Summer Moments

. ~ Hello! ~ .

🌞

Here are just a few snapshots of the last few weeks...

My friend and coworker, David, and I took his kayaks out on the Napa River.  We had a great time exploring the river from Kennedy Park at the south end of town almost all the way to Trancas on Napa's north side.  We saw a lot of birds, including green herons, osprey, and kingfisher.  It was a fun day!

I helped my good friend Eddie's dad with a nice low-water perennial flower bed.  It was fun to design a garden that doesn't have to contend with deer.  I picked a lot of my favorite plants with the goal of "tons of color" in mind.  Rudbeckia, Coreopsis, Buddleia, Gaura, Salvia, Heuchera, Ceanothus, Gaillardia, Kniphofia, Monarda, Japanese Anemone, Oenothera... 

Oh, and while we did not do any fishing on kayak day, I have been casting a line around the house whenever I get the chance... and I caught a pretty big catfish the other day!

We'll be eating good tonight!

An update on the outdoor cat situation: While I am proud to have gotten 3 young cats fixed this year, I am slowly coming to terms with the notion that I may be the only one feeding them, and may have to do it on a regular basis... I only started doing this so that I could trap them, but now I don't think they are going to the neighbor's house for food anymore.  They live around my house and act like I am their sole food provider, and I can't let them go hungry, sooo......

The 3 closest cats are the 3 that seem to have "moved in" with me, sleeping in my salvia bushes and lounging on the outdoor furniture.

I learned about a species of native bee I wasn't previously familiar with.  The digger bee.  They are solitary bees (so they don't pool their resources and do that level of social stuff).  They nest in holes in the ground.  And I believe it is the same species of bee that I was so excited to catch a video recording of as it "buzz pollinated" my tomato flowers last year.  "Buzz pollinating" is a special coevolution between some species of bees and some species of plants, which have flowers requiring a certain frequency vibration in order to shake loose their pollen and pollinate the flower more efficiently.  Tomatos are one such plant.  Anyway, the digger bees have a slightly wider body shape, and more of a black-white coloration, rather than the stereotypical black-yellow of, say, a honeybee.

This one was into the Agastache at the nursery.  Digger bees are a little more rapid-moving than honeybees, making for a challenging photo shoot!

Coming in for a landing. . .

Here is another snapshot from Van Winden's, the nursery I work at.  Our "California Native Plants" corner!  We started grouping some of our natives here a year or so ago and it has been a nice feature of the bedding section of the nursery.  With water restrictions going into place and more and more awareness of drought and the advantage of planting water-wise plants, which many California natives are, more and more people have been seeking out native plants.

With summer setting in and the land drying up, as it does every year, I am proud to have a good selection to offer our customers!  A perk of being the plant orderer is I get to represent plants I really believe in, and that makes me feel good at the end of the day.

And meanwhile, back at my own home, I have a nursery table of my own plants:

What has been really exciting me lately (I think about checking on them every morning and it motivates me to do my day 😊) are these Dudleya farinosa I started from seeds collected out around Salt Point this past winter.  Dudleyas are commonly referred to as "Live-Forever", as they are slow growing and some can be very long-lived, poking out of cracks and crevices in cliffsides along the California coast, as well as inland.

Those two in the back right are the standout over-achievers of the bunch.  My little guys!! 💚

And last but not least, a throwback to the Fourth of July when Mark and I collaborated on some seafood paella cooked over open flame in Mom's backyard.  We used clams, shrimp, chicken, peppers and a bunch of other good flavors - Yummy yummy yummy!

 ~ Thanks for tuning in ~

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~ Have a beautiful rest of your day! ~

Yachats! Part Three - Some Other Stuff

 Just a few more snippets from Yachats...

We did a little bike ride up Yachats River Road to the succulent nursery there.  I was really surprised with how large it was (for a small business scale).  Apparently they sell at Portland flower markets.  They had recently changed ownership and the young man that we spoke with seemed genuine and kind.

I got to try out dad's electric bike.  It is very nice, especially for uphill, you hardly have to pedal at all if you are so inclined.

 On our way back down the road I was at the back of our group and I noticed Gail and Dad had stopped up ahead and I wasn't sure why... then I saw the bear up ahead crossing the road!  It was immersed in the bushes again a moment after I saw it, but then, one after another, two cubs followed after it.  Wow!  We were only a few hundred yards from the house.  We half expected to see them again as we had happy hour on the deck.

That evening we went into town for dinner at the Drift Inn.

(Pizzaaa yummm)

Centranthus in bloom.

Angry!                         /                                 Happy!

 

...amazing what that first sip of beer can do!  😄

Park restroom at sunset...

...Everything is beautiful when you're on vacation.

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No photographic evidence exists of our burrito bar dinner with Lori, Bryan, and of course Daisy's best friend Juno!  It was a wonderful evening and great to catch up with them.  They just embarked on a long road trip shortly after we saw them - happy trails!

I do, however, have photographic evidence (albeit pretty blurry) of the mama river otter and at least one baby we saw down at Riversong's "Baboon Beach", where Dad and I went to do a little inner tube float on a warm summer day.

At first Dad thought he saw a big fish swimming.  Then she popped her head up and watched us for 15 seconds or so before swimming past us with the smaller one.

A fortuitous start to the first river float of the year.  May there be many more, equally enchanted moments in these whimsical waters!

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Just a few more snapshots around the house...

Cat in the grass!  Hummingbirds beware!  (Actually she had to be put inside for being too creepy to the local bird population - sorry Yummy!  We still think you're cute.)

Gail and the magic beanstalk!  I am very jealous of their "Helda" romano beans with their gigantic leaves and "sky-high by the 4th of July" stature. I introduced this variety to them a couple years ago.  This year mine are puny though... I just sprayed them because they had spider mites actually.  Maybe if I show them this picture they will be inspired  😀

  

Daisy posing with her namesakes in the greenhouse.

And of course it is always a pleasure to cross paths with Penelope, however brief our interactions may be.  

Well, it has been a delight revisiting this fun trip.  I can't explain how good it felt to get out of my bubble and spend some quality time in nature with some of my favorite people.  Gail always sets the guest room up nice and cozy with DVD's to watch and there is always an abundance of good nourishing food to be found... and soul-nourishing good times.  I hope to return soon!

Yachats! Part Two - Cape Perpetua

So this was actually day one, we went on a nice hike to Cape Perpetua:

We saw these "Indian Pipes" or "Ghost Plants", Monotropa uniflora.  At first we wondered: Fungus or Plant?  I have been learning more about parasitic plants lately... there are so many varied ways of "doing life" in the natural world, it is quite eye-opening.  So it turns out that these are in the family Ericaceae, like Heather, Blueberries, Manzanita, etc.  The interesting thing about these is that they parasitize fungus!  They lack the ability to photosynthesize on their own, hence their lack of chlorophyll and lack of green coloration.  Their host fungal species are all members of the Russulaceae family.  Indian Pipes have one flower per stem (hence "uniflora") and are pollinated mostly by bumblebees.  Because they don't require sunlight to get energy they can grow in dark forests, commonly associated with Birch trees, but I suppose also any trees that are hosts to Russulaceae family fungus.  These specimens were among Hemlock and other conifers.

Later on we also spotted a shrimp-looking peach-colored specimen.  iNaturalist identified this one as Monotropa hypopitys aka "Pinesap", a related species.

This stretch of trail received some insanely strong winds 2 years ago during the devastating wildfires that swept Oregon.  These winds drove from the East westward, which is the opposite direction than these trees were accustomed to withstand, so many were knocked over.

I happened to be leaving Yachats the day after those winds in September 2020.  I will never forget that 17 hour drive home, making multiple detours to avoid highways closed by fires.

Observing bird calls.  I learned to identify the Varied Thrush (sounds like a referee blowing a whistle) and the Swainson's thrush (an ascending flute-like call that seems to spiral off)

Unknown cute star-shaped flower:

We saw a number of these perspiring mushrooms.

Big Bad Banana

Ever since reading a book my Dad gave to me called "The Wild Trees", I have been excited by canopies of old trees like redwoods and other conifers which are their own habitats for various plants and animals.  These habitats require older, larger trees which have platform-like surfaces near the top that over the years accumulate organic matter enough for plants like ferns and huckleberries to root into...

This tree is flexing some muscle, or impersonating a Saguaro Cactus!

Amanita in July

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Back at the house it was time to relax and check out the property while a pot of "Whipple" beans simmered on the stove.

The foxgloves seemed to reach record height this year on the Oregon coast due to all the late rain they received.  Fortunately, the gloom gave way to bright blue skies the week of my visit! 

Almost as tall as the Big Leaf Maple across the river!  😁

Playing with reflections / dried artichoke blossom.

Water is falling, but the river is slowing down now that the rains stopped.

Almost time for a haircut.  The Baboon of "Baboon Beach"

Their dogwood tree was completely coated in blooms. 

Aahhhhhh, that's nice.

Yachats! Part One - A Beachin' Place

 I took a little trip up to Yachats, Oregon this past week to see my Dad and Gail.  The weather had just gotten warm and sunny after a long, rainy Spring.  It was a natural paradise!

On our way to Yachats from the airport Dad and I stopped for lunch in Florence and checked on the Purple Martin nest box colony there.  We didn't see any activity at this time.

Making our way up the coast, we made another stop to check out Heceta Head Lighthouse.  There were people swimming in the ocean, it was so nice out!

The guest house, looking most idyllic, up on the cliffside.

We saw some Common Murres on the offshore rocks.  They look sort of like penguins, with their feet positioned near their bottoms and an upright posture when on land.
[picture taken through binoculars]

Wild Cucumber blooming

That evening we relaxed and caught up over some delicious chicken cacciatore, excited for the days that lied ahead.

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(I am doing this a little out of order, as we actually did a hike on our first full day, but I will get to that later.) 

 Here is our morning at Strawberry Hill Beach, one of Daisy's favorite beaches to run around and play fetch on.

I was smitten by the myriad plant life adorning the wet cliffsides.  Purple Clover,  yellow Mimulus, among others. 

Yellow Eyed Grass (Sisyrinchium), a petite member of the iris family, growing on sheer cliffside.

Some type of Castilleja (aka "Indian Paintbrush").  Castilleja is a hemiparasite, meaning it has green leaves and photosynthesizes for itself, but also takes energy from host plants.  Finger-like projections called "haustoria" connect with the roots of a wide variety of host plants and absorb water and nutrients from them.

I call this one "Plastic Jesus"

They showed me this unbelievably-positioned driftwood log that ended up inside a tunnel that goes through a large rock.  The tunnel, as well as the log, goes clear out the backside of this little rock mountain.  The log is wedged in there, plugging the tunnel near perfectly.  We speculated about which direction the log could have entered from. . .

Log Jammin'

We got down to the end of the beach and the highlight of the day was the family of 3 river otters Gail spotted across the way!  They were making their way down to the ocean water along the rocky cliffside.  I was very lucky to be able to rest the binoculars on some rocks and aim my phone's camera through to get these videos.

One by one, they each jump into the ocean:

Once in the water, they wasted no time snatching up a quite large crab and hauling it back up onto the rocks and going to town on it!

I had to break this next video up into 3 parts to upload it:

A few still shots of the feasting:

Wow, what a treat!  This makes the second family of RIVER otters I have observed at the BEACH, and been fortunate enough to capture on video, in a 6 month timespan!

Well that is about all the excitement I can handle for now.  I will share some photos of our hike and other adventures soon!