Varied Thrush

This morning when I rose, I was surprised that the cat wasn't at my feet to greet me and politely request her breakfast.  I was afraid she'd gotten cooped up in a cupboard or closet somewhere.  I found her by the sliding glass door gazing intently at something in the back yard.  It took me a moment, but then I saw 3 Varied Thrush (Ixoreus naevius) getting their breakfast under the cedar tree near the children's play structure.  They were so well camouflaged that I only saw them once I stood very still and noticed them moving as they scratched for worms and bugs.

These are very shy birds who live in our area in the wintertime.  They live further north in the summertime.  I didn't get the camera out quickly enough to capture them today, but here are some slightly blurry photos of one that visited in March of 2012:

Lavender

I love lavender.  I love the smell, I love the color, I love the structure of the plant and I love seeing the bees go busily from flower to flower.  I love that it's a perennial and that the deer and rabbits won't eat it.  One of my goals as I plant things in my garden is to plant things that can take care of themselves with little further input from me.  I also want variety.

So far I have 4 different types of lavender in my yard.  I just planted the 4th this week.

My first lavender was, of course, an English Lavender.  It is small, but seems happy in a corner near the walkway to our front door.

It is Lavandula angustifolia "Thumbelina Leigh" which I purchased in 2009 at Squak Mountain Nursery in Issaquah.

My next lavender was purchased from our local Home Depot in April of 2011.



It is a Lavandula stoechas or Spanish (or French) lavender var. 'Madrid Pink'. It likes its location on a sunny, south-facing hillside.




My third lavender was purchased from a plant sale at Remlinger farm in May of 2011.

This one is a cross called a Grappenhall Lavender (Lavandula x intermedia cv.).  It has been choked a bit by weeds so it hasn't done as well as the Spanish one even though they share the same sunny hillside.

I found this informative page: Grappenhall Lavender at www.mountainvalleygrowers.com

My most recent purchase and planting was another Lavandula stoechas 'Anouk'.  I don't know if it has a specific variety.

I bought it from a wholesale nursery in Woodinville, T&L Nursery, that holds a public sale once a year.  This year the sale was Oct 6th, which was a glorious sunny day.  I finally got the lavender in the ground 2 days ago on the sunny hillside where the other one is doing so well.

And finally - nearby we also have a whole FARM dedicated to the growing and sale of lavender:  Woodinville Lavendar.  It makes me smile each time I drive by.

Pacific Northwest November

November is arguably the wettest month in the Pacific Northwest.  It is Thanksgiving weekend and we haven't seen the sun for several weeks.  Today, however, we were blessed with a clearish, slightly sunny day, so I jumped at the chance to get outside without becoming a drowned rat within 5 minutes of exiting the house.

Our property is on a hill, so at this time of year we always get a river running down our gravel driveway.  From a geologic perspective it is fascinating to watch the water carve a path through the earth.  I imagine the same thing happening on a much larger scale over eons to form the Grand Canyon and similar geologic features.

My project today was to re-establish the drainage ditch along the side of the driveway which I dug when we first moved into this house 6 years ago .  Unfortunately we don't have heavy machinery, or even a pick ax, so I used my trusty shovel and rake to clear away the vegetation that had grown and dig out the silt that had been deposited over the previous year.

It took several hours, but we now have a merry stream along the side of the driveway rather than a raging river down the center.