Filed under: gardening, life, nature, photography, travel | Tags: gardening, japanese garden, life, photography, portland, travel, vacation
so i haven’t blogged in a while. i was on vacation in portland. when i got home i SHOULD have popped some pictures up right away, but i have to admit….i was sort of bummed. i loved portland. my hosts were so much fun and we squeezed so many great things in. when i got home i was bored. bored and cranky and contemplative. “why the hell am i living here?” i’ve been talking about moving for years. oh yeah: i have no money to move. so i’m stuck here.
now, that i got THAT out of the way i will say that i’m much cheerier this week. it’s been a great three day weekend and i have spent some time setting some goals, which i will share later. but for now i will show you some photos of one of my favorite places in portland, the japanese garden!
definitely worth the admission, which i think was 5 dollars. i’m pretty certain if i lived in that town i would go all the time. once we got away from the group with the loud toddlers it was so quiet and peaceful and ….healing.
i wish this was my back yard! but moss just doesn’t like it here.
Filed under: dogs, gardening, pets, photography, plants | Tags: animals, bees, cactus, dogs, gardening, pets, photography, plants
things have gotten out of hand in the yard. cody bear took it upon himself to point this out to me with his constant “here’s a stick! there’s a stick!” business.
“what’s this?”
….a stick, i’m guessing.
so tomorrow is a yard work day. it’s unruly back there. but the potted plants are doing great! here’s a cluster of buds on a paddle plant bloom:
and this cactus is ready to rock. the augochlorinis are going to love it!
today has been sort of weird, really. maybe the pounds of pasta we’re all going to eat tonight will calm the day down.
Filed under: friends, gardening, life, plants | Tags: friends, gardening, life, pictures, plants
welcome to goodbear’s house. well, her front patio, at least.
my first pair of friends have started their move. these folks to portland. their real estate agent demanded they get rid of their many potted plants. i guess she thinks they were cluttering the yard or something. foolish woman.
so i am fostering some plants! as you can see, they’ve assimilated with my existing potted plants quite well!
Filed under: animals, bees, insects, nature, photography | Tags: animals, bees, flowers, gardening, honeybees, insects, killer bees, nature, photography
honey bees….lots of ’em…
this was yesterday at lunch. only one of my 20 creosote bushes is blossoming already. scads of bees were working it over.
no dennis…those aren’t mini-tennis balls or a 3 foot bee. that is a creosote bud.
see that guy looking at me? he’s like, “you knowwww. me and my friends could kill you.” but i kept going. snippity snap.
Filed under: animals, bees, dogs, insects, nature | Tags: animals, bees, dogs, flowers, gardening, insects, nature, wildlife
after work today i grabbed the camera and walked out the front door to take some bird shots, but was dive bombed by this guy:
carpenter bee knocking
he really wanted in, even with the dogs barking at him!
carpenter bee on sedum flower
the carpenter bee would get pissed at my flash and circle me, then head back to the blooms.
soon after buzzy bee girl showed up and we rode our bikes to our friends birthday party. thank god they had food there, as i had skipped lunch today. by the time we rolled up to our friend’s house i was famished.
cool plant, eh?
Filed under: beetles, insects, nature, new mexico, wildlife | Tags: animals, beetles, cacti, gardening, insects, nature, wildlife
strong winds have knocked down one of the 50 year old cacti in my front yard today. it toppled right into the driveway and i almost drove right over it. some of you may remember this large cactus from our long-horned cactus beetles love episode.
how sad…
and right before valentine’s day.
you see, the beetles would hang upside down from the tender leaves of the creosote bush, shaded from the afternoon sun by the cactus. after they had . . . procreated they would go out for a bite to eat. and eat all night long. eat eat eat. you could actually hear them chomping!
it probably weighs around 100 pounds. i’ll have to break it up with a shovel to move it. and since there is no time tonight….let’s all just hope i don’t forget about it and back over that bad boy in the a.m. that would be quite a kick in the pants!
Filed under: cooking, food, garlic | Tags: cooking, gardening, gardens, garlic, plants, succulents, vegetables, vegetarian
i really should have planted these guys weeks ago!
now that we’ve gotten our cheeky garlic shots out of the way, i have to give you some sad news:
most of my succulents have died from the terribly cold weather! and you KNOW how much i love those guys!
i…i…i think i’ll be o.k.
Filed under: animals, dogs, gardening, nature, pets, photography, wildlife | Tags: animals, birds, dogs, gardening, nature, pets, photography, silly, wildlife
setting: cable access, saturday, 7:00 am
cody bear: good morning everyone and welcome to “ignoring nature in our own back yard”. I’m cody bear and this is my lovely co-host pickles.
pickles: ooooh, i’ve found a bug!
cb: ignore it!
cb: (aside) see why she is just the co-host
cb: today on “ignoring” we will be talking about the many birds in our back yard we ignore. what did we ignore yesterday, pickles.
pick: first we have a mail house finch
cb: how boring!
pick: actually…i ….i think he looks very yummy.
cb: how can you say that? he doesn’t even closely resemble a cat!
pick: i’m find it very yard to ignore him. especially when i only get two meals a day.
cb: house finches are very common here, along with many other finches, sparrows, doves, grackles. sometimes we get grackles, thrashers, pigeons, humming birds, cardinals, goldfinches, mockingbirds, wrens. all these birds are very inviting to the local cats, which is why they are very important to my personal food chain. but still….i ignore them.
pick: mmmmmm.
cb: our loudest visitor is the hummingbird.
pick: hummingbirds are too small, too fast and too far away. this makes them easy to ignore.
cb: excellent point pickles. what the….?
cb: pigeon from below. these are easy to ignore. very stupid. not an ounce of cunning. easy to ignore.
pick: difficult to ignore.
cb: i ignore birds by chasing cars as they drive by the fence.
pick: i ignore birds by chasing cody bear as he chases cars as they drive by the fence.
cb: but the best way to ignore nature is by…
cb and pick: ROMPING!
cb: well that’s it for today. we’re going to eat breakfast then go ignore more wildlife
pick: (aside) i’d like to try one of those finches.
cb: see you next time!
Filed under: flowers, gardening, nature, new mexico, photography, plants | Tags: cacti, cactus, cholla bud, flowers, garden, gardening, nature, photography, plants
Filed under: animals, dog, dogs, life, pets, photography | Tags: animal behavior, animals, cats, dogs, gardening, grass, life, pets, silly
have you done this? have you brought home the “pet grass” from petsmart???!!!
i have. tonight was the first pet grass night since pickles came home. (i raaarely do petgrass here)
naturally it goes to the cat first!
(here let me mention: this cat needs none of my help articulating her place at the top of the pack here at our home)
and the cat appreciates the grass the most.
next comes cody bear…
he’s uncertain. this can’t be right. the only time he eats greenery is when he’s nervous and mom usually says stop. but…o.k….i’ll give it a shot.
then comes pickles. dear god. pickles.
she jams her muzzle in it. digs in.
absconds.
then simply asks….”what’s the big deal?’
from now on, the grass is only accessible to my cat. she’s earned it. actually…so have i. may i have a nibble?
cody bear's friends 