Archive for October, 2010
Ducks at play
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 29-Oct-2010
Trisha’s ducks come to feed every morning a few minutes after sunrise then they spend the rest of the day in the little pond at the north-west corner of our lot. This afternoon I heard a lot of splashing sounds and decided to take a look. The little quackers were flapping wings, dunking themselves and darting about like crazy apparently taking advantage of the sun and calm conditions to take a collective bath. It was a lovely sight.
Ducks on the pond
A few sunbeams
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 29-Oct-2010
We were treated to a couple of hours of sunlight today and I took the opportunity to get a photo of our little witch hazel, just planted a couple of months ago. This brilliant golden color will be quite spectacular when she reaches adulthood at over ten feet tall.
Coral Bark Maple
Posted by nbdog in Around the house on 28-Oct-2010
This little guy is changing colors quickly and I doubt he’ll keep his leaves much longer so I got a photo today before the next windy day leaves just naked branches. In the forefront at top left you can see a bit of the red berries from the Hawthorne and to the right some of the Paperbark Maple. The low shrubs in front of the Coral Bark are varieties of variegated dogwood.
First snow on the mountain
Posted by nbdog in Around the house, Weather on 26-Oct-2010
We’re having our first prolonged fall rainstorm: steady rain and drizzle since Friday night. And behind the mist atop Mt. Si I got a glimpse of the first visible snow of the season. Many of our trees, like the little maple here, still have most of their leaves on them so the yard has lovely fall colors. But that won’t last much longer.
Golf: Oct. 1-15 – Struggling
Well, I’ve lost the touch I’ve had most of the summer. For six rounds in the first half of the month I’m averaging 87.5, an increase of more than two strokes over August and September scores. If I take out the single round of 78 it’s even worse: 89.4 average. Very disappointing was the round of Oct. 14 when after two birdies led to a 40 on the front nine at Mt. Si, I collapsed to a 46 on the back to finish with 86.
Under 80 again
Since shooting a 76 on Sept. 15 I haven’t pushed close to 80 again, until today. After a very shaky 93 on Wednesday I needed to get back out and today was a lovely morning with almost no one else on the M. Si course. Starting off with two, one-putt pars felt great but then I messed a four-footer for par on #3. Then it was par-bogey-par-par-par-par for holes 4 through 9 to finish the front with a 38. Then bogey, par on #10 and #11. So my head was filled with visions of an easy sub 80 round. However, double bogeys on # 12 and #13 meant I needed to par out the rest of the way to shoot 79. After an easy par on #14 I cooked a nine iron well past the green on #15 and was looking at an ugly lob wedge to a green that slopes dramatically to the front. Predictably the wedge shot trickled slowly to the front edge nearly 60 below the hole. Miracle of miracles I made the longest putt of my life to save par. Following a tap-in par on #16 I made a 13 foot putt for par on #17. The round ended with a birdie chip in from some 15 feet off the green on #18 for an impressive 78.
Golf: last two weeks of September
The second half of September was another stretch of solid golf. I averaged 84.0 over ten rounds, just a fraction over the 83.5 average for the first three weeks of August.
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