Trip to the garden center

Paco, the "garden cat" at the Oregon Coast Garden Center, keeps an eye on the bowl of cream that's headed his way. I liked how his tail curved perfectly to follow the grout line of the tile. There are still some remaining colorful hanging baskets for sale -- which always look great at the garden center but quickly lose their beauty once brought home. And finally -- kale! We know it's fall when we see all the kale on display. ©Carol Leigh

Trip to the garden center

A very pretty day this morning, so we headed down to the Oregon Coast Garden Center — always a treat. White cosmos flowers caught my eye at first. And then Paco, the old orange garden center cat, reluctantly and with a long-suffering sigh got up and walked over to me for some scritches. Out in the parking lot there was the most dramatic cloud formation and so yeah, had to photograph that, too. ©Carol Leigh

A plethora of pink

I was all set to go for a walk on the beach when it began softly raining, so I headed over to the Oregon Coast Garden Center instead. It's been a tough winter for them, with freezing temperatures lasting for more than a week in December and then lots of wind and rain earlier this year. But their place looks great, with lots of azaleas beginning to bloom. They're so kind to let me wander around shooting, and I found myself gravitating to the soft pink colors and striking forms of clematis flowers.

Spring has almost sprung and we're heading into two of the most beautiful months of the year in Oregon -- May and June. The goldfinches are turning a bright yellow. There are golden- and white-crowned sparrows in the back yard, and an evening grosbeak came to the feeder this afternoon. The ospreys are nesting -- one pair at the garden center and another pair up the road. Soon we'll see them flying overhead, fish in their talons, heading back to feed their young. And so it goes. ©Carol Leigh