The best is yet to come

Looking west

This morning we woke up to a strange sound.  Or rather, lack of sound, as the wind finally stopped roaring.

Quite a storm blew through the Coachella Valley last evening, and it looks like another murky day over yonder in LA.  But this morning in Desert Hot Springs we have calm (so far) blue skies. Later today, we'll head down to Palm Springs to spend the next three nights before flying home on Friday.

 "The Best is Yet to Come"

We took a short drive yesterday to Cathedral City and the Desert Memorial Park to pay our respects to a couple of old Palm Springs notables, Frank Sinatra and Sonny Bono.

 "And the Beat Goes On"

But most of the day was spent pretty much like this...

Sun, clouds and wind

The weather is a mixed bag today (sun, clouds and chilly wind) but should improve in a day or so.  Who cares?  We're enjoying Desert Hot Springs for two nights, one of our favorite places a bit off the beaten track.  Most of the people here are regulars like us, who come back every year. 

We stayed at the Tuscan Inn last year and liked the hotel and mineral pools. This tine we have one of the rooms with a private veranda and view of the mountains.

It is very comfortable and quiet (adults only.)  We bought wine and take-out chicken at Vonn's (Safeway) for dinner and then slept for 9 hours. 

Today we get down to the hard job of relaxing...

Tuscan Inn courtyard gardens.

The indoor mineral pool (our favorite)

John taking a sorta selfie.

The decadent poolside beds.

Off to the desert

We're off to Palm Springs today.  It looks like the weather in the desert next week will be about the same as Seattle- about 80, which is slightly irritating, but also just about perfect.  I'll  check in with some pictures in a day or so.
Ciao!   

Hives and barns

Our new neighbors across the street just put up this honey bee hive and purchased a "swarm." From all the activity, it looks like the bees are settling in. The husband works for Amazon; the wife is a physician who treats immigrants and refugees. Only in their 30's, they're the perfect example of young, successful, progressive Seattle.

The previous owner was a big gardener, always puttering around outside and weeding. These kids have a laissez faire approach to their big yard, letting things go more natural. True, they don't have time to garden all day, but it's also for the sake of the environment, insects and birds.

Nature thrives with just a little benign neglect. Some neighbors might not agree, but I think it's great. There's nothing worse than seeing the Washington Tree Service spray truck spewing yards with pesticide. Poor bees.

A few years ago, I did some research on urban honey bee keeping and realized it's a rather complicated and expensive pastime. Cultivating native Mason bees is a piece of cake by comparison. Not to be outdone by the new neighbors, I purchased this nifty Mason Bee Barn at Costco yesterday. 

Native Mason bees are small and often mistaken for flies. They are very docile and rarely sting. They don't produce honey or wax.  Mason bees are such effective pollinators that just two or three females can pollinate a mature apple tree.  Or a plum tree! They also work in cool or rainy weather in early spring when honeybees take the day off.

With the serious decline in honey bee populations, Mason bees are absolutely essential these days for orchard and other agricultural pollination because they are so efficient. What's not to like?

Mason bees are solitary and attracted to nesting holes – reeds, paper tubes, nesting trays, or drilled blocks of wood. Or hopefully, a deluxe condo.  All they need are flowers and a bit of mud.

If we're lucky, they just move in, but typically people purchase the larvae at nurseries and insert them into the nest box. So I need to make a few calls today. With these barns flying out of Costco, Seattle might well be sold out for the year.

Birds on the move

California Scrub-Jays are moving north up the Pacific coast as climate and weather changes, and Audubon says they are here in Seattle to stay.

We have several hanging around constantly and they get along great with their crow cousins. Scrub-Jays are crafty and aggressive corvids, like crows, and apparently they're pushing out other resident species, like the Stellar's Jay and Northern Flicker.

I haven't seen or heard a robin in the neighborhood this year, or many other birds for that matter. In early spring, robins were always up and chirping before the alarm went off. Except for crows cawing, the mornings are silent outside in the holly tree.  It seems strange, and I hope the Scrub-Jays haven't driven them all off.

Perhaps mating season is finished and they are nesting, a time when birds naturally lay low. So much of nature happens under the radar.  All we can do is wonder.

Can you believe it, next week during our long-awaited vacation, the weather will be spectacular in Seattle! The forecast for Palm Springs doesn't look bad, but partially cloudy and cooler than the seasonal high. That won't bother us a bit when we sitting in hot mineral water. 

May Day

Moe looks great, even with a porta-potty on his back.  Ha! I was worried because he apparently had a skin problem this winter, but they clipped off his shaggy coat and now he looks fat and glossy again. He was glad to see me, but then, it might be the bag of apple slices.

He's such a pleasure to ride on the trails, so well trained and quiet. Last summer Moe worked hard at a kid's camp, but this year his owner decided to leave him at the barn. He is 26, after all.  So Moe has nice lazy summer ahead, and I'll have a horse to ride occasionally.  Good news for both of us.

The first day of May probably has more holidays than any other.  Today many countries celebrate Labor Day. As usual, they expect a disruptive march through downtown Seattle.

Everyone is excited because it might hit 70 degrees this weekend. But the first thing I do each morning is check the forecast for Palm Springs next week.  So far so good-- dry, sunny and warm. We can hardly wait.