"Don't play with your food..."

But....but....but what if it wants to play with ME???

(Now ya gotta admit, it brings a smile to your face, doesn't it?! How can you resist playing with such cuteness?!)

The Critter Caper

It all started with a fly.

"You mean you will GIVE me a FLY? WOW. And all I have to do is.....WHAT??!!! Oh no.
Not the cow..."

"We are posing for a sibling photograph, Tessa."

"Well EXCUUUUUSE ME while I open my SPECIAL card from Aunt Candy! You have NO IDEA how demeaning it is to pose without my make-up on. Gramma Becky has not refreshed my eyeshadow OR my blush..."

"Oh. I get it. You give me the fly AFTER we look like we pose as siblings. Ummm. Is this the sibling look?"

"Give me a break."

"OK-OK-OK now, no crowding. And DO NOT mess up the sleeping bag. And for pity sake watch out for that fly screen, make sure it doesn't roll shut."

"Move over Dax, you're crowdin' the cow, here."

"Rrawwwk."

"The FLIES, the FLIES - let them IN, you guys!"

"Well I AM the ONLY one who got to ride to the beach, it was MY turn, and Tessa was being a stink-butt. Oh. I didn't mean to say that. (snicker)."

"Oh yeah. I forgot. Tilly got to come, too. She ALWAYS gets to come, she doesn't even have to take TURNS. And she DROOLS. LOOK at that. Disgusting. Sandy drool."

"And we won't even mentiona what is in the blue bag. Let's just say, it belongs to TILLY."

"Of COURSE I got to sunbath. That's what a sheep comes to the beach for. Catchin' the rays. Ahhhh. The life. And NO COW."

"And then, and then, I built a SAND CASTLE!! Cool, huh?! And it had sticks, and shells, and EVERYTHING!"

"And then some more rays. Can you see my tan? Just a little bit? A teeny weeny bit? WELL. I think I'm doing SWELL on my tan, even if SOME people think I'm still white as a LAMB."

"Jeepers, I had a good time at the BEACH. All by myself. No frogs. No cows. Just me, little 'ol me. That's cause I'm SPECIAL, that's what ANNE says, but she says not to say it in front of the - shhhhhh - COW."

("I HEARRRRRRD THAT!!!!")

"Yes, she did, Clay. Baa went to the beach."

"Yes, Tessa, it was her turn. You know that."

"Dax, this is NOT swamp water, you wouldn't like it. Trust me. It has cholorine in it. Yes, that's a poison. Yes. I know. There is no chlorine in prehistoric swamps. Well, it probably doesn't do us any good either."

"Yes Clay, it kills the bugs in the water. I know. That is a bad thing for frogs."

"OK GUYS. LIGHTEN UP. Just think of it as a big sand box, nothing special. Next time you can ALL go to the beach, OK? Sheesh."

"Birdie, this is taking sibling rivalry a little too far. Tessa does NOT like wearing you on her face. Trust me. That bit with leaving a claw stuck in her nose has NOT endeared you to her..."

"Let me, let me, I AM THE KING, here!"

"Back off, buster, that's MY MEAT."

"Man. Those guys need to learn to eat GRASS."

"Yeah. Not only did she get to go to the beach, she is TAUNTING us."

"Hey, Birdie, if we work this right, we can sneak out the door. One of us can be a distraction, we're twins, you know."

"Well, she just better not try to come back through that door again. This is MY pad, dig it?"

"Yeah, queenie, we gotcha."

Now does it really LOOK like Tilly WANTS to come back in the house with a crazy cat? Naw, I didn't think so, either.

And those two bozos, Milton and Maddox, are NOT as innocent as they would like you to believe. They let the fly out of the tent.

Oops. I wasn't supposed to tell you that. Sorry, Clay.

Clamming up

The last time I can recall clam digging on Netarts Bay was with my dad, so that has to be over 20 some years ago, maybe longer. Mom and I were tickled pink when Terry invited us to go clamming with him - especially since we didn't have to get up as early as we did to go fishing with Chris! A whole hour makes a difference in how many layers you put on for a morning on the water...

As you can see we were traveling in comfort - the new seats with BACKS are wonderful!

I didn't take my camera with me in the boat, which of course I regretted as we passed by the seal herd hauled out on one of the sand bars, and when the dozens of young blue herons were showing off their fishing skills. But once on the sand waaaaaaay up the bay, I didn't have time or hands enough to use it anyway. A dangling camera doesn't get along real well with shovel or rake handles.

We had a lovely morning, just the sound of gulls and herons, water gurgling and sand creaking, clam and worm holes popping and plopping. The sand bars are alive with a lot of different critters - such a joy to just stand and lean on a shovel handle and listen and watch as nature flowed around us.

But we were there to get clams. And we did...more than we needed! We dug Easterns and Quahogs, and raked dozens of nice Cockles. The fun part is dumping all the buckets back at the anchored boat, and picking out the best and biggest ones - and comparing who got the nicest clams! It's hard to stop digging when you run into a good site. We limited in an hour or so, but spent a good amount of time exploring and enjoying.

Terry is a born Naturalist, we always joke he was born a hundred years too early and should have been a Mountain Man. He spends a lot of time on the bays and in the hills around Tillamook County. One of his joys is sharing what he learns. A bystander on the dock asked about the clams and what kind they were, so Terry was happy to give his impromptu "clam lecture". You can learn a lot hanging around him - if you can keep up with him.

Thanks for a great morning, bro!

Key word...

Tiger Eyes

Having completed the classroom part of the Master Gardener's training, now comes the "payback" = 60 hours (minimum) of volunteering in various aspects of community horticultural education.

One of my very favorite places to spend some of those hours is the Learning Garden. Open to visitors all year, it is located at the Tillamook County Fairgrounds. Weekly workdays are scheduled from May through October or so. A recent project was the installation of an underground water system, with each bed receiving a number of spray heads. This is going to be a lifesaver, come August!

All the demo beds are planned, planted, and maintained by volunteer MG's. I have two projects going. One is an "Easy Gardening" raised bed, about waist high. It's a Salad Garden this year, with produce donated to one of the local food banks. Mom is helping me with this fun, easy garden project. Photos to come, it's looking good!

The second project, I'm sharing with sister-in-law Diane. She's a certified MG, and is one of my mentors. We discovered we both were interested in doing a "bag bed" for a demo plot. After pooling resources, plants and seeds, we put it together in about 30 minutes!

Diane found these unusual Tiger Eye beans in her stash. Aren't they gorgeous?!

Here's how it went - raked and shoveled some of the loose dirt left from trenching into a flat-topped mound, to raise the bags above the bark that will be put 4" deep on the paths (controls weeds). Laid down a piece of cardboard to show you can do it right over grass if you want. Lugged the sacks over and plopped them down on the cardboard which had been saturated with water. Windows cut out of the top of each, using a utility knife and leaving a 2" border to help support the contents. Sprinkled on some organic fertilizer, lightly tossed with the potting soil, then wetted it down. Planted one bag to herbs, and one with beans and kohlrabi.

The bed now has a 14" high white wire fence around it, to make it more visable and hopefully prevent tumbles by gawking garden visitors. The seeds have all sprouted, and the herbs are happy. Now we are preparing the signage, to explain what it's all about. There will be handouts during the fair, for folks who want to try a super easy inexpensive starter garden.


We've had lots of comments from fellow MGs working at the garden - the first one being, "Who died?", because the mound was about 6' long and 2' wide.

It did look suspicious, before the bags went on.