Sasquatch, Loch Ness, have NOTHING on you Bumbler

We've all heard the term “fish story.” We've heard about Sasquatch and the Loch Ness Monster. Now you can add “Gargantuan Bumbler” to the list.

I have no photographic proof of it's bad ass self FOR NOW. It has now become the stuff of legends, and I will not rest until I can produce a picture of it. Of course, this hobby will be severely limited in Idaho between October and April. None the less, I will be searching.

This Gargantuan Bumbler was HUGE. No joke, its first segment (head) was as big as my pinky nail. I did the only reasonable thing and waited for it to alight onto a sunflower and pet it.

Hence, this gives rise to my other little hobby in the garden. Each year I pick out the biggest bumblebee I can, and I scritch its head. Just a little skerfluffle on the noggin. They don't seem to mind, and I find it quite fun. They are spiky/fuzzy, with a constant vibration. This year, I've done it to two bumblebees.

Since I was too busy petting this Gargantuan Bumbler, I did not get a picture. You will just have to suffice with regular, average bees and bumblebees.

All of the bee pictures were taken with the old Canon Rebel XTi with a 100mm/2.8 macro lens.  I have a picture of a wasp nest that is really cool, but I think I'll save that for Facebook so I can freak out the largest amount of people that I can. : )

Speaking of Gargantuan, I have a very large sunflower in my yard.  We measured it a week ago at 12'4".  This picture was taken a week before that when it was about 11'8".

Here are some more random sunflower pictures.  See you tomorrow, for a hummingbird safari installment!

Bugs and Bunnies

Bugs

 There are bees on that sunflower - it counts!

Butterflies are bugs aren't they?

Not sure if this is a moth or a butterfly.

And Bunnies!

Pepper - He's a Rabbit I got from our local feed store for $10 6 years ago.  He was just a baby, so he's so easy to handle.  Quite the low maintenance fellow I might add.

This picture was taken in March. Only a few things planted in the new perennial border, and absolutely nothing up yet.

Compared to July!

My God Rabbits;  My sister Ellen had to move into an apartment when she relocated to Idaho.  So I got the rabbits.  I've really enjoyed them.  If she ever gets a house, I might get two more to fill the bunny gap in my heart they'll leave.

Herkemer P. Bunsworthy 

My husband gave him this name - he was previously going incognito as just "Bun" but we figured he was much more important than that.

This is Lucy - she is an old Rabbit, 9 years old.

Out and about in the Garden

The Dahlia I took a pic of last week is very large now.  It turned more of a pastel peach and lemon yellow.

I must say that taking pictures of the fish is really challenging.  Reflections, water movement, their movement. They turn out OK, but I'm still not thrilled with any of them.

Bees in the Lavender.  I go out front and brush my hands through them.  I think I'll harvest them soon and make a wreath.  I also adore the bumblebees.  I have not found a big fattie to pet yet this year.

This is such an interesting flower color.  A nice salmon pink.  I don't see this color a lot.  I am very pleased with how the Godieta have bloomed.  Very cheery.

My wonderful Rottweiler Hanna.  She's my gardening buddy.  She loves to be out in the yard, surveying her perimeter.  She's quite the veggie eater too.  Snow peas, lettuce, zucchini, and cherry tomatoes are her favorite.  She picks them right off the vine if I'm not watching.

I am truly blessed that I get to do something I like so much.

Why I love cooking shows

I'm an OK cook. Not great, not bad. I can do some things great, and try to avoid bad at all costs. In the last year, I've only had one disaster. I accidentally turned the lemon pepper upside down on my chicken, and it WAS NOT on the sprinkle side. Blech.  I have had freinds comment that I am a very "messy" cook.  That does not surprise me.

I mainly watch the Top Chef series. I think the dessert one is dumb. I adore No Reservations, but that's more of a travel/food show, not a cooking show. I get a kick out of Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen. I can't believe I'm admitting this, but I even friended two contestants from Season 6 on Facebook. Amazingly, they accepted. I think the "contestants" are a hoot, and Gordon Ramsay cracks me up. Sometimes when I'm cooking I can hear him in my head giving his oh, so subtle input. "Don't burn the garlic you cow!"

All these shows post their recipes, but I've never made one. I'll do that sometime. Tonight is an excellent example of why I love cooking shows. I found a recipe for mini meatloaves, and it looked yummy and easy.  The recipe called for an indentation on the top to put ketchup in. Don't get me wrong, I really dig ketchup. But it just seemed so, blah. So I took a sliver of garlic, roasted red pepper strips and diced tomatoes and put them in instead. 15m until detante, so we'll see how that goes.

Hey, that was pretty good.  I'm going to add more spices next time, and not use as large a portion of wet ingredients that they did.  My idea for the top turned out great.  Here is my first food picture I think.  Produce doesn't count.

Mixed Borders are where it's at.

There's no reason to separate your veggies from your flower borders.  Combining the two is good for all the plants, makes it so the pollinators can do their job easier, and it looks great.

Dahlia and Dill

Carrots, Cilantro, Annual flowers, and Daisies.

Now for just some random flowers.

Snapdragon with a critter on it.

A very fragrant Lily.  Thank goodness, because there is a dead deer up on our hill, and this helps mask the stink.

Hanna in the garden

I think I'll post pictures of the bunnies tomorrow.

It's been a great summer so far.

In June, we stayed a few days in Boise while I was at a conference.  I went to a few rewarding seminars while Kermit walked around downtown.  We stayed at a nice place, ate some good meals, had one fantastic meal at Asiago's in downtown Boise. 

We visited the museum and got to see an artist installing an exhibition.  It's a large, very large, wood piece.  Hard to describe.  I'll see if they have a link to it on their site.  One set of pieces that I just LOVED was a woman that took old handwriting samples from journals and put it into large scale artworks.  Just lovely.  The main exhibit was a shoe show, where artists did pieces around shoes.  Some were brilliant, some silly, and of course, some totally self absorbed and over thought.  Artists, you know.  It is my theory that if you have to explain the piece to your audience, you have FAILED in relaying the thought.  Your goal is that people should be able to look at it and GET IT.  If not, it's just an inside thought, and you shouldn't explain what you did, just let it be.

Then Kermit had a lot of days off.  We went to Dayton and saw a graduate of mine, Heather Stearns.  Look her up, Heather the Bard.  She's good!  We had a nice meal with her and her husband, went and listened to her play.  Stayed at the Weinhard Hotel in Dayton.  The bed was sooooo comfy.  Wonderful service, good latte's and breakfast.  It had an inviting roof top garden.  The hosts were friendly and had some great suggestions for excursions.

We got the local map on a self guided walking tour of Historic Houses.  Kermit and I did the north one, full of Queen Anne, Four Square, and my person favorite, Craftsman.  I have come to the conclusion that our house is "American Mishmash."  It has some Craftsman attributes, but is missing some key ingredients. As with any other style you try to attribute to it.

Dayton has a Grandpa Death House!  You know the type, falling down, but someone mysterious lives there. From what I understand, he's not old though.  But in my mind, he's Grandpa Death.  Donnie Darko fans will understand this.

Now we are home, cooking good meals, enjoying the pond and yard, cuddling with the pooches.  Life is very good.

New Walk Part II

Flowers and whatnot on the trail.  There would have been Fauna, but I only bring the small powershot on walks, and I couldn't adjust fast enough to get a pic of a grouse and babies.