Happy Memorial Day!

It’s cool, damp and grey with scattered showers forecasted throughout the day: another typical spring day in the Northwest! I think this has got to be one of the wettest and coolest springs here since I got here 31 years ago. I sure hope that doesn’t mean we’re in for a string of scorchers (like last weekend) later on just to average things out. One of the ways we can tell it's spring is the rhododendrons are blooming, adding a nice splash of color to the backyard.

This is a shutdown week for me. I don’t go back to work until 2 June. The Solar and Flat Panel divisions of the company are very busy and not affected by the shutdown. A couple of our Mfg Engineers along with the buyer and planner are doing vendor visits for the Solar Division this week. They’re helping them ramp up to meet demand. A win-win situation for all involved. I don't have anything special planned for this week, just cleaning, straightening, yardwork (when it's not raining) and the like. We're thinking of taking in the IMax film about going down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon at OMSI. I think we've talked R into coming along. Despite living here all his life he's never been to the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) and he's never seen an IMax film. I figure with the 360 degree view this is as close as we will get to rafting through the Grand Canyon with out getting wet.

Saturday, R came over with Gabby to help me take out the pool heater, pump/filter and the spa bubble blower. It wasn’t as difficult as we expected, it only took a couple of hours and one trip to the hardware store for a couple of pvc pipe caps.

Before

After

And of course we couldn't do anything without proper supervision

We got scolded a couple of times by a mama robin who has taken up residence in one of the nests under the deck recently. We'll have to be careful going in and out of the patio door for the next several weeks.

Here's the best I could do for a picture of a hummingbird at our new feeder. I had to use the extreme zoom on the camera and of course, the bird it using the feeder on the opposite side from where I was but you can see it's tail at least.The feeder is just outside the window to the computer room. Sometimes I'll be at the computer and they will hover in front of the window and I swear they are looking right at me trying to figure out what I'm doing. They are voracious eaters, I've had to refill the feeder four times in the couple of weeks since I put it up.