Meditation garden - again

Well, I've decided the operative word for Jan-Feb in the Pacific Northwest is.....MUD!


My dogs are wondering why I stick their feet in a bucket of water everytime we come back from a walk. Oh, another word is - CONFUSED - as in weather, and people. It seems the weather changes from day to day - from a sunny sweater weather to bitter cold to rain and then to snow. We woke up to a white world again today - just when the buds were out on the trees, ready to greet the spring.
Our meditation garden continues to be a work of love and progress. Here are some updated pictures - yes, there are still tags on the trees, so we can remember which ones they are!
From this:


To this:


From this:



To this:



From this:



To this:


And this:



And this:


And this....


We had the serendipitous gift of a personal guided tour through the Japanese rock gardens by the director of grounds maintenance at the Portland Japanese gardens. We were so excited - she showed us the rakes they use in the granite, the patterns in the rock gardens, and the type of granite used (I thought they used white rock - or marble - but that isn't the case. They use a salt and pepper granite that looks like grey stones with black flecks, and in several different sizes). Her expertise was invaluable - right at the time we were ready to purchase the rock we needed (we would have gotten the wrong kind!!). She recommended some books on the subject, from creating a garden to raking it, making bamboo fences, etc. The rock gardens at the Portland Japanese Gardens take up to 37 hours to rake, and the gardens were initially planned in 1958! Well, maybe we don't have to get everything done, even in our very small scale, in the next 3 months:).

Ronn just finished building a house for the cats so they can get outside and still be protected. They would rather be completely free, but we're trying to convince them that this is the best alternative. As they sit inside looking forlornly at the dogs running in the yard, I am reminded of the comparison of dog and cat diaries, where the cat's diary starts with, "This is day 271 of my captivity.....", and "The dog has special privileges. They keep setting him free and he returns home. He is clearly demented....."


Their own private entrance....


Our red kitty has been ill but is doing well now. We adopted him from our drainage ditch in Sarasota a few months before we left. I think he was surprised that "going to the doctor" was as close as his own front door. He's not sure it's good to have a doctor for a mom - temperature taking, blood tests, fluids, medicines - all in the convenience of your own home! (Here he's playing chase the string - see it?)