Of Ospreys, Compost, and Wiener Dogs

It was a relatively quite week at Dog End, where I've decided that I'm not really retired.  Instead, I am dedicated to getting in touch with my 10-year-old self.  I hesitate to call this "Second Childhood", as that tends to imply diminished mental capacity, though you never know.  But the general idea is to devote my time to the activities I most enjoyed during childhood, such as drawing and painting, reading tons of books, and spending time with wiener dogs.  And while not an active birdwatcher, I was also attracted to nature--and even occasionally birds--for here is one of my earliest drawings:

Not bad for a 7-year-old, if I do say so myself.  You may wonder, however, why there's a clock behind the owl.  It's because the unfortunate bird was no longer quite so natural--it was, in fact, stuffed and sitting on my uncle's mantlepiece.  Sigh.  Oh, well.  All great artists have to start somewhere!

So nowadays, being fully in touch with my inner 10-year-old, I am busy drawing and painting stuff, reading tons of books, and spending time with very fine wiener dogs, and I've added live, natural birds to the picture.  Of course, I never really stopped doing any of these things during my alleged adulthood.  It's just now I get to do them all the time instead of only on evenings and weekends.  Yay!

Down at the Montlake Fill, for instance, my fellow birders and I have been keeping a keen eye on the Osprey pair, Chester and Lacey, who should have chicks hatching any day now.  I got to see Lacey doing one of my favorite activities--redecorating--as she brought a new stick to the nest:

I also spotted my friends Connie and Inge over by the Main Pond.  Sometimes it can be difficult to spot birds, even with binoculars....

As for drawing stuff, we had a mini-heat wave here (85+) last Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, and all I did was haul out the wading pool for the Hounds and take them for walks at 7am.  On Thursday, I was dog-sitting all day.  I can't remember what my Friday excuse was, but on Saturday I did manage to get out with Tina to a small and lovely public garden in Shoreline.

Yes, I drew compost bins.  What can I say?  They were different from what I usually draw, and I was attracted by the variety of shape and texture.  And then I drew what I usually draw:

I have other ideas on how to reconnect with my 10-year-old self.  For example, we used to have fun looking for license plates from other states whenever we went on road trips.  So about a year and a half ago, I decided to find all 50 license plates with the restriction that I had to see them within Washington state.  Someday I'll post pics of them, but only when the set is complete, for as of today, I am still at 49.  And which state am I missing?

Well, it's not Hawaii:

Which I spotted in my own neighborhood.  And it's not Maine:

Nor is it Alaska (we get tons of those here), nor Delaware, nor Arkansas, nor West Virginia...no, the license plate which tasks me to this day is none other than Rhode Island.  It's a small place, I hear.  And apparently, none of the population venture westward.  At least, not very far.  Sigh.

I have other fun ideas, but I know that what you really come here for is the adorable dachshund pics, so I leave you with oodles of wiener dog fun.

Though it wasn't all fun--poor Pippin had to say goodbye to his favorite mail carrier, who is switching to a different route.  They've been very good friends:

Every time he heard the mail truck arrive, Pip bolted outside, tail wagging ferociously, leaping at the gate.  Our carrier, Ms. Chou, enjoyed cuddling him on her lap, and giving him treats.  He will miss her!

Later he distracted himself from his sorrow by romping with Winston:

I also distracted Pippin by buying him a new toy--a ginormous monkey, which he adored in the store but wasn't too sure what to do with when we got it home:

So Truman demonstrated the proper Giant Monkey Attack Method:

Pippin loves to model his behavior on that of his big brother, so he quickly picked up the attack method:

So that was life at Dog End this past week.  My conclusion, after getting in touch with my 10-year-old self, is that I never actually left her behind, that adulthood is highly overrated, and as Moominpappa* likes to say, All responsibilities are only a nuisance.

*If you don't know Tove Jansson's Moomintroll books, get thee hence to a library!

This Time with Pictures

Hey, I managed to get outside and snap photos this past week.  Guess what I took photos of?  Birds?  Dachshunds?  Art work?  All three? 

It's possible I'm getting predictable here. 

The Pied-billed Grebes who live at the Montlake Fill have chicks, and they're always fun to watch.

And this Cinnamon Teal started walking right towards the path we were on, until he noticed the Hounds and took off.

The Hounds are ever vigilant, striving valiantly to protect me from joggers, other birders, bunny rabbits, and rampaging teals.

You shall not pass!

On another lovely day, we ventured farther afield to the Woodland Park rose garden:

I had not intended to go there.  My intention was to walk around Green Lake, and find something to sketch there, but about ten minutes into that plan it became clear that something was blooming there which caused my eyes to water and my nose to itch, and this was not making me happy.  So I tossed the Hounds back in the car and tootled on down the road to the nearby garden.

I looked for something to sketch there, but felt overwhelmed by the abundance of good stuff. 

So I threw the Hounds in the car and looked for somewhere else to sketch.  I had not intended to go to the Ballard P-Patch garden, but it was only a few miles away and I was curious about it, having somehow missed it during last year's P-Patch explorations.

It was a pleasant little spot.

I had also not intended to go to Golden Gardens park that day. 

But it's only a short ways from the P-Patch garden, and it was sunny, and the dogs hadn't really walked much at all, so off we went.

That was our Friday adventure.  On Saturday, we returned to the Fill to check on youngsters again, and found these delightful Mallard ducklings:

Along with another Pied-billed Grebe chick:

Later that same day I joined the Seattle Urban Sketcher group for their monthly outing.  We went to McMenamin's in Bothell, which is a 1931 junior high school that was renovated into a hotel with several restaurants.

I tried to draw some of the buildings--this is a composite of two views--the main entrance doorway, and an outdoor patio.  I wasn't very happy with my efforts. 

The buildings were not making me happy, and there were too many people everywhere--in addition to the regular guests of the hotel, and our group of 25+ sketchers, there were people attending a graduation ceremony and another group at a bridal shower, plus a whole slew of families with young tykes heading for the swimming pool.

My general idea of a good people-to-space ratio is along the lines of one per acre or so.  McMenamin's ratio of twenty per square foot was rather irritating.  But then I wandered across the parking lot searching for respite, and nearly tripped over a tiny garden tucked behind the Hawaii-themed North Shore Lagoon restaurant.  And nobody was there!

I spent over an hour there, just basking in the sunshine and sketching in splendid solitude. 

Speaking of sunshine, the current forecast for the Puget Sound calls for four days of 85+ weather.  This is too hot.  It's not too hot if you have air conditioning, but sadly, I don't, nor do any of my friends.  I've got the doggie wading pool ready to go, though, so at least the Hot Dogs should be happy.

Stay cool!

The United States of Reading

I have no photos.  I did nothing all week.  I keep a daily log, so I can prove this:

Monday 
Dog walks
Grocery shopping
Visit from Michelle, Winston, and Chloe

Tuesday
Dog walks
Gardening
Lunch with neighbor

Wednesday
Dog walks
Annual physical

Thursday
Dog walks
Dog day care for Winston and Chloe
Went to local farmer's market

Friday
Dog walks
Took car in for service
Visit from Michelle, Winston, and Chloe

Saturday
Dog walks in between rain showers
Went to local farmer's market
Watched baseball games

Sunday
Dog walk at the Montlake Fill
Minor sketch outing where I drew a tree, twice.  It was okay.
Watched baseball games

See?  Nothing.  Well, okay, not entirely nothing, but not exactly thrilling adventures, either.  What can I say?  I'm retired.  I lounge a lot.

And I read a lot.  You may recall that a while back I started a personal reading challenge:  to read at least one nonfiction book (any topic) for each of the fifty U.S. states (no time limit).  I am pleased to report that I'm up to ILLINOIS.

So far I've read:

Alabama, One Big Front  Porch (Kathryn Windham)
Coming Into the Country (John McPhee; Alaska)
Going Back to Bisbee  (Richard Shelton)
Arkansas/Arkansaw (Brooks Blevins)
California's Frontier Naturalists  (Richard Beidleman)
Greetings from Colorado: Legends, Landmarks, and Lore  (J. Leacock)
Stories in Stone  (Jelle deBoer; Connecticut)
Colonial Delaware: A History  (John Munroe)
Oh, Florida!  (Craig Pittman)
Architecture of the Old South: Georgia  (Mills Lane)
Unfamiliar Fishes  (Sarah Vowell; Hawaii)
Idaha: Magnificent Wilderness  (Jeff Gnass)

I'm currently reading Chicago's Greatest Year, 1893 (Joseph Gustaitis)

Here is what I've learned thus far:

1.  Alabama folks like to sit on big porches and tell folksy tales to each other.
2.  John McPhee needed a much better editor.
3.  Arizona deserts are full of dangerous plants, and Arizona is mostly desert.
4.  Arkansas is more fun than you might think.
5.  California's frontier naturalists were, on the whole, incredibly boring people.
6.  Colorado is pretty.
7.  Connecticut has fascinating geology, none of which I cared much about.
8.  Delaware must be the dullest state in the country (though I haven't reached Rhode Island yet).
9.  I never want to visit Florida.  Ever.
10.  Georgia has pretty buildings.
11.  Hawaii was stolen from the Hawaiians!  For shame.
12.  Idaho is pretty, too.

I'm not 100% certain that this project has been all that enlightening (other than the information provided by Mr. Pittman, who explains at great length why everything in Florida is trying to kill you and how everybody who lives there is deeply disturbed in one way or another, and he lives there).

However, I am persevering!  Illinois (or rather, Chicago) in 1893 is excellent so far.  And there are nifty photographs.  So, you know, that's worth something.  I think.

Speaking of which, my apologies for the lack of photos this week.  I honestly didn't think anyone would be chomping at the bit to see say, the Fred Meyer grocery aisles, or my doctor's office, or the car service waiting room, or the inside of Thai One On.

Perhaps next week will be full of birds, dogs walking somewhere more interesting than around my neighborhood, and art!

Welcome to Junuary

We had quite a lovely May here in the Pacific Northwest:  only a few sprinkles of rain, plenty of sunshine, lots of days in the high 60s/low 70s.  Going Outside Weather.

Now it is June 4th, and I've turned the heat on in the morning for 3 of those 4 days.  And I've been staring at my NatureBright SunTouch lightbox, which is designed to "boost your mood and energy throughout the year by mimicking the effects of a sunny sky."  I'll bet they do a booming business in this neck'o'the woods.

But hey, it's Spring, and lovely Spring things are happening regardless of the temperature, such as this:

And this:

 Please Don't Eat the Daisies

Oh, well, there were too many daisies in the yard anyway.

Dog cuteness overload:  Pippin tries to make nice to Chloe

There were more signs of Spring at the Montlake Fill this past week:

One of these things is not like the other:

And of course, it isn't Spring without goslings:

Before the arrival of Junuary, I managed to do a little sketching in my garden:

Even after the arrival of Junuary, I managed to get outside once -- in fact, my friends and I got out yesterday morning, during the only two hours on Sunday that weren't drizzly.

Then it was back inside for indoor practice sketching from photographs:

from a photograph by Beth Moon from her amazing book Ancient Trees

So that was my exciting week.  Now it's back to Junuary.  It is currently 49 degrees with completely socked-in gray skies.

Perhaps I'll get outside again in July....