Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
HBC and Union Jack
I rarely post twice on the same day but wanted to drop by for the final day of #SimplyRed.
We stopped by Fort Vancouver on our way home from Portland and I found the history fascinating.
The Hudson’s Bay Company established Fort Vancouver under the British flag in 1825 as a fur trading post. Only the ‘gentlemen’ lived inside the fort; the workers who hailed from many different tongues and tribes (native tribes, European trappers, and Hawaiian islanders) lived outside.
Conflict arose when Americans began to arrive in the region and by 1846, the US and Britain settled the international boundary, putting the fort into American hands.
Fort Vancouver today is a national historic site on the Washington side of the Columbia River, and archeologists are still mining the objects and stories in the region.
This handsome bird still calls it home.
The Hudson’s Bay Company (HBC) was founded in 1670 by royal charter and controlled the fur trade throughout English and later British North America.
What began with fur trading eventually evolved into a Canadian department store chain, which after 355 years, closed June 1, 2025.
~ Susanne
Kitty Fix
On our getaway to Portland, we stayed with my sister and were delighted to meet two additions to the family. Still kittens, fluffy and silky in black, they greeted us every morning with tiny meows and kitty antics.
I’ve never had long-haired black kitties, and I was immediately captured by their beauty. If they were mine, I would give them names of royalty, perhaps Sheba and Victoria would do.
I’ll have more to share from our trip in later posts, but the visit with the family was the best.
~ Susanne
Knowing we’re Going
He always knows when the suitcases come out
and resigns himself to his fate.
Poor Benji.
Back soon.
Susanne
Hike to Marymere Falls, at Lake Crescent
Lake Crescent is my favorite lake in Washington, the USA, and maybe the whole world, though of course I haven’t seen them all.
An ancient, glacier-carved lake over 600 ft. deep, we never get tired of visiting this beauty any time of year.
Even though we didn’t stay there on our recent trip, we did drop by to take the hike to Marymere Falls, .9 miles one way through old-growth forest to a 90 ft. waterfall.
It was a hot sunny day (a heatwave meant temperatures in the nineties) but the woods kept us cool.
I captured Bob with his fishing pole surrounded by the sun’s rays.
I left him behind at the stream to try his luck,
while I continued up the trail to Marymere Falls.
A few switchbacks up the steep trail, and I arrived at the falls.
Here it is flowing.
Every trip to Olympic National Park leaves us wanting more, so we’ll return again this fall after the crowds have thinned, hopefully to stay at Lake Crescent or nearby Sol Duc, where Bob will try his hand again at some catch and release.
~ Susanne
Fan Tan Alley
I don’t know how many times I visited Victoria before I found Fan Tan Alley, a study in red and photographer’s delight.
According to Wikipedia, “Fan Tan Alley is an alley in the Chinatown neighborhood of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada that is known for being the narrowest commercial street in North America, being less than 0.9 m (3.0 ft) wide at its narrowest point. It runs south from Fisgard Street to Pandora Avenue at the block between Government Street and Store Street. Named after the Chinese gambling game Fan Tan, the alley was originally well known for opium factories that produced opium until it was made illegal in 1908.”
An easy trip from Seattle, even better by Black Ball Ferry from Port Angeles. I think I’m overdue, if Canada will still have us.
Sharing with #SimplyRed Squares
~ Susanne
Bird Photo Fun – Looking for Red in Squares
I love the birds that visit my yard, but only a few of them are red.
The male House Finch sports a rosy red head to attract his plainer looking lady friend.
Here they are on the roof, with background erased for effect.
The male Northern Flicker is a regular, nesting in the snag, and has a handsome red mustache.
His larger cousin the Pileated Woodpecker has quite the flaming top! He rarely visits so it’s always a thrill when he does.
The towhee has a rust-colored sides (hence the name Rufous-sided Towhee,) and his eyes are near to red.
The male Anna’s Hummingbird is perhaps the most striking bird to grace my yard, though not red, he’s attracted by the red bird feeder.
Sharing my squared red birdie pictures with Sunday Stills, #Fine Feathered Friends, and Becky’s #SimplyRed.
~ Susanne
The Red Among the Lavender
Lavender was the star of the show in Sequim last week, but I found plenty of red, too, in the poppies and crocosmia.
But the fields were mostly purple at Purple Haze Lavender Farm,
and Jardin du Soleil.
Did you know that Sequim, Washington is the Lavender Capital of North America and that you can visit dozens of lavender farms there? Well now you do!
Sharing the reds with Becky’s Square Challenge, #SimplyRed.
~ Susanne
Poor Tiger – the dreaded visit to the vet
I hated to do it, because of the stress it causes for both of us, but it goes with the territory.
Tiger’s a sweet boy, a senior cat of 17 in human years, and had been sniffling, sneezing, and wheezing for a few weeks. Time to head to the vet in the new carrier.
We tricked him into it (he’s not nearly as fast as Benji) and the howling began immediately and lasted most of the journey. Twenty minutes later we were in the office, where the carrier became his new favorite place.
“I’m scared, Sue.”
“I know, Tiger. I don’t like going to the dentist either, but I go because I know it’s good for me. At least you get to bring a hiding place with you.”
“I’d rather go to the dentist, Sue. How much longer?”
“Trust me, Tiger. You wouldn’t. Anyway, it will all be over soon.”
The new vet was a cat person, with four of his own, and tenderly cared for Tiger, doing most of the exam through the various openings in the carrier. Much better than the old, hard-sided one.
“Right, Tiger?”
The ride home was quiet. I was given antibiotics for a respiratory infection to be administered twice a day. Tiny pills I will attempt to hide in treats. Good luck with that.
And instructions to help Tiger lose some weight. He’s up to 14.5 pounds. I can’t even lose my own excess weight, but will do my best to help him. Less food, more activity. (I may try it myself.)
And that’s all for Saturday #Caturday.
~ Susanne
Olympic Mountains at Hurricane Ridge
I love having the Olympic Mountains as a backdrop to Seattle, but there’s nothing like being immersed in them at Hurricane Ridge. We spent a few days on the Olympic Peninsula earlier this week, a wilderness that includes Olympic National Park.
I found the map below on the waterfront in Port Angeles. Hurricane Ridge is a 45-minute drive into the heart of the mountains from the coastal town, but a world apart.
There are several hikes you can take at the top, we took the easiest, Cirque Ridge. Mountains on one side, sea on the other, this view of the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Canada to the north.
These tiny people went higher up onto Hurricane Hill.
We saved our legs for a different hike later that day at Marymere Falls, which I’ll share in a later post.
From the park newsletter, Bugler: “The story of the Olympic mountains began deep beneath the ocean, as the collision of two massive tectonic plates forged the landscape we admire today. Towering glacier-clad peaks like Mount Queets, Deception and Olympus rise dramatically from the lush, old-growth forests, separated from one another by river valleys.”
A couple days away does a body good.
~ Susanne
Red, White and Blue at Coulon Park
The bluest skies you’ve ever seen are in Seattle, especially in the summer at Coulon Park, my favorite place for a walk.
In addition to the brilliant blues above and below where sky and lake reflect each other, I found red and white in the boats.
On land, the Coulon Walkers also wore red, white and blue
making them fit for this week’s Sunday Stills challenge, Red, White and Blue.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 