Beginning To Look A Lot Like Spring & A Puzzle

It's beginning to look a lot like Spring around here. Several weeks ago I blogged here about signs of Spring. Here's some of what I saw on a February 26th walk from our place to the library.

This is the first blooming plant I noticed when we moved to Kirkland. This bush, just next door to us, was blooming when we moved in early March of 2011. 

 tiny, tiny flowers

 It's going to be interesting to watch this & see what develops

I'm still not used to seeing palm trees here. 
These are just a few minutes' walk from our place

These waterstones are in front of a martial arts studio. 

Interesting contrast between the martial arts and these smooth stones 

that somehow speak peace and calm to me. 

Spring plants for sale at grocery stores

This is a monkey puzzle tree. It's the most unusual tree I've ever seen. Every time I walk by here with a grandchild, I point out this tree. It's become part of my script at that point in the walk. When grandson John and I walked by and I pointed it out, he said, "That's a monkey puzzle tree." There was one on at the university arboretum and he remembered it. That was the first time I could put a name with this tree. 

These are the leaves

According to the pictures here, this is a female tree. I couldn't get a picture of the female cones; they were way at the top of the tree. 

Part of a branch fell on the ground. That's my shoe in the bottom of the picture. Some of the leaves are still attached to the branch and others have broken off and are on the ground.