Autumn Storms and Summer Lingerers

 Saturday morning we attended a very pleasant meeting of our garden club. Gretchen  is an expert gardener, and hosted a presentation on focus in the garden. As I arrived in her garden I focused on this!

Of course it was an inside meeting because the promised wind and rain had begun. After a light lunch and lots of visiting we drove home through glorious autumn color, dimmed only slightly by the rain on the windshield. 

I forgot to buy flowers at the store on Friday, so in a break in the rain we went out to gather what we could of the remnants of summer flowers in the garden. 

The rest of the day we were inside as the wind blew, the lights blinked, the rain poured, and I watched college football.

There was quite a mess in the morning on Sunday, but we did not lose power or have trees down like many did in the region. 

All of the clean up we had done was undone, but there is no hurry. There is more cedar to come down, and most of our leaves are just starting to color up. Fall isn't done falling yet. 

But while I was out during a break in Sunday's rain I took a few photos of the remnants of summer.

Each of the brugmansias are putting on a few more buds and blooms.

The hostas are going golden.

The wood from the tree trimming is stacked. 

And today the sun was shining so after doing the housework and laundry this morning, we got outside this afternoon for an hour to start the clean up. 

And just for fun, have you heard about the pink salamander, the Axolotl, that is all the rage in inflatable costumes that are showing up at political rallies?  Protestors do have fun.

More Trees

On Wednesday we moved our gardening to Whidbey Island, where we spent about two hours planting things in the cabin garden. I worked on planting the tulip bulbs from last year's home garden and Tom planted out the native sea thrift and oxeye daisies he had raised from seed he collected. 

By now we were wearing out, so after a late lunch and a brief rest, we packed up and went to Langley for coffee and dessert and a walk around before heading home. 

I like the broom bouquets and pumpkins in the Boy and Dog Park.

Tom liked having a place to sit.

I have noticed quite a few trees where just one branch or just one part of a tree has colored  up. One just had one branch of apples. 

This one just had  one bright red section. 

 Autumn color is everywhere here right now and it was great to be out driving around while the sun was still shining.

Back home on Thursday we slept in and then were back outside working. Tom used his electric chain saw to cut up all of the "logs" from the trees we had trimmed. I helped hold logs. When that was done, I did some of the clean up under the big fir tree while Tom moved and stacked wood.  Then I just enjoyed being outside in the garden in the late afternoon and took a few photos- of trees.

Our Full Moon Maple and Red Japanese Maple and the dogwoods are just starting to color up. There will be more to come.

You enjoyed seeing two of Tom's bonsai trees, the deciduous ones. He has recently worked on trimming and shaping two of his black pines. 

They look skimpy now, but they have been needle pruned and rewired for shaping. They should be wonderful by next summer. 

And now it is late afternoon on Friday. The rain has arrived. 

We need it. My exercise today was grocery shopping and a half hour on the stationary bike. We will now have to get used to darker, shorter days and more indoor activities. And maybe a break from hard labor. :-)

Trees

 In our neighborhood and nearby, the ornamental trees are lighting up with their peak of autumn color. 

Over at the park where we walk, there are pillars of fire.

In our yard the bright colors of maples haven't begun yet, but it's time for the cedar tree drop.

On Monday afternoon we were out in the yard preparing for a tree crew to come on Tuesday.

I raked up all of the accumulated cedar droppings and Tom moved furniture and pots off the patio.

On Tuesday, today, the crew from Pacific Arborculture arrived to begin the work of trimming our massive cedar tree and removing large dead branches from one of our large fir trees.

It took a while for this tree trimmer to get rigged up. He does his work suspended from ropes, much like a mountain climber. Here he is way up in the cedar tree.

His ground crewman helps manage ropes and equipment. He also carried big branches down the driveway to the chipper truck, since the truck was too big for the driveway.

On the ground some things could be reached by a long pole saw. 

Cleanup is part of the service. 

When they had the cedar tree done they moved to the Douglas Fir tree. That dark spot in the tree is the tree trimmer. 

Can you see them, up above and down below. When the grounds crewman wasn't assisting, he was cutting up limbs and hauling the green material out to the chipper truck. 

Sunlight can now get through.

The "logs" are ready to be cut up for firewood. The patio is all cleaned up, at least until the next big cedar drop. 

No more limbs overhanging the roof, and needles are blown off. 

Fir tree logs. 

This afternoon we got pots and furniture back on the patio. I did a little more cleaning up around the edges. Tom cut off a few more small low hanging branches with his pole trimmer. 

There is so much more light in the kitchen now.

We are happy with the work, expensive as it was. These guys are skilled. You pay for that, but these are important legacy trees, some of the few left in the neighborhood. They get special care. 

From BIG to tiny, here's another tree that gets special care, another one of Tom's bonsai trees. This is a grove style, made up of many Japanese Zelcova trees.

Tom designed and planted this grove maybe 30 years ago. It rewards us every autumn. 

It you live where trees bring autumn glory, be sure to go out and appreciate their beauty. November wind and rain will strip them all too soon. 
 

No Kings Rally

 

Yes, we were there again, joining the Seniors For the Constitution at the plaza in the small suburban town of Des Moines, WA. Our friend Jan joined us as we parked ourselves on the curb, holding our signs and waving and smiling. Some people ask me why I protest. The list is long, too long for one sign, so most of us pick one thing to focus on. This was a NO KINGS rally, held nationwide, to protest the Trump administration's steady move toward authoritarianism. Trump himself published a picture of himself as King, and gaudied  up the Oval Office with all kinds of gold. He loves gold. He is also usurping his power right and left.

My sign says why I am there.

We had our biggest turn out yet, and what fun we had joining with like minded people in a spirit of comradery. Republicans reported that we hate America. Not true. We love our country. That's why we're there. They said we were paid protestors. That's a joke. Trump is the one making money. They reported that we are just a bunch of goofy old oddballs acting stupid. Not true. While many of us at this location are elderly, we are joined here and everywhere by people of all ages who care about their country. Acting stupid? Well, I guess they didn't get the talking points about the inflatable costumes or the frogs.

It started in Portland, Oregon, when a protester decided to dress in a frog costume to confront the menacing ICE Agents at the Immigration Detention Center using humor to diffuse the tension. It caught on.

If you think these protestors are menacing, watch out for Halloween! :-) Ribbit!