Windy Ride

The weather this week has not been conducive to riding - very windy. But I had not been on a bike since Sunday, I had to get out an ride yesterday (Friday). By noon, the sky was clear, temperature in the low 60s, and a 10-20+ mph wind from the SSW. I settled for a ride on the Wabash Trace. Besides, I wanted to check out paving progress in Malvern.
As I unloaded the hardtail in Silver City, a young man came over to talk with me. There it a new business opening in Silver City - Austins on the Trail. The restaurant and lounge will be in the old Wabash Bar and Grill building at 405 Main St. Austin's is planning to open December 1st.
On down The Trace. Other than for the wind, it was a beautiful day for a bike ride. At lease the trees along the trail offer some shelter. Stopped at the Silver Creek bridge for water and photos.
Just South of the Silver Creek Bridge there is a deadfall down blocking the trail (about 1/3 mile south - 2/3 miles North of 305th St). It took some effort, but worked the bike through the branches and was able to continue riding down the Trace.
There are smaller branches and limbs littered all over the trail. That is not surprising with the wind we have been having the last week.

At Janke Rd the barricade was down. I could see workers a little down the trail. Rode on the new paved trail to where they were working. I was advised that basically, the new surface was available for riding. They were pouring the last footings for railings at a couple culverts.
Most of the shouldering work is done. Next week (first week of December) they should complete leveling the shoulders, seed the shoulder, and sweep the trail surface.
While the trail is not yet officially "open" through Malvern, it is rideable. Just watch for construction.
More paving photos are on the Wabash Trace Facebook page.

100 year drought

Normal view in fall.

I-wish-it-would-rain view.

God's Grace

"In God there are no more good days or bad days for you, just days of grace. Some days there is grace to enjoy, and some days there is grace to endure."

Taking shape

It's taking shape again - but what is 'it'? Answers in a comment please.

Where did this come from?

Sometimes it isn't the "main attraction" of the ride that turns it on. Last night was testament to that more than anything else. The plan was another night ride in the glow worm-lined rainforest of Austinville. To do this I would have to pass through the suburb of Robina -- normally about as exciting as watching wine mature. I hadn't expected the glorious sunset that it turned on, but thankfully remembered the camera for something else (which didn't come off at all).
The ride through the rainforest itself was beautiful, but I noted there were fewer glow worms than I'm used to seeing. With the brightness of my headlight it took a while for the reason to dawn on me -- it wasn't quite dark. That seems to be a fact of summer (even if this is probably the mildest summer I've ever seen in these parts), daylight tends to hang around for hours in some form even after the sun itself has gone down. I'm sure someone out there somewhere finds that useful.
On the way home I was treated to one of the "benefits" of living in Queensland and being a little.. umm... "behind" the rest of the country. Christmas lights are being turned on all over the Gold Coast right now. Just why people are waiting until now to do it is beyond me. There are more in my street as I type this. I suppose it's possible that people just like the look of them. That's about the only rational explanation I can think of.

Midsummer Visit from Puck

"Midsummer Visit from Puck" was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.
Until the solstice on June 20th the 'Cupani' sweet peas managed to open new flowers each day, but they turned to straw over the weekend. I pulled them up today and looked for seeds but found only three small undeveloped pods on the vines - did the 'Cupani' use all its strength to bloom instead rather than make seeds?
Once the sweet peas were gone light fell on a few seedlings from last year's Blue Pea Vine, Clitoria ternatea, also known as Blue Butterfly Pea. Their growth was so rampant last year that the obelisk could barely hold them so this late start may work better. There should be a Moon Vine, Ipomoea alba, on the obelisk, too - I don't see any sprouts so am soaking a few saved seeds.
The very last flower of Hemerocallis 'Prairie Blue Eyes' opened yesterday for Midsummer's Eve. This daylily is pretty tough, opening every one of the flowers on the scapes as the blooms grew progressively smaller through the days of relentless heat.

I thought about celebrating Midsummer's Eve - but if any fairies were dumb enough to stay in Austin this summer they're lying low now! Squirrels disturbed some of the work done by the Fairy Garden consultant last spring, but until a couple of weeks ago the little pool was in place. I'm only showing you a few feathers, but one morning there were wings on the lawn of the secret garden - ripped off and left by one of the many cats whose owners let them roam the neighborhood.Finding bird wings was bad enough - what if it had been a pair of ripped-off fairy wings, instead? So I closed the pool by turning it upside down... it can still shelter a fairy from a hailstorm, or allow a toads to hide underneath.Frances of Faire Garden is a sort of fairy garden expert, who stocks her garden with plants fairies like - ferns and mossy beds and elfin thyme. Although the pink false indigo is alive, the ferns are drying up here, the sparrows keep the thyme clipped short and moss dislikes hot, dry alkaline soil. I think most fairies have moved to Tennessee or Washington State or Maryland, but it seems that the mischievous Puck has less fear of heat and drought.

Since we moved here nearly four years ago the trees behind our back fenceline grew unmolested, leafing out each spring and casting dappled shade. In response I've chosen plants that were suitable for shade and have enjoyed the illusion of privacy provided by those leaves, especially admiring the saucer magnolia which draped down on my side of the fence, masking the bulk of the looming house on the other side, with its windows and balcony all seemingly designed to look into our yard.

Who else but Puck could have been at work yesterday, whispering into my neighbor's ear? Why else would anyone employ a tree service to raise the canopy of the trees on June 23rd with the temperatures rising to our daily 100 degrees?
From our back door and from the breakfast room windows we now see ugly bare trunks and that looming stone blockhouse instead of leaves. Since their house is on a slope the pruning allows them a much better view into our garden and windows. It looks much worse than in the photo; I'm trying to respect their privacy.

We on small lots are always at the mercy of what happens next door and this year's storms have changed many of your gardens. MSS at Zanthan is dealing with sun on shade lovers since a neighbor's tree fell in a storm, Garden Girl Linda suddenly lost her private spaces, Zoey will soon have a view of a huge garage, and back in fall .. a gigantic house was built behind Ki. Several of the Divas of the Dirt have seen shade gardens suddenly exposed to sun when trees were removed on the other side of the fence and then had to scramble to redesign their gardens.

Now it's my turn to try to see a pruning as an opportunity instead of a minor disaster. I repotted the larger plumeria and stood its pot in the border - maybe it can cast enough shade to keep the plants below from dying from the sudden increase in light. I also rearranged the pots on the 'growing on' table so the most sun tolerant can act as parasols for others - and will need to monitor them closely. I will fertilize and water my young evergreens while urging them to grow taller than the fence and I'm already planning what will be planted in late fall.
Luckily the area where the 'San Antonio Rose' hippeastrum grows was unaffected by the pruning and it still has dappled shade.
Yesterday was a very unsettling day. It was good to get a few tomatoes big enough to slice for sandwiches. It was bad to lose our privacy. But it was even worse to lose George Carlin. That news put the tree trimming into perspective.
My favorite routine was his comparison of baseball and football.

There are many versions of this classic comedic comparison, including one he used for the very first Saturday Night Live show, but this one was on YouTube.

Thank you, dear readers, for letting me vent about my unhappy Midsummer's Eve experience! Now if you'd like to see someone properly celebrate this ancient festival, go over to Faire Garden where Frances describes an evening filled with whimsy and glitter.
"Midsummer Visit from Puck" was written by Annie in Austin for her Transplantable Rose blog.

Black Hills of South Dakota

Tuesday was a "extra" day when I planned the trip. Have been to the Black Hills several times (mostly for the BH Fat Tire Festival). This time was a stop to maybe see some stuff I missed. It also let me to reconnect with more familiar surroundings.

Once I got up and going, I was off for a driving and photography down the Needles Highway. I guess all of the budgets are tight, but I was shocked when the entrance fee at Custer State Park was $15! Just a couple years ago it was $10.

Took lots of photos in the Needles. From there, on down to the Wildlife Loop. That was a mistake! Two sections of the road were under "repairs". A long section was "one-lane" with "follow me" vehicls was for seal-coating. It was a long stretch they had blocked off. Big delay. And there was nothing that I saw when I entered the section of the park - no warning.

Never did see what the construction was for in the second section. Really frustrated with the first private vehicle through. Lollygagging through the area - not keeping up with the "follow me" truck. Between those section, a traffic jam with folks feeding the donkeys/burro's.

The last section of the drive was better, again. Took the Iron Mountain Highway back to Keystone. Been on the road many times, was able to perfect my photo shoots in the tunnels. Skipped the visit ot Mt Rushmore - been there several times.

Final goad for the day was to stop in Rapid City to see one of my old BHFTF friends at the bike shop (Black Hills Bicycles). Was a bonus as another friend came in while I was there. Back to Keystone, wanted to pick up more postcard stamps - but the post office closes at 2:30! Picked up a couple souvenirs.

Dinner again at the BaRLee in Keystone. Wanted to have a Blizzard as Dessert - but the DQ was closed at 6pm! Whats with this - Keystone is a tourist trap and should have places open later! Back at the motel, I was exhausted. Wanted to process more photos from the drive that day. Just could not keep my eyes open. Crashed into bed at 7pm.

Duckie update

"Well," Hubby said, looking out the window at ducks chasing each other across the yard, "Duckie is definitely a girl."
Oh no, not already.
"Yep. And they're using her topknot to hang on. I think she's missing a few feathers."
Just in the past day or so I'd noticed that Duckie wasn't clinging to Bluebill (Mom duck) any longer. In fact Bluebill made another nest and is sitting on eggs again. So is the female Muscovy, but I think she's already been off the nest too long. She seems to think, especially in the first few days, that it's ok to sit on the nest half the day and then walk about the other half.

In other news, I have a new camera! But in the rush to take pictures before the light faded last night, I didn't adjust any settings, and most of the pictures turned out blurry. (Really, the light had already faded.)
Please let me know if this picture looks too dark on your computer screen. It looks fine on my laptop, but pictures seem darker on our other computer and I'm not sure which one is "normal".

A Creek Flows Again...

Brizzolara Creek , originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

In California, October is usually a dry month with little in the way of rain.
That was not the case with this October.
Yesterday a powerful storm came through the area and dumped 4-7 inches of rain, bringing the creeks back to life. Mining Ridge in Monterey County was drenched with an incredible 21 inches of rain in 24 hours!
This is Brizzolara Creek in the rugged Poly Canyon near San Luis Obispo. Two days ago there was no water at this spot - as you can see that is no longer the case!