This week’s Photohunt theme is Bubbles. It was a hunt to find something. I finally came across the picture above which was taken at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. This is the Kelp Forest tank during one of the feedings. The diver will hand feed the fish twice a day. We also love the Jellies exhibit seen below. Hey… they kinda look like bubbles. 🙂
Have a great weekend.
Jellyfish
Jellies
We are still on a 75 degree watch here in Seattle. Today is the current record for the latest day in the year to hit 75. The sun has partially come out but it is not going to break 75. Heck, it ain’t hardly going to break 70. We’ll definitely break the record.
The picture above was taken on Monday. It was another record – the wettest two-week period in the May-September season ever. We had measurable rain on 13 of the previous 14 days on Monday. It was also an 11 consecutive day rain streak tying another record. It could be worse; Portland had over 3 inches since the beginning of June. Nearly double the average for the whole month.
But you can tell it is summer; the rain is warm. So are the nights. The garden is lovin’ it. The tomatoes are blooming and the Stupice has set fruit. We continue to harvest radishes. The rain has solved the issue we have had in the past with them getting pithy. Our french breakfast radishes have been succulent and not very hot. The Sugar Sprint bush sugar snap peas have pods on them and we may be ready for a harvest soon. The beans have leaved out and the pole beans are starting to twine up. We even have a few raspberries on our new plants.
Forecast is for sun and warmth this weekend. We may finally break 75!
 Tomatoes to the first rung of the cages |
 Our first tomato of 2010 |
 Looking healthy |
 Yellow pole bean tendril |
 Bush beans leafing out |
 Raspberries |
 Zucchini |
 Sugar Sprint Sugar Snaps |
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We went camping on Memorial Day and stopped at Ebey’s Landing on the way. I had heard about the unique flowers that could be found on the bluffs and wanted to explore. Ebey’s Landing is a unique micro climate in the center of Whidbey Island. The area is a National Historical Reserve created to preserve the working landscape, historical buildings and natural habitat. I love the windswept prairie that spills onto the rocky beach. We had not explored the bluffs just north which is home to Opuntia fragilis – a prickly pear cactus that is native to the islands of the Puget Sound.
There are two trail heads to the bluff trail. We decided to park at the Prairie Overlook. The first quarter of a mile or so is along a private road next to several houses that overlook the prairie before it turns and runs along the edge of the prairie. I love the spacious vistas and the tall prairie grass. Along with the weathered fences, buildings and fir trees, you almost feel as if you are in Maine. At the bluff, you have a massive vista of the Strait of Juan de Fuca, the Olympics and the bluffs north and south. We meandered along checking out the flowers. We kept an eye out for the cactus and found one patch near the trail. The trail runs along the edge of the bluff to the top of Perego’s Lake, a small lagoon along the beach. We found a place to sit and have lunch and mulled whether to go back along the bluff or walk along the rocky beach. We decided to go down and walk along the beach. It would have been a great walk except light rain started up and the wind was blowing it towards us. I was not happy.
You continue along the beach until you come to the parking lot and the second trail head. I convinced G to walk back the last 3/4 mile to the car and come pick me up. Fortunately, neither of us got too wet, mainly just a little damp and we dried off before arriving at our campground.
The next day we went over to Fort Casey to see the Admiralty Lighthouse. The weather was cold windy and drizzly. We took a quick walk around the lighthouse before heading back home.
Ebey’s Landing is a perfect place to explore. It is also a great hike in the winter or early spring. We will definitely return. Next time we want to also camp at Fort Ebey’s State Park.
Reference Links:
Bluff Trail at Ebey’s Landing
Heading to the bluff
Rosa Nutkana was in bloom all along the trail
It feels like Maine and the country of Andrew Wyeth
Across the prairie
On to the bluff
She is still a happy camper here. 🙂
Windswept forest along the bluff edge
Perego’s Lake
Beach at Ebey’s Landing
Admiralty Lighthouse
Ebey’s Landing bluffs in the distance
This has been such a dismal end to May. I’m still waiting for the temperatures to reach 75 degrees. Some of the plants have enjoyed the warm rain. The days are long up here above the 45th degree parallel. Sunrise is nearing 5am and sunset is after 9pm. That makes for a very long gray day.
But talk about turnaround. Yesterday was cold and drizzly. I went down to the waterfront to see the tall ships in for the Edmonds Waterfront Festival and got drenched walking back to the car. But early morning the clouds started to break up and out came the sun. It got up to 70 degrees and it was nice to be outside.
I took advantage of the sun to take some pictures of what is in bloom now in the garden. Mid-May to Mid-June is always a fun time with lots of plants blooming. My favorites are the delphiniums and peony. The delphiniums have loved the extra water from the rain and the cooler temperatures. My peony is doing okay but seems a little tired. I probably need to give it some fertilizer this year.
Here are a few of the flowers in bloom now in the garden:
 Delphinium |
 Delphinium |
 Spanish Lavender |
 Salvia ‘Hot Lips’ |
 Cistus |
 Delphinium – love the ‘bee’ center |
 Peony ‘Festiva Maxima’ |
 Magnolia sieboldii |
 Allium karataviense |
 Allium gigantium |
 Fuchsia speciosa |
 Echium wildpretii |
 Nepeta Six Hills Giant |
 Nepeta "Souvenir d’Andre Chaudon" |
 Columbine |
 Astrantia major |
 Petunia “Pretty Much Picasso” |
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This week’s Photohunt theme is sparkle. I visited Niki de Saint Phalle’s sculpture garden – Queen Califia Magic Circle – while I was in San Diego in March. It was a cool Spring day. The sun was passing in and out of the clouds. It alternated between gray cloud shadows and brilliant white sun. And when the sun came out, the sculptures sparkled.
The head pictured above is part of the snake wall and the gateway that leads you into the magical world. In the center is Queen Califia on her eagle throne. She sparkles in gold. You can just see the eagle head mirrored and peaking at the bottom. Surrounding her are many totems representing both Mexican and Native American imagery also covered in a wide range of colored mirrored tiles.
It was magical, dream like and a joy. I felt like a kid as I walked around exploring the textures and discovered many different views and visions. Here are some more pictures of the sculptures.
Snake wall
Totem
Step Totem
Related Post: Queen Califia Magical Garden
I started camping in high school. My family only took vacation to visit relatives and the most adventurous thing we ever did was go horseback riding. One of my high school teachers also taught in Outward Bound and started a club for students which was called The Alpine Club. He introduced many of us to camping, rock climbing, hiking, skiing and the love of the outdoors.
I have fond memories of several overnight camping trips we did in my Senior year. These were two day overnight trips within 2 hour drive of the Central Valley. There were usually around 12 students in the group and three teachers who would drive. None of us had tents or camp stoves so we would all sleep under the stars and cook over an open fire. We’d also go on hikes in the area. We did overnights to Big Sur, Pinnacles, Mendocino and Yosemite. I loved it.
G and my first date was actually a double date with our good friend from high school. We went camping in Yosemite Valley. G’s friend brought a huge military tent and we found a spot along the Merced River. We spent the evening around the campfire getting to know each other.
Camping became an inexpensive way of vacation during our early years after we married. We bought tent, camp stove, pads, new sleeping bag for G and spent several weekends exploring Washington State. We also did two great road trip camping vacations. We went north into Canada exploring Jasper, Banff and Glacier Parks. The next year we went south and visited Yellowstone, Teton, Bryce and the Grand Canyon. We also did a coastal camp trip.
We also started backpacking and did less car camping. As we got older, we discovered the joys of international travel and staying in rentals. Our camping gear fell by the wayside. Our last camping trip was to Death Valley in 2005. We mainly camped because we couldn’t get reservations at the motel in Death Valley and we didn’t want to stay at the more upscale Furnace Inn.
I think my backpacking days are over. It would take a significant effort to build up the strength to carry 30lbs again. But I do miss being out under the stars. We decided to do more car camping this year.
The first step was to purchase a new tent. We still have the original tent that we bought 30 years ago. It is fine but a little small. I went to REI during their members sale in March and took a look at the tents. We would only be car camping so we could consider a bigger tent. They had several 4 man tents set up. You could stand up in them and they were big enough to even fit a cot. Hmmm.. now we’re talking.
We purchased a Big Agnes Big House 4. I liked the roomy interior and the great ventilation. We pulled out the rest of our gear. Our camp stove stopped working several years ago but we still had our single burner backpacking stove. The rest of our gear was in pretty good shape other than maybe a little smelly.
We finally had a chance to try it out last weekend. Washington State has a good on-line reservation system for the State Parks. We checked mid-May and there were a few sites still available for a couple of the park not far from here on Whidbey Island. We reserved a spot for one night at South Whidbey State Park. It would give us a chance to try out the new and old gear.
It was a good test. The weather turned ugly for Memorial Day weekend but there was a small break on Sunday. You can get to Whidbey Island either via a ferry or by driving an extra 30 miles up to Anacortes and back down the island. We decided to be cheap and drive around. It was not too bad of a drive on Sunday although the weather was off and on drizzle.
We couldn’t check into our site until 2:30pm so we went to Ebey Landing and did a bluff hike. It was great until it started to rain. I was so grumpy and worried about having to spend the night in a tent damp and wet. Fortunately, it didn’t rain hard enough to soak us and we dried off before we got to camp.
The tent was a breeze to set up. Our site was a little sheltered so we had an area to cook that was out of the drizzle. The campground was not too busy either since many parties had decided to stay home. I brought along some pre-cooked vegetarian chili and warmed some tortillas which were easy to prepare. We will want to get a different stove just to have two burners. Our backpacking stove uses white gas so it is a little bit of a pain to use. We want to switch to the newer stoves that use propane canisters. G also brought along some dry wood and he was able to start a campfire with one match! Even in the rain.
It was early to bed for us. Surprisingly we were able to sleep pretty well. I did wake up once or twice from sleeping on the hard ground but did not have any aches and pains the next day. The tent kept us dry although we could tell that there may be one area that will be trouble in heavier rain. It also gave a chance to figure out how to stake down the fly.
We are also looking at other items to bring such as a ‘blue tarp’. Blue tarps are traditional here in the NW as a rain shelter. You string them up between the trees at your site. We also want to get some folding chairs.
We hope to spend a couple of weekends camping in different areas and we may make a longer trip in September/October. Maybe even back to Yosemite where it all began.
What it looks like before putting on the rain fly
View out the back of the tent – better than TV!
Window in rainfly so we can watch the rain. It is rather noisy since it is a heavier plastic
Our camp visitor
Trail from campground down to the beach at South Whidbey St Park
The beach is rather small and narrow. I think we got there near high tide
Stairs to the beach
I finally had a chance to visit PowellsWood Garden in Federal Way. This is a relatively new garden. It has started to be open to the public more frequently than a few special days. There was a special open house on during the Federal Way’s Buds & Bloom Festival on Mothers Day. It was warm and sunny so I headed south to take a look.
The garden is amazing. The Powells purchased the land in 1992 and started turning what was previously a dumping ground into a spectacular 2 acre urban garden. Much of the early years were spent restoring the soil polluted from the years of dumping. Once the soil was restored, the plantings began.
Today there are 8 different garden ‘rooms’. You enter with the bright entry garden which has a tropical feel. Then you move to the entry overlooking the perennial borders. The stairway is absolutely stunning. I loved the large leafed petasites and hostas on one side and ferns and rhododendrons on the other. Meandering on, you come along a stream lined with ligularias and a pond. Next are the shade and woodland gardens which take advantage of the towering Douglas fir trees. Circling back, you move into the Spring garden lined with flowering cherries. These were finished blooming but I could image what a cloud of blossoms they were in the spring. The final room is the new House Garden which I loved. It used lots of interesting combination of dark foliage and hot yellow and orange flowers.
I really want to return and see how the beds progress through the summer. They are participating in the Garden Conservancy’s “Open Days” Tour on June 12th. They are also open Tues – Saturday 10am – 3pm. For more information – see the PowellsWood website.
Petasites japonicus
Hosta
Stairway to Perennial Border Garden
Perennial Border area
Cherries leafing out in the Spring Garden
House Garden
This week’s Photohunt theme is Memorial. Okay, I have to admit – I was not inspired to play this weekend. But I had a last minute inspiration.
I had wanted to do a mosaic garden stepping stone for a while. I am not very creative so I decided to purchase a kit. I found a kit that was a large square step which is what I wanted instead of the round type. I liked this kit because it came with stamps to do lettering and had several ideas on the box.
One idea was to do a pet memorial. I mentioned it to my hubby and he really liked the idea of creating memorial plaque for Mina who died in 2007. We decided to do it together as a project. This had its pros and cons. G is very artistic and I knew he would come up with a great design. But it also meant we would have to work together on the project which has not always worked out. We usually disagree with how to do something and end up in an argument.
But one Monday was stormy and rainy. Perfect day to stay at home so we decided to work on the project. We talked it out and it ended up being a great way to spend the day. The box provided glass marbles and a bunch of chips of stained glass. We slowly took the pieces and put them together to make a rather abstract cat. I think we came up with a great design.
Mina
This week’s Photohunt theme is Monthly. This was very hard for me. The items that came to mind I really did not want to blog about (bills or monthly female cycles). But then I got got an idea.
I have been looking up the monthly tide tables for my area. Once or twice a year there will be a period of what we call minus tides. Minus tides are tides below the mean sea level or extremely low tides. At a minus tide, more of the shore is exposed and it can be a great time for a beach walk and exploring tide pools. Here in the Puget Sound I look for a -2 or even better -3 low tides. I like this site because you can quickly see which days will have minus tides.
Last weekend we had several minus tides days with tides around -2.5. I took full advantage of the wonderful weather and went for a walk at Richmond Beach. I usually go south. There was a sailing regatta and the boats floated on the horizon. It can be slippery walking over eel grass and splashing through the puddles but I love the fresh breeze and sea air.
Fortunately, looking at the monthly tide tables for June and July, there are several more minus tides coming up. I’m hoping the weather will be great again.
Small crab on the eel grass
Always present sea gulls.
We had a cold April so it has been a little slower getting the vegetable garden going. The lettuce which we did start early and have babied it through the cold is finally paying off. It is almost time to eat which is about 3 weeks earlier than last year. The peas are a little behind. We are still having problems with the peas especially in the first bed. We have started to give that bed heavy doses of fertilizer (20-20-20) to get it going.
We started the beans inside and just transplanted them outside this year. We are trying a different arrangement. Instead of Teepees we have a trellis. I’m not certain how this is going to do. The bush Maxibels are up and so are the Blue Lakes Poles. Our yellow Italian variety of Romanos did not have a good germination rate so we have seeded some directly in the ground. We have an extra bed so we may directly sow some yellow wax bush.
We started the carrots in plugs and they were planted out last week. they seem to be taking so it may work. The radishes are up. The squashes and cukes are going in the pots.
We are definitely two weeks behind on our tomatoes. They are pretty tall and budded up but still in the greenhouse. We had put them out with cloches last year which we removed just about this time last year. But we may keep these in the green house for a bit more. It has been cold still at night – in the 40’s – so it may benefit us to keep them inside until it is warmer at night. All of the tomatoes are going to be outside this year. We are only growing the cucumber and a Gypsy pepper in the greenhouse this year.
The big surprise and shock is our columnar apples. They were in bloom last year at the beginning of April. We realized several weeks ago that they were not blooming. Either the sever 11 degree temperatures in December or the 28 degree night in April has damaged both the buds and even some of the wood. They have not leafed out and are actually starting new bud branches. So no apples this year and we hope we can at least save the trees.
Peas on the climb
Peas, radishes and carrots
Squash ready for planting
Tomato starts still in the greenhouse
Blue Lake green beans
Damaged Apple Tree
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