The new protectors of the chickens have arrived. They are settling in well into their new home. They were part of a pack of seven dogs found in Okanogan, hanging out near an airport. The pack ended up in the Humane Society in Kitsap county. They could not handle the whole pack, so three siblings ended up in The Noah Center in Standwood. We wanted to take all three siblings, but were limited to two. The Noah Center was concerned that taking three might be overwhelming for us.

We need to train them that chickens are not for hunting but protecting. They sure love eggs. They are very calm and well behaved. Hard to believe they are feral dogs. They are believed to be eight months old and border collie mixes.

The summer-like weather has the lilacs in full bloom. It’s impossible not to smell them. The slightest breeze, and their heavenly scent floats inside. In a few weeks they will be gone until next year. Now is the time to smell them.

A spider has made a home inside a bunch of white lilacs. You can see its slender legs. Does the spider sense what a beautiful place it lives? Or does it just care about the hapless insects which come by? While it waits, does it caress the lilac petals and sigh at their softness? Spiders smell through their legs. Maybe that’s why it dangles its feet over the petals. Perhaps it finds the fragrance of lilacs as tantalizing as we do.

The warmth has the asparagus shooting high. The beauty of having an asparagus patch is that you can pick them at different lengths. I find the ones that are just starting to branch out especially delicious. Those are not considered salable and they’ll never find their way onto store shelves. For the next few weeks, asparagus are practically a staple here. For the home gardener, they are an effortless vegetable. Year after year they come back whether you want them or not.

Any day the mountain is out is a good day. When it is out, pedaling down into the valley to get the mail or deliver eggs, is smile time.

The salmon berries are fruiting. They should be called clown berries with their frilly collars.

It’s a riot of colors now with so many flowers in bloom. I found a riot in the compost pile. A bit of potato has taken root. I will need to carefully transplant it and see what kind of potato spontaneously came to being in the compost bin. Maybe I’ll call it potato composita.

The chickens are having a riotous good time by the pond. The water is high and it’s easy for them to get to the bank and scratch and dig to their heart’s delight in the mud. They probably are able to reach frog eggs, and waterbugs, and fancy pond fare. I’ve yet to see a chicken spear a fish, but someday I might.

This is what five million dandelions look like. I pass this meadow on the way home from the post office. It’s about four acres or 174,240 square feet. There are about 30 dandelion flowers per square foot. Multiply 174,240 by 30 and you get 5,227,500.

A gust of wind this morning filled the air with swirling petals … a blizzard on a spring morning. Petal blizzards. No need to bundle up, and put on a coat, and a scarf, and a hat.

Cherry blossoms are so fleeting. They only last a week or two. They’re so fleeting, there’s no time to be sad.