Invest in A/C Companies in Seattle

If I had spare cash floating around, I'd invest it in air conditioning companies in Seattle.  Every summer it seems to get hotter and hotter for longer and longer periods.  This past week it was 85-90 every single day, same today, same tomorrow, might cool off by Wednesday.  There is only so much that floor fans and window fans and wading pools can do.

The future goldmine of the Puget Sound is A/C.  You'll make a fortune.

Meanwhile, the birds were out, along with other critters, down at the Montlake Fill.

Pied-billed Grebe

Connie Who Practically Lives There told me that during the recent Fill renovation, which was massively mishandled by the State, she came upon a worker with a truckload of stumpy logs out of which spiky brush was growing, and he was placing them randomly around the meadow.

"What are those for?" she inquired politely.

"They're for the critters," he replied.  "Critters love them."

"What kind of critters?" she asked.

"Oh, you know, just critters."

"Amphibian critters?  Mammal critters?  Avian critters?"

He merely stared at her, because he'd been hired by the State to put random brushy logs about the place and his knowledge of biology and ecosystems was apparently nil.

"Just, you know, critters," he said firmly, perhaps by now wondering if Connie was a bit on the dim side.

I won't bore you with the plethora of mishaps and misguided management that occurred during that year-long renovation/mitigation project.  Instead, I give you CRITTERS!

These otters were frolicking at Yesler Cove (part of the Fill) last Wednesday.

I did not see any stumpy brushy logs lying about in nearby Yesler Swamp, nor did the CRITTERS evince any interest in seeking them out.

But I'm sure they'll be good for something.  Probably for fouling up the giant lawn mowers that are used on those meadows every summer.   That could be fun.

Mostly, as mentioned, it was far too hot to do anything outdoors (and often indoors, too).  I took the Hounds for walks every day at 7:00am.  Occasionally I ventured out later in the heat of the day to zip them down to the lake for some quality wading.  They are surviving.  I am not.

On Saturday I tootled over to the Ballard neighborhood, where I got to be one of the working artists at the 17th annual "Art in the Garden" festival at a local community garden.  Luckily, I'd signed up for just two hours, in the morning, so I didn't suffer from the heat that much.

I did two drawings during those two hours.  There was music and food and artist booths, and quite a few people came up to see what I was doing and to chat.  One garden plot attracted me for its aquatic theme, with colorful paper fish decorations:

After I finished it, the owner of the garden asked if she could buy it.  Oh, yes, she certainly could!  The organizers also sprang for my lunch, so it was a fun and profitable outing.

On Sunday morning I went back to the Fill, where I admired this Great Blue Heron preening:

There was also a Merlin WAY way off in the distance:

I walked a half-mile or so to get to the other side of the tree it was in, where I managed to get a slightly closer view though from the back and without good lighting:

As for the Ospreys, they originally had two chicks, but one has not been seen for at least four or five days.   The likely culprit is a Bald Eagle.  Well, you know, eagles have to eat, too.  I did get to see the surviving youngster, who seems to be doing well:

I hope the kid makes it!

So that's the update from the Pacific Northwest.  Stay cool out there, and if it's cool where you are, please send some our way.  Thank you!

The Birds are Back!

Well, truth to tell, the birds didn't go anywhere at all--at least, not the resident birds at the Montlake Fill.  But I haven't been posting as many photos of them for some time now, because the cheap camera I bought to replace the more expensive one that I broke a year ago just didn't take good bird pics.

Luckily (I guess), the cheap camera broke two weeks ago, and this time I replaced it with the more expensive one I had before.  And the first thing I did was take it down to the Fill.

There's a weekly shorebird count there that I often participate in, which usually means counting Killdeer (our only resident shorebird) and nothing else.  But this past Saturday, we got an actual non-Killdeer shorebird -- this little Least Sandpiper:

The Fill used to be a great place to see shorebirds during their migrations, with lovely muddy shores around the central pond for them to stop over at, but invasive plants have filled it in and we see very few of them anymore.

We also have resident Wood Ducks who were busy breeding this summer:

And there are resident Belted Kingfishers around.

And resident bird dogs:

Our best find of the day was this Green Heron, fishing for its breakfast.  The lighting was poor, and the bird was fairly far away--my old cheap camera would have taken blurry pics and I would have given up in frustration.  As always, you get what you pay for.

So I'm pleased to have a decent camera again, and I am going to try harder this time to keep it functioning properly.  I might even use the camera case.

On Sunday I took the Hounds to a fundraiser event for a local rescue group called Old Dog Haven, which as you may surmise, specializes in finding permanent foster homes for aged, unadoptable canines.   They had lots of activities, including dachshund races!

Truman and Pippin did not race -- for one thing, I didn't have a helper along, and for another, I'm pretty sure Truman would have just freaked out over the whole thing, while Pippin would have most likely run right over to the other dogs to sniff their butts.

We did know one of the entrants, who sadly came in last.  Here are the Wiener Winners:

Truman and Pippin were content to watch from the sidelines.

I'm not sure if I'll get anything done this coming week -- once again, the forecast calls for full sunshine and 85-90 degrees for the entire week.  I may spend it all camped out in the frozen food aisle at the grocery store.

I leave you with two short dachshund racing clips -- enjoy!

Here a Dog, There a Dog, Everywhere A Dachshund

It's been a little chaotic at Dog End of late.

I've had a four-day gig watching Winston and Chloe while their owners attended a family reunion on the Oregon coast.  They sent me cheerful messages about going on dune-buggy rides and kayak river trips and how lovely the sandy beaches were on 70-degree days.  Meanwhile, I did this:

Four dachshunds do fit neatly into the back seat of my car.  And they didn't get into any altercations on our drive to the park--they are well-mannered pups.  Luckily, I didn't have to try walking four dogs at once, since Truman doesn't like to walk away from the car (only towards it), and Chloe is 14 and prefers to stroll.

Pippin and Winston had no trouble getting out and about, though.

On the way back towards the car, I let Truman get his exercise while forcing Pip to ride for a bit.

Truman, however, refused to be photographed.  It is hard to take pictures while pushing a stroller and walking two dogs on leashes.  They wouldn't all get in the frame at once.

Chloe did get a short walk at the very end of our outing.

And finally I kind of sort of managed to get all four dogs in the same shot.

This little adventure took place at 7:00am.  Why?  Because by 8:00am it was already too hot.  While I had to turn the heat back on in my house during the first week of July, when it barely cracked 60 for the high, this past week it's been 80+ relentlessly.  Yesterday it hit 91.  Today and tomorrow should top out at 87. 

There is no air conditioning at Dog End.

I seem to write a lot about the weather on this blog.  Well, it affects me greatly--my hobbies are birdwatching (kind of need to be outside, mostly), dog-walking (ditto), plein air sketching (obviously) and gardening (I don't do houseplants). 

Thus my obsession with weather.  It's not terribly predictable here, most of the time.  Mostly we get vague intimations of what it might be like--I mean, what exactly is the difference between "partly cloudy" and "patches of sunshine"?  Why does the forecast have a full-sun icon next to "20% chance of precipitation"?  And why do people from elsewhere look at us funny when we talk about "sunbreaks"?

Ah, well, the mysteries of Pacific Northwest weather will never end.  I just get up every morning and scan the gray blanket overhead for signs of blue holes.

Meanwhile, back to dachshund adorableness.

You may have noticed the poor quality of these photos.  Or maybe you didn't.  But I sure did!  You know why?

I'll tell you why:  they were taken with the poor quality camera on my smartphone.  I didn't buy it for the camera, I bought it because it made phone calls and sent texts and accessed email and maps.  I don't use if for anything else.  It cost $30.  I am frugal.

And why did I take these photos with a cheap smartphone?

Because my real camera broke down.  This is the THIRD camera in five years that I've managed to destroy, due to my inability to keep them clean.  Yes, they always come with cases, which I never wind up using, because when I'm out in the field (dust! dirt! grit!) looking at birds, and I see a great bird, the last thing I want to do is fumble around with a camera case while the great bird is thinking about jaunting off to Mexico.

So it's my own fault.  Grit gets inside the lens housing, and the lens stops retracting properly.  These are souped-up point-and-shoot cameras, not real DSLR cameras with interchangeable lenses.  The lens unit is one solid piece and it costs nearly as much to take apart to repair as it does to buy a  new one.  Sigh.

The new one, by the way, is slated to arrive tomorrow.   It comes with a case.  Hm.

Finally, while it's been mostly too hot to go sketching, I did get out one day last week before the heat hit, to a small park called Twin Ponds where there are always good trees and fallen logs and other fun stuff.  So here is my one sketch from the past week:

Stay cool out there!

Out and About, with Dogs

Last week I was determined to get more sketching in then I have of late, and succeeded two whole days in a row:

At the UW campus (above) and at the church I spotted on an earlier attempt to draw stuff.

Then came the 4th.  After a very early morning walk, I stayed home with the Hounds to make sure they weren't too freaked out by the nonstop fireworks (last one heard at 2am).  Here they are looking terrified:

On Thursday I planned to draw at the Montlake Fill, but became distracted by a Great Egret.  This stunning bird is typically found in southeastern Washington and sightings in the Puget Sound are rare.

I called Connie Who Practically Lives There (who wasn't there!) and although she was not yet dressed, and the egret was a half-mile round the pedestrian-only trail and she has bad knees, she got there within 30 minutes, a long 30 minutes during which I mentally willed the bird to stay put.  It did.  Connie was thrilled.

I was also distracted by the sighting of a tiny Osprey chick poking its head above the nest rim.  Hoorah!  I couldn't get a photo of the chick, so had to settle for this series where the female adult dried off her feathers after an unsuccessful fishing effort.

On Friday I managed to get back on the sketching track.  My friend Tina and I headed off to Whidbey Island for the day.  Here's the view from the ferry as it departed Mukilteo:

And here is the standard photo of the ferry from the opposite direction crossing our path:

We stopped at the small town of Langley, which has an old-fashioned shopping district:

Truman did not seem to appreciate the view from this bench:

There were bunnies!

Alas, the sketches I tried to do there were not good.   The first spot I chose, across the street from a couple of picturesque buildings, was fine until a large truck with lawn equipment parked right in front of me despite the yellow painted curb which I thought would protect my view from vehicles.  It was a gang of city workers doing landscaping and they could park wherever they pleased.  Drat. 

The second spot I tried was interrupted by a nearby construction crew (hidden from view) starting up very loud power tools.  I gave up.   It was time for lunch anyway, so we tootled on down the road to Greenbank Farm, a working farm which also has shops, a pond, gardens, and an outdoor cafe where dogs are welcomed.  After eating, we wandered the grounds.

And I sketched!  This was my view from the outdoor cafe.  I thought I'd have time to add watercolor, as the place was packed, but our food arrived sooner than expected.  Oh, well.

While wandering the grounds, Pip spied a gaggle of geese and got quite excited.

Here are the gardens, where I did a second sketch:

The watercolor got a bit messy in that one.  I think my favorite sketch of the day was this little 10-minute one done while waiting in line for the ferry back:

On Saturday I went out for a short visit to a nearby park, and I did a lovely sketch of some fallen trees, but didn't realize until I started to add the watercolor that the pen I had used did not have waterproof ink.  Oh, what a mess it made!  Oh, well.  Live and learn.

On Sunday the Seattle Urban Sketcher group met up to draw at the annual Georgetown Garden Tour.  I found a lovely home where I did a small scene of pots and gargoyles.  And yes, the home was painted bright purple.

So while I wasn't entirely happy with some of the results, at least I got out there more often and tried to draw stuff.  And most of the time, I got to bring the Hounds along, which is all that really matters, right?

Right!