Easter Bunnies

I found a new bunny to add to my collection at Pier 1 Imports the other day, and she looks so cute joining the other Maltby Bunnies on the upstairs ledge.  The second photo below is of Kaila's Easter basket, which I will drop off during her lesson Thursday evening.  We'll be leaving for Seabrook on Friday for three days there to celebrate our 20th anniversary!

Dinner With the Kids

Dave and Kaila took Don and me out to dinner last night to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary coming up this Friday!  We had a great meal at La Palmera in the Mill Creek Town Center.  Both my son and granddaughter hate to have their picture taken, so they get back at me by making funny faces.  I love it!

Polly and Her Biscuits

When I was at the Mill Creek Town Center last night, I stopped by Paddywack and got Polly some special dog biscuits.  Don't you just love these?  My favorite is the squirrel, though the 'pupcake' is my second fave!

Kelly's Tulips

Kelly came over the other day with a lovely bouquet of tulips she got from LaConner!  These are my favorite color of tulips this year.  They are perfect for the Easter season!

A Mandolin and A Dulcimer

I purchased a Piano Dulcimer from Dusty Springs in Fremont a few years ago, and am now making time to learn how to play it.  Recently my husband became interested in playing the mandolin after attending my piano studio's group lesson, where he met Tom, a local mandolin player.

Don will have his first music lesson tomorrow, where he will begin to learn how to read music.  Then we will both learn to play our instruments!

Tulips from the Fields

Don bought four bunches of freshly-cut tulips from the tulip fields as we were leaving.  Here are two bunches for us.  The other two bouquets went to our neighbor, Kelly.

A Trip to LaConner for Tulip Time

We finally arrived at Roozengard's tulip fields.  It's always an awesome sight to see literally miles and miles of tulip fields stretching out toward the horizon.

A Woman and Her Dog

Here is a 'selfie' of Susan and Polly on the way to the tulip fields.

Apples

Between the Snow Goose Produce stand and the tulip fields, there was one more distraction--an apple orchard and apple stand in Rexville.  We had never stopped at this huge old barn/apple store before, so this time we did.  They had a lovely bag of Jonagold apples for $6, so of course we bought one to make apple pies with this week.  We'll add Jonagold to our pie notes and see whether it is a worthy fruit for our Maltby Pie Company pies!

Snow Goose Produce Near LaConner

Monday morning, we decided to beat the rush to the tulip fields and go to LaConner on a weekday rather than a weekend.  Also, the Sunday paper said that the tulips were blooming ahead of schedule, so we took off before noon.  LaConner is one of our favorite places!

A few miles before the tulip fields come into view, the Snow Goose Produce stand demands one's attention.  There are all types of produce, tulips, African baskets, and best of all, homemade ice cream!  The place was packed when we pulled in, and I found a basket I liked, and we bought two bottles of wine to add to our current collection.  We had so much fun there that we almost didn't need to go see the tulips!  (but we did...)  More about the tulips on the next blog post.

Maltby Piano Studio Group Lesson March 21

The Quarterly Group Lesson has been in the planning stage since January, and we had the first class on Saturday.  We had over 20 attendees for the class, including the musicians and family members.

The venue was the Music and Arts store in downtown Bothell.  They have a nice auditorium on the second floor with a baby grand piano, and the acoustics are great in that room.  We set up the tables and chairs, and got the music stands and benches ready for the musicians who are teaching the class (the subject was "Composition 101").

The students started arriving a little before 1 p.m., and you could hear the guitar/piano player, the mandolin player, and the harmonium player warming up in the background.  All three of them are songwriters, and they had some great ideas and demonstrations for my students on how to start writing music.  What a fun time it was!  The students had the chance to ask questions of the guest musicians, and now they are ready to go on to the next step and start writing some simple songs on the piano to get started. I will teach them how to transcribe their own music and use the melodic pieces they create to complete a full song.

We had a Thai appetizer buffet after the class, giving the students the opportunity to meet their cohort group (Maltby Piano Studio students), and to chat with the musicians.

Music & Arts Auditorium

Harmonium, Guitar and Mandolin Players

Mini-Concert Time!

Checking out the Baby Grand

Student Learning About Different Pianos

Mason Orchard Bees are Here!

Two boxes of bees have been hibernating in the refrigerator for a month until March weather produces three consecutive days of 55+ degrees.  Today was the day!

The bee larvae are gently placed into the 'bee condo', and they will awaken and fly out of their home into a half-mile radius and pollinate everything in sight.  It's a great hobby we've participated in for over 10 years.

It's always exciting to see our yard burst into bloom in the Spring!

The Yakima Market is Open for Business!!

Ah, how I love opening day at the Yakima Market!  It's always been the real first day of Spring for me.  During all of the years I commuted to downtown Seattle from Snohomish, I was was always the first customer to pull into the parking lot at 7 a.m. when they opened and buy the first plants and produce.  Now that I'm retired, I slept in a bit and sauntered into the plant section around 1 p.m.  Retirement is awesome!

Here are some wonderful photos of the magic that this market provides from March through the end of  December each year.

New Raised Beds for 2015

Our original raised garden beds broke down over the summer, but I was expecting to need new ones this year.  The old ones lasted almost 10 years!

The new untreated lumber looks bright and new, and will anchor the garden soil for the flowers and vegetables that will be planted soon.

Horse Friends

Polly and I walk over the visit the horses almost every day now, and they are usually waiting by the fence for us in the afternoon.  We stop and chat, and I rub their long faces and soft noses. Polly gives them a good sniff, and then moves on to her next adventure.

Stopping by Duvall on a Thursday Morning

I met my friend Janet in Carnation at Starbucks Thursday morning for coffee and a visit, and it was a beautiful, warm morning.  It is really looking like Spring!

On my way home, I stopped in Duvall, and walked Main Street, checking in at the book store (I love the bench out front made from real books!) and the antique shop, crammed to the gills with lovely country items. It's a charming little town.