It's Amazing Out There

Well, hello!  It's about time for an update of Goldens and Garden.  We had Wally and LuLu out at the sand dunes last Wednesday.  The particular spot we frequent allows no motorized vehicles, so it's a perfect paradise for the likes of us.  I'm always a little surprised that we have the entire massive area to ourselves when we go.  What a great place it would be to take your kids!  Where are they?

The landscape out there is amazing this year.  There's water everywhere...

And Wally and LuLu do love the water.

 

Everywhere you look -- more water...

And dunes, of course...

And wildflowers -- Lupine, compact, but thriving in the sand...

Scotch Broom, struggling to survive underwater...

Some spots are shallow...

But most are deep enough for a good swim.  Here's Wally enjoying the moment:

Just a couple more pics...  Wooly LuLu:

And long and lean Wally with The World's Best Dog Dad (who had just sneaked him a treat.):

We trekked miles and miles out there and had two exhausted puppies when we returned home, but what a good time we had.  Such a great place for Golden Retrievers and anyone who marvels over nature.  Hope you enjoyed!  Have yourself a happy week!

Spring Potpourri

Hello, again!  We're back in the garden today.  Truthfully, the garden sustained so much deer damage over the winter that I felt like giving up.  Can't keep deer spray on it with all the rain we've had and some of the younger plants just up and died.  I thought, "why bother?"  Oddly, the deer haven't visited us in a couple of months.  I don't know why, but I'm not complaining.  I sprayed deer repellent, but by that time they'd already quit coming around.

So now we've had a little bit of sun and I'm all excited again.  I looked back through some older garden photos and realized I just can't give that up.  It's simply a part of me.

Rich decided to have a landscape service put in a whole new lawn.  Sure, he could have done it himself, but he's the lawn guy and if he wants to have someone else do it, then I'm not going to argue.  Here are the guys out there working under the cherry tree.

By afternoon it looked like this (below), complete with LuLu and her mouthful of socks.  The lawn needs to grow and green up and blend, but it will soon enough.  This is the most dog-friendly way to put in a new lawn.

See the yellow azalea in the background?  Two large branches were broken off the backside by a neighborhood cat trying to catch birds.  Just another garden frustration.  After the blooms fade I'll trim it down and hope it branches out again.

"Hello" from Doug or Dougette on the feeder which could use a good cleaning after our wet winter.

We're waiting for an estimate on another landscape project.  It's definitely not something we'd tackle ourselves as it involves a retaining wall and earth moving.  I'm quite excited about it.  We'll extend our upper level outdoor living space significantly.  I'll have to find a new home for the trillium.  The stone steps will stay in place.  They're one of my favorite garden features.

That's all for today.  This blog had a long dry spell during our long wet winter, and then all of a sudden I'm talking your eyes off.  Please click on a pic to bring them all up in a light box.  It's more fun that way.

Have a happy day, and I'll catch some of you over on my stamping blog!

Wrapping up a Glorious Day

That gorgeous green road we headed down at the end of yesterday's post...

... has brought us here to a wide open meadow that fills with water during the rainy season.

It dries out later in the summer to reveal all sorts of interesting plants, but for now it's lush with aquatic life of the Golden Retriever variety.

Below is our little LuLu with her tear-drop eyes and sweet smile.  At five years old she still looks like a puppy to me.

Behind us we have a view across the bay of an old hotel framed in the branches of a flowering tree.  There are a few of these trees out there.  Not sure what they are or how they've come to be there.  Apple?

The property we're on belongs to the port.  This was once a thriving port town -- creameries, ship building, sawmills, a paper mill... to name a few of the industries that kept us going.  We were the largest lumber shipping port in the world.  They took that sign down quite a few years ago.

We lingered here for quite a while, knowing we'd have to head back soon.  One more leg of the trip...

... with another path to follow through the trees...

... into another open field.

Eventually we looped around to the same green road we came in on.

We walked for miles and didn't even cover half the territory this day.  There are other paths, other fields and ponds.  We go here at least once a week, sometimes twice, and never grow tired of it.  At high tide we go down to the bay.  Another path leads to a place we call Jurassic Pond.  We see deer, ducks, wild turkeys, herons, and more.  It's quiet except for the birds and tree frogs and the sounds that carry across the bay to remind us how lucky we are to be able to get away from it all so close to home.

I hope you'll take the time to click on a pic, and I truly hope you enjoyed this time with me, Rich, Wally, and LuLu.  It was a real treat for me to be able to share it with you.  I'll be back soon, I hope.  Have a wonderful day!

More Green Roads to Follow

They run ahead, they run back.  Dogs always do that, don't they?  It's as though they're saying "wait till you see what's up here!"

You know Wally's been running a while when his tongue starts hanging out the side.

The photo below is one of my favorites of the day.  We've emerged from our lush, green path into another open field, and they know there's a pond up ahead.

Sure enough, here comes LuLu running back to tell us what an awesome time she's having.

Wally's been to the pond for a cooling dip and now he's so excited he has to run around in circles for a while.  He has only one foot on the ground in the photo below.

Time to cool off and have a little rest before we move onward with our adventure.

So much green!  So many pictures!

Again, please click on a pic for a more enjoyable experience.  We'll finish up this adventure tomorrow.  We take the dogs out all year 'round -- short walks, long walks, exploring and discovering -- but there's something about a beautiful spring day...

Shared with love from all of us.  Take care!

Just Give me a Green Road to Follow

Where will this green road take us?  Well... come along and I'll show you.  It's just the beginning of a beautiful day.

Enter Wally and LuLu's happy place where you can run for miles in all directions and rarely see another human.  It's our secret place... almost.

Along the way there are ponds to play in...

...and fields to run in.

That's Wally in the photo above.  You'd never know he had knee surgery in August.  He runs like a Greyhound.  He runs just for the pure joy of it.

Wally is our man of many faces.  Below he's shaking off after a run and a roll.  LuLu is looking like a fine young lady.

But wait, it gets prettier.  Follow me.

Let's indulge Wally a few moments in the spotlight.  Seven years of loving our beautiful boy.  Soon to be eight and he's as vigorous and young at heart as ever.  In the photo below he looks like he has two tails, but that's LuLu behind him.

Pure happiness!  Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.

We've followed a green road, stopped at a pond, ran in a field, and explored a sheltered stand of Scotch Broom, and now we've come out the other side onto another green road.

What's up ahead?  Honestly, it gets prettier, still.

We'll follow Wally and LuLu down this path tomorrow.

Yes, there are a lot of pictures.  139 to be exact, but don't worry, I won't post all of them.  I imagine if you've come to visit you've grown fond of Wally and LuLu, and perhaps you enjoy seeing a slice of their outdoor Oregon coast life.  Many of the photos have not been cropped too closely as I hoped to share a better view of this beautiful place which is only minutes from our house.  Please sit back, relax, and take a moment to click on any photo and they'll all come up enlarged in a light box so you can step right into the scene.  This is Golden Retriever Paradise.

I'm so happy to have had this glorious day.  I hope you'll come back with us tomorrow.  Take care!