Yard Staff on Retainer

They've pruned the Chokecherry tree, the Ninebark, the Stonecrop, the Rudebeckia, the Chrysanthemum, the Salvia, the Sunflowers, the Asters, the Rhubarb, the Yarrow and the Daylily. They left the Russian Sage, the Hyssop, the Goldenrod, the Lavender, the Rosemary, the Juniper and the Rhododendrons. 

These and two others are our resident gardeners this fall, pruning, nipping, leveling anything green.  But then they've
saved me all that work on my hands and knees trimming back the perennials for winter.  And maybe it will help
cover their visible ribs.  Win-win.

Aging Gracefully

It's a common phrase for the Boomers. Not sure how it's done, exactly. Maybe not to slow, not too fast, without cursing at everyday, but more focused on finding the blessings that lie concealed in each moment.

Personally, I think it means a balanced, peaceful acceptance of how the body changes over time. Is it also a finding of bliss in the now when it's not easy to see through dimming eyes?  Maybe being strong of spirit as the body finds it's way in years? However it is defined, growing old with class is pretty well nailed by these pine cones.

Silver heads of the elderly mixed with the newly-fallen.
I'm guessing ten years worth of pine cones collected
here--all at different stages and aging gracefully.

A Quiver

Stunningly handsome Quail are the helpful birds who clean up after
 the messy ones who eat from the feeders in the tree.  

A dozen or so are what remain of the thirty-plus that
hatched early in the summer. 

The earth moves.  It quivers.  Covey is no-doubt the more correct word for a collection of quail, but from the kitchen window, the grey-brown earth under the chokecherry tree is trembling with birds.


















Really, a "quiver of quail" is what we see regularly.

Seize the Sunflower

Mr. Bushy--as big as the head of seeds.

One plant with its weighty head remains in the yard.  It attracts attention from nearly all the critters.

Finding a way to reach the underside where the gold lies.

Birds have pecked at it.  Jays have hung upside down till their brains nearly burst.  The deer have eaten all the leaves they can reach (the stalk is over six feet tall), and deer don't even like sandpaper-abrasive leaves like these.

Did you know that squirrels eat the flesh of the head
as well as the seeds?

This guy is determined to get his share, fair or not. He comes better equipped to make an end to this valiant plant than all the other visitors.  Until I came out and took down the plant, it appeared to be all his.  Nope. The head goes on the ground under the tree where dozens of birds feed.  Just a little lesson in sharing.

You Are Out of Luck, Clark Kent

Antiques come in all forms. 

The world was saved by a phone booth. Well, actually Clark Kent was able to save the world by changing into Superman while in a phone booth. What would he do today?

Until yesterday, I hadn't seen a phone booth in forever. Then this pitiful little excuse for one showed up on the side of a Minute Mart near us. We had pulled in at the request of a passenger who needed to pick up an item. While we waited, we were stunned and amazed to behold this thing of the past.

No door and not tall enough for a small child to stand in, this phone booth doubtless would not have met Clark's needs.

But Good News! There's a Halloween Party coming to town, the booth proclaims. And Pink Martini will be in Bend in December! The combined effect of those two events will bring a state of delight and joy that may save our town, if not the whole world.

Busy as a Bird

Rock and dirt divider between two driveways made
spectacular by the Jays.  Not a drop of added water for
all that splendor!

Everyone knows bees are busy.  And ants are legendary for being industrious.

No shyness is this sunny head.  

But I've never thought of Scrub Jays as anything but noisy, though I acknowledge their smartly attractive bright blue plumage. Now I'm having second thoughts (even as a Jay takes a raucously noisy splash in the bird bath).






The most attractive and glorious points of interest in our whole yard this summer are what the Jays planted for me.

One of these plants had over 20 sunny flowers on it.  Now the heads are hanging heavy with seed.

Robin Days

Squint and you'll see the teen Robin on
the fence framed by sunflowers.

Sad to say, they are all but finished.  Robins hang out nearly year around.  One can count on hearing the chur-up, chur-ee in the morning light no matter where you live.  But sometimes the Robins come by the dozens, and Robins are not a flock bird.  They are independent and territorial.  However,  toward the end of summer when all the Robin children are learning their dining skills and manners, the yard is covered with them.

What draws these winged messengers of happy tunes at this time of year is our front-yard Choke Cherry tree. That tree is another story. We discovered that it suckers (information not in the property disclosure when we bought the house).  Not just a few here and there, but enough that on-line searches say the only way to deal with the suckers is to remove the tree. Pluses of the Choke Cherry are its lovely blossoms in the Spring, the dark chocolate leaves that match the house trim and the black, large-pit choke cherries--breakfast, dinner and dessert to the Robins.

Choke Cherry: a feast for the Robins

The tree is mostly bare of fruit now. The Robins are on to other diners. The tree will no doubt stay another year.