Boomer's Journal Entry 5/26/10

Yo,

It's been awhile since I've felt like blogging. To my fans, I'm sorry. I know you can't get by without hearing from me.

Not much has been going on for the past few months. Same old, same old. I get up, eat, take a nap, eat, visit the kitty facilities, nap, chase a bug, nap.

A few weeks ago I had a visit with the vet. Not A Fan! Who are these people? Sticking things in me, especially in places they shouldn't be sticking things! EVIL. Well, I'm not sure I fully understand, but I think I'm going back there for a visit in the next day or two. Apparently there are tests to done. I hate to state the obvious, but I don't "do" tests! I'm a cat. You know what I do, do. Eat, Sleep, Eat, etc.

Crazy humans. I'll just have to teach them a lesson when I come back and just ignore them for a few days...or until it's time for more Fancy Feasts.

Later Tater Tots,
Boomer

I'm having a baby!

This is my ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia). I'm very excited. I've had it for nearly two years and it hasn't done a thing. Well, we lost a few leaves right away after transplanting and a few more from Boomer noshing on them. But otherwise, there hasn't been any activity from ZZ. Well, over the past week, a new shoot has shot up! I'm so happy.

Hello Baby!

If you'd like to learn more about ZZ Plants, head over to Plants are the Strangest People.

Container gardening at Parkway Manor

Since we last posted, the gardens of Parkway Manor have been coming to life. The problem with lots of things is, as soon as they come to life, they usually kick the bucket. Poor soil and zany pests like to wreak havoc. Our past chances at survival are containers and lots of patience. Here are this season's first containers.


Lots of fun color. Pink, yellow and blue, plus some chartreuse sweet potato vines.

My favorite container! Basil.

Peppermint swirl dianthus with some trailing blue flowery thing.

The snow killed my rosemary. Here's what's left. One stick! I transplanted it, removing some of the exhausted soil and added some oregano and decorative grass.

I bought one too many of the decorative grass, so it's in a lonely pot by itself for now. There is one remaining pot--currently it's home to some tubers that may or may not grow again this year. If they don't sprout in a few weeks, we'll re-purpose the pot and start another container.

Snow Day Baking

What do you do when you are snowed in? You bake!

Oatmeal Cinnamon Chip Bars

Ginger Scones

French Bread Rolls

Blueberry Cream Pie

Snowpocalypse 2010

Parkway Manor and the surrounding DC Metro region are under some snow...perhaps 3 feet and/or more. Breaking records left and right. 1) DC has become the snowiest city in the US this season. 2) DC has had the most snow in over 100 years, since records have been kept! 3) The Federal government has been shut down for 5 days, the most consecutive days in modern history! We're going stir crazy. We are entering 7 days of virtual house arrest!!!

Parkway Manor under the weight of three feed of snow. Notice the Hollybush in front of the front door? Look at this photo to see how it held up to 2 feet of snow in December. Sad. And scary!

Some of the trees can't bear it.

A passage to Narnia; the Ice Queen has escaped!

Our poor Magnolia! Touching the ground, bowing under pressure. Such a sad state for such a stately sass!

Boomer's Journal Entry 1/25/10

yo,

blah blah blah. you bore me.

tater tater tots,

Geeks!

We're geeks! Really we are, and we embrace it and show the world. One of the big things we do at Parkway Manor when leisure time is readily available and neither of us is too stressed about work, is play games. Sure we have some of the classics; but we are really fond of more strategic games. Many of these types of games are called "German-style games" or "Eurogames." Usually they include lots of bits and bobbles, rely heavily on strategy and less on luck. Sometimes you are trying to balance resource production to meet another outcome, gaining victory points. These games can take 45 minutes to several hours. After the initial investment of the game, you are left with plenty of entertainment!

If you follow along on Jason's blog, Footnotes, you can read reviews of games like Pandemic.

Snow! Snow!! Snow!! Snow!!!

We are really bad blog hosts. No blog entries since July...OUCH! Consider it a "no news is good news" kind of absence. So what's so breaking that we get a new entry...SNOW!!!

The Great Snowpocalypse of 2009! Nearly 2 feet of snow from December 18 - 20th!

The snow starting on Friday night.

Saturday morning, first pass of the shovel.

A good sign of how much snow we got!

The signature Parkway Manor Hollybush covered!

The view down Parkway on Sunday morning.

Boomer's Journal Entry 6/17/09

Yo,

Ugh. Talk about being treated badly. Well, more like the implications hurt my feelings.

So last Monday, Daddy came home and he was giving me appropriate cuddles on my bed in what he calls "the guest room." After a few minutes he starts sniffing and talking about how I smell like I didn't wash my hands after using the ladies box. As if I would be so crass as to not wash my hands afterwards! We cuddled a litte bit more, then I went to watch the birds.

Later that evening, Poppa was fidgeting around the house when he was in "the guest room" and said something about a smell.

They kept saying I must have made a mess in the room. THE NERVE!!!! Daddy and Poppa moved almost all the furniture out of the room and closed the door. That's my room and my bed!!! For the next week I was kept out of there. Off and on they would open the door and complain about the smell. They washed the floors multiple times, opened the windows(!!!!) and put a small wax fire in the middle of the room that made a smell like the grass.

Well, finally, last night my dignity was mostly restored. Seems they both think the smell was not from me...thank you very much...but from one of the weeds Daddy keeps in the house and pours water on. The weeds are now outside and they stopped closing the door. I am no longer being wrongfully accused of making a "mess" in my room, on my bed. I know they wouldn't like it if I accused them of making messes around the house, cuz' Ceiling Cat knows they do!

I accept your apology.

Later Tater Tots,

A couple more flower photos

A few quick ones that I snapped while I had the chance. First, some pale pink flowers on the rhododendron that grows in the small plot next to the sidewalk. It's full of blooms right now:


And you've seen the Marigolds before, but this particular bloom was so vibrant, I had to zoom in for a close-up:

Lots of rain but the color is out

We've had rain, rain, nothing but rain for days! But our lovely garden persists and the flowers are determined to come out to play. Here are a few of our (waterlogged) lovelies.

The last of the bulbs in the square plot are these Yellow Alliums, which are having trouble standing up, but I held one up for a good shot:


This bushy plant with tiny pink flowers I've been able to identify as Spiraea Bumalda, which is a relative of the Eurasian plant called Meadowsweet. It's currently lighting up our front walk.

Out in the back amidst a ton of greenery (I think the Goosestrife are on their way), a few lily-like plants cropped up. I did an internet search on them, and they clearly appear to be Spiderwort. Here's hoping a few more of them can survive the deluge.

The main bunch of Azaleas in back are now in bloom with the last group, these are all salmon pink.

One of the ground cover plants we have out back is this lovely lavender Phlox, which I'd be happy to see fill in a larger area.

Last year our friends Charlie & Steven gave us a set of climbing Roses, which we bought a small iron pyramid for. Over last summer we just had to cultivate them and give them space, and this year we were rewarded with the first blooms - like crazy! They are already giving us a lot, and I think will stick around for a long time if we keep them pruned and well fed.


Coming up I hope to show you the huge Lilies, and maybe even...Blackberries? Stay tuned!

Birds and blooms

It's been wet, wet, wet here in the DC area for a couple of weeks! That's made it tough on our flowers to stay in bloom lately. But we finally had a day of sun yesterday, and a couple of new plants decided to come out and shine.

First, our absurdly beautiful Yellow Irises, which I can never really figure out. They pop out of a two-dimensional base, and then form this complicated structure. They smell like soft lemons - love them!

And over closer to the patio we have a Lavender Rhododendron which is starting to burst forth with puffballs of flowers:


You may have noticed our bird feeders in other pictures. I'm going to try my best to take some bird photos, but without a telephoto lens it's a challenge, and I have to be REAL patient. That being said, I got a couple of decent shots yesterday. You'll have to click on the photos to enlarge and see the birds.

Here are some reddish-purple House Finches - we see a lot of these little guys:

And we also get several types of woodpeckers - this one is a Red-bellied Woodpecker, easy to spot with its brightly red cap:

From Parkway Manor, we hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day!

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Boomer's Journal Entry 5/6/09

Yo,

Boomer here. Just a quick entry. I wanted to show off my new napping donut that I received as a gift from Daddy & Poppa. I like to keep it in my watchpost window where I can keep track of all the comings and goings in the neighborhood. It's a more comfortable way to do my job. Neighborhood Watch...I'm on it!

Later Tater Tots

Flowers big and small

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As we continue to wait for rain to wash away all the pollen, I'm finding that a lot of the smaller flowers are blooming around the yard. Today was a good time to prowl around and snap some more photos.

Near the back of the yard there is an old arbor that's falling apart - the only thing holding it together is this strong Red Honeysuckle which blooms like mad for weeks.

You've seen the pink and the white, but this week it was time for the flaming Red Azaleas!


One of the surprises we found last year were these patches of rich Purple Columbine. I planted a few more from seed last year, so we may be lucky enough to get a few more blooming soon.

I'm pretty sure that this Rhododendron was in bloom last year, but I certainly don't remember the flowers being so vividly white and pink! It's our surprise stunner to end the month of April.

On one side of the patio we have a small square that has become almost completely overrun with Lily of the Valley. And that's just fine, because with lovely delicate flowers like this, how can one resist?

As for the bulbs in the square planter, our latest bloomer is this strip of Red Empress Tulips. (I think that's the name - Scott can correct me.) This might be my favorite so far!

And lastly, I know I already posted a picture of the Pink Peony, but it's so lovely, I can't resist taking more pictures of it! It's just ludicrously big and fluffy.


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Pollen is everywhere

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It seems like there is a coating of pollen over everything outside this week! I'm not sure why - maybe all that rain we had loosened it all up.

But the good news is that we are hitting the high blooming season around the yard. This week it's more azaleas and the peonies!

Out in front we have some small Lilies - not sure of the variety, but they are pretty.



For a few days now we've had tons of Pink Azaleas. It took me awhile to get a decent shot, but this close-up works:



After the pink comes the White Azalea:


This is the gorgeous Pink Peony bush that bloomed all in one day. We're happy to see that some of its seeds are growing nearby, so hopefully we'll have a fuller display in the coming years.

Out in the front yard there's a small dark Red Peony which is starting to burst open also:

Even the grass is in bloom! Or something - these wildflowers are dotting the back yard near the big Oak tree.

And one last shot purely for artistic value. The Parrot Tulip looks interesting, even as the flower dies away:

Next up we should have some more azaleas (red this time), more peonies, and the full unveiling of the Mammoth Blue Hostas.

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