Welcome a New Resident at Menagerie Manor

Whilst MeMa and I were at our local bird shop inquiring about finding some good homes for our abundance of budgies MeMa wandered into the small cage bird room and fell in love with a white border canary that sat quietly singing as she watched. Upon returning to the front desk she announced that he would be coming home with us.

The new member of Menagerie Manor.
MeMa asked Brooklyn, Little Terrorist #2 what he should be named. Without hesitation Brooklyn said "Peter", and so Peter it is.

So though we had no luck finding homes for Budgies, Ray the resident canary was thrilled to have a cage buddy.

The Beauty and The Beast

This last spring when we went to the annual Rare Plant Research Nurseries once a year open house (post from May 23rd 2011), we purchased a beautiful plant called a Banana Canna 'canna musafolia'.

This was the little gem on the day of purchase

I have had many varieties of the canna family in the past and some of them boasted nice leaf color and others the flower was the standout. I personally prefer foliage over the flower in the gardens as I have my prize roses and my ever growing number of orchids that take the cake when it comes to bloom and anything else is.....well just a flower. So you can imagine my excitement when the Banana Canna lived up to its name.

The lovely MeMa stands at five foot two in front of the beast.
It has truly won a spot in the gardens here at Menagerie Manor.

Good to Get Away But Great to Come Home

Sorry I have not posted in some time but I took advantage of the little bit of summer weather that Oregon granted us this year.   Every year the Chambers men go on a week long "fishing" trip to southern Oregon on Ten Mile Lake in Lakeside.  My two sons Nathan and Ian have always gone with my father and I, but sadly they are just beginning their lives as responsible husbands and fathers and their jobs don't allow that much time away in peak vacation time.   So this year it was myself, my father and my younger brother.  I must say that we made a very compatible trio to be holed up for most of a week in a motor home ( all-be-it a very large one, but none the less a motor home.)   We all are of a very relaxed nature, can talk for hours or just sit and read a good book, like to fish but prefer the catch and release method and then purchase fish already cleaned and frozen for supper at the local market.  And then the best part of all, in the evening we all three have a nice heart warming glass of single malt scotch!   It is a great bonding experience for the Chambers males as well as a pleasant change for the Chambers females to be rid of their pesky men for a week.  It was unfortunate for MeMa that the week I was gone was also the week of 90+ weather.  So a large portion of her day was spent watering the gardens and greenhouse and seeing to the many creatures at Menagerie Manor, all jobs I normally take care of.

Yours truly manning the trolling motor and fishing. "See dear, I can multi-task!"

First fish caught (catfish) and released. More multi-tasking!

Smile for the camera....umm.... Steve, I meant the fish.  Second fish caught, another catfish.

My brother Steve, relaxing after fighting that big fish into the boat.

After a hard day out on the lake two brothers sit and discuss the intricacies of life...oh, yes and have a scotch.
You may notice there are no pictures of my dear father.  That is because he was the only old man in the group to bring a camera, well it was his smart phone but none the less a camera. Thanks for the photo's dad!

After our return to civilization life returned to its normal fast pace, its good to get away but its always great to get back home!  A few days after coming home I made an appointment for a little day surgery on my toes that should have been done ten years ago but it takes me that long to get the courage up to have my feet even touched. It was one of those "old man things" that I preferred to live with until now and to tell you the truth I really should have done it ten years ago, because minus the fact that the only thing I can put on my feet for the next six weeks is a wide  sandal, they feel great for the first time in a long time.
My father just sent me an updated photo of my Giant Pumpkin, looks like Doc will have an entry in the 62nd Avenue Annual Pumpkin Parade this October.

Taken this Thursday 9/15/11



This is the same photo from my August 19th posting



Late Summer Garden Blooms

Summer here in Oregon is starting its decline and boy do I feel cheated.  I love a long growing season but alas that is not going to happen for me unless I take up on my threat and really do move to Hawaii......NOT!

The dahlias are ignoring me and blooming like there is no tomorrow.

My favorite....."Tanjo"

.......Oh no.....this is my favorite"Bitsy", it is a water lily type



No, I take that back....this is my favorite and I had to re-order it three years in a row before the grower sent me the correct one. It's a white water lily form called "Bride To Be" and it is just stunning.



......of course I am awful fond of these little red pom's like this one called "Pazazz"

I forgot about this one....it is MeMa's favorite and I usually side with MeMa........so yep this is hands down my favorite called "Boogie Woogie"

.......wait, wait, wait.....I take it all back this is my favorite and the name alone settles it "Hawaii"

And a couple of beauties from the greenhouse........

Vanda "Patchera Delight"

One of the only fragrant orchids in my collection and one that MeMa brought home in her luggage on her first trip to Oahu, its a beautiful Cattalya called "Fuchsia Lips".