The Rescue!

This is not the first time we have rescued a baby gull. The first time they were crying in the gutter - who cannot answer the cry of a baby?? Well, after Chuck gave me a heart-attack climbing up the ladder to get the fallen youngling out of the gutter and back onto the roof, all three of the babies looked at him, then jumped back into the gutter! Ugh. Needless to say, after that we left them in the gutter.

But today was different. Early this morning I discovered one of the babies on the floor in the breezeway (the covered walk from the front door to the garage). When the little one sensed me coming, it toddled out into the yard and hid securely under an azalea bush. (Why does this sound like Peter Rabbit?) All day that little one was fumbling around the yard, with its rather loud parents following and protecting it from us by screeching and swooping. Finally, Tay found the little one back in the breezeway this evening, and we were able to scoop the scared thing up and deposit it back onto the roof. Yes, the ladder was involved again.

Before returning this sweetie back to the roof, though, Tay snapped a pic. Not so great of me, but that baby gull is so cute!

The Seagull's Nest

I love seagulls, especially the iconic Western Gull. As it happens, we have a nest on our beloved beach house.

(From Wiki) The western gull is a large white-headed gull that lives on the west coast of North America. The western gull ranges from British Columbia, Canada to Baja California, Mexico, and, because of its convenient colonies on the coast of California, it is well studied. Despite being a well-known bird species on the West Coast of the US, it is of some slight conservation concern given its restricted range (for a gull).

The western gull is a large gull that can measure 22" to 27" in total length, spans 51" to 57" across the wings, and weighs 1.8 to 3.1 lbs.

The western gull has a white head and body, and gray wings. It has a yellow bill with a red subterminal spot (this is the small spot near the end of the bill that chicks peck in order to stimulate feeding). The western gull typically lives about 15 years, but can live up to 25 years.

Actually, they can be quite annoying if they think anyone, be it human or animal, is getting too close to their younglings. We are getting to know their amazingly varied language, and our neighbors have named the pair Jack and Martha. In looking at them, the male is only slightly distinguishable from the female due to size (he is a bit bigger overall).

first shots of the babies - there are three total

The western gull is rarely encountered inland or away from the ocean and is almost an exclusively marine gull. It nests on offshore islands and rocks along the coast, and on islands inside estuaries. Western gulls feed in pelagic environments and in intertidal environments. At sea, they take fish and invertebrates like krill, squid and jellyfish. They cannot dive and feed exclusively on the surface. On land they feed on seal and sea lion carcasses, as well as cockles, starfish, limpets and snails in the intertidal zone. They also feed on human food refuse, in human-altered habitats including landfills, and taking food from people at marinas and beaches. At times some western gulls can be predatory, preying on the young of other birds and even adults of some species.

A nest of vegetation is constructed inside the parent's territory and 3 eggs are laid. These eggs are incubated for a month. The chicks, once hatched, remain inside the territory until they have fledged. Chicks straying into the territory of another gull are liable to be killed by that territory's pair. Chick mortality is high, with on average one chick surviving to fledging. On occasion, abandoned chicks will be adopted by other gulls. (wiki)

We have seen three plodding around on the roof. This one surprised me this morning by exploring the skylight! They like to fall into the gutter, and it would seem that they prefer to hang out in the gutter, as it were, to escape the intense sunshine we have been experiencing.

They are so very cute! I had never seen young seagulls before, nor had such close interaction with these beautiful gulls. It will be interesting to see if they return next year!

"She Who Watches"

This was a must-add for our garden, found just outside of The Dalles, Oregon, at the Columbia Gorge Discovery Center.

This is the legend that the elder told Lillian about She Who Watches, and the story that Lillian now tells:

There was this village on the Washington side of the Columbia Gorge. 

And this was long ago when people were not yet real people, and that is when we could talk to the animals. 

 And so Coyote — the Trickster — came down the river to the village and asked the people if they were living well. And they said "Yes, we are, but you need to talk to our chief, Tsagaglal. She lives up in the hill." 

So Coyote pranced up the hill and asked Tsagaglal if she was a good chief or one of those evildoers. She said, "No, my people live well. We have lots of salmon, venison, berries, roots, good houses. Why do you ask?" 

And Coyote said, "Changes are going to happen. How will you watch over your people?" And so she didn't know. And it was at that time that Coyote changed her into a rock to watch her people forever.

And now she watches over our garden...

Miniature Zen Garden

One miniature zen garden:

an old washtub found in a Laramie antique shop, drilled with some drain holes
sand for a bottom layer, then a goodly part of a large bag of top soil
some fun miniatures including a buddah, pagoda, guarding lion, and lantern
a tree for bonsai, some dwarf "mondo" grass (!!), and some lovely elfin thyme
a few hens 'n chicks...just cuz I love succulents
some fabulous rocks and granite from the Wasatch Range in Utah
a couple of bags of decorative rocks

the lantern lights...cool, huh? 

Weekend Warriors

Time for some of those projects we have been thinking about but have not had the time to start!

First up - Lisa's patio. Unfortunately, I didn't take a true 'before' pic, but I can tell you that it was crushed gravel with random broken shells in a space that was not user friendly or inviting at all. So, we set about to change that! A few pavers, some paver sand, and a lot of shovel-labor later, we now have a very inviting little patio! 

After day 1

On the property was a rusting out metal chiminea, so we took it apart and utilized the heavy top (turned upside-down) as a base for a unique table for the patio. For the top, we used three pieces of flagstone - that little table isn't going anywhere, that's for sure!

Add a chair and a sweet water feature and this is all so zen!

I think she likes it! (haha! I made her laugh!)

this isn't the true 'before' pic, either...it was a complete mess! This was after day 1

Next, was the former (defunct) water feature. I wanted to turn it into a rock garden - I have always wanted one to feature succulents. I envisioned a type of dry creek bed, so I set about arranging rocks. Heavy rocks. Then, I added the bottom of the rusting chiminea, just for some fun garden junk. After much arranging, stealing from other parts of the yard (especially cool driftwood and river rock), adding some new resident plants, I ended up with this:

I want to add many more succulents to all the fun holes and crevices in the rocks...

here is a closer view from the back side - I am so pleased! And sore...

 I couldn't have done it without Chuck and Lisa - we worked our butts off, frankly! 

And, then we sat and enjoyed the sunshine.

It was a good weekend.

The Tay Cave

So excited for Tay to have his own space at the beach! While we were in Greece, Chuck found this sweet little trailer that had been completely redone on the interior...perfect for a young man's gaming cave! After some fancy, long-distance arrangements, it was soon sitting on our beach property. Once we got home, we quickly set about to fixing it up for our guy.

love the color scheme! 

complete with flat screen, DVD player, hard-wired internet, and the comfy mattress - perfect!

We're Back!!

We are back from Greece! And after returning, my computers decided to crash. Yes, both of them. I have spent the last week-ish fussing with trying to get them back to health and on the internet properly. What a hassle. But, all's well that ends well and I now have at least one "new" computer (meaning I had to remove everything and completely wipe it to factory specs!)

Not long after we returned from Athens, we had a vacation scheduled in Sunriver, Oregon, with Taylor. We had a great time. One of the souvenirs we brought home was this fabulous wind-dancer. We call it the Galaxy. Fun, huh?

It has taken its rightful place at the beach house...