Belated Mail

Hullo!! Can you believe it... I had an adventure last week and my sekrebeary forgot to post about it before she went to Vancouver!! Sigh... Anyhow... I got mail! From Jerry and Ben!

It was raining that day so I had to wear my rain slicker to pick up the mail.

Oh wow!! They sent a couple of cards and a brochure from Minnesota!

There sure is a lot to see there...

The map has cool pictures so you can see what some of the attractions are.

There is a place in the Twin Cities called Alexander Ramsey House... I think that sounds like a cool place!

I think you could spend a lot of time in Minnesota...

Thanks guys!! I should see if we have maps like this...

Sekrebearial Ishues

Hullo bears and not-a-bears! I have to report that I am home all alone and my sekrebeary has gone off to Vancouver without me. Can you believe it?? Apparently there are some European cousins coming for a visit and... there you go... little bears get forgotten!

Anyhow... she said she would post my latest adventure while she was over there... I pestered her this morning and she said... she forgot the memory card adapter for her laptop. Uh-huh... that sounds beary much like excuses to me! Beary disappointing. Do you all have such troubles with your sekrebearies?

Early Summer Harvest

Hullo!! I was planning to spend a relaxing day in my lawn chair today - it is sooo hot out! But apparently "we" had other plans. I wasn't beary eager for this...

But Daisy Dog whispered that there might be something at the end of all this... for me!

OK... so we are harvesting garlic today... which can be a tricky thing.

You need to figure out when it is ready... the bottom third of the leaves should be wilting... like these.

And a couple of the top ones should be wilting... but not all the leaves! The leaves connect to the paper layers that cover the cloves... so you need to have some green leaves.

You also shouldn't water for about a week or two before you harvest. We had rain about a week before... so this should be good.

Then I got to supervise the digging up of the bulbs...

You need a shovel...

And you get under the bulb area...

And poof!! There it is!

They sure have long roots! You can brush off some of the dirt but don't wash them... and be careful with brushing as the bulbs are beary senstivie at the moment... And apparently they can get sunburned too...

So don't leave them lying out in the sun... unless you are taking a picture with a stuffie... of course!

The bulbs need to be tied up and cured for a while before they will be ready. Bundles of 8-10 is good... and in an airy place. Our pal Richard suggested the shed...

They sure smell garlicky!

There we go... a bundle of garlic!

I can't wait to cook with these!

And... surprise... we had accidental garlic too! Last November, before we got our compost bin up and running, we put the kitchen scraps into the flower garden and... this spring there were some strange bulbish looking things which wilted around the same time as the real garlic. Sure enough... some of the kitchen scrap garlics planted themselves!!

Next... we harvested some of the lavender...

And thinned the beets... these sure are cute.

And picked sweet peas - they are so sweet smelling!

Oh... and harvested some peas, shucked them and then blanched them and put them in the freezer...

I am a beary tired bear after all that supervising!! Luckily Mama had a honey drink for me! Whew... Now I can sit back and put up my heels and enjoy the evening.

More Mail!

Wow... lots of mail lately! All my stuffie pals are on their holidays. Today there was a post card from Little Fox who recently traveled through the Rockies. He sent me a card of Moraine Lake, near Lake Louise... soooo beautiful! Thanks Little Fox!!

Don't Forget...

It's a certain hamster's birthday tomorrow...

And Buttons BeCause (who's been off the air for a year now it seems) has a birthday on July 19...

Mail!!

Hullo!! I got mail today! It is one of Beanie's cards...

But wait a minute... those are American stamps?

Huh?? American stamps on a Beanie card??

Ah-hah!!! It's from Ajdin!!

 I love getting mail!

Mumble... mumble... aww... Thanks Ajdin!!!

Now, as this is a Beanie Card, I am going to have to register it on Beanie's Found Art website... and... there we go!! I've left a message for Beanie letting him know I found it.

On the Hunt for Gnomes

Hullo... a few months ago, I found a trail with gnome homes! Mind you, there were supposedly 10 gnome homes and I only found 4 or 5 but... today, I am going to try again..

Today is a beary good day for this because... although it is raining... I have Daisy the Dog for a visit... and she has a good gnome gnose!

And young Rose is back too!! She is a beary accomplished sniffer out of faeries and gnomes are distantly related to faeries... so we should be good.

Did I mention that it is raining?? Well it is... luckily I have my rain slicker.

Oh yes... the first gnome door... this one is easy to find, right off the trail.

Others have these signs pointing to them so they are easy too...

But some of them are harder to find because they are off the beaten path...

That's where Rose comes in handy!! She found a gnome door way over there on that old stump!

She is a beary good gnome door finder...

This one even has a gnome at home! Do you see him in front of his door? He was making tea but I couldn't fit through the door so...

Mind you... the red huckleberries are out... there is one just to the right of my nose... They are still a bit sour yet. I tried some blue Oregon Grape berries and promptly spit them out... bah!!! Beary sour and tasted beary "green". Maybe Little Fox knows when they are ready? Or are they just baking berries?

The forest can be beary pretty in the rain though...

This snail was munching on some lichen... but in the middle of the trail so I moved him and his lichen patch to the side of the trail...

Nope... no bears sighted on this trail!! Heh-heh!