Mud @ MindSay

good thing I woke early and hit the front yard as it's now raining again. I managed to eliminate one large half dead shrub, take down a small rock wall that was buried under years of dirt and reposition them around the "water" aka mud. It will take a few days for all the mud so sink and let me clear it out so it looks more black or maybe even green... especially the water fall.. hahahaha... well not quite.


But the redwood against the violets looks great and my columbines are blooming as is the jack in the pulpit hidden within the maidenhair ferns. and now jim is building a raised bed within part of the redwood walkway and i will plant gypsophylia from seed. always good to have and such a heavenly scent. My paltry little peony has not died .......yet. I will be amazed if next year it really takes over. Now i just have to finish hiding the black rubber that lines the muddy hole, get my stone pagoda, do something to hide the electricity post, and plant the remaining ajuga along the water's edges. Yahoo !!!

The other great thing is the full bath off the garden room. once again I came into the house literally covered in mud.... stripped down to bare skin, jumped in the shower and wrapped in a towel. tossed the muddy gardening clothes into the washer and came upstairs all clean and ready for warm clothing. The weather predictions which are REALLY laughable out here is for weather in the 80's later in the week so Jim and I will head straight for cannon beach  or tillamook. anyone want some cheese?

Went hiking today. I have a loop that I keep meaning to do, but I get about a third of the way done, and then look at my watch, and realize that I actually don't walk that fast. So, if I want time to change, get lunch, and pretend to think about getting another project done before work, I should only do half of it.

The day will come, though. Another one of those bright windy days. That's what you need for hiking, windy days. Anytime it's a beautiful day, I want to go rollerblading. But if I'm going to be getting hurled around, that's out. Actually, today it was out because one generally prefers shorts for that sort of thing, and if I went home to get shorts, I'd just bike around town instead. I have rollerbladed on the trails here in the past. It was exciting. I'm not doing it again.

So, a little too windy for biking, don't want to drive to either of the neighboring towns for rollerblading (the next town over also has an exciting trail for such things, but not a life-threatening kind of exciting. Erm, provided one knows what one is doing.), but hiking is a fine idea.

The river's still high from the rain last night. The first bridge is STILL blocked off from the flooding. Silly me, I went to take the trail that runs that way. I found a lake on part of it. Very pretty, but not at all what I care to go slogging through this afternoon. Beautiful trees, moving at enough of a clip that the mosquitoes don't care to catch up, and all the little streams are laughing to themselves. Several along the trail, actually - that became a rather fun challenge. How can I get through this without getting my socks soaked?

It feels as though I have the woods to myself. Can't be frustrated today. Talk out a few ideas, but mostly just happy to be out here. I need to find something (that pays decently) that allows me to work outside in the trees all the time. Just as my college job. Love it out there.

so i was wondering if my blog should take on a focus- and if so what? I have several areas of string interest and even expertise but would blogging about them be of any interest? human development ( two graduate degrees) sexuality, marriage, relationships - or so my licenses and degrees suggest.

 

 

and then there is a life of  being a reasonably observant jew (except for this week I have totally rebelled for the first time). Or I could focus on books, old odd movies, Portland events and activities, food, botany, fashion bitching, or continue the generalized whining and personal reflection that has become my regular fodder. I confess i prefer the latter because it is easy and stream of consciousness and reminds me of my college column called peregrinations in which i could just go on about anything. of course i could bash people but that gets old quickly believe it or not. if life too short to worry about this too? and aren't I good not to use last names? my neighbor opened her back door today for all of two minutes, I almost thought she was going to use hr backyard but she just set out food for her cat which isn't allowed inside because it has "issues" with her baby. (she really said this)

 

when I was a child my first career path was to become america's little sweetheart, then a nurse, then a man hating but sexually profligate writer, and poet, then a soccer mom, I went to school to become a dentist, switched to botany, then art history with the goal of art critic or curator and then made a fair amount og money being a therapist, community activist,  and artist. Now as I enter the decade when women become invisible to 30 yo shop clerks so I could start stealing things from Anthropologie and get away with it, but luckily i DO have a conscience.

 

Started Joan Didion's Year of Magical Thinking and it  hurts to the core. she never lost it. never. tomorrow i may transcribe one of my poems. shiver.

Here is the new addition to our zoo!  A Great Dane puppy!  I am so excited and happy to have him!  I have always wanted a Great Dane!  As you can tell in the pictures he is a tad bit scared yet.  He went from a home of nothing but Great Dane dogs and puppies w/ an old man who in my opinion didn't take very good care of the dogs to our home full of crab ass cats, loud birds, talkitive guine pigs, and active kids!

 

The first picture is of my son and the dog on the mudporch.  The puppy is very scared and sky this morning but he is a good boy.  We are trying to pet and love on him a lot so he becomes acustom to us.

 

The second picture is just of the new puppy with my son next to him.  I am just glad he is not hidding his face anymore from us!

 

The third picture is a body shot of the new puppy.  He is 18 weeks old and already the size of small to medium sized dogs of other breeds.

 

The fourth picture is of my son and the puppy again.  I cut my son's head off in the picture because I was being attacked by my Smokey the kitty.  She is NOT happy about the new addition to the family!

 

The new puppy is a black and white mantal.  And he is just adorable.  Now I need to come up with a few name choices for him when he deciedes to come out of his "I am scared and going to be shy" stage and shows us his true personality.