Sandsations 2009

Erik's favorite simply called "Buddy":

My favorite; I call it Feather Volcano with Kelp Lava:

Our local sandcastle building contest was held in July. It was excellent; lots of families and friends hanging out at the beach for the day. We saw many fine sandcastles and sculptures made by the most humble novices to the experts. Take a look for yourself by clicking here.

Extra! Extra! Giant Alien Bug Attacks Screen Door

Turns out to be the "Ten-lined June Beetle". They are rather large in size (for an insect), some growing to sizes as large as an 1¼ inches or more. They are attracted to light and feed off the needles of coniferous trees. They can make a hissing sound when touched or otherwise disturbed. Our specimen was about 2 inches long and didn't make a peep. These big beetles come out in June or July in the Northwest.

Visit to Seattle

We went to Seattle to see Kennet and Shelley. It was great; good food, fun hikes, lots of chatting. Shelley took us to see her P-Patch, too. That's "People's Patch" and it's a community garden where Shell can grow flowers, herbs, veggies and fruit. You can see it's a real joint effort. All the gardeners help each other and some of the garden is well established through years of loving nurturing. Click here for pics of the garden and a peek at the new condo.

Washington Park Arboretum, Seattle, Washington

While in Seattle, we took a little walk through the gorgeous (and huge) Washington Park Arboretum. The park is only about 15 minutes from Shelley and Kennet’s condo.
The Arboretum is a spectacular urban green space on the shores of Lake Washington just east of downtown Seattle and south of the University of Washington. Washington's official State Arboretum contains internationally recognized woody plant collections on 230 acres. Noteworthy are North America's largest collection of Sorbus and Maple, the second largest collection of species Hollies and significant collections of oaks, conifers and camellias. We took a few pictures.

Mercer Slough Nature Park, Mercer Island, Washington

Shelley and Kennet took us on a little hike though the Mercer Slough Nature Park. It is the largest of Lake Washington’s remaining fresh water wetlands and Bellevue’s largest park. There are over 320 acres of wildlife habitat, agriculture, and freshwater wetland ecosystems on 7+ miles of trails including a unique canoe trail (No, we didn’t hike all 7 miles.). The Mercer Slough Environmental Education Center is a partnership with the Pacific Science Center focusing on freshwater wetland ecology. We were impressed with the Slough’s beauty and richness. Our timing was perfect to see a Mallard hen and her many ducklings. Click here to see a few pictures.

Lake Quinault Visit

We stopped by Lake Quinault, Washington. The forest is amazing; giant trees, birds everywhere, foxglove in its height of bloom, and that gorgeous lake. We took a hike to the largest red cedar in the world. It was challenging for us, practically straight up, but we made it. The tree was enormous (of course). You can walk inside the trunk and see up to the very top as it is mostly hollowed out now though still alive. In fact, it was holding up a couple of other trees. Great experience. Click here to see some pictures.

Baby in the Dunes

We saw a new fawn for the first time yesterday (June 14). The doe is keeping her out on the dunes which is a little unusual but good for us! The little, long-legged baby scampers back and forth when she’s allowed out. Mom has a hard time keeping an eye on her and us at the same time. The doe is pretty jumpy and I’m skulking around behind curtains trying to get a picture out a window. It was dusk and the sky was darkening when they came for an evening visit. The pictures are somewhat blurry because of the low light and the distance. She wouldn’t allow us close; she didn’t even like the quiet clicking of my camera. Well, really, we couldn’t even leave the house and she didn’t even want us LOOKING at her. Click here to see mom and baby. Happy spring!

Liza in the PORTLAND PLAY

We went to see Liza in the PORTLAND PLAY at her school. It was terrific and Liza was amazing. We loved all the music and singing. It was a great show. I attached some pictures at this link.

Mom's new Sunrise Apartment

We spent a couple of weeks helping Mom move out of her old house to a new apartment at Sunrise Independent Living. It's gorgeous there. She has a one bedroom apartment with a full kitchen. It's on the first floor with a door out to a small garden. It's the best. We've seen cardinals, goldfinches, house finches, many sparrows, woodpeckers, tufted titmice, chickdees, nuthatches, and more! It's a busy lovely garden. Bonnie is with her in the new apartment. Bonnie seems to like the new place and is adjusting quickly. Here are a few pictures at this link so you can see what it's like.

We Love Hook!

We visited with Hook recently. He's sweet, smart and always ready to go. Hook's a hog for petting, is always hungry, has a particularly handsome profile, and, we hear he's a darn good bird dog. He can come to visit us whenever he wants! See more here. (Click on the grey "slideshow" button on the right of the screen to see all the pictures in a stream.)

Visit to Kitty and Stew's Back Garden

Spring is definitely in the air. We made a quick trip into Portland to see Kitty and Stew. While there, I took some photos of their backyard. It was lovely; full of flowering trees and shrubs and spring flowers and alive with birds, squirrels and rabbits. See the rest of the pics at this link. (Use the slideshow button on the right to get the pictures to page.)