Greetings and salutations, everyone; yes, once again it is I, your popular host, Mani the purebred border collie, here today to bring you up to date on what’s been going on here. You may remember me from such posts as “The Pine Cone Chronicles”, among so many, many others.
Here I am in a characteristic pose.
You can probably see how green it is here. It’s been raining a lot. Well, okay, not a lot, but more than usual.
Even what used to be a rock garden looks pretty good.
Maybe you remember that we said that Ornithogalum nutans wasn’t very happy here; it turns out that it is. No one noticed the clumps in the little garden between the birch tree and the patio. 
They’re super happy here, as you can see.
Clematis hirsutissima is happier this year than it ever has been. (I think it might have looked even happier if the picture was more in focus.)
The sea kale, Crambe maritima, is also very happy here, even though it’s growing in “icky” soil. 
What’s mostly been going here is a lot of weeding. So much weeding that the guy I live with hasn’t had time for much of anything else, though he does have to stop and lie down from time to time.
I like to go out and sit with him while he’s weeding.
There was some excitement here. A couple of days ago there was thing huge kind of scary thing, which the guy I live with reminded me was called a backhoe (it was much bigger than the one that tore up our front yard last year). It was blocking the entrance to the field, so we both wondered what was going on.
And then the next day, the backhoe was gone, but the guy I live with said we could follow its tracks, which we did. It went into the field, along the canal road, and then suddenly went off the road, and down to the creek on the north side of the canal.
The guy I live with said they were going to dig a new channel for the creek, because there were all these branches blocking the creek, which could have formed a dam, and caused a flood.
In other news, I’ve been collecting pine cones. The guy I live with says not to chew on them while I’m on the bed, but I tend to ignore him. I like chewing on them pretty much anywhere.
Oh, there is something else. We’ve been getting a lot of orioles here, lately. The guy I live with has been filling the feeders with grape jelly like twice a day, and cutting an orange in half every day.
You can see a male oriole in this picture.
The guy I live with said there were even western tanagers coming to the feeder. I guess that’s pretty exciting.
So that’s it for today. There might have been something else, but I’ve forgotten what it was.
Until next time, then.
the miserable gardener 
What is so great about pine cones? Is that something I should as Rhody about? I asked about the gloves that he collects, but he just gives me that ‘look’, as if I am asking a lame question. He moves fir cones around sometimes, but fortunately does not bring them inside.
They’re chewy and crunchy, and I like them.
Sometimes you feel like a nut. Sometimes you don’t. Sometimes a pine cone might do the trick, I suppose.
I think so.
Don’t swallow the pine cones – you’ll understand why if you are silly enough to do so. In the meantime keep the guy company in that nice garden.
I never do. I just chew on them. The guy I live with says “like a hayseed”. Whatever. They’re fun to chew, like honey locust pods.
Nice pine cone collection. Mickey, my new not-purebred-Border collie, picks them up on walks. He usually gets tired of carrying the before we get home. He did bring home a magnolia pod though. His trainer said he is “a mouthy guy,” and needs to carry things in his mouth. Things in your yard look so nice and green and happy. It’s going to be over 90 here today, and 100 later in the week!
Pine cones are fun to chew. The guy I live with says that humans in general consider purebred border collies to be “eccentric”, or “loons”, and then say we need sheep to herd, but herding pine cones is just as good.
It’s raining here. Really raining, all day long. It does that here, sometimes, but the guy I live with says he wouldn’t object to having some sun, and drier weather.
Hi Mani! Thanks for the update! I think your Clematis are beautiful even if some of them are out of focus. Everything looks so lush. My father used to say he chewed on pine pitch as a boy because he couldn’t afford gum. I’m not sure I believe him. I did, however, infuse some rum with Douglasfir needles, which was quite tasty. This spring I made the mistake of planting 50 pots of seeds from NARGS, and now that they are all coming up, I don’t have the space or time to pot them up to a larger size. Reminded me of the time(s) that the man you live with started maybe a few too many seeds too. Did he start any seeds this year? Did the manzanita cuttings take?
I think most of the cuttings did not take, so he says he’s going to try again.
Quite a few seeds were sown this year, mostly of native grasses. I’m not sure where these are going to go. Maybe in the front yard, though the bunnies will like them.
Some penstemons, too, though not all of these are up, so they’ll go into a frame for the winter, I think.
It rained all day yesterday. Kind of strange for our climate, though May and June can be pretty rainy here.
Mee-yow WOW it ISS green there Mani an Guy! An yore Clematis are so purrty!! An you has Orioless an Tanagerss?? Furry furry kewl. Guee what? Wee had 2 Plovess here today fore snax…they live at THE Beech ’bout 3 blockss away an this was their 1st vissit. Wee hope they come back sumtime.
Wee have Meowmy Starling an her 3 squawky kidletss…they are so funny!
So yore canal iss beein sorta dredged or reedun? That iss guud mews; do not want youss’ flooded out.
An Mani those pine coness are kewl an wuud make grate chew toyss an bat-around-toyss two!
Wishin you an Guy a wunderfull week there….
**purrss** BellaDharma an ((huggiess)) LadyMew
We have a canine friend with long fluffy fur like yours who also enjoys pine cones. There are 2 down sides to this hobby – pine cone bits are very sharp to soft human feet, and the pitch gets stuck in our friend’s fur.
The clematis is lovely – I have only seen this variety once in person.
cheers,
ceci
My pine cones don’t have pitch in them, but I do hear complaints when pieces of pine cone are discovered in the bed. Like when the guy I live with rolls over on one.
They do make a very satisfying mess. And are fun to chew on.
The guy I live with said that the purebred border collies who lived here before me liked to chew on honey locust pods. Even in bed.
The clematis has been here for a long time. There are two other plants here, as well. They would all like more water than they get, so all this rain has made them happy.