If hummingbirds could talk, they’d probably say that they love salvias. This black and blue salvia is another hummingbird favorite. I love how the hummers never miss the flower openings, no matter how tiny or oddly shaped. My garden and the visiting creature always have […]
Last week I’d come across this recipe in the WaPo and since I had all the ingredients, I decided to give it a try. While the list of ingredients looks rather long, I can assure you that it comes together fairly quickly for such a […]
Hummingbirds, just like butterflies, love Alstroemeria flowers! When these flowers start to bloom, this invasive patch of blossoms gets quite busy. My alstroemeria started out in a two inch pot and that has taken over a large flower bed. In moments I wish I hadn’t […]
Last summer I spotted a tiny gray bird sitting way up in a tree. I tried to get closer but blackberry brambles along the trail made that impossible. So I extended my telephoto lens instead and zoomed in on this little guy. Turns out that the […]
Buffleheads belong to the duck family. They are commonly spotted in woodland lakes, ponds and in sheltered coastal areas. Male buffleheads are easily identified by their dark black heads with large, white patches that reach from their eyes to the back of the crowns. White […]
Like in much of the country, last weekend was a weather mess here in Oregon. It’s been about ten days since the ice storm decended on us and unfortunately there are still thousands of homes without power. We had lost power a couple of times, […]
Whenever visit Sonoma County, California, I stop by Bodega Head and Doran Beach. Most visits I’ll go there several times. The beaches there are simply spectacular! And rarely crowded. During my last visit, as I was driving along Westshore Road toward the town of Bodega Bay, […]
All of last summer we had this personalized gardening service! First I thought there were just two of them. A big one and a small one. Mostly they stayed in the grassy area where they’d nibble on what isn’t much of a lawn. They happily […]
When the weather people announced snow for Portland last week, I got excited. “Lucky me”, I thought! “I’ll build a snowman!” 😉 Anticipating cold temps, I plugged in my hummer feeder heater to keep the nectar from freezing. Soon, snowflakes were falling, a frigid gorge […]
If you’ve ever been to Bali or any of the other Indonesian islands, you probably noticed tempeh on most of their restaurant menus. Tempeh, a traditional Indonesian food is made from fermented soybeans. It’s made using a special fungus to begin a natural culturing process […]
When I looked out the window today I saw red! Brilliant, bright, shiny red! He looked like a red traffic signal! So I stopped what I was doing and ran outside with my camera. This male Anna’s hummingbird (and several others) have taken a liking […]
A little late this week, but this jar full of salty-tart preserved lemons will make you smile every time you use them! Winter here on the West-coast means beautifully fragrant and sweet-tart Meyer lemons! Last time I went to the store I procured a giant […]
All summer long my garden gets visited by these beautiful Western Swallowtails. They very much love the butterfly bushes I planted, but really go crazy over Peruvian lilies. The swallowtails love basking in the hot afternoon sun and feed on the Alstroemeria’s nectar. Once they land […]
my nature park … my walking meditation … always done without hesitation … sometimes fast … sometimes slow … since there’s no other place to go … watching squirrels … watching birds … I’ve become a nature nerd … 😉 Sure, I won’t win a […]
Last summer I encountered this white-throated sparrow sitting high up in a tree. This was my first time seeing one in person. These large sparrows are easily identified by their white or tan head stripes, white throat and and yellow spots above their eyes. Their […]
During my last trip to the grocery store I was finally able to get a bag of whole grain pearled barley to make this soup again. It’s nothing fancy, but it’s oh so good on a cold and rainy day. There are loads of veggies […]
“Can you see me now?” The brown creeper’s coloring helps them blend into their surroundings, which is why they can be challenging to spot. They creep upwards around tree trunks searching for insects in moss and bark crevices. Look at the beautiful plumage! Last week […]
Here are some photos I took a few years ago when we changed trains in Antwerpen. We didn’t have time to look around since we only had a few moments to change trains. What I remember most was the incredible architecture, all the space and a guy […]
in cahoots with muddy boots 