Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
A Rainy Last Day of Fall, Two Cats and Clam Lights!
After a mostly dry fall in the Pacific NW it seems that all the pent up rain has finally been loosed in a fury making today the rainiest Dec 20th on record, with many more like it to come. How quickly we forget!
Benji is distraught and asks me why I don’t turn it off so he can go outside.
I have no answer and he finally settles down to sleep the day away.
Tiger makes the same wise decision.
As for me, I decide to brave a walk at Coulon Park where I have the trail to myself.
Except for the ducks who are happy to find water, water everywhere.
Their webbed feet serve them well. I on the other hand find out quickly that my own shoes are not waterproof, nor are the jeans that end up soaked to the knees.
I pass by Ivar’s Clam Lights, a festive holiday display that will light up the evenings – for those who brave the elements.
The clams are still and silent waiting for the evening show; but I did manage to catch them strutting their stuff a few years ago.
Happy Holidays to you all from the soggy Northwest! 🙂
~ Susanne, Tiger and Benji
Today’s Visitation – An Anna’s Hummingbird Stops by for a Drink
Yesterday I replenished the feeders and this morning watched as an Anna’s Hummingbird came by for a drink.
It was a wonderful way to start the day.
For both of us.
~ Susanne
Cheered by Vibrant Colors
I’m looking outside my window this morning. The sky is milky and somber and there’s rain in the forecast. Maybe till next April.
So for Cees’ Fun Foto Challenge, I went through my archives looking for color. And found sunshine. In a sunflower standing tall and proud in Sequim.
Guess what else I found in Sequim? Fields of lavender, vibrant in color and heavenly in fragrance.
I think I’ll have a seat. Stay awhile. And breathe it in.
Ahhhhhh! I’m feeling better. So I’ll conclude my search with a trip to the tulip fields in Skagit County.
Cheered by Vibrant Colors, I’m ready to start my day.
~ Susanne
Sewing Fun with Benji
I should have known the boy would get in the way.
I’d bought some kitchen towels at a craft fair for hanging on the stove. I liked the concept – they wouldn’t fall on the floor like my other ones do. But the seller had used the cheapest towels possible and after I washed them they looked thin and pathetic.
I can do better I thought to myself so I bought the materials, retrieved the sewing machine from where it was collecting dust and set up my workplace in the dining room There was only one problem. His name was Benji.
‘Surely that dangling cord is just for me,’ he thought and there was no way to dissuade him.
So when the reprimand didn’t work I distracted the boy with the measuring tape and it soon became his favorite toy.
We played and played but when I stopped he cried – so we played some more; until I finally returned to my sewing and he came to watch.
Then his eyes got big and I knew it was only a matter of time
before he sprang.
So we played measuring tape again –
until he got tired and went for a nap
and I completed my towels which now hang tight from my stove.
There will be more towels.
And there will be more play with the measuring tape.
We’re both happy.
~ Susanne and Benji
Hooray! I Finally Got my 2020 Cat Care Calendar!
It finally arrived! All the way from the UK! My 2020 Cat Care Calendar!
Take a look and you’ll see Benji featured for the month of May.
In addition to three calendars I also received a few other goodies including a certificate – and in case you couldn’t tell by now, I am thrilled to be one of the winners.
I owe it to the sweet Benji who visited me one day while I rested in the garden and looked straight into the camera.
~ Susanne and Benji
A Late Fall Walk at Seattle’s Seward Park
After a record dry November the rain has finally returned to the Pacific Northwest but mainly as drizzle and not enough to keep us housebound. And so with umbrellas in hand we headed for a walk at Seward Park, a jewel in the crown of the Seattle Park system on the shores of Lake Washington.
We started our walk at the Audubon Center where I was surprised to find roses still in bloom.
We took the path around the park next to native forest filled with giant evergreens,
and bursts of seasonal color.
On the other side was Lake Washington where trees still wore their fall clothes,
and the lake was calm save for the stirring of ducks and seabirds.
The clouds hung low over Mercer Island
finally settling over the floating bridge and Seattle skyline.
By the time we finished our walk the rain was falling gently but this cormorant was not daunted.
Neither were these hummingbirds feeding in front of the Audubon Center.
After working up an appetite and refreshed by our walk we headed to Geraldine’s Counter for the best breakfast in town.
It was a perfect Saturday rain and all.
~ Susanne
Looking Up with Benji
Look! Up in the sky!
It’s a bird!
It’s a plane!
Only Benji knows for sure and he’s not talking! 🙂
Happy Weekend from Susanne and Benji.
Life and Maintenance in the December Garden
While the rest of the country has been hammered by winter, here in the Great Northwest I’m still working in the fall garden. Nothing major of course, just the ordinary maintenance that life requires.
Our home is surrounded by evergreen trees – mostly Douglas-Firs and Hemlocks – and while I love the privacy and bird habitat they provide, they drop their cones year-round; you’d think we’d be living in a forest. But despite thousands of cones releasing thousands of seeds, few if any result in new trees. Still, they are messy.
The other day I found hundreds of them littering our deck and yard after a windstorm the night before. Bob usually does the cleanup but I was looking for an excuse to go outside – there’s something therapeutic about fresh air and physical labor, no matter how minimal.
So out I went and filled up the pail with cones a couple times over.
I wasn’t alone. I turned on the stream and was joined by the cats who like the flow of water and also my company.
Benji found the catmint still blooming and stopped for a snack.
Tiger wandered about at his own quiet pace, dining occasionally on the grass.
After things were tidied up and my outlook significantly improved I went inside, looking forward to surprising Bob with my efforts.
It was a good day in the garden.
~ Susanne
Happy Anniversary Tiger!
“Can you believe It was six years ago this month, Tiger? Sorry I don’t remember the exact date.”
“What’s that Sue?”
“When we brought you and Shadow home from the cat hotel. Only you weren’t called Tiger then, your name was Miracle. And Shadow was Brother Love – may he rest in peace.”
“Of course I remember Sue. We thought we’d never get out of there! It really was a miracle wasn’t it? But I’m glad you changed my name to Tiger; I needed a fresh start. And I’m glad for the time Shadow had with us in Paradise. He loved everyday he was here. But I’ve always wondered – what convinced you to come and get us?”
“Honestly Tiger, you can thank Bob for that. He’s the one who decided we should go and take a look when we heard about your plight. But once we met you it didn’t take much convincing. Your beautiful green eyes seemed to speak right from your soul into ours. They still do.”
“Aw shucks Sue. Thanks so much.”
“You’re welcome Tiger. Happy Anniversary and may there be many more to come!”
~ Susanne
P.S. For more about how Tiger came to live with us, check out the posts below from the earliest days of the blog.
https://catsandtrailsandgardentales.com/2016/04/27/brothers-tiger-and-shadow/
https://catsandtrailsandgardentales.com/2016/05/06/tiger-musings-on-the-early-day
Walking in a Winter Wonderland
The day after Thanksgiving we went for a drive to Federation Forest and found the evergreens dusted with snow. It was an unexpected but pleasant surprise.
It was also a surprise to find the gate to the park locked. But no matter; we left our car by the side of the road and were welcomed into the woods by the resident ranger. And though the trails were covered in snow it was mostly dry and crunchy beneath our feet.
This was only our second time to Federation Forest; the first time was earlier in the spring (here) when wildflowers adorned the trails. No wildflowers this time but there was a quiet mystery as the forest rested in the snow.
In addition to old growth Douglas-fir, Western Red Cedar, Sitka Spruce and Western Hemlock, we enjoyed glimpses of the White River, which flows from Emmons Glacier on nearby Mt Rainier.
It was a wonderful walk in a winter wonderland.
For Sunday Stills, ‘Chills.‘
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 