Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Please, Can we play, Sue?
“I’m busy right now, Benji.”
“Please?”
“Maybe in a few minutes.”
“Okay, I’ll wait.”
“Still waiting, Sue.”
“Okay, okay, I’m ready, Benji.”
Happy Caturday from Susanne and Benji!
Happening in the March Garden – Birds and Blooms
Blooms first
Not many blooms yet, except for this faithful rhododendron.
dappled with raindrops.
The azalea is just starting to flower and should be in full bloom in a week or two, attracting pollinators, these pictures from last year.
Birds
Birds of all sizes are looking for places to nest, including this chestnut backed chickadee.
It remains to be seen whether additional excavation will be required.
If so, the flickers will take care of it.
Sharing for Sunday Stills, Spring Flowers.
~ Susanne
What Kitty Doesn’t Love a Window?
Not Benji.
#WordlessWednesday.
~ Susanne
Tacoma Narrows Bridge
We have many bridges in Washington State, some unique and one of a kind. The one below is perhaps the most famous, infamous describes it best, not this one, but the first one, years ago.
We love crossing the bridge on our way to the Olympic Peninsula, though maybe not on a windy day.
The original bridge became known as ‘galloping gertie,’ when a few months after it opened in 1940, it began a wild dance in the wind before crashing into the waters below.
Engineering lessons learned, hopefully.
~ Susanne
A Walk Into Spring at Discovery Park
Granted it comes and goes this first week of March, spring that is, with some warm and sunny days, followed by cold and rainy ones. Fortunately for us, we picked the best day earlier this week to visit Discovery Park in Seattle, heading north on Highway 99 and through the new tunnel.
On the other side, we went through the quirky neighborhoods of Fremont and Ballard, before arriving at our destination.
We chose the south entrance to the park and walked the trail to the bluff.
on the way enjoying the budding foliage of flowering currant,
and the open meadow where old parts of Ft. Lawton remain,
and happy doggies played in the field, charming even to a cat person like me!
“Discovery Park is a 534-acre natural area park operated by Seattle Parks and Recreation. It is the largest city park in Seattle, and occupies most of the former Fort Lawton site. Situated on Magnolia Bluff overlooking Puget Sound, Discovery Park offers spectacular views of both the Cascade and the Olympic Mountain ranges. The secluded site includes two miles of protected tidal beaches as well as open meadow lands, dramatic sea cliffs, forest groves, active dunes, thickets and streams. The role of Discovery Park is to provide an open space of quiet and tranquility away from the stress and activity of the city, a sanctuary for wildlife, as well as an outdoor classroom for people to learn about the natural world. Maintained in its semi-natural condition, the park will continue to offer a biologically rich and diverse natural area for urban dwellers and an unmatched opportunity for environmental education.” Seattle Parks website
Honestly, I found the park to be a bit of a puzzle, as you couldn’t drive to the beach below, and Bob remembered the trail down being pretty steep so we didn’t take it. Then again, we got a late start, and were hungry for lunch, so headed out to Ray’s Cafe on Shilshole Bay, and that is my delicious salad with shrimp and scallops.
It was a fun day and we promised we’d be back to explore the beach (we’ll look into getting the parking permit,) the Visitor Center (currently closed,) and the Daybreak Star Indian Culture Center.
~ Susanne
Just a Walk in the Garden with Benji and Tiger
#WordlessWednesday
~ Susanne
Stark Landscapes of Washington State
Huh?
I’m from Washington, the Evergreen State, so called because of the lush, green landscape on its west side. But the middle and east side of the state may come as a surprise to you with its stark contrast of desert, scablands and canyons, including Dry Falls, once the world’s largest waterfall.
A three-hour drive, east of Seattle, it makes for a fun road trip, and geology lesson.
While you’re in Central Washington, stop by the tiny town of Waterville, population 1,127. At 2,650 feet, it’s the highest incorporated town in the state.
And the even tinier town of Douglas, just a wide spot in the road.
Swing by the 800-foot-tall butte of Steamboat Rock
on your way to your final stop: Grand Coulee Dam, the largest hydropower producer in the U.S., which is anything but tiny.
There are other stark landscapes in Washington State, but not quite as interesting as these. So that will do for Sunday Stills, Stark.
~ Susanne
The Mountain is out at Seward Park
Springtime arrived early in Seattle last week and to celebrate the 60-degree weather we went to Seward Park, one of the most beautiful parks in the city.
Mount Rainier was on display or, the mountain was out, as we locals like to say.
The sky was blue, though streaked with clouds
providing a beautiful backdrop to silver trees
and madronas.
The 277 acre park on the Bailey Peninsula contains some of the oldest trees in the city of Seattle. The forested interior has trails of its own
but we opted to take the 2 .5 mile paved loop around its perimeter,
enjoying views of Lake Washington, the Seattle skyline,
and the Olympic Mountains.
Many others were out enjoying the weather, including the friendly wildlife.
Today is still sunny and the sky cloudless and blue. We’ll take this wonderful foretaste of spring as long as it lasts.
~ Susanne
A Fresh Start
This is the view from my office where Benji keeps watch from the window seat Bob built for him. It turned out to be timely, as it wasn’t long afterwards, that Benji was confined to the house.
I’ve done my best to entertain him with his new favorite toy, a rubber tubing.
But Benji’s an outdoor kitty, there’s no doubt about it and his morning pleas to go outside have been hard to bear.
Thankfully, today was the day!
There were no bobcat sightings, either live or on security camera footage, for the past week. So we let him go outside with us today, on what feels like the first day of spring, while we performed some garden chores.
He explored the grounds, sniffing the walkways, walls, and shrubs.
Stopping to rest, deep in cat thoughts.
Totally content to be a cat again.
When we were done an hour or so later, I called to him, “Benji, let’s go inside and have a treat!” and surprisingly he followed me into the house, where I rewarded him, accordingly.
Spring is here, no matter what the calendar says and we are happy for a fresh start.
Sharing with Sunday Stills.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 