There are several large parks and a historic cemetery nearby with acres of trees.
Tree lined boulevards were planted years ago by a city arborist with a vision and a passion for flowering plums and chestnuts. These large heritage trees stand today and create a leafy canopy overhead.
In a city that has so many green spaces and trees we also have wildlife.
Deer have taken to munching the plants in our gardens and raccoons have been upending our garbage cans and raiding our berries and fruit trees.
These animals have no predators in the city other than man, so a healthy population survives and thrives.
Occasionally a cougar will show up looking for a meal of venison but when sighted, officers are quick to sedate the cat and take it to a remote forested area miles away.
We often find raccoons in our yard as they seem to like our garden quite a lot!
One year I had a mother raccoon and 4 babies living under the sundeck.
They are adorable to look at but can be very aggressive and you would not want to tangle with one.
Pepper had a close encounter with one the other evening...
fortunately she was inside separated by a pane of glass.
An unexpected visitor...
a captive audience!
Look at her back...
the hair is standing on end and her tail was swollen like a bottle brush!
She chirruped and meowed
at the little raccoon
who stayed around for 15 minutes or so trying to raid the birds' nest under the eaves.
A mess of straw
was left on the window ledge
in the morning
and the birds have been back
so I do not know if any were taken or not.
Speaking of wild life
I am taking a walk on the wild side...
Black Flip Flops studded with sparkly crystals!
Peru-B-Ruby
OPI
lacquered toes
I love dense rose petal formations
David Austen
The Rose Grower of Choice
in
The Humble Bungalow Garden
Rose bouquet
Jude the Obscure
Paul McCartney
Charles Rennie MacIntosh
and
the faithful frothy filler
Lady's Mantle
a lime lady indeed!
the perfume of these all blended and wafting together
is heady and intoxicating
reminding me
weeding watering fertilizing and dead heading is all worth it!
This weekend try something new
be adventurous
kick it up a notch...
try a new recipe
eat at an ethnic cafe
browse in a thrift shop
stroll through a designer boutique
read something not normally on your radar
try a new shade of lipstick
sample a new scent
walk somewhere different and new
and above all
smile!
push that comfortable envelope
just a wee bit farther
growth
is a very good thing!
13 comments:
That's crazy! I've only ever seen a racoon in cartoons, and look at Pepper, she's as long as a snake.
Oh you have such lovely feet, I have Hammer toes, they run on my dad's side. Your roses and Janet's put mine to shame.
we used to have racoons and opossums that drove our dog nuts. old pepper was ready wasn't he?
your roses and absolutely gorgeous!
and i will try something new and report back.
xo
Oh dear, those raccoons can be real troublemakers! We don't see many raccoons, but do get possums and skunks passing through the yard. The possums especially take up residence under houses and in thickets and bring fleas, which then invade the dogs and house.
:-(
Your roses are beyond stunning. Definitely worth the effort!!
I really don't like raccoons and I am very glad that Pepper was safely inside. Althought they might look cute they are very agressive, smart and damaging ~ a bad combination. Love your pretty, freshly lacquered nails; what a great color!
Oh, thank you for the reminder to make the weekend count. Your roses are just so full--I'm speechless. Would the cat harm the coon?
Your raccoon story brings back some memories. I lived in the woods in Mill Valley when I was in my early twenties. I had three cats (two were hand-me-downs from my mom) and my dad would buy me big bags of cat food at Costco. On a regular basis, I would have raccoons crawl through my kitchen window they (opened it themselves) and slash the cat food bag, eat as much as possible and make off with my bread. Once I started locking the window, they would stick their claws under the door and shake it like crazy.
I do not like raccoons for this reason. i think they are dirty and mean and not cute in the least. Good thing Pepper was protected inside. Raccoons can be dangerous to pets and to small children.
You rose arrangement is just gorgeous.
I am in to trying new things lately too. I have my first knitting class on Saturday.
xo, A
When a cat tangles with a raccoon, the raccoon always wins, so Pepper is best left behind glass, allowing only her imagination free. Though they rarely attack humans (when they do it is usually because a kit is endangered) they can shred an arm to the bone; I have seen it. We accommodated many raccoons in our former house's yard. The garage was OK but we drew the line at the house itself.
Very interesting pictures of Pepper and the raccoon.
It looks quite dark outside, maybe the pictures were taken late in the evening?
Very funny! We just had one under the car on the drive way last night. They love to come around!
I love it when our beloved cats show us this side of them, all protective and fierce. Those little noises are precious. And the bottle brush tail too, so cute. I really miss having a cat around, I think I will be remedying that as soon as I can encourage my husband that it's a good idea.
Your roses are just beautiful, the colours are gorgeous. And I can only imagine the delicious fragrance. I love the densely ruffled ones too.
Cute toes! I'm trying to think of what I'm going to do that's wild this weekend. I am planning on wearing my new skinny jeans, whereas I am usually a bootcut girl. That's a pretty lame effort, isn't it?
Fiona
http://howtobechic.blogspot.com
Your wildlife story reminds me of living in CT...a raccoon ended up locked in our garage over night...what a mess it made overnight, but then was soooo tired it fell asleep and when we noticed it on a shelf in the garage the next morning my husband tried to wake it up...while blaring the horn from inside the drivers seat of his Range Rover....goodness this was a man that was an Eagle Scout. haha
Your roses are absolutely stunning to look at! I wish I could smell them! Enjoy the weekend.
xo annie
Our neighbours had raccoons get in through the cat door last week -- once inside, they proceeded to open the laundry room door (seriously!) and found Liz's secret stash of chocolate. . . .
At our place, we have to guard the cat's dish carefully, as she generally prefers to eat outside -- where there's some real competition.
I just adore your pictures of David Austen roses and Pepper. Between you and Catherine at Aesthetic Alterations, my mourning for the death of my cat last November is turning into really wanting another feline to pamper, spoil, and love.
Do you know anything about growing roses in the dessert?
Post a Comment