Happy Easter.

The garden is alive with birds. I think I now have _two_ wicked hummingbirds; certainly, there was a hummer every time I turned round, it seemed, even on my deck checking out the polyanthus. I also have some golden crowned sparrows, which is quite exciting because I don't remember seeing them in the garden before. I think the juncoes have gone, and maybe the touwhee as well, as I don't seem to have seen them for a week or two. Today I planted out some salad greens for my deck garden and puttered a bit in the main garden. It won't reach its full splendor for another month to six weeks, when the roses are blooming and the delphiniums, but it looks bright green and ready for spring, with some bright patches of tulips and wallflowers and pansies blooming now. The pear tree is blossoming, too, so it looks very lovely.

Took the hounds to Mt. Doug park this morning, and _it_ was very lovely, too. The erythroniums are nearly over; in a week or so the cammas will be blooming up on the heights, but I'm not sure I can climb that far this year. Next year, with my new hip, I'll be leaping about like a mountain goat!

I have to confess that I felt a little sad today, too. Easter was always one of my mum's favourite holidays; we always went out for a drive, and had roast lamb, and I usually bought her flowers or more likely a plant in a pot. So I miss her today, even though I enjoyed my Italian Bakery hot cross bun (the best in the world!!) and my garden and my walk in the woods. There's a gap, an absence, and I know it'll take more than a few months for me to stop feeling it, if I ever do.