The fauna to our flora, here we talk about our animal and bug friends (and foes!) in and around the garden. Who we’re trying to attract more of through creating an enticing habitat, and who we’d gladly buy a 1-way ticket for if we could only send them far away.
As you may know, the garden is in a bit of disarray. So instead of plant pictures, we're sending along photos of some fine-feathered friends. This morning just as Bill and I headed out for a winter walk, I got the bright idea we should go look for herons to...
It seems like five minutes ago I was recounting my reading group's trek to the McKenzie River near Eugene, Oregon. But that was already a whole year ago. Our annual fall retreat is 20+ years in the making. This year, the six of us went to Welches, Oregon. We stayed in...
We're getting a terrific break in weather out here in the Pacific Northwest. It's perfect for gardening--coolish, cloudy mornings, and sunny afternoons. Yesterday, we had rain, and it's supposed to last a few days--much to the chagrin of William, the household...
Do you ever play that game? I hope so, that I'm not just some nutty outlier. I'm going to guess you do, at least once in a while. Though I stand ready and willing to be corrected. Sometimes to make the game more manageable, I try narrowing to just one genus. That...
I wanted to post about this season's gardening plans, but trying to sort it out became so overwhelming, I decided to show you pictures of my lava rock wall instead. It's a much smaller space to consider, with incredible beauty manufactured all on its own. The wall is...
I'm spending an inordinate amount of time trying to outsmart my cats. Oh sure, I expected them to be sorta naughty, but dear dang dog, Mister Kitty especially is H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E, and that's with the French pronunciation. He's not mean horrible, mind you, but super...
It's taken me a while to get that I'm challenged when trying to talk, observe, and photograph in unison. This is not entirely new to my, uhm, imaginative brain style. But since my concussion, I'm further along on the continuum. Recently, one of my brain therapist...
The best laid plans. After too many months of my rain dances going ignored by the weather gods, the time had come to give my trees a long overdue hose soak before things got too crispy. Which meant creeping through paths I haven’t been down for a while. Which is how I...
I've always been fascinated with caterpillars. I spent many hours searching for them when I was a kid, picking them up and watching them march across my hand. I've become more squeamish about holding them, but they're still a beautiful miracle. Somehow I made it to 40...
When I started my post last week, I meant to write about a trip to Cistus Nursery with Loree, intrepid Mistress of Danger Garden. But once I got on that Highway, there were so many other fascinating places to visit--at least in my fanciful imagination. So back to the...