Amusement Rides at the Fair

Alex took this picture of herself last night at the fair, on one of the more terrifying rides. She was upside-down when the camera caught her here!

White Rabbit

Alex wanted to take a picture of a bunny who had the same color of hair as she does! (her grandpa told her she was an albino!). Anyway, this was a very cute bunny, and he didn't mind that we wanted to take his picture.

Alex

Alex has grown so tall over the summer, and is now about 5 feet tall. Behind the hedge are the amusement rides, which she and her friends spent last evening riding. Today, we spent the day looking at all of the other things the fair has to offer. Scones, sundresses, dog shows, and logger contests filled our day together.

Baby Piglets at the Fair

Before the pig races, Alex and I visited the pigs, goats and sheep. Here was the largest pig litter on display this year. They were all tired out after running around the pen all morning! The variety of colors and markings of this litter was amazing!

Pig Races at the Monroe Fair

Today, Alex and I spent the warm, beautiful afternoon at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe. The one event we never miss is the Alaskan Racing Pigs show! At three o'clock, we showed up at the race site, and found a comfortable spot on one of the many bleachers. There were three memorable races, with many porcine winners. It's always so much fun!

Here were are with Strawberry, the winner of the last race. She was busy eating while we had our picture taken with her.

Scarlet Runner Beans

I planted scarlet runner beans very late this year (first of August), and they are doing very well with the onset of hot weather and damp mornings. They are almost to the top of the trellis! I am hoping to have a small crop of these lovely green beans with their large, purple-variegated seeds.

Stepping Stone Patio

I saw a great plan in one of my gardening magazines that showed stepping stones laid down in grassy areas to privide a subtle feeling of an open patio space for a shady area. Since I had previously dug five stepping stones straight out from the shed, I decided to buy 10 additional stepping stones to create a larger area.

Tonight I laid out the stones, and tomorrow I'll measure them exactly to be sure they are placed symmetrically before I dig out the sod and place them in the ground. I'll be able to mow over them, also, and this scheme will also keep the grass from being soggy and wet in the fall, winter and spring months. I can't wait to get going on this tomorrow! I love Saturdays!

Reclaimed, Reused, and Recycled

I found this beautifully shaped chair-back some time ago at an antique shop in Monroe. It sat in the garage for a while, and a few weeks ago, I dug it out, primed and painted it, and mounted it on the north side of my new garden shed. It's good to see an old, discarded part of an old chair assume a new life with a facelift, adding architectural detail to a brand-new shed that needed some discreet aging.

You can clearly see this lovely shaped wood from the kitchen and deck, and it is turning into quite a conversation piece.

Hot Air Balloons over Maltby

With the recent lovely summer weather, we have had hot air balloons fly overhead almost every day for the last month or so. The colors and patterns of the balloons are bright and cheery, and they drift quietly over the country north of Woodinville. I can only imagine the wonderful view they must have as they soundlessly traverse the skies.

Three Rules of Work

Out of clutter, find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. --Albert Einstein

Pine, Oak, Cedar and Alder

Today we had our winter wood delivered to our solar woodshed in Maltby. Each year, Bruce stops by in August with a cord and a half of wood (that's exactly how much our solar woodshed holds), and with the help of his two sons, they throw the wood in a huge pile for us to sort and stack when we have time.

On such a beautiful, warm summer evening, you could smell the various types of wood and their sweet aroma co-mingled. It was a lovely scent, bringing to mind autumn bonfires, falling leaves, and trips to Bob's Corn Maze.

Now it's time to have our Sweet Home woodstove inspected and cleaned in preparation for another fall and winter in Maltby. The wood is waiting, and we are ready for another iteration of The Slow Life.

The Daisy

"The daisy amus'd my fond fancy, so artless, so simple, so wild....

--Robert Burns

Juno's Trip to Maltby Park

Juno loves her weekend trips to Maltby Park, where she races past the ball fields in search of the 'perfect sniff'. There was evidently a lot to stimulate her 200 million olfactories today, and she took advantage of the new environment to check everything out. A walk around the park is about one mile long on paved paths, and by the end of her walk, she was slowing down and sniffing less.

She turned in early this evening after her big adventure and about three bowls of water. She'll rest up this week, and next weekend, she'll be ready to go again.

Snapdragons

Antirrhinum is a genus of plants commonly known as snapdragons from the flowers' fancied resemblance to the face of a dragon that opens and closes its mouth when laterally squeezed (thus the 'snap').

This was a beautiful display at the Antique Rose Farm today, with the lovely old metal arch bearing the words, "Bless My Garden".

Freshly Picked

"Because I grow my own vegetables and fruits and resist the temptation to buy out of season, it has been my habit to wait until the tasty, nutritious, juicy and colorful summer crop of tomatoes has ripened in the garden before I enjoy them. Then I slice and dress them, or chop and cook them for salads, sauces, garnishes and soups. Garden-fresh tomatoes are a treat worth waiting for."
--Martha Stewart

The Botany of Desire

Michael Pollan, a writer for the New York Times Magazine, has a new book titled The Botany of Desire. He posits that not only people grow and domesticate plants, but that plants have also formed a reciprocal relationship with humans. Pollan links four fundamental human desires--sweetness, beauty, intoxication and control with the plants that satisfy them: the apple, the tulip, marijuana, and the potato.

Pollan illustrates his hypothesis with stories about ways in which these plants have evolved to satisfy humankind's most basic yearnings. He finally asks, "Who is really domesticating whom?"

Pink Hydrangeas

Mophead hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla) are the most popular variety of these large annual flowers. Here is an example of a beautiful collection of plants I saw at the Antique Rose Farm this afternoon.

Dakota and Her Five Puppies

Dakota is the resident Springer Spaniel at the Antique Rose Farm in Snohomish, and when I arrived there today, the owner told me that Dakota had five pups, now 8 weeks old. It was her first litter, and she was standing proudly by while we all took a look at her three girls and two boys.

Two of the pups already have homes, and it was fun to watch them sleeping in their enclosure this afternoon. You can see one puppy sleeping on its back behind Dakota. The pups are still pink, and look like tiny piglets.

Chocolate Cosmos

Who would have believed that there was a variety of the lovely cosmos flower called a Chocolate Cosmos (cosmos atrosanguineus)? As I looked at the flower, a sign nearby suggested that all observers smell the flower to experience the chocolate scent. It was incredible!

Bright Begonias

August finds annuals at their height of beauty, and these orange begonias are no exception. I found this lovely display at the Antique Rose Farm this afternoon, and the color was so bright in the sun that they scarcely looked real. But they were, and this arrangement on a white French bistro chair was charming. Note the salvaged artichectural detail in the upper right corner of this picture, and the old white shutter to the right of the begonias.

Kaila In the Summertime

My granddaughter Kaila spends most of her summer in the swimming pool where she lives. When I saw her a few weeks ago in July, she hadn't had too much time outside due to the weather, but during August, she made up for lost time. Look at that tan!

Here she is at dinner with me last Friday night, and she told me she was SOOOO thirsty that she needed a couple of sodas so she could drink them at the same time. I love this child--she is crazy, whimsical, and always ready for a new adventure, which I always have waiting for her in the wings.

A Real Horseshoe For My New Shed

My friend Alex is traveling during the month of August with her family in Montana and Idaho. It's strange to have her gone this long, but this year, she got her first cell phone, and has been staying in touch almost daily, texting me her experiences at the family reunion, and sending me pictures of the stunning prairie and the expansive blue skies.

Before she left, I told her I was looking for a 'real' horseshoe to put over the door of my new garden shed. She texted me yesterday, saying she found one for me, "and it was only three dollars!". What a bargain--she was so proud of herself to have found such a treasure for me. She's a great 12-year-old!

I can't wait for her to return at the end of the month. We'll get the horseshoe nailed up, and it will remind both of us of her great summer adventure!

Blueberries Are Almost Ready!

We should be able to pick our first crop of blueberries within the next week. They look large and juicy, and I'm impressed that my new transplanted berry bush not only made it through the shock of a new home, but is bearing a good first crop for me.

A Fuschia

I found a different variety of fuschia this year, and it's already doubled in size since I got it. It resides near my new shed in the pasture, and looks great on my wooden teak table. It sits in the shade most of the day, with enough sun in the afternoon to keep it growing.

August Garden

In addition to producing green beans, peas and tomatoes, August has brought new growth to other areas of my yard and garden. Yellow and pink roses still bloom, and the fuschias thrive in the shade of tall, leafy trees. My new blueberry bush has quite a few berries that are turning blue, and the raspberry patch outdid itself this season. I still pick up my berry basket in the evening and fill it just full enough to sprinkle some berries over vanilla ice cream, with enough left over for my breakfast.

Shrubs such as skimmia and heucheria are leafy and green, and the geraniums sharing flower boxes with primroses are bursting from their containers on the picket fence. The barberry bushes need trimming, and the hostas have grown large and lush.

Everything is at its peak during this month, and the grass is greener, and the fruit ripening on the trees reminds us of the upcoming harvest time. August is a time of beginnings and endings.

Yellow Roses

The Julia Child roses are as beautiful and hardy as ever this year. Look at this bright yellow bloom--it's so intricate that it hardly looks real.

Scarlet Runner Beans

I planted these scarlet runner beans only a few weeks ago, and they are quickly coming up in response to the warm, damp days. If they have another month of similar conditions, they can grow up to 12 feet tall!

They are making their way up the trellis on the north side of the solar woodshed.

They are beautiful plants, with bright red blossoms and purple-colored spatter-print beans.

Gladiolas are Here!

The glads are a little earlier than I expected this year, even with the cooler weather and less sun. They are getting so heavy that I had to prop them up with bamboo last evening. They are a genus of perennial bulbous flowering plants in the iris family. They are named for the Latin word for sword, gladius.

In the background of this picture, you can see that the rhubarb is back--that is one hardy herbaceous perennial!

Progress in the August Garden

I have multiple posts this week to update progress in my summer garden. Here is my Three Sisters Garden over the weekend. The corn is growing slowly, but the beans and squash are doing very well. The three plants cross-fertilize, shade, and nurture each other. It's an old Indian custom to combine these three species.

Ideally, the corn would support the beans, and the beans would shelter the squash.

Swiss Chard and its Origins

I thought this solitary Swiss Chard was a perfect example of this leafy vegetable, with it's bright green color and scarlet veins. It's a variety from my heirloom seed company Baker Creek Seed Company.

The word Swiss was used to distinguish chard from French spinach varieties by 19th century seed catalog publishers. The chard is very popular with Mediterranean cooks. The first varieties have been traced back to Sicily.

The Tenacious Cucumber

I managed to save two very small cucumber plants from the slugs before their onslaught a few months ago, and placed them in individual planters on a bench off the ground. I watered them, and didn't pay too much attention to them until this weekend.

Both tiny plants have one large cucumber each on their stems!

A New Apple Tree

We lost an apple tree during the harsh, cold winter this last year, and I finally found something to take its place. This little apple tree was picked up a few weeks ago at Home Depot, and I chose a setting that gets mixed sun and shade against the west fence of the pasture. It's next to a new flower garden that I'm currently putting in this week, so it will have lots of company once everything is planted and makes itself at home.

An Idea for a Large Tree and Flower Arrangement

I've been looking at possible tree/flower solutions for the entrance to my home in Maltby, and I found a great arrangement with an arbor vitae and impatiens at Redmond Towne Center over the weekend. This would be beautiful at the entrance to the gravel driveway that leads to our home, and would grace the front panels of the white picket fence.

I'll start looking for an appropriate set of matched pots, and I'll have no problem finding the arbor vitae at Flower World! Another project coming up!