not very good,

BUT THIS YEAR, at least my little spruce on the corner will glow with holiday light. Need to get 2 more strings and finish it up...hope today.  Right now it looks purty sad. haw.

orange and cloves

GIVING THE AIR a spicy lift, compliments of mr. orange and some whole cloves.

fallen leaves

MORE TREE CARNAGE done by the winds.  I was gifted with a great leaf blower from my friend Ethan, so can make quick work of this.  The other benefit of the cold nights is of course, the gorgeous foliage colors made by the stressed trees. One of the most ravishing sites in the natural world.

violent changes

THE WIND BLASTING through my trees tonite has stripped away all the leaves and rattled the roof. It looks nothing like the pictures in my last post. Pictures tomorrow will show the path of the powerful gusts from tonight.

more decay

COLD-STRESSED PLANTS are one of nature' pearls. In their distress to adjust to cold, wind and wet, show their most beautiful colors as they decay toward dormancy.

More colors than a painting could boast. 

autumn beacon

MY JAPANESE MAPLE, little Osakazuki, (literally "sake cup shaped leaf") is one of my great joys. It's a sturdy little tree, still in its half-barrel container because after years of half-assed pruning experiments, it has remained small, and sadly misshapen. Nevertheless, even in this blurry photo, you can observe why it's one of the all-time faves of acer palmatum collectors.

goblin-y greetings!

HAPPY HOWLOWEEN! Who can forget my favorite holiday? Not Ophee or me!! She had a little matching Cat-in-the-Hat hat, but I didn't get a decent picture. poo. BOO!

beautiful decay

FORGET ABOUT SUNNY daffodils, or neon tulips. Although I enjoy them, the rusty colors of autumn are what make me swoon. Here's my little sugarskull with drying hydrangea heads. I love them together because they are the same colors.

fall harvest

JUST ONE BATCH of gorgeous veggies from Ken and Yvette's garden. They got me started this year, and I harvested my first tomatoes, "Chocolate Cherry" tomatoes, truly taste like candy.

almost autumn

HYDRANGEA "BLUSHING BRIDE" is starting to turn every color in the book.  Of hydrangeas.  :B

now it's hot

ALMOST TO OCT and we're having the 90s more typical of june and july. My shady back area— I've had an inspiration. The soil on either side of path is GREAT. I need to get some plantings in, and paint the back wall, and enjoy a shady path to the BirdGarden™.  Thanks to my talented sissy and landscape designer, at r o o s t™.

lazy grasshopper

I'M A GOOD FER nuthin' blogger. I have too many started, and don't stay current with them. I love BeeBook, so I'll keep it going, and I have a couple art-related ones started in WordPress, too, and I may delete one. Here it is almost 2 mos since last post. Sigh. The upside is I've been out there enjoying the bees instead of sitting inside. More pix of the farmlet and new developments upcoming. :B

summer lily time

AS THEY SAY, a pic is worth 1000 words.
The fragrance when I pass by these in the evening is bliss.

ophee is good

A MIRACLE occurred—Ophee's little shattered ankle healed up. It has a big bumpy bone mass protecting the previously broken area, but she's doing fine, running and jumping with the other hounds. I think it must ache now and then, with barometric changes, like my ankle does. <:

lilies are coming

HERE THEY COME, with the warm nights and hot days, my lilies, which I adore, if not for their beauty, then for their heady fragrance. I need many more. These brave souls made it over from Bothell, and through last winter, and are doing fairly well their first year. I think next year they will sport many more blooms though.

clemmy came back

DAD'S LITTLE CLEMATIS out on back of the turret has come back in full force. It just needed a little TLC. I hope Dad gets to enjoy it. I like to think of his spirit wandering around the yard from time to time. He is so missed by both Ter and me.

roses & peonies

A GORGEOUS ARRANGEMENT from the flowers outside my door. Poppa's peonies and my Pat Austin rose.

catchup info!

IT'S HARDER TO post in the summer, when there's so much going on: planting, pruning, etc etc. I'm also cleaning out the Foundry, and Terrie helped me start this darling little patio, in the Bird Garden. It will be finished in the next week or so. Gonna be very nice out there.

baby birds due

I'VE GOT A NEST out back with sparrows, VERY bizzy with their chicks in there, under the eaves of the little barn. But out front on the deck, I have a mama robin. I thought I was going to have a wonderful nestful of robins, right here on my front porch. I'm a little worried about her—and 'fraid the dogs and I may have scared her off. Also, when I was in the Foundrie today, there was a pair up in the rafters, and they wouldn't leave, so I left the garage door up so they could get out. I'm concerned it may be the porch couple, looking for quieter corners.

don't hate me...

BECAUSE I'M BEAUTIFUL. My Acer Shirasawanum "Autumn Moon" (left) is partially covered, on top, by shade from the red oaks. So the bottom is more stressed from afternoon sun (soon to be moved!) and the effect is a gorgeous gradation from lime to orange-red.

a little badge

I like.

my poor ophanutz.

OPHEE WAS HIT by a car two days ago, and lived to tell the tail. Her left ankle has a bad break, and is splinted. The vet may need to pin it if it won't heal well. I'm so glad she's still here. I mean, just look at her!! What a darling and stoic little friend I have.

alright!

TERRIE CAME OVER this weekend and wow, did we make some changes! Cleanup, painting, and planting. It goes to show that a weekend of work, esp if I have help, accomplishes a lot. Will post pix tomorrow.

spring forward slowly

I GOT ALL ZANY about the approaching gorgeous weather, which has been nice, but still a bit cold. Jumped the gun a little. General news bits about me in no order:
• I'm an official Lunch Lady™ now, at Columbia Elementary, handing out cookies and ketchup
• On our walk, Ophee and I found a little owl (dead)
• My Bothell transplanted shrubs have survived.
• I've pruned back the lilacs, roses, forsythia--anything I want to give a new start
• I have actually started and finished a painting, which is a sort of miracle if you know me.
• I made 88 dollars this month making and selling gift and scrap papers. (my little bug below)
• I'm working at 3 jobs.
• I survived the winter, in spite of the stupid ER episode which turned out to be pneumonia.
• There was a skunk in my tiny barnlet, which I am cleaning.
• My auntie turned 90, and I went over Apr 1 to see her.
• I cut my hair very short, and lots of grey popped up!
OK, there's more, and I will grab some photos.

spring forward!

MY LAST POST was at least a month ago. Apologies if you read this. I continue to treat it as my journal, so I'm not always beholden to scheduled postings. DAYLIGHT SAVING time starts toMORRRROWWW!!!
The winter has been a bit boring, so not much to post, not much to report from staying inside, watching the snow, watching nothing grow. Although it's lovely, and better than the current constant grey in Seattle.

sun piggy

LITTLE OPHEE soaks up the sun in the window. This is just another trick so I can talk about the weather. It's beautiful out, sunny and almost all snow gone; very spring-like, 40°. Here's the thing: I'm just having an ATTACK to get out and garden! So many exciting things to do out there. Lots of work, which will be good for me now that I'm going to get skinny and strong in my older years. Sounds backwards, but you know what they say. Youth is wasted on the young, and now that I'm older, wiser, richer in spirit, etc etc. I want to DO many things, and see things. Make art, make the garden glorious.

surnise after rain

OVER THE WENATCHEE hills.

he's baaaaack.

MR. GREAT HORNED OWL is out there tonight. I took Ophee out, and he's just intimidating enough to make me nervous. I'm fairly certain s/he wouldn't mess with Oph, but on the other hand, they are formidable and stealthy hunters with dangerous talons. I realized that tonight, as last time, there is a lot of white on the ground from last night's snowfall. They probably enjoy hunting against the snow, since it's so easy for them with their night vision. They probably see dinner walking around everywhere in the form of rodents, varmints and any other nocturnal creatures.

chillybeauty

AS THE BEES SLEEP so am I. It's cold, and you can nearly feel it in these photos of the sun coming up. Once a California girl, always a California girl. But I love it here and I'm staying put.
So much to do indoors anyway.