Old Barn

August 2012
I love old barns, the older the better. Thought I would try and post a barn photo each month as there seems to be an unlimited supply of such things here in the northwest. This one is just outside of Pendleton.

Road Trip

A couple of weeks ago we took some good friends up to our cabin for a weekend retreat.  This was their first time and almost a year since we last spent time there ourselves.  We had such a great time lazying around the cabin, going for long walks in the woods or going for drives to the nearby lake.  I decided to take last week off and loaded all the dogs into my work van, and MeMa and I returned to the cabin for some alone time.  We stayed three days and could take the cold weather no longer.  So we loaded everyone back into the van and returned home were we unloaded the dogs and then transferred belongings into MeMa's VW Beetle and headed to eastern Oregon in search of sun and casinos!  As soon as we got over Mt. Hood the sun was out and we had the sunroof open and windows down letting warm air hit us full on.  Our first stop was in the high desert bluffs of Warm Springs in Central Oregon, at the Indian Head Casino.  We are not big gamblers and only play the slots, but both managed to leave with more money than we arrived with.

After leaving the Casino we headed east into the high desert. On our approach we thought this tree had fungi growing all over it but it turned out to be a rather large collection of tennis shoes.

Our first night was spent in Pendleton, home of the Pendleton Round-up and the Wild Horse Casino which turned out to be another lucrative visit.  The next morning we toured the Pendleton Woolen Mills and then headed north into eastern Washington and the town of Toppenish and its Legends Casino.  On our way we passed a historical marker for the "Teapot Dome Gas Station" and decided we needed to get off the highway and see this landmark.  We followed the sign only to discover a badly rotted foundation, a couple of gas pumps but no Teapot.  Disappointed we headed on into Toppenish and the Legends Casino, where MeMa asked one of the employees as to the outcome of the missing "Teapot Dome Service Station".  She then told us the the local city of Zillah purchased and moved the building because it was in disrepair and had been the subject of vandals. We quickly signed for our members cards and then hopped back into the car and headed out once again to find the Teapot.


The sun was going down so it put a nasty glare in the photo but after our ordeal were bound and determined to get proof of our find.



Built in 1922, the circular frame, sheet metal handle and concrete spout was intended to be a reminder of the Teapot Dome Scandal that rocked the presidency of Warren G. Harding and further sent Interior Secretary,  Albert Fall to prison for his role in leasing government oil reserves, among other places, Teapot Dome, Wyoming.  The city of Zillah Washington purchased and rehabilitated the building on its new location with a lovely little park surrounding it.

Back on the road again we made another visit to the Legends Casino, after all we had been issued members cards.  It would have been a shame to not use them.  We then headed to the city of Yakima and after finding our motel we headed into town to find a place to eat supper.  We settled on  "Mel's Diner" a 50's decorated establishment that served great food.  After a good meal we were walking out to the car when MeMa spied an antique gas pump on display and reading the plaque it said, "Original gas pump purchased from the Teapot Dome Gas Station"!  

"It Pays to Shop Around"

O.k, sometimes she is right.......o.k. most of the time she is right!  We are getting the gardens here at Menagerie Manor in shape for my annual "Staff Party" that we have missed out having the last two years.    Several years ago MeMa returned from Hawaii with a new penchant for Agapanthus or Lily of the Nile.  So I being the adoring loving husband ordered three out of a nursery catalog.  They arrived in a few days, in little tube like containers.  MeMa did not believe me when I insisted they were her beloved Agapanthus.  A few days passed and they still did not look like much, I was out working in the garden when MeMa arrived home from a shopping trip with a very smug look on her face.  She proudly placed three of the largest pots of Agapanthus on the ground and then told me, "This is what Agapanthus look like," My paltry little weaklings cost me over forty dollars with shipping added in.  She paid nine dollars apiece for each five gallon container plants.  Actually my three little weaklings did not survive their first winter but MeMas are thriving and beautiful.  In getting ready for this party we decided to finish the bed off with two more clumps of Agapanthus so the search was on again.  I was willing to pay thirty dollars apiece at our back yard nursery but MeMa insisted I keep looking.  The next plants I found priced at 29.95 met with her disapproval as well.  Yesterday we were at a hardware store and happened to wander out to the garden department when MeMa spotted Agapanthus for $7.50 a pot....wait....oh yes, there was that smug look on her face again.

On the left is one of the first clumps just starting to bloom and on the right are the two new clumps.

Carefully Stored Tools?

As you may have guessed I take great pride in my collection of garden implements, and I have a large number of them. When used, I carefully clean and put them away and each one has its specific place. So when my heavy garden rake came up missing I was quite sure that some evil person had taken it or perhaps Lucy our resident ghost had decided that it would be great fun to start snatching things outdoors for a change of pace. The damn thing has been gone now for at least six months and Lucy never keeps things for more than a few weeks or a single month at the most.....so she is out of the equation....so back to thievery!

Oh not sooooo fast you blooming twit! Now in my defense I only have one useful eye and then there is the age thing going on here.......hmmmm. Click on the photo to enlarge if you like but just to the right of the bird house is the missing rake. Actually it would still have been missing except while out watering and feeding MeMa's Ladies.........

.........I heard a loud tapping noise only to look down at odd Gigi tapping out a tune on a wood pole thingy sticking out from behind the clematis growing on the chicken yard fabric. My garden rake is now firmly part of the chicken yard fencing, there really is no budging it. Anyone have a garden rake this old, half blind, absent minded gardener could borrow????

Sneaking Back

I could bore you all with tons of excuses as to why I have been absent but the plain and simple version is that life in general has been keeping me away. Nothing in particular just life, I'm quite sure you can all relate. I hope all of you out there in Blogger land are doing well. I did a quick walk through the garden this morning before heading off to work. So will post a few photo's and then be off.

Click on photos

I missed these Night Blooming Cyrus, but was grateful they hung on till morning

The greenhouse was filled with their perfume

.....and just outside the greenhouse door a nice clump of "Poor Man's Orchids" "Impatiens balfourii"

I planted these dwarf Hen's and Chicks last year and was quite pleased to see they bloomed a wonderful rose color. I think MeMas "ladies" enjoyed them as well.

Clematis Jackmanii, a vigorous bloomer

One of MeMa's favorite roses, "Mr. Lincoln"

One of my favorite roses,  "Mme Alfred Carriere". A very fragrant climber bred in  France in 1879 

Giant pumpkin seedlings will hopefully produce a winner for the annual Pumpkin Parade

I harvested these French Fingerling potatoes yesterday

We have had a very good year with these delicious sugar snap peas, this is the last of them.

We have frozen so many Raspberries, consumed many a breakfast feast and turned the "Little Terrorists" loose on them weekly in a grazing frenzy.





Hydrangea 'Sensation'