Olympics Winding Down, Garden in August Mode

 I just took a walk around in some of my garden. It's August and spiders have been busy. I didn't venture down the garden path to the deck through spider webs. I encountered enough where I did go. Oh, I just found a web tickling my ear. :-)

On my small desk TV, the announcers are reviewing some of the USA highlights of the Olympics. They have been wonderful. I have loved the gymnastics and especially the track and field events and some of the team competitions. I got up early, for me, yesterday to watch the USA Women win their gold in the soccer final. I got up just in time this morning to watch the USA Women be awarded their gold in the basketball final. The track  women are so sleek and beautiful. The lean and determined distance runner women just finished their marathon. Soon the closing ceremonies will begin. 

Then I will attempt to get back to normalcy - more walking, since it is cooler, more gardening, more indoor cooking, and hopefully less eating. This evening we will get together with Jill and Jake to catch up on their adventures. 

We are sliding into the dog days of summer. Time passes quickly, but August is the time to slow down. 

The garden will require only clipping and trimming and removing spent flowers and plants that have had their time in the summer sun.  So far it looks pretty good out in the garden.

Late roses and lilies.

Yes, these are Casa Blancas, and the pink ones are Star Gazers. 

On the patio

Black Eyed Susan Vine. 

Out to the upper yard.

Yes, Red, you did see Hostas.

The not-so-successful vegetable/cutting garden.

Tom cutting out the old canes in the raspberries and tying up the new canes. 

Pinky Winky Hydrangeas

Oakleaf Hydrangeas

I braved the spider webs to check the Secret Garden.

The wider view-toward upper lawn.

Toward lower lawn.

And back to the patio.

And the fun wind chime the my sister Laurie gave me for my birthday in July, which was weeks ago now, but the good memories linger. 

Lilies and Appointments

 

Lilies I can appreciate. Appointments are too numerous and getting to be a drag.

I just returned from a long dental appointment: 6 month checkup and cleaning, and finally the installation of my tooth implant. I can't eat yet so I'm grabbing this time to finally post a blog.

This week I  had a primary care appointment which led to scheduling a bunch of additional medical appointments. I spent a long time yesterday getting them all scheduled. Today it was dentist, tomorrow it's a haircut, and Friday its a medical phone appointment. I am booking appointments into next year. :-/

But the lilies are blooming!

The lily and the Buddleias were having a fragrance contest.

The Canas are blooming too.

There are interesting blooms in the "Danger Garden" too. 

And sunflowers!

I have been recording the Olympic Track and Field events so I can watch them when I'm not busy. I do love watching these competitions. And unless the result is so close you need a photo finish, you can tell who wins. No judges in T and F. :-)

I have been trying to grab time for a few articles about the new VP nominee. Tim Walz seems like a good guy with interesting credentials: military, high school teacher and coach, member of congress, state governor. Kamala and Tim have got my support. 

I can eat now, so see you later.

Summer Doldrums.

Well, I just Googled "Doldrums", and I guess it's not quite that bad: "a state or period of inactivity, stagnation, or depression".

I'm not depressed. I'm not quite stagnant. 

I'm trying to stay sort of active, like walking for a  mile early some mornings, working on my stationary bike some other mornings. But it's HOT!  87F now at 4:00 in the afternoon.

This is Friday and so we met for breakfast as usual. There were four of us this morning and we had good conversations. Since we all agree politically, we can move on to other things. There is always reminiscing. We're all old, after all.

Then Tom and I did our grocery shopping. Lots of fresh fruits and vegetables went into the cart. Summer eating is different that winter eating. Fortunately Tom doesn't mind grilling in the heat and the house stays cooler. The air conditioner is getting a workout. 

Then I went out and picked some flowers to replace the tired bouquet on the kitchen table. 

Flowers wilt fast in this weather, just like me. 

Lunch was long and slow, perusing the newspaper and working some of the puzzles. 

I finished my second set of exercises in front of a fan, then there was time for blogging. 

Now it's time to climb into my recliner, work Wordle, and see what's happening on the Olympics. I have plenty of time before I have to prep dinner. 

Gotta' beat the doldrums. 

Back To The Ordinary

 With the birthday celebrating all done, we have been back to ordinary routines here lately.

There are flowers to pick and arrange.

House keeping and laundry to do. 

Berries to pick and enjoy.

Exercises to do.

This stationary bike ride got shortened when I wore out and got too hot. My mile + walks the last few days have been pleasant in the coolness of cloudy weather.

I have my "kids" to keep track of as they set out on their latest adventures. They were supposed to climb Mt Lassen today, but fire has closed all of that area, so they are back in Oregon on Mt Mcloughlin today. 

Crater Lake and Newberry Crater Obsidian Flow

On Friday I saw my physical therapist, she watched me walk and said there was noticable improvement. It has been ever so slow, but better. We signed off, I am to keep doing my exercise routines, and "keep doing stuff", like the four soccer matches I went to. She cheered at that accomplishment. She advised that I keep this up for six months and contact my orthopedic surgeon to get on the list for knee replacement in February. I made that contact today. 

Monday I had my latest echocardiogram, then met with my cardiologist. There has been no change, no deterioration in 16 months. Yay! My artificial aortic valve is fine and my mitral valve is holding steady. All good news.

I have been watching a lot of Olympic events, especially swimming, soccer, and gymnastics. I'm glad there are rebroadcasts of some of these in the evenings, since I can't stay tuned all night and day. 

Now I have just enough time to study our state primary ballot and voters guide. Of course I'll be choosing Democrats unless there is an obvious reason not to. I am pretty excited about the November election now. We have a strong woman candidate in Kamala Harris. 

Onward we go!

Mountain Flowers

 

                                                   Sitka Valerian and Rosy Spirea

Of course flowers would be a focus of our trip to Mt Rainier. Timing the meadow blooming is uncertain but you can be assured that something will be blooming as the snow melts in June and lasts into August. So yes, there were flowers. 

                                                                Rosy Paintbrush

                                                            Alpine Aster

                                                                  Shootingstar

                                                              Pink Mountain Heather

                                                                      Snow Buttercup

Avalanche Lily

Both white Avalanche lilies and yellow Glacier lilies bloom in wide open areas following the snow melt. They are just finishing and we didn't get up to their large open meadows, but there were smaller patches of the Avalanche lilies here and there.

Pasqueflower or Western Anemone "mophead", the long lasting seedhead of the early snow-chasing white flower, usually poking up out of the melting snow.

                                                                Western Groundsel

                                                        Partridgefoot

                                                                Subalpine Lupine

It was too early for the large fields of Lupine but a few were blooming here and there. 

                                                                            Spirea

                                                                          Fireweed

                                                            Cascade Moutain Ash

                                                        Birdsbeak Lousewort

                    Paintbrush, Spirea, and Mountain Bistort

                            Beargrass, Indian Basket Grass

                    Groundsel with Huckleberry foliage

                        Alpine Speedwell / Veronica

                Mountain Daisy with Bistort, Valerian, and Spirea

And with the flora, a bit of Fauna. Jill saw these as they were heading out for their mountain climbing. 

We looked for the Marmots that inhabit the rocks at Myrtle Falls, but I guess they were napping. Early birds get the prize. 

Going back through these pictures has been a treat for me. Many of them were taken by Tom.

While I know the names of most of these flowers, I have a handy little book that lets me know if I got it right. Published by The Mountainiers in 1979, I bought it many years ago on another trip to this wonderful place, My Mountain.