2024

Ugh! It's 75° already when I leave the house, to be 99° (37°C) ... we won't quite beat the record today which was 100° set in 2015. Normal temp for this time of year is 86°

So I'm heading to the garden to water. But look at the haze. bleh!

I go past to see the Barn Swallows first. I don't see the parents, but the babies are set up for quick access...

Baby number three is always hiding! But at this point, I'm pretty sure there's just three babies.

This is the view upstream from the bridge...

I've not seen the Bullfrog lately. But the dragonflies are active here. They probably love this heat!

I try to get a pic of someone flying over the water.

*laughs* it doesn't really work!

But then!

Wow, isn't he beautiful!! Flame Skimmer!

I scoot around for a different view, and he's noticed me watching him...

Haha... He followed me!

And then he followed me to the garden! Unfortunately, I had set the camera down as soon as I got to the plot. But he came around the Zucchinis and made sure I saw him one more time before flying away!

*smiles*

I'm watering pretty heavily today for the heat. But eventually I go around for photos. The wax beans are blooming.

The Black Tomato has a good number of small tomatoes coming on.

It looks like they will be a good size! I'm so glad because after I bought this, I worried that I had gotten another cherry tomato plant... with the two SunGold plants, I def did not need another one!

Today's harvest...

I still haven't learned my lesson with the one Yellow Zucchini plant... It doesn't want to let go of it's zucs, and I NEED to get the scissors out to make a cut on the stem instead of breaking off the edible part!! ha!

And yeah, I'm pulling these zucs at a ridiculously small size. I've just got too many to eat at home, and actually I'm going to be bringing some back... they've gone bad in the fridge.

Bummer. But that's okay. I will dump them somewhere in the garden and cover them a little and they will return nutrients to the soil.

Lemon Cucumbers in the making in the Supplementary Squash Square. (the darker leaves are one of the Zucs!)

The Buckwheats that I sowed in the Tofu Patch started coming up a couple days ago. I threw down so many seeds here, but germination is not what it should be.

So, yeah. Something wrong with the dirt here. The Soybeans mostly didn't come up, even after sowing seeds three times over. And they are not growing as quickly as they should. And now the Buckwheats aren't doing their thing either.

I wonder what my next step should be, to help the dirt here. I will have to think about it.

Not quite as hot today, just 94° after yesterday's 99° but still uncomfortably warm at 68° when I leave the house.

I head to the Barn Swallow nest... and I've only seen the two babies for so long, I'm starting to wonder if I imagined a third!

I haven't seen all three babies since Jul28!

And again today, there's more than just the two parents flying around above the bridge! It makes me wonder if the first set of children these parents raised this year are helping to feed these kids!

It's fairly common, across the bird kingdom, for previous kids to help raise their siblings... in the same season if the parents have more than one brood, but usually it's next year's siblings! Crows and Bluebirds are the most known for doing this, but a lot of other species do as well!

hmm...

And suddenly we have THREE!

Yay!

And then we have two again... *laughs*

But they are moving around enough, that I get one more picture of the three of them before I go!

I arrive at the Community Garden and go on a walk about. Here's my friend Roz's plot.

And the lovely flowers around the Bird Bath art installation!

Oh wow! These double petal Cosmos are pretty cool!

Someone's grapes are coming right along. Plus, they are planted right on the border... so any grapes that happen to be hanging in the pathway will be up for grabs, right?! Right?!

Just kidding / not kidding! It just annoys me when gardeners put big plants right at their border!

I'm at my plot and... Aw, Dang it... The Lemon Cucumbers are wilted!

Shoot! I gave them double the water today, but they are so pathetic. ARG! Will they recover? WAI! They might not recover.

Lemon Cucumbers are my absolute favorite... They are the only reason why I want to garden, after the photo opportunities!

well, Pbbbt. But look at this! The Old Germans are starting to get some colour!

And look at this too! The volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch is a red one!!

I love the red ones, they are so pretty!

And here are some of the Soybeans below it... Some of them are growing but some are stunted and still small...

Obviously the volunteer Sunflower overcame whatever is wrong with the dirt over here, it's almost 2meters tall! But the Soybeans and the recently planted Buckwheats are just having trouble.

well, whatever. Look at my pretty, pretty Giant Marigolds!

Oh yeah, this volunteer beet is ready to go! Will I be able to pull it out without disturbing the Leeks?

Oh hey! I caught this Patty Pan at a decent size!

Some Amaranth...

This is the weedy form, but I like to let it grow in places because the birds will appreciate the seeds! This one has gotten nice and tall, in with the Lemon Cucs at the front of the plot. It's a good 5feet or so!

Greeting the wildlife, right outside the door!

There's some clouds this morning and the high today is a more reasonable 88° (31°C).

A crow was cawing excitedly as she flew by, and I looked up to see what was going on. A Scrub Jay followed the crow, cawing as well... and then this one, a Kingfisher, with a slightly modified rattle call.

They were all mobbing a hawk! I just caught a glimpse, and I couldn't tell who it was. But the other birds chased the hawk to a tree and then I couldn't see what happened behind the tree. foo. I missed the excitement! *laughs*

I walked out to the Barn Swallow nest... but there was a homeless person right in the spot where I lean over the retaining wall to see the nest. So, foo again. I'm missing everything today!

To the Garden.

Today I'm chopping at the Comfrey I'm trying to kill. And I went around the whole front left of the plot, digging out some grass as well. I didn't take a Before photo, this time... But I'm so pleased about these two extra volunteer sunflowers, on either side of the orange Marigolds! It's late in the season, they might not do much, but I'm still happy to have them here!

And Look! Under the protective leaves of the yellow Giant Marigold, a single Pansy has lived to bloom!

Ha! I planted Pansy seeds -- the same that I've got growing in a pot at home -- and watered them diligently. But they never came up and I gave up hope! So this little Pansy is surprising ... and nice!

I just love the red Sunflower in the Tofu Patch!

As I was walking around the garden plot, I startled a TINY SNAKE out from under the green Zucchini!!

Oh my gosh! She slithered too quickly and I only registered how small she was, 6-8inches maybe, and she had some kind of stripes. Probably a Garter Snake.

And, dang it, she was gone before I could even make a grab for the camera! so, Foo yet again, for missing Another opportunity!

And so funny, too. Was it even a week ago, that Kevin was asking if I had ever seen a snake in the Garden? ha!

The Eggplant is getting so many branches!

And lots of blooms... will they all make fruit? What am I gonna do with this many eggplants?? I don't even like eggplant! haha!

Looking over the shoulder of the Sunflower I bought, into the Squash Square...

The tall stalks with the tiny white blooms are the experimental Buckwheats! They are about 4feet tall, and the Sunflower is about 4.5feet tall. And you can see, the birds have plucked most of it's petals to get at the Sunflower seeds! haha! I wonder if the birds like Buckwheat seeds??

The brown leaves in the Squash Square on the right are the result of hundreds of Squash Beetles. They are annoying, but so far they are only attacking the big Crookneck... which is quite big enough that it's fine to lose a few leaves.

And the back neighbor, Kevin's Nasturtiums.

There's some clouds this morning, but they are burning off quickly and it's to be another hot day today at 95° (35°C).

I arrive at the Barn Swallow nest, and I'm happy I get to see the babies today! ... All three of them!

Stretch!

They are moving around a lot.

Ha! That's a tail!

Another stretch!

Just. Can't. Get. Comfortable.

*laughs* Poor babies! But I've gotta get over to the garden to water.

But first...

Oh My Gosh!

A Green Heron!!

And then she flies downstream.

*laughs* oh well. But that was awesome!

Okay! At the garden! The Wax Beans are vining over my head!

There's Borage growing inside the trellis... perfect!

The Wax Beans have found the Volunteer Sunflower and are starting to vine up it! Yay!

There's a Spaghetti Squash growing under the bought Sunflower!

oh humph! There's big cracks in the Old German...

Cracked tomatoes means too much water. But the Old German is wilted most of the time! Arg. Is there no happy medium?! Ha!

The Brandywines have some cracks as well. Maybe I need to hold back with the watering a little.

One of the volunteer beets... So big! I need to pull it soon!

Today's harvest includes a House Fly! haha!

I'm still pulling the zucs super small. The Crooknecks at that size are nicely sweet and yummy! And that's Smartweed on the left, and a Bindweed bloom. The white cluster on the right is Queen Anne Lace.

Didn't quite fit!

To be 91° today. As I walk by the Community Garden... What are you eating?

I have no idea... some candy that melted in the grass?

And at the Barn Swallow nest!

Just Baby Number Two is restless today.

Okay! I'm at the Garden... I was just going to water today. But I actually did some impromptu weeding around the baby Buckwheats that are in the Tofu Patch. I'm glad to see a few more are coming up, tho not like they are supposed to, since there's something wrong with the dirt here.

but Look! The first Wax Beans!

Yay! Look at all the Lemon Cucumbers!! So Happy!

And another Straightneck. And I've pulled out the first volunteer Beet!

I LOVE fresh beets! Usually I cut it into bite-size bits and cook it with my pasta. That's SO yummy.

But today I'm wondering how long the slow cooker would take... I look it up, but ugh. The internets say you can either wrap the beets in foil with a drizzle of oil, or just toss them in with 2 cups of water. 4hours on high, and the skin will peel off after cooking.

That seems like more trouble than it's worth. Plus I never bother with peeling the skin. I think I'll just chop it for my pasta, after all!

oh, the colour!

On the way home, a Wood Nymph!

I'm not sure which species she is... there's Common, Small and Dark. But they kind of all look the same to me, I'm not sure how you tell them apart!

I wish I knew more about bugs!!

At home, look at how happy the potted Pansies are!

*Laughs* I just love them. They are so little and cute!

The forecast for today is 86°/54° and zero wind... a perfectly and wonderfully normal summer day in this part of the world! And I'm heading out for a hike!

As I go thru the city park on the way out, they are setting up a Fun For All day! Stuff like this makes me so proud of my city...

During covid, the city and county started giving out free lunches to all the kids through the summer. The food was bagged up and they had pickup points at the schools and parks. Eventually this practice transformed into the Fun For All program that we have now!

There are organized activities -- physical games and art projects -- and the free lunch, of course. Older kids can be dropped off, younger kids need a minder with them, babies need a caretaker. It's a very popular program, and there's always a lot of kids of all ages at the park, playing and being happy!

Peeking into the Little Free Library.

Walking up the road, I get to listen to Cicadas! I love to hear them, the sound of summer!

We don't have the Periodical Cicadas that have synchronized emergence every 13 or 17 years, like they have on the eastern side of the continent.

Our Cicadas mature underground for two to five years, but the generations overlap so there are adults emerging every year!

Okay! I've finally arrived at the trail head. The parking lot has 12 cars in it, there's two open spaces left. I head up the path, but once I get to the forest I pause for a moment in the shade to let a couple of chatting people go by.

They were speaking so loud I could almost follow their conversation.

So the kids wanted to go for some gelato...
Did you only speak Spanish there? ...
It's so cool to be bilingual!!
I wrote that down because he had been so reluctant to take Spanish ...

(But gelato is Italian??!) *So confused*

*laughs*

But, yeah. This is a very popular hiking trail. It's very beautiful, but I prefer to get my nature time without the humans and their funny conversations.

That's my turn around point, and I come back down and sit for a minute to drink my water. It's still got ice in it and gives me a cold headache because I guzzle it since I'm so thirsty! ha!

And again, I had walked past the Acorn Woodpeckers territory without seeing anyone there. And on the way back down...

What? Seriously? This is all I get?!

Yep. That's all I get. The Woodpecker moves around to the back of the tree trunk, and eventually she flies away. *laughs*

All the birds were uncooperative today.

That's just how it goes sometimes!

High today is 89° but after hot days of mid-90s thru the weekend, it looks like there are a couple of low-80s at the tail end of the forecast. That'll be nice if they actually happen!

I'm at the Barn Swallow nest and it looks like we are having another day of restlessness...

Is Number Three somewhere in there too??

It hardly seems like there's room enough in there to hide a baby!

I just gotta move my arm a little bit. And that looks like a third head?

There we all are!!

What the...?? Hey! Get back in there, You!
Ha! So restless!

Dude! Seriously!

*laughs*

Itchy!

Never quite comfortable enough!

You know what? I hate it when real life intrudes on my nature time. But this...

Sonya Massey.

That cop killed her in cold blood.

They were invited into her house. They were joking around about the cooking. And suddenly the evil bastard was shooting Sonya in the face.

just. goddamn.

I didn't watch the body cam video. I never watch the videos. I just don't want that in my brain.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Sighs.

Okay. I finally had to leave the Barn Swallow babies and here I am at the garden. I love these lemon yellow Sunflowers too...

Now, do I love the lemon Sunflowers more than the red Sunflowers? Hmm. *laughs*

At my plot... aw, now the Squash Beetles are attacking the Green Zuc...

They are annoying, and kind of shocking to see so many gathered together. If they come out in the spring, with these kinds of numbers, they will kill ALL the baby squash plants.

But coming out at this time of year, is not such a big deal. They will suck the juices out of a couple leaves, and that's about it.

The Green Zuc is huge and healthy, so it can stand to lose a couple leaves to the bugs.

Here's the damage they've done in the Squash Square...

There's all kinds of squashes living there, but the bugs only attacked the big Crookneck. That's the brown and shriveled leaves. And the Crookneck is fine and still producing, despite the loss of those leaves.

The cute little Spaghetti Squash that's hanging from the Sunflower I bought!

And I'm so pleased to see the Buckwheat is making the bees happy!

The Wax Beans are on the way!!

Blast it! A couple of the Lemon Cucumbers are wilted. Still not watering enough. ARG!

The ones on this side look okay.

I have a serious love of Lemon Cucumbers!

Okay! Let's get back to the bright and colourful! Here's some Smartweed growing next to the Giant Marigolds at the edge of the Tofu Patch.

On the left in that photo is the lovely red Sunflower, and behind on the right is the volunteer Sunchoke.

The red Sunflower is almost 2meters tall!

Yay Lemon Cucumbers!

And that's the first Old German tomato! It's cracked up all to heck, even tho the leaves were folded up and too dry. But whatever! I hope it tastes good, around the cracks! ha.

One last bright and colourful photo from my morning at the Community Garden.

Red Amaranth!

Okay...

I was VERY interested to watch this...

∞ Senator Merkley Slams USPS Delays and Downgrades on Senate Floor

That's my Senator! I'm on his email list and he had asked a while ago how we were affected by Postmaster General DeJoy's policies and I thought seriously about adding my voice.

They closed the mail sorting facility here in Eugene a few years ago. Now, all mail -- even local Eugene mail -- gets sent up to Portland to be sorted.

It's fairly rare for me to send mail locally. I do have one GR member in a nearby town. But other than that monthly postcard, I probably only send within Oregon, two or three times a year, via Postcrossing.

But my Mom in Colorado sends me a weekly letter! That's where my passion for sending mail comes from! She puts her letter in the mail on Tuesday morning... And I used to get it on Thursday or Friday.

Since DeJoy, I'm mostly getting it on Saturday. Occasionally on Friday, sometimes on the following Monday or Tuesday... and occasionally -- but regularly! -- weeks later. GRR!

I decided not to write about this to Senator Merkley. Getting mail from my Mom is important to me, of course! But he needs to hear from people who are losing money because their small business depends on packages being delivered in an economic and timely manner to customers. And I knew he would hear from rural folks and elderly who depend on medications being delivered by mail.

And that's what this speech is about... those people who's lives are in jeopardy because their medications aren't coming on time because DeJoy has purposefully slowed down the mail by closing sorting facilities and removing sorting machines.

What DeJoy has done to the US Postal Service is disgusting! DeJoy is just running the Postal Service into the ground.

And I HATE that the Postal Service has gone from one of the most trusted government agencies, to just another corrupt agency with an evil guy at the top.

I WISH DeJoy had been removed and replaced by someone who loves mail! Someone who knows the price of a postcard stamp. Someone who actually sends letters!

Our local mail carriers are so awesome, and I'm sure they are even more frustrated with DeJoy's BS than I am. My heart goes out to them!

To be 92°s today (33°C) but the morning has some clouds. I'm heading out... I'll need to water at the garden today for the heat, but I'm gonna walk a bit before, just to look at something different!

Bittersweet Nightshade. It's not Deadly!

... But it will make you sick!

Oh shoot. There's a homeless person at the Barn Swallow nest again. That's a bummer. The babies are getting really close to fledging. I hope I get to see them again.

I pause nearby and notice the sun and clouds look kinda cool, reflecting from the creek water!

Dang it. No Patches is NOT very cooperative!

*Laughs* No Patches isn't much of a name.

ugh. The Fallen Leaning Tree is dead.

There's no denying it. The trunk must be separated from the roots. sighs.

So sad.

Well. It was already a shadow of it's former self, when they cut down the other two trucks. Sighs. I miss this tree.

But here's something to cheer me up!

Oh! Somebody is pretty good at drawing spiders!! Awesome!

The Hawthorns are getting loaded with pomes.

And the Oaks are getting galls!

Okay! I'm at the garden to water. Under the Yellow Zuc... Oh Yeah!

Oh, nice! The Buckwheat is making seeds!

Ha!

The volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch is making new flowers!

Huh! The Soybeans are stunted, the tallest ones are barely a foot tall. But they've got the beginnings of some blooms!

There are a couple of Love Mists growing in the Tofu Patch as well!

And some Buckwheats I planted in the blank spots of the Tofu Patch.

That Crookneck was much smaller than I thought it was. Foo. But they are so very nice and sweet when they are so little!

And I ate a lot of SunGolds, before taking the picture of the five left! ha! So good!

I rescued a Honey Bee stuck in a cob web! It's an old and dusty cobweb, no spiders live here.

I saw her struggling and my first instinct was to just grab her and pull her out. But as I reached for her, I thought... She could sting me, just because she fears for her life!

And I paused there a moment to think about that.

Definitely a good instinct to pause before you enter a tricky situation.

But then I realized... If you are a Honey Bee, caught in a web and fighting to get out? You are going to know the difference between the spider who comes along to kill you and a huge human hand who happens to come along to get you out!

So, yep! I scooped her out of the cobweb ... and then I didn't know what to do next! How can I help her get the rest of the cobweb off her wings?? I am too big and clumsy to do anything!

But she cleaned herself off, literally within 30 seconds, and she flew away!

Yay, Happy Ending!

Here's something I didn't know about Oregon...

∞ Oregon could get its first new scenic bikeway in years
The 60-mile Aufderheide Drive route rides past dense forests, hot springs and campgrounds

This is so cool!

But that place... that is NOT an easy bike ride! It's up in the Cascade Range. But it's amazingly beautiful up there.

But also, not cool... they don't add any infrastructure. No bike lanes or anything. It's just signs along the route. That's pretty lame!

Yay, I'm so glad to see them again! And I get to see all three babies, first thing!

And then Baby Number Three disappears. Typical. But Look at the cute little baby beak shadow on the wall on the right! haha!

Sleepy babies!

Oh, is someone on the way?

Number Three is all, Whatever! *laughs*

And back to just being cute.

So Cute!

I'm at the garden, and I'm watering everything really well since I've got other plans for tomorrow!

The Eggplant really has quite a few flowers for such a little plant.

Look past that horrifying deep crack in one of my precious Brandywines and ... GAH!

Slug! She-he is eating the Brandywines??! Dang it, you! *relocated*

One of the volunteer Tomatillos is getting some fruits!

It will be ages before these are ready to eat... Those are the husks, and the fruit is a tiny little ball on the inside. The fruits will slowly grow in there, until they are big enough to crack open the husk. It'll be months, and I only hope the season is long enough!

Yay! First Wax Beans!!

And the second Old German! It's so huge! I've still got the first one at home, I picked it before it was ripe... I need to eat it and see how it tastes!

And something horrifying in the news...

∞ Eugene police investigating alleged rape near Fern Ridge Trail

What the HELL?! This happened on the bike path, ¾ of a mile from home!

I don't even know what to say.

I don't want to have to carry a weapon. I have no training and honestly, if someone were to attack me, my weapon could easily be used against me.

But I shouldn't need training in self-defense or weapon use!

Ugh. Just Ugh. Why do men have to be evil??

Pride Celebration at the river today! If I start at the Rose Garden, I can get my usual walking loop done, and then go thru the event!

Silver Lining is my favorite...

The 275 year old cherry tree.

SubSupra, the art pavilion and Naseen, the Great Blue Heron sculpture. And the river!

There's a couple Ospreys flying around, yelling and obviously goofing off! Probably the kids, still depending on parents for much of their food.

*plunk* Ha. You missed the fish, huh? No! I did that on purpose! *laughs* More practice, kid!!

See ya!

At the walking bridge and heading to the other side of the river...

I obsess!

Okay. Let's move on! I get to Alton Baker Park... oh jeez! There's a LOT of people!

Yikes! I am completely intimidated, and don't actually take many photos! haha.

But it makes me so happy to see everyone else... Everyone is happy and being themselves with colourful clothing and there's some furries and the big guy in a rainbow tutu!! *laughs with delight*

I love the energy! But I feel better when I get away from the crowds.

And then I'm back at the Rose Garden.

And then I'm heading home.

And then the car dies in traffic. Ack! I'm able to pull into the bus lane and then get it off the road. It's surprisingly hard to steer without power steering, but the car stops in a mostly out of the way spot.

Lordy lordy. The car has died in the same 700$ way it did last time... which was only three months ago.

Partner helps and we get it towed to our mechanic...

But the car isn't worth another 700$. So I don't know what we're going to do.

What a bummer to end a fun trip to the river like that. Sighs.

Good Morning Mx Scrub Jay!

Good Morning Barn Swallow Babies.

Number Three is hiding again today?

I get momentarily distracted by the cute little minnows.

Good Morning, Minnows!

I guess I don't get to see Baby Number Three today.

I need to look up and see when this bunch was born... it seems like they might be getting close to fledging?

At the Garden... I'm not sure if this grape vine is wild, or if someone purposefully planted it at the fence. But here's the first bunch of grapes!

I wander around my garden plot... oops, I found this thing and it's gotten too huge. I don't think it's going to fit in the backpack, with everything else!

But when I pick it...

Bahaha!! Mice? How fun that you could just curl up, INSIDE your food!! *laughs*

The Wax Beans are getting loads of blossoms at the top of the trellis!

Oh my gosh! Eggplant!! It's a couple inches of cute!

And then I notice two more behind it!

WooHoo! What a great harvest of Lemon Cucumbers today!

And I still haven't learned my lesson about the one Yellow Zucchini that doesn't want to let go of it's fruits! laughs.

There's so much here, that I don't put the SunGolds into the backpack. They'd just get squished. I put them in my shirt pocket and eat them all on the walk home! Yum!

The high today is 76° (24°C) and the heavy clouds this morning look more like winter. This is definitely not August weather!

A super small Nutria... Is this the same bunch of Nutrias that I've been seeing? Why are they staying so small? (First seen Jul6.) I'd be surprised if this one even weighs 5 pounds. Adults usually weigh 15 to 20 pounds!

This cracks me up! A big ol' Squash plant is escaping the confines of the Community Garden! haha!

oh foo!

I thought I had days left to watch the babies!

I walked up and down the path next to the creek. In the past, babies from this set of parents have fledged out to the shrubs across the creek, right outside the bridge.

But not this time... I see the parents and other adults from the flock swooping circles above. The kids must be parked on the other side of the group of trees, where I can't see them. Foo!

I'm so disappointed, and when I get home I count the days...

I'm pretty sure the babies were being born on Thursday Jul25... which means... That's just 18 days!

Dang! Maybe because they had extra adults stuffing them full of food? But it's definitely within the normal range... according to AllAboutBirds, the nesting period for Barn Swallows is 15-27 days.

Oh well. I head back to the garden...

I love the big ol' mess that this plot has! Can you see the three Goldfinches?

The black one is a male Lesser Goldfinch...

And that funny looking one is a molting American Goldfinch...

Our little Lesser Goldfinches stay here year round, but the American Goldfinches are here only in the winter. Does it seem early for them to migrate in? hmm.

But I'm absolutely delighted that they love Chicory so much... Maybe I need to grow some in my garden plot!!

Fledgling! Black Head Grosbeak!

Fledglings everywhere! *laughs*

And one last photo at the Chicory!

I love the flowery explosion around our bird bath art installation!

Volunteers have planted this and keep it maintained and watered!

A bush of Four O'Clocks! These pretty flowers are native to tropical South America in the Andes. (I was too lazy to try to look these up, my brother IDed them for me! :)

At my plot and OH! New male Anna Hummingbird is sitting in the garden plot behind ours!

I've seen him a couple times, but he always flies away when I get the camera. So glad to finally get his portrait!

He looks like a female, but is an immature male, born this spring!

A little Crookneck coming along, with some Buckwheat blooms!

Also in the Squash Square, there are Spaghetti Squashes growing...

And Butternuts as well! ... along with a blurry snail. ha!

The Wax Beans happily climbing up the volunteer Sunflower.

There's a Love Mist blooming in the Tofu Patch!

And the cute little Buckwheat seedlings that I wish would be a summer cover crop.

The First Brandywine tomato!! It is not quite ripe, so it is better able to survive the walk home in my backpack.

Okay. Heading home.

The cooler weather today has invigorated me to take more photos! And it's made this such a LONG blog post... But I had fun writing it!

So I had a dream last night about the Barn Swallows.

And I decided to visit the Barn Swallow nest again today, even tho the kids fledged yesterday.

And the kids are back!! ... ???

*Laughs* It was so unexpected, and I was so surprised, the first pictures weren't great!

Because fledged birds don't return to the nest! (Okay, Ospreys return. But little birds? No.) They just don't! Once they fledge, they are done with the nest.

But. This is Nature. You can't say things like Fledged birds Never return to the nest. Nature doesn't do absolutes. It's never Never and it's never Always!

There's Always variations! That's how evolution works! Everything is on a gradient, there are always those extremes at either end of the gradient... after all, those extremes might just become different species!

It's fun to think about these things!

But I calm myself. Fix the camera settings. And keep looking.

Preening! Is Baby Number Three in there as well?

Or maybe I can't call them Babies anymore. Since they have fledged! *laughs*

The one on the left continues to preen...

Ah-Ha! We do have all three!

Uh huh! The face of Number Three, the preening body of Number Two and flight feathers and tail of Number One.

The only thing I can come up with... it was a little bit chilly last night. It got down to 53° last night and these babies have grown up with days in the 90s and above, and nights around 60°.

They're just used to the hot! And possibly they came back to the nest to keep warm last night.

ha. Funny birds!

I keep walking, so that I can think for a minute... huh. Are these ... Plums?

I think so! The fruits are bigger than cherries, and the time for cherries is very over, they are ripening in June.

I will have to come back later to see what the pit looks like!

I go around my loop, and on the way back... Yep, all three.

Still preening. It must be a bit uncomfortable in there.

It's so cool that I get to see the babies one last time.

And then at the garden plot... my young friend is still hanging out!

There's actually two... Another Anna is also interested in this territory! But my friend was here first, and the other one gets chased off!

I'm just doing a light watering today, since it's not hot again today, just 78°.

Old German... with leaves of the primary SunGold! *laughs* SunGolds do tend to sprawl all over the place!

My friend, again. He just so, so precious!!

One of the volunteer Tomatillos at the end of the Wax Bean trellis!

Heading home. Some late ripening Himalayan Blackberries... Along with some Bittersweet Nightshades in various stages, from purple blooms to red berries!

And from the news...

∞ Oregon wildfires: Record for acres burned broken
A total of 1,399 fires have burned 1.49 million acres or 2,200 square miles, surpassing the 2012 total of 1.2 million acres and the 2020 total of 1.14 million acres.

Dang. We haven't had any trouble this year with wildfires near town, except for that scary one near the Humane Society. And no wildfire smoke to deal with either.

But that's just luck. 1.49 million acres is a lot... and we aren't near to done with the wildfire season yet.

It's gonna get worse.

But in more personal news...

A motorcycle cop passed me on the bike path today.

Nice to see, after the violence that happened the other day. I waved and he nodded in reply.

Oh dang it... This one was moving too fast for me this morning and the picture is a bit blurry...

I've seen him out my bedroom window a few times in the last months. A young male who has dispersed to new territory. He's not a regular, but it's nice to see one of our native squirrels around!

I head out... and the Barn Swallow nest is empty again.

Heh. I think this time it will Stay empty!

I check the shrubbery along the creek, and do see a couple Barn Swallows from the flock, twittering and making swoops above. But the kids aren't here, and that's good. They are in the big world now, but they have support: They'll continue to get food from their parents, while they learn to fly and hunt!

The sunshine feels nice after a couple cloudy mornings! The forecast calls for more cooler temperatures but we've got perfectly normal temperatures today... the high is 84° (29°) and normal for this time of year is 85°. And I'm heading to the garden, just to weed, not to water.

The Comfrey I'm trying to kill keeps putting up leaves closer and closer to the Zucchinis.

I should probably grab this Brandywine before it starts cracking. Altho I am watering less now, so maybe we can avoid the cracks in the tomatoes?

I just love the colour explosion here!

And this one is sitting in the Apple Tree right outside the Community Garden. The Apples are small and green and buggy. I wonder how the squirrels like them!

There was a Cahoots van on the bike path today... They were just finishing up with whatever crisis they dealt with, so I just saw them driving away.

But again, after the violence last week, it's good to see official presence on the bike path.

Oh! Haha! As soon as I said this guy wasn't a regular he shows up for photography two days in a row!

I have seen him more than three times... which is my standard for giving the furry or feathered one a name. But I'm very reluctant to name him, I am still mourning about what happened to Wesley Crusher, the last squirrel I named.

But... we'll see.

It's cloudy today, tho the sun peeks thru now and then. The high is just 81° (27°C) and there's even cooler temperatures in the forecast, upper-70s and it says 75° for Saturday! Nice... but...

The normal for this time of year is 85°... and the temperature I'd expect for climate change is 95°! But I guess climate change can go either way: hotter OR cooler. It's just weird.

I visit the Barn Swallow nest... just to make sure! But Yeah. The babies are out in the world, for reals this time! *laughs*

It was so fun watching them! Now... I wonder who I can find to watch next? :)

Back to the garden.

The experimental Buckwheats.

You know what? The Buckwheat seeds are just so cute! *laughs*

huh. The first Eggplant is interesting. It tried to be a twin.

This is the Sunflower that I planted... and it's making me so happy!

Making the birds happy, even if it's a bit stunted... barely 4feet tall, 1.2meters, and the Buckwheats are almost as tall! It's weird that this Sunflower only has the one bloom, too. Most of the Sunflowers branch out and have loads of blooms.

And I'm out! On the way home, I see No Patches again.

It's cloudy this morning, and so nice! The forecast says 60% chance of rain tomorrow... I don't believe it. Rain in August is unheard of. Then again, a cloudy day in August is extremely unusual as well, and look at all the cloudy mornings we've had!

But a nice day and possible rain is an incentive to do some weeding at the garden.

*laughs*

I love the explosion of life here... but the Smartweed is choking off one of my Giant Marigolds.

Huh. That was actually kind of satisfying...

I hate this dead dirt hole that I just created. But you can see how pathetic that Marigold on the left is doing.

While I'm working in my plot, there are workers taking out the Community Garden compost heap!

The compost heap fills several dump trucks, and they take it to a local company who will get the actual composting done!

Well, that's odd! Spaghetti Squash with lines on it?

Oops! That Zucchini was hiding under a leaf and got big! *laughs*

And that's 50 Wax Beans... I can only eat about 25 beans a day! Ha! And 27 SunGolds, along with the 15 or so I ate right as I picked them! Yay Garden!

I ate the first Brandywine today!

Oh my goodness. Oh Yeah, that's my favorite tomato! There's a light fruitiness to it, but it finishes with an excellent tomatoey taste and a bit of spice!! Yum!

The poor Brandywine plant has a bunch of dead leaves. That's normal. It's not a hardy plant, and it's not terribly productive. Temperamental thing. But I'm thrilled to get some tomatoes off it this year!

And I finished off the volunteer Beet I pulled a while ago. That was three big servings! And oh my gosh, I forget how much I LOVE fresh beets! I eat a lot of canned beets. But fresh!? Mmmm!

I cut it up and cook it with my pasta and soy curls, just add a minute or two to the cooking time. And then I add some tomatoes and some Yumm Sauce. So good!

And looking down into the Tofu Patch...

On the left is Sunchoke and Leeks and the other volunteer Beet!
At the top is Borage and a Giant Marigold.
Soybeans and the Buckwheat seedlings in the middle, with a couple of Love Mist blooms!
And the Tofu Patch Sunflower on the right!

The Buckwheats are so cute. I just wish there were more of them!

I'm leaving, but these Zinnias in a nearby garden plot catch my eye!

Ha, I can't get enough of them! They are so cheerful!

And making the Bees happy!

The forecasted high today is 80° but with the heavy clouds it only gets up to 75° (24° C)... And the unlikely rain that was forecast for today? That is pushed back to this evening, but the chances have risen to 80%. We'll see!

Now, how I manage to overexpose flowers on such a dreary day, I don't know!

*laughs*

Okay. I'm at my garden plot and I'm going to do something with the Pea Patch today!

The Sugar Snap Peas lived here, but they're mostly dead now. I'll keep the Borage around the edges, and anything interesting that has grown up! But it's time for something new here.

It took longer than it should have because I thought there were a couple Sugar Snap Pea plants still alive, and I was trying to be careful and keep them. I shouldn't have bothered! But there is a little patch of Clover...

And I did find a couple pea pods! Since they're Snap Peas, they get sweeter as they get bigger! Altho the pods of the biggest ones were kind of fibery!

And I'm trying to pick Brandywines before they get cracks. They'll ripen up at home!

I am so, so happy that I get to eat more than a couple Brandywines! Some years I don't get to eat any, temperamental things, but I keep trying because, my goodness they are good tomatoes!!

Some pretty clouds today and the high is just 78° (25°C) which is such a not normal temperature for August that it makes me feel weird to enjoy it!

My walk takes me past the mechanic shop where the car sits in one of the bays.

It's been there a week and we've not heard anything. It doesn't really matter because it's going to be too expensive to fix it, and we are trying to figure out what to do instead!

I'd rather look at the clouds!

Bushtits bouncing around too fast, as usual.

These are quite a bit darker than the usual... I wonder what's up with that.

(My Brain Says: Maybe they're not Bushtits.)
(What are you talking about? My Bird identification skills are Always Spot-ON!)
(My Brain Says: Bahahahha!!)

And then I get distracted by a ruckus nearby... This Red Shoulder Hawk is getting mobbed by everyone!

A Crow is yelling, a Scrub Jay, I can see small birds darting around, and a Flicker!

A Walk-About at the Community Garden. These are striking!

Oh hey! This is an American Goldfinch! They migrate in when they've finished up their nesting season!

Our Lesser Goldfinches live here year round, and have a black cap which extends to the back of their head. The females are a little bit tougher to tell the Americans from the Lessers!

The Community Garden Bird Bath flowers are looking lovely.

Here I am at my garden plot.

I'm just gathering the harvest today... it takes a while to get all the Wax Beans!

I am probably going to have to freeze some Wax Beans again this year. bleh, what a pain! I don't like doing any kind of kitchen work... but I will probably enjoy some home grown veggies in the winter!

The Love in a Mist blooming in the Tofu Patch makes me happy.

The high today is 80° (26°C) which is just a few degrees below normal, but still unbelievably nice for an August day!

Beans with purple flowers! Eye catching!

The big orange flowers are Canna Lilies, and it amused me they are in front of a plant with some kind of pumpkin-orange winter squashes.

Not sure what they are.

Haha, her foot!

I've been bringing our kitchen scrap compost to the garden... Partner usually drives it here and throws it on the Community compost pile, but the car is dead.

I can only fit a ½ bag of kitchen scraps into my small backpack, and I triple bag it to make sure it doesn't leak on my walk over here!

And since I cleared out the Pea Patch, I'm dumping the bag there. Enriching the dirt!

It's mostly the ends of zucs and summer squashes, and coffee grounds and filters! Will make the worms and all happy!

I don't dig it in or anything. I just barely cover it with some Borage I pulled out! I will water it to help it break down, but once our rainy season starts, this will all dissolve away quickly!

And with the rain of Saturday afternoon, I don't have to water any of the veggies. And there's no real work that must be done. It's nice to just take it easy.

I do need to gather the veggies that are ready to go, tho!

The Squash plants have slowed down a good bit because of bugs and the cooler weather maybe. So now, I'm finally letting the zucs and summer squashes get to a bigger size...

I've only got 3.5 squashes to eat at home! I've been eating so much, I've finally caught up with the plant production!!! So the three I'm bringing home today, basically doubles my at-home squash count and I'm happy to continue my crazy squash consumption!!

Aw, too far away. But that's okay...

Every time I see a Bewick Wren, I think of the re-naming process...

∞ American Ornithological Society Will Change the English Names of Bird Species Named After People
Scientists Will Establish a New Multidisciplinary Naming Entity and Seek Public Input, Beginning with 70 - 80 Bird Species in the US and Canada

Hm... There are some interesting comments going on at the bottom of that page. I might have to revisit this subject! :)

Meantime, on with my day!

Aw, how cute... A fledgling is getting fed by a parent! (I'm going to guess those two are Lesser Goldfinches. The one on the right is a male American Goldfinch.)

What a lovely day!

Blurry but cute! *laughs*

Well. I could take photos of Goldfinches all day. But I move on... and discover some House Finches are hanging out in my plot!!

*laughs* Okay, that was awesome. But let's do Garden Stuff!

The Sunchoke is approaching 2meters tall! I barely water it, and I like how tough it is!

That's the volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch on the left, and on the far left, the pile of green is a grape vine in the diagonal plot across the pathway!

There's a few more Eggplants. Aubergines.

I need to figure out when I can pick them!

A third Old German is finally starting to ripen!

36 Wax Beans today... Really need to think about doing something with those, they are starting to pile up in the fridge!

The volunteer Sunflower at the edge of the Wax Bean trellis is so tall... a good 7 or 8 feet! But the bloom head is pretty small!

The clouds of the early morning have broken up and it'll be 79° today... but there's another chance of rain tonight, through to the weekend. And ridiculously cool high temperatures forecast for the next few days... 69° tomorrow.

It's August! It's Summer! It's supposed to be hot and dry!

This Climate Change Weather! ha... I can handle it when it's overly hot... but cool, and nice? It's just Not Normal! I don't like it!

When I get to the Community Garden, I go past a woman with a clipboard, looking at the garden plots.

Ugh. I assume this is the useless Garden Director, Bridget... who dinged our plot for grass in the pathways in June and who never said a word to me after I reported the vandalism.

So, yeah. I am not especially fond of Bridget. I nod and give a vague smile to her as I go by, my usual response to strangers. And I do not engage.

I'm at my plot... and I could hear a Jeep. Jeep. the contact call of a Song Sparrow, coming from the Pot People's jungle.

Hello!

Oh my! You've got no tail!

Oh lordy! Hardly any wings, either?!

Poor Baby! I hope your feathers grow quickly!

Here's a different view of the jungle that is my plot... From the back of the plot, I'm looking over the Squash Square at the Wax Bean trellis...

It's hard to differentiate the leaves, but there's a squash plant on the left that's climbing up the trellis!

The Buckwheat blooms are so little and cute!

And the seeds they are making are cute too!

♥!

And some Straightnecks in the making.

This is the third Old German and it isn't ripe, but I wanted to get it before the cracks got worse.

And since the Garden Director is here... I run the hoe down the middle of the plot to remove grass in the pathways. *grumble*

I finally asked the Internets what is going on with this Spaghetti Squash...

Turns out, I made a hybrid!

Haha! Last year was the first year that the Delicatas have ever grown. I didn't particularly like them, so I won't grow them again. But I guess one of the seeds I saved from the Spaghetti Squashes that I ate last year, must have gotten fertilized with Delicata pollen!

They actually sell this as Stripetti Squash!! Ha, brilliant!

You can eat the skin of Delicata, but it sounds like the only trait that Delicata has contributed to Stripetti is the green stripes. I will report back about the taste after I eat this thing!

Heading out! Scrub Jay fledgling!

I read a good article in The Guardian today...

∞ The Guardian view on meat: we need to eat less of it
Beef, lamb and dairy products are the most carbon-intensive foods by far. More boldness around dietary changes is needed

Going plant-based with your food is actually the best thing you can do for the environment and for climate change.

I was watching these two cuties...

When all of a sudden, a Green Heron flew in to join us!

Wow! How cool is that?

oh, are you looking for your parents?

Yep. That's baby fluff on her head! She's a fledgling!

Still being fed and looked after by her parents.

And then this one flew by me and settled here! Ha, Green Herons everywhere!

How Awesome!

Okay, back around to the Community Garden! Here's my friend Roz's plot.

Oh! My little friend the Anna Hummingbird is here, fighting for the territory again. He keeps chasing off the other one!

I come around to my plot. The Buckwheat I sowed in the bad dirt of the Tofu Patch has stayed small, but they are starting to bloom.

oh, and he's back from the chase!

Okay! Garden! Focus! heh.

This is the Squash Square, and you see that unfortunate hole with some shriveled and brown Crookneck leaves.

Squash Beetles came in by the hundreds, would sit on a leaf and suck it dry. It wasn't a big deal at the time, but now they've killed a good portion of the plant, and it's not making fruits like it should.

Which also isn't a big deal... I've got three Zucchini plants on the other side of the plot, pumping out zucs for me to eat. I don't particularly need any Crooknecks for food, even tho I do like them a little bit better than Zucs.

But it does make me sad. That many bugs should have been making some bug-eating predators very happy. Instead the bugs just continue to eat and breed. sighs.

Oh well. The other citizens in the Squash Square are doing their thing, in spite of the attack on their biggest associate.

There are several slugs parked under the Aubergine. I'm indifferent. It might be okay to eat one of these Eggplants, but I'm not a fan, and I don't know how to cook them!

Oh! The first Black Tomato is ripening!

I am so pleased with these two volunteer sunflowers at the front of the plot! They go well with the Giant Marigolds!

And the happy Deltini Honeybee Pansies I've got at home!

The plants sprawl a bit!

The clouds are moving around a lot this morning and the forecast says 40% chance of rain, and this evening it's 90% with thunderstorms!

But I can't believe we'll get too much rain. It's August. We have a hot, dry summer and then the rainy season starts in October. A couple sprinkles just isn't going to cut it and I'm heading to the garden to water!

And here I am at my garden plot...

I managed to get everything watered. And then it starts to sprinkle. And then it starts to really come down. Sheesh. But I keep working because, it can't rain much, right?

I untangle the hose. I gather the days harvest.

But it's pouring down rain, and I feel kind of ridiculous! *laughs*

And of course it quits as soon as I leave the garden.

Back at home, the still unnamed Western Grey Squirrel is hanging out!

And the thunderstorm doesn't even wait for evening!

It gets darker and darker and it starts pouring just before 3pm. The lightening and thunder start just after 3! We even get about 20seconds of tiny hail! And it's so cold I have to shut my window.

This is all very crazy weather for August.

Last night was so cold I had to leave the windows closed after the tiny hails we got yesterday afternoon.

I missed the white noise of the fan right next to my head. And wondered what the garden plants would think of the crazy cold weather.

But that question will have to be answered tomorrow. Because today I'm walking up Hidden Trail, for something different!

Right, Kitty?

Well, Cosmos and flowers aren't all that different. ha!

I get to the head of the trail, and jeez, there's dog walkers all over the place. That's what I get for coming up here on a Saturday! I step off the trail and sit for a few moments to let everybody go by.

But there's one guy with a white chihuahua who is chatting with a woman. It seems like he'll be there for a few, so I start on up the hill.

But, arg. The first set of dog walkers has paused to take a break. And as I'm approaching them, the guy with the chihuahua is walking so fast up the hill, they've caught up with me! But he stops to chat with the other dog people and I'm relieved to leave everyone behind.

But white chihuahua guy catches up to me again, near the top of the trail. I'm impressed at how fast he's walking! This trail is pretty steep in places, and I'm not slow... if I'm not taking photos. And I've been so distracted by the humans and dogs, I haven't stopped even once!

And of course, he chats with me as he goes by. *laughs*

His name is Mark and he walks up to Wild Iris every day, walks those trails out to the head of that trail and back. He has dementia, and so sometimes he can't find his words. I wait patiently for what he has to say, or I fill in if I know where he's going. But heading up to the Acorn Woodpecker territory he does get frustrated with himself. There I go again. There's probably nothing I can say to reassure him.

But it was actually nice to talk with him as we went up the hill. He seems like a good guy. And his little dog is a very good boy.

I had to say goodbye once we got to my usual turn-around point the end of the Acorn Woodpecker territory... He said I was missing the best part. Which, yeah, Wild Iris is awesome and has it's own Acorn Woodpecker territories!! But today, I'm here for this family.

Mark and little white dog continue up the hill and ... Oh my gosh! A female?

Yep! A black band separates the white on her face from a smaller red cap! I don't get to see the females up here very often!!

She's just up there on guard duty, and nothing else is going on. So I start walking back down the hill, kind of disappointed.

This granary tree could use some maintenance...

The acorn at the top is cracked and the on at the bottom is just a shell and missing the nut!

Oh, nice... I get another chance! I think this is a different female.

She pulls an acorn out... and flies away!

Huh. Is she going to eat it? or put it someplace else? I can't see where she's flown to, there's trees in the way.

And then a male lands on another nearby granary tree! This is so awesome!

I think he is checking acorns and putting them back?

Or maybe moving them into a better hole?

And off he goes!

And I head back down the hill.

Hello Mx Junco! Did you know you have a stick on your head?

Well, yeah. You are undeniably cute even with a stick oh your head!

We have had about two weeks now, of cooler than normal temperatures... On Friday the high was 67° (19°C)!! It's August! The hottest part of the summer? Instead we get the coldest part of summer!

Crazy! In the forecast, it looks like the days are going to warm up again. And today will be 82° ... But the nights are looking cooler than normal in the forecast.

The Lemon Cucumbers haven't done much of anything in the cooler temperatures... I've gathered single Lemon Cucs here and there, but the last real harvests were Aug12 and Aug13, both days I got three Lemon Cucs and harvests had been great and steady before then.

Sighs. I had 12 Lemon Cucumber plants this year, and it's still not the year I make myself sick of eating Lemon Cucumbers! *laughs* Try again next year!!

The Brandywine has a lot of dead leaves and branches, but there are a good number of tomatoes being made!

Mmmm! Brandywines are the Best!

The Old German has some tomatoes that are not ripening in the cool temperatures. I hope they start to get some colour with the warmer weather thats coming, because these are really, Very Yummy tomatoes!!

The first Black Tomato is still ripening... The Black Tomato was the last plant I put in the ground in June, so it's not quite as advanced as the other big tomato plants.

The Aubergine, doing its own thing under the leaves. I water it well, but mostly just ignore it!

OH! The volunteer Sunflower at the Wax Bean trellis is blooming!

Hahaha! It looks ridiculously tall... it's probably 8feet. And in front of it are the Wax Beans. And behind it on the left is the big bush of volunteer Sunchokes. And at their base, next to the stake are the Leeks!

The stunted Sunflower at the front of the plot is also thinking about blooming!

I've picked 88 Wax Beans today! Ha! Also really glad to have all those SunGolds, since the big tomatoes haven't been ripening!

And I've been letting the summer squashes grow a bit bigger... the cooler temperatures have slowed down their production for sure and I've caught up with eating them. I only have THREE zucs at home!

I love the volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch!

It's just 2meters tall, and that's a much more personable height than the 8foot bean trellis sunflower! *laughs*

The Unknown Geranium-type wildflower at the back of the Tofu Patch. Wish I could figure out what it is!

And the Soybeans? Ha!

Yep, they are starting to make some pods, the poor things. They are very stunted, barely 1foot tall... Soybean plants should grow to 3 or 4 feet tall. The dirt here is just not healthy, I think. And I still need to figure out how I'm going to fix that!

Getting artsy!

I head home and get some lunch going.

I'm sitting on the couch with the newspaper. I've already done the sudoku and I'm working on the word find puzzle.

A bit of motion catches my eye on the right, and I look up and there's a black cat standing there.

In the living room.

I jump!
The cat jumps!

I don't see which direction he goes, so I'm carefully looking around.

And you know what the first question that pops into my brain?

How LONG has a cat been in our house?? and then also, How do you NOT NOTICE a cat in your house??! *laughs*

I look towards the front door and then I worry that he went under the couch.

And THEN it occurs to me to wonder about how he got in.

I immediately have a suspicion. I go to the porch room, we've got a sliding glass door that's been open all summer with the box fan in front of it, pulling in the cool night air.

Sure enough, that's where Blacky is... he's jammed himself between the screen door and the box fan!

And when he sees I have found him, he squeezes thru the hole in the screen to escape to the outside... a perfectly round, cat sized hole that he apparently made for himself!!

Bahahaha.

I stuck a towel in the hole and I've been checking it obsessively ever since!

The Unnamed Grey Squirrel has been around most mornings for the past week or more...

I notice him because he's always yelling at someone, chattering and banging his hand! Sometimes I can see he's annoyed at a cat. But other times... maybe he sees ghosts!

I'm walking out past the bike path and into the downtown neighborhoods. Wayside Micro Park looks so sad and pathetic without the big Mimosa trees shading it. :(

They have planted new trees here. A Big Leaf Maple and a Black Gum, but they are just saplings. But... !!

Aww! The Mimosa is making a come back!! I hope they keep it!

I wonder if someone planted the sunflowers or if they just showed up. :)

Oh, wow! The colours on this double petal Hibiscus are making me happy!

Here's a traditional Hibiscus, and it's pretty as well!

Ha! The clouds are making speech bubbles. 🗪 *laughs*

As I approach the bridge with the nest... a Barn Swallow flies in and lands on the nest! What the heck!

You can't go home again!

I go by the Community Garden on the way back... a fledgling!

And is this one of your parents?

The car has been in the shop for over two weeks now, and I have Partner call them about it because we haven't heard a single thing yet.

I would be annoyed at the lack of communication... but we are still trying to figure out what to do. I'm wondering who has to pay for the tow if we donate the car.

The mechanic tells Partner that the spark isn't getting thru the ignition and we may need a new sensor.

Me: Yeah. That's the 700$ part [that we paid for three months ago, and we are not doing that again]!
Partner: No, no. This is going to be something simple.

Sighs. I let it go.

Good Morning My Dear!

Another cooler than usual day, the high is just 77° (25°C). The rain of friday has dried out and I'll need to water at the garden again.

Oh, wow. I Love these!

And they've got some pretty succulents underneath!

Oh, nice. Someone left some freebie Strawberries at the picnic table!

Marilyn had posted at the facebook group a few days ago. These are Seascape strawberries and ever-bearing. I nab a few!

My hands are full of free strawberry plants, when I see this big boy. He's hunting someone under the tarp!

The new Strawberries look nice and green but the leaves are actually completely dried out. I'm not sure if they'll do anything, especially since I won't be able to plant them today.

The House Finches are hanging out with me...

And I think I see a juvenile White Crown Sparrow with them, as well. And then a Rufous Hummingbird zips by! So cool!

I love to be surrounded by birds!!

I've picked the first Black Tomato!! The other one is a not quite ripe Brandywine.

As I gathered all that, a Cooper Hawk flies over the Community Garden!!

And then I am no longer surrounded by little birds... they all fly away and hide!

I've still got some wildlife to take pics of tho!

Volunteer Tomatillos! They make me happy!

The volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch also makes me happy!

Heading out. Hello My Dear!

Oh! The Crows are having a gathering!

Some of the Crows have followed me!

Ha! This is a pear tree? I never noticed!

Good Morning Mr Unnamed.

Some roses, in the shade... I decided to not fix the colour because I like them like this! ha.

But once you get out from under the shadows of the trees, it's a bright and clear day.

Today's garden work is clearing more of the Snap Pea patch so I can plant the freebie Strawberries I picked up yesterday! Seascape Strawberries.

I plant them next to the couple of Strawberry plants I've already got... but shoot, I don't know. They look pretty pathetic next to the established plants, and like I mentioned yesterday, the leaves are green but they are so dry I'm pretty sure they are dead. Maybe the roots will revive with some heavy watering?

Michelle, who has a garden plot further down the row I'm on, stopped by my plot today as I was working. After greeting each other and exchanging pleasantries, she said, I saw your photo.

*Confusion* My first thought was oh boy, they've found my website. But then I was all, wait. She said photo. Singular. That is one word that does NOT describe my website!

Out loud I repeated, You saw my photo? Yeah, I really like it.

I repeat again, You saw my photo... Where?

She finally sees my confusion and pauses. Um, she says. The photo contest?

Ah! Now I get it! There was a photo... of my plot, but it was taken from over there, I pointed at the neighboring plot. It's not my photo!

Haha. I don't usually participate in the Community Garden Photo Contest. It's just too hard to choose a photo to submit! Plus... what if I don't win???

*laughs* But it's fun to look at everyone else's pics!

∞ 2024 Eugene Community Gardens Photo Contest
And here's the photo in question: Sunset

It's a lovely shot, and that's the Sunflower I bought, right there, below the sun... well, the seed head, at least! Not many petals left on it! :)

Ugh. Normally, I love graffiti. And I'm sure this person meant well. But, ugh, this sentiment just annoys me...

It's nice and all for your story to have a happy ending. But that's fiction.

At the actual end? We die. And thinking about The Actual End makes me spiral down the drain of doom... Our trees are dying, climate change, bugs are dying, how long is civilization going to last... kinda depressing. Probably not the response they wanted to elicit with those hearts and all.

Sighs.

Later in the day, there's something horrific...

∞ Eugene police seeking witnesses to rape at Wild Iris Ridge

A second rape on the paths!

This POS also wasn't caught, so unknown if this was the same guy... or if the first rape has emboldened violent tendencies in other men.

Pepper Spray Gel, 2 cans for 24$ on amz, in my cart.

And I guess I won't be walking out there anymore.

Last night was so chilly, 46° (8°C) Brr! But it's warming up fast. Looks like there's going to be one last burst of summer here... to be 94° (34°C) today, and more of the same in the forecast.

At the garden, I am watering the heck out of the new Seascape Strawberries.

Maybe they will live?

The volunteer Sunflower in the Tofu Patch is looking lovely.

Haha. I didn't notice the cute little Honey Bee resting on the petal.

An Old German is ripening.

And the poor Brandywine, leaves and branches dying all over the place. From the cooler nights? Maybe! It's just a delicate plant, it tends to not do well if you even look at it funny! haha!

I picked two Brandywines today, along with an Old German!

I'm bringing some SunGolds home... but they aren't sweet anymore. That's def a result of the chilly nights. Arg, such a bummer. Will the sweetness come back with the hot days we've got coming??

And all those Wax Beans! 84 today, and it's definitely time to start freezing some batches!

One of the volunteer Sunflowers in the front is blooming! It's stunted, maybe a meter tall. But that's okay, it's putting some cheer into the front of the plot!

I'm heading out, but I get distracted by these lovely double petal Cosmos!

When I get home, I'm getting a first batch of Wax Beans taken care of...

Rinsed, and chopped up, I throw them in a big bowl with water and a bit of salt and start nuking. I test one after 16minutes, but it feels like it's still raw. I keep adding time and testing, more and more time, and this is just ridiculous!

*laughs*

I finally get tired of the process and dump the water and let the Wax Beans cool off for a bit. Then I put them in a labeled zip lock and into the freezer.

That was batch #1, and there's a lot in the fridge to process... and a lot more Wax Beans coming! I'll need to figure out how much longer I need to nuke these things... I lost track of how much time I actually cooked them!

It got down to 42° (5°C) last night, Gah! But you can hardly tell it got that cold. The morning is heating up fast and it'll be 96° (35°C) today!

I walk out to the garden and suddenly wish I had brought both of my water bottles... AND I wish I had put ice in the water bottle I did bring! ha!

It's hot. And it feels worse since we've had much cooler weather for the past two weeks. The body just isn't used to this hot weather anymore!

The new Seascape Strawberries are starting to look better! Yay!

Tofu Patch Sunflower!

And below it... Soybeans!

And I was just noticing this little plant, on the other side of the tofu patch. That overexposed thing -- sheesh, what a terrible photographer, haha -- might be a Zinnia next to the unidentified geranium-type wildflower.

I had planted Zinnia seeds the same time I planted the Buckwheat here as a summer cover crop. The cover crop idea did not work out at all... most everything in this area is stunted. So I wasn't really paying much attention.

It probably won't do anything. It's way too late in the season for it to make flowers. But you never know. Plus, it's nice to know that Zinnias might actually live if I put seeds down in a nicer spot!

After spending a lot of time watering everything, I have to spend some time harvesting some Wax Beans. *laughs* 88 today! It's fun picking all these beans, but, yeah, it does take a minute!

Do not talk to me about that one, malformed and tiny Lemon Cucumber. SIGHS.

This is the volunteer Sunflower in the front...

Seeing as it's only about 3feet tall, that was a VERY Awkward photo, with me crouching and trying to point the camera up. *laughs* The lengths I go, for my art! *snark!!*

From this more comfortable angle...

You can see into the vandalized neighbor's plot, there at the upper left. They have removed all the dead plants and have kind of leveled the raised beds. It's such a shame, to have to look at all that dead and useless dirt over there.

And speaking of dead and useless. This is an Amaranth that's growing in the Lemon Cucumber patch...

You see that green trellis there? That green trellis that is NOT covered with Lemon Cucumber plants?!!!

*laughs* Dang it. I had such glorious plans for all the glorious Lemon Cucumbers that would cover that little trellis.

Well. Maybe next year.

∞ Eugene Police investigating two sexual assaults on West Eugene trails, increasing patrols and security measures

Gearing up for another hot day, to be 96° (35°C).

Walking out to the garden, I met this one again. I've seen her three or four times here in the last week or so. So I guess she's a survivor, even with her poor wing.

Okay. Here I am at my own garden plot, and let me tell you. The weeks of cool daytime temperatures, and the recent very chilly nights are wreaking havoc here.

The Brandywine has more than a few dead leaves and branches. It's dead!

The SunGolds have lost their sweetness... and they are kind of GROSS without their signature flavor. The plants are tough -- they aren't delicate like the poor Brandywine -- and they have loads of fruit. But I'm not going to bring any more home unless they sweeten up again.

And I need to face facts here... the precious Lemon Cucumbers are dying...

Arg. 12 plants! Dying in August! August! When they should be at their peak production! Arg! It's just such a disappointment. Stupid climate change!!

Well. All is not lost! The rest of the garden is still chugging along.

Tomatillos under the Wax Bean trellis.

There's also a Butternut from the Squash Square climbing up the back of the Wax Bean trellis! That makes me happy!

And the Aubergine plant is doing it's thing.

I've decided to pull out the second volunteer beet today...

It's nice and big, and I do want to eat it... but mostly I'm just tired of eating Wax Beans and need something different! *laughs*

I'll be boiling and freezing another batch of Wax Beans later today!