The high today is 88° and the Extreme Heat Warning begins tomorrow. ugh. But today is still okay.

Good Morning Babies!

And Good Morning Other Babies!

I am extremely worried about them, with the heat wave coming. And probably heat gets trapped up there, the nest is right next to the ceiling.

*unhappy*

At the garden. The ProCut Plum is making a couple more flower buds!

ha, this angle amuses me!

There are three Lemon Cucumber plants growing on the small trellis... the healthy one on the left and the two smaller siblings on the right (which is one transplant survivor, and the one and only cuc that came up from seed).

I have concerns about the Lemon Cucumber plants surviving the heat wave as well. They aren't very tough.

But they surely are pretty right now!

The small Strawberry's pet Nasturtium!

This is the freebie Buttercup. It's made a bunch of leaves, but has stayed small. It's not going to have time to make any fruit.

When I look up, this view amuses me as well.

As I leave the garden, there's a Turkey Vulture circling.

She must see me looking at her, because she circles closer and closer.

And then she goes right over me! The camera doesn't focus, of course, but I'm so delighted that I giggle!

Turkey Vultures are my favorite! It always makes my day when I see them!

Tag: august 2025

A perfectly nice summer day, to be 84°. That 100° weekend is still in the forecast... One last blast of summer heat before things cools off. Hopefully, anyway.

Good Morning my cute little fledgling!

Greenie, is that you?

It is! I wondered if this could be that juvenile Green Heron of the other day... But nope! This is Greenie! Back in their favorite hunting spot!

They've been preening. That's feather fluff on their beak.

Thank You Greenie!! So good to see you... will you be migrating soon? You're thinking about it?

And then on the other side of the bridge... Hi Babies!

I'm pretty sure it's just four children for this round.

And the upcoming heat wave has me very concerned. I do Not want to get too attached to these kids. Sighs.

I walk over to Dragonfly Land. This is a Common Whitetail, a male.

And I watch the minnows for few minutes as well.

When I looked a little closer at my photos, I noticed this... and my first reaction was Eeew! Are those Leeches???

*laughs* I think they are! Baby Leeches!

The minnows are around an inch long, so the little Leeches are maybe a bit over a centimeter.

I'm a little disappointed at my initial Ew! I mean, they can't help it that they don't have a face or anything, cute or otherwise.

And they are as much a part of nature as Greenie and the Barn Swallows and the minnows!

As I walk back, a parent Barn Swallow flies in to feed one of the kids... but I miss that action.

And in a moment, they are zonking out like the babies they are!

Walking to the Community Garden, I find some other babies!

At the garden plot I'm just doing a quick watering.

I was almost done and I was crouched at the Green Zebra, giving it a bit extra water because it always looks so pathetic.

Motion caught my eye and there's a SNAKE!!! Slithering right under my knee! Literally inches away!!!

Ha!! SO AWESOME! A little Garter Snake, I saw their stripes.

I only had a little window, looking down on the snake so have no idea how big. But maybe (not quite) twice as thick as a pencil, and fairly long! 2feet? But that's just a guesstimate, no way of really knowing!

Very pleased to almost meet a snake! *laughs* and very happy they are visiting my plot!! Yay!

The Perth Pride has made some fruits... that's one of the root bound freebie veggie starts that arrived from LogHouse Plants.

I'm glad it's gotten to do something... I don't think the Buttercup I got at the same time, will recover in time to make any fruits.

There's a second fruit on the Aubergine!

It's mostly recovered from the day I didn't water it enough, altho it still looks pretty pathetic. It lost most of it's flowers from that incident... but it kept this one!

The healthy Lemon Cucumber is doing fine.

And I've gotten a couple cucs from the two sibling Lemon Cuc plants as well. I just wish for more! Lemon Cucumbers are my favorite and I would eat them all day, every day, if I could!

Ha... that Purple Leaf Plum tree above looks like an echo of the ProCut Red sunflower!

I've gathered todays harvest... the most Basil yet!

And heading out... ha! I didn't realize how tall the Wax Beans were getting until I saw this photo! The leaves on the right side of the big trellis go almost all the way up!

And the bushy green thing on the left is the Sunchoke. It got a slow start this spring, because I had tried to kill it and dug up almost all the roots last November.

ha! Then I changed my mind and decided to let it grow again this year. *rolls eyes* at self!

Tag: august 2025

That weird 20% chance of rain stayed in the forecast, and at 3:30am we actually did get a couple minutes of sprinkles! Ha. It didn't even register as a trace tho, the weather data for today says 0.00 precipatation!

But the clouds have hung around and I decide to skip the garden today. I head in the opposite direction!

Oh, these blue flowers are pretty. I don't know what they are!

All kinds of interesting flowers here!

And creatures! ha!

Haha!

I walk away, but I'm thinking hard... I've got my small backpack because I've brought my water bottle. And the summer squash plants at the garden plot are not doing much yet. Maybe I could come back this way, after the park?

Finally at the park!

The lovely cloud cover is starting to break up.

Once I got under the trees in the little bit of forest, I sat down to drink some water. I look up...

Oh nice! I watch the wasps buzzing around the nest for a few minutes.

It's up in the tree far enough that the wasps don't mind the humans who are walking by on the trail, or playing Frisbee golf.

I walk thru the forest. There's some birds singing, but nobody close by, and I don't even catch a glimpse.

But I can usually find some wildlife at the ditch in the back.

Wood Pewee!

I come around the corner... oh no! What happened??!

What a terrible shame! This big beautiful shade tree.

There must have been something wrong with it. It sheared off at it's base almost straight across, left all the roots in the ground!

And just a couple feet of bark left standing where it was.

Ugh. This is just too sad.

I take a few more photos, but my heart just isn't in it anymore.

And I do go back home the same way I came out... and filled up the backpack with Free Zucchinis! That's something to cheer me up a little, at least.

Tag: august 2025

Clouds this morning and a crazy 20% chance of rain... haha, it never rains in August! But my goodness, the house is humid. Good thing I won't need my make-shift swamp cooler today! It's not going to work with this kind of humidity!

We've got a couple of nice days -- high of 78° for today and tomorrow. But the 100° heatwave is still sitting in the forecast for the weekend.

So nice to walk without the sun beating down!

Oh Hello Mackerel Sky!

And the Barn Swallow babies on the other side of the bridge.

The cloudy day makes for bad photos. oh well.

A parent flies in with food!

One baby is still hungry.

The parent gives me a look, before flying off.

And the other parent has been circling and they fly in and feed the hungry one!

Well. Yesterday I saw four babies but today I've only got photographic proof of three. ha.

Try again tomorrow, I guess. Tho, thinking about the future, the heat wave in the forecast has me worried.

Mackerel Sky is still on the other side of the bridge and had been posing for a lady taking pics with her phone!

All this attention is probably turning her into a diva!

Okay! Back at the garden!

The small Strawberry's Pet Nasturtium!

So happy with the Wax Beans vining and everything growing at the big trellis...

But you know what? I've been calling that fluffy thing on the right a Love in the Mist. But it's so big. And it suddenly occurred to me that it's actually a Cosmos!!

So that's very exciting! I've never had a volunteer Cosmos before!

And turn to look at the Patty Pan...

That little tomato plant on the left is a volunteer that I've been watering. It's a cute thing, but as a second generation from the Sungolds, the cherry tomatoes will be red and won't taste very good.

Since the day is so nice, I should probably do some work. I decided to clear a bit at the back of the small trellis.

I had planted these Nasturtiums as seeds, and they don't need all those wild Amaranths and Crab Grass choking them out!

When I'm done, the Nasturtiums are a bit worse for the wear!

I prop them up with extra dirt around their bases, and hope for the best.

I pulled that first textured Crookneck from the plant that I put down as a seed!

As I was watering, a hummingbird buzzed me.

I dropped the hose and grabbed the camera and chased after them. *laughs*

Alighted on Kevin's trellis... and moved on before the camera could focus. They looked at the Scarlet Runner Bean blossoms... and again, too fast for me. Alit on the other side of the trellis... I walked around, and they buzzed away the instant I had a clear view.

Gah! Little stinker! *laughs* But then... !

Oh my gosh! That little patch of orange!!!

They are a Rufous Hummingbird!!! Either a female or a juvenile male!

Probably migrating thru... but My Dear? Could you stay for a few days? So I get another chance? Please?!

*smiles*

Tag: august 2025

To be 86° (30°C) today, a perfectly normal and lovely summer day!

I would wish all my summer days could be like this! And, once upon a time, that's how it was here. Mid-80s was the hottest part of the summer! And it didn't even last all of August. It normally starts dropping to the lower 80s by the end of the month!

But, we've got climate change and that heat wave in the forecast for this weekend... is starting to look concerning. Mid-90s then 101° on Monday? ugh.

But I'm excited to see the Barn Swallow nest, so I hurry on out there!

Yay!

That's four blurry Barn Swallow baby beaks! Some baby fluff on their heads and eyes pretty closed!

Oh! I guess their eyes are opening a little!

So cute! The last batch was five babies, and I'm wondering if there's a fifth hidden behind the siblings!

Okay! To the garden!

The texture on the front Crookneck makes it look like a gourd! ha!

The Tomatillos, the leaves are so pretty!

Underneath, I noticed this weird yellow fruit.

It's much smaller than a normal tomatillo, and I've never seen that shade of yellow. The husk normally stays green, sometimes has purple veins.

When I touch it, it falls off. And it's completely empty, no fruit inside. I guess it didn't get fertilized.

Well, that is the only weird one... there's plenty of normal ones coming on!

A small harvest today.

I am really wishing for more Sungolds... The two plants are gearing up, I just need to be patient!

The ProCut Plum with the Body of the ProCut Red in the background...

That ProCut Red is close to five foot tall, and the leaves are so solid... I am always thinking it's a human standing in my plot!

I have jumped So Many Times! because I thought someone snuck up on me and was in my plot. *laughs*

Okay! These pink flowers catch my eye as I'm heading out!

Tag: august 2025

After many, many delays, anyone flying on a plane after 7 May 2025 must have a Real ID.

Oregon was one of the states that kept putting it off. That's funny! I procrastinate as well.

But this is the year! If I want to fly to Colorado to see my family, I will need to get a Real ID.

The problem is... You need to bring a lot of official documents in order to get a Real ID. And one of those offical documents, I've not seen since we moved to Oregon.

*Anxiety*

I think it's in a box. And I think that box in in my closet.

So. I freaked out about this for a while. And then I started digging!

At the beginning of August -- Yes, many, many months after May7... Yes, many, many months of freaking out -- I switched my Tiny Clean focus from the porch room to the Closet Project.

I really want to be tidy about this! You know? Since I have to dig thru my closet, how about I make it better!

Check! I don't really have a plan, but I organize things as I get them out of my way. Eventually I make it down to the ... box.

Yeah, I actually thought there were two boxes in this spot, but it's just the one. That concerns me. A good bit. I move stuff from on top of the box, and I even get the little vacuum out to suck up some dust.

On Monday I pulled the box out and opened it.

I was expecting a box full of paperwork. But this box is filled with journals.

This is not the right box.

I am devastated. I guess there were two boxes after all. I suppose the other box is deeper in the closet. ugh.

I do pull out a couple of the journals, tho. Just to make sure there's nothing tucked in between them. But, no. It's just a box of journals.

Mostly those are just lined notebooks, containing my boring journaled thoughts.

But, the books at the end, were art journals.

I don't journal like that anymore... and I really kind of miss it.

There's different colours of inks, and little sketches here and there and interesting graphic elements. Some stickers and a few things pasted in.

It's fun to flip thru these books!

Tag: august 2025

The forecast says 79° today and minus the heavy clouds that kept yesterday so cool, we will almost get there. (Actual high today is 78°.)

Normal for this time of year is 86°, so the cooler days are definitely nice. Tho we will probably be paying for them with more heat waves. The next one looks to be in the forecast... mid-90s for the weekend. bleh.

*laughs* I'm thrilled that I keep getting to see the Scrub Jay fledglings here... but they never want to be photogenic!

There's no parent sitting in the Barn Swallow nest. hmmmmm....

Extreme zoom. And never mind the feathers that are lining the nest. But I think the orange is baby beaks!

The parents must be out collecting bugs! Yay!

I'm at the garden, the Aubergine is looking a little better today. I had watered the heck out of it yesterday when I found it's poor curled leaves. And I watered the heck out of it again today!

I think it got dried out because it's at the edge of the plot.

I decided to harvest the first Beet today. It is huge! I weighed it when I got home, just over 1.5 pounds!

And my daily allowance of Sungolds! *laughs* I've been getting four or five Sungolds most every day for a week now.

As I was crouched on the ground, taking photos of the big o' beet, I noticed motion right next to me...

Oh cool! Yellow Jackets! My cute little pollinators!

Not pollinating at the moment! But trying to murder someone... The adults just eat sugars, but their children need protein.

I watch them for a few minutes, trying to see who is putting up such a fight. It's a Housefly!

Well, I leave them to it and back away slowly.

I've never been stung, as an adult. And I feel like Yellow Jackets are pretty smart and they understand that I am just curious about them.

They are native insects, and I wish only the best for them!

Heading home... I get to eat a good handful of Himalayan Blackberries!

Oh yeah! Yum!

Tag: august 2025

We've got some very nice cloud cover this morning and the forecast says 80° ... but the clouds linger thru the day and the actual high is just 73°!

That's been happening a lot this year... Every once in a while, the morning forecast is extremely not what's actually happening. And they really should have a firm grasp of the weather forecast on the morning of.

I'm going to attribute this to DOGE cuts. It's sad to see the fall of civilization.

(Not that stupid America, or our weather forecasting is all of civilization, but you know what I mean!)

Hi Squirrel Baby! You think the clouds are just fine and who cares about civilization?! Yeah, you're right!

Oh, hey! Lesser Goldfinch!

I'm doing my Point and Click and Hope... But I get no cooperation from the camera.

And no cooperation from little bird, either! haha.

Green Zebra...

yeah, I don't know what is up with all the dead branches on this thing! It's still making fruits, but it is def not a healthy plant. Sighs.

Hi Honey Bee!

Oh no! The Aubergine has curled up it's leaves!

Dang it. Not enough water? I just can't do anything right in the garden this year!

But look underneath! ha!

The Wax Beans and all are doing okay under the big trellis.

That big ol' fluffy thing at the bottom right is the biggest Love in a Mist that I've ever had.

And check this out... the Crookneck that I planted as a seed? It's growing it's first fruit, and it's Textured!!

Funny! It has different leaves too... Here's the Nasturtium between the two Crooknecks...

The seed planted Crookneck is top left, and the transplanted Crookneck I got from the Farmers Market is bottom right and much deeper lobes!

The Lemon Cucumbers on the small trellis.

There's three Cuc plants there... two transplants and one that came up as a direct sown seed. And the leaves of both of the ProCut sunflowers, top left.

Today's harvest. And, ha, those are some Sugar Snap Peas... the plants are mostly dead, but you know how the tops keep going sometimes.

oops! I was looking at the new little volunteer squash...

I must have soaked this little Bumblebee when I was watering. So sorry my dear! But no worries, you'll dry out in a couple minutes!

A little group of sparrows twitters close by... Oh! I think this is a juvenile White Crown Sparrow!!

Good to see them migrating!

Heading out. But with the cloud cover, you can actually see the plants and so I take a couple more pics to remind me what this years plot looks like!

The left side. (The straw is the left neighbor.)

And the right side... where you can see my extreme fondness for Borage!

And from the right front.

And yeah, I am ridiculously happy about that Red Amaranth that has grown up in a perfect place!

The wild type Amaranth is short and green, and I remove a lot of it because it's so prolific! I keep a lot for the bugs and birds, of course. But this one I kept, for it's lovely colour!

Tag: august 2025

Oh hey! New graffiti!

I've seen that pyramid symbol before, but only on the west end of the bike path. This is well outside this artist's usual range.

Good! It's nice to see others going for walk abouts as well!

A Green Heron... and it's NOT Greenie!

I pulled up a photo of Greenie to figure it out... Greenie has a more solid and darker coloured cap, and this one is just more stripy.

I looked it up and, ah, extra stripy is a trait of juveniles!!

And that explains the feeling I got as I was watching him... The look he was giving me was that of a Clueless Newbie!

Bahaha! Taking in the whole world! Everything is New and Amazing!

And here's a couple more clueless newbies. Sleepy Babies!

The spider web in front of the Barn Swallow nest has been mostly cleared again! Just a little section of web that's catching the light... like the parent just got an idea! haha.

Dragonfly Land is such a beautiful place! Blue Dashers, galore!

One more glance up at the parent.

At the Community Garden, I walk by the front plots instead of going straight back to my plot... These Corn silks catch my eye!

And then these Nasturtiums, in the same plot are a new colour! I like it!

At my plot, I decide to do some weeding. I've noticed this plant in the Tomato area...

This is a return of the Black Bindweed that I had last year. I had let it bloom, because I was curious, and it spreads by seeds.

No big deal. It's satisfying to pull it out, and it hadn't started any blooms this time.

The leaves of Black Bindweed look similar to Field Bindweed... but they are not related at all, and have very different flowers.

Another wildflower that's very satisfying to pull out is Smartweed!!

Smartweed is a native, and the blooms are visited by lots of different pollinators!

But it tends to form a mat when it gets big, and it will choke off other plants. So you've got to be careful about that, and pull up any baby plants that come up too close to the veggies.

But that's also the thing that makes it satisfying... you pull up one mature plant, and suddenly you've got three square feet of cleared dirt! Ha!

Okay. I've mostly filled up my bucket with all the different wildflowers! I feel accomplished!

That's the ProCut Plum Sunflower... the petals didn't last very long! ha! Birds pluck them out to make it easier to get to the seeds! :)

The small Strawberry's pet Nasturtium has a bloom!

Hello? Heeello-oo? No? Fine!

Tag: august 2025

Good Morning Babies!

oh crum. The spider is so industrious! *laughs*

okay! All the wildlife in Dragonfly Land is very cute. But I'm heading to the garden!

The Buttercups...

When I arrived, one of the Buttercups was a bit wilted and droopy. I propped it back up on the trellis and gave them a good watering.

But here's the problem... the base of the stem has Holes in it!

Dang it. That's the same thing that killed the Accidental Lemon Cucumber! Does a bug do that? It's very annoying!

But it recovered after I propped it up, so I guess the holes are fine, as long as the plant keeps the correct angle for the nutrients to flow.

Well. It doesn't even matter. These little plants aren't going to get big enough to make any fruits. The season won't be long enough, and they've made a few more leaves, but haven't really grown much since I transplanted them.

That ripening Green Zebra. I'm looking forward to tasting it!

I'm going around, gathering the harvest of the day...

And the diagonal neighbor walks by and offers a couple of Peaches!

Oh my gosh, Yes Please!!

I ask where they come from and he says he has a tree in his yard at home.

Oh, that's nice! If I had a yard, I would have a Peach tree. And a Persimmon tree. :)

The harvest and the peaches just barely fit into the small backpack... but I had to carry my water bottle in my hand on the way home! ha.

Tag: august 2025

Henrietta! Long time, no see!!

And then, just a little bit up stream...

It's Mackerel Sky!

That's good to see my friends! Especially Henrietta! I wonder where he's been hunting this year. Further downstream? All the way down to the reservoir?

I go visit the Barn Swallow nest. Oh good... The spider webs have been cleared again!

That white thing is a feather sticking up from the lining of the nest.

Aw! You looking at a baby? Or an egg? ...
A hatching egg??!

I meet up with the Minnows as well.

One more glance at the Barn Swallow parent.

And then I'm off to the Garden.

The Aubergine.

The Half Dead Sungold.

The Old German.

The Brandywine...

Yeah, the tomato cage holding the Brandywine has started to lean dramatically! It's a big plant!

Fortunately, it's leaning on the Old German... and that tomato cage seems to be holding.

The Brandywine also had a drooping branch. The branch only had one tomato growing on it, but that was heavy enough to bend the branch down to the ground! So I propped it up with a small tomato cage.

This back corner makes me happy.

Top left = The Sunchoke on the left side border.
Bottom left = The Volunteer Squashes.
Right of Center = Brandywine.
Top right = Kevin's raised beds.
Bottom right = Old German.

Oh, and I guess you can see a bit of the Green Zebra, as well... it's in front of my aqua backpack, top center.

Bumblebee on the Borage.

Mmmm! Lemon Cucumber!

ProCut Red, part two! Haha!

Heading out... but I stop to admire the right side neighbor's plot. This is the Pot People, they haven't done much at all this year, but they must have watered a couple times...

Tag: july 2025

White Crown Sparrow?! Ha!

The first of the migrations! White Crowns are winter visitors here, but this group might just be passing thru on their way further south.

Happy Journeys, my dears!

Okay! Straight to the garden, I don't stop at the Barn Swallow bridge today. It's to be 89° today, but some morning clouds have kept it cool enough that I'm going to tackle some weeding in the front!!

We've not gotten the email telling us we are not in compliance yet. Which is weird.

But I'm going to do something here...

The section that is not Borage is actually the Beet Patch... not that you can see any! *laughs*

There's some damn Bermuda Grass in the corner, and then I pulled out Amaranth, Crab Grass, a bit of Quack Grass and the little weedy vines that I don't know the name of. There's some Speedwells here as well, which I like to keep because it is pretty, both the leaves and the tiny flowers.

The clouds were breaking up and I was pouring sweat down! I paused work to get water a couple times.

I filled the bucket up with weeds...

And the Beets are free to grow again!

Altho, they don't need to grow much... there are a couple that are huge!

And, of course, I left some of the taller wild Amaranths, and the red one... The birds will enjoy the seeds!

The dirt was insanely dry! So I watered like crazy!

The Green Zebra ripening it's first tomato.

The Nasturtiums in the front are doing well...

They live in between the Crooknecks, and the grid is there to make sure I don't step on them as I walk between the bigger veggies.

And that cute little unknown weed.

The first fruits, under the leaves of the Lemon Cucumber Siblings...

And this will be the third Patty Pan.

It's sad that I'm able to count how many summer squash I've gotten... I looked up some of the harvests from last year. ha, so different!

Mid-July of last year, I had so many Zucs and summer squashes I couldn't eat them all!

And here it is, all but August, and I'm getting squashes one by one. sighs.

Sighs.

That Strawberry? Soooo GOOOD!

I'm happy with the work I did today!

Tag: july 2025

I'm looking both ways to cross the street I live on... and up the hill...

Ha! A Black Tail stag is walking up the sidewalk!

I am glad to see the traffic slows way down when he gets too close to the road. But the stag just continues on his merry!

He'll have to be careful crossing the other road to the south where his forest is, but I'm sure he'll be fine!

And I head down the hill to the bike path.

A parent sits on the nest.

OH! A changing of the guard!

We make sure the eggs are all okay...

And then they get settled.

oh, haha. There's a Mama Mallard in Dragonfly Land!

She plops down into the water.

I can hear her children. They aren't peeping, but just quietly talking to themselves. It's super cute, but the sound is bouncing here, and I can't figure out where they are!

I walk upstream a little. And find a Woodland Skipper!

I come back. Ah, there you are!

*laughs* It's a hot day, my children... you can probably find better shade! That little Yellow Twig sapling isn't doing much!

Yes, you are both absolutely adorable!

Okay. Off to the garden!

oh hey, I guess I WILL be able to tell when the Green Zebras are ripening! This one is starting to get yellow!

Here's the Buttercup, the freebie veggie start, and the only winter squash left to me. I just pulled off most of it's dead leaves... transplant shock and too hot weather.

It's a cute little thing, but it won't make any squashes, I'm thinking. That's okay.

At the other end of the trellis is that Tomatillo I moved from the path.

Hmm, I wonder what this plant is! It's got pretty leaves!

I really am happy with this whole corner!

But the Crooknecks on the other side of the plot are good as well!

I've only got three Lemon Cucumber plants that survived... Two transplants and one that came up from seed. But they are all healthy and happy!

And next year will be better. Definitely can't be worse than this year! ha!

As I walk out of the Community Garden, I see a new sign on the other gate...

Oh crap. Compliance Checks were yesterday. I've still not tidied up the front of the plot. Shoot. Probably going to find me non-compliant.

What else is new!

Tag: july 2025

Over the weekend I was taking a break from my pushups, because I had over extended my back moving old typewriters around. But today I wanted to get back to it.

And, nope. I did my pushups and then this afternoon I was back to eating pills in order to live! *laughs*

This morning I'm heading to the garden to water the veggies. But first, Dragonfly Land!

Blue Dashers. Their eyes are just the prettiest colours!

There's only ever males here. I don't think I've ever seen a female. I looked them up, they are brown and yellow, very different.

As I walk toward the bridge with the nest, a Barn Swallow flies in and out quickly. But when I get there, the parent is settled. Was the other parent just checking in? Or did they bring a snack? hm.

At the garden, the main Crookneck is making more fruits.

And the front Crookneck, which I started from seed, is making it's first fruit!! Yay!

The Volunteer Tomato plant is looking pretty good. I don't know why I bothered with this... the cherry tomatoes from this plant won't be any good, and I'll have tons of Sungolds, once they rev up.

I'm noticing that not all of the flowers on the Brandywine are getting fertilized...

That concerns me a little. Because my plot is filled with Zillions of bees and other pollinators! But maybe it's the plant deciding it can't handle all the fruit? It does have a good number of tomatoes coming on!

The vining Wax Beans make me happy!

Oh hey! The ProCut Red Sunflower is making a second bloom!! Woo!

I harvested the second Patty Pan today. And I've lost track of how many Lemon Cucumbers I've gotten off the heathy plant... the other two Lemon Cuc plants aren't ready to make fruits.

Heading out.

But this catches my eye in a neighboring plot...

That colour! I wonder what variety that is!

And I see not all of those flowers have been fertilized, as well.

In the evenings I've been watching the 1995 BBC version of Pride and Prejudice. This is a mini-series of six episodes.

As is my way, I've watched it over and over. I think I've seen it three times, now, all the way thru. Which is enough to have a favorite episode...

Episode number four! Darcy is walking away right after he makes the terrible proposal and the words they both said are echoing. And then the letter he writes!

But then in Episode number five, Miss Bennet visits Pemberly with her aunt and uncle... and Mr Darcy is suddenly all nice, and gentlemanly. That's a good one as well!

But then again... episode three was the set up for all of this. That disastrous proposal! That's fun to watch as well!

*laughs* I would like to re-read P&P again at some point. I know that the 1995 version is closer to following the story than the 2005 movie. But of course, the 1995 version is hours longer, so there's more time to be true. But I do enjoy the movie as well.

:)

Tag: july 2025

Taking a break from the garden! It's a nice day today at 84° (29°C) but next week looks like upper 80s and a couple days in the 90s. Bleh. So I'm enjoying today!

And it really is a lovely summer day!

I go by the bridge thats getting seismic upgrades. This road closed in mid-June and they won't finish until Aug20.

The extra traffic on the street I live on is a major pain, I'll be glad when this is done!

I love all the different colours of the prairie!

I get around to the trail at the park... aw, dangit!

*laughs* That was a Kestrel standing on that Frisbee Golf goal. She flew away immediately.

But she flew in the direction I was walking and I saw her land in a tree. I walked closer, but the tree was too far from the trail, and I figured she would fly again if I got too close.

She's a female... The males have blue wings.

I walk around, but she's busy!

And it's not a better view anyway. Humph!

I remind myself that if I were to walk out here more often... I would get more chances to see these beautiful little raptors!! *smiles*

Tag: july 2025

There's spider webs in front of the Barn Swallow nest again.

But with some fiddling, I do get the camera focused beyond.

In the Community Garden, walking back to my plot, I stop to take a pic of these so I can ID them...

Nemesia. They are tiny and native to southern Africa, so probably not doing a single thing for our pollinators.

In my plot, I'm throwing down some fertilizer and watering.

Here's the healthy Lemon Cucumber plant, from the other side of the small trellis!

The Tomatillos I bought are at the other end of the small trellis. They are making fruits, in the excitable manner that is normal! *laughs* Tomatillos are prolific!

The Tomatillos are very crowded by Borage, that's the blue flowers and the fur. I should probably pull some of the Borage out, to give space. But, meh. The Tomatillos don't seem to mind the Borage, which brings bees and pollinators of all sorts!

This is the front left of the plot, the neighbor's corn in the top left and some of my Buckwheats in the top right.

The squash at the top, right of center is the Main Crookneck that I bought as a veggie start. It used to be the biggest squash in the plot!

But now, the Crookneck on the left has gotten bigger!! I planted that one as a seed, so that's very exciting.

And plus... look how different the leaves are. The transplant has much deeper lobes. Makes me wonder if the seed planted Crookneck is actually a Crookneck!! Ha!

Well, whatever it is, I am thrilled with how well it is doing! It's the first time that I've grown summer squashes from seed!

But today I'm picking from the Green Zuc...

*laughs* at those two Sungolds! Well, the plants have to start somewhere!

Green Zebra, the experimental tomato flavor of the year.

I wonder when I'm supposed to harvest them!

The Mystery Plant under the big trellis.

And look how pretty the Basil is! It's the first time I've had good success with Basil.

Well, I'm out. Outside the Community Garden fence, there's some Chicory blooming.

Tag: july 2025

Massive back pain today!

Ha! Let me tell you what I've been working on for the daily Tiny Cleans in the porch room...

This electric Underwood Typewriter is my inheritance from my Grandma. I learned how to type on Grandma's typewriters! That's why the keys are covered with tape, so we couldn't look down at the letters! ha!

And that orange thing is a moving company sticker... apparently they didn't even bother to put it in a box! Amazing it still works.

Or, I assume it works. I didn't plug it in because it really needs to be cleaned, and oiled I suppose. And I don't have a ribbon for it. I would pay someone else to do this work for me... It would be way fun to type on it again! But that is for another time.

Anyway. I don't know how heavy the thing actually is, but I was trying to get it and the other typewriter back under the shelf yesterday. I didn't notice any back pain while I was working but I had spasms last night and was pretty sure I was going to die! *laughs*

So! That all said, I am not even going to bother with the garden. We are just coming off the latest little heat wave: it was 92° on Wed and 89° yesterday. I watered pretty well yesterday, and the high today is a very pleasant 85° so the veggies should be fine!

I'm going for a walk!

As I approached the Events Center, Oh yeah, the Fair is happening this weekend!

Since the main parking lot is used for the rides they use the back fields for parking instead. And to jam as many cars as they can into that space, horseback riders direct the cars into tidy rows!

That's always fun to watch!

I go thru the Solidarity Garden. Veggies and fruits are growing, and the flowers look lovely as well!

I sat at Wayside Micro Park to drink water.

It's a shame the bench is no longer in the shade. The ice storm that killed the Leaning Tree also brought down the beautiful Mimosa Trees here.

They've replanted with two other species of trees -- but like the new Leaning Trees, they are just saplings. It'll be a good decade or more before they provide any shade.

And on this side, ha, the Mimosa is coming back to life!

On the way back, there's an alley that I specifically wanted to go down to see this amazing double petal Hibiscus!

There's a regular Hibiscus bush here as well.

One more look at the horses as I pass the Events Center again.

And then I'm back at the creek! It's Mackerel Sky!

A parent still sits at the nest. I wonder when we will have babies!

Greenie!!

So awesome to see her/him again!

Tag: july 2025

A kid in the grass! Juvenile Scrub Jay.

Stretch! ha, her little arms!

And Yawn! *laughs*

And back to sleep!

Walk about at the Community Garden!

I'm surprised at how messy the Pollinator Garden is this year... I like it but I imagine it makes the stupid Garden Director cringe. haha!

Red and Orange used to be my least favorite colours... but now I think Orange definitely has it's place!! :)

I've come around to my garden plot. Some fruits on the Half Dead Sungold, with the small Strawberry plant stretching its runners underneath!

And here's the Fallow Area Sungold. See? Orange is a lovely colour!

A Green Zuc I'll pick in a day or two.

The Main Crookneck.

*laughs* Yeah I just ate that Sungold! I also ate this...

Oh my gosh, it was perfect! mmmm!

There's some more strawberries coming on and that Seascape one is Huge! It's still white underneath, yet. I hope the slugs don't get it.

And the cute little volunteer squash under the Brandywine!

Oh! Hello!

Wow, look how pretty her face is with that dark blue sheen! She's tiny, too. I bet she's a parasitic wasp of some kind!

Looking up at the Brandywine...

That Bumblebee on the right comes around! :)

Thank you for your pollinating services!!

This is that little Mystery Plant. I've still not looked it up... I was hoping it would just make a flower and be obvious about what it was. But so far, it's just the leaves!

Tag: july 2025

Too Cute!

The Spider webs in front of the Barn Swallow nest have been broken up a little, so I can see the parent sitting. But I don't stay but for a minute.

I am doing some weeding today, gonna take out this little patch of grass (those are the Leeks that have fallen over)... and the tiny tree! ha.

I have removed so many little trees this year! Springing up all over the place from the leaves I hauled last winter.

It does make me sad, having to murder a tree, even a tiny one. But I can't have a tree in the garden plot! I wonder if I could try putting them in a pot, instead?

A hawk is yelling and I realize they are sitting in the tree right outside the Community Garden...

Red Shoulder Hawk, and she has an eye patch! Bahaha!!

What a goof!

Back to my plot. The Wax Beans are vining!

And on the other side of the big trellis, the Tomatillo I moved out of the pathway is growing and doing just fine!

The Patty Pan has some fruits coming on.

And so does the Green Zuc.

The Lemon Cucumber plants that have lived are growing well.

It's a little bit sad to think of all the Lemon Cucs I bought, that were murdered by the bugs this spring.

Yet again, this will not be the year that I grow more Lemon Cucumbers than I can eat.

On the other side of the small trellis, the Nasturtium seedlings are happy.

On the way home, I'm eating a good handful of Himalayan Blackberries!

I see one of the baby raccoons again... but there's something very wrong with her eye. Poor baby.

Either an injury has gotten infected, or maybe it's cancer. Probably won't last very long and probably painful. ugh.

Tag: july 2025

Bleh. I have not been sleeping well.

At first, I couldn't sleep just because of the heat. The heat wave of mid-July lasted eight days, with two days of upper 90s. The last couple of days and nights have been blissful, but still no sleep. I toss and turn.

And now we are gearing up for another couple days in the 90s.

I'm so sleep deprived, I can't even think about it. I hope some exercise and sunshine will help!

I walk past the Barn Swallow bridge and past Dragonfly Land. The next bridge is a walking bridge, and I just watch the dragonflies for a while.

After a bit, I head back to the garden. Maybe some weeding will do me good.

But I just futz around and don't do anything meaningful.

The Volunteer Squash patch is over run by Borages, and one of the squashes has gotten choked off. I push the Borages away a little, but don't feel like pulling them out... there's so many bees flying around and they make me happy!

The Green Zebra tomatoes sure look pretty!

And the two ProCut sunflowers.

I'm glad I got them both, especially since I've had zero volunteer sunflowers this year. I don't think that's ever happened before!

In the afternoon, I crash and take a nap...

I lie down, thinking that I would sleep for hours and hours and it would probably be dark when I wake up.

But, ha! I sleep for 45mins and I feel refreshed and have a productive evening.

Funny how just the littlest bit of self care makes such a big difference!

Tag: july 2025

I'm wrapped up in my Tardis blanket, in front of the computer again this morning! The forecast says 80° today... but that's what it said for yesterday and it only got to 77°!!

And sure enough, the clouds of the morning stick around most all day and the high tops out at 76°.

I'll be sure to enjoy it... there's a few days of hot weather back again starting tomorrow.

oh crum!

*laughs* well, that spider web is very inconveniently placed! I try to get the camera focused beyond, but sheesh.

At the garden, the new Volunteer Squash under the Brandywine already has a true leaf coming along!

And the Brandywine is growing more tomatoes.

And the poor beleaguered Old German has a single fruit as well!

I don't know why it's beleagured... It doesn't have many leaves, and the leaves it does have are small. And it's just 2 feet away from the big, lovely Brandywine so the comparison makes the Old German look even more pathetic!

But not quite as pathetic as the Half Dead Sungold! It did recover from that 33° night, but it's still short. Growing out, rather than up.

But it has loads of fruits!

The big trellis, that I'm so pround of!

Oh my gosh! The Wax Beans are starting to vine!!

A family of House Finches bounces around excitedly in Kevin's plot. They don't stay long enough for me to count the kids.

Also in Kevin's plot... these are the Nasturtiums I hope I got seeds of! That kind of stripy, orange is lovely!

Back to my plot!

I had missed one of the very ripe Lemon Cucumbers, when I got that first big load the other day. So I grab it, and a sprig of Basil.

The Sugar Snap Peas are decidedly slowing down and the couple transplants are dying back already. Oh, I'm bummed. The harvests didn't last long at all.

Maybe when the rest of the peas quit, I will clear that spot and replant for a fall harvest?

Well. The Tomatillos are starting to gear up!

It really is a beautiful plant.

And Always prolific! I can't wait!!

And I'm out, heading home.

Plums? or Cherries?

Quick check... Plum trees have toothed leaves, so this is probably a cherry tree. Apparently I've been mixing up the two forever! ha.

∞ Differences Between Cherry And Plum Tree

∞ Plum trees versus cherry trees: how to tell the difference and identify them

It's good to learn things!!!

Mmmm! Himalayian Blackberries! I eat a handful today!

Tag: july 2025

Cloudy this morning and so cool in the house that I wrap myself in a blanket as I'm doing my computer work!

I need a break from the garden, so I'm walking in the neighborhood to the south. There won't be any wildlife on the way... but it's good to look at different things!

The clouds are moving around a little and try to break up.

This is the street where they are doing seismic upgrades to the bridge over the creek.

The traffic from this road is being detoured over to the street I live on, and it is terrible.

People are in a rush, the speed limit is much slower on my street, being a narrow neighborhood street. And they are just not paying attention. So many drivers aren't bothering to stop for pedistrians crossing at the bike path.

I have had several near misses, already... One car stopped for me to get across at the crosswalk, but then I had to wait in the tiny island because the car coming the other way refused to stop.

Three feet from my face, an suv rushing by? Yeah, that does not make me feel safe in my own damn neighborhood. What's the rush, you damn drivers??? Just stop for us stupid pedistrians!!

Okay. Rant done! Let's look at pretty things!

Hello my sweet Pollinator friends!

At the top of the hill, you can see the Coastal Range to the west. Ha, too bad the view is terrible!

Oh, this is new! I like it! It's right next to the street, but there's not a ton of traffic here.

Tag: july 2025

Good Morning Dearie! Aw, your poor mangy tail.

And Good Morning Fledgling, way up there! The whole wide world is very exciting? Yes!

And Good Morning Blue Dasher!

I start walking back, and a Barn Swallow flies towards where the nest is under the bridge, and doesn't fly out... Hmm?

I get the camera out and look at the zoom... Oh my gosh!

They get settled...

And oh my gosh, I am so frustrated at the spider webs!

*laughs* So! A second brood for these Barn Swallow parents! That's exciting!

At the garden, I'm doing some weeding.

The front of the garden plot really needs to be tidied up... We'll have Compliance Checks at the end of the month, and it would be nice if the front looked good.

Instead, I started weeding at the back. The Strawberries needed some help. And then I went around the volunteer Squashes.

And then I found a new Volunteer Squash right under the Brandywine!

Ha! It probably won't have time enough to do anything before the season ends. But it's still nice to see it! It's so cute and healthy looking... That hasn't happened very much for the Squashes this year!

And, crouched as I am under the Brandywine, here's what I see when I look up!

It's definitely the healthiest of the tomato plants, and it has loads and loads of flowers!

The Aubergine looks pretty good as well.

I'm pleased at how the small Strawberry is expanding it's territory with all it's runners!

And it's pet Nasturtium is getting along just fine!

And, actually, I'm really happy with everything back here in this corner! I wish I didn't have to weed down to dead dirt, but that's what the Community Garden director wants.

And Look!

That Sungold falls off when I wiggle it and I ate it!

My first Sungold of the year!!

It wasn't quite ripe, tho! *laughs* It didn't have the signature Sungold sweetness. Ha. Oh well. I just have to be patient.

On the other side of the plot, a couple of the Buckwheats at the front edge of the Fallow Area have gotten delightfully huge. Many branches, many flowers.

Oh. And the weeding? Yeah, I didn't bother working on the front. It's still a mess!

And on the walk home...

I ate a couple of the Himalayan blackberries... and they aren't quite ripe, either, so I need to be patient with them as well!

Tag: july 2025

As soon as I turned the corner, at the creek, I saw Greenie? And she had something wiggling in her beak! Caught a minnow! She swallowed it down before I could get the camera ready.

It is Greenie. I'm pretty sure.

And then!

*laughs!* It's always a weird surprise when they do that!!

Further up the creek, some ducklings.

And then in Dragonfly Land, lots of Blue Dashers!

Huh. This dragonfly looks like the same one I photoed a few days ago... Jul14

Never thought I'd get the chance to make friends with a bug! He buzzes and lands the other way.

Whoa!! Look at his face!!!

Ha! Cute!

Another Mama with even smaller babies, not interested in photography.

At the garden and oh sheesh... the new Bonbon Buttercup has a bloom on it!

I probably should have pulled the flower off... The plant isn't really big enough to support any fruit, it's just freaking out because it's suddenly not in a tiny pot! ha!

But the real reason I'm here today... the first Lemon Cucumber harvest!!

and whoops! There were more Cucs under the leaves than I thought... and a bit further along, too.

And I saw the Basil was starting to bloom, too. So I cut all those off, to add to my meals! Yum!

The Lemon Cucs got put in the fridge, and I started eating them as soon as they got cold. That darkest one, at the top wasn't great, the skin had gotten tough. But the other ones were WONDERFUL!

Pure Bliss!

Yes! Lemon Cucumbers are the REASON for the garden!

The photography? Yeah, yeah, whatever.
Lemon Cucumbers? Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful!!

*laughs*

The ProCut Plum is looking lovely. Tho you can see how short it is...

That's the big trellis, on the right... It's 4feet high, and the sunflower is just a couple inches over that!

That super tall stick in the background on the right, is the remains of a volunteer sunflower from last year. I think it was 9 or so feet tall!

It's kind of disappointing that I don't have any volunteer sunflowers this year. I put down a lot of leaves, last winter, and I think that discouraged most everything from growing.

Oh well. The two sunflowers I bought are pretty.

Tag: july 2025

The high today is 89°, nine degrees 'cooler' than yesterday. I can feel the difference on my walk out to the garden for sure, and I decide to get some work done.

This last patch of grass under the big trellis has really been bugging me!

There! Isn't that better!

The Wax Beans on both sides are really a happy surprise to me... I seriously thought I would have to re-sow them for a third round after the slugs descimated them. But the weather dried out, the slugs retreated, and the second round came back to life!

On the left is the precious Basil and a big Dandelion. And then at the back of the trellis is the Buttercup, surprisingly still alive.

Just right of center, at the back, you can just barely see the Tomatillo I transplanted from the pathway.

On the right in front, I decided to keep the Borage plants right next to the dry bean.

And then far right I think that green thing is a Love in the Mist... but I've never had one so bushy! The last time I came thru with fertilizer, I gave some to it, and it must have loved that!

There's another Love in the Mist over here. And I decided to weed around this volunteer tomato plant!

I've mentioned before that these volunteers don't make good fruits. But this one looks so healthy, I just started watering it. ha *shrugs*

And there are some first blooms on the Crooknecks I planted as seeds! WooHoo! I can grow things!

*laughs* I'm excited because I've never been able to grow squashes from seed. The only things that are successful from seeds are the Sugar Snap Peas and the Wax Beans.

Normally the slugs eat up the seedling squashes (well, they eat up all seedlings!), so I am happy to have a couple plants survive that! There's two plants in the pic above, and there's a third from seed next to the big Crookneck that got transplanted as a veggie start.

It is definitely a Crookneck year! Most of the other summer squashes died miserable deaths. The only other ones that lived are a Green Zuc and a Patty Pan.

Before I go, I stop to admire the flowers at the back of the diagonal plot neighbor.

And both my ProCut Sunflowers!

I've got a few minutes, so I wander to the back of the Community Garden. Someone has added some Tiger Lilies to our Bird Bath Art Installation!

Tag: july 2025

No rest for the weary.

Because it's impossible to sleep when it's so stinkin' hot! And the house didn't cool down adequately last night... it's still 74° upstairs, when I get up. ugh.

I walk a neighborhood zig zag before going to the Garden and find some lovely flowers!

Back at the creek in Dragonfly Land... I was focused on this Common Whitetail.

But then I realized there was a damselfly on the stick as well! Yes! This is the photo that I was trying to capture the other day with a dragonfly and a damselfly, with their size difference!

The damselfly is a female, but her species has me stumped! I don't know who she is!

A Blue Dasher sits for me as well.

And it's the Mackerel Sky heron again... itchy foot!

Ha, her cute nails!

Okay, off to the garden! The beautiful ProCut Red demands attention.

And the teeny tiny Buckwheat blooms are pretty in their own way!

The tomatillos that I bought have loads of blooms...

And are starting on some fruits as well!

Tho it'll be a good long while before the Tomaillos are done... The fruit is inside that husk, and right now is probably about the size of a pea. It will continue to grow until it bursts the husk open.

The Lemon Cucumber plants are still alive.

The Lemon Cuc that died yesterday was on the other side of the trellis. I'm just hoping this side continues to live... what would I do if I don't get any Lemon Cucumers to eat???!

And the Buttercup is still alive as well. Actually, it looks surprisingly good.

The big leaves of the dry bean plant are all sunburned to death. And the smaller core leaves are getting some bug damage. But I think it will probably live!

And look how pretty the Aubergine is!

Today's harvest.

Before I go, I stop to admire the Borage blooms and the Bees and other pollinators buzzing around!

Tag: july 2025

I am very out of sorts today. Partner isn't going along with my efforts to keep the house cool and I was screaming mad about it.

The long days of heat are just wearing on our nerves. 91° today again, and 98° forecast tomorrow. and then at least two or three more days in the low 90s before it cools off to normal temps. It's hard to endure.

So I'm out for some nature time.

Greenie!

And then...

Huh! That's a female Common Whitetail dragonfly!

The dragonfly gives a little buzz.

And then comes back to settle. Greenie gives me a look.

The dragonfly changes her mind about her resting spot, flies away. And Greenie is rolling her eyes!!! Bahahaha!

Greenie goes back to her regular hunting for minnows or frogs or whatever!

And in Dragonfly Land I happen to catch a male Common Whitetail!

At the Community Garden there's just one car in the parking lot and I decide to walk around. The Pollinator Garden in the front has inherited some Gladilus.

They are pretty, but they aren't a native and I don't think any of our pollinators are interested!

My friend Roz is in his garden plot and I stop to chat with him. He shares some of his Raspberries with me and says he's been making videos to put up on YouTube!

Oh that's cool! He says most of them are in Farsi but the video on Fourth of July was a good one. He tells me how to find his channel and I make an effort to memorize his last name.

∞ Happy 4th from the Community Garden

Ha! How awesome is that!!

I wander around to my plot. oh FFS.

*Wails* That was Lemon Cucumber number three.

What happened??! WHY????

Aww. I'm so sad. Now I'm down to two Lemon Cucumber plants, plus the seedling. And what killed this one? Will the others be killed as well??! WAI!

Gah. Stupid garden, anyway.

*breathe* okay. Well. Focus on the good.

Here's the big trellis, with the ProCut Plum Sunflower and the Basil.

And for some reason the Buttercup is still alive.

And the core leaves of the dry bean are still good.

And I'm able to harvest the very first Patty Pan! and the second Crookneck from the big plant!

I'm out. And being outside and getting some exercise is good for me, even with the annoyances. Sighs.

Tag: july 2025

Yesterday hit a terrible high of 99° (38°C) but now we've got a couple days of low 90s before we hit the next 99°.

That's how it's been going this summer... A few days of very hot weather, followed by a few days of more normal weather. (Normal for this time of year is 84/52.)

It definitely makes the hot weather more bearable when you can see the end of it. Except highs in the low 90s hardly counts as normal!

But I hope the weather continues to break up the very hot days... after all, the summer has only just begun!

Cute, cute babies!

oh foo. This is a terrible picture, but the only one I got with two different species of dragonflies...

The top one is the new-to-me Blue Dasher dragonfly, who is noticably smaller than the Common Whitetail dragonfly.

Well, at least one species sticks around for decent photography!

His poor wing. And the other one is starting to fall apart as well. It probably hurts and must definitely make flying more challenging.

I heard peeping, and a little bit further upstream is a Mama Mallard with some younger babies!

Okay, to the garden.

I'm checking on the veggie starts I put in yesterday. oh crud! The Buttercup is wilted.

I think its just from being too stinking hot... rather than the bacterial Wilt Disease that's been killing so many plants this year. I will water the heck out of it!

The dry bean - Pescia - has some sun damage on it's biggest leaves. But the smaller leaves at the core are fine.

Those are some Borages under it... I don't want to pull them out until I'm sure the bean plants will make it!

And the Perth Pride could use some water as well.

It really has pretty leaves...

The Internets say Perth Pride is a regular leaf, dwarf variety that produces round, medium sized fruit that ripen to a dusky rose purple hue. The flavor is intense and distinctly tart, and the variety is quite prolific.

So that sounds very interesting!

The other experimental tomato variety I've got this year is the Green Zebra, and it's getting some fruits on!

The Sungold in the Fallow Area is showing some colour!

The other sunflower, the ProCut Plum, is just a little bit behind the ProCut Red.

Today's harvest.

And the neighbor across the path, to the south also offered some yellow zuchinni! She has too much, and Heck Yeah! Happy to take extras off her hands, since my summer squashes have yet to do much.

I'm heading out but I stop to admire the precious Basil... and the Buttercup on the other side of the trellis has perked up with some water!

This rainbow windsock was new last year... kind of faded now! But still a cheerful thing!

This is the climbing rose near the Flickers nest!

Ha!

Oh! One of the Raccoon youngsters is out again!!

And there's the other sibling!

I don't see Mama, but she's undoubedly around.

And the kids never turn around, either. bummer. But it is great to see them, anyway!

Tag: july 2025

To be 99° today and a tie with the record set in 1996. bleh.

But I'm excited to head to the garden... to see about those freebie veggie starts on the picnic table!

Oh hey! A new dragonfly! I think he's a Blue Dasher. A bit smaller than the regular Eight Spot Skimmers here! What beautiful eyes you have!

And not afraid to sit on a twig for a rest! *laughs* That's a dragonfly personality trait that makes me happy!

And the Tule Bluet damselflies like to sit as well, tho they are always a bit too far away for decent photography...

And this one has to remind us about how horrid humans are.

Wait. That Ladybug does not have a head! Did you think that little damselfly ate her head??!

Just outside the Community Garden: a fledgling Scrub Jay.

Yes! There are a few freebies left! Even better... the labels say those are winter squashes! Yay!

I decided to get a couple more plants. I mean, what the heck, I've got room since so much has died this spring! I take one of the tomato plants and some kind of bean as well.

I carry them carefully to my plot and have a quick glance around.

Oh no! The Accidental Lemon Cucumber! Died!

Well. That's the end of an era. I'm down to 3 Lemon Cucumbers now, instead of 3½. Sighs. But yeah, it just wasn't growing properly. And look at the base of it's poor stem...

I decide to plant the new winter squash in its place under the big trellis with the Wax Beans...

The tag says Bonbon Buttercup. *laughs* When I look it up, the internets say the fruits are 4 to 5 pounds. hmm. Will that fit in my backpack? ha. Well, we have a long way to go before that becomes a concern!

I put the new bean plant at the other end of the trellis, in an empty patch where the Wax Beans were murdered in a permanent way.

And dang it, I regret that I didn't finish the weeding here! *snort*

The tag says Sorana, and oops: it's a dry bean. I've never done dry beans before. And it looks like the pods will be yellow... I hope I can tell the difference with the Wax Beans it's growing with. Ha!

Oh. And also. You can't call it Sorana.

∞ Bean, Pole Dry, 'Pescia'

In the same way that champagne grapes are only grown in a specific area, and outside that area the result must be called sparkling wine! Sorana beans are only grown in an area in Italy, and they have to be called something else when they are grown elsewhere. So Pescia it is!

And then the tomato plant I got is called Perth Pride! That's fun!

It's a cute little thing... to be a dwarf plant.

And all three of the veggie starts I got today are super healthy looking, even tho they are terribly root bound in their little starter pots! I hope they live!

I give everybody a good soaking. And notice the Nasturtiums are doing well.

The view of the south side of the big trellis from the ProCut Plum... with the beautiful basil, and that big dandelion ha.

And look how beautiful the ProCut Red is!!

Wow, stunning!

Hottest day of the year, so far, and it gets miserable in the house, thru the afternoon. The make shift swamp cooler does help but the upstairs hits 80° a bit after noon and 90° around 7pm. Yuck!

The downstairs tops out at 84° which is livable.

But I'm thinking this might be the year where I break down and get a stupid window air conditioner. But, ugh, I hate to even think about it. Air conditioners are just contributing to to problem of climate change... and I don't want to contribute to the problem! I want to be part of the solution!

Tag: july 2025

Good Morning, Fledgling!

And Good Morning, Neo! With some invasive Sweet Peas to make a pretty picture!

At the bridge, there's Tule Bluets flying around. This one is a tiny bit too far away for good photos.

Tule Bluets are damselflies who are much smaller than dragonflies. The internets say this damselfly is 1.1 to 1.5inches long, where our common dragonflies here, Eight Spot Skimmers are 1.7 to 2inches long.

A Lorquin Admiral makes a quick appearance before fluttering away.

At the garden plot... Yay! First sighting on the Brandywine!!!

And another one over here! And look at all the flowers!!

And there's a first fruit on the Old German as well!

And the first ripening cherry tomato on the Half Dead Sungold!

Both Sungolds and the Old German this year have small leaves and look really pathetic. Possibly missing some nutrients, even tho both got some of that compost dirt in the spring And I've been giving them fertilizer along the way as well. I should do some soil testing, except that I'm so lazy. :)

Plenty of fruits coming on, tho, so that's good.

That's the one thing that kept me going when the bugs and slugs were killing all the squashes and cucumbers and beans... I will have tomatoes! *laughs*

And here's the Aubergine.

Ha, the Tomatillo I moved from the pathway still looks pathetic, but it has a bloom on it! I should probably remove that, but the plant is so little and delicate looking I don't want to mess with it!

There's a Patty Pan thats coming up to size...

But today is all about this!

Yay Food! *laughs*

Well. I've been putzing around here for far too long, it's well after noon and it's hot and I've drunk all of the water I brought. So I fill up my backpack with the squashes and head out.

But as I leave by the side gate, something at the front of the Community Garden catches my eye... Oh my gosh!

Freebie veggie starts!! And that looks like squash!

Oh... arg! I desperately want some of those squash plants! But I'm dying in the heat, I need to go. But, arg!

I left. Oh, I hope there will be some left tomorrow.

Tag: july 2025

Heading to the Garden to get some work done! But first I go out to the bridge. The minnows have caught my eye today.

So cute!

Back at the garden... that ProCut Red Sunflower is looking quite stately!

The pinkish balls are the Elephant Garlic blossoms, and the darker green plant in the lower right is the Patty Pan... one of just three summer squashes that have lived thru the murdering bugs this spring.

That white sheet is a row cover... Kevin explained that he had transplanted a tomato plant that had gotten huge at home. The row cover is to prevent sunburn. We are going into another heatwave, 90° days without an end in the forecast.

I'm going to weed both sides of the big trellis, where the second round of Wax Beans are doing a good job of recovering from the slugs.

Here's the south side of the trellis, before I started weeding. The north side is is a little bit less weedy, and that's where I start working.

I'm pulling out Crab Grass, the regular Quack Grass, Smart Weed, some Dandelion type plants, a couple Borages, tho I decide to keep those bigger ones on the right!

There are a couple volunteer Tomato plants, too, that I pull out... In general it's the Sungolds that volunteer, since I can't eat all the fruits they make! Unfortunately, the next generation is yucky tasting, plain red cherry tomatoes. Nothing like the delightful candy sweet Sungolds!

I had to pull out several baby trees as well! Ha, I remember how busy the squirrels were, when I was hauling leaves in November! But they never got around to eating so many tree nuts and seeds! I've had to pull a dozen or more growing trees this year!

On the north side, the Wax Beans and the moved Tomatillo look more free. I've kept a couple small Speedwell plants, tho... They will make tiny blue flowers, and I like them!

And on the south side, I didn't quite get finished: that green patch just to the right of center is grass, both Quack and Crab. I'll get that out another day.

The green patch right above my shadow is a big ol' Dandelion! I've kept all the Dandelions that got established in the spring. They are a good plant to bring up nutrients from the depths!

And the precious Basil at the left... I think it's finally got it's roots happily established. It's just looking suddenly a lot better. Brighter and more cheery!

And that Mystery plant, to the left, has been growing as well... The leaves seem pretty distinctive, but I've not bothered to ask google about it yet.

As I was watering, I noticed I accidentally soaked a bumble bee. Oops! I saw her struggling and I scooped her up so that shd could dry off on my hand.

*laughs* Poor bedraggled girl! She was so tired, she didn't even bother to buzz her wings to help them dry! I carried her around until I was done watering.

And then I offered to put her on some Sungold blooms? Nope, she refused! How about some Borage? Yep, that's fine! *smiles*

Tag: july 2025

It's overcast this morning and a high of 85°... and it looks like this will be the last nice summer day for a while. Nothing but 90s in the forecast, and even getting up to 99° (37°C) next Tuesday. ugh.

So we must enjoy TODAY!

I walk out to the bridge, and there's a new kind of dragonfly flying around! Blue Stripes!

I'm very excited, but they are all busy, busy, and nobody sits for some photography. So I attempt to catch them while they are flying. I need something to look at for identification, in case those stripes aren't unique! Meh...

Okay! Here we go!

Blue Eye Darner! Awesome!

At the garden, I stop to look at a neighbor's Petunias.

The red flowers on the right are some kind of ... Snapdragon? hmm. Actually, no. It's something else... Snapdragons are bigger plants and have a stalk with lots of flowers, not singletons like that.

While I'm contemplating, I'm hearing an Anna Hummingbird sing. I keep glancing around, but don't see him. As I get up to go to my plot, I finally trangulate the sound.

Ha! I just have to look straight up!

*laughs* He's a juvenile, not yet recieved his iridescent balaclava.

And at my plot, Yay! ProCut Red!

I'm doing some weeding today. I saw the invasive Horseradish in the east neighbor's plot was starting to come up in my plot. And then I just went down the border pulling up grass and whatever looked annoying!

I stopped before hitting the front of the plot, but the beets could stand some weeding too. Another day.

There's some sunflowers blooming in front of the compost heap. They are short and not very sturdy looking, but beautiful!

Back at my plot... The first ripening sungold on the plant in the Fallow Area.

And this Green Zuc is about the size you'd get at the grocery. But there's no more coming on, so I'll let this one get big before I harvest it!

The Crookneck, on the other hand!

And nearby, one of the Nasturtiums I planted as seed!

And the Healthy Lemon Cucumber plant!

Oh yeah! I wonder when I will pick those Lemon Cucs, hiding there under the leaves!

Tag: july 2025

Let me tell you about my exercise routine, because I've been having wild success all of a sudden!

In the morning, I do some shoulder stretches. I had tendonitis in my shoulder one time, and I just kept doing the stretches that helped the most. And then I do a tiny little, five minute workout which includes single foot heel raises on the bottom step, half pushups, lunges, and rarely some kind of goblet squats.

The half pushups have always been very diffcult for me. When I started, however many years ago, I literally couldn't even do one! I had to start with some plank time, dropping slowly, and eventually I could get myself back up.

Slowly, slowly... It took more than a year, I'm not sure how long? but I got up to 10 half pushup!

I plateaued around ten for a long time. But in December 2024, I was starting to be able to do 11 and sometimes 12! Woo! Exciting.

But then in January 2025, I had Covid19. I got over the sickness, but it took about a month to recover my energy. And when I experimented getting back to the half pushups in February, I could only do 3 to 5!

Fortunately, it didn't take me another year to get back to ten! It took a month. But I was stuck again at my old plateau of 10.

But, roundabout in May I started adding extra half pushups again. One here, another in a week or so, every once in a while I'd get up to 15 and then I'd need a break and only do 11 the next day. A little bit more, and a little bit more!

Yesterday I did 19 half pushups. And today I was able to do 19 half pushups AGAIN!

YAY! Party! I like being strong!

*laughs*

A new Western Grey Squirrel has been coming around lately, and I finally caught his photo, looking out my bedroom window.

It's cooler today... a high of blissful 80°! So I'll walk a little bit, maybe stop by the garden if I feel like it on the way back.

Greenie the Green Heron!

It's nice that s/he is standing in a more picturesque spot! It's just a couple meters downstream from the bridge spillover where they usually stand.

Thank You Dear! It's so nice of you to stay and let me look at you!

The Leaning Tree saplings.

The Crows are having a meeting.

A murder of crows, right? *laughs*

I do decide to go in and look at the garden plot.

The Sungold in the Fallow Area is showing a little colour!

And I gather some Sugar Snap Peas to take home!

And on the way home, I check on the invasive Himalayan Blackberries along the bike path. Mmmm! Getting closer to ripe!

Tag: july 2025

A blurry Chickadee who flew away before the camera could get a focus.

aw. It's been ages since I've been able to get pics of little birds. Here's a Song Sparrow.

It's been nesting season, so of course I don't see little birds because they are keeping a low profile. But also the new climate change wind keeps me from finding birds in the trees, even when I can hear them singing.

Just past the bridge, a colourful mess in the creek.

Neo?

Oh, you're not Neo. Look at that mackerel sky design of the feathers!

I hear a ruckus and look up... Red Shoulder Hawk!

There are two Lesser Goldfinches yelling and letting everyone know there's a predator in their midst!

The closer Lesser is barely a meter away! Granted, Red Shoulders would prefer a snake for lunch, but still! Very brave!

The other Lesser Goldfinch, who is further away, is bouncing around and yelling in every direction!

So awesome!

And back to the garden. Where I walk by someone's grape vines.

And in my plot... The Brandywine has a bunch of flowers but no fruit yet...

Mmmm! The Brandywine is the biggest and healthiest of all the tomato plants this year, and I have delicious hopes!! Brandywines are my favorite, but the plants aren't usually very productive. but I think this plant is going to supply me with an abundance!

Oh my gosh! Under the small trellis...

A Nasturtium seedling! I totally forgot that I had planted some seeds here as well! ha! I can't believe the are actually coming up! There's three that have popped up! Yay!

And the three that have come up at the front of the plot are growing well, too!

*laughs* it's probably silly to get so excited about a couple of seedlings... but I've never had much success with planting seeds directly. That's why I always buy so many veggie starts to transplant.

But this year, the Crookneck seeds (well, some Crookneck seeds, anyway) AND these Nasturtiums have come up and lived. There's a couple Beets as well, except I planted dozens of those seeds and not many came up.

The Snap Peas and Wax Beans I plant as seeds as well, along with a few transplants I buy. And usually those are successful.

And speaking of the Sugar Snap Peas... one of the Snap Pea plants is actually a Green Pea plant! The pods are inedible!!

Ha! From the placement, this plant was from seed. So there must have been a mixup in the seed packet!

This cute little thing has come up near the front Nasturtiums. I think I'll keep it and see what it grows up to be!

The big Crookneck is coming right along!

And the Lemon Cucumbers at the small trellis!

Tag: july 2025

We're dealing with the next little heat wave... 88° yesterday and the forecast called for 95° (35°C) today but it only got to 92°. And low-90s again for tomorrow.

At home, without air conditioning, I'm perfecting a make-shift swamp cooler for the upstairs...

Overnight, I open up the porch room and have the box fan bringing in cool air. I close the downstairs around 9:30am or so, and pull the shades to block the sun.

In the afternoon, I bring the box fan upstairs and put it in my doorway, blowing out. I soak some towels and drape them over the stair railing and point the fan to bounce the air off the wet towels and then it goes thru partners room. And he's got another box fan, blowing air out.

It works!

The upstairs does get pretty hot. But the downstairs remains cool thru the day. At the hottest, it's at least 15° cooler than the high of the day.

Heading out! At the bridge, Greenie the Green Heron is here!

And s/he lets me get closer today! Aw, so nice!

Keeping a suspicious eye on me tho!

I decide to leave before they fly away, for once! But here is the view I see from the bike path.

At the garden, there's just one car in the parking lot. So I'm walking up and down the paths, looking at other garden plots.

Someone's Artichoke is blooming!

That is such a lovely shade of purple and I've thought about getting an Artichoke for our garden plot... it makes the bees so happy...

But... the plant is ridiculously big. And spiky! And if you want to eat any Artichoke hearts, you have to harvest the blooms before they get to this point!

And when you think about the couple of yummy mouthfuls of food you get from the hearts... and compare that to how big the plant is. *laughs* The math just doesn't do it!

So, really, it's better that I content myself by looking at Artichokes in other plots!

I go by my friend Roz's plot.

He's got Raspberries ripening!

Illegal Raspberries! The Community Garden rules say Caning berries such as raspberries, blackberries and marionberries are only allowed if grown in pots.

*eye roll* Yes. The rules have gotten VERY stupid, and I'm glad Roz is defying them as well!

I get to my plot and start looking around.

ARG! Another damn branch fell off one of the Tomatillos!

That's a huge branch to lose! Are the slugs doing this damage?? Jerks.

Look at that. gah. Maybe I should pull back my hope from these, too. But, no. Tomatillos are tough. They will keep growing and I'm sure there will be more fruits than I can eat in the end.

Well. Here are the things that make me happy right now.

Sugar Snap Peas, yum!

And the Healthy Lemon Cucumber.

And the Small Strawberry plant with it's pet Nasturtium!

Tag: july 2025

∞ We do not comply: How do we disrupt the momentum of Trump's cruelty? by V

Non-compliance is art, as art is meant to defy the status quo, question the givens, expand the boundaries of knowing and freedom. And as you courageously make your mark of refusal, you carve a path for others to be brave. Non-compliance is praxis, stretching and transforming the muscles of our discontent into impactful and embodied action.

Tag: july 2025

I walk down to the bridge... I suppose I shouldn't call it the Barn Swallow bridge now that the babies have fledged!

Turbidity is up in the creek. I don't know what gets flushed out into our waterway during the summer, but it makes things terrible.

I can hardly see the regular Minnows, since they are transparent. But here's a black one!

I watch my finny friend for a bit... but one of my photos...

Weird! ... So... Weird!

I think it's just an amalgam of random bits -- that's obviously a feather there. But it looks so much like someones skeleton!!

Weird!

At the garden, I'm doing a bit of weeding around the big trellis.

Here's the cute little Mystery transplant! It's growing well.

And the second round of Wax Beans is definitely recovering! In fact, there's enough plants coming back to life, that I'm thinking I won't plant seeds for a third round!

And Yeah, more weeding needs to happen there! ha! But there are 10 or 11 Wax Bean plants regrowing leaves, on BOTH sides of the trellis!

And Look! This is the Tomatillo that was growing in the pathway, that I dug up and moved! It's got new leaves and it looks like it's going to recover from it's leaf damage as well!

WOOHOO!! One of the Nasturtium seeds has come up!!!

I am thrilled to pieces! I didn't think any were going to grow! And look how cute it is, with it's little purple leaf backs! Yay!

Here's today's harvest.

*laughs* Well, it's something!

I happen to notice some movement on one of my Dandelions... Whoa! Who are you?!

Box Elder Bugs have that red X... but not all the other decorations...

Hmm. I think they are Western Small Milkweed Bugs

Oh my gosh, look at their cute face! Awww!

On the walk home, I see someone sitting at the edge of the bike path, staring intently at the other side of the creek. I look where she's looking... Oh Wow!!

Aww! That's Mama Raccoon with the tails of two babies!

Oh, I'm so happy to see them! We need more wildlife around here!!

Tag: july 2025

I walk out past the garden to see if my new friend Greenie, the Green Heron is at the Barn Swallow bridge. Nope.

I look at the minnows instead!

I love to watch them. They startle at my movement as I'm watching them, and then they calm down. They also startle at dragonflies flying low over the water!

Oh, funny! While I'm watching the minnows, motion at the Barn Swallow nest catches my eye. A Barn Swallow flutters at the nest for a few seconds!

They fly away and I don't even pay attention to which way they went... because I'm all UM?

*laughs* Was that a fledgling thinking about getting back into the nest? It could have been a parent, visiting the nest just out of habit, but the little bit of fluttering I saw wasn't very graceful. Pretty sure that was kid, learning how to fly.

Funny, Kid! You can't go back home!

Lorquin Admiral!

These are very popular Butterflies this year!

The most common butterflies here are Cabbage Whites. I also occasionally see Fritillaries and the big Western Tiger Swallowtails.

But these Lorquin Admirals, I've never seen them so often, in years past!

At the Community Garden, there's a lady standing right at the gate. She doesn't move out of the way, even as I play with the padlock. As I open the gate she said she was watching an Anna Hummingbird.

Oh Cool! I look in the direction she's facing and yep, there's a Hummer at the blooms of some Scarlet Runner Beans! As I get organized with the camera, the hummingbird moves over to... an Asparagus plant? huh...

She stays for a minute or so... she must be getting something out of those tiny Asparagus blooms?

*laughs* Artsy!

Well, that's awesome. I've not seen many Anna Hummers this year. And now I miss My Garden Supervisor, a male Anna who staked out his territory from the garden plot behind mine.

He reigned for years!

No one replaced him, after he died. Which surprises me, because you'd think the Garden would be prime territory for hummingbirds!

Okay, on to my plot!

The Green Zebra, this year's experimental tomato flavor, is getting some fruits on!!

I also have to admire the Buckwheat blooms... there are a couple of Buckwheats at the front of the Fallow Area that are getting really big! About three feet tall, and loads of branches!

Their blooms are tiny but ridiculously attractive!

The big Crookneck. Grow! Grow! Grow!

The Healthy Lemon Cucumber.

And from this angle -- crouched down, looking at the Lemon Cucs -- the ProCut Red almost looks like a respectable sunflower. *laughs* It's only about 4½feet tall!

Here's the regular view, as I'm leaving the garden...

Those are the Elephant Garlic blooms, and you can just see the precious Basil plant in the lower right. The similar, round blooms at the top left are the Leeks from last year that I never harvested.

And on the way home... the very invasive Himalayan blackberries are making some fruits!

There's a few that are ripening to black, but I don't pick any to eat yet... they'll be too tart!

Tag: july 2025

Just... don't get me started on it being *Air Quotes* Independance Day. I mean, please people. There is nothing to celebrate as the US goes down into fascism.

Nevermind.

Let's see what's going on with the Barn Swallow babies today!

Oh my gosh... The Green Heron is here AGAIN!!

I've decided to name them Greenie. *laughs* Not very original, huh. *shrugs* It's totally exciting to see someone who is ordinarily pretty shy!

Greenie flies away before I can get decent photography, and I pause a moment before going to the other side of the bridge where the Barn Swallow nest is.

I don't hear the excited twittering that I heard on Wednesday, when 3 of the 5 babies were out in the thicket. It's quiet.

Oh! Just a little bit too far away. But this is a female River Jewelwing. A damselfly.

Okay... Yep, empty!

I check the Willow trees, just in case, but no... The babies are gone! At least someone has some freedom today!

I am so proud of the Barn Swallow parents for getting another batch of babies into the sky! I'm so glad they let me watch for a little while.

Okay, back to the garden...

There's a Green Zucchini on the way!

The plant is kind of pathetic and small, but it's trying. oh, that broken stem? That is wind damage from the day I planted it. Stupid Climate Change Wind.

The Crookneck over here is actually bigger and more healthy than the poor Green Zuc...

It's got a fruit coming as well. The little squash at the bottom is a Crookneck I planted as a seed. And the plants on the right are Buckwheats and Favas... Summer cover crops that aren't doing a great job of Covering! *laughs*

The ProCut Red Sunflower is still on the way.

And Look!! The first big harvest of Sugar Snap Peas!!

Yay! I've been eating 4 or 5 pods most every day for about a week or so. And now there's finally enough to bring home!

I'm out, and here's Neo the Great Blue Heron at the creet again.

Missed? Bummer.

Tag: july 2025

We are coming off the latest heat wave... it was 96° at the beginning of the week and today it's cloudy and the high is 80°!!

The hot weather is survivable so far this summer. We'll have three or four days of 90s and then we'll have three or four days of cooler weather. When you can see the end of the 90° days, it's more tolerable.

Hi Neo!

Right before the Barn Swallow bridge, the Green Heron is hanging out here again!

I've never gotten the chance to name a Green Heron before!! But I think this is at least the third time I've seen this one. :) (Or maybe the fourth!)

She doesn't let me get quite as close today, before she flies away.

Well. And the babies?

... Yep, looks like five lumps up there.

Children, children! I thought you were going to fly away yesterday!?

The parents are coming in with food every couple of minutes!

They swoop in so quickly.

And then they are gone in a split second!

Oh my gosh! The baby on the end just FLEW AWAY!

Oh. And she's back! Bahaha!

She's trying to jam herself back into the nest...

Hey! You're standing on my wing!

Dude! Gah!

*laughs* They are so squished in there!

Okay, I'm going to take a break and go to the garden and then come back. Maybe by then they will be brave and fledge out to the trees... Or maybe they'll be so annoyed at each other, they'll fly out for some freedom!

The big Crookneck at the front of the plot makes me happy.

And the healthy Lemon Cucumber is so happy as well!

But, aww dang it. The Spaghetti Squash seedling.

Wilt Disease. And that's it. That was the last chance for any winter squashes.

It's a sad garden that doesn't have winter squashes.

Sighs.

Wow, I don't know what this plant is, just over the border in the Pot People's plot...

But it is a Very popular place!

There's a bloom on my Aubergine! The plant is pretty small yet, tho.

Heading out, but these are pretty little things!

And I'm back at the Barn Swallow nest... where we still have all five lumps.

Children. Will you ever fly free?

Tag: july 2025

As I approached the Barn Swallow bridge, I reminded myself the babies should fledge soon... they might not be there!

But as I came up, I could hear excited twitterings! They're still here! And when I look at the nest... Two babies!!

They are fledging today!! Yay, I get to see them fledge!

Traditionally, the babies come out here and sit in the branches of the Willow trees.

I walk back and forth a couple times, but I don't see the other three right away.

Okay, parents are still feeding the babies in the nest!

Oh, haha!

Babies, you're going to need to reach for your food!

Okay! Let's go look for your siblings!

I'm walking back and forth. Back and forth.

And then I see some movement in the branches! One of the babies was exercising their wings!

And where is your sibling?

Hmmm... I search the thicket, but I never do find them. They must be close by! Maybe hidden better in the leaves?

Haha, the babies still in the nest are napping... too sleepy to fledge!

The fledglings out in the world, on the other hand are looking around... mostly keeping an eye out for a parent with food, but also looking at every new thing!

Okay. I'm going to the garden for a quick watering and then I'll come back for a couple more pics of the babies before they go!

As I'm walking down to the gate...

Ha. That looks like a Sungold! None of my Sungolds have ripened yet, but someone else's plant must have!

Aww! Her Tongue! haha!

A very tasty meal?

My Sungolds and the Green Zebra have fruits coming on, but they are still very green!

The Spaghetti Squash seedling is still in one piece. Do I dare hope?

And Look! The second round of Wax Beans are deigning to live!

That's nice. Maybe I should plant the third round soon, since the slugs are letting a couple leaves live now.

And if the slugs are done, maybe the transplated Tomatillo will live as well!

And the Patty Pan is small, but it's starting on some fruits!!

and the big Crookneck is getting a couple more fruits on the other side as well!

The ProCut Red is starting to make a bloom as well!

This ladybug without spots is an invasive Asia Lady Beetle. The first one I've seen this year.

Well. Oops. I didn't mean to stay so long at the garden. But everything is looking so hopeful for the first time this year!

And look! The Sugar Snap Peas are about as tall as the Elephant Garlic blooms!

Going back to the Barn Swallow bridge... but as I come up to it. Oh my gosh!!

Can we say Challenging lighting conditions? *laughs*

I fiddle with the camera a bit. And she let's me get a little closer!

So Awesome! I wonder if this is the same Green Heron I saw the other day?

I walk to the other side of the bridge and look at the Barn Swallow nest... What the HECK?!!

*laughs* All five! Back in the nest!

What? Did you decide today is NOT the day to fledge after all??!

And Boom. All the babies are napping! Their funny looking pale coloured eyelids!

Zonked out! It's been a hard day!

Oh, hang on! Time to wake up again!

So this is crazy that the babies came back to the nest. I head home... but I really wonder what I will find there tomorrow? Will they be fledging out to the thicket again? Or just plain gone?

As I come around to the bike path curve... oh wow!

It has been years and years since I've seen any deers here!

I move around to the other side, but I'm not getting any luck with the photography. That's okay, I don't want to disturb her.

It's awesome just to see her!

Tag: july 2025

I arrive at the Barn Swallow nest... Oh! The Spider webs have been swept away!

Well, that should make things a little easier!

Everybody is moving around a lot again today... but that one on the end is all Tryin' to sleep, here!

Minnows!

Okay! There's all five!

Their sweet little faces!

Another Tule Bluet!

And their cute little tufts of fluffy baby feathers showing here and there!

It is SO much fun to watch them! But I am sure they'll be flying away soon. I'll be sad to see them go, but they must make their way in the world! :)

A very quick stop at the Garden. The Accidental Lemon Cucumber is still putting out new leaves! It has hung on to life for so long... I'm starting to think it's going to grow and make some cucs one day!

And I'm out... but as I leave I see that someone has forgotten to lock the gate. ARG! There's a car in the parking lot, but noone within sight of the gate.

Gah, that pisses me off so much... I wonder if this guy was around last year when everything from our tool shed got stolen.

And you know it's a guy! Women have to think about safety all the time... a woman is never going to forget to lock up! Especially if it looks like she's the only one here!

Stupid men. Stupid, stupid men. *grumbles*

well. I get down to the creek and I let go of my grumpiness with ducklings!

oh, haha! Photobombed by a dragonfly flying by!!

Hi Babies!

Oh! There's four!

All so cute and precious!

Further down stream, I meet up with the Great Blue Heron who I've been seeing here lately. I've been thinking about calling her or him Neo. :)

And then a Scrub Jay fledgling on the bike path curve...

*laughs* Bouncing around and too excited about life to bother with decent photography!

Tag: july 2025

I walk out to the Barn Swallow nest before going to the garden today. The nest is getting so full now, I think the babies must fledge before too long!

And Wow... look at those flight feathers!!

Delayed reaction! You gotta open your mouths, Babies!

They are squirming around quite a bit today, trying to get comfortable.

Yeah, I'm sure they are going to fledge this week!

Giving my back a break. This is a Tule Bluet damselfly, rather over exposed...

*laughs* I have to push the exposure way up to get photos of the babies in the dark under the bridge... but when I look around in the sun, I have to push the exposure way down. I just didn't get the exposure down far enough before the damselfly flew away!

And here's my other challege! *laughs*

well. Off to the garden.

Hmm. The Spaghetti Squash seedling is still alive. That's surprising.

That other stem is the last squash to die there, the decorative pumpkin. It only lasted a few days, and I can only assume the seedling will come the the same end. Don't Hope! ... There's no hope for winter squashes!

The biggest summer squash plant that's still alive is this Crookneck at the front of the Fallow Area...

And it's making a fruit!!

And the little seedling Crooknecks are growing happily...

That grid is there because I planted some Nasturtium seeds. I hope they live!

The Buckwheat blooms are tiny but so pretty!

and I'm so excited about the Lemon Cucumbers coming on!!

And this is the Sunchoke...

Let me tell you about this Sunchoke! *laughs*

Sunchoke. Or maybe Sunroot is a better word? But it's commonly called Jerusalem Artichoke, except that's a terrible name for it. It's not from Jerusalem, it's actually a relative of sunflowers and native here in the Americas. And it's edible bits are not Artichoke or even artichoke-like. It's the roots you eat.

And I don't particularly like them! And because this plant was too close to the border, I actually tried to kill it last year... I hauled out like THREE and A HALF bucket fulls of roots!

Yeah, you could feed an army with this plant... Except the roots don't keep once you pull them out: they go bad very quickly. And the sugars in the roots will give you a tummy ache if you eat more than the tiniest bit!

Ha. So the plant is next to useless for humans... but the flowers make all the pollinators happy and the birds will eat the seeds and that's happy as well!

And so, when I saw this was returning again this year, despite all the roots I had pulled up and thrown on the compost pile... yeah, I started watering it!

silly. Very Silly.

My borage is starting to bloom!

Oh wow! This is SO COOL!

That top Ladybug is a Seven Spot, the most common ladybug here. But the upside down one is a Convergent Ladybug, one of our natives!!

That's their wings, not quite tucked under the shell.

But I never realized there was such a size difference... The Convergent is so much smaller!

Tag: june 2025

Here's the same Heron that I saw yesterday!

She or he is walking after this family...

Would probably like to eat a baby duckling... it seems that everyone wants to eat a baby duckling. But the Heron is walking slow, and not very serious about it.

I arrive at the Barn Swallow nest. Four faces and some wings and tail.

Plus the spider web! ha, it's really getting in my way today.

I take a break to look at the minnows!

The green reflections on the water almost look like little minnows as well!

There's our fifth face!

hmmm... Western Forktail damselfly again? Not sure!

*laughs* The parent is way too fast for the camera!

Okay, moving on! And on the other side of the bridge, a Green Heron is hanging out!!

At the Garden for another quick watering.

Oh. There's a squash seedling at the big trellis... I had planted some Spaghetti Squash seeds here. But there's no hope for it, the same as the Crookneck seedlings which have been murdered under the dead Green Zucchini.

The Accidental Lemon Cucumber is still trying! I hope it grows out of it's deformities soon! The poor warped thing!

The Tomatillo that I dug up out of the pathway to move under the big trellis isn't looking good at all. I don't know who is munching on it... You'd think it would be poisonous like the Tomato plants?

There are just four wax bean seedlings that still have leaves. *grumble* And this is of the 2nd planting! The first planting is compeletly gone.

I don't know... I am feeling rather hopeless about the beans.

I try to think happy thoughts. I do have 3.5 Lemon Cucumber plants... Here is the healthy one.

And look! Underneath!

Yay! That is the happiest thing ever!

Most of Kevin's Breadseed Poppies are quite done, but there's a few still blooming.

Tag: june 2025

This is IMPORTANT! Watch it!

∞ PoliticsGirl How can you tell if someone is disabled?

Tag: july 2025

Yay! Pride in Eugene!

Unfortunately and sadly the Pride Celebration is different this year. Some protesters last year disrupted the Celebration to the point where changes needed to be made.

Not to worry... those protesters will be going to Hell for making people upset at Pride. *smirk*

So instead of being held at Alton Baker Park in August, they've are holding it inside at the Events Center here in June.

I am bummed because I loved to walk thru the park on Pride day. Keeping things contained and indoors allows them more control over who comes in. But the venue must be paid for... You get to choose how much you pay to get in: Zero to 20$. But I won't be going in.

They are still holding the Pride March, tho! And I'm going to walk out to see if I can watch the end of the March, as they are coming to the Events Center!!

I will stop by the garden on the way back. The high today is 82° (28°C). Perfect for a March, and I'll just do a quick, light watering at the garden, since tomorrow is to be hot.

Walking past the Community Garden, ha, there's a Crow at our Bird Bath Art Installation!! (Those other bird shapes are part of the art!)

And of course I stop to watch the Barn Swallow babies for a while. ARG, the spider web!

They are really filling up the nest... it looks like they are trying to overflow from it! *laughs* But they are just looking forward to food!

Whoa!

Okay. I can't stand here all day looking at their cuteness...

Or, at least my back can't lean awkwardly here all day! *laughs*

I think I've timed it perfectly... it's about 10:45am and as I walk thru the field behind the Events Center, I can just barely hear the drums of the Pride March!

I walk past the Events Center. There's so many vendors, some of them are outside.

At the entrance... OH MY GOSH! There's an Axolotl!!!

I want a good picture of our mascot, but I'm too shy to go up and ask. Maybe they will still be here after the March.

I follow the sound of the drums. Oh awesome... Just as I walk by, this truck pulls out to block traffic for the March!!

Looking up the street, I can see cop cars with their lights on, and several cops on motorcycles, blocking traffic at the head of the March. My first glimpse...

And here they come around the corner!! Lead by the Roller Derby girls!

And here's our Slug Queen Sitara T. Slugshine!

Unicycle!

It must be hard work for the drummers... they've been playing and marching for two hours! I wonder how much those drums weigh!

The people in the pink teeshirts are the safety crew. Volunteers, and there's a lot of them!

And the March just kept going and going!!

Yeah, I get tired of taking photos of random people... *laughs* The end of the March isn't quite as dense with people...

And then their are cop trucks bringing up the rear.

I join the end of the March, to walk into the Events Center... The Safety Crew are happy! Good Job!!

At the entrance, I try one more time to catch the Axolotl mascot. *shakes head* *laughs* Oh well!

I pick a shade tree to pull out my water bottle for a drink and then head back.

I only stop for a minute to see the Barn Swallow babies again.

There are a lot of extra people on the bike path today! I LOVE that so many people have chosen to walk and bike to the Pride Celebration!!

And into the Garden! The Green Zebra is making some fruits! That's this year's experimental flavor of tomato.

And the little Tomatillo that I moved out of the pathway yesterday is... hm, still taking damage from whoever is doing that. But Still Alive!

On the way out of the garden, I stop to look at the flowers again.

What a fun day! But, dang, I am tired when I get home! I got too much sun, and I have a little bit of a headache.

But so glad I went!!

Tag: june 2025

It's still to be overly hot on Sunday and Monday, but today will be a very pleasant 80° (26°C)... a little bit warmer than our normal of 78°. But really, I think 80 sounds like a perfect summer day!

There's just one car in the parking lot at the Community Garden, so I decide to walk about. My friend Roz has lovely flowers at the front of his plot.

And somebody else has Sweet Peas.

But okay, today I've decided I'm going to dig up this cute little Tomatillo that's really in the way, and transplant it under the big trellis!

I've never done this before... I hope it lives!

I'm doing a bit of hand weeding today. And I've brought some fertilizer as well!

The Elephant Garlics are blooming.

The big Crookneck has it's first fruit coming on!!

I won't be able to catch this view very much longer... the ProCut Red Sunflower is starting to get too tall!

And the heathy Lemon Cucumber plant under it, is thinking about doing things as well!!

I'm ready to go, but when I look around I realize I'm alone in the Community Garden! I can continue my walk about... and look at this gorgeous row of flowers!!

The blue looks like a type of Forget Me Not, the white flowers are Alyssums and I don't know what the purples ones are.

Some California Poppies in there as well.

Okay! I'm out to visit the Barn Swallow babies!!

I am still having to lean to look past the spider web anchor line.

When my back needs a break from the awkward position, there's plenty of other wildlife here to look at!!

A River Jewelwing, a damselfly. Isn't he amazing!!

Big Stretch!

The babies are being restless today.

And hungry!

I love to watch the Minnows as well!

Oh look! Here's a minnow who is brown instead of transparent! Is he a different species? Or do they get colour when they grow up?

Tag: june 2025

∞ How can a photo be abstract? In new exhibit, four photographers weigh in

I love this!!!

Only occasionally do I get photos that end up Abstract, and I explain and try to give context when I do show these super artsy pics... much like the article explains the one photo: paper bags in a box.

I have high respect for photographers who go out of their way to focus on this kind of art...

And it sounds like this collection began with one of the friends challenging her buddies to a Picture of the Day thing, which... how fun, right?!

(I mean, I've got a zillion pictures of the day *laughs* But focusing on something... else... for capital A art? That would be fun!)

Meantime, reading this article... hmmm...

Photax is not the real name of the Eugene photographer, but instead a pseudonym he's adopted to separate his personal and professional life with his artistic output. He is one of four photographers in an exhibit at the Maude Kerns Art Center, fittingly titled Four Photographers in Search of Abstraction, and one of two presenting his work under a false name.

Um.

Not a Real Name?
Under a False Name?

Seriously?

I would put forth that a Chosen Name is much more real and _true_ than a Given Name!

Of course, that's mostly because I like my Chosen Name!

I like my Given Name as well, but exactly like Photax, I'm using rift vegan to separate parts of my life!

And there's nothing False about that!

Tag: july 2025

Look away, Dear Reader, for I'm about to show you the murderous nature of our beloved kitties. Skip the murder...

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I had just arrived at the bike path, and a Lovely Mallard family is here. Nine newborn ducklings!

Suddenly!

*explicative*

That black cat had been completely hidden in the shadows of the opposite bank. And he definitely got one of the babies...

Mama Mallard with eight newborn ducklings.

Poor baby. Damn cat.

So that was a rather shocking beginning to today's walk!

I'm discombobulated all the way to the garden.

...

...

...

Okay, well. I'm headed to the garden, but only to quickly water the seedlings, to make sure they live.

The small Strawberry plant still has it's pet Nasturtium, which is looking really good!

The Wax Bean seedlings aren't fairing very well.

The Beans on the other side of the trellis are better, tho.

I've not stepped on that volunteer Tomatillo yet! And the Accidental Lemon Cucmber... really is trying to live, even tho it's big leaf is all deformed!

One of the two Crookneck seedlings that had popped up yesterday... is gone. The other one is still alive, but I probably shouldn't keep hope for it.

As I leave, I ate two Sugar Snap Peas!!

They aren't very sweet... I need to let them get a little bit fatter before I pick them!

I arrive at the Barn Swallow nest and I don't even have the exposure turned up yet for the darkness under the bridge, but a parent flies in...

And they've got a bug!

The parent flies away for more food and the babies are really scooting around!

*laughs* I'm heading out... maybe they will be more photogenic when I come back this way!

The native Hard Hack is blooming.

This little Hawthorn tree is very productive!

The three Leaning Tree saplings.

The Cherry Tree over Blazey's old throne.

I pause a moment to remember Blazey.

I'm back at the Barn Swallow nest, and damn that spider web anchor line!

Babies are just piled in there!

It's really awkward and uncomfortable to lean over the water wall to see past that spider web. I have to pause for a moment, and I go look at the minnows!

Okay, heading home.

Lorquin Admiral!

I chase after them!

Tag: june 2025

The clouds are lingering this morning and the forecast high has dropped from 78° to 71°!!

I will be sure to enjoy it. There's a heating trend and it says we will be at 90° (32°C) by Sunday.

Good Morning, Fledgling!!

I finally found the Nasturtium seeds that I had gathered last year from Kevin's plants...

I've been thinking about flowers. But what I'm actually doing is planting hope!

A bad idea, I know. I put some seeds at the small trellis... With just three Lemon Cucumber plants surviving, and one seedling, there's sadly lots of room for other plants.

And some more seeds planted on either side of the Crookneck seedlings at the front of the plot.

As I'm planting them... I don't have hope. In fact, my overall feeling is This isn't going to work! I decide to save the rest of the seeds and maybe plant them at home in pots.

But... there is actual new life in the garden plot...

There's a couple Crookneck seedlings coming up at the old Primary Green Zuc spot...

And here's a volunteer Tomatillo!!

It looks pretty rough... I wonder who is doing that damage. And also, it's in a terrible spot: right where I walk and drag the hose to get around the big trellis!

The Sugar Snap Peas have loads of blossoms!

And the Tomatillos I bought have a couple blooms under their leaves as well.

And the big Strawberry plant is branching out with runners!

And behind the Beets, the Borages are fixin' to bloom!

That makes me happy!

On my way out, I admire a neighbor's Nasturtiums with pretty varigated leaves.

And another neighbor's Columbine.

And then head upstream to the Barn Swallow nest!

Oh, arg! There's a homeless guy sleeping just a few meters from where I need to stand. I try to ignore him.

AND that spider web anchor line is catching the light!

I'm having to lean out farther than usual, and it's just too awkward. I don't stay long, I'll catch up with them tomorrow!

Hmm...

This is a Flicker nest hole that got made last year. The Flicker parents had a nest failure due to cold weather. I wonder if the Starlings have raised a family here, this year.

Or are thinking about it?

Tag: june 2025

After I transplanted the Basil into the garden, I was kinda missing having a plant on the kitchen window sill. It had been there for almost a month.

So I moved my smallest houseplant from the porch room to the window sill... a blooming African Violet!

It sat there for a week or so. And then I discovered that Partner was watering it. Every Day!

Bahaha! African Violets like to be dry! Fortunately I rescued it while it still had blooms. It's back in the porch room, drying out! and I guess we have to keep it's blooms hidden.

But, knowing the constraints, I realized the Pothos would be a perfect fit for the window sill space...

The Tiny Cleans in the porch room are proceeding, and they include tidying up the houseplants... I'm removing the Pothos from the potted Angel Wing Begonia -- that relationship is def NOT working out! And these are cuttings in water... which Partner can add water to, any time!

I'm at the garden to witness the death of the Decorative Pumpkins. The two on the side caught the Wilt Disease from the Striped Cucumber Beetles, and were dead yesterday. And the third one under the trellis...

Has no leaves left. That's a Squash Beetle. But they probably had help from the slugs.

Whatever.

And speaking of the Basil... it's taking damage that's starting to be significant. Dangit. I hope it lives!

The Striped Cucumber Beetles are hanging around the one healthy Lemon Cucumber plant.

It makes me nervous, for sure. But they don't seem to be doing any real damage here, any more.

Well. Focus on good things. The Brandywine makes me very happy!

Brandywines are my favorite tomato tomatoes. You know? The Perfect Tomatoey tomato... not too sweet, a good hearty flavor with a bit of spice. Mmmm. I can't wait... and look at all those flowers! Brandywine plants aren't ususally very productive, but I think this is going to be a very good year for this plant!!

I love that I can always find Ladybugs in the Beet patch!

Oh Cool!

Heading out, oh... I love the shade of these striped Nasturtiums...

I wish I could be bothered to plant some flowers! But I get so focused on the dying veggies, I don't have brain power for anything else.

Probably this is why I'm such a terrible gardener. I should learn to let go!

Okay. Let's look at some Barn Swallow babies!!

One of the babies needs to move around and the others are all, Dude! haha!

Huh. Are you eating those Dogwood berries?? They aren't even vaguely ripe yet!

I'm not sure which of the Dogwoods this is... It's either Red Osier or Silky. (We also have Yellow Twig elsewhere.)

Yep, def eating the berries. I look it up and... the fruit of Dogwoods is edible but not palatable, bitter but not poisonous. Interesting.

And on the way home, a new Heron...

I thought for a minute this was No Patches. But, no, this is someone new!

Tag: june 2025

I've not been to the garden in two whole days, *laughs* and I'm currious to see how the freebie veggie starts are doing.

Good Morning My Dear.

Ha! Mama is on the left and her children are paddling in formation!

The kids don't have thier flight feathers yet, and look!

Their wings look like stubs! How Cute!

Okay! At the garden... aw, foo.

The Decorative Pumpkins have got the Wilt Disease.

And the other one on the trellis... alive, but... Apparently I'm just not meant to have any winter squash this year.

And the Wax Beans along the rest of the trellis... WAI! Major Disappointment.

As I suspected, the rain brought out the slugs again and they are decimating the second round of Wax Beans. I suppose I'll have to plant a third round?

And the cute Basil plant is taking damage to it's leaves as well. Arg.

Well, sheesh. Is there anything good here?

Yes...

This is the Mystery Flower that I got with the Decorative Pumpkins. It's going to live!

And I'm so glad I put the Sunflower into a tomato cage to protect it from the wind!

It's not looking good for the little Lemon Cucumber seedling that Couldn't...

But the other seedling with it's sibling is looking great!

The Volunteer Squashes look good too!

In the Fallow Area, one of the little Buckwheats is blooming. Such a pretty plant. Maybe I should plant some more.

The Green Zucchini is doing okay, but this Crookneck is bigger and healthier. It's got a little seedling sibling as well, there on the right.

And I hardly recognize the Crookneck seedlings in the front... Not sure about the right one, but the left one has had a growth spurt and is very happy!

Which... this is great. Because only three of the summer squashes I bought have lived: The good Crookneck, the rather pathetic Green Zuc, and there's a Patty Pan around the corner.

Three... out of however many I bought and planted and replanted. Sighs. I mean... three is better than the zero winter squash that I bought and planted and replanted and sowed seeds... but, gah.

Well, I'm not going to think about it! It's good that a couple seedlings are growing. Plus the Volunteer Squashes, whatever they turn out to be!

Okay. Let's go out to see the Barn Swallow nest... it's funny that I was more curious about the dying Decorative Pumpkins than about the babies in the nest!

There they are!

Five there... would be nice to confirm the five, or if there's a sixth one who's been hiding in the back.

Oh! um, are they reacting to the sound of the camera?

No, surely they can't hear it there under the car bridge. The sound of the traffic above and the water below must make the sound of the camera impossible to hear.

But they must be able to see me... leaning out from the water wall, over the creek! Silly Baby, thinking everyone who comes along will feed you! :)

Here's someone who will feed you!

Feeds the baby on the left and then... oops! *laughs* Hello!

Wait! Mom! I didn't get any food!

They settle to wait for the next round.

ha! The middle baby got a little caterpillar. Swallow that thing down, Baby!

yum.

more?

Okay. They are so very cute, but moving on! There's plenty of time left for a longer walk, and I walk east!

And this tiny little baby...

Where is your Mama? Baby stretches to look upstream...

And then paddles up to join her.

The three Leaning Tree saplings.

And back at the nest... Catching some shut eye!

They are moving around a little bit, and I think I can say with confidence there's five, and not six. I think this family had five last year as well.

On the way home, I happen to catch this Crow...

She's sunning, and panting with the heat. But the sun feels so good that pays me no mind at all... She stays there for a good 30seconds before rousting and flying off!

Tag: june 2025

We got so much rain yesterday, a ½inch, I won't have to water at the garden for probably a week!

So, I need to take advantage of this non-garden time and walk other places!

Altho... Altho! The Barn Swallow nest, just past the Community Garden, is definitely calling to me. But! They are babies, they aren't going to fly away any time soon. AND the clouds are lingering. On a dreary morning such as this, the photography there is not going to be any good.

So, after dithering a bit, I'm walking the neighborhood way that I discovered earlier this year. Those beautiful Pansies are long gone, of course, but I'm finding all kinds of new flowers to behold!

I head out on the bike path, and I see they are working on the road that I'm going to walk down. Construction started on Monday and will go thru August.

There's a Sheriff's work crew here as well, picking up trash along the bike path. I love these people and I always offer a friendly greeting and thank them for the work they are doing.

As I was walking up, I happened to hear one of the workers asking the cop what the construction was, and he said he didn't know. I said Seismic upgrades.

The cop replid, That means the big one is coming! *laughs* Yep!

The woman walked with me down the sidewalk and we chatted about photography and then she asked if I ever printed up my picutres to hang on the wall. I said Actually, I print them and send them as postcards! It must have surprised her, That's so cute! she said. Ha, she made me laugh!

No idea what these flowers are, but they are blooming all over the place. Some kind of Fuchsia maybe?

Oh, wow, this hell strip is amazing!

The Little Free Library is full!

And when I browse for a minute, I see some very interesting titles! Lots of Childrens Nature books, A is for Activist! Ha. Peter Rabbit, a ripped up copy of Are You My Mother.

Their Eyes Were Watching God... This is a classic, and I have this book but haven't read it yet.

Some Persimmons in the making!

Tag: june 2025

It's been sprinkling this morning, and as I was thinking about leaving the house, it starts to rain in earnest. I assumed it would quit before too long, and I continue my preparations to drive out to the river...

But, in fact, it rains ALL day!

In the Maurie Jacobs parking lot, I'm greeted by Western Grey siblings!

On the Ruth Bascom Riverbank Path, I head across the walking bridge.

At the Delta Ponds, there's not much wildlife because of the rain. There is one Nutria frolicking by herself!

I look carefully, because there are Beavers here, too. But no... that white around her nose gives her away, even before her skinny tail does!

Today I'm heading for the Delta Ponds Park across the road... Last year they had been working in the park. It took so long! But in December they had finally finished the loop trail! And I had somehow missed the grand opening this spring. I am so excited to see what they've done!!

Walking up the connector path I see a Green Heron near the old Beaver lodge. She's a good distance away and I think I can get her pic... but nope, she sees me looking and flies away. foo.

I'm coming up the sidewalk and looking into the park. This place is just so beautiful... even in the pouring rain!

Oh! There's a Wood Duck family! But dang it, Mama takes her kids away before I can even count how many children she has!

At the big parking lot, I check the pond... This is where the otters hang out. But nope, not even any turtles today.

Before I go to the new trail, I walk out to the viewing platform.

If you look stright down from the platform, there's frogs in the water. But not today. It's probably too cold for them! The high today is 56° and with the rain it feels like March instead of June!

I turn to go back to the trail, and this beautiful one catches my eyes.

Wow! She's new to me, and I have to look her up in my book at home. Female Western Pondhawk, and that lime green is unique and so they are easily identifiable.

The males are powdery blue... and I assume that makes them a lot less identifiable! We have a lot of light blue dragonflies!

Okay! Back on the trail! Here's where the trail used to end. There was a tall barrier and fence here to keep people from going any further.

Around the corner...

A few steps further on and I can see the new bridge.

Wood Duck Babies!!

And Mama and Auntie are nearby.

The new bridge leads down to a boardwalk.

The boardwalk winds around and brings me to the other side of the pond. Looking back...

That was absolutely lovely. I'm so glad I live in a place that values parks!!

Coming back around to the other side of the established trail. This side has some viewing stations as well.

And Oh my gosh! There are Barn Swallows going back and forth... VERY low over the water, swooping for bugs.

They are skimming so close to the water... I wonder. And Yep... Look at that! Definitely touching!

So cool!

And over here, another Wood Duck family! This Mama has two babies.

So cute!

I leave the park and come back across the road to the Riverbank Trail. And coming back thru the Delta Ponds here...

A Red Ear Slider, the invasive turtle we have here. Her eyes are closed, taking a nap, but then... she Yawns!

and Big Stretch!!

Oh my gosh the CUTENESS! I LOVE TURTLES!! *laughs*

I'm coming back across the Greenway Bridge, and this group of Domestic Greylags...

There are a couple who have the colouring of Greylags, but are considerably smaller...

Oh! Hang on! This might be a White Fronted Goose! Cool! Learning all kinds of new species today!

Awesome, awesome walk in the rain today! I wish I could come out here more often.

Tag: june 2025

I got an email saying a nursery had dropped off a bunch of veggie starts at the Community Garden, free for the taking! That sounds great and I'm eager to check it out!

But, dang... it is COLD! Dreary and cold this morning!

It's just 55° when I head out, but the wind is 14mph and I'm wearing the rain jacket for warmth!

The high today is 65° and 100% rain, tho it's not raining yet. Tomorrows forecast has bumped up to 100% rain as well with a high of 57°!

To which I say... It's JUNE! *laughs* The normal temperature for this time of year is 75/48.

I walk out to the garden, and here are the freebies on the picnic table!

Nice! The tags on them say they are from Log House Plants and this nursery is awesome. They have dropped off veggie starts in the past... and I have been an occasional reader of their blog, Green Gardening with Ann Lovejoy

It's mostly Tomato plants here... but since I've already got five tomato plants, doing quite well, I don't really need any more and I ignore them.

There is one squash, Baby Boo a small, white decorative pumpkin. Three plants in the pot and I'm thrilled to take it since the bugs have murdered ALL of the winter squashes.

I also briefly consider the corn plants. Peaches and Cream sounds yummy! But I've never grown corn before and they are wind pollinated, and you need to have a decent patch of corns for that to work.

And then there's this little thing...

No identification and no label on the pot, either. I assume it's a flower, but I don't recognize it. I nab it!

I take the Boo squashes and the unknown to my plot and then try to figure out where to plant them.

It was very difficult to separate the roots of the three squashes, and quit trying after I got one of the three separated. I put it here at the end of the big trellis, across from the Accidental Lemon Cucumber.

And yep! Those are Bean seedlings in the upper left corner of that pic!! WooHoo! Look at all of them!

There are a couple that are slug munched and missing their leaves... and I have concerns. The rain today and tomorrow. Will that bring out the slugs again? Undoubtedly. So really, I need to stop looking at these seedlings and stop having hope about them, because they are sure to die.

Sighs.

I've put the little unknown flower next to the Basil at the other side of the trellis, where all the Spaghetti Squashes have died. I hope it grows into something beautiful!

And the other two decorative pumpkins with intertwined roots are now behind the Elephant Garlics close to the right side border. This is a dry spot, and I'm hoping there aren't any slugs here to munch these guys to death.

Okay. I have other work to do... look at the state of the beautiful ProCut Red Sunflower! It leans!

Damn the stupid wind! I think for a while and then I get my biggest and sturdiest tomato cage...

That should do it!

I look at the rest of the Lemon Cucumbers before I go.

And then I head for the Barn Swallow nest!

And it starts to spinkle as I walk. But here they are! Just four, the fifth -- and any more I don't know about? -- are probably hidden behind them.

It's raining pretty good now...

And the dreariness is not helping the photography at all! Bahaha!

A Parent has flown in to sit with the babies.

I suppose there's either no bugs to be found at the beginning of the rain, or maybe she's adding her warmth to the nest.

I decide to leave them to it... The parent def knows I'm here, and I've made her uncomfortable.

Ha... it's so dark and dreary and chill, a Nutria thinks it's okay to come out during the day!

I wonder if they are surprised about the crazy weather as well!

Tag: june 2025

The clouds can't figure out what they want to do today. It was overcast when I got up, but then clouds cleared out and the sun was shining. And now I'm heading out for a walk and it's cloudy again, which is nice!

It's 61° as I leave, to be 73° today... and the weather forcast for tomorrow has hit 100% chance of rain! and 90% for Saturday! Crazy weather this year.

I arrive at the garden and LOOK! The second round of Wax Beans!

Those are actual Wax Bean Leaves that haven't been munched by slugs!

And the Basil that I planted here yesterday can stand up on it's own now! Survived the transplant shock!

I think I'm going to keep the grid there tho... to protect it from the wind!

And the Lemon Cucumbers under the small trellis are fine.

I know... I'm obsessing about the Lemon Cucumbers.

But Lemon Cucumbers are my absolute favorite, of everything in the garden! I try to have ten plants every year and I try to make myself sick of eating all the Lemon Cucs!

When there's only just Three and a Half plants, plus two little seedlings... ? and just one of those plants is actually healthy? I just really, really need them to live and make me some cucs!

well. Nothing else is dying yet again today. Up front, I need to do some weeding around the beet seedlings that have survived!

That's Borage at the top, and Amaranth at the bottom... Both good pollinator plants to have, except when they are choking the cute little beets!

I'm out for a walk, and for some random reason I decide to check the far Barn Swallow nest again.

Um? Is that movement??

OH MY GOSH!!!

Oh My Gosh!!!

I'm leaning well over the water wall and it's so awkward trying to see past that spider web anchor line, too.

I take a break... this damselfly is sitting on wall next to me!

I think he's a Western Forktail!

I go back to leaning over to see the nest... and a parent flies in!!

um? Why aren't the babies opening their mouths??

Okay, there we go!

So these babies must be very, very well fed! I wonder how many Barn Swallows are bringing them food!! (Sometimes children from previous broods will help with their new siblings!)

And this kinda looks like five baby beaks?

I look back at the damselfly... his thorax has kind of muddy colours, and I'm not so sure about the species identification now.

And a beautiful house fly has joined us!

One more glance at the Barn Swallow nest before I go... and dang it, I need to figure out where the exposure setting needs to be! *laughs*

The photos are all kind of crappy but it looks like the babies eyes are just starting to open. So they've been here for a few days at least! But not too long!

And I'm back to my walk!

Hang on... ha! I wonder if they can see each other!

Tag: june 2025

I am starting today's blog post the same way I started yesterday's blog post... with the Basil plant...

There were enough hopeful indications at the garden yesterday... or maybe I've just decided to throw caution to the wind! But I'm taking it to the garden.

I stuff it into my small backpack and off I go.

Good Morning My Dear!

It's cloudy today, tho the clouds are moving around a good bit and the sun shines thru now and then. There's rain in the forecast for the weekend! Crazy! We don't get rain in the summer! But the weather all this year has been... different.

At the garden, I check on the second round of Wax Beans. Yay, even more germinating!

And there are a couple more, from the first round, that are trying to recover.

I hem and haw about where to put the Basil plant! I thought I wanted it in the front...but there's lots of happy Borages growing behind the beets, and I want to keep all that.

I finally think about where the Spaghetti Squashes have died ... At one end of the big trellis, I transplanted two Spag Squashes, in succession and then planted seeds... one by one they've all died. And I didn't plant any new bean seeds there, in the meantime.

So, that space will be empty, and maybe the Basil will like it there!

Oh dear. The Basil is very shocked at being transplanted. The grid is there to hold it up, poor thing! Dangit. I hope it lives.

On the other side of the big trellis is the Accidental Lemon Cucumber, very warped.

But with a friendlier Spotted Cucumber Beetle, instead of the Striped Cucumber Beetles!

The ProCut Red Sunflower at the end of the small trellis with the Lemon Cucumbers makes me happy.

The Little Seedling the Couldn't has made a second leaf! Maybe it will live!

This is the Land of Deformed Lemon Cucumbers! haha!

First Sugar Snap Pea harvest!

I ate them! But Ha, they weren't sweet yet. You have to wait until they are nice and fat. oh well. There's more on the way!

As I was leaving the plot, this one came in... I turned back to see if I could catch her, but she's very bouncy!

*laughs* That's the Old German Tomato on the left, the Half Dead Sungold on the right, and Kevin's Potatoes in the raised bed.

Oh sure... NOW the camera wants to focus! ha!

Thank You Dear!

On the way home, I stop to admire this tree...

I have to look up it's name every time. But that's a pleasure because the Catalpa Tree is the first chapter in this book...

∞ World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Illustrated by Fumi Nakamura

This is an absolutely lovely little book! And I page thru it every time I have to think about this tree! :)

The flowers make me think of candy!

Tag: june 2025

I wasn't watching the news at all. After the official end of USAID and then the Big Beautiful Bill... I just needed a break.

But over the weekend, Partner mentions something about floods in Texas.

Eventually some news trickles down to me.

So. Once upon a time DOGE slashes and hobbles the National Weather Service (NWS) and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Agency (NOAA).

The local NWS, in San Angelo was MISSING a senior hydrologist, staff forecaster and meteorologist in charge. The NWS in nearby San Antonio, also had significant vacancies, including a warning coordination meteorologist and science officer. On top of that, they are no longer able to staff the office 24/7 like they usually do.

All of those vacant positions are needed during climate emergencies. But DOGE thinks they are wasteful and fraudulent. So we don't have our experts doing their expert things, and people die.

Kids die.

∞ Trump And Elon Musk's Texas Chainsaw Massacre They just killed 27 little girls. You know it and I know it and they know it.

And...

∞ Trump and Texas point fingers as flood death toll rises

Entirely predicted, and entirely unnecessary.

So, yep. I'm back to reading the news and crying about it.

Tag: july 2025

I had bought this Basil a while ago, at Saturday Market on May24.

The plant then was maybe 4inches tall. It's in a bigger pot than the other veggie starts, so I hoped it would survive for a while at home. It's big enough now that I probably should take it to the garden.

Trouble is, slugs really like Basil. And since the plant has been sitting here on the kitchen window sill for three weeks now... I've gotten to enjoy its presence. I don't want to send it to its death at the garden!

I arrive at the garden, and I'm looking around. Here's the survivors of the Volunteer Squashes.

And I'm starting to wonder if things might actually live. You know? Except for the Spaghetti Squash seedlings, nothing else has been dying for the last couple of days.

The bugs are still around, for sure...

But their damage seems to be lessening?

Or maybe the first sign of the Second Sowing of Wax Beans has turned on my hope again.

*sighs* Stupid hope.

The green at the bottom of this pic is the Patty Pan, the sole squash survivor in this area...

The Primary Green Zuc was to the left, and it's long gone. On the other side of that, a Yellow Zuc died.

I've planted some more Crookneck seeds there on Jun12, so we'll see about that.

Straight up from the Patty Pan are some happy Borages and then you can see the bigger leaves of the ProCut Red Sunflower, which is at the end of the small trellis where the Lemon Cucumbers live. In the top left corner of the pic is the Sugar Snap Peas at the front of the plot and then the stalks of the Elephant Garlics.

There are three Lemon Cucumbers that have survived at the small trellis. Two are quite damaged and are small but growing.

Plus the Lemon Cuc seedling is still alive, next to it's sibling.

The Healthy Lemon Cuc... has a flower under it's leaves!!!

Well, foo... I should probably pull that flower off. The plant is really small and I would like for it to grow some more before thinking about fruit!! But I can't bear to do it, so I've left it alone.

At the back of the plot is the Tomato patch where I've got four different types growing... the Half Dead Sungold, Brandywine, Old German and the new Green Zebra. There's an Aubergine back there as well.

No pics of the Tomatoes today and I've gotten distracted by the right side neighbor's plot! None of my Borage is big enough to bloom, and the bees are happily dancing around this one just over the border.

That green in the background is their damn invasive Horseradish. *grumble*

Anyway!

The left side of the plot is the Fallow Area... but I've put down a few plants that have lived. At the front, there are two Crookneck seedlings! And that Buckwheat seedling is still trying to live as well!

Behind that is a Crookneck that I transplanted... it's actually the biggest and healthiest of all the summer squashes that are left. Which is surprising, usually the Green Zucs are the power houses.

On the right of that pic, there's another little Crookneck seedling that has survived. There must be something different about the Crooknecks, that the bugs don't like. I'm glad I had extra seeds to put down, since they are the ones to live this year.

The rest of the Fallow Area has some summer cover crops: Fava and Buckwheat, but they are few and far between. There's a couple of dying squashes, nevermind. The Green Zuc is here as well, but it's small. As well the backup Sungold... also on the small side.

But that was the reason why I wanted this area to be fallow. The plants don't grow great and they are mostly stunted here. meh.

At the back of the Fallow Area, last years Leeks are blooming!

They never got big enough to bother harvesting, and now the blossoms are interesting and making a variety of pollinators happy!

In the front of the garden, the Sugar Snap Peas are doing well... Still working on that very first pea pod!

And the Beets are there on the right.

I'm heading out, and I decide to go for a walk before going home.

heh, nevermind the crappiness of this photo... instead check out the artsy background! *laughs*

The three Leaning Tree saplings.

These little damselflies are all over the place in the grass next to the creek...

They are California Dancers, and they are quite a bit to the north of their usual range! Probably climate change bringing them up here.

Sweet Peas are blooming.

A Cabbage White on some Lavender.

And a happy Honey Bee!

Tag: june 2025

Good Morning My Dear!

I get to the garden and check on the Spaghetti Squash seedlings that were getting munched by bugs yesterday. aw, dangit.

Just a stump. humph!

But look... the Little Lemon Cuc that Couldn't has a new leaf...

But I don't have a good feeling about that. I think I am not going to invest any hope.

But the new core of the Accidental Lemon Cucumber is growing, and I think I will invest hope in that!

And here's a Wax Bean that's trying to make a comeback... It got it's leaves munched off by the slugs, and now it's made some new leaves.

The new leaves are very pretty. but the sluges are still around. And this one can't have my hope either.

I thought for a minute that this little seedling was a Lemon Cucumber...

I've planted Lemon Cucumber seeds here twice over!

But no. I'm pretty sure it's a Borage. SIGHS.

For all the Lemon Cucumber seeds I've planted, only this one, the little Sibling, is healthy.

It's funny. All the gardening videos I've watched say that Cucumbers are so easy to grow! Haha! Just more proof that I am a terrible gardener! :)

I've taken the grid off the Tomatillos that I bought. I don't know. Was that a mistake? The wind is 10mph today.

On the way out, I stop to admire the Volunteer Elephant Garlics... they are blooming!

And I'm out and going for a walk!

Aww! Siblings, not long out of the nest!

Above the new Leaning Tree saplings... oh cool!

This is a Violet Green Swallow. You can't quite see the Violet part, the sun needs to hit the feathers just right.

And back at the creek...

And then going by the Garden again... hello?

No? You don't care about the photography? You've got better things to do?

*Laughs*

Tag: june 2025

Ducklings!

ha, unfortunately the camera couldn't figure out where to focus and then Mama lead the babies behind the bushes. I didn't even get the chance to count them!

Stopping by the garden, just to water. The Sungold in the Fallow Area has a first tiny tomato growing!!

It takes a good month or more from the time the first fruits come on, to ripen. Such a long time! So, go forward in time and see if I can eat the first Sungold on July15!

I threw down a bunch of different seeds to try to grow in the Fallow Area. Not much has come up, I'm surprised that none of the clover has grown. Just a handful of Favas and Buckwheats. And one of the Buckwheats is flowering! Such a pretty little plant!

The Green Zuc in the Fallow Area looks like it might live.

I am trying not to think about all the squash plants I've put out here that have bit the dust. Especially since they are so spendy this year!

Seeds are cheaper, but...

That's the Spaghetti Squash seedlings. Sighs.

So it's looking like I won't have any winter squash. That's a major bummer. And not many of the summer squashes have survived. But maybe the little patch of Volunteer Squashes will make up for that.

And I'm glad the bugs have left me one healthy Lemon Cucumber.

The other Lemon Cucumber plants are all smaller, tho growing. Hopefully they will get to grow up and make me some Cucs!

And in the meantime, there will definitely be Sugar Snap Peas!

That one is not quite big enough, yet. Maybe I'll eat it in a couple days!

Tag: june 2025

It's Independence Day here in the US, but there's nothing to celebrate.

The news has been making me cry for a week. And now Republicans have passed the big beautiful bill.

It will break the United States.

I mean, the US is already broken... women can't get complete healthcare in half the states. We are not full citizens anymore. And we are cutting off healthcare to others, now as well. And with all the anti-DEI... If you're not a white, cishet man, it seems you're not a person, here in the US...

But the bill...

I honestly didn't realize how many evil people there are in this country.

Why else would Republicans vote for this, if they aren't evil?

And the thing that terrifies me...

ICE. The concentration camps we are building.

We've been deporting people without due process. And we are already doing government sanctioned kidnapping of people who are here legally. We've deported US Citizens! In what world is that okay? And giving ICE so much more money?

We are seriously heading into ethnic cleansing territory.

With Liberty and Justice For All? ... nope, white men only.

So. Take care. Take care of your people, when you can. Take care of yourself. Take care of your mental health.

Now... scroll down and go look at some Nature pictures.

Or! Better yet... go outside and look at some actual Nature! :)

Enjoy the sun on your skin, make some vitamin D. Be sure to keep hydrated! Or enjoy the night air, and be sure to keep hydrated!

Look closely at a plant! Has a bird flown by yet?

The Cicadas have been singing in my part of the world for a few weeks. What sound of nature do you hear?

Tag: july 2025

Tag: june 2025

Tag: june 2025

Tag: june 2025

Tag: june 2025

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Tag: june 2025

I've hit a couple really good collections of photos! Enjoy!

∞ Pictures from the raucous downtown protest in Novato California

∞ No Kings Yas Queens: The best & gayest signs from the No Kings protests The people's anger has clearly spawned some creativity.

Tag: june 2025

I purposfully avoided all the news and videos about that Traitor's military parade in Washington DC. But apparently, it was pretty lame.

And this totally cracks me up.

∞ Donnie's DooDah Parade, & now we know what military thinks of Secretary of Jagermeister

A little bit of malicious compliance from the soldiers with sloppy marching. Along with some trolling in the music choices?!! *giggles* Awesome!

Tag: june 2025

Tag: june 2025

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Tag: june 2025

Tag: june 2025

January 2025

February 2025

March 2025

April 2025

May 2025

January 2024 (partial)

February 2024

March 2024

April 2024

May 2024

June 2024

July 2024

August 2024

September 2024

October 2024

November 2024

December 2024

February 2023 (partial)

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023 (partial)

June 2023 (partial)

July 2023

August 2023

September 2023

October 2023

November 2023

December 2023

So I've looked at a map, and I hope I get around the new Downtown Riverfront Park without getting lost this time. It's closed because they are using it for the World Athletics Championships, which started yesterday and runs until the 25th.

This amazing mural just outside the Rose Garden was finished just in time for the Championships.

And, of course, you can't go by the Rose Garden without obsessively taking photos of the roses.

And then we gotta check the Osprey nest on the other side of the river. There's one child there today, and she takes off ... only to make a loop and come back to the nest.

XXX... Goal: Finish this post!

Tag: xxx 2022

I'm archiving the 2022 posts...

∞ January 2022

∞ February 2022

∞ March 2022
Story of nesting Anna Hummingbird begins here!

∞ April 2022
... And the nesting Hummer story continues here, until the babies fly away in mid-April!

∞ May 2022

∞ June 2022

∞ July 2022

(completed 28 May 2023...)

January thru July 2021 Archive

August 2021 Archive

September 2021 Archive

October 2021 Archive

(No entries for November 2021)

December 2021 Archive

Goal: revisit August 2021... Road Trip to Utah!

And then keep filling in posts from there thru the end of 2021.

Tag: 2021

(completed 27 Dec 2020 thru 5 Jan 2021...)

2020 Archive... January thru July

(posted 21 Apr 2023...)

2020 Archive... Aug thru Dec

GOAL...

Revisit the Aug thru Dec archive page and add photos and clear out the xxx!

Tag: 2020

(Posted 22 Dec 2020...)

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2019 journal entries

Tag: 2019

(Posted 18 Dec 2020...)

I have managed to move all of the 2018 journal entries into an archive page. I did not write very much in 2018, so I decided not to divide them up into months, like I usually do.

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2018 journal entries

Tag: 2018

(Posted 19 Dec 2020...)

I have managed to move all of the 2017 journal entries into an archive page. And again, I didn't write very much, so the posts for the entire year are on one page.

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2017 journal entries

Tag: 2017

Sat, 08 Jul 2023
Partner's Mom passed away
early this morning.