Mammoth Mountain

The Dude is flying down to Mammoth Lakes to meet up with old college friends and do some serious skiing.  I've skied a few places in the western U.S. and Mammoth ranks up among the best.  It's huge!  I remember when a lift ticket there cost $13, now it's $85.  Oh well.

Crocus

Crocus mean the dark cold wet days of winter are over.

Chipmunk

We don't often see chipmunks but every once in awhile one shows up at the platform feeder.  I think it's a Townsend's chipmunk (Tamias townsendii).  In back of our house is 120 acres of park land composed of typical western Washington lowland forest - western hemlock, western red cedar, douglas fir, bigleaf maple (some huge), and a few alder that are past their prime.

Squirrel Trap Fail

My son Geoff found a design for a squirrel trap on the web.  A paper towel roller slathered in peanut butter suspended over a 5-gallon bucket.  The next morning we had three drowned mice.  Fortunately, mice are not an endangered species.

New Fred Meyer - Alderwood

It opened September 25, 2009, about a month ago.  I've been driving by the construction area for well over a year.  I thought it would stall like so many other development projects around the area.  Key Bank financed the project.  It's a perfect location for me, right on the way home from work for a milk stop and it even has a gas station.  The gas prices are competive with Costco, and I even get a 3 cent/gallon discount with the Fred Meyer Rewards program.

From the Enterprise:  "Upscale service and amenities included in the 177,000-square-foot store a wine steward, a 16,000-square-foot Garden Center, a drive-through pharmacy and a Starbucks coffee bar. A fuel station, with five pumps to serve 10 cars, is another amenity of the new location. Additionally, the unit was designed and built with multiple “green” features such as skylights to utilize natural light, energy-efficient lighting and concrete floors that do not require the use of chemicals for cleaning and maintenance. The new store will be open daily from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m."  Location:  2902 164th St SW, Lynnwood WA 98037

I hope that the Fred Meyer Garden Center doesn't hurt business for Emery's Garden Center, right across the street.  I hardly ever buy anything from Emery's anyway, too expensive.  But it's a nice local business.

Fall Containers

The obligatory chrysanthemum and a coleus not liking the fall dew.

Re-Landscaping in Front of the Fence - Part I

I'm working on re-landscaping the front of the fence, a start on getting our entire yard back in shape. I picked up a few plants at the annual Northwest Horticultural Society fall sale. I started small at the western side by the gate. I dug out an old scraggly azalea and the stump of another. Leslie had bought a Japanese maple (Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Crimson Queen’) at Costco about three years ago. It sat for that time happily in its gallon nursery pot. From the plant sale, I also planted a Hosta ‘Krossa Regal’ towards the back and up front Japanese Forest Grass (Hakonechloa macra). The maple may eventually overwhelm this corner, we’ll see. In the meantime, I will flesh this corner out with one or two smaller Hostas, a fern or two. We’ll see. I have to work my way down the line yet along the fence.