Google is annoying me

I am annoyed with the Google search engine cartoons, particularly the animated ones.  It used to be that you had to click on a cartoon to get the animation but not anymore.  Now they are always moving.  I feel under attack.  It has gotten so I don't like to use Google search.

I like many of the Google Doodles and there are a few I love.  But I get tired of most of them well before they take them down.  I would always like the choice of  the classic search page without the cutesy cartoons and animations.  I couldn't find a way to get that.

But I found a solution.  I made a link to Google images instead of the web search.  I use image search a lot anyway.  But if I want a web search,  I can put in my search terms and switch to a web search WITHOUT the annoying animated cartoons.

As I said, I like many of them.  I think this is my favorite Google Doodle ever.

Little Nemo

Late June Garden

As spring winds down, here is how it looks.

back yard

John's garden

alley toward street

cleomes ready to bloom

 fairy garden

Katerina rose

daylilies

bee balm

front garden

purslane in a pot

Walking in Southeast Portand

Inviting porch

Daylilies!

They really are the wrong plant for this climate.  They want a lot of water in the summer AND the flowers don't open well when the nights are cool.   They are a relic from another garden and place.  I am mostly ready to get rid of them but John is not.  But they can be glorious.  We had some rain and we had a warm night so we had a very good day lily day (as the day lily folks say).

Fountain improvements

I got this fountain birdbath about two years ago.

I really like it.  But it was hard to get at the pump to clean it and even harder to put back together.  It has this concrete cover with a pipe through it that had to be fitted to a hose connected to the pump.  And then the hose had to be crammed into the space under the cover.

This year I removed the concrete cover.  I used stones and a screen instead.  It works well, is easy to clean and I like how it looks, too.  It was a very satisfying little project and my inner kid likes to play with the rocks and clean the fountain.

 Here the screen is in place over stones

The screen covered with stones

Inset dormer maintenance

We have a couple of inset dormers and John has been doing some maintenance work on them.

lots of tools for this...

painted hair

Mini meadow

on top of the garage

Planning for the future

Someday, when I can no longer hike there on my own, I want to to visit my favorite trails like this:

Of course I will need a chair like this as well as some strong folks to carry my chair.  Portland is the home of the Mazamas, a group of very hardy strong hikers and mountain climbers..  I figure that I could maybe hire a couple for an outing.   The places I would want to go would be easy for them.

I think I am a long way off from that.  Still, good to have a plan.

Treats from Uwajimaya

Today John drove us to Uwajimaya in Beaverton.  It's a great Asian supermarket but not within walking distance so we don't go that often.  John is making Sushi tonight.

We stocked up on pantry items (bottled sauces, Asian candy, curry paste) as well as some great fresh produce (lime leaves, Thai basil, two kinds of cabbage and green beans).

This post is dedicated to Ted, who says we buy the Heinz of Asian brands.

More roses from the garden

The previous rose bouquet from the garden lasted a week.  Here is the new bouquet.