"LIKE I SAID ...

...  here's my best!"  -  Benji the Handsome

"Here is the hops on July 21.  It has gone up and slid back a lot - quite a thick bunch.  I can't remember when it flowers and don't know when/how to harvest.  A neighborly beer-maker is going to do that." - RG the Observer

"A LITTLE DAB'L DO YA! ...

... I'll give ya the full frontal on Monday!" - Benji the Coy

"And here is MY treat for BL since so many said I owe her.  I also dug up three nice Yukon Gold potatos from the garden to bake along with the bird, and we had fresh garden peas too.  It was pretty good - hers are better - but not bad for an old dog!"  -  RG the Chefy

"DON'T GET SO EXCITED! ...

... Slow down, RG.  Relax.  You are jiggling the camera.  Yes - I DO like the new hay.  It is fine - all is well.  Chill."  -  The Princess at Peace

"I admit.  I was SO excited that she liked it.  It is the first cut of this year and the old stuff was getting awful dry and stiff."  -  RG the Anxious.

"NOW YOU'RE COOKIN' ....

.... His and Hers!  Matching at that!  The Bunny Fairy is looking over us after all." - Zoey and Chico

"Bunny Fairy?  Excuse me?"  -  RG the Slighted and Unrecognized

PRETTY GOOD TREATMENT!

"Benji has a sensitive internal system and can't eat salads at night anymore - he becomes a horrid poopy, sloppy, dirty mess.  So when Goldie has hers, Benji gets this royal treatment in the lap of BL.  A real sweet snuggle-bunn!   

And I got this "apology" cake - lemon with creamy lemon frosting - from BL as an apology for sort of screwing up the last lemony things she tried for me.  Yummm.  BL is really racking up the score!"  -  RG the Content.

"WINSTON'S LAMENT -

- He ain't goin' nowhere, and he's losing his hair.  Tra La La."  (Paraphrased from an old country song I like - Night Rider's Lament.)

Poor guy is molting - looks like a skunk on sideways.

"HYPER???

Me?  More like High Purr!  Bawahahahahaha ..."  -  KittyBoy the Cute.

"Today was the first day of recreational crab fishing here.  We went with a friend and got our limits - all of these (boiled for 20 minutes) are well beyond legal size, the one is a whopper!  Had one of BL's fantastic Crab Louis' for dinner!" - RG the Stuffed.

HOUSE OF RABBITS - UNPLUGGED

It almost never happens here - but there was quite a lightning and thunder storm Friday evening for several hours.  As a precaution we shut down and unplugged!  (The bunns seemed all nonchalant, while Kitty Boy was pretty hyper.)  Anyway, it took awhile to get up and running this Saturday morning, and here we are!

"How do you like the Carnival-ride so far, Zoey?"  "When does it go up and down and round and round?  All I see is your Butt."

"ALL MADE UP ...

... I luvs me some BL!"  -  Winston the Forgiving.

Living on the Farm!  Our neighbor up there on the hill keeps these in the field next to us.  I don't think he is running a cattle-rescue operation. 

"JUST SOME SPECIAL BUNNS."

"Who?  Us?"  "Yup, You."

BL mowing the "back-40"!

"MOVE OVER ZOEY! ...

...  Yur Hoggin'.  RG!  RG!  Zoey won't share."  -  Chico the Starving.

"Oh no you don't.  I'm not THAT dumb."  -  RG the Careful.

"HE'S TRAINED! .....

..... I wonder how long it will stick?"  -  Princess the Doubtful.

"Not long."  -  RG the Forgetful.

(Garlic - plant the cloves in mid November, pull up the tops and bulbs in mid-July.  Dry well until early September!  Get on the I-net for good sources to buy seed garlic and details for how to plant and tend it.)

"RETRIBUTION COMING ....

... besides this, they cut my nails.  I should sue."  -  Winston the P.O.'d

"Here is the bed of garlic, about to be harvested.  Confused?  Yup - a WHOLE lot of volunteer poppies got in there.  I couldn't bring myself to pull them up.  I hope the garlic grew well."  -  RG the soft-hearted Farmer.

EENY, MEENY ...

... where shall I start - or maybe save some for the weekend."  -  Chico the Thoughtful.

"There is plenty more where that came from Cheeks.  Dig in!  Everybody in the awful heat, hang in there - relief is on the way.  And we are going to heat up out here in the little sliver of cool along the NW Coast of the US of A." - RG the Helpful.

"IT LOOKS WORSE ...

... than it is.  It is not a horrific crime scene.  It is a flopped Goldie and a bit of peeee stain.  I am an innocent man."  -  RG the Exonerated. 

Here are the hops on July 5.  You can see how they go up, get heavy, slide down a bit, rinse, repeat!.

(To answer a couple of questions:  Yes, we can see a bit of the highest firework displays, but not at all like being there.  Chico and Zoey are a bit chunky!  But I don't know what they weigh and you can just go ahead and ask Zoey - I'm not a'goin' to.)

"OUR EARS ARE DOWN ...

... now to cut a hole in the box and tip "This side down" right down over us and we won't hear the god-awful fireworks around here tonight!" - Chico and Zoey the Unpatriotic!

"We live right about square in-between four smallish towns and two casinos and a motor-speedway, all of which seem to need to try to outdo the others on 4th of July demonstrations.  We all are happy for the 5th to come!  We will survive." - RG the Noise-challenged.

"MY PANTALOONS ....

.... you like?"  -  Benji the Sharp."BL is home and helping out again.  I think I did OK." - RG the Marginal.

"HOME IS WHERE ...

... the food is.  It's good to be back.  RG makes a good salad."  - Racer.

"I just follow instructions Racer."  -  RG.

HEADED OFF AT THE PASS .....

"He didn't make it.  Racer got nabbed and put back "in his place."  Nice try though.  I myself find Myself in MY PLACE ... the Royal Throne with the spotlight of fame about upon me!  Bow and scrape all."  -  The Princess.  "Yuppers, she is in charge.  BL is off across the mountains for a short vacation and chaos reigns.  I'm doing my best."  -  RG the Challenged.

("By the way, one of the blogs we follow, Dandy's Journal, publishes a monthly Newsletter.  This month there is a fine short story written "by Zoey" about Zoey - Here.")

"SO FAR, SO GOOD!

I haven't been spotted!  Now to hitch a ride to the train station ...."  -  Racer the Traveller.

"Double Oh Oh!"  -  RG the Worried.

"OH MY GOSH!!!!

... They left the door open.  Where shall I go for an adventure?"  -  Racer the Intrepid."Oh oh." - RG the Wary.

"THE PATH ....

.... not taken.  I wonder what might have been?"  -  Zoey the Philosopher"Uh Zoey?  You WERE there.  You prefered Chico!"  -  RG the Counselor

"NOT TOO SHABBY ....

... nice view but smells like rabbits.  Lousy service.  Think I'll keep looking."  -  KB the Picky."Never saw him in there before, nor since."  -  RG the Photog.

"LOOKEE HERE.

Look at all the wood I had to chew before they finally brought the salad!"  -  The Princess."Oh Come ONNNN!  You do that in the middle of the night!"  -  RG the Sleepless.

"I SMELL STRANGERS ....

... they were sitting in this chair and playing CLUE."  -  Winston the astute.

"You are quite right there Winnie-Pooh-Pooh.  It was  our Wenatchee contingent of three women.  They had been in Seattle at an Urban Dare "race".  It poured rain on them so they were happy to be here to dry out and have some dandy feed.  Somebody put 6 cards (instead of three) in the secret envelope and so the game was very bizarre!  Now they are gone and you get the throne back!"  -  RG the Explainer. 

"IT'S RAINING - AGAIN....

.... and it is going to rain until next Wednesday.  Hopefully the shabby yellow boat will stay afloat.  And RG will be able to go out for our daily greens."  -  Benji and Goldie - the Cutest.

TREAT PIX FOR ALL ....

First, the tail of a Princess.

Next, BL's evening delights.

Last, Barr Creek Falls where I spent several hours today, helping with trail work.  (For those of you travel geeks, this is going east from I-5 on Highway 20 up the north side of the Skagit River (toward North Cascades National Park) and a little ways east of Rockport.  On a map it may be called Swift Creek.) 

"I AM NOT A RABBIT."

"I am a cat.  Even though I can disapprove like a rabbit.  Like now - of you and that camera."  -  Kitty Boy the Annoyed.

"Cats are weird .... uh, no, maybe not, maybe uh ... OK?  Sometimes?"  -  RG the Confused.

CAN YOU SAY NO?

"Could any of you resist giving this boy whatever he wants?  If so, how?"  -  RG the Curious.

ZOEY THE TURTLE

Well,  she sort of looks like one.We are in for THREE sunny days in a row.  After more than an inch of rain in the past two days, we should have some good growing!

"I'M ASLEEP ....

.... but I'm also all ears!  Nothing gets by me.  What is that rustling?"  -  Princess on Alert.

"Our first ornamental Hops plant vine made it to the top of the 20foot pipe by the barn today!  Now it will keep sending more twinings up.  As they intertwine and grow bigger leaves they slide down and new ones go up.  Eventually we have quite a mass.  A neighbor is going to harvest the flowers or seeds or whatever it is you make beer with and make beer!  Will keep you posted!"  -  RG the Agronomist.

A WEEKEND WITH A BOWL OF ....

... RACER!   "Enjoy it because I'm not here for long!  This thing is COLD!"  -  Racer the Posed.

"DO NOT ADJUST YOUR SET ....

... the "fuzz" in your screen is not the fault of your set.  Do not attempt to adjust it out.  It is the fault of the marginal cleaning crew here."  -  Winston the Helpful Geek."I know, I know.  You need to be pretty old to even remember that you once could "adjust your set!"  -  RG The Old Enough.

LOVEBIRDS

'Nuff said.

Pacific Nine bark shrub.  This is a pretty mahogany colored.  Birds, bees, and butterflies like it.  (PS - those of you threatening to move here,  Better plan on a few weeks between Nov 15 and Mar 15 first!)

"WHAT HAS 8 EARS, 4 TAILS, ....

.... 16 legs, and 4 smooshy noses?  US!  The Fab Four!!!"  -  Happy Bunnies.

"Boy, their ears were all perked up when I took this through the window - something was going on!  (We have three big plants of beautiful and fragrant peonies.  While we get a lot of gray and drizzle and cool in the Pacific Northwest, it does make for some great gardening.)" -  RG the Farmer!

"I NEED SOME AIR ...

... maybe a patch too.  I think I sprung a leak."  -  Benji the Flat.

"I suspect a nice plateful of greens will do the trick me boy!" - RG the Helpful.Here are some pretty columbines and shade poppies for us humans.