Cats and Trails and Garden Tales

Looking for Yellow at Soos Creek Botanical Garden

Posted on August 13, 2023 by Susanne Swanson

I went to Soos Creek Botanical Garden looking for yellow and was greeted by giant sunflowers and bees of all persuasions.

I walked the paths inside the garden and found more yellow flowers

some fragrant,

some enhanced by touches of red in the background.

The secret to gardening is planting flowers and shrubs with complementary colors.

Both yellow and burgundy look better for being near one another.

Even the butterflies complemented the purple flowers they drank from.

Look closely and see them using their built-in straw, their proboscis.

And that will do for this week’s Sunday Stills Challenge, Yellow.

~ Susanne

Turbulent or Peaceful? a Water Scene

Posted on August 9, 2023 by Susanne Swanson

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Waves pulled into volcanic rock forms a small but turbulent blowhole at Turtle Bay, mesmerizing and peaceful to watch.

Remembering Oahu from early in 2020.

Sharing with CFFC – Contrast.

~ Susanne

No Sheep but Plenty to Love on our Hike to Sheep Lake

Posted on August 7, 2023 by Susanne Swanson

27 Comments

I’m not sure where the name came from as there were no sheep to be had.

But every time we crossed Chinook Pass to the other side of the mountains, Bob had noticed the trailhead and the hikers ascending, so we finally made the hike to Sheep Lake our destination.

Starting at an elevation of 5,430 feet, just past Mt. Rainier National Park, this lovely hike to Sheep Lake was less than 4 miles round trip and had everything.

From the ridge on the first section of the narrow trail, we saw the highway far below and vistas east into Okanagan-Wenatchee National Forest.

The wildflowers were plentiful

and we were welcomed by a gnome.

After a while we entered under the forest canopy and stopped to eat our lunch in the shade,

before continuing up to the lake.

The lake was small and still and lovely, surrounded by jagged peaks and meadows.

Bob carried his flyrod and tried his hand at fishing,

and was rewarded with a Brown Trout, which he released.

While he fished, I wandered about with my camera and came across a bobbing bird, a Spotted Sandpiper, I believe. It was getting food for its young, which I saw peeking out from the shrubs.

It did its own kind of fishing in a mud pond where butterflies came to rest – rather like sitting ducks I thought – and unlike Bob, did not practice ‘catch and release.’

After we had our fill of the lake, we headed back down the trail, wondering why both directions couldn’t be downhill; it was so much easier. 🙂

On our way we stopped to watch this little chipmunk eating berries in the shrubs.

Back to the truck with wobbly knees, we found a view of Mt. Rainier just around the corner. I was shooting into the sun, so it was too bright to get a good picture (but still worth a try.) And it was mostly swallowed up by clouds even though it was sunny everywhere else; the mountain makes its own weather.

There was only 400 feet elevation gain on the trail to the lake but starting at 5,430 feet meant we were still high in alpine country, on this stretch of the Pacific Crest Trail, and so felt quite accomplished.

And that’s all for today.

~ Susanne

Saturday Caturday with Benji and Tiger

Posted on August 5, 2023 by Susanne Swanson

22 Comments

I’ve been reading lately how important it is to play with your pets, so when Benji climbed into my inbox this morning and tried to empty its contents – perhaps to get my attention – I thought a bit of play was in order.

I pulled out the tape and dangly toys hoping to get him to leave the ground as in days gone by.

But today he was content to bat things around while in repose. Perhaps at the age of 7, a mature middle-aged cat, he’s finally slowing down.

Nothing wrong with that, I understand it myself.

And then there’s Tiger, whose playing days are mostly over. At 15, a full-fledged senior cat with all the attendant issues, he’s happy to rest most of the time.

This week there was another cancelled trip to the vet.

We thought we’d worked out a system but when the box appeared, he hid under the bed and remained there till the coast was clear.

“Sorry, Sue. I’m afraid of the box. And the car. And the vet.”

“I understand, Tiger. I feel the same way about the dentist but I know it’s good for me so I go anyway. We’ll have to work something out.”

And so the vet will give me a happy pill before the next attempt, making it less traumatic for both of us. After all, it works for me at the dentist.

~ Susanne

Guess who Dropped by the Lake Today? Think Seafair!

Posted on August 4, 2023 by Susanne Swanson

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You guessed it! It’s Seafair weekend and the Blue Angels are in town. I caught them practicing yesterday over Lake Washington.

Seafair was a backdrop to the Seattle summers of my youth. I remember lining up on 4th avenue in downtown Seattle where my mom worked, to watch the Seafair Parade. It used to be easy to go to when Seattle was still a small town. Today, I don’t care for the traffic and the crowds, but I still love watching the acrobatics in the sky.

The hydroplane races were the finale and I remember them in the background on TV, but never paid much attention to them, unlike my husband who watched them live at the lake. In fact, one year, he was the only casualty, and you can read that story here – It Happened at Seafair.

~ Susanne

Sequim Lavender Weekend and Festival 2023

Posted on August 2, 2023 by Susanne Swanson

28 Comments

They call themselves the Lavender Capital of North America and who can dispute it? – there are 18 lavender farms in the Dungeness Sequim Valley.

“The lavender fields in Sequim have been blooming since the mid-1990s. The first fields were planted after a sub-committee of the Chamber of Commerce began looking for a new crop to preserve farmlands. They wanted to inspire visitors to the area and discovered that lavender would thrive in the Mediterranean type conditions found in the Sequim Dungeness Valley. Due to a rain shadow created by the Olympic Mountains, Sequim’s annual average rainfall is 16”. This makes it one of the driest places in western Washington and perfect for a sustainable lavender crop.”
Olympic Peninsula.org

I’ve been to my favorite farms many times over the past 20 years or so – during the festival and not -including B & B, Jardin du Soleil, and Purple Haze.

But this year we visited some smaller farms on the circuit, none of which required an entrance fee.

Gray Marsh Berry Farm and Lavender

Our first stop was at Gray Marsh, perhaps my favorite of the day. Here I bought a large bouquet of freshly cut lavender and I’m still enjoying the fragrance today as it dries.

In addition to the lavender and berry fields on the property, I also enjoyed the sunflowers, especially since I don’t have any in my garden.

Fat Cat Garden and Gifts

I never did see a fat cat, but I loved the shop and cottage garden out front –

and lavender fields in back.

Kitty B’s Lavender Farm

The owner of the house greeted us and told us he and his wife purchased the farm five years ago as their dream, retirement project; well, her dream, his project.

There was so much lavender to enjoy in the fields behind the house.

Olympic Bluffs Lavender Farm and Cidery

The reason for the name was apparent as we walked to the bluff overlooking the bay.

The mansion next door used to be its own lavender farm but is now a boutique hotel and grounds are closed to the general public. (Maybe we’ll stay there some day.)

The Olympic Mountains provided the other backdrop behind the farm. I’m not sure where the Cidery was, but I’m thinking this is a fairly new venture.

Meli’s Lavender

Perhaps the smallest and most homespun of the farms we visited, in a residential neighborhood in Sequim, Meli’s had its own charms.

After visiting the farms, we headed to the Street Fair where I managed to make a few more lavender themed purchases – lavender cream, lip balm, honey and essential oil.

And while I loved visiting some new farms, I have to admit Purple Haze is still my favorite, though perhaps I just love the name.

And that’s enough lavender for today.

~ Susanne

A Trip to Sol Duc for the Falls and the Swallows!

Posted on July 29, 2023 by Susanne Swanson

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It started out as a trip to Sequim for the Lavender Festival, but we wanted to be there early on the first day. So we booked our lodging in Sequim for the night before and then added a few days at Sol Duc Hot Springs before that just to round it out.

We stayed in a rustic cabin at Sol Duc Resort (I use the term loosely because they do) which served nicely as our base. Accommodations were basic but clean and comfortable and the price of the cabin included free access to the hot springs should we want to.

Our cabin was on the Sol Duc River, which Bob had hoped to fish.

It’s open year-round but unfortunately there was an emergency closure two days before we arrived, due to low water conditions to protect the salmon.

No matter. We found plenty to do in the area, including the hike to Sol Duc Falls, possibly the most photographed in Olympic National Park.

The hike is easy and the reward of the falls at the end is amazing.

You arrive at the footbridge and look down,

to see the three-pronged falls.

Look closely and you’ll see tiny people walking above them.

Here’s what it sounded like –

and this is the view after the falls on the other side of the bridge.

Meanwhile, back at the cabin, there were the swallows, and watching them feed their young was another highlight for me.

The babies sat on the rooftops looking quite adorable

and on the rocks below waiting for mom to bring the goods and she faithfully obliged.

We spent two nights at Sol Duc and still managed to fit in a trip to Rialto Beach – here – if you missed it, and an evening at Lake Crescent down the road where we enjoyed dinner and sunset.

The next day we stopped by Port Angeles where I found these nifty murals,

including this cool map of the Olympic Peninsula.

We did finally make it to Sequim and the Lavender Festival the next day, but I’ll save that for later.

~ Susanne

Soaring with the Pelicans – at Rialto Beach

Posted on July 26, 2023 by Susanne Swanson

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They were soaring in the air while I was soaring on the ground from the beauty of it all. Some days are like that – when you’re out in nature, enjoying the handiwork of God, there’s a kind of thrill, something that says, ‘isn’t it good to be alive?’ and that’s how I felt on Rialto Beach.

The skies were blue and fog hung low in the background. It was sunny and warm, but the breeze was strong, as I walked on the remote northern Washington coast towards ‘Hole-in -the-Wall,’ a sea-carved arch.

It was that kind of day when I thought it couldn’t get any better.

But it did.

When I noticed the pelicans.

They were flying north in perfect formation.

looking prehistoric against the rugged coast and sea stacks.

Back and forth they went down the beach. Soaring. Dropping low over the surf. Diving into the foam.

Scooping up fish in their large pouch – bobbing with the surf for a few minutes enjoying the spoils

before going back to do it all over again.

~ Susanne

Fishing in Liberty Bay

Posted on July 22, 2023 by Susanne Swanson

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No not me, the Great Blue Herons. On our way over to the Olympic Peninsula to visit Sol Duc and take in the Sequim Lavender Festival (more on that later) we stopped by Poulsbo for lunch, a charming town on the Kitsap Peninsula.

While Bob browsed through the shops in town, I stayed on the waterfront to watch the herons fishing.

This handsome fellow went looking for shellfish among the barnacle encrusted rocks.