Jack and the Birdbath

Hey, buddy, that's not a water bowl! It's not?

Inspiration in Benicia

Benicia, California. On Main Street, looking toward the Carquinez Strait. One of the views that explain why I love living here. I often say that I won't leave here unless it's in a pine box. Look at that delish Benicia breeze bending the palm fronds. That breeze allows many of us to live here without A/C in our homes, which works out great....except when there's a heat wave, like right now! At the moment I would adore A/C but, in a few days, when the weather cools, I will again enjoy being able to live closer to the seasons. And greener, 'cuz we can use less electricity.This photo looks out on the entrance to the Benicia Marina. We always include the marina on our walks or bike rides downtown. Mike loves boats and water, and I love water and seabirds, and we get treated to all three here. Many times we've watched boats coming in or out of this waterway. We brought the Mirage here, from her berth in Alameda, a couple of times. Now we no longer own her, and her new owners berth her in Richmond. It's weird, not owning a sailboat anymore, even for me. Mike is the one who has always been the avid sailor. But I miss her, too.Something else I love about my little town. The architecture of the old buildings. This one is on the corner of 1st and West J. I mean, you just don't see windows like this on anything being built today. If I could afford to, I'd have a little office in one of these old buildings, for my little digital scrapbooker-for-hire business. What a boost to creativity. My favorite quilt shop, the Patchwork Cat, is housed in one of the old industrial buildings near the docks. Old, scarred-up wooden floors, high ceilings with exposed pipes, windows overlooking the Carquinez Strait - what could be more inspiring?

What inspires you?

A Gorgeous Summer Day

It's a shimmery summer day here in Benicia, with just enough of a lovely warm breeze to set the leaves in our birch tree sighing. I'm sitting outside in the "cat garden" with my laptop and a nicer setting you couldn't find anywhere I think! It's too bad the lighting is really not too good for viewing a computer monitor! But I'll persevere at least as long as my laptop's battery holds out which is about another hour. It's just too nice of a day to be indoors (plus this is a good opportunity for me to do some deep watering of our trees and tomato plants).

The bird in this photo visited one of our hummingbird feeders a few days ago. He's definitely NOT a hummingbird, and I'm pretty sure he (or she?) visited us last year about this time as well. Naturally, I can't remember what kind of bird he is, and I'm thinking we never were really sure if he was a northern tangier or an oriole, even though we checked our bird guides. He's got an orange head and body and tail, with brown/black/grey on his wings and belly. If anyone knows what kind of bird this is, please let me know!

We've got lots of hummers right now, too, and mockingbirds. The mockingbirds usually nest somewhere nearby and sometimes dive-bomb our cats when they are in the garden. As if the cats could get anywhere NEAR the nests! They are well-confined to their garden, but I guess the mockers don't know that and, after all, a few years ago our male Burmese cat, Tony, did find a mockingbird nest (they nest in evergreen trees only about 3 feet from the ground, how foolish is that?) and killed all three of the babies just before they fledged. It was tragic.

Mike is at work today and, can you believe it, he had to work on the Fourth! I was NOT happy about that, nor am I pleased he is working today. It's a shame he has to miss this gorgeous weather. No one should be inside on a day like this. And I just noticed that a pure white gladiolus has sprung up and bloomed! We planted bulbs years and years ago and didn't do a good job cultivating them so over the years we've had fewer and fewer. Last year I'm not sure we had any at all and now, out of the blue, popped this one tall stalk with a dozen buds, the lowest three already blooming. I often think things like that are "signs."

I wonder what it means?

The Purr...fect Solution to Keeping Cats Safe & Happy

Here's Jack safe behind our cat fencing. We installed this fencing three years ago when Jack and Scout were kittens. We had lost our handsome male Burmese, Tony, to a car earlier that year. It was so traumatic for me that I knew I could no longer allow my cats to roam the way I always had. I didn't want to go through finding another cat in the neighbor's yard, dead, from being hit by a car right in front of our own home.

We looked at a lot of different types of fencing and finally settled on the product provided by Purr...fect Fence at http://www.purrfectfence.com/. When properly installed this fencing is truly escape-proof yet allows cats the freedom to enjoy the outdoors and frees me from any worry that they will be playing in the road. We have a cat door so our cats can go in and out as they please which frees us up from being a door monitor.Here is a view of the cat garden from where I was standing under the arbor. They have all this room to roam! You have to look closely to see the slim black poles and the mesh fencing attached to it which runs just inside the wood fence. That's how unobtrusive the fencing is; it certainly doesn't make our garden look like a prison yard.Jack likes to stroll (or patrol?) along the stones that border our flower gardens. There's always a bug or butterfly to chase, grass to nibble, and dirt or warm concrete to roll on.
Looks like Scout is right behind him! She's really the superior hunter and has brought in many a lizard, bird, or rodent. That is the only downside to letting my cats go outside. I do have to clean up feathers or lizard pieces now and then, or corner and trap a mouse that she's brought into the house and let go. Nice!

In California there is talk of making owners register & license cats, just like dogs, and of requiring cats to be confined to the owner's yard. Happily, we're ready for that now. I know I've blogged about our cat garden before, but after spending an enjoyable hour out there this morning I just felt compelled to write more about it, and encourage anyone with cats to look into installing this awesome fencing. It could totally change your life and save that of your cat.

Signs of Spring

Nothing more "springy" than a bird's nest with brand new eggs! I've been keeping an eye on a certain bush in front of our house where a house wren (I think!) has decided to set up housekeeping. When I first noticed the nest a few days ago there were only 3 eggs in it. Yesterday there were 4, today there are 6! It's seems strange that most of the eggs are bluish-white and 2 are speckled. It almost looks like two different birds are using the same nest. Could that be?? Or can a single bird lay eggs that look so different? And I always thought birds only laid one egg a day but two have appeared in the last 24 hours. I'm really intrigued by this situation. I guess I'd better get out my bird books and do some research. I also need to try to get a good look at the bird (or birds!) that is using the nest. She must hear us coming out of the house because only once have I actually seen a bird fly out of the bush, and even then I didn't get a good look at it. Every other time the nest is already empty of Mama Bird.This is the bush where the nest is, about 2/3 of the way up and slightly to the left. Not very high off the ground, which worries me as there are cats in our neighborhood! My own cats are not allowed to roam unattended but I know others are. Also, crows are known to be nest-robbers and have ransacked nests in the past. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'll get to see these babies hatch and eventually leave the nest.
Some of my daisies in the front yards. Aren't daisies just the happiest flowers??? They're always so cheerful! Have a happy day!

Benicia State Recreation Area

It's one of our favorite places to walk, bike, run, or rollerblade and it's also one of the state parks that is on Gov. Schwarzenneger's list for closure. We do hope that doesn't happen. In the meantime we are going to enjoy it as much as we can, and this happens to be one of our favorite times of the year at BSRA.

We took our bikes there yesterday afternoon and had a wondeful and relaxing ride to the end of the main bike trail and back, just over a 5 mile round trip. Lots of people were out walking or jogging or riding bicycles, although not as many as on weekends, or late afternoons after school gets out. The weather was perfect; warm and sunny and not too much of a headwind. Flowers and trees are blooming and the hills are covered with bright new grass.
Here's a field covered with that mustard grass I'm so fond of!

Mike climbed over a fence to explore this old abandoned trail, now partially covered over in grasses and plants. (He's like a cat -- put up a fence and the cat can't think of anything else until he's climbed over it!) We saw wild pheasants out in these fields, as well as lots of ground squirrels.
Along the bike trail, in the ditches, grow cattails. This group is from last year, blown out and going to seed. Later in the summer the new ones will appear. I often gather 4 or 5 and take them home to put in a tall pottery vase.
One of the few shaded parts of the trail, this path is lined with huge eucalyptus trees. It's always a welcome respite from the hot sun when we ride here at the height of summer.
At the very end of the bike trail is this view of the Carquinez Strait. Can you believe it? That's Mt. Diablo in the distance!

A xeriscape (low water) garden highlights native plants and flowers. The plants are marked so you can learn a lot about the different types that grow well in this area. We always stop here to make note of growth and changes. (And I like to take photos of the flowers!)

A walking path heading off toward the marshes. At the end is a viewing area to observe waterbirds and other wildlife. There are tons of Red Winged Blackbirds out in the marsh; also ducks, seagulls, and muskrats.

If you live in the east bay of northern California and have never visited the Benicia State Recreation Area, get over here! If it's closed it may be a long time before you have another chance. It costs $4 to park, but you can also park free in the residential areas nearby and walk or bike over. Bring your camera!

Enjoying Laundry

The weather has been so beautiful that I have stopped using my clothes-dryer and yesterday I hung out 2008's first load of wash on the clothesline. After hunting around for clothesline kits at Home Depot, Target, Wal-Mart, etc., with no results, I finally went on line and found dozens of websites for small businesses, often family-run (my favorite kind!) that make all kinds of clothes lines. I settled on The Clothesline Shop LLC which had the exact style I was looking for at a good price. (They also sell snowplow-resistant mailboxes which I'm very grateful to say I have no use for)!

I wanted a clothesline just like the one my mom hung our family's clothes on when I was growing up in southern California. I have fond memories of the comfort and well-cared-for feeling I always got when I saw our clean clothes swaying gently in the breeze. Often the lines were hung with dozens of cloth diapers in those days before Pampers, and while our family was growing. On hot summer days my brothers and I used to play among the damp, cool sheets, imagining them to be ghosts or a fort where we hid from Indians.

My friend Judy's mom hung her family's clothes on the line, too, and she had an apron with a big pocket in the front where she kept her clothespins handy. I thought it so clever. I coveted that apron! When I hung my clothes out yesterday I thought about that apron and how both clotheslines and aprons are making a comeback.

I think line-drying clothes is yet one more way for us to slow down a little, enjoy the fresh air, flowers, and birds in our backyards, and more keenly appreciate each individual day of our lives.

Mystery Bird Identified!

My friend, Susan, who is a ninja net-surfer, has identified our mystery bird! It is a Townsend's Warbler and is commonly seen on the coasts of Oregon and California in winter. Here is a link to a better photo than mine of this beautiful bird. Isn't he a stunner? Thank you, Susan!

Well, it's another gray, rainy day here in northern California so I plan to stay inside as much as possible. I'm so lucky to be self-employed and able to work at home! The cats will do more of this:

Scout, sleeping on top of my sewing box.


And this:

Jack, having his bath on my sewing table. Wherever I am . . . that's where they want to be!