Life's a Stitch

It’s been great hiking weather in the Pacific Northwest, warm and sunny after some drenching rain, the perfect recipe for mushrooming. Two Sunday’s worth of walks in the woods produced fresh springtime Oyster Mushrooms.

These entwined trunks called for a painting. Might do this one larger. It’s a Sitka Spruce and a Cedar.

The biggest seasonal thrill was on the water as we watched  a pair of Grey Whales, right from our deck, two days in a row. They’ve been hanging out in our shallow bay on their way up the west coast. My neighbour, who has lived next door since the mid 90’s, said this is the first time she’s seen them. Turns out a major portion of their diet includes crustaceans and our local crab hit the spot. Maybe there are more available, after a section of our city’s pier was taken out by a major winter storm, and nobody’s able to crab from the dock.

The whales would not pose long enough for a photo while they were substantially above the water. But I managed to capture two fins.