Whitney Gardens and Walker Mountain

 

Approaching to amazing vista on Mt Walker

Of all the things missed during Covid 19 lockdown, the most indulgent one is probably restaurant dining with friends.  You know - the shameless sitting one's rear on a chair inside of a restaurant. Such decadence. Locally, here in Washington state's Clallam County, restaurants are now opening up to sit-down dining. Rejoicing reigns. 

I'm actually already beginning to lose track of the various places I've dined at in the past month. After the Port Townsend Airport we visited Nourish, a cute restaurant surrounded by a beautiful garden here in Sequim. 

After dining we wandered the beautiful garden surrounding the restaurant. I particularly admired the tulips. Did you know that another name for tulips is 'Deer Candy'? It's not? It ought to be. I can't grow any until I get a yard area fenced off. 

This past weekend I meet up with friends Diane and Judy (a Mom and daughter team) and we went to see the Rhododendrons, Azaleas and the like at bloom in Whitney Gardens.

Whitney Gardens is a plant nursery

At these gardens it snows bright pink petals

The nursery people were very nice. When they saw Judy and her walker, they immediately offered us a wheelchair so Judy could relax and see more than she could have otherwise. Nice!

I think we covered about 75% of the grounds. Massive blossoms and flowering beauties everywhere you looked. 

The bridge crossed a little creek that took us to the outback of the nursery. 

Blossom lined trail

A poof of purple

The big white tree is a magnificent Azalea...
or a Rhodie... I can never tell the difference 

When we meandered back to the nursery store, who was exiting the shop? My friend and former Port Angeles housemate, Ingrid! We ought not have been so surprised, but we were. Ingrid, Diane and Judy had heard about each other many times but never met before so introducing them was fun. Ingrid was shopping for a couple of Rhodies to plant under her dining room window. I think she went for a variety with large pink flowers.

Ingrid and Diane 

I really admire Hostas. Back in California I tried growing
them  once,. Snails wolfed them down overnight. I guess I only grow tasty stuff.

Diane and her new Amie, Jean Marie

Diane was on the lookout for rhodie for her own garden. She chose a bright red flowering Rhodie variety, 'Jean Marie'. 

Nursery staff bundled up the Rhodie, then we headed down the road for lunch at a local dinner. Again, we sat right down at  a table. Can you believe it?

The 'Half-way House Restaurant. That's halfway between Chimicum and Skokomish or something like that. Lovely luncheon, enjoyed by all. 

Once full up, Diane drove us up to Mt Walker see the view. my first thought on stepping out of the car at the trail head, was 'I must return...'. All around me I could hear birds singing up a storm. Using my phone app I identified Hermit Warblers singing their little hearts out. Heard many other species as well - chickadees and the like, but didn't see a single bird, they kept to cover so stubbornly.

The height of the trees on Walker Mt are stunning. 

South facing 

The view was breathtaking, looking out over Quilcene Bay, and past Hood Canal. The photos barely do the view justice. 

Though the camera doesn't pick it up, we could see the skyscrapers in Seattle

It really was a short walk from the parking area to the vista - the proof of that is that Judy found the trail to be a breeze. Loads of people came and went, many with dogs, which we enjoyed petting and chatting about. I took a group photo for some visitors and they took a nice photo of us in return.

Combo of Black Cherry & Mocha Almond Fudge

After leaving Mt Walker, there was a final treat in the ensy village of Quilcene. There Diane drove us up to a teeny, tiny, hole in the wall Mom & Pop 'Quicky Mart'.

Diane said the store had the best ice cream in these parts. We each an massive and tasty waffle cone that made me so-called goals to get & stay in shape. Yeah. Right. Well. The ice cream was made in Oregon and tasted like the best gelato I've ever had. A sweet ending to a sweet day. 

Piggy Progress

Flown Piggies Farm sign, with bird house post in the rear

My handyman Jim and his wife bought a big ole home in Alabama, so they could be near their kids and grandkiddies. I am happy for them, but now I have to find a new handyman - who needn't be named Jim III. Meanwhile, I engaged Ingrid's fence building guy, Tom. In the past month he installed the 'Catio' in back of the cottage which keeps friend Barbara's 2 kitties from devouring the local birdlife, while being able to go onto their custom Catio and take in the sun.

Swallow's Apartment

On completing the Catio I asked Tom if he might look at my plans for hanging the Flown Piggies Farm sign, which I bought a year ago. He did a wonderful job framing and hanging the sign, and I couldn't be happier with the results. He also put up 2 posts, with one little Western Bluebird/Swallow box per post. No takers for the nesting boxes as yet. Meanwhile, the same Violet-green Swallows that nested in the ventilation hole over my bedroom balcony are nesting there yet again this year. I wonder if they nested there the years prior to my moving into the farm house? No reason to assume they didn't.

A friend in Port Angeles gave me a potted Flowering Currant, a native species. It will be planted behind the Flown Piggies sign. That is, it will be planted as soon as I figure how to dig a hole in the gawdawful clay soil that is like set cement to dig in. Might put a raised bed around the sign to make planting easier.... Yeah, that's the ticket!

Hummingbird dining at Flowering Currant shrub

Sun Dogs & Eagles

 

Strange Light Phenomenon

Barbara and her Aunt Judy and I drove around Clallam County today. We had a true field day, taking Covid-housebound Judy out to sightsee the snow covered Olympic Mountains, and as much wildlife as we could locate. We drove along 'Schmuck Road', where elk were mere polka dots in the distance, as were the Trumpeter Swans  (white polka dots, not in photo below).

Elk, far off in AM

Much closer in the PM

Sequim is full of Bald Eagles. During the day they floated & soared all over, and later in the day, a couple of adult baldies sat right by the road, put on a lovely display of nonchalance. They calmly ignored the cars with noisy humans that took photos and pointed excitedly. 

Pose worthy of appearing on a coin

Around noon we drove past the Olympic Game Farm, and had to laugh because even the elk - and bison - that normally loiter near the road, were polka dots in the distance. Had to tease Judy that all the animals were going out of their way to avoid her. When we drove up on the ridge behind the Olympic Game Park the usual yaks that loiter up there were also no where to be seen. Decided it was time to ditch the critters and go to my house for lunch. 

Lunch and a chit-chat in my currently empty box strewn home

It was on the drive to take Judy home, past Schmuck Road, past the Holstein cow dairy and on up hill, that I spied the prism of bright light through some trees. I knew it was something unusual, and I sped up to a tree-free spot to park and get some photos.

The prism was already fading a bit

We knew we were not looking at a rainbow, but what was it? The name 'Sun Dog' came to me, and I was certain I had name wrong. I noticed the light wasn't too far from the sun which was low in the sky, and thank heavens I got a photo of the sun and the prism, because later in the day, the juxtaposition of the sun to the prism allowed me cinch the light's ID. It was a Sun Dog, or its more official name of Parhelion. Sun Dogs are light scattered by ice crystals in the sky. I guess I read about Sun Dogs sometime in my Ravenclaw past but didn't recall precisely what caused them. 

Genuine Sequim 'Sun Dog' to the right

In the photo above, you can just about make out the ring (called a 'Parry Arc') that surrounds the sun, and connects to the Sun Dog at where the 3:00 would be on an analog clock. Below is a photo I lifted off the internet that shows a much better photograph of this phenomenon, with its accompanying pair of Sun Dogs at 9 and 3 o'clock. 

Arctic, full on Sun Dog

Sun Dogs, Parry Arcs and their ilk are more normally products of the far north where ice crystals are in the atmosphere. Now, it's chilly in Sequim, but today's temperatures were below 40 degrees. The temps were not below freezing range, but what we feel on the ground is not necessarily what's going on up in the atmosphere. Who knew a little Sun doggie would outshine the eagles today?