Green Tea, Azaleas, Rhododendrons and Emmy

There have been some really sunny, warm days since the first day of Spring, and I can't get over the blooms on the azaleas and rhododendrons here!  Some of the shrubs have more flowers than leaves.

The green tea was brought back by our friends Yukiko and Mike from their trip to Japan. It's delicious; very fresh tasting - I think there must be a secret ingredient, but I can't read the label, so I'm not sure what it is.  It is a really bright green colour, which is kind of hard to tell from the photos.

Emmy, of course, is my constant exploring companion.

These are some kind of fruit tree blossom, maybe ornamental fruit?

The pink flowers are dogwood.

Here's Emmy enjoying the sun.

Some kind of wild flower?

Not sure what this is, but it's really pretty, quite large too, like a peony.

The Japanese green tea (and some oatmeal cookies that I made).

Here we are at the Commissary, a coffee shop near our apartment; Emmy was lucky enough to get a treat from one of the girls who worked at the shop (a piece of sausage!).

I was enjoying a chai tea latte.

The Day Before Spring

We finally had a nice sunny day, so of course we all went out for a walk! We've had so much rain this winter, it was nice to get out and enjoy the sunshine...everyone else in Portland had the same idea.

a pretty periwinkle coloured azalea near our apartment

some currant bushes in bloom

nice furniture shop not far from where we live

Sweet Emmy

love the turquoise door of the shop

Shane with a trolley going by behind him

can never have too many dog photos

Shane and Emmy in The Pearl District

not sure what these trees are called, but they shed these little mace-like seed pods all over the place

Shane trying to hurry through my shot

Interesting old warehouse

the warehouse had an open roof

the backyard of Bridgeport Brewery in The Pearl; you can see the steam coming out of the vats

Shane and Emmy in the sun

A beautiful crabapple tree in bloom

One of the shops on 23rd

Emmy and I waiting for Shane...

Still waiting...

Ah here he is!

Mmmm...Salt & Straw makes the best salted caramel ice cream.

Unusual maroon coloured magnolia

Red camellias

Lovely flowering vine

Shane and Emmy in the Northwest

Another pretty magnolia

Dean

Our neighbours (Mike and Yukiko) had to leave town for a funeral, so we are looking after their dog Dean for the weekend.
They moved into our building not long after we did, and they adopted Dean shortly after they had moved in.  They weren't sure what kind of dog they were going to adopt, but Mike had an idea of a type of dog he wanted.  When they looked at the dogs in the shelter, they saw Dean, but they weren't sure if he was "the one" or not, so they didn't adopt him right away.  But later on at home, they started thinking about him, and decided that maybe he was the one, and they went back to get him.
He's a very lucky boy, and I think he now has the best life he could ever imagine.  He has a bit of arthritis, but he's happy and healthy.  He gets brushed and bathed like a prized show dog, and has premium treats lining the shelves in the kitchen; all of which he, of course, greatly deserves.