Looking at Summer

Magnolias, whip-poor-wills, lightning bugs, and the ever-present humidity; summer's comin'!

A Visit to (ssshhhhhhhhh)... You-Know-Who!

Yesterday was a furry exciting day! As a benefit for...
Ma and Pa took me (and one of my bestest pals hehee) to seeeeeeee... Santa Paws!!! Lytton Square in Mill Valley has a lot of colorful history that involves railroad travel and logging, but today, the square is a great place to hang out, drink coffee and grab a paper in the morning, or to use as a base from which to stroll around this ultra nice town. Below is a summer picture of the square.
Here are some peeps setting up Santa's throne! Later, the Humane Society will bring puppies to adopt. "Alphadog," a super nice pet store is partnering with the Society and also a great photographer, Allison Levinson, to take our pictures with Santa Paws.

Here are some pups waiting (pantingly) for Santa Paws to arrive!
...along with her housemate, below!
I can't wait!
A bit of trepidation...as Santa...arrives!
Look at the antlers on this little fella!
Here is a collage of some of the action outside and then inside "Alphadog."
And an uncut movie of me whispering to the man in red and other scenes on the square! Happy Holidays everypup! So many of you bloggers help other doggies throughout the year, day in and day out - we feel we can only try to help a few to have some happy and comforting moments in their lives over the length of this season. Mama got her residual check (remember this post) and is sending half of it (finally) to The National Canine Cancer Foundation.
Thank you to those of you who bought the book. Okay...on to visit some great friends! Hugs xox

Busy, busy days

I didn't post at all last week, because my life right now is super busy; busier than I like it to be. But what do you say when your daughter wants you to keep her four boys for four days so she can have a little r & r with her husband? Yes, of course.
And what do you say when your son calls from Ft. Benning and says that he's coming home for the weekend? Yes, of course!
And what do you tell a twelve-year-old daughter who wants to enter things in the fair which means taking those things there one weekend and picking them up the next? Okay, I reckon.
So now with all those things behind me and my birthday coming up on Wednesday, I'm heading for the mountains! It'll be a short trip, but I don't care. I HAVE to see the mountains in the fall and get apples at Mercier's Orchard in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Check them out on the internet.
After tending to so many family needs these last two months, I'm going home to be pampered by my parents. It's nice to be little again every now and then.
P.S. The photo is one taken last Christmas of us and our five children. It's a photo of a photo, so the quality is pretty poor.

Happy Birthday America!

Lots of sun and blue sky up here on Rainier are adding to our celebration of America's 237th year of existence. The forecast for the holiday weekend looks great, and conditions should be great for summit bids. We are expecting a very busy weekend so climbersshouldshow up early at the ranger station to improve chances of getting their preferred camping spot. The popular camps such as Muir, Schurman and Ingraham Flats will be busy places. Climbers are encouraged to have a backup plan since there are many places on Rainier that will not be crowded at all. Looking for moderate routes? Try the Tahoma, the Kautz, the Success Cleaver or Couloirs, or the Wilson Headwall just to suggest just a few. Skiing conditions still seem to be holding strong but some booting is required from most trailheads these days. Check out recent route reports from the DC, The Tahoma Glacier and Ptarmigan Ridge among others.



On this fourth of July remember that you have the freedom to bring celebration items such as watermelon, spareribs, and refreshing drinks into your national park. You even have the freedom to share your goodies with rangers or other people you meet. You do not have the freedom to bring fireworks, explosives, or share your edible goodies with any non-human species such as foxes or marmots.

Come on out and enjoy the natural wonders this country has to offer.

Bicycle Advocacy Luncheon

Yesterday I attended a luncheon meeting at the UNO Alumni Center. Feature speakers were John Burke, CEO of Trek Bicycles and Andy Clarke, Executive Director of the League of American Bicyclists.
John Burke addressed the importance of the bicycle in the solution of the community problems. Big emphasis was on the obesity/health issue and concerns for the environment.
Director Andy Clarke talked about the League's Bicycle Friendly City program and what makes a city bicycle friendly.
The luncheon was sold out. Those that did not have a reservation were able to participate in the meeting.

Snowy Edinburgh

Well, what else can I call it? The view is from Blackford Hill, north towards the Castle. Photo courtesy of my daughter, who was on a sledging outing with friends on Monday when her school was closed. Tuesday was another snow day, but with studying done at home (the year of Highers exams), and it was back to school on Wednesday once the ground staff had cleared enough pathways round the campus. The problem is that the snow keeps falling. Edinburgh airport is closed, the Forth Road Bridge is closed, trains are cancelled or delayed. The city is quiet, muffled.
But for some there's a bright side. Capitalising on our huge dump of snow, my daughter's school has hastily introduced a 'house snowman' competition for tomorrow, to go with all the other house competitions that happen throughout the year.

Crossing the Line

I saw the first hummingbird of .. on Thursday morning – it stopped at a Salvia ‘Nuevo Leon’, then moved to the still blooming Coral Honeysuckle/Lonicera sempervirens. I lost sight of it for a few seconds, before catching its final dip toward a Salvia greggii. He was lucky to find something blooming!

I’ve planted plenty of butterfly & hummingbird plants, but they’ve been slow to bloom this year. If the rain stops and the sun heats up we may rapidly cross over that line from Spring to Summer this weekend. I’ve already cut back the once-blooming pink rose to under 6-feet and shortened the iris stalks to make the plants look neater. Another wave of flowers are budded and ready to take their turn.

Last winter’s cold and ice killed the Salvia guaranitica, the Pineapple Sage/Salvia elegans and the hybrid Salvia ‘Black & Blue’ to ground level here in NW Austin. All three Salvias were hummingbird favorites last summer, but the Pineapple sage is still struggling up from the ground, the Black & Blue has only buds, and the Salvia guaranitica in the photo above just started to open in the last few days.

The first Larkspur flowers showed color on Monday, weeks after they were blooming in South Austin gardens. Larkspur/Consolida ambigua self-seed each winter, and usually grow quickly in April. This cooler, wetter spring seemed to delay their growth at first, then allowed them to grow way too tall and top-heavy. Recent thunderstorms toppled some, and the heavy wet soil is making some plants rot at the base. Whenever we expand our planting areas I move a few seedlings to the new beds, leaving it up to the Larkspur if they want to grow there.

The first flowers opened on the double yellow, fragrant Oleander from Plant Delights. I bought the rooted cutting [Tony Avent thinks the variety may be 'Mathilde Ferrier'] in March .., and grew it on the deck at our last Austin house. It’s lived in a series of containers, with the most recent transplanting done in February .. by my friends the Divas of the Dirt.

This week brought the first flowers on the Achillea 'Moonshine', also called yarrow. Both yarrow and lambs ear look good now, but they're frequently a ratty mess by late summer. I just cut them back severely and hope for new fresh foliage. Those buds to the right of the yarrow belong to a lemony yellow reblooming daylily, ‘Happy Returns’.

Around the side of the house, the shelter of the brick wall has persuaded one Canna 'City of Portland' that it's already summertime. I grew this Canna in Illinois and brought a few pieces with me to Texas in 1999. Since it multiplies easily, it's definitely a Passalong plant... I always have some to share.

This bright pink, tidy native is the Cherry Skullcap/ Scutellaria suffrutescens. The plant is generally evergreen here, although the tips were frozen back this winter. Skullcap grows slowly into a mounded sub-shrub that can take sun, heat and is drought resistant. Ta-Da!

Okay, so it’s only a two inch ‘Juliet’ tomato, and it’s in a container not the ground, but it’s still a tomato!

We also have a “real” tomato almost ready to eat – an ‘Early Girl’. This is actually the second to turn orange - we lost the first to the critters, which is why we've given up on vine ripe tomatoes and I’m bringing this one inside. In another few hours, if the squirrels haven’t taken out a chunk out of it, some bird will have pecked a hole in it.
Where’s the satin pillow?