Yup, it's still Winter here.

I must say I find my Weather Bug notifications amusing.

Every day - "Hey, it's Winter!"  Snow advisory, wind advisory, etc. etc.

In honor of Weather Advisory, I give you Snow Pics.

Sofie and Penny in the backyard having fun:

Penny always walks on the perimeter of the yard.

I took a big pink ball out for Sofie to play with.

"I hear a neighbor - Constant Vigilance!"

Digging - "There's Bunny Pan Mulch down there!"

The Pond in Winter.

We saw a new bird!  The color is off because I had to take these through the window.  If I tried to even squeak the window open it would fly away.

We looked the birdie up last night, and found out it is a Thrush.  Very poofy and LARGE.  When it sat on a small branch to eat the crab apples, the branch would sag.

Thrush in a Crab-Apple Tree

It's great to see a new bird!

Vacation Journal - Getting There

So we get up pretty early on Thursday, because the girls get up pretty darn early.  Every.  Single.  Day.

Head back out on the road for the short leg of the scenic drive.  Once again, Sofie does not use her break time on the road the way we'd like.

Check in is 4pm, but we got there a little early and decided to see if the place was ready.  It was!

UNPACKING TIME!!!!

Checked out the kitchen, made a list and went grocery shopping.

Wulf and Steph were about 2 hours behind us, so we had plenty of time to do the errands and settle in.

When they got here, no one felt like cooking so we went to Nana's Irish Pub a block or two away from their hotel room.  The food was good.  It was a hoppin' place.  Pretty packed.  Service, meh.  Lost a sale on a round of drinks because they never checked on us during the meal.

After dinner, we walked around a bit then stopped at a local watering hole by the Chowder House.  Sand Bar.  Friendly bartender.  Good drinks.

Picture courtesy of Google Street View

Picture courtesy of Steph

Wulf and Steph stayed at The Whaler.  Nice economical rooms with a view.

Tomorrow, all about our Cottage!

Vacation in Newport Part I

I have not seen the Pacific Ocean in 17 years.  I have not seen my friends Steph and Wulf for at least 10.

The vacation gods smiled upon our date choosing, and I was able to do both Aug 1-8.

First, THE DRIVING!

On the way in, we decided to take the scenic route.  84 to 97 through Bend then 20 to Newport.  It was a beautiful drive but a few things did not go as planned of course.

I bought the dogs harnesses and a seatbelt gadget that did not work with a darn.  There is no way they would have been able to sit up with those.  So against what I wanted, we just put up the center divider in the truck and they rode in the back seat.  Heaven help us if we got in a wreck.  I am going to take apart the seatbelt things and redesign them to work for medium to big dogs.  Plus, the way seatbelts stop now, the way they had it was just dumb.  It was too hot for them to ride in the kennels in the back of the truck.  Luckily, they were both mellow and just slept or looked out the window.

Sofie did not understand why we take road breaks.  Penny did.  Penny would do her business right away.  Sofie NEVER did business on the road breaks.  She just held it until after dinner every night.  I can't imagine that's comfortable, but I can't think of a way to MAKE her go.  At least she got to stretch, walk around and sniff everything.

We stayed at a generic Hotel 6 or 8, I can't remember.  It was OK, not great.  But with two dogs, who cares.  It was obviously an old smoking room because it stank.  But it was right by the outside exit.  Since I was taking Sofie out every half hour in the hopes of a dry hotel room, I was thankful for the placement.  She finally went at around 9pm, in the rain of course.

Meals with two people and two dogs is interesting.  Hubby gets his meal, I wait with the dogs.  I go get my meal, he waits with the dogs.  Lots of fast food.  I have never been so eager for a serving of vegetables after 3 meals of fast food eaten in the truck.  Next time, packing a cooler and picnicking.

How Penny spent 90% of the trip:

How Sofie spent 90% of the trip:

Tomorrow:  Arrival at Newport!

Sunflower and Finch Day

I was determined to get some good shots of my garden birds today.  So I sat out in the yard for hours reading an e-book.  I left the camera on and just let it go into standby.  When I heard them, I'd pick up the camera and try to get them.

Success!  Today, Finches and Sunflowers, Tomorrow will be Hummingbird Day.


Finch on top of the Sunflowers - Hello there Birdy!

Sunflowers are about 10' tall.  Volunteers every year.

Sunflowers with a Bee.  I know it's not a Finch, but I liked the picture.

Bzzzz.

Finch taking off

Whhheeeeee!!!

Resting Finch

Looks like a yellow cottonball.

And of course, the most detailed, best close up, is of a bird butt.

Reminds me of a scene from Ace Ventura when he's talking to his friend at the desk.

Garden Update!

The snow peas have been yummy.  Not enough to save for a meal, but the snacking while I work outside is good.  I have to keep Penny away from them though.  She loves snow peas.  The problem is that she doesn't have the opposeable thumb thing going for her, so she tends to tug too hard and harms the plant.  Which is counterproductive to getting new snow peas.

The Lillies are gone.  Larkspur is hanging in there.  The hummingbirds just love them.  I have to regulars that are feeding at the flowers and feeders I put out.

Unsolicited Plug:  http://www.amazon.com/Aspects-429-Hummzinger-Highview-Feeder/dp/B003XL7WZO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1373042475&sr=8-1&keywords=aspects+hummingbird+feeder

You can buy these little stoppers that go on the inside of the lid to keep bugs out.  It works, and my feeders stay nice and clear.

The "Mighty Maters" are doing GREAT.  So far outgrowing the regular ones by double the size.  We'll see how it goes come production time.

These pictures are just because.  The pond Koi don't get a lot of press on my blog, but they are wonderful.  They beg for their food in the evening, play in the waterfall.

This Koi has my favorite coloring

Here is Sofie, the wonderful big dog that does NOT understand that she has very big paws.  She's always stomping on our feet.

A view from the hill

Have a wonderful weekend out there.

A busy day in Boise!

The conference is going really well.  So far, there has been PLENTY for me to do and learn.

Tomorrow, the IT Crowd will be out at the Meridian Center.

I am so proud of myself!  Armed with my phone and a complete lack of direction, I was able to go to the Boise Aquarium, the Boise on The Square Mall, and go Downtown for a meal in the Basque District.

The aquarium was crawling with kids.  Most of them were just adorable.  Being the mom/teacher type, there were a few that I had to set straight.  "Please don't poke the Iguana."  "Could you put those snails back in their tank?"

There were a few that I had some great conversations with on "What exactly DOES a stingray feel like?"  A young lady and I decided it was a mix of rubber and soft silky fur.  Whatever it was like, it was way cool.

I went in the bird cage and fed some.  I can't remember the type, but the lady said they were basically Australian Pigeons.  She said that they are considered pests there.  They were pretty though.  I have some pics on my phone that I'll upload when I get home.

Walked around the Mall, and didn't buy a dang thing.  Must be sick.

Got downtown where the most difficult thing was finding a parking garage that wasn't full.  I did find one though, right by the off ramp, so it was easy to find on my way back.

With my trusty phone by my side, I ventured to the Basque District and had a very nice Kobe Beef  sandwich.  I tried a watermelon beer (a small one, I was driving) and it was so refreshing.

That was a lot of walking.  Back at the hotel now, listening to a three piece combo playing jazz/blues/easy listening.  One female and one male singer.  I was at the patio bar, but it got horribly windy so I moved to my balcony at the room.

Now to just settle in and relax.

Garden Shopping!

My husband and I had a really nice day.  We went to Patt's Garden Center in Clarkston and spent too much money.  Went out to a nice lunch at Roosters, a restaurant overlooking the Snake River.

I bought two of those new grafted tomatoes - I'll be reporting on how they do compared to regular ones.  I hope they out perform them considering they were pretty pricey.

There will be a blueberry bush "Pink Lemonade" at the entrance to the garden.  Inside the fence of course.

I've been taking lots of pictures lately, so I'll just put a few here.



Markers of some of the annuals I bought:

The haul minus the blueberry bush.

Some of them potted up and placed.  The succulent bowl is repeats from last year stolen from various places in my yard.

There's a Rottweiler in my yard!  This is what she looks like when she's going full blast in her circle around the yard.  Those are snow pea seedlings in the raised bed.  Lupine, Garlic and Hollyhock to the far left.

And in Repose:

And that makes a perfect day for me.