Back Home and "Stuck"

FUNNY how we slip into the same old grooves the instant we return home from a vacation.
I think the first thing I did was sweep the kitchen floor. It always makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something that needs to be done and I can see instant results. I'm probably the only one who notices, however.
Well, I promised you some photos so I'd better catch up. I have the picture of the old leaning barn in the field of red clover. I should have taken 20 more, but didn't. This is the picture I wanted so I turned around, just after starting my journey to the coast, and got it!
Indian Beach - Cannon Beach's best-kept secret - was another wonderful place. Gorgeous weather for laying in the Pacific sand. I even got my feet in the water. (Check out those ferns by clicking on the picture. The curly leaves along the side are too cute!)
Indian Beach has these rugged rocks along the shore - the one with a hole through it. Watching the tide so it doesn't come in and trap you on one of those rocks is a smart thing to do. You don't want to lose track of the time while you're exploring here.
Here's a little guy I found on my way back out from the beach. I don't know if was asleep or had expired after completing his life's work.
Now that I'm back home there is plenty to do outside and inside and I'm sort of stuck. Sometimes I want to scream, trying to balance the important things I "need" to get done with the fun things I "want" to get done. (Oh, no, she's singing this old song again!)
Why not a little of both, I hear someone say. Good idea. I'll get right on that after I take a short nap - femminismo

Out Of The Woods ... Literally.

FEELING itchy tonight after being in the woods, again, today. I haven't seen any poison oak but the nettles got me again on one wrist while I was trying to take another skunk cabbage photo. I hope no one is tired of pictures of ferns, but I cannot resist putting in one more. I think these unfolding fronds look like exotic birds marching in the forest looking for a place to nest.
Use your imagination and see if they don't.
Confession: I guess I have too much time on my hands, because ... I opened a Tumblr account. I don't think I'm using it in the way they suggest - posting quick little bits at any time of the day. I'm using it more for writing - personal writing. Autobiographical, mostly, but who knows? It could turn fictional at any time; like when I can't think of anything to write about.
We'll see what happens. If you'd like to take a look, check here at Tumblr.
A lot of plants and trees are blooming in the woods. I'm glad I don't have allergies. I would be miserable - sneezing and feeling sad not to get to walk through the woods and make all the discoveries I did today. The Mister went down into the creek to rearrange some rocks that help divert water the proper way down the side of the river bank. We don't want things washing away.
I found wild strawberries today! Do you think we will get to taste them before the deer find them? I don't. The deer spend a lot more time in the woods than we do.
The maiden hair fern is lovely. There are several down by the creek and it makes you marvel at the beauty of nature.
I don't know what the plant in the last picture is. The leaves look like false Solomon seal. Any helpers out there? (postdate: 5/19/08 - I found out this is false Solomon's seal!) - femminismo

Ferns in the Pacific Northwest forests.

THERE was a visitor recently - Candace at EyeCandy blogspot - who loves to draw ferns and their spirals. Catching these plants in the spring is one of my favorite things to do. I enjoy trimming the ones that grow around our house so I can remove the dead, or spotted, winter-burnt foliage and reveal the "newbies" yearning to unfurl.
Above are wild bleeding hearts on the little hill at the top of the river bank. At right is one of the ferns growing along the river bank in the sun - twisted and convoluted - that I spotted in the forest on Sunday.
Now I must go make a thousand cookies for an art reception tomorrow night - the art reception for some of the children artists I "featured" here yesterday.
Speaking of thousands, there are only 503 more visitors and someone will win the "Mystery Woman" picture!
Now to get elbow deep in sugar, eggs, flour and chocolate chips. My blood sugar is soaring thinking of it! - femminismo