A Pet Post

An absolutely drop-dead gorgeous day.  In October!  Had a splendid walk with the hounds.

The Lindstrom pack patrols the airport perimeter.  With Mischief and Hope on the job...nothing can possibly go wrong....

The kitty has now settled in well.  Hope ignores her.  Mischief annoys the kitty.  Then the kitty annoys Mischief.  They were all appreciative of the afternoon sun streaming through the window.

Kitty...otherwise unnamed..but whom I have begun to refer to as "Zelda". 

 Mischief weighs about 12 pounds.  Zelda about 3 pounds. They are about evenly matched at the moment.  Mischief is going to be seriously disappointed as time goes on...

So there you have it... 

Company - And a New Edition to the Family

Eric's mom and brother came in from Anchorage last Friday.  Kenny left this morning but Janice will be visiting for another week.

I think everyone has had a good time.  Ham dinner last night.  Mother and sons engaged in several bouts of poker.

From left to right:  Janice, Eric, Hidy and Kenny

On another matter, Hidy has acquired a new friend of the feline persuasion.  Which is to say I, too, have a new feline pal.  Name yet to be determined.  But she is making herself comfortable.  She's only 12 weeks old but can already hold her own with Mischief who ultimately, I expect, will be smaller than the cat.  But they're already buddies.  Hope is curious and I expect within days will be on amicable terms with the new arrival.

 New kid on the block.  Meow!

A Pinch of This and a Dash of That

It's been a pretty slow week.  I've done lots of cooking and doing more today.  Beef stew for the elders is in the oven.

Poor auntie fell drawing her drapes the other day.  No real harm done; but just one more indication that she should not be living alone.  I invited her out to my place for a few days but she demurred.  Sigh...

My boarder, Eric, has been promoted to General Manager of the Breakwater Inn.  He's got his hands full.  There is a new owner determined to clean-up the place (it's been a junkie infested den for a number of years);  but it will be a long hard slog. 

On the other hand, the wheeling-and-dealing aspects of the job suit Eric to a "T" - and he has already made some noteworthy improvements.  The filthy and malodorous carpet in the lobby is gone and has been replaced with a very tasteful faux marble floor.  The lobby has been repainted and most of the dubious and dirty quasi nautical artifacts given an unceremonious heave-ho.

And if you wonder why I'm telling you all this it's because one of my pictures will soon be above the front desk.  If it comes back from the printer's OK...

Love them fall colors.

If that one turns out OK...we may add others.  

The first Democratic presidential debate is tomorrow night.  I might actually watch it...Bernie has never had real national exposure before and I'm curious to see how he plays it.  

I got a call from a Clinton fundraiser a couple of nights ago.  I said I was supporting Bernie for the moment.  They couldn't get off the phone fast enough...very unusual for a political solicitation.

The End of the 2015 Gardening Season

With one exception, the rock garden, the 2015 gardening season is now officially over and the garden has been put to bed for The Dark Time.  I spared the rock garden simply because a couple of sedum are desperately trying to bloom.  I will need only about two hours of non-wet weather to put the rock garden to sleep so I'm willing to take the chance.

It was an interesting year.  May was the driest on record in this burg and the garden got off to a wonderful start.  This was a good thing.  Because June was much wetter than normal and July the wettest on record.  August was slightly wetter than normal and September nothing to brag about.  On the other hand, we're ending on a high note with five days of beautiful October sunshine.  It is almost a true fall.  Although the statistics argue against it, I feel like it was a pretty good gardening year.

So...a few final garden pics.

C'mon baby...you can do it!  A sedum struggles to bloom before a serious frost (we've had two non-serious frosts already)

This guy nailed it...just in time.

All the perennials have been cut down and the annuals tossed.

All secure 'til next spring.

 The buckets still look festive.  Ho!  Ho!  Ho!

The Barney Bench will keep an eye out...

But on a serious note.  I owe an apology to the resident porcupine whom I have cursed roundly for another assault on my apple tree.  Upon inspection, I have concluded that Yogi - not Porky - is the culprit.  The stove pipe you see (below) was tightly bound around the victim with many, many plastic ties.  I thought it impenetrable by even the most ferocious porcupine in these here parts.  The pipe was ripped-off with great violence.

The plot thickens on this whodunnit.

Upon a closer inspection by a completely untrained forensic examiner, it was noted that TWO large branches, both exceeding two inches in diameter, were severed from the main trunk.  The evidence suggests that the perp must have been in excess of 70 pounds and probably snapped the defenseless limbs either on the climb up, or the climb down from the victim.  The fattest porcupine seen in this neck of the woods of late couldn't have been more than 40 pounds.

But circumstantial evidence strongly points to Yogi as the perpetrator.

Sigh...what can you do?  At least the NRA is not yet arguing that bears have the right to arm.

Company Gone - Will Bob Return?

Bob Chapman left yesterday for home.  I very much enjoyed his company and I think his brother, John, sister-in-law, Cindy, and Uncle Don Milnes enjoyed his visit too.  John and I are working on him to make the move back to the ol' hometown.  He was non-committal but did not say "No".

Here are a couple of pics of the Chapman boys and Cindy I took at John's place.

 Bob and Cindy.  Not many October days us Juneau people can be out in our yards in the sun.  The furry creature is Mickey - a very nice dog about twice the size of Mischief but similar in demeanor.

John, Bob, Cindy and Mickey 

The Chapman Estate out North Douglas is really cool.  John and Cindy have put a lot of sweat equity into the property in the fashion that I am familiar with...pick and shovel work.  Lots of dirt and gravel to improve drainage.  They are on the edge of a muskeg...our temperate rain forest version of a swamp.  They have dug and filled with gravel lots of french drains.  The yard and garden are coming along nicely.  And they love what they're doing. 

I do believe they are fond of one another too.

I promise lots of pics from the Chapman digs next gardening season.  They just harvested 40 pounds of Yukon Gold and red taters.  I plan to plant a few spuds next year myself. 

On the home front I have been busy putting gardens to bed and enjoying every minute of our uncharacteristically dry first week of October.  Mom's and auntie's yards are now secured for the winter.  Mine is nearly so - today I dug my dahlias and raked more leaves.  I also put a bunch of stuff up in the rafters of the garage and a bunch more stuff outside for a dump run this week.

Tomorrow I will dig and toss the few remaining annuals in the garden and clean the garage.  I am inheriting Amanda's car for the winter and it will go in the garage.  I will use her spanking-new Suburu to transport the elders when a clean vehicle (as opposed to my filthy and fur-lined bark mobile) is called-for.     

It's predicted to be dry on Tuesday as well and I have penciled in a roof/drain cleaning expedition at mom's place.

Life is pretty damn good.