Catkins and colors

As the leaves fall from my contorted filbert, the beautiful twisted branches come back into view. Those yellow pods are called "catkins." According to Wikipedia, pale yellow catkins on a filbert are male, while female catkins are small and red. I can't figure out from what I have read whether the whole tree is male or female, as I believe hollies are, or whether the same plant bears both kinds of flowers. I don't see any female catkins, but I haven't looked hard.

These are the leaves of a Japanese maple on the street where I walk my dog. Such a brilliant red.

My dad cleared the leaves off my deck, and to facilitate his work, he made this interesting arrangement of the chairs, hiking them over the retaining wall.

Here is some color in the yard.

Fledged birds' nests

As the leaves come off the trees, you can see where the birds lived during the spring and summer.







In the Barbara Pym novel Less Than Angels, after the death of a loved one a character reads or remembers these lines of poetry:

He that hath found some fledged bird’s nest, may know
At first sight, if the bird be flown;
But what fair well or grove he sings in now,
That is to him unknown.

It is from the poem "Beyond the Veil," by Henry Vaughan. In the Harry Potter books, there is a room in the Department of Mysteries where a veil hangs over a doorway in the middle of a room, and when a character goes through it--goes "beyond the veil"--that is his death. Harry Potter, who has a lot of loved ones who have died, and Luna Lovegood, whose mother is dead, can hear voices beyond the veil, and Harry is very drawn to it. Death--the fear of death, the death of friends and family, facing one's own death, even longing for it as a means of reunion with those who are gone--is a central theme of the Harry Potter novels. Jo Rowling reveals her Christian faith in how she finally handles this topic. I believe she lost her mother at a rather young age, and I think part of her motive in writing the books was to work through that experience.

Fall Scenes

The position of this leaf is pretty unlikely, but nature placed it there.

A pretty tree in our back yard.

Our neighbors' tree had very pretty color. Those leaves are gone now.

A Japanese maple shrub in front of our house had pretty color.

passion for dead leaves

This is the tree in our cul-de-sac with its leaves in color.

Here it is with the leaves pretty much gone.







From Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen:

"And how does dear, dear Norland look?" cried Marianne.

"Dear, dear Norland," said Elinor, "probably looks much as it always does at this time of year. The woods and walks thickly covered with dead leaves."

"Oh!" cried Marianne, "with what transporting sensations have I formerly seen them fall! How have I delighted, as I walked, to see them driven in showers about me by the wind! What feelings have they, the season, the air altogether inspired! Now there is no one to regard them. They are seen only as a nuisance, swept hastily off, and driven as much as possible from the sight."

"It is not every one," said Elinor, "who has your passion for dead leaves."

Lynden dog wins Nobly Pees Prize

In the humble hamlet of Lynden, Washington, a diminutive dog whose outsize effort in the realm of canine territorial marking during his twice-daily walks has captured the world’s imagination has won the Nobly Pees Prize. His actions have made it clear that he is helping the world move toward the day when no shrub, tree, or telephone pole will exist without the blessing that only a devoted dog can bestow.

His human assistant spoke on the prize-winner’s behalf. “It has been truly humbling to play a part in this little dog’s mission to the world. Just to hold the other end of his leash while he performs his task is so inspiring. Sometimes I stand for what seems like a long time as he carefully sniffs around for exactly the right spot. You can tell that for him, his vocation is really an art form. And, I know he would be too modest to mention this himself, but I think people will want to know that on almost every walk he also makes a larger contribution to the world, if you get my drift.” She added that on certain rare occasions he makes the larger contribution twice in one walk. “Those are the really special days,” she said.

The old song, “Let there be pee-pee all over the earth, and let it begin with me,” expresses his philosophy of life. This dog realizes his own role is small in fact—realistically, he can only cover a few blocks in his walks—but the symbolism of what he does is powerful. If every dog lived like him, no protuberance on earth would remain unanointed.

The prize-winner himself has often indicated that the only rewards he seeks for his tireless efforts are two bowls of dog food a day and a rawhide bone every so often. And maybe what you have on your plate would be interesting. And if he rolled over on his back, you could rub his belly. But even if no one pays attention to him and he spends most of the day sleeping on the couch, he will again get up and go forth on his mission in the morning and in the evening, every day for the rest of his life.

www = Western Washington Wildflowers

Along a chain link fence near where I work, there are a lot of weeds, but also among them some pretty wildflowers. These are just yellow balls.

This one is clover. When I was a girl, I would pick one, pull out the flower petals and gently nibble the base of the petals to release a sweet flavor. I wonder who taught me that, and who told me it was clover.

This bloom looks like a variation on the humble dandelion, but its leaves don't look like dandelion leaves to me.

This picture is somewhat indistinct, but these are white ball-like blooms.

This flower was a light purple color, though the camera didn't capture it. This particular bloom was among all these fuzzy ones.

And this is the same kind, but without the fuzzies.


I took all these pictures with my phone. The phone's pictures are never very clear, and the process of accessing the photos is somewhat time consuming. I have to e-mail them to myself one by one, and the phone takes a long time to send the e-mails. And sometimes the sending fails, and I have to resend. Still, here they are. I happened to have my phone with me when I decided to appreciate the wildflowers among the weeds.

Big tree

I just love this tree with its big, knobby, mossy trunk. Sometimes the moss shines such a bright green. Kids from all around come to this cul-de-sac to swing on that rope. They come by bike and scooter.

Signs of fall

Carpe-ing the diem

This fern showed up as a volunteer among the pansies.



Here comes the sun.

I come to the garden alone . . .

. . . while the dew is still on the petunias . . .

I think that was Fanny Crosby's first draft.

Over the wall!

My dog takes the great leap from deck to yard.

Sun and wind

Particular blooms and plants

Marigold. Pretty, huh?

This petunia bloom looks like it's made of purple velvet.

The heliotrope bloom. The first time I saw a heliotrope, I wondered if it was some kind of miniature lilac. The flowers looks similar, and they also smell sweet. And the good thing about heliotrope is it blooms all summer.

I can't remember the name of this plant, but it's so pretty, the succulent leaves, the orange-colored blossoms, the little terra cotta pot it's in, and the stone surface of the table it stands on.

Even the water on the stone surface adds to the beauty.

Sunlight and flowers

I have six pots of this lavender variety. I love its silvery green leaves. When I leave to walk my dog, I drag my hand over the plants as I walk by, just to stimulate the fragrance. And isn't it particularly beautiful in a terra cotta pot? So Tuscan, so Mediterranean.

Yesterday was a flashback to our hot days of summer, after a good few days of cooler weather. I don't like the heat, but I did love the way the bright sunlight made the leaves of the calla lily glow and become translucent.

And I love the way the sunlight makes the red begonia so vibrant.

And the contrast between the shade and light on this barrel of impatiens and creeping jenny.

Fuchsias and calla lily

Miscellaneous deck views

The herb barrel

A few weeks ago, the thyme in my herb barrel died. I think the hot weather got to it. By Western Washington standards we had a brutally hot summer, also dry--hardly any rain. It's been hard on the deck plants, especially since after work I often lacked the energy to stand around watering them as much as they needed.

I happened to see a thyme plant outside the Lynden Safeway, so I bought it. It is golden thyme. Here it is still in the little pot I bought it in, sitting in the herb barrel.

Now I planted it.

And here is a closeup of the golden thyme.