Fernwoodsy

I love these pure white berries hanging from spindly bare branches. This photo was taken Dec. 4. but even now the bushes are still filled with the puffy berries. The birds will get around to eating them soon I’m sure. These are tough shrubs, Symphoricarpos albus, are native to the Pacific Northwest. My row of snowberry bushes started out as bare root sticks from the Kitsap Conservation District Tree Sale about three years ago. They have thrived in the mostly shade. Our honeybee hives are close by and surely contribute to the abundance of berries. Cut branches with berries are striking in flower arrangements. We probably won’t have snow on Christmas, but we can enjoy the beauty of the snowberries.

75 degrees and Sunshine! Sunshine has been rare this summer, but finally we’ve had a good stretch of warmth. Pitifully, this year we consider 72 degrees warm. The bees are not slacking off. We’re hoping for a bountiful honeyola harvest this year.

It’s high season in Indianola, you wouldn’t know it by the weather. But hey we can’t sit around waiting for good weather, it’s summertime now, gray, rain or shine. Indianola Days is this weekend. There’s lots happening Saturday and Sunday. Sadly no Stunt Night was scheduled, maybe next year. It’s hard to find info online about our charming Summer celebration, so I thought I’d post the schedule of events here.

SATURDAY – JULY 30
Sand Castle Contest — low-tide is minus 2.1 ft at around 11 am, judging is at Noon. This isn’t one of those fancy sculpture contests with trucked in fancy sand and pros doing the designing. This is locals having a blast on the beach, coming up with crazy ideas and getting down and dirty building their creations. So join in the fun or come on down and take a tour. It lasts until high tide washes it away.
Steve Kikuchi Fun Run & Walk — 9:15 sign-up, 9:30 kids begin 1/4 mile run, 9:45 adults begin 2 mile run.
Street Fair — 10 am-5 pm, local arts & crafts
Kid’s Beach Games — 11 am
Horseshoe Contest — 11:30 am (right side of dock on tideflats)
Kid’s Corn Husking Contest — 1:30
Indianola Days Salmon Bake — 4:30-7:30, at the Bud Merrill pavilion, the highlight, always well attended, last year over 800 meals served. Cost is $12 for a great salmon dinner, $6 for hot dogs. Bring your own plate, cup and utensils, or add $2 for compostable items. This event leaves a small environmental footprint, I believe all the trash gets composted at Persephone Farm. (Volunteers are needed to help prep/serve/clean up and provide bread and pies — info in the Breeze or check the big Indianola bulletin board or Post Office bulletin board. Or email Fernwoodsy if you want a phone number to call.)
21+ Dance— 8-Midnight at the Clubhouse (not sure of the cost)

SUNDAY – JULY 31
Unique Car Show — 10 am-2 pm
Pet Parade! — 9:30 sign up near clubhouse, parade starts at 10
East vs. West Baseball Game — 11 am

Where is Indianola? OMG you don’t know?
Here’s a link to Indianola, WA on Google Maps.

Beach and pet parade photos above are from 2010 Indianola Days (it was warm and sunny!). All info is from the July 2011 issue of the Indianola Breeze.

The honeybee hives are close by and when it’s warm enough for them to leave the hive I can usually find a few feeding on the pretty pink blossoms of red-flowering currant, Ribes sanguineum. I dug out our old Nikon Coolpix 4500 and captured this macro shot. I love that camera, it’s slow, but is great for capturing bugs on flowers. Naturally the hummingbirds love this plant as well. About two years ago I planted three bare root sticks of red flowering currant I got from the Kitsap Conservation district annual native plant sale. Actually I planted ten sticks around the property. At the time they did not look very impressive. But the three nearest my studio have thrived, become monsters actually, this year the were covered in blossoms and are pushing 6 ft tall.

Red-flowering currant, Ribes sanguineum

The Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island is a Northwest treasure — 150 acres of paths through varied landscapes, from wild & native to formal & exotic. Their free open house and plant sale was last weekend. It was another cool one in what is our coldest Spring on record (according to weather guru Cliff Mass). Although the weather was chilly, many turned out to tour the gardens and check out the plant sale. I must say I did my part to support the sale and I was inspired to become a member of the Reserve, now I can come with guests for free. Normally the admission is $13. So I plan to get some good walks in, and enjoy the beautiful reserve in all seasons. Here are a few photos, highlighting native plants, the Japanese garden and some exquisite specimens. Take the virtual tour of Bloedel Reserve to get a real sense of this amazing place. Or better yet, visit in-person, reservations are no longer required.

Beach at La Push, Washington

We spent three awesome days on the Washington coast. Winter sunshine is a rare commodity on the coast, but we lucked out. Temperatures were below freezing. Each morning the beach rocks and driftwood had a frosty coating. We just bundled up and headed out, exploring Oil City and the Hoh Rainforest in the Olympic National Park. We stayed in La Push at the very comfy Quileute Oceanside Resort. It was good to see how the small, remote communities of Forks and La Push have thrived with the attention from Twilight fans. Winter is definitely not peak season, but many folks were around because of the holidays.

It’s always humbling to be around big nature: the ocean, huge trees, waves, rocks and rivers. I highly recommend a wintertime visit, just don’t forget your woolies.

View through a huge spruce drift log root ball.

Hoh River, Oil City trail to beach, Olympic National Park

Witches Butter, a colorful fungus growing on driftwood

Oil City an amazing driftwood beach

Hoh River, Olympic National Park

Hoh Rain Forest moss in the sun!

I love licorice ferns. They wither in our dry Summers, but a bit of rain comes and they emerge fresh and stay lush all winter. The snow and a serious cold spell we had in November, made no difference to them.

Licorice fern, Polypodium glycyrrhiza, grow in shady forests on the trunks of bigleaf maples, and on dead logs. If licorice ferns are the stars of the moist PNW Winter woods, moss plays a colorful supporting role. Glowing acid greens seem illuminated from within, a vivid contrast against brown-gray bark and dead wood colors of winter.

I look through my studio window and it’s a joy to see so many happy bees buzzing about. Last year they didn’t do so good. But it seems this year they’re thriving. Because of the cold, damp spring they got a late start, but the blackberry blossoms seem to be full of nectar (unlike last year) and the bees are making up for lost time. Soon @beegeek will pull some of the capped honey. It should be a good harvest for HoneyOla.

What wonderful weather we’ve enjoyed this Holiday season. I’ve been venturing out of the woods to see the sun. It’s so low in the sky it slices through the trees, but we don’t get too much of the direct stuff where we live. It’s an invigorating walk down to water, there the sun shines directly in your face. The Indianola beach faces south, it’s a wonderful place to absorb some light and, if it’s clear, gaze at Mt. Rainier and the Olympic mountains. The long dock, once a stop for the Puget Sound Mosquito Fleet ferry to Seattle (1919-1951), is the ultimate platform for maximum light exposure. Well, the forecast is calling for rain, we didn’t get any today, but it’s coming.

The cat we thought was so wild, so feral, wasn’t after all. Turns out, he’s a lover cat, a drooler who will hop up on your lap at the slightest invitation.

These woods are dangerous for cats. Coyotes, raccoons and plenty of free range dogs are threats. We know he had survived on his own for at least five months.

How did he do it? Well on day two of our time together, I had just let him out for the night, he ran behind the building then quickly reappeared with a precious, native Douglas squirrel in his mouth. He paused then gobbled it up in front of me. I was horrified. I couldn’t really be mad at him, that’s his nature, he’s a killer. That’s how he survived, his needle sharp claws would capture anything he could swipe and he was a perpetually hungry cat. I wondered how many birds and squirrels he had taken out over the Summer, and why hadn’t I seen my bunny friend for awhile? That evening I went out and got a belled, breakaway collar and nail clippers.

The next morning I walked from the house to the studio calling his name and he appeared. He knows food and companionship are being offered and he’s going to gladly take it. Within a half hour of coming inside I have the collar on him and his nails clipped! I was floored. He is so docile — the collar hasn’t come off since.

After counsel from a cat-loving, bird-loving friend I decided he had to become a 24/7 indoor cat, like our other cats in the house and for the sake of the wildlife. So we got a big dog cage to keep him in inside the studio overnight. He spent several nights in the cage, then after he proved he knew what the cat box was for I let him roam the studio 24/7. Ta-da! he truly is the Amazing Blackberry! He’s caused no damage, except for the copious amounts of drool he leaves on your lap. He loves people, uses a scratching post and leaves the house plants alone. We took him to the vet, he’s healthy, except for the freaky tick that was on his ear, and he wasn’t chipped. The vet was impressed he didn’t have any scars, that tells us he’s smart and cautious, likely to get along with our other cats in the “big house”. His big issue is his food obsession, he instantly gobbles every morsel put before him, then cries for more. If we’re not careful he’ll be a huge fat cat in no time. That will be our big challenge when we try to integrate him into our house with our two slow-eating, pampered Abysinnians. Stay tuned.