I’m not here.

Somewhat surprisingly the budding naturalists had yet to visit the Bloedel Reserve — so visiting we went.

We were greeted with a gorgeous meadow.

A walk past the bird refuge and through the woods opens to an impressive pond in front of the visitor center, originally the Bloedel residence.

The views from the back yard are stunning. We saw an adult Bald Eagle perched on a tree and moments later a juvenile flew from nest to perch.

From the visitor center, we viewed the waterfall …

… made our way to the Japanese garden …

… and walked through the moss and reflection gardens.

During our visit we were unfortunately surrounded by loud-talking-brochure-reading biddies which spoiled the experience a bit — reflecting back the Reserve is really amazing — I’m excited for fall.

Out and about in the garden and what to my wondering eyes should appear …

I found this flower growing near the garden — I think its form and colors are striking. What is it?

Another new garden find and now a solid member on my list of favorite berries: thimbleberry.

I’m renting a Nikon 105mm f/2.8 for the week and took some photos this evening as a trial run. So far I’m mixed on the lens, mainly because to own one would cost significantly more than I’m willing to spend for such a single purpose — albeit enjoyable — lens.

there is a road that meets the road
that goes to my house
and how the green grows there
– Decemberists

Our nation’s independence celebration appears to harken the arrival of strawberries and raspberries and this year was no exception. The first couple of tayberries are also showing color and the blueberries’ luxuriant green should be giving way to deep blue shortly. We love this time of year.

Our bounty is in spite of the fact a deer got through the electric fence (since patched) and helped itself to some greenery, fortunately leaving the fruit for us.

The vegetables are coming along as well with the peas just short of flowering, the potatoes already there and the pac choi ready for dinner.

Fruits and vegetables aren’t the only vegetation we have growing in the yard.

Last year the Shaggy Parasols were out in full force a couple of months sooner — perhaps our cold and rainy spring kept them from popping earlier?

The last of the foxgloves took a beating in the thunderstorms we had last week.

And finally, what’s an update without a bee photo, this one landing on some lavender.

courtesy the flowers of summer.

My father-in-law can build a house from scratch — I cannot. I can code, photograph and grow my own food but anything resembling construction, be it from wood or Legos, pushes me into uncomfortable territory. Possessing the skill to build a house, and one that will remain standing, is just damn impressive to me. I once built a table which didn’t stand so well; Chuck and I burned it the following New Year’s lacking firewood. I have a rich history of failed woodworking attempts.

My daughter’s original sandbox is tucked away under an overgrown orchard too near the electric fence and made from pressure treated wood, the boogeyman of today’s garden, so my wife and I decided it needed replacing and a new home nearer the swing-set.

First, I laid out a rough placement for the sandbox to get an idea of sizing:

The design is pretty simple: two six foot long sides and two four foot ends of 1″x12″ cedar. In the prototype design, the corners are each cut to three inches long but my wife suggested cutting half to four inches and half to three so when joined in the corner they would both extend three inches, great idea. Off to the lumber yard I went, proclaiming my “unhandiness” to everyone I met (why I’m not sure), to purchase some clear cedar to build the sandbox of my daughter’s dreams.

I first cut the corners to size:

I had to cut one board in half to form the ends. I was using two sawhorses to support the wood but didn’t have another to catch the piece being cut. The cutting of the smaller pieces went fine but cutting the bigger piece resulted in failure number one as it hit the driveway:

Ugh. I was able to use a screw to bind it up a bit and after some pep-talking from my wife, and lunch, continued. After everything was cut I started the assembly.

I haven’t mentioned it yet but it was wicked hot on Sunday and I think this affected my already suspect ability to follow directions and visualize a finished product. After completely screwing the sandbox together I looked at the corners:

Dammit, failure number two — rather than having nice 3″x3″ corners I instead installed 4″x2″ corners — I hate woodworking. I suppose I could have re-screwed the whole thing but I was hot and wanted to move on to the portion of the job I do like: playing in the dirt.

I excavated the ground around where the sandbox would go, leveled it with the stakes and filled in some backfill.

After installing the weed liner:

it was filled with sand and toys:

and the job was done:

My daughter did a prolonged “Sandbox Dance” — all the work was worth it — success!

Even I’m enjoying it.

Sunday, another gloomy day this spring/summer, found us in Seattle checking out the Hiram M. Chittenden (Ballard) locks and the neighboring Carl S. English, Jr botanic gardens.

The docks were originally built so coal and timber could be easily transported by boat but today salmon, seals and pleasure boating dominate the landscape.

A few boats were loaded into the locks while we watched, a couple apparently doing it for the first time given the general confusion around what to do. We started to watch the water rise but having risen in locks while kayaking, we knew the proceedings and left early to check out the botanic garden …

which I found more interesting.

After we spent some time chasing squirrels and running through the lawns we went to the Ballard Market and Clover Toys, the kind of toy store we love with lots of European-imported toys and almost no plastic crap (though we did walk out with a new rubber duck named “Ben”). The owner of the store introduced us to Froebel Gifts which we had to buy because I loved them so, my daughter taking to them (Gift 1) as much as I.

I love farmers’ markets. In Chicago I would shop three days a week in the summer and arrive at work loaded down with bags of currants, blueberries, bread, … whatever was seasonal. The BI market is great but the Ballard Market is really my kind of affair, reminding me a little of the markets in Paris with a full complement of products on display.

For as often as we attend a farmers’ market I rarely take photos even though I feel it’s a wonderful display of color and textures — I rushed these photos not wanting to look like that-guy-with-the-camera. I can’t wait to go back and fortunately it doesn’t conflict with our local market.

Back home in the garden we have our own peonies opening slowly.