fragrant flowers

Oh my goodness, what a glorious day today, in so many ways.  First, the weather.  I started out this morning with jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt, hooded sweatshirt, and my Carhartt vest.  It wasn't long before I took off the vest, then the hoodie, then swapped jeans for shorts, then the long sleeve t for a short sleeve t!  You get the idea.  A GLORIOUS day!

I thought I would be on the tractor today, but that didn't happen, and I'm not complaining.  But, tomorrow, well, tomorrow, I don't think I'll be able to get out of tractor work tomorrow, no matter how nice it is outside!  It's ok, I like tractor work too.

So, hope you will have the patience to indulge the following photos.  I didn't know where to stop!  So many fragrant plants blooming right now.  Almost no matter where you work in the yard, you are bowled over by the sweet fragrance of something!  I kind of wish these guys wouldn't all bloom at once.  It would be super wonderful if they would space out the bloom through out the season, but that's not the nature of these particular plants.

Daphne with a bleeding heart in the background.

Daphne, a little closer.  So fragrant....

Bleeding heart with the sun shining through.

Viburnum and tulips with a fern leaf peony.  

A closer look at one of the fern leaf peony

More viburnum and tulips.

I can't remember the name of this little blue flower,, but it's darling.  

If you are anywhere near this viburnum you will be knocked over with the fragrance.

The pasque flower is blooming her heart out.  So beautiful.

Spring phlox.  

And, oh my goodness, the wysteria.  I wish, wish, wish you could smell!!

The windmill garden is coming along.  I have been digging up plants in the yard and moving them to this garden.  I simply can't stop planting!  I have sowed some seeds, some of which are starting to poke through.  Most everything that I have moved, has survived.  I'm trying to put things out here, that the bees will favor. I haven't quite figured out the most efficient way to water, but I'm working on it.

I placed these brick "pavers" today, so that we could get to the handle of the windmill that pulls the tail out of the wind, if it's too windy, which actually happens quite frequently!

I love this little frog rain gauge.  I put it in the windmill garden for decoration, more than for a rain gauge.  No one around here would object if rain actually filled it up!

 It got terribly cold a few nights ago, but I think the blossoms on the fruit trees that were blooming survived.  Certainly, this pie cherry tree does not seem to be deterred by a little cold weather.  When you stand under this tree right now, all you hear is frantic buzzing by the honey bees, trying to reach each and every blossom!

Our pie cherry tree in full bloom!

And finally, our first dinner on the porch tonight, watching the sun set.  I can't figure out why I would ever need to leave the end of Rolinco Road!  For me, it's just so beautiful and warm and rich and comfortable.  Alas, I'm sure the SS Rolinco will call sometime in May and we'll drive away from my paradise, perhaps to another paradise!

The color on the wysteria was almost as spectacular as the fragrance, as the sun was setting.

And the sun sets on another day at the end of Rolinco Road.

Beverly and the Road Rally

Today, Reynald talked me in to going on a road rally.  Neither one of us have ever done anything like this, and he was much more excited about it than I was.  But, I have to say, that it was really fun!  It was a beautiful day today.  Sunny, with big puffy clouds against a blue sky and a moderate temperature.  We drove Roni's mustang, Beverly, and she was so happy to be out of the barn and stretching her legs!

Here's Andy, our John Deere parts guy, and one of the organizer of the rally today!

Reynald and Beverly

So, I didn't know how these events worked.  This one was a poker run, which means that at every stop you picked up a card and that was what made up your poker hand.  There were five stops. We started in Ritzville, WA and went the back way to Sprague, which was really interesting.  A road that neither one of us had been on.  Here are some of my favorite cars, waiting to be registered for the days event.

Group photo of everyone that started the day.  A few didn't finish for various reasons.

Our first card draw was in the Sprague city park.  Oh, and another fun thing, there was a scavenger hunt as well.   We all had a sheet of paper with clues for certain things to look for along the way.  Reynald and I didn't do very well!  Too busy looking at scenery, and well, I slept just a tiny bit!

Some of the cars parked along the Sprague city park.

And, a few more.

OK, this is a really cool car, but the coolest part is the air conditioner, which wasn't needed today!

So, you fill this aluminum tube with ice and then open a vent on the inside of the car, and as the car goes down the road, the wind  rushes by the ice and cools the car!  A 1949 air conditioner!!!!

Next stop after Sprague was Long Lake damn.  We have driven past this several times in our life, but never pulled in.  It's really pretty there.

Long Lake Dam

Oh look who got to go on the trip today!

I'm not a fan of International brand anything, but I really did like this pickup!

Beautifully restored.

And this Ford Fairlane was wonderful.  Love the red interior and the dice hanging from the mirror!

Also love the little bit of red strip on the door.  

Next on to Chewelah for lunch and another poker draw.  Again, I've been to Chewelah a number of times, but it was 40 years ago, when we used to go skiing there every weekend.  Of course our focus was the ski slope, not the town.  It's a really cute town with a beautiful little creek running through, and a huge public park on either side of the creek.

Reynald eating his Subway sandwich.  Next time we will pack our own lunch.

Hunters was our fourth stop.  Kind of a wide spot in the road really.  There was a cute little park, a tavern and a small grocery store, oh and a post office!

Hunters parking lot and people lined up in the background for their next poker card.

Last poker stop was Fort Spokane at the confluence of the Spokane river and the Columbia river.

It was spectacular at Fort Spokane today.  Warm and sunny and NO WIND!

Our final stop was in Harrington where prizes were awarded and winners of the poker hand announced.

One of the traveling trophy awarded to someone who's car breaks down on the trip!  If you receive the trophy, you are expected to add to it for the next year!

Another traveling trophy.  There were three cars that broke down and had to be hauled or towed back home.

We one the prize for the newest vehicle.  This was called "The Gumball Car Rally" so the prizes were jars of gum balls with painted pink spark plugs glued on top!

We didn't get home until after 6pm.  A long but fun day.  I'm not really in to cars, but I enjoyed visiting with people that are and learning the story of the treasure that they were driving.  I'm sure another similar event will be in our future.