2025

Good Morning Babies!

oh crum. The spider is so industrious! *laughs*

okay! All the wildlife in Dragonfly Land is very cute. But I'm heading to the garden!

The Buttercups...

When I arrived, one of the Buttercups was a bit wilted and droopy. I propped it back up on the trellis and gave them a good watering.

But here's the problem... the base of the stem has Holes in it!

Dang it. That's the same thing that killed the Accidental Lemon Cucumber! Does a bug do that? It's very annoying!

But it recovered after I propped it up, so I guess the holes are fine, as long as the plant keeps the correct angle for the nutrients to flow.

Well. It doesn't even matter. These little plants aren't going to get big enough to make any fruits. The season won't be long enough, and they've made a few more leaves, but haven't really grown much since I transplanted them.

That ripening Green Zebra. I'm looking forward to tasting it!

I'm going around, gathering the harvest of the day...

And the diagonal neighbor walks by and offers a couple of Peaches!

Oh my gosh, Yes Please!!

I ask where they come from and he says he has a tree in his yard at home.

Oh, that's nice! If I had a yard, I would have a Peach tree. And a Persimmon tree. :)

The harvest and the peaches just barely fit into the small backpack... but I had to carry my water bottle in my hand on the way home! ha.

Oh hey! New graffiti!

I've seen that pyramid symbol before, but only on the west end of the bike path. This is well outside this artist's usual range.

Good! It's nice to see others going for walk abouts as well!

A Green Heron... and it's NOT Greenie!

I pulled up a photo of Greenie to figure it out... Greenie has a more solid and darker coloured cap, and this one is just more stripy.

I looked it up and, ah, extra stripy is a trait of juveniles!!

And that explains the feeling I got as I was watching him... The look he was giving me was that of a Clueless Newbie!

Bahaha! Taking in the whole world! Everything is New and Amazing!

And here's a couple more clueless newbies. Sleepy Babies!

The spider web in front of the Barn Swallow nest has been mostly cleared again! Just a little section of web that's catching the light... like the parent just got an idea! haha.

Dragonfly Land is such a beautiful place! Blue Dashers, galore!

One more glance up at the parent.

At the Community Garden, I walk by the front plots instead of going straight back to my plot... These Corn silks catch my eye!

And then these Nasturtiums, in the same plot are a new colour! I like it!

At my plot, I decide to do some weeding. I've noticed this plant in the Tomato area...

This is a return of the Black Bindweed that I had last year. I had let it bloom, because I was curious, and it spreads by seeds.

No big deal. It's satisfying to pull it out, and it hadn't started any blooms this time.

The leaves of Black Bindweed look similar to Field Bindweed... but they are not related at all, and have very different flowers.

Another wildflower that's very satisfying to pull out is Smartweed!!

Smartweed is a native, and the blooms are visited by lots of different pollinators!

But it tends to form a mat when it gets big, and it will choke off other plants. So you've got to be careful about that, and pull up any baby plants that come up too close to the veggies.

But that's also the thing that makes it satisfying... you pull up one mature plant, and suddenly you've got three square feet of cleared dirt! Ha!

Okay. I've mostly filled up my bucket with all the different wildflowers! I feel accomplished!

That's the ProCut Plum Sunflower... the petals didn't last very long! ha! Birds pluck them out to make it easier to get to the seeds! :)

The small Strawberry's pet Nasturtium has a bloom!

Hello? Heeello-oo? No? Fine!

We've got some very nice cloud cover this morning and the forecast says 80° ... but the clouds linger thru the day and the actual high is just 73°!

That's been happening a lot this year... Every once in a while, the morning forecast is extremely not what's actually happening. And they really should have a firm grasp of the weather forecast on the morning of.

I'm going to attribute this to DOGE cuts. It's sad to see the fall of civilization.

(Not that stupid America, or our weather forecasting is all of civilization, but you know what I mean!)

Hi Squirrel Baby! You think the clouds are just fine and who cares about civilization?! Yeah, you're right!

Oh, hey! Lesser Goldfinch!

I'm doing my Point and Click and Hope... But I get no cooperation from the camera.

And no cooperation from little bird, either! haha.

Green Zebra...

yeah, I don't know what is up with all the dead branches on this thing! It's still making fruits, but it is def not a healthy plant. Sighs.

Hi Honey Bee!

Oh no! The Aubergine has curled up it's leaves!

Dang it. Not enough water? I just can't do anything right in the garden this year!

But look underneath! ha!

The Wax Beans and all are doing okay under the big trellis.

That big ol' fluffy thing at the bottom right is the biggest Love in a Mist that I've ever had.

And check this out... the Crookneck that I planted as a seed? It's growing it's first fruit, and it's Textured!!

Funny! It has different leaves too... Here's the Nasturtium between the two Crooknecks...

The seed planted Crookneck is top left, and the transplanted Crookneck I got from the Farmers Market is bottom right and much deeper lobes!

The Lemon Cucumbers on the small trellis.

There's three Cuc plants there... two transplants and one that came up as a direct sown seed. And the leaves of both of the ProCut sunflowers, top left.

Today's harvest. And, ha, those are some Sugar Snap Peas... the plants are mostly dead, but you know how the tops keep going sometimes.

oops! I was looking at the new little volunteer squash...

I must have soaked this little Bumblebee when I was watering. So sorry my dear! But no worries, you'll dry out in a couple minutes!

A little group of sparrows twitters close by... Oh! I think this is a juvenile White Crown Sparrow!!

Good to see them migrating!

Heading out. But with the cloud cover, you can actually see the plants and so I take a couple more pics to remind me what this years plot looks like!

The left side. (The straw is the left neighbor.)

And the right side... where you can see my extreme fondness for Borage!

And from the right front.

And yeah, I am ridiculously happy about that Red Amaranth that has grown up in a perfect place!

The wild type Amaranth is short and green, and I remove a lot of it because it's so prolific! I keep a lot for the bugs and birds, of course. But this one I kept, for it's lovely colour!

The forecast says 79° today and minus the heavy clouds that kept yesterday so cool, we will almost get there. (Actual high today is 78°.)

Normal for this time of year is 86°, so the cooler days are definitely nice. Tho we will probably be paying for them with more heat waves. The next one looks to be in the forecast... mid-90s for the weekend. blah.

*laughs* I'm thrilled that I keep getting to see the Scrub Jay fledglings here... but they never want to be photogenic!

There's no parent sitting in the Barn Swallow nest. hmmmmm....

Extreme zoom. And never mind the feathers that are lining the nest. But I think the orange is baby beaks!

The parents must be out collecting bugs! Yay!

I'm at the garden, the Aubergine is looking a little better today. I had watered the heck out of it yesterday when I found it's poor curled leaves. And I watered the heck out of it again today!

I think it got dried out because it's at the edge of the plot.

I decided to harvest the first Beet today. It is huge! I weighed it when I got home, just over 1.5 pounds!

And my daily allowance of Sungolds! *laughs* I've been getting four or five Sungolds most every day for a week now.

As I was crouched on the ground, taking photos of the big o' beet, I noticed motion right next to me...

Oh cool! Yellow Jackets! My cute little pollinators!

Not pollinating at the moment! But trying to murder someone... The adults just eat sugars, but their children need protein.

I watch them for a few minutes, trying to see who is putting up such a fight. It's a Housefly!

Well, I leave them to it and back away slowly.

I've never been stung, as an adult. And I feel like Yellow Jackets are pretty smart and they understand that I am just curious about them.

They are native insects, and I wish only the best for them!

Heading home... I get to eat a good handful of Himalayan Blackberries!

Oh yeah! Yum!

To be 86° (30°C) today, a perfectly normal and lovely summer day!

I would wish all my summer days could be like this! And, once upon a time, that's how it was here. Mid-80s was the hottest part of the summer! And it didn't even last all of August. It normally starts dropping to the lower 80s by the end of the month!

But, we've got climate change and that heat wave in the forecast for this weekend... is starting to look concerning. Mid-90s then 101° on Monday? ugh.

But I'm excited to see the Barn Swallow nest, so I hurry on out there!

Yay!

That's four blurry Barn Swallow baby beaks! Some baby fluff on their heads and eyes pretty closed!

Oh! I guess their eyes are opening a little!

So cute! The last batch was five babies, and I'm wondering if there's a fifth hidden behind the siblings!

Okay! To the garden!

The texture on the front Crookneck makes it look like a gourd! ha!

The Tomatillos, the leaves are so pretty!

Underneath, I noticed this weird yellow fruit.

It's much smaller than a normal Tomatillo, and I've never seen that shade of yellow. The husk normally stays green, sometimes has purple veins.

When I touch it, it falls off. And it's completely empty, no fruit inside. I guess it didn't get fertilized.

Well, that is the only weird one... there's plenty of normal ones coming on!

A small harvest today.

I am really wishing for more Sungolds... The two plants are gearing up, I just need to be patient!

The ProCut Plum with the Body of the ProCut Red in the background...

That ProCut Red is close to five foot tall, and the leaves are so solid... I am always thinking it's a human standing in my plot!

I have jumped So Many Times! because I thought someone snuck up on me and was in my plot. *laughs*

Okay! These pink flowers catch my eye as I'm heading out!

Clouds this morning and a crazy 20% chance of rain... haha, it never rains in August! But my goodness, the house is humid. Good thing I won't need my make-shift swamp cooler today! It's not going to work with this kind of humidity!

We've got a couple of nice days -- high of 78° for today and tomorrow. But the 100° heat wave is still sitting in the forecast for the weekend.

So nice to walk without the sun beating down!

Oh Hello Mackerel Sky!

And the Barn Swallow babies on the other side of the bridge.

The cloudy day makes for bad photos. oh well.

A parent flies in with food!

One baby is still hungry.

The parent gives me a look, before flying off.

And the other parent has been circling and they fly in and feed the hungry one!

Well. Yesterday I saw four babies but today I've only got photographic proof of three. ha.

Try again tomorrow, I guess. Tho, thinking about the future, the heat wave in the forecast has me worried.

Mackerel Sky is still on the other side of the bridge and had been posing for a lady taking pics with her phone!

All this attention is probably turning her into a diva!

Okay! Back at the garden!

The small Strawberry's Pet Nasturtium!

So happy with the Wax Beans vining and everything growing at the big trellis...

But you know what? I've been calling that fluffy thing on the right a Love in the Mist. But it's so big. And it suddenly occurred to me that it's actually a Cosmos!!

So that's very exciting! I've never had a volunteer Cosmos before!

And turn to look at the Patty Pan...

That little tomato plant on the left is a volunteer that I've been watering. It's a cute thing, but as a second generation from the Sungolds, the cherry tomatoes will be red and won't taste very good.

Since the day is so nice, I should probably do some work. I decided to clear a bit at the back of the small trellis.

I had planted these Nasturtiums as seeds, and they don't need all those wild Amaranths and Crab Grass choking them out!

When I'm done, the Nasturtiums are a bit worse for the wear!

I prop them up with extra dirt around their bases, and hope for the best.

I pulled that first textured Crookneck from the plant that I put down as a seed!

As I was watering, a hummingbird buzzed me.

I dropped the hose and grabbed the camera and chased after them. *laughs*

Alighted on Kevin's trellis... and moved on before the camera could focus. They looked at the Scarlet Runner Bean blossoms... and again, too fast for me. Alit on the other side of the trellis... I walked around, and they buzzed away the instant I had a clear view.

Gah! Little stinker! *laughs* But then... !

Oh my gosh! That little patch of orange!!!

They are a Rufous Hummingbird!!! Either a female or a juvenile male!

Probably migrating thru... but My Dear? Could you stay for a few days? So I get another chance? Please?!

*smiles*

That weird 20% chance of rain stayed in the forecast, and at 3:30am we actually did get a couple minutes of sprinkles! Ha. It didn't even register as a trace tho, the weather data for today says 0.00 precipitation!

But the clouds have hung around and I decide to skip the garden today. I head in the opposite direction!

Oh, these blue flowers are pretty. I don't know what they are!

All kinds of interesting flowers here!

And creatures! ha!

Haha!

I walk away, but I'm thinking hard... I've got my small backpack because I've brought my water bottle. And the summer squash plants at the garden plot are not doing much yet. Maybe I could come back this way, after the park?

Finally at the park!

The lovely cloud cover is starting to break up.

Once I got under the trees in the little bit of forest, I sat down to drink some water. I look up...

Oh nice! I watch the wasps buzzing around the nest for a few minutes.

It's up in the tree far enough that the wasps don't mind the humans who are walking by on the trail, or playing Frisbee golf.

I walk thru the forest. There's some birds singing, but nobody close by, and I don't even catch a glimpse.

But I can usually find some wildlife at the ditch in the back.

Wood Pewee!

I come around the corner... oh no! What happened??!

What a terrible shame! This big beautiful shade tree.

There must have been something wrong with it. It sheared off at it's base almost straight across, left all the roots in the ground!

And just a couple feet of bark left standing where it was.

Ugh. This is just too sad.

I take a few more photos, but my heart just isn't in it anymore.

And I do go back home the same way I came out... and filled up the backpack with Free Zucchinis! That's something to cheer me up a little, at least.

A perfectly nice summer day, to be 84°. That 100° weekend is still in the forecast... One last blast of summer heat before things cools off. Hopefully, anyway.

Good Morning my cute little fledgling!

Greenie, is that you?

It is! I wondered if this could be that juvenile Green Heron of the other day... But nope! This is Greenie! Back in their favorite hunting spot!

They've been preening. That's feather fluff on their beak.

Thank You Greenie!! So good to see you... will you be migrating soon? You're thinking about it?

And then on the other side of the bridge... Hi Babies!

I'm pretty sure it's just four children for this round.

And the upcoming heat wave has me very concerned. I do Not want to get too attached to these kids. Sighs.

I walk over to Dragonfly Land. This is a Common Whitetail, a male.

And I watch the minnows for few minutes as well.

When I looked a little closer at my photos, I noticed this... and my first reaction was Eeew! Are those Leeches???

*laughs* I think they are! Baby Leeches!

The minnows are around an inch long, so the little Leeches are maybe a bit over a centimeter.

I'm a little disappointed at my initial Ew! I mean, they can't help it that they don't have a face or anything, cute or otherwise.

And they are as much a part of nature as Greenie and the Barn Swallows and the minnows!

As I walk back, a parent Barn Swallow flies in to feed one of the kids... but I miss that action.

And in a moment, they are zonking out like the babies they are!

Walking to the Community Garden, I find some other babies!

At the garden plot I'm just doing a quick watering.

I was almost done and I was crouched at the Green Zebra, giving it a bit extra water because it always looks so pathetic.

Motion caught my eye and there's a SNAKE!!! Slithering right under my knee! Literally inches away!!!

Ha!! SO AWESOME! A little Garter Snake, I saw their stripes.

I only had a little window, looking down on the snake so have no idea how big. But maybe (not quite) twice as thick as a pencil, and fairly long! 2feet? But that's just a guesstimate, no way of really knowing!

Very pleased to almost meet a snake! *laughs* and very happy they are visiting my plot!! Yay!

The Perth Pride has made some fruits... that's one of the root bound freebie veggie starts that arrived from LogHouse Plants.

I'm glad it's gotten to do something... I don't think the Buttercup I got at the same time, will recover in time to make any fruits.

There's a second fruit on the Aubergine!

It's mostly recovered from the day I didn't water it enough, altho it still looks pretty pathetic. It lost most of it's flowers from that incident... but it kept this one!

The healthy Lemon Cucumber is doing fine.

And I've gotten a couple cucs from the two sibling Lemon Cuc plants as well. I just wish for more! Lemon Cucumbers are my favorite and I would eat them all day, every day, if I could!

Ha... that Purple Leaf Plum tree above looks like an echo of the ProCut Red sunflower!

I've gathered todays harvest... the most Basil yet!

And heading out... ha! I didn't realize how tall the Wax Beans were getting until I saw this photo! The leaves on the right side of the big trellis go almost all the way up!

And the bushy green thing on the left is the Sunchoke. It got a slow start this spring, because I had tried to kill it and dug up almost all the roots last November.

ha! Then I changed my mind and decided to let it grow again this year. *rolls eyes* at self!

The high today is 88° and the Extreme Heat Warning begins tomorrow. ugh. But today is still okay.

Good Morning Babies!

And Good Morning Other Babies!

I am extremely worried about them, with the heat wave coming. And probably heat gets trapped up there, the nest is right next to the ceiling.

*unhappy*

At the garden. The ProCut Plum is making a couple more flower buds!

ha, this angle amuses me!

There are three Lemon Cucumber plants growing on the small trellis... the healthy one on the left and the two smaller siblings on the right (which is one transplant survivor, and the one and only cuc that came up from seed).

I have concerns about the Lemon Cucumber plants surviving the heat wave as well. They aren't very tough.

But they surely are pretty right now!

The small Strawberry's pet Nasturtium!

This is the freebie Buttercup. It's made a bunch of leaves, but has stayed small. It's not going to have time to make any fruit.

When I look up, this view amuses me as well.

As I leave the garden, there's a Turkey Vulture circling.

She must see me looking at her, because she circles closer and closer.

And then she goes right over me! The camera doesn't focus, of course, but I'm so delighted that I giggle!

Turkey Vultures are my favorite! It always makes my day when I see them!

Extreme heat warning today, and the forecast has changed from two days of 100° to now three days of 100°.

So this is not good.

And today, seeing my friends the Vultures... is a little bit more ominous...

I don't think we are all going to survive this round of heat wave.

A parent flies in with food.

and is gone in an instant.

Sighs. I just can't get the exposure right today. and I'm sad that it's probably getting close to the end for these babies.

I take a break at Dragonfly Land.

But one more glance up.

At the garden, I do some watering. But the Lemon Cucumbers are wilted already.

And when I harvest...

You see that Sungold that's cracked open? That means I've been watering the tomato plants too much!

But what can I do? It's 100°!

Sighs.

Yesterday it hit 99° and I did not sleep at all last night. Too hot.

The house didn't cool down much at all over night... it is still 76° upstairs and 70° downstairs, first thing this morning. Not a happy beginning, made worse with the grumpiness of no sleep.

But I try to set my attitude aside so I can enjoy the walk today.

These three Crows must be siblings! They were delighting in the sound of their own voices, and it made me laugh!

Hello My Dear!

I walked down to the Barn Swallow bridge, with trepidation. But there was a homeless guy standing right where I need to lean over the water wall to see the nest. I'll try again, after the garden.

The two sibling Lemon Cucumbers are still droopy. I will water them all to heck, but that didn't make them any happier yesterday.

I harvested the first two Green Zebra Tomatoes today!

It looks like I am the last one in the Garden, so I go around to make sure the tool shed is locked up... apparently we've had some irresponsible gardeners who have been leaving everything open. Grr!

I love the Red Amaranths! Such a beautiful colour!

oh wow, check this thing out!

That's interesting.

These things are interesting too! Could they be Luffas?

I walk down to the bridge...

All four babies are up there... two faces and two tails...

But you can tell they are distressed.

They are standing like that probably to get some air flow around their bodies. :(

Poor babies. I am so sorry.

Humans and our climate change are terrible. And I am so sorry.

Yesterday hit 103° and it didn't even break the record: 104° set in 1992.

The house, this morning, is at the same state as yesterday, hasn't cooled down enough over night. So we are starting out with 75° upstairs and 68° downstairs.

I got better sleep due to pure exhaustion... it's not just that I didn't sleep the night before. The brain power it takes to deal with the heat, is tiring as well. But I feel better this morning and I feel more capable of surviving the day.

I've been able to keep the upstairs about 10° cooler than the high... but that's not terribly useful when the high is over 100. The upstairs is miserable.

The downstairs, tho, I've been able to keep cooler by an additional 8 to 10°... so yesterday evening was about 82° and that is uncomfortable but livable.

This morning, when I closed up the downstairs to trap the cool air... the upstairs started feeling oppressive right away. ugh. So I moved the box fan up immediately and set up the make-shift swamp cooler.

It definitely helps. My side of the upstairs stays terrible, but on the other side of the swamp cooler, it's 4 or 5° cooler. Plus the breeze helps as well.

Anyway.

I head out for my walk.

At the Barn Swallow bridge, that same homeless guy is standing in the same place again. So I go to the garden.

The Lemon Cucumber siblings are still droopy.

And the Basil is droopy as well. But the Basil perks up after I water it, and the Cucumber plants do not.

They just hate the extreme heat... And on top of that, the bigger healthy Lemon Cuc plant is getting yellow leaves. Is that the heat as well, or is that too much water? Sheesh. Damned, either way.

I'm going to focus on good things. The very first Wax Bean!

I'm trying to capture how pretty the Buckwheat is... The plants that have grown at the front part of the Fallow Area have just gotten huge! But the flowers and seed groups are so little, the photography just doesn't do it!

This is the little Unknown plant that popped up after I moved that volunteer Tomatillo from the pathway. Unfortunately, it's gonna get it's light cut off before too long... The beans are growing on the trellis!

There is a third fruit growing on the Aubergine!

The top bloom of the ProCut Red.

The birds are starting to eat the seeds from the ProCut Plum! That makes me happy!

Top left is the Sunchoke. And you can see some of the Brandywine tomatoes on the right!

The heat is starting to slow down the Sungolds.

I walked down to the Barn Swallow bridge again, but the homeless guy was still there.

And you know what. Maybe it's just as well. The babies were having a hard time yesterday. I don't actually want to witness them dying.

Sighs.

It's been three days of 100° heat, and the high today is 93°. Still very hot, but there's some much cooler temperatures in the forecast for the weekend. Upper 70s will be a relief.

I walk out to the Barn Swallow nest with resigned dread.

The homeless guy is nowhere to be seen today, and it's way too quiet at the bridge.

I look over and the nest is empty except for some feathers from the lining sticking up.

The parents probably cleared the nest, as the babies died of the heat.

Ugh. So tragic.

And traumatized parents too. They won't be returning to this nest next year because of this.

Which means my days of watching Barn Swallow babies are over. The parents at the other nest didn't return this year, also because of a nest failure. Same reason. Heat wave.

I do all I can to fight climate change. I'm Vegan. I don't drive. It doesn't seem like enough. And it's not enough, of course. Humans needed to change their ways back in the 1970s.

Instead we've got dead baby birds.

At the garden, I do a quick watering. I've been over watering everything because of the heat and all the tomatoes are splitting.

I feel like destruction, so I pull some Smartweeds.

I left quite a bit of Borage, but it's easier to walk past the back of the big trellis now.

And I freed up the Volunteer Squashes as well...

I think the biggest squash feels better now. I still don't know what it is... it's vining so it's probably a winter squash. But it's only made male flowers.

Maybe the space I made will encourage it to make some fruits.

Just a handful of Sungolds again, because of the heat. But the summer squashes are still powering thru.

The neighbor is growing Dahlias, and I love this colour!

Good Morning Baby! Aren't you cute!

There's some morning clouds that are starting to break up as I walk. The high today is 85° and after the days of 100° a day of normal summer temperature feels good.

Someone has been feeding grain to the ducks at the bridge right before the Community Garden, so there's a bunch of Mallards congregated there.

After I walk past it, this teenager stage duckling is paddling to the bridge and peeping for his Mama...

But about 2 dozen ducks from under the bridge come to see what's going on!! Haha, the little one was so embarrassed at all the attention, they start preening like nothing was happening! *laughs*

At the Community Garden, there's some cars in the parking lot, but everything has grown big so you can't see the humans in their plots! I walk about to look at flowers!

What a lovely border!

Haha, their cucumber plant is trying to climb over these little Zinnias!

I gather a bit at my own plot. That's the second Green Zebra... there's more coming on that are a good bit bigger than that little thing!

And I was so excited about picking the first Wax Beans, that those two are not quite as filled out as I like them!

I was trying to capture the clouds and the amazingness of all our Sunflowers.

Photobombed by a Black Saddlebags Dragonfly!

This large dragonfly is very common here, they like to fly over the bike path. I never get to take their portrait, tho, because I've never seen them sitting down anywhere!! Very busy creatures!

Look at how pathetic the poor Lemon Cucumber plants are. The healthy one on the left is mostly okay, but the siblings on the right, arg!

The Crooknecks in the front are getting some yellow leaves as well. I guess that's from my over watering during the heat wave?

I put 200 postcards in the mail today! ha!

I've been volunteering for Postcards to Swing States. I got my packet of pcs at the beginning of July, with a due date of today... and I've been writing about 5 postcards a day since then!

I finished a couple days ago, and today I fed them into the outgoing mail slot!!

Yay Postcards!

Some morning clouds and a high of 79° today.

And there's an 80% chance of rain tonight? That can't be right... but is anything normal this year?

There was a small group of American Goldfinches twittering thru the Community Garden today! They don't nest here, but migrate in for the winter.

It's nice to have them again. But they were too jumpy about humans! haha, I couldn't even get close to them! But I did catch a couple of House Finches!

The Volunteer Squashes that I weeded yesterday are definitely looking happier today!

So I decided to weed a path for the other side of the big trellis today! Here's the before photo. Nevermind the poor wilted Lemon Cucumber plants at the right edge there. The heat killed them.

And here's the After pic!

I also freed up the Mystery Plant and the Basil!

That was good work done! And it's a lot easier to step around to the back of the small trellis to water the plants there!

I gather a bit of a harvest... The Sungolds are starting to ripen again with the more normal weather.

And then I linger. It's just so nice with the cooler temperature and the clouds! The healthy Lemon Cucumber plant survived the extreme heat.

The small strawberry's Pet Nasturtium has gotten big!

The poor beleaguered Aubergine... the leaves that got wilted are dying, but the rest of it is looking better now that I'm watering it enough.

The front of the Fallow Area is so lush and delightful!

At left are all the Crooknecks, both transplanted veggie start and the three that grew from seed!

Right of center is some Fava.

And all the little white flowers are big ol' Buckwheats! I never even knew they could get that big! Always before they've been a single stalk, barely two feet tall. These Buckwheats have LOADS of branches and are well over 3 feet tall.

And realizing how stunted the Buckwheats have been -- last year's and the ones in the Fallow Area... I'm now wondering if I've got harmful nematodes. Stunted plants, yellow leaves and reduced yields are symptoms.

Maybe next year I will get some beneficial nematodes and see if that helps.

It's not very vegan to buy creatures. Thinking about it makes me feel icky. But I think I'd like to try.

Awoken by sprinkles at 3am!!

And then it kept me awake because I kept checking to make sure the rain wasn't blowing in! But apparently it came without wind, for once. That's good, I would have hated to have to close windows.

This time the amount was measurable... We got 0.15 inch.

When the sun rises it's still cloudy and humid. And my walk is so pleasant! The high today is just 77°!

As I go by the Community Garden, there's a couple of Crow children sitting at the fence. They aren't brand new to the world outside their nest... hardly any gap left. But still depending on their parents for food.

I stop at the empty Barn Swallow nest...

And was interested to see the parents swooping to the nest a few times! One last memorial for their lost children before they migrate?

I'm walking a little farther today. There's a row of Red Maples, and one of the trees has a couple branches of leaves that are changing. Everything else is green, maybe there's something wrong with this tree. Sure is eye catching tho!

Oh hey! Mackerel Sky! On the hunt!

Strike! and WHOA! They've caught a Crawdad!

The poor Crawdad is fighting for her life!

huh.

Eye contact!

The Crawdad says I WILL gouge out your eye!

And PLOP! Mackerel Sky has let the Crawdad go!

And then they go back to the same place at the bank and grab another Crawdad... and this one gets gobbled down.

Ugh. I wonder how long the Crawdad squirms in their stomach. What a terrible way to die. The carnivores gotta eat, but ... ugh.

Swallowed all the way down.

And then Mackerel Sky is back to looking for the next meal.

With the bit of rain this morning, I don't need to water at the garden. But there are a couple squashes I need to get before they get big, so I'm going in.

This is the volunteer Tomatillo that I had dug up from the path and moved under the big trellis... it's gotten pretty big, a couple branches are sprawling! But no fruit yet.

The Tomatillos that I bought have a good amount of fruits coming on tho!

The Brandywines are starting to get some colour!

Ha! A squirrel has munched a chunk of the ProCut Red!

This Crookneck will be ready to pick tomorrow, maybe. But Look! There's some Columbine growing under there!!

That's good! The Columbine that survived the winter... never did anything in the spring and then it died. This was the first year in a long time that I've not had Columbine blooms. So I'm glad I have another one coming up!

And here's what I came for!

Heading out, I stop to admire the one Amaranth in my plot that has that wonderful colour!

Twittering in the plot across the path catches my attention.

House Finches! Are they... eating the Kale???

Walking home, I get a glimpse of some American Goldfinches from the path! Welcome to your wintering grounds, my dears!

Floof!

And wow, that was a lot of pictures today! *laughs*

A very good day!!

The neighbor's outside cat. It's funny, I don't know his name! ha.

Another nice day today, the forecast says 81° but with the clouds it only gets to 77°. Unfortunately, there's some 90s at the end of the forecast again. ugh.

Aww. This burned area used to be a thicket of willow, little birds used it as protection all the time.

Homeless people had set a fire under the thicket... but the willows were only half dead. No reason to cut the whole thing down!

Jerks. The city keeps saying it wants to increase canopy cover, but their actions speak louder than their words!

*Unhappy*

But I keep walking and nature fixes me.

Lorquin Admiral.

And a Cardinal Meadowhawk!

Ha! And a juvenile Scrub Jay!!

At the garden.

The Perth Pride, the root bound dwarf plant I got as a freebie, has made two fruits! Next to it, a couple of volunteer Tomatillos have sprung up... I doubt they will get to do anything this late in the season, tho it does have a flower on it!

mmm! So looking forward to the Brandywines! I've cut the time I spend watering back here, to prevent more cracking on the tomatoes!

The Wax Beans are coming right along. And that's the precious Basil, and top right is the Patty Pan.

And at the other end of the big trellis, this volunteer Cosmos continues to grow. Still no sign of flowering tho!

I gather the days harvest.

And head out. Oh, hey! It's Mackerel Sky again!!

A lovely morning to be a lovely day. A high of 81° is a bit under the normal of 84°, and this is the kind of weather I would wish for all summer!

Nevermind the 90s that will show up again this weekend, I'm going to enjoy the day with a zig zag walk thru the neighborhoods!

I'm walking up an alley and oooh! The varieties of sunflowers over the fence in this back yard!

When I go past Dragonfly Land, there's a big ol' spider who has made a web on the railing!!

I am curious about her, but she's hiding her face.

I stop at the garden and do just the lightest of watering. But I had to pull a bee out of a puddle!

Poor Girl! She's soaked and tired. She doesn't even buzz her wings to help dry off.

When I'm done watering, I bring her to one of the Buckwheats... she walks off my hand willingly.

The sun is coming out and it won't take too long to dry her out!

More Wax Beans coming along, and the Basil plant.

And all the plants at the big trellis are happy.

ha, a Zucchini grew funny!

On the way home, I make one more loop.

Oak Apples!

*Laughs* or, more precisely: Oak Galls!

They are made by tiny parasitic wasps, their babies grow up inside the galls!

After the babies leave, you can make ink!

∞ How to make Oak Gall Ink

I've never attempted this, myself. But I think it would be fun!

Yeah, I just don't feel like going to the garden. I've made myself completely bored of it by going there every day.

Good Morning Neighbor!

Good Morning Other Neighbor!

Ha. I thought this bridge construction was supposed to be done Aug20, but they are still digging!

There's some Barn Swallows, and maybe some others, swooping over the prairie, catching bugs! They are too far away for photography, tho.

There are quite a few guys playing Frisbee Golf here today.

I walk a couple parks that have courses, and I gotta say, the guys who play are ALWAYS 100% respectful!

They never throw a frisbee even vaguely in your direction. And they wait patiently for you to get out of the way.

So that's nice and all :) but there were too many humans around and no birds in the little forest. So that's a bummer.

But I did find a family of Scrub Jays at the back of the park. Several juveniles bouncing around and yelling at each other!

*laughs*

I go by the tree that fell. It's crazy how it just broke right off!

On the way home...

hmm. A Red Tail Hawk!

A perfectly normal 85° summer day!

But the rest of the forecast is for 90s, all the way out. And you know what? I was done with summer after the three 100° days that we barely survived, weekend before last.

Sighs. Just gotta keep plugging along I guess.

But, because I took a break from the garden yesterday, ... I can look at it again now... maybe! Haha.

Brandywines are getting more colour!!

The Green Zebra.

And the first of the Old Germans is ripening... except this is a problem...

That's the right colour... Old Germans are orange and red. But they are supposed to be huge, up to 2pounds huge! And that little thing is about 2inches!

So that's weird! Maybe the first tomato is just an odd one, and the others will get bigger?

Well, anyway. I've got my harvest of the day... and look at all those Sungolds!! Yay!

I had to toss a couple because they had cracks in them... still watering too much! ha.

There are Marigolds blooming in the neighbor's plot. They are probably my seeds! I had Giant Marigolds last year!

Ha, I don't know why they couldn't re-seed themselves in MY plot!

Heading out, I admire my other neighbor's flowers!

And walking home, oh hey! A new Heron!

After many, many delays, anyone flying on a plane after 7 May 2025 must have a Real ID.

Oregon was one of the states that kept putting it off. That's funny! I procrastinate as well.

But this is the year! If I want to fly to Colorado to see my family, I will need to get a Real ID.

The problem is... You need to bring a lot of official documents in order to get a Real ID. And one of those official documents, I've not seen since we moved to Oregon.

*Anxiety*

I think it's in a box. And I think that box is in my closet.

So. I freaked out about this for a while. And then I started digging!

At the beginning of August -- Yes, many, many months after May7... Yes, many, many months of freaking out -- I switched my Tiny Clean focus from the porch room to the Closet Project.

I really want to be tidy about this! You know? Since I have to dig thru my closet, how about I make it better!

Check! I don't really have a plan, but I organize things as I get them out of my way. Eventually I make it down to the ... box.

Yeah, I actually thought there were two boxes in this spot, but it's just the one. That concerns me. A good bit. I move stuff from on top of the box, and I even get the little vacuum out to suck up some dust.

On Monday I pulled the box out and opened it.

I was expecting a box full of paperwork. But this box is filled with journals.

This is not the right box.

I am devastated. I guess there were two boxes after all. I suppose the other box is deeper in the closet. ugh.

I do pull out a couple of the journals, tho. Just to make sure there's nothing tucked in between them. But, no. It's just a box of journals.

Mostly those are just lined notebooks, containing my boring journaled thoughts.

But, the books at the end, were art journals.

I don't journal like that anymore... and I really kind of miss it.

There's different colours of inks, and little sketches here and there and interesting graphic elements. Some stickers and a few things pasted in.

It's fun to flip thru these books!

Good Morning My Dear...

You know, standing on the path is not very photogenic!
You don't care, you're beautiful as it is?
Well yeah, that's true! :)

I've arrived at the garden, and I see the seedling Crookneck, right next to the main Crookneck has it's first fruit and it needs to be harvested.

But today I want a beet! And I doubt I will have room in the small backpack for much else.

I get distracted... a cute little parasitic wasp!

This is the second one I've found this year! I'm always happy to meet new bugs!

The Tomatillos are coming along!

Breaking out of their husk is a good sign!! But they will fall off when they are ripe.

And Look! I did find a ripe one! It's yellow! That's weird. All of the volunteer Tomatillos I've had in the past have had fruits that stayed green.

And that Beet I pulled is even bigger than the first one! The first one was just over 1.5 pounds and this one is 2pounds 0.8ounces!!!

That's awesome! That's many good meals right there!!

I usually cut off a serving sized chunk, and cut it into bite sized bits. Then I add a serving of pasta into a big bowl with 2cups of water and maybe some soy curls. Nuke that for 14mins... just a bit longer than I would do for pasta alone.

And then I add whatever sauce and other veggies and eat. Easy Peasy!

And the rest of the beet will keep in the fridge for a good long time! So I don't need to eat the Pasta Beet meal every day if I don't want to.

But I love Beets! And I'm so glad I remembered to plant them this year!!

99° today with an Extreme Heat Warming, and yep, I'm pretty grumpy about it.

But, nothing to be done ... just gotta live thru it. Unfortunately, the rest of the forecast says upper and mid 90s, no relief in sight.

Heading to the garden, I see this one at the creek and for a second I think he's got a leaf or something on his neck.

But no! That's a patch of white feathers!

This is exciting! There's so rarely a Mallard at the creek who is identifiable!

And yeah, I think he's a male. He lacks the curled tail feathers but male Mallards have a yellow beak. Females have a beak that's orange and dark grey.

Oh! A Crow standing under the Wisteria? So Beautiful! But nope...

*laughs* Their cute toes!

Their friends were more cooperative!

As I walk up to the garden plot, I notice this Comfrey coming up in the pathway.

Damn Comfrey. I decide I will murder some today.

I get my dandelion tool, and pry that thing out of the ground! And then I look around the plot. Oops! Look how big these have gotten, hiding behind the Crooknecks and the huge Buckwheats!

Getting all that out makes me feel good, like I've accomplished something!

The Wax Bean harvest is slowly increasing!

The Pet Nasturtium in the Strawberry Patch is looking good!

And the ones I planted as seeds are coming along.

The top of the healthy Lemon Cucumber plant is still pretty, but all the rest is leaning towards pathetic. And they aren't going to like 99° days.

Well. At least I've gotten a few Lemon Cucs to eat this year. Better than none, right?

I stop to admire the neighbor's Zinnias on the way out.

I should have more flowers in my plot. But I always think that, and then I always forget in the spring. I'm too busy getting the veggies planted.

To be 99° again today and I continue to be grumpy about it. The Extreme Heat Warning in the forecast goes all the way out with upper and mid 90s. The next non-horrid day might be next friday with an 85° high...

That's too long without a break.

I head out... and oh crap! The exposure on the camera is at the wrong place!

She's not very big, but def not a child... one of the Mama Raccoons, maybe?

And she disappears under the shrubbery.

I was planning on a quick run at the garden. Some watering for the heat and gather what veggies there are.

But I get distracted by the diagonal neighbor's Dahlias!

Back at home a cool shower and a fan pointed at my wet hair, helps a little. But I have to drink ice water almost constantly to keep even vaguely comfortable.

I'm too unhappy to even write some postcards today... and then I see this.

∞ European Postal Services to US STOPPED - yes, tariffs

For Europe, it's packages only that have been stopped, letters and docs and 'gifts' are still going thru. But it looks like India has stopped all mail going to the US.

I am glad that other countries are taking a stand. More power to them!

But I am sad that America sucks.

I do half pushups as part of my morning exercise routine. A couple months ago I was able to break past a plateau of 10 or 12 half pushups. I've been slowly adding more and more, and now I am consistently doing around 35 half pushups!!

My YouTube exercise guy, Will Harlow, Over-Fifties Specialist Physio says you should switch to full pushups when you hit 20 half pushups. But I wanted to be very, Very sure about my 20! *laughs*

But I finally got my confidence... and yesterday I tried my first full pushup!

FAILURE! I couldn't do even one!

oh man! I seriously thought the transition would be seamless! But I can't do even one! WAI!

Well. foo.

But I've been here before. I couldn't do a single half pushup, when I first started those, either!

So. I did a couple little bends with my elbows and then I dropped down as slowly as I could in a modified plank.

And today I am sore!! My arms, and my core muscles across my stomach, too. Like a good sore... Like my muscles did work, but not so much work to get injured!

So this is awesome! I wonder how long it will take me to get my first full pushup?!

Heading out! And this is the second time I've seen this new Great Blue Heron!

This one has a little bit of mottled grey on their neck, tho nothing like Mackerel Sky, who has bold mottles all the way down their neck. But maybe they are siblings!

If I see this one a third time, maybe I will name them something similar... like Morning Sky, or Cloudy Sky... ? :)

The ProCut Red, happily getting eaten!

The Aubergines!

The pink flowers on the right are Smartweed... They are covering most of the dirt in the tomato patch. Kind of like a living mulch! The only other weed that can get past the Smartweed mat is stupid Crab Grass, here and there. Which I dig up when I notice it.

But also, there are a variety of bees and bugs attracted by the flowers of the Smartweed! So the Smartweed is almost as great as Borage! And I can walk on it, like a lawn. So maybe it's better than Borage.

The Old German. Or maybe I should put that in air quotes, Old German...

I thought that first small tomato was a sport. Old German tomatoes are supposed to be huge, up to two pounds big.

But a second tomato, right next to the first is starting to get colour as well, and it's tiny too! Arg!

So is this NOT an Old German? Or is this plant stunted and just trying it's best to get the job done???

With the heat, I don't feel like gathering Sungolds or the Wax Beans. So I'm not going home with much today.

On the way out, some Red Amaranth in a neighbor's plot catches my attention!

On the left is Scarlet Runner Beans.

And walking home along the creek... I hear a Kingfisher declaring her territory!!!

Oh my gosh! Is it the same girl who lost her parter over the winter? Did she find a new mate this year?

Or is this a different Kingfisher, who has taken over?

Well. No one sat for photography. And I will probably never have the answers to my questions.

That's okay. I'm just glad to be hearing a Kingfisher again!

Some clouds this morning and at 9:33am, Was that Thunder?! Ha. The clouds got heavier for a brief moment, but didn't send any rain down. And the cloud cover didn't break up until 1:45pm! It kept the morning at a nicer temperature, at least, but the afternoon still got up to an unbearable 96°.

There are a couple of Pear Trees at the Bike Path Curve, and the fruits have caught my attention. I walk over to look at one of the trees.

I wonder if they get as buggy as the apples do. Probably.

The fruits are more round than pear shaped!

Maybe I will revisit this tree, once the fruits are a bit further along.

Oh hey! It's that duck with the white patch! Second sighting! I can't name him until I've seen him three times.

I wonder what a good name would be.

I get to the garden plot... oh look! The Volunteer Squash!!

I guess the weeding did make it feel better! Yay!

It's a Butternut!!! Awesome!

The Mystery Plant looks like it's doing something at the top!

My Mom insists that it's a weed! *laughs* But, but! It was potted up!

Whatever these things are, I hope they come out as some brilliant colour like red or purple, to prove her wrong. Because yeah, it does look a little bit like a weed!

The Patty Pan is gearing up!

Tho at the moment, I've got five Crooknecks on the counter at home... I need to get serious about eating some squash!

The little corner of Nasturtiums.

And the Strawberry's Pet Nasturtium at the back is looking Lovely!

The Volunteer Cosmos at the end of the Wax Bean trellis is still growing. No sign of flowers yet.

Oh crud. That Brandywine is rotten. foo.

I stopped watering the tomato plants so much, to prevent those stupid big cracks.

But when it's so hot, I want them to have SOME water! ... Because that's what _I_ need to live! *laughs*

That is the first Brandywine I've picked... and I eat it the moment I get home!!

The cute little Buckwheat seeds.

And the Nasturtiums at the front of the plot with the Crooknecks...

Around the edges of that photo, you can see we are dealing with some mildew on the squashes. That's normal, tho these plants seem to be hit especially hard. meh.

On the way out, I stop to admire the diagonal neighbor's Dahlias.

Another very hot day in a long string of very hot days. To be 95° today... it looks like we might get a break from the extreme heat over the weekend? Saturday's forecast says 86°.

I guess mid 80s is better than mid 90s but it's too far away, and it's not enough of a cool down to get excited about.

Oh my gosh!

The Cuteness!!!

Their HANDS!!!

This kid watches me for a moment.

And then they follow their sibling and disappear into the thicket!

Awesome!! So Awesome!!

I've brought kitchen scraps to dump on the compost pile at the Community Garden.

When I started watering, someone slithered from under the Strawberries and Pet Nasturtium!!! The slithering was far enough apart, I think maybe it was TWO Garter Snakes!!

Snakes are wonderful to have in your garden, and I only wish I could have gotten their portraits!

And then when I'm watering the poor dying Lemon Cucumber plants at the small trellis, I notice this thing...

When I take a closer look... ha! It's an Avocado!!!!

Ha!! Over the winter I was dumping the kitchen scraps in the garden, to return some nutrients! I had to stop because it turned into a slug factory.

But I did get the Volunteer Squash patch... and now, an Avocado tree as well!

I am so delighted! But what to do? We can't have trees in our plots, it's against the rules. But dang it, I want it to grow! *laughs*

Can I somehow hide it, over the winter??? Will it survive the winter???

hmmm.

I gather the day's harvest.

That bigger orange tomato is the first Old German. It just fell off in my hand. Maybe I should call it Baby German instead, since the tomatoes are so small!

Plus the tomatoes should have streaks of red on them, they shouldn't be solid orange. It must be a different variety, mislabeled by the farm.

The Wax Bean plants are getting loopy! *laughs*

As I'm heading out, I see the Nasturtiums in the front, between the Crooknecks are getting their first bloom!

Some clouds roll in this morning and 10:17am = Thunder! Loud and close! And it keeps thundering!

When I go out, it's still rumbling from this cloud:

And apparently we got a sprinkle that I didn't notice... the sidewalks are wet!

I go a little further and ha! Someone has set up an art gallery! I like the bouquet!

This one is my favorite! Cool marbling!

The clouds are moving around again, it's hot but when sun is covered, my walk is a lot more enjoyable. I decide to go down to the Barn Swallow bridge.

Hm. The parents are twittering and swooping above the bridge again. It's good to hear them, but I'm still devastated about their last batch of children.

There's only the odd dragonfly left in Dragonfly Land... their season is mostly over. But the minnows are still around.

The Mystery Flower. Or maybe it's the Mystery Weed!

And the Tomatillos!

Look at all the summer squash I get to harvest today! Yay!

Those are some petals from the ProCut Red! They were laying on the ground and I thought they were pretty. The birds pluck out the sunflower petals to make it easier to reach the seeds!

One of Kevin's Zinnias with the Pet Nasturtium on the right.

I don't see anyone around, so I decide to walk around the Community Garden... I've been hearing the Goldfinches talking amongst themselves, maybe I can catch them!

I don't know what this is, but pretty!

I do love the Red Amaranth!

But in the Sunflowers behind it...

Goldfinches!

So cute!

These are all American Goldfinches.

Our little Lesser Goldfinches live here all year, but the American Goldfinches migrate in for winter only.

And I'm thrilled that the Community Garden and all our glorious Sunflowers provide some meals for them!

Moving on, another Red Amaranth catches my eye.

But these double petal Cosmos are gorgeous as well!!

Is Cosmoses the plural? *laughs*

Bleh. I am tired of walking in the sun. I'm kinda bored of the garden too.

Out at Dragonfly Land, there's a couple of those blue striped dragonflies who never sit for photos. Blue-eyed Darners?

I just watch them for a while. There aren't many, maybe four or five. They zip back and forth over the water, going a little bit further than I can see, past the bushes.

I walk thru the neighborhood instead of following the bike path to the Garden. Wow!

Oh, haha! Photo Bombed by a Bee!

At the garden, I just gather the day's harvest. I'm not interested in sticking around.

I am very happy with the Wax Beans! And the Basil is flowering, but I wanted one more bunch of leaves for my lunches! I had to pick thru to find branches that didn't have flowers.

On the way home, a huge butterfly flutters by!

Western Tiger Swallowtail! I've seen a few of these big beauties this year, but I think this is the first one who sits for me!

Back at home, Partner finally gets a call from the mechanic.

The car has been in the shop, Partner says it's been stalling randomly, and he dropped it off last week. They were busy, and were supposed to look at it on Monday, but didn't call until today...

The place has changed hands earlier this year, it used to be a Goodyear and now it's something Point S. And they say they are diagnostics only now. If the car doesn't have a computer to tell them what's wrong, they don't know how to fix it.

Sighs. Lame, right?

So I guess we'll look for a new mechanic. Are there any real car mechanics left in the world?

There's some clouds keeping the morning a little bit cooler, tho they start breaking up as I head out.

But the cooler temperature puts a spring in my step, and I decide to walk a bit before going to the garden.

At the back of the Events Center, they've put in some new signs...

No Trespassing, No Camping uh huh. *Rolls Eyes*

I walk to the left of that fence, and I suppose I am trespassing. And a sign isn't going to keep the homeless people from setting up tents here, either!

There's usually a tent or two here most of the time. During the summer, there's a shelf of dry bank along the creek, under the trees. It gives them a bit of privacy, and they never cause any trouble.

But there's no tents today.

At the Leaning Tree Saplings... uh oh...

That bushy thing on the left? I think that's a Tree of Heaven. Very invasive. Why haven't they cut it down?

And in the creek! A Mom and two kids!!

Gah, the sun is so bright I can't see the screen on the camera at all. So these are all Point and Click and Hope! *laughs*

Look at how blonde that child is!!

Mom thinks I am not to be trusted, and she's leading the kids into hiding.

Very cool. And reminds me of that very blonde raccoon that I saw in this area a few years ago. It's leucism, caused by recessive genes. Interesting that those genes are still swirling around!

And here's another Point and Click and Hope that turned out pretty well. Nice to have some good luck, for once! A female Northern Flicker (males have a red moustache).

At the garden plot, I'm going around, harvesting the veggies that are ready. And looking at stuff that's growing.

And behind the Brandywine... ha! Another Avocado tree!!

Haha! How wonderful!

And the Mystery Flower is definitely gearing up for something!

Heading home.

And I see ANOTHER Raccoon family!! Again, a Mom with two kids! And they were swimming!!

What fun!! Happy Day!!

It's a little bit cooler this morning, the over night low was 49°!! But the forecast says mid 80s for a couple days and then we are back to the over 90s.

Arg! It's just crazy with the continuing heat. So very tired of it.

Heading out... and hey, hey! It's the third time I've seen this new Heron! I get to name them! Hello Cloudy Sky!

The actual clouds are coming and going, and I walk past the garden, thinking I'd like to get some exercise. But I stop at Dragonfly Land. The sweat is dripping off of me and decide I don't really want to go any further, after all.

Just an occasional dragonfly is zipping by. The minnows are here, but without the bright sun, I'm not getting great photos.

Whoops! haha! So much for the Perth Pride!

Well. Yes, I guess I've been over watering that one! *laughs* It's just such a cute little plant, I want to shower it with love! ha.

I will cut those tomatoes off and toss them to decompose on the ground... But all is not lost! There's another one growing at the top!

The Volunteer Butternut is sprawling all over the place and I have to be careful of it when I walk behind the big trellis. I almost tripped over it today, but then I noticed, under the leaves...

A full sized fruit has been hiding from me!!

Well that is Awesome! The little fruit I found the other day at the end of the vine wasn't going to have time enough to grow. But this thing just needs to ripen! I'm going to have a Butternut to eat!

But at the back of the big trellis, one of the Buttercups is dying.

These are some of the LogHouse freebies I had nabbed. Three veggie starts in the pot and they just never took off. Maybe I should have jostled their roots a bit before I put them in the ground... they were terribly root bound.

They aren't big enough to make fruit, tho I am a bit sad to see them die.

But the other side of the big trellis is a happy place, with the flowering basil and the Wax Beans and that glorious Cosmos... when will it think about some flowers?

Altho, some of the squash plants are battling mildew. This is the Patty Pan, and the Crooknecks are even worse.

I didn't pick any Wax Beans yesterday, and I got 60 for today's haul!!

I look back at my plot as I leave. I love the little Red Amaranth that volunteered in the perfect spot in the front!

It's not as tall as that! *laughs* I'm crouching down so I can catch the sky. The Amaranth is actually around three feet tall, it comes up to my hip.

And then walking to the Community Garden gate, I get distracted by a neighbor's Zinnias!

I walk out to the bike path, and on the other side of the Community Garden... eee.

It's part of somebody's tail.

Poor little squirrel. But everyone needs to eat. Probably a good meal for a hawk or an owl!

Walking out to the garden, here's one of the Scrub Jay children! Looking a little scraggly but her blue, adult feathers are starting to come in on her head!

Ahh, they grow up so quickly!

*laughs*

The Mystery Plant is proceeding!

It's around 3feet tall. Just the one stalk, but the leaves going up the stalk are very pretty. The flowers aren't showing any colour and I worry they are going to be yellow... perhaps confirming my Mom's idea that the Mystery Plant is a mere weed! *laughs*

At the other end of the trellis, I push aside the Wax Beans to see about the other freebie I got with the Mystery Plant... The Sorana Beans... aka Pescia Beans. Yes!

It's made a pod!

It's a little different from the Wax Beans... I'll have to pay attention when I'm harvesting down at this end. Dry beans need to stay on the vine until they're - you know - dry! heh.

And, of course, one pod of beans isn't going to be enough to eat... But I will save those and maybe next year I can get some good plants, who didn't have to start their lives completely root bound!

I got another good load of Wax Beans harvested today.

And that's the second Old German. This one just fell off in my hand, like the first one did.

When I ate the first one, um... I guess it tastes like an Old German. But it was orange all the way thru, didn't have the red marbling like it's supposed to. And of course, they are waaay too small to be Old Germans.

I must have gotten a mislabeled one. OR! Maybe this is a mutant!

I can hear the Goldfinches talking amongst themselves, and I happen to catch one in a not great pic...

But the flock is still very small, and the birds are a bit nervous of me. It won't be long and more Goldfinches will migrate in, and hopefully they will get used to humans moving around in the garden!