Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Saturday Caturday with Benji and Tiger
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!
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
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!
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
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
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.
There were so many delicious creatures to choose from.
I counted close to a dozen of these majestic birds fishing in the bay,
and they were rewarded after patiently stalking their prey.
The Great Blue Heron is the largest of the herons native to North America. What a treat it was to watch them hunt!
I’m finding that birdwatching is a great hobby that goes with you wherever you go, enhancing any vacation.
In addition to the scenery, hiking, and lavender farms, I loved seeing different varieties of birds on our few days away to the Olympic Peninsula.
More to come as I unpack our adventures.
~ Susanne
Small Ones in the Garden
My little chickadees stopping by for a drink
tiny feet gripping
little wink of the eye.
Tiny lavender blossoms
bees on their way to work
cool morning shift
hot sun in the late afternoon.
The best things in the garden are #Small.
~ Susanne
Life is Better with Clouds
I love clouds. I suppose it’s a good thing as here in Seattle we get our fair share of them, though not lately. We’ve had a surprisingly lengthy dry spell this summer, so I’ve dug into my archives to find some special clouds to share with you.
The first are of the soft and billowy variety; I took the pictures from my house earlier this year, when the sky was still blue in spite of them.
I took the picture below from the park at the end of my street where I go to watch sunset when I’m called by the colors through my office window. It’s always good to heed the call.
The next set of clouds filled the skies one summer morning in Wenatchee where we were camping on the east side of the mountains; I don’t know the reason for them, but these are some of the most interesting and unusual clouds I’ve ever seen.
I enjoyed the clouds below at sunset from Sun Mountain Lodge in the North Cascades. You have to agree clouds make sunset special.
But what about dark and gray clouds that fill the sky, blocking out the sun, and threatening, if not pouring rain? I don’t usually take pictures of them 😉 but I did once a few years ago from the deck of our cruise ship.
After we boarded and were settled, I stood and watched rain fall over the landscape in the distance,
and on a passing ship.
We were still in port, and I must admit I was a bit concerned about the timing of our cruise, late as it was in the season.
Fortunately for us the rain stopped by the time we set sail and later that night we witnessed our first sunset at sea.
Oo-la-la!
I was hooked on cruising.
And that’s enough for now.
~ Susanne
Green and Blue Over Seattle
It’s hard to say which is most striking – the green or the blue.
All I can say is I haven’t found a prettier place from the sky than Seattle.
I was born and raised here so I may be biased. Still, I urge you to get a window seat when you fly into or out of our fair city.
Last week we flew out of SeaTac on a clear day and rather than heading directly south towards our destination, the pilot headed north before swinging back around.
The first views were of south Puget Sound with the mostly snowless Olympic Mountains in the background.
Soon that workhorse of a river – the Duwamish – took center stage,
flowing into Elliott Bay, and with good views of West Seattle.
Next were views of downtown and the waterfront. Look closely and you’ll see the tiny wheel, one of the newer attractions I have yet to ride on and may never do it. Look again to the right and you’ll see the Space Needle, an older attraction, built for the World’s Fair in 1962. I’ve been up in it many times, but not since they renovated it to include a glass floor and raised the prices accordingly.
I worked in downtown Seattle for many years in a couple of different skyscrapers and have fond memories of doing so. I loved the views from on high and the walks at lunchtime to the waterfront and Pike Place Market. (The work wasn’t bad either.)
A bit further north we had good views of Lake Union and the Ballard Locks, a manmade waterway that connects Lake Washington and Lake Union to Puget Sound.
Our farewell to Seattle occurred further south with views of Mt. Rainier, another reason to get a window seat.
Fair is fair so I gave Bob the window seat on our return trip home but still managed to get a few good pictures from a different angle.
Here, facing Seattle with Elliott Bay in the foreground and, Lake Union and Lake Washington behind.
Heading back towards the airport there were more views of the Olympics and Seattle, but I focused on the docked cruise ships in the center below. We’ll be boarding one of them this fall for another cruise to Alaska. Can’t wait for that.
Sharing with Sunday Stills Challenge, #Blue.
~ Susanne
Home again, Home again, and the Cats are Happy
Even though they’re well cared for while we’re gone, the boys are so happy when we come home.
But it takes them a while to get back to normal.
“You needn’t worry so, Tiger. We will always come back. I even thought of you while we were gone.”
“You did, Sue?”
“Absolutely, Tiger. When I saw this picture, I thought of you. All you need is the glasses.”
“Aw thanks, Sue. I can relax now. Welcome back.”
“And Benji, I thought of you immediately when I saw this one. You are nothing short of a super cat.”
“Thanks, Sue, I do my best. We sure do miss you when you’re gone.”
“I know you do, Benj. But I’m home now. This lap’s for you.”
“Thanks, Sue. I’m on it.”
It’s good to be back home.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 