News Trend Cat Chair|Actual

My mother-in-law, bless her soul. Was a cat lady. Now, for the most part, this was a theoretical concept, as she really only had just the one cat during her entire adult life.

Well. One live cat. During her battle with Alzheimer's, she cared for a whole collection of stuffed cats and happily enjoyed their quiet company until her dying day.

So it has given me great pleasure to let this old wicker rocker - which she gave me many years ago - live out its waning years as a special spot for our three furry boys.

Now lately we've developed a duduk perkara. The weather and the years and the sharp little kitty claws have each taken their toll, and what I discovered when I lifted up the seat cushion this spring was that the bottom of the seat had finally given way.

Well. I was not about to give up quite so easily.

So using my best MacGyver meets Gilligan Island repair skills, I armed myself with some sisal rope from Home Depot and went to work.

Mmhmm. I know. I've got some pretty professional weaving chops right there.

But the bottom line is that my kittens are back in business with a soft, secure cushion underneath their furry selves for some sweet afternoon naps in their favorite chair.

And I'm sure that my mother-in-law is smiling down from heaven.

News Trend Butterfly Effect|Actual

"Inchaos theory, the butterfly effect is the sensitive dependence oninitial conditions in which a small change in one state of a system can result in large differences in a later state.

The name, coined byEdward Lorenz, is derived from the metaphorical example of the details of a tornado being influenced by minor perturbations such as the flapping of the wings of a distantbutterfly several weeks earlier."

- edited from Wikipedia

Smoky sunsets are gorgeous and terrible.

Here in the American West, wildfires are a summer fact of life.

For the past week, our neighbors to the north in Canada's British Columbia have been under siege. More than a hundred wildfires are burning; as of today, twenty-three are considered to be significant in size.

Check out these photos. The devastation is horrible and beautiful.

Smoke from these fires has been drifting down here to Seattle all week long. Our normally perfect blue summer skies have been hazy, our air quality compromised, our sunshine brassy and unfamiliar.

And while our discomfort is a small price to pay for Mother Nature's destruction, I find this a stunning reminder that when a butterfly flaps its wings in Brazil, an tornado truly is born in Texas.

News Trend Innocent|Actual

"Whoever blushes is already guilty; true innocence is ashamed of nothing."

- Jean-Jaques  Rousseau

Look at that dreamy little angel, stretched out across my bed, the morning sunshine creating a perfect halo of light around her precious being.

You would never guess that just a few hours earlier, while I was out of the house and her babysitter napped, my sweet dog had brazenly stolen and snarfed down an entire loaf of freshly baked banana bread.

Her innocence knows no bounds.

News Trend Hydrangea Reminders|Actual

"The first week of August hangs at the very top of summer, the top of the live-long year, like the highest seat of a Ferris wheel when it pauses in its turning.

I love summer.

Well, I love all the seasons, each for their own special moods and emotions.

But ever since I was a little girl, I have loved summer best.

Playing barefoot in the woods,

splashing in the lake,

baking mud pies, and

picking wild strawberries.

I haven't really changed much since those days.

"The weeks that come before are only a climb from balmy spring, and those that follow a drop to the chill of autumn, but the first week of August is motionless, and hot."

Inevitably, I feel a certain sadness as summer reaches the height of her power, and slowly, as the sun drops lower in the sky and dry leaves fall to the ground, she begins her quiet descent into fall.

I feel this loss sharply in my garden. The spring tulips and daffodils are long gone, the lush rose blooms and delphinium spires of June have faded, and even the mid-summer day lilies bare their spent stalks.

"It is curiously silent, too, with blank white dawns and glaring noons, and sunsets smeared with too much color. Often at night there is lightning, but it quivers all alone."

But summer is not over. No, in some ways, the best is yet to come.

Because the hydrangea are ready.

Their flat flower heads explode into fluffy bursts of color, pink and blue and purple.

And even though I know, as I have since I was a little girl, that bittersweet fall will be upon us soon enough, at the first week of August, the hydrangea remind me that there is still plenty of summer to come.

* * * * *

Quotes from my favorite midsummer book, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit.

News Trend A Dog's Day At The Beach|Actual

^ Today we went to a place called the beach. The first thing I can tell you is that my people all sat down and ate cheeseburgers. I got nothing. Not too impressed.

^ Then they told me that we were going into that water. It's fun, they said. You'll like it, they said.

^ So I followed. And I watched.

I learned about waves.

They are unpredictable and surprising and quite wet. At first, I was not impressed but I got used to it after a while.

^ I also learned that beaches are busy places. People, birds, dogs, trains, and countless heaps of seaweed and logs to explore and sniff.

^ I posed for some photos too. My people are always with the cameras.

^ I found a huge blue heron sitting on a tall post in the water. Stalking him slowly, I drew close to his perch when suddenly he let out a mighty squawk and sailed off across the water.

^ Disappointed, I stood very still and watched him go.I was very impressed with that bird.

^ We walked on. I wagged at kids carrying water with plastic pails, said hello to two women who were painting and eating Cheetos (none for me), and stared in fascination at a dog who was playing in the water.

I'm still not too sure what I think about those waves.

^ And when we were done with our beach adventure, we went back to our spot, where I sat and wished I could do it all over again.

News Trend Adventure Dog|Actual

Here's the thing. I expect my dogs to be adventure dogs.

Granted, I'm not exactly a card-carrying member of the Mountaineers, but I do enjoy my fair share of stomping around the vast and beautiful Pacific Northwest wilderness, and I need my dogs to be okay with that.

Now my past dogs were hunting dogs. I intentionally sought out Irish Setters bred for the field, who loved nothing more than bounding along a kisi-kisi with nose to the ground, wading shoulder deep into the brush, and filling their noses with delicious scents and their feathery fur with burrs and pickers.

But this baby came into my life with two years of previous experience, and while she certainly lived a rollicking outdoor life on her horse farm, and has marched around suburbia with me for the past month, I've had no idea how much wilderness adventuring she has done.

So yesterday, we set out on our first hike together and here's what happened.

^ After strolling down neighborhood streets for a mile, we took a quick left and suddenly found ourselves on a gravel kisi-kisi, heading into a second-growth forest full of unfamiliar sights, smells, and sounds.. Baby did not miss a beat.

^ The first quarter mile of this kisi-kisi sports a series of boardwalks and bridges, many of which are reinforced with wire grating. And while my dog was not impressed with these features, she didn't let them slow her down. Like any sensible dog would do, she simply avoided them.

^As I've done with my other dogs, as we are walking in the wild, I do my best to approximate a setter's natural hunting environment. As any good gunman would, I let my dogs out on a long leash so they can work the brush ahead of me, and walk quietly behind them as they search for worthy prey.

This little missy quickly found her enthusiasm for taking the lead, but often checked back just to make sure I was following along. Yep, I'm still coming, kid.

^ Nothing warms my heart like the sight of a setter working a scent. So proud of my girl for getting the hang of this hunting business.

^ She also has a natural enthusiasm for rest breaks.

^ We hiked for about five miles in the golden sunshine

^ And when we turned around to begin the uphill journey home, Baby needed another serious rest break. The temperatures had climbed up to almost ninety degrees, and my girl is still carrying some extra weight. Huffing and puffing, she dropped down next to a log and cooled off in the dirt and pine needles like a country girl.

^ Thanks to the cool breezes gently wafting through the gulch and some irresistible scents among the ferns, my girl was soon up and moving and ready to carry on.

^ And finally, after the long trek home and quick rinse with the hose, my girl settled in for a well-deserved nap.

Sweet dreams, Adventure Dog!

News Trend Yelena's Salad|Actual

This is my version of Yelena's salad.

And this is a serving bowl, though I may or may not have eaten most of it by myself.

Recently, I ate lunch with my friend Yelena, and she treated me to a delicious bowl of salad.

Was it a vegetable salad?

Potato salad?

Chicken salad?

Or some magic elixir of all three?

I didn't know and I didn't care. I ate three helpings and felt no shame.

* * * * *

All afternoon, the memory of each bite haunted me.

And by evening, I decided to make some of this delicious nectar for myself.

Now, I could have called Yelena and asked her to send me the recipe. But that would have been a fairly complicated maneuver.

Yelena's mother tongue is Russian, and her English works best when we are face to face.

And my friend has mastered many tricks of the digital age, but texting me a link to a recipe on Pinterest may be beyond her pay grade.

* * * * *

So rather than cause Yelena any frustration or embarrassment, I decided to conjure up my own version of this recipe:

I sliced up a bunch of radishes and a large cucumber

I cubed and boiled five red potatoes and when they were almost done cooking, tossed in a half a cup of fresh green peas

I boiled two chicken breasts, and shredded them. I should have waited till they were cool.

I whipped together about a cup of mayo and two or three tablespoons of fresh chopped dill, and added a smidge of milk, just enough to make the dressing easier to mix in.

Then I stirred it all together.

And it was good.

* * * * *

To tell you the truth, I'm still not sure if this is a veggie dish or a potato salad or a cold chicken combo but I promise you that paired with some fruit, it makes a fast, easy, and cool summer dinner.

But be forewarned; Yelena's salad is so enak that you may want to eat three helpings.