Cats and Trails and Garden Tales
Musings on cats, travel, gardens and life
Focus on Hellebores
On a rainy day walk at Lake Wilderness Arboretum this week, I found Hellebores blooming and defying winter. (Perhaps I was too.)
I think it’s time to plant some in my garden.
Sharing with Cees Flower of the Day.
~ Susanne
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That’s my picture!
Today I was scrolling through my Facebook feed when a post came up from the Washington Trails Association.
“Hey, wait a minute,” I said. “That’s my picture!”
Indeed, it was! I had submitted it a while ago to one of their photo contests and forgotten all about it. I never heard back so knew I didn’t ‘win.’
So I was completely surprised when “my” picture showed up in one of their stories. (Must have been in the fine print. I don’t mind; it was fully accredited to me.)
It was taken on a rainy day hike at Federation Forest State Park, and as usual, Bob was my companion on the trail. (“Are you sure that’s me?” he asked. “Yes dear. It’s you.”)
Here’s the link to the story. You don’t need to wade through it, just check out the picture! 🙂
~ Susanne
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Tonight’s Snow Moon
We had clear skies tonight, so I went outside to capture the Snow Moon rising over the backyard.
Here it is plain.
Now grabbed.
Now entangled.
Finally, tinted green!
Having fun with the long zoom on my Lumix!
And that is all.
~ Susanne
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A Gallery of Purple
This week’s Sunday Stills Challenge is Amethyst, a beautiful purple colored stone, February’s birthstone.
Who doesn’t like purple? There’s a wide array of colors between red and blue to suit every taste.
There’s no shortage of purple in the flower world – see for yourself.
My favorite is lavender the herb – which comes in all shades of purple, especially lavender the color. I grow several varieties in my garden and love visiting the lavender festival in Sequim, one of the largest in North America.
Finally, what could be better than a purple sunset? These two were taken over my backyard.
This one was not.
And that’s enough purple for today. 🙂
Sharing with Sunday Stills Challenge, Amethyst.
~ Susanne
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Happy Valentine’s Day!
All dressed up and no place to go.
Happy Valentine’s Day.
From my favorite stony walkers of Coulon Park.
~ Susanne
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The Northwest Flower and Garden Show is Back!
The NW Flower & Garden Show is back this year in Seattle and it was almost like old times!
There were beautiful flower ladies to greet you –
Display gardens, plants for sale and vendors displaying their wares.
Yes, it was smaller, with everything scaled back. And crowds were fewer – a good thing – and all wore masks.
But along with the beauty and the color and the fragrance you could feel the joy in the air. With the hope that perhaps, the long, long covid winter will soon pass, and spring will come again.
~ Susanne
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Gardening is for the Birds
I love gardening and I love birds and the two go hand in hand.
At our last home in Seattle, our yard was a Certified Wildlife Habitat, which means it was wildlife friendly; we planted native shrubs and trees, had water sources, and feeders. I hung nectar for the hummingbirds and seed and suet for the others, but it was the chickadees that captured my heart.
I didn’t take many pictures in those days so I can’t find any of the birds. But I did manage to find a few of my garden to share.
At our new home in Renton – it will always be new to me though we’ve been here 12 years – we’re surrounded by evergreen trees. We’ve also added shrubs and water sources, including a stream that turns on with the flip of a switch where birds come to drink.
I still love the chickadees. I hear them calling to one another in the trees above before they drop down for a drink.
They share their home with other regulars
and even welcome rare golden headed visitors.
And how could I forget the beautiful Anna’s hummingbirds who come by daily to feed?
Now before I go, I have one more thing to show you.
The Snag
A few years ago we noticed one of our evergreen trees was dying. We had an arborist come and take a look and he suggested that rather than removing it, we should leave a snag for the birds, as nature does. We’re so glad we did! The flickers love it. We even had an owl one night – what a treat! 🙂
Sharing this with Sunday Stills Challenge because it’s National Bird Feeding month and I’m a bird feeder! 🙂 .
~ Susanne
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Tonight’s Poofy, Cloudy, Sunset
Today was beautiful and sunny and ended with a lovely sky, filled with poofy clouds at sunset.
Apparently, the clouds are just for looks as we are promised a rain-free week.
Hooray!
~ Susanne
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The Odd Bird
It’s just an expression – like odd duck – odd ball – odd man out – but it seems to suit February, certainly an odd month!
For starters, I can’t ever remember how many days it has!
“Thirty days has September, April, June and November, all the rest have thirty-one, except……”
Except. Except, I can’t remember the end of the song! I only know it’s about February and something to do with the days. 28 or 29?
Every four years? Then why do they call it leap year, as though we’re skipping over something instead of adding it back? How odd!
And how do you pronounce it anyway? FEB – U – ARY? Then where’d the ‘r’ go?
It’s a mystery! But let’s get back to the bird.
I saw a Great Blue Heron on Lake Washington recently, looking exactly as a heron should.
But when I caught him head-on, he seemed to sprout great feathery tusks that looked like a Fu Manchu!
Odd don’t you think?
For Becky’s SquareOdds.
~ Susanne
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A Walk in the Hoh Rain Forest, one of the Quietest Places on Earth
This was not our first trip to the Hoh Rain Forest – we’re Washingtonians and have been many times before. But it was perhaps the most wonderful, for in the dead of winter we had the Hall of Mosses trail to ourselves.
At the trailhead we crossed a stream full of life, where salmon come to spawn and die.
We were welcomed by giant trees
and climbed gently upward into the grove of moss-covered maples for which the area is famous.
There was much to contemplate in the dense garden of green – especially the solitude – and I almost cried for the beauty.
“The atmosphere of the rain forest is so fertile that some plants thrive on air. Dining on moisture and nutrients from rain and wind-borne particles, clubmoss and licorice fern fasten to trunks and branches but do not harm their hosts.”
Sign on the Hall of Mosses trail, Olympic National Park
Other sources of life include downed trees known as nurse logs. You’ll know them by the family of trees they support, all in a row.
“When a big tree falls it can provide a stage for new life. Hemlock and spruce seedlings, unable to survive on the tangled forest floor, absorbs minerals, moisture and warmth from the decaying trunk.”
Sign on the Hall of Mosses trail, Olympic National Park
This Sitka Spruce on the other hand, stretched alongside the trail decaying, not yet supporting other trees. At 190 feet long, it was only a portion of the original standing tree. Sitka spruces average between 200 – 300 feet in the rain forest.
I read recently that the Hoh Rain Forest is one of the quietest places on earth.
I don’t know how this was determined. But I do know, on that quiet winter day on the Hall of Mosses trail, I felt the dense quiet and calm of the forest and hoped it would remain so for generations to come.
For more information on the Hoh Rain Forest checkout the link for Olympic National Park, here.
~ Susanne
Cats and Trails and Garden Tales 