrel battle with the Stellar jays.  They chase each other all over the trees. And oh the chatter and sassing that goes on! This frisky agile entertainer Mister Squirrel in search of dinner  Resident comedian   Part acrobat and guardian His funny ways are always a winner. ~ Marilyn ~

Yes, lots of sassing goes on.  I guess it's just as well I don't understand it {smiles}

A dear friend had just gotten a new puppy, and wanted to take her out on a trail. We hiked a local trail along the river. It was great to be out and enjoy the day together.

It was a fun day of exploring with her new puppy.

After our hike, we ate at a little restaurant that sits right on the beach.

We enjoyed a delicious meal and sweet fellowship together.

A friend of mine was going through a hard time, and some friends had teamed up to support her with a fundraiser.  I was able to purchase this precious album to support her. It is a beautiful work of art!

A stunning sunset one evening... I never cease to be amazed at how the Master Painter changes up the canvas each morning and night!

We took a day trip to a local state park, enjoying the beautiful sunshine, brisk breeze, and gorgeous views.

Here you can see the distant mountains still with some snow, but it is exciting to see Spring making advances in our world!

The skies were magnificent against the backdrop of the mountains.  It was such a beautiful walk along the beach!

Some treasures found while walking the beach... love finding sea glass!  No doubt someone had lost a hat at sea!

A brave fisherman was seen fishing along the banks of the river.  The breeze was stiff, so I can imagine it was a pretty chilly fishing trip for him!

After walking the beach, it was time for dinner, and we stopped at a local diner for a burger... delicious!

As we drove home, the evening skies were beautiful, and this gorgeous layer of fog dipped below the mountains and created an interesting scene for us as we drove.

On my way into town one day, I saw this herd of elk cavorting in the field.

They are very skittish creatures and quite camera shy.  I was lucky to capture these two staring at me for a split second before they disappeared into the brush.

Their destination was the rocky hillside.  Always a treat to see them, even if from a distance!