Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Back Home from Alaska – A Foretaste
We returned from our cruise to Alaska yesterday and when I woke this morning, I expected to look out the window and see the ocean. It will take time to realize I’m back on land.
I didn’t buy the internet package as I wanted to be away from it all. No phone calls to make, Facebook to check, or news to disturb. I hope to wean myself even more now that I’m back home. I did connect a few times while in port and that was enough. (My little spider post was scheduled before I left and made it to my blog on Saturday while we were sailing.)
I’m sorting through my photos and will have more to share in coming days of the magnificent beauty that is Alaska – it’s pure glacier waters, salmon, whales, harbor seals, eagles and more.
In the meantime, here’s a foretaste of my favorite day at sea – cruising in Endicott Arm fjord where all the colors are real – no touch up required.
~ Susanne
Little Garden Spider
I am a little spider
I mean no harm to you
I’m here to help your garden
and eat some bugs it’s true.
So please do not disturb me
or notify my prey
Just take your shot
and I’ll ignore you
till you go away.
Watch your step when you leave the house – it’s spider season in Seattle.
~ Susanne
Clouds, Glorious Clouds!
I went outside last night just before sunset to look at the clouds.
I could almost hear the Hallelujah chorus!
Can you hear it?
~ Susanne
Sunset over Seattle Skyline from Salty’s
This week I enjoyed a special dinner with my favorite man at my favorite restaurant in Seattle.
My husband kept the location of my birthday dinner a surprise, though I suspected and hoped, it was Salty’s.
We arrived before sunset to my favorite view of the Seattle skyline.
I ordered lobster, which I save for special occasions.
It was perfect.
The sun set quickly and by the time we left, the sky was inky black and the skyline all aglow.
I’m thankful for another year.
~ Susanne
Favorite Red Sculptures from Coast to Coast
Just a bit of red to brighten your day
from Seattle ~
San Francisco ~
Philadelphia ~
Washington DC ~
#WordlessWednesday
~ Susanne
Those Golden Days of September
Ahhh September! My favorite month is golden!
Squash flowers are golden yellow, prettier than squash itself. Did you know you can cook up the flowers? Yes you can and no I haven’t.
Tiger approved of last year’s garden full of yellow and orange and gold.
Including Mums, the poster child of the fall garden,
and Rudbeckia, the name I prefer to ‘black-eyed-susan’ – can you guess why? (I also don’t like calling a kitchen turntable a ‘lazy susan’ – go figure!)
I DO like the name of these beauties – Kismet Orange Coneflowers – also from last year’s garden. They’re perennials but they didn’t return this year and I feel slighted.
They paired nicely with Dark Knight Bluebeard which did come back this year.
The bees are grateful.
Sharing with Sunday Stills.
~ Susanne
Washington State Fair at Puyallup!
Nothing says Fall like the Washington State Fair at Puyallup, forever the Puyallup Fair to locals. Yesterday was perfect: crowds few, weather moderate with dramatic skies, food as good as ever, corn as high as an elephant’s eye, giant pumpkins, baby piggies to enjoy, and of course, cows!
Are you going to the fair this year?
You’ll be glad you did. 🙂
~ Susanne
Blue Jays – the Teenager of Birds
I don’t know if I’ve posted about Blue Jays before, but I do love these funny birds!
To me they are all teenagers, friendly and talkative if not screechy, hopping about in the trees above, voicing their opinions about everything and everyone on the ground below, and hoping that a kind human will throw out some peanuts.
I haven’t done that in years, but after today’s show in the trees maybe I will!
We grew up calling them Blue Jays, but they are technically Steller’s Jays, so there is that!
My bird group in Facebook is always happy to correct me. 😉 But old habits die hard!
~ Susanne
Reflections on a Lake over Chinook Pass
It made a nice day trip over the mountains with a good excuse – to look at a camper for sale in Yakima. (We can’t seem to give up the thought of camping.)
We headed south to Mt Rainier via Highway 410 and up and over Chinook Pass, where just last month we went for a hike to Sheep Lake over this ridge.
Only then it was a perfectly sunny and a suitable day for a hike. On this day, fall was in the air, and the pass damp and shrouded in fog. And still beautiful.
The fun thing about crossing the Cascades to the east side of the state is the almost guaranteed sunshine and blue skies you will find on the other side; that along with a change in the landscape, including golden cliffs and caves.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the Naches River, part of a campground and RV park serving up delicious fare, and afterwards headed into Yakima to look at the camper. It was a no-go, and we’re finally convinced only a hard side will do – no tent trailers for us.
But honestly, it was just an excuse for an outing, somewhere to go for the day. After stopping for dessert and to pick up some fresh peaches and plums, we headed back the same way we came, just in time to avoid hitting this beauty crossing the road.
Chinook Pass was still shrouded in clouds and though there was no view of Mt. Rainier to be had, we captured beautiful reflections on a small lake, under Naches Peak.
It was a fun day, and we noted the many campgrounds along the rivers on both sides of the pass, that we hope to visit again sometime, perhaps overnight, in a camper.
We shall see.
~ Susanne
Happy Belated Gotcha Day, Benji!
“So sorry, Benji!”
“What’s up, Sue?”
“I totally forgot your ‘gotcha day!’ We brought you home from Seattle Humane 7 years ago August 26th. I’m a week late but I still wanted to let you know what a great kitty you’ve been. Well, most of the time.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Well…….”
“Okay Sue, I see your point.”
“Don’t worry, Benji. Even when you’re naughty, you’re so much fun.”
“Aw thanks, Sue.”
So Happy Gotcha Day, Benji! 🙂
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 