This and That: A Blog

  Spintop Mango Blanketflower I bought two of these at the FFA sale last year.  I missed the sale this year, they had it earlier than usual and I didn't check their site until too late.  One lovely lettuce that snails didn't get.  Lots of Hood June-bearing strawberries.  Small but very sweet. I don't know where this foxglove came from, I've never planted any.  The photo on the right shows the hole nectar robbing bees left.  Bees to large to get to the nectar will chew holes.  Other bees are learning  that the holes make it easy to reach the nectar and using them, which skips pollination.  Some populations of foxglove and columbine have reduced numbers of seeds.  I love black cumin.  It's not a cumin at all, it's related to love-in-a-mist.  That's pretty easy to tell!   This is love-in-the-mist.  As fat as this bumblebee is, it has no trouble getting into the Dazzler penstemon blooms. 

  Q , that next to hardest letter of the alphabet ( X is the hardest).  That's the letter today for Sunday Stamps .   Q uail, a common Q .  This is the Gambel's q uail, native to the Sonoran desert of the U.S.  Or, it's  supposed to be Gambel's q uail, but it looks much more like California q uail, which I am familiar with. U.S.A. 1999, part of the Nature of America series. Q uoll, a lesser known Q animal.   Q uolls are carnivorous marsupials in Australia and New Guinea. There are six species, four in Australia, two in New Guinea. This is the Spotted-Tail q uoll, an Australian type.  I like this stamp, it looks like an underwater scene!  Australia 1997, from the Nocturnal Animals series.  I have another from the series for Y , equally looking like a tide-pool view. That's it, just the two.   Next week is R , an easier letter for me!

 Sugar Snap Pea Shadows 

  We've got Beaches today for Thursday Postcard Hunt.  Bermuda Pismo Beach, California  Cape Cod, Massachusetts  The beach and seawall at The Grand Hotel , Cabourg, France c1912-1914 Next week we'll finish up May with Forests.

 I found what I think are some nice things to share this week!   First, from St. Vincent de Paul, my first salt and pepper shakers in the nodder form.  They're the cutest shakers I've ever seen!  I was happy to pay $8 for them.   They are older than I expected, made in Japan by the Takito Company (1880-1948) between 1935 and 1945. Moving on the a Goodwill store.  A Makonde, Tanzania, carving from mpingo (African blackwood). The dark wood isn't painted or stained, it's the heartwood, the pale is the sapwood, the live outer layer under the bark. It's about 6" high and probably made in the 1960s. In the 70s they began using power tools, and this shows chisel marks. There are several different types of these carvings, this is the Binadamu, realistic human figures representing everyday people.  I only paid $3.88!  Now to the Goodwill Outlet, or Bins. A fabulous birdhouse! It's folk art, most likely done in Connecticut or upstate New York, pa...

First, some things around town. There was a new double sided case of fancy dog treats at the grocery store.  The prices weren't up yet, but they look expensive. There's finally a restroom at the park.  It's a kind called a  Portland Loo .  Now, the garden.   I forgot Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day on the 15th!  I seem to do that a lot lately. Some neglected calendulas and globe gilia. Lance-leaf coreopsis  I'm not sure of the name of this bearded iris.  It's by the back fence, out of sight, so I'm going to move it when it's done flowering.  Finally, snap peas!  The tomatoes are growing well.   Sungold and some morning glories Pantano Romanesco   Bonny Best was bought at a yard sale the weekend before last.  Turkish Sage  The front yard.  I got some cat repellent spray for the bed in the foreground.  So far it's working!  Whenever I decide to use it the wind picks up, so I end up having to shower ...

  Sunday Stamps is the letter P this week.  P latypus Australia 1938 P ine Chafer Czechoslovakia 1992  P artridge, Red-Legged Oman 1982 Q is often a difficult letter, so come back next week and see how I did!