Bring it on!

This entry was written at the end of April, but I have been delaying posting as I was trying to capture spring. A temperamental camera and lack of opportunity meant I never did get any new photos, so we'll have to make do with what we got!
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There has been little activity on the blog the last couple of months as any entry would only be a repeat of the previous ones.
We have spent most of this time filling and sanding the boat, preparing her for the top coat of paint. Every time we thought we were finished I went over the boat again and found yet more flaws to be filled and sanded. In the end I was banned from further inspections.
But she's done! And ready to be painted!
The paint has been ordered and arrived. The paint alone for this final pass adds up to over U.S.$2400 - and we got it at an extremely reasonable rate. BOAT = Bring On Another Thousand!

Ready for the final coat

There has been a bonus to this part of the process, namely that we have been privileged to spend spring in Deltaville. What a visual delight it is! From February on there has been a succession of spring blooms and flowering trees that are a feast for the eyes. My head is on a swivel whenever we go out. We started with early daffodils and narcissus. Gloucester was at one time a large center for the production of daffodils and they grow wild everywhere. In the ditches, in the forest, in wheat fields and by the bay. Grape hyacinth cover grassy areas, and carpets of blue forget-me-nots complement whole areas of mauve, violet and white ground cover.The early flowering cherry and magnolias are followed by trees with deep pink blooms, double or triple
petaled. Currently the azaleas are everywhere, jewel-like colours completely covering the bushes, and Wisteria are cascading from 40 foot trees like waterfalls. Many flowering trees I don't recognize bloom both in gardens and wild in the forest.Pure blue batchelor buttons are currentlylining the sides of the road where the morning glorys bloomed in the fall. Best of all
the blooms all last for weeks, giving us lots of time to enjoy them.















Spring weather is as changeable as any other season here, but generally pleasantly cool. We had our one snowfall the first weekend in March, and it was a good one. It was followed by a weekend of 80 degrees. Currently the weather is in the high 50s, but the last 3 days were in the mid 90s, and HOT!

80 Degrees a week later!

The osprey arrived in mid-March and immediately began building their nests of large twigs and sticks. The resident bluebirds and cardinals have been joined by robins and swallows, and the mallards who arrived before all of these have paired up and been living in the huge puddles formed by all the rain. Hummingbirds came a week or so ago, and spend a lot of time inside our covered area. I can't figure out if they are stuck or if they are enjoying the protection. Cardinals and other birds come inside too, but they are after the insects that emerge whenever it is warm enough and then migrate to the top of our covered hanger.

Setting up house