The best laid plans ....

Ok, I know.   These 'new' seed packets all say '2012' on them.   That's because I don't have a picture of any 2013 seeds because I procrastinated ordering, and then got sick and couldn't lift a finger to do anything until just last week.

On April 1 it all started with a little tickle, which turned into a cough, which turned into the Dread Flu that kept me down and out for over 2 weeks.   Emerging from the Bubonic Plague and Spanish Influenza Spa and Weight Loss Clinic at last, I rushed to get my precious tomato seeds started before our short WoO was closed.   Happy to fire up my fabulous light cart, last year's Big Garden Splurge.

Despite a serious, ongoing case of the draggies, I've had to keep going and thus my recovery has been slower than normal.   I have scheduled extra massage, gulped down extra supplements and had extra acupuncture sessions, all in an effort to get back on my feet and out into the garden.

After attending a special intensive class a couple of weeks ago on Chinese pulse diagnosis, my wonderful TCM/acupuncturist had a field day reading and interpreting my various pulses.   Mmmm, she said ...... aha ....... interesting ........ and made some expected comments on lung, kidney and the like.   Then she turned to my other arm, saying, 'I'm excited to see what your liver is up to!'  and then she just started laughing.   'It's all over the place, very restless, up and down and all around.....'

Kind of like a carnival ride? I asked and she laughed again.  'Exactly' so she gave me some suggestions for calming and balancing the frisky organ, and a sheet to read about ways to act in harmony with the energies of Spring.

It talks about the need to move slowly and easily, transitioning from the still, more inward and inactive months of Winter.   It advises one to:  "Rest at night and get up early, stride freely through the courtyard, let down your hair and indulge in the leisurely feeling of a morning stroll;  this is how you should raise your spirits in spring..."

"Spring is the season of harmony.   This is the time to roam through gardens and forests, to sit leisurely in scenic kiosks and take in the tranquil sights of nature....."

I then noticed that these were the translated words of a 16th Century Chinese poet and 'medical scholar'.  Wow, I thought, this sounds like pretty good 450-year old advice.

Of course my favorite parts are about striding freely through the courtyard.   If only I had a courtyard!  and indulging in the leisurely feeling of a morning stroll.   So much more appealing than the constant underlying voice in my head to 'get out and start exercising!'  'lift some weights!'  'get fit!'   and do it NOW!

I also love the advice to roam through gardens and forests, sitting leisurely in scenic kiosks. I am wracking my brain to come up with local scenic kiosks.   Perhaps a covered bench in a downtown park -- or one of the trailside benches on Pilot Butte or the Deschutes River Trail would count as 'kiosks'.   Or possibly this is a cosmic hint that I should get to work building a gazebo in the back yard.

At any rate, I am coming into harmony, I can feel it.   The week of warm, sunny weather we've just had is helping.  Sprouting tomato babies are helping.   The scenic kiosks are beckoning later in the week, on our planned anniversary camping trip.   I'm pretty sure they are out there.   When I find them, I'll have photos.   Meanwhile, I'm off to the courtyard/back garden to throw a little dirt around.

(scenic kiosk of a previous year)

I See Your Owl, and Raise You an Eagle

I think the people who write headlines for newspapers have the funnest job going.   Imagine the glee with which the headline writer for our local Bend paper, The Bulletin, created the above line.

In the same issue that saw a full-page article with photos about our newest wildlife icon,

the barred owl that has recently taken up residence in a busy Bend river park, we were treated to the above headline 'I See Your Owl, and Raise You an Eagle' and the photo below:

This is a bit of an insider joke for locals.  It is a real eagle, for sure, but the tall 'pine tree' it is perched on is a fake.  It is actually a 75-foot AT&T cell tower disguised as a pine tree to better blend in with the surrounding forest, just outside the city limits.  Some might describe it as an extremely tall artificial Christmas tree.   It's not a bad fake, and would be even more inconspicuous if it were planted in the middle of a forest.   This one stands apart from other trees, and although at first glance it could be mistaken for the real thing, a longer, second look makes it obvious it is faux.  

Apparently this is the coming thing for cell towers in scenic and/or populated open areas.   Here's one made by the Nello Company of West Bend, Indiana, which calls them 'monopines'.   

Here is another being assembled:

So we've got an owl.   We've got an eagle.   What will our next wildlife star be?  Ante up, Mother Nature.

I finally saw the owl

Yesterday I finally saw the barred owl that has been the talk of our town for the last couple of weeks.   My sweetheart and I were finishing up one of our favorite walks along the river, and almost walked right past this guy, who was sitting on a fencepost less then 6 feet away, at eye level.

He (she?) blended in so well with the surrounding vegetation, I nearly missed him.  It was broad daylight, though a bit overcast, at 2:00 pm on a February afternoon, so the sun was weak.   And there he was, not the least bothered by people walking by (stopping to take photos), a busy road 100 yards away, and although he turned his head away from full frontal viewing

he clearly was perfectly at ease, even when I walked right up to him.

His plumage was beautiful!   Fluffy yet silky, with delicious barring and spots.   Well, he IS a barred owl.  I had the strongest urge to reach out and stroke his beautiful feathers!   He reminded me so much of my chickens.   But I resisted mightily and we walked on, watching as other people came up, noticed the owl, and took their own pictures.   Perhaps he knows he is the star of his own movie?

Pen and Ink

I've loved fountain pens forever.  After a recent bout of serious pen cleaning, I am indulging in some refilling, and am trying some new inks.  For years I thought the pen was the thing.  I've never owned a really expensive pen, at least not the kind serious fountain pen collectors pursue.  But looking at the motley assortment above, I can see that a bit of pen greed has indeed sneaked in through the years.  My standard solution to "this pen isn't writing the way I want" has clearly been "oh well, I'll buy another one."

I'm pretty sure my love affair with fountain pens started when I changed piano teachers in 7th or 8th grade.  My beloved first teacher, Mrs. Claire Stewart, was retiring to full-time momdom, after producing a series of blonde babies in my first years studying with her.  Somehow my parents discovered that the 'famous' Dr. Raymond Foote, who was reputed to be a higher level teacher, lived just across town from us.   Though he was rather intimidating as a teacher (I later found out he had studied at Juilliard with Rachmaninov himself), I was fascinated by his studio and above all, by his pen!

An unspoken rule for musicians is to mark printed scores using pencil only.   But Dr. Foote used a fountain pen!   He wrote the date IN INK on the top of each new piece I studied

and then wrote out my assignment sheet with the same pen.   I almost stopped breathing when I saw the gold nib headed towards my music book for the first time.   The boldness!   The color!   The style!  Thus was pen lust born in my (flat-chested) bosom.

Somewhere I found and bought my first fountain pen, a cheap Sheaffer, and I filled it with the closest color I could find to Dr. Foote's ink:  'Peacock Blue'.   I thought it was very romantic-sounding and grownup.  I even thought the way I got ink all over my fingers whenever I changed cartridges was romantic.

Good thing, too, because 50 years later, I still get ink on my fingers most of the time when I refill a pen.   And, silly me:  I still think of it as romantic.

I use mostly bottled ink -- thus the colorful fingers.   Cartridges are expensive and eco-wasteful.   A few brands only take cartridges, or, like some of the new, super cheap 'disposable' fountain pens, cannot be refilled at all.  But there is a whole world out there of amazing inks, accessible online.   And I have begun to stumble through it, rationalizing further purchases with the line, "hey, a new bottle of ink is so much less expensive than a new pen" ......

My ink collection is small, but that can be changed:

Still in love with Robin Hood?   Try Sherwood Green.   The 'fast dry' means it's good for lefties!

There are hundreds of blues.   I haven't even scratched the surface yet.   But give me time.

Who doesn't need a little extra mojo now and then?

Dull name, pretty good ink.

and the classic

with the easy-to-fill inner glass pocket:

This is America:  instructions are on the lid.

Here's a new ink, and a new-to-me company.   J. Herbin, making ink in France since 1670.   No fooling.

The bottle is nothing to brag about.   But read the list of colors on the box, and tell me ink can't be romantic!

I don't speak French, but I see Black Pearl, Blue Night, Wild Ivy, Golden Button, Tender Rose, Anchor Rust..... be still, my heart.  I am smitten.   I feel a wee ink order coming on.

After a protracted fling with calligraphy nibs (Osmiroid! Esterbrook!) in company with my wonderful college roommate, Mara, I devolved back to regular writing nibs in the early '90's and moved beyond the basic drugstore cartridge pen.

Although I am currently having a love affair with a new Lamy Vista demonstrator pen (clear barrel so you can see the ink supply), the bottom pen in this photo,

my fave of faves is still Li'l Blue, a small Pelikan pen. 

This is not the greatest photo, but if you look closely you can see that the gold clip of the cap is in the shape of a pelican's beak, eyes and all.  I love pelicans and Pelikans.   After a tragic fall a few years ago, Li'l Blue needed a new nib, and one of the magicians at nibs.com not only replaced the ruined nib but custom-ground it to the acme of flow/width perfection, for my personal use.

As I've perused pen blogs and tracked down pen & ink stores online, I've learned that real pen snobs, er, I mean, aficionados, like to add a little notation at the end of their handwritten letters, mentioning the type of pen and the ink they have just used to write it with.   So imagine that I've handwritten this entire blog for you.  And imagine this below my signature, at the bottom of the page:

Cats in Winter

What's a cat to do in winter, when it's cold and snowy outside?   There are so many choices.
There's:
bathing...

snacking ...

hide and seek ...

seed ordering ...

ski bag time ...

shoulder time ...

looking handsome ...

looking innocent ....

keeping an eye on the 'hood ....

and of course, sleeping...

At Christmas time, there is a brief interlude of excitement, for aficionados of ...
boxes ...

bags ...

gifts ...

and a certain amount of confusion about wrapping paper in one's basket.

After all that is cleared away, there is a return to
sleeping...

and that perennial favorite....
Kitty Television!

Of course they only watch one station, namely the Bird Channel.

It's on every day from dawn to dusk, and features a wide cast of characters.   One sunny day last week, I took pity on the chickens and let them out to roam the dormant garden, where deep snow hid and protected my perennials from their destructive pecking and scratching.   They found their way over to the back deck, where I had set out a tray of tasty grass for a winter greens feast.

Meanwhile, inside, sleeping cats awoke.

Hey, what's this? Kitty Television got a new channel.  The birds are so much bigger and more real -- it must be IMAX 3-D!!!!

Question is, who's watching whom?

Meanwhile, the chickens, watching the Cat Channel, are asking themselves, "Who's that?!"

Baaaawwwwwwwkkkkkkkkk!