A day of firsts

A day of firsts the other day.

First day this year for towels on the line and brunch outside. Bliss.

Some years ago, when he was going to a specialty nursery on Vancouver Island, Rhodo Dave picked up two new rhododendrons for me. One, a purple one which I’d asked for, has flowered fairly well since then. For the other I asked for one with a nice scent, which not many rhodos have. I made a point of planting it near the deck so I could enjoy the scent. Since then it’s grown quite a bit, but until this year has never produced a flower.

Not so this year when I’ve been reminded what colour the abundance of flowers were supposed to be. The flowers are beautiful and, as I discovered the other day, do indeed have a lovely scent (hint of vanilla), although not strong enough to reach me sitting on the deck.

First beach walk of the year. (In the winter the tides are too high to walk the whole beach.) 

Georgie got to spend plenty of time in the water, which she absolutely loves. I came home with even more stones and pebbles than usual in my pockets and bag.

Normally I leave the rocks alone, but I couldn’t resist these. I mean, look at the one at the bottom. It looks like Australia! (No, really. It does.)

Some weeks ago I posted this photo of my car…

…with this spring haiku…

Some waggy friends responded with haikus of their own… 

And…

Joe, rather than waxing poetical, suggested bringing the car over for a power wash. And, as he lives close to the beach, that is what I did the other day.

Washing the car used to be one of Mike’s jobs. My attitude, as I may have previously noted, is once a year (after the pollen’s stopped dropping), whether it needs it or not. (Sort of like haircuts.) One the rare occasions when I’m going on a road trip, I might wash it twice. Might.

After half an hour of this…

… the car looked like this.

Of course it won’t last for long in a rural community, but worth taking a picture.

One day of wearing sandals and now it’s back to woolly jumpers. I suspect we’re going to go from Maybruary to another heat dome with not many stops in between.