Gardening for nature, walks with my dogs and the books I’m reading.

Can't believe I never saw this thread before! Your pics are spectacular, Mark, and I will be perusing the videos, etc. Lovely, just lovely!
 

Sliverfox said:
Thanks for sharing the "babbling brook".

I grew up beside a creek,, miss the sounds of water flowing over the rocks.
Miss hearing bull frogs too.
Click to expand...

As a kid growing up in San Diego there were always canyon lands to explore but little water features reachable by foot beyond the bay and ocean. When the family relocated to Maryland just outside DC there was a year around stream about a mile through the woods which I explored many times. Now it is a treat to have a creek just all along our northern boundary. When it goes under our street it stays underground in culverts all the way to the bay. Here are some early pictures of the area where the park and creek are now.

Facing our yard on the left, the building on the other side of the creek from us on the right and some houses across the street from us showing through in between. Not sure how old the photo might be.



A different view from around the same time showing the track in place.



Work going on to unearth the culvert containing the creek below where the train used to pass and where the park is now.



The park and the bridge near our back gate from soon after the park was opened.



Same area in a heavy rain, but looking directly toward our place and the building across from us again..

 

MarkD said:
I’m feeling inspired by #Gary's diary about building his cabin in retirement to share what I’m doing in retirement.

Until the pandemic hit working out at the YMCA was a big part of retirement and made a huge difference in how I felt. Even before that I decided to lose the extra weight I’d put on as the teaching I used to love became more stressful and less fulfilling after No Child Left Behind. I lost more than 20 pounds as part of a New Year’s resolution in my first year of retirement seven years ago. I joined a Healthy Eating class at Kaiser which met ten times, once a week. I did another class in the fall and one last one the following January losing 50 pounds in all. But quitting the Y has resulted in gaining back 15.

Anyhow the best parts of retirement has been more time to develop my garden, walk my dogs and read great books.

Here are a couple of plot plans I once made of my garden before it was as finished as it is now. (No garden is ever truly finished.) I didn’t make a plan at the beginning and then stick with it. The garden and my vision for it evolved together unhurriedly.

I started making the back garden soon after I started teaching, more than thirty years ago. Our back fence abuts a city park to the east. To the south is a community orchard and on the north a year around creek separates our parcel from our neighbor. Our place is a a little cracker box of a warehouse, 40 by 80 feet situated in the southwest corner of our 100 feet wide by 120 feet deep lot. It isn’t large by rural standards but is unusually large by suburban standards and we have far more open ground than neighboring commercial buildings.

View attachment 253293

The second one is centered on the back garden and the first drawing, showing the side garden m, has been rotated 90 degrees from its orientation in the other drawing.

View attachment 253292

To give you a feel for it now here is a short video I took two years ago walking out the side doors, heading out to the back garden as far as to the pond where a hummingbird working over a red flowering Salvia wagneriana and a mostly orange colored Lobelia aguana seemed like a natural place to end it.

Click to expand...
Oh, wow, I just love this, Mark. Could watch that hummingbird all day. xx
 
Sliverfox said:
All that rushing water looks wicked.
Any upstream damage from it?

The park looks nice.
Is it still that way of have the homeless moved onto it?

Thanks for the photos.
Click to expand...

The plantings near the creek got way over grown but they thinned it out and down recently making it feel more open again, and in the last couple years they reworked the much loved children's climbing structure. Another improvement has been the pollinator they planted between the path and our back fence, great for my garden!. Right now the upper field which is pretty large and closer to level is a muddy mess. But the greatest improvement has been the little cafe that moved in just before the pandemic and seems to be thriving still. Lovely, creative people.

Lewkat said:
Oh, wow, I just love this, Mark. Could watch that hummingbird all day. xx
Click to expand...

Me too. I'd miss hummingbirds if I didn't live where they do.
 
Looks like I’m finally going to make a post about a walk with my dogs. Today I took them to Fort Funston which housed anti aircraft bunkers during WW II. Here is a video combining snippets from our descent down the sand cliffs to the south and then north along the beach.

https://flic.kr/p/2oeJH8i

At our northernmost point on the beach we arrive at a point where large pieces of the old concrete bunkers have been eroding from the cliffs and falling to the beach below. This has been going on for years.

1675315246039.jpeg

1675315449466.jpeg

1675315565208.jpeg

1675315600997.jpeg

Local story about the latest fall. https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/sf-wwii-bunker-cliff-fall-17730530.php.

I took this video in the same area between storms last month at high tide.

https://flic.kr/p/2oeLGXK
 
Sliverfox said:
Mark,, great to watch the dogs on a run.

Have you ever thought make a pouch for them to carry their own water & treats?

I found an old fanny pack & hope to modifie it for that purpose.

Snowy, windy & cold today in NWPA.
Click to expand...

We still have dog packs from earlier generations but don’t really go far enough to need them to carry anything. Good thing. I’m not a talented seamstress though my stepson is.
 
Wow,,if there are still dog packs around ,, I'd be carrying a cane or long stick/staff.
Or bear spray.

I've been in few wild areas in our neck of the woods,, without gun, stick or spray.
Alone on horseback ( which I was ) have had dogs come out of their yards, barking .
One time a stray dog come charging out of the woods snarling.
Knew how my horse would react, turned towards the dog & charged.
 
Sliverfox said:
Wow,,if there are still dog packs around ,, I'd be carrying a cane or long stick/staff.
Or bear spray.

I've been in few wild areas in our neck of the woods,, without gun, stick or spray.
Alone on horseback ( which I was ) have had dogs come out of their yards, barking .
One time a stray dog come charging out of the woods snarling.
Knew how my horse would react, turned towards the dog & charged.
Click to expand...

Sorry I wasn't clear. I meant we still have packs made for dogs to wear which in the past we've had our dogs when we back packed. But we no longer do that. We went from back packing to canoe camping to car camping to staying in lodging near areas we wanted to hike. No more of that. In addition to our more limited stamina, sleep is just too delicate under the best of conditions.
 
The UC Berkeley Botanical Garden is not far away so we visit more often than most. Here are some favorite sights starting with the lush tree ferns.

1676040829804.jpeg

These Hedgehog Agaves often draw my camera.

1676041062751.jpeg

1676041100801.jpeg

I’m growing this Nerine Lily from Africa too but my clump isn’t this big and happy.

1676041340815.jpeg

A succulent combo with wonderful color and texture.

1676041438560.jpeg
 
I recently came across these videos of my dogs at Fort Funston beach in San Francisco. This one shows the final approach to the beach once I have the chucker in hand. Heidi would bark to demand the ball while Smokey would circle us to keep his flock together.

https://flic.kr/p/2ogdrW4

That was the routine which created these tracks.

1676142854039.jpeg

In one direction or the other we always walked along the bluffs above the beach where the ravens like to play in the up draft.

https://flic.kr/p/2ogexGV

From a stable near the hiway above this area pack trains of paying customers are led down to the beach. The canyon below where I shot the video is one of two ways they access the beach.

https://flic.kr/p/2ogedPm

It is far from pristine but I find it has a stark beauty and charm all its own.

1676143359961.jpeg

1676143389830.jpeg

1676143446250.jpeg

Obviously the dogs love it too.

1676143526748.jpeg
 
MarkD said:
Looks like I’m finally going to make a post about a walk with my dogs. Today I took them to Fort Funston which housed anti aircraft bunkers during WW II. Here is a video combining snippets from our descent down the sand cliffs to the south and then north along the beach.

https://flic.kr/p/2oeJH8i

At our northernmost point on the beach we arrive at a point where large pieces of the old concrete bunkers have been eroding from the cliffs and falling to the beach below. This has been going on for years.

View attachment 266034

View attachment 266035

View attachment 266036

View attachment 266037

Local story about the latest fall. https://www.sfgate.com/weather/article/sf-wwii-bunker-cliff-fall-17730530.php.

I took this video in the same area between storms last month at high tide.

https://flic.kr/p/2oeLGXK
Click to expand...
LOVE these posts and pics…….please continue.
 
MarkD said:
I recently came across these videos of my dogs at Fort Funston beach in San Francisco. This one shows the final approach to the beach once I have the chucker in hand. Heidi would bark to demand the ball while Smokey would circle us to keep his flock together.

https://flic.kr/p/2ogdrW4

That was the routine which created these tracks.

View attachment 267859

In one direction or the other we always walked along the bluffs above the beach where the ravens like to play in the up draft.

https://flic.kr/p/2ogexGV

From a stable near the hiway above this area pack trains of paying customers are led down to the beach. The canyon below where I shot the video is one of two ways they access the beach.

https://flic.kr/p/2ogedPm

It is far from pristine but I find it has a stark beauty and charm all its own.

View attachment 267862

View attachment 267863

View attachment 267864

Obviously the dogs love it too.

View attachment 267865
Click to expand...
Photos make me feel like I’m actually there. 😊.
 
MickaC said:
Photos make me feel like I’m actually there. 😊.
Click to expand...

Nice to have you along on a walk. We're going back there today soon.

What is it like in Manitoba? I'm picturing huge mountains, trees, lakes and loads of wildlife. We've been up to Banff and Jasper on a big look trip after bagging hikes and stays from our southwest up to Glacier NP. From there we headed to Vancouver, taking a ferry over and then diving to Tofino where we got a Native American ride up to Hot Spring Cove Provincial Park which might be folded into Tofino NP now? I'll bet they don't let you primitive camp there any more as we did. But tea made with the sulfury water was part of the price payed. But we got to soak in the springs at night with just one English guy who'd brought along some good beer to share. Sure was some pretty country. One of those things you're glad to have done when you did it. A car ride like that would about kill me now.
 
MarkD said:
Nice to have you along on a walk. We're going back there today soon.

What is it like in Manitoba? I'm picturing huge mountains, trees, lakes and loads of wildlife. We've been up to Banff and Jasper on a big look trip after bagging hikes and stays from our southwest up to Glacier NP. From there we headed to Vancouver, taking a ferry over and then diving to Tofino where we got a Native American ride up to Hot Spring Cove Provincial Park which might be folded into Tofino NP now? I'll bet they don't let you primitive camp there any more as we did. But tea made with the sulfury water was part of the price payed. But we got to soak in the springs at night with just one English guy who'd brought along some good beer to share. Sure was some pretty country. One of those things you're glad to have done when you did it. A car ride like that would about kill me now.
Click to expand...
Manitoba has it’s treasures, but sadly not as many attractions as our neighbours to the east and west, Saskatchewan falls behind us as well.
We have great waters for fishing, boating, water leisure……wildlife to enjoy and hunt, an area north west of here, has much sot after for bear hunting.
Provincial parks, camping, exploring, hiking.
Our great northern community, Churchill, known for polar bears.
Some of the places you’ve mentioned visiting in Canada are some of the finest.
Our agriculture is a Manitoban heartfelt industry.
Anyone travelling in Manitoba, and had time, can come across a lot of interesting finds.
See you on the next walk/hike, MarkD.
.
 
MickaC said:
Manitoba has it’s treasures, but sadly not as many attractions as our neighbours to the east and west, Saskatchewan falls behind us as well.
We have great waters for fishing, boating, water leisure……wildlife to enjoy and hunt, an area north west of here, has much sot after for bear hunting.
Provincial parks, camping, exploring, hiking.
Our great northern community, Churchill, known for polar bears.
Some of the places you’ve mentioned visiting in Canada are some of the finest.
Our agriculture is a Manitoban heartfelt industry.
Anyone travelling in Manitoba, and had time, can come across a lot of interesting finds.
See you on the next walk/hike, MarkD.
.
Click to expand...
I realized after I asked and looked at a map that you are probably more on the high planes, east of the Rockies. Agriculture makes perfect sense. I remember reading somewhere that the rock around the Great Lakes is some of the most ancient on the planet but I’m not sure if that is true where you are.
 
Rummaging around on my phone I came across a video showing my younger dog Ember, a McNan shepherd at 11 monthes playing in the bay during an extreme low tide at Pt Isabel dog park. She loves the water but doesn’t like it too deep so every time she stumbled into a deep hole she cracked me up.

https://flic.kr/p/2oh5tkP

The other is a short video exploring my Podranea vine with its dark, pinkish flowers taken last October. It occurs to me the foliage is pretty nice too.

https://flic.kr/p/2oh7ZnR
 
MarkD said:
I realized after I asked and looked at a map that you are probably more on the high planes, east of the Rockies. Agriculture makes perfect sense. I remember reading somewhere that the rock around the Great Lakes is some of the most ancient on the planet but I’m not sure if that is true where you are.
Click to expand...
No, no ancient rock layers in MB.
 
Went back to Fort Funston in San Francisco this past Wednesday to walk with the dogs. It was high tide so we kept our walk up in bluffs above the beach.

1677269782122.jpeg

1677269825035.jpeg

I left the ball and chucker in the car as we’d already done that work on a shorter walk with my wife that day. Frankly I enjoy watching their herding dog games even more. Here they are at the start running in the field where the hang gliders land and take off - but not in high winds such as we’re blowing tgat day.

https://flic.kr/p/2oiJsZf

That doesn’t stop them from finding and presenting me with balls. At the end of the next one that is why Ember is staring at me looking wound up, willing me to toss the ball she has delivered at my feet.

https://flic.kr/p/2oiJQpc

Toward the end of the walk once we were back at the level of the parking lot they got in some more running my phone’s battery died.

https://flic.kr/p/2oiDRXb
 

Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top