Spring Hiking and a new cat

The early onset of warm spring temperatures threatened to fool our dormant vegetation, but, normalcy prevailed and the leaves are still barely peeking out. Our daily hikes on the Superior Hiking Trail in Duluth have kept us vigilant of emerging spring flora, including, dutchmen's breeches, purple and yellow violets, rue anemone, bloodroot and trillium. One of our favorite woodland edibles, the ramp or wild leek, is quite numerous this year. We have enjoyed ramp omelets and sauteed ramps with mashed potatoes. We're watching out for fiddleheads of the ostrich fern to try for the first time, but have been warned to make sure they're the right kind. Now, if we could only find some morel mushrooms (perhaps a rare sight in ,Duluth).

Today concludes the week-long Homegrown Music Festival in Duluth where many local bands and talent perform at numerous venues. Most notably, Trampled By Turtles (recently appearing on David Letterman and Prairie Home Companion) played at Clyde Iron Works and people camped out hours before for tickets. We were not amongst that group. Our son, Peter and his wife, Katie were visiting after he completed his first highly intense year of architecture grad school as a newlywed. They're now on their way to China for 2 months to partake in an architecture project sponsored by the Univ of Mich. Ah, to be young again!

And, finally, we have a newcomer to the B&B. Lena, a most affectionate and friendly black and white cat has settled in quite nicely after Joan's parents had to give her up when they moved. Jim's reservations due to his cat allergy(?) have swiftly faded as he appears to be unaffected by her presence. Her love of guests is obvious as she greets all who come to the door and many a lap when invited.