Getting in Shape with Nature
Today Angel (Above) and I went for a hike.
We went south, to the Chuckanuts, to hike the Pine and Cedar Lakes Trail.
This is a great trail for me to get back in shape on,
Its a steep climb up, and reminded me I have not been very active this winter.
Huff and Puff.
Our sun was shining today! Well at least this morning.
After a nice 2 mile climb up the steep old logging road,
We arrived at Cedar Lake.
I took this picture from in the shade, and spotted a bench basking in the sun on the other side of the lake.
We migrated to that bench, and I took a little cat nap basking in the sunshine.
My soul soaked up some much needed sunshine,
While Angel listened to the squirrels and other small wildlife scurrying around.
After my little rest, we climbed up a trail to a view point above the lake.
It looks out across some of our clearcut hills toward Mt. Baker and the Twin Sisters.
It almost looks like Mt. Baker is lounging across the foothills in this photo.
Basking in the sunshine.
Angel and I started back down, taking a hidden side trail back down to the main trail.
My legs felt like rubber on the steep downhill.
Tonight my body is happily tired!
A wonderful reminder to start getting in shape for the up coming hike.
Bernie went on a slightly different adventure today,
And got some amazing photos of his own.
Check them out Here
Next To The River
Well I have been a little slow at posting, because I haven’t been doing hardly anything! There has been a lack of fresh energy for me to post about. But today Bernie, Angel and I went to the Nooksack River. It wasn’t a very long outing, but we all got to stretch our legs, and do something other than hang out around the house. The light was low, but I fiddled around with my camera a little. Bernie let me borrow his new lens, it really was nice, giving me a better quality photo. Unfortunatly I chopped the top of Bernie’s head off in the second photo, but I kept it because I loved his expression and Angels determination.
Now I can’t say we haven’t been doing anything. Bernie has been a saint helping my dad do some projects around the property, the place is looking good. I have been running around town here and there, one day even dropping off a couple job applications. I am slowly working toward the idea of getting a job. This is challenging for me, I am a bit of a free spirit, and don’t always enjoy having to live by a schedule….. But I am slowly getting closer to accepting it is a step I need to take at this point. The plan for this weekend? Going down to Olympia for my cousins wedding. He is only 20 years old! So young! Maybe I will get some fun pictures down there!
The Inter-Urban Trail
Wednesdays outing was along the inter-urban trail that starts in Fairhaven. We ended up hiking about 12 miles round trip. Usually Bernie and I spend our outings just the two of us. But my moms dog, Angel just looked so bored and pathetic, I decided she could use a bit of a walk.
Angel is the type of dog that has endless energy, she would truely be a canidate for a daily run of about 10 miles. But alas, she does not get that kind of exercise. I try to go out and throw the ball for her in the back pasture each day when I am around, but that just burns off a fraction of the energy.
The inter-urban trail runs along an old rail road grade. It travels through some nice stands of trees, along a steep hillside that looks out across the bay, and ends at Larabee State Park which lies along the bay. Its a nice, mostly level, beautiful trail.
The focus of the day ended up being Angel. She is an entertaining dog, but has some neurosis she needs to work through. Too many to list, but a couple of the big ones being too aggresive to other dogs, and being overly hyper in certain situations. So as the day went on, we worked on being a civil dog when other dogs came along. This is a big challenge for her for some reason. And we have two other dogs that she lives with….. Dogs are always supposed to be on leashes along this trail, but people let them off. I wish I could have done this with her, but I just don’t trust her with the other dogs, and the possibility of her running off, never to be found again.
Perhaps it was an exercise more for me than her. I do not always have the most patience in the world, and it is a good challenge for me to deal with slightly chaotic energy in a level headed way. In some ways I am not sure if I did well in this exercise, I wanted her to come to a more centered place. But I think it gave me a little bit of perspective on things, and I was able to do some of my own mental work. And in the long run, Angel seems to have a great time. She doesn’t mind her chaotic energy, she enjoys having energy. And she makes me laugh.
Even with all of that, we had an enjoyable outing. It really is a beautiful walk along most parts of the trail. And at the end of the trail we went down to the beach at Larabee State Park, and played in the sand. It was a nice midway point, and then we got to turn around and walk back to the car. The sunshine lately has been so wonderful, its been really nice to get outside and enjoy it.
A Snow Angel
A couple of evenings ago Bernie and I went out for another snowy frolic in the back field. We tackled a different hill this time, and took turns being pulled down the hill (it wasn’t quite as speedy as we thought it would be on its own, so we implemented the pulling system). Angel joined us on the journey, and enjoyed chasing us down the hill.
After a bit mom wandered out to the field and she tried out the sledding thing. She quite liked it, and did it a few times. And then eventually dad even showed up, he just couldn’t resist. He was sliding down the hill head first. We all had an enjoyable time out in the snow, experiencing the joys of sledding again after many years.
So this is my version of a snow Angel. Much easier than getting snow down the collar of your coat! hehe. As I write this the snow is coming down amazingly thick, and the wind is howling. I just got a weather update from dad who has been watching the news, and I guess they are saying we are getting hurricane force winds here, oh fun. I best finish this up before the power goes out……
Tomorrow is the last day of the craft show, and I was hoping this winter storm would hold off until Monday or Tuesday, but here we are, and it is what it is. Hope I can make it in tomorrow! I hope everyone is warm and cozy where ever they might be tonight!
For more fun critter photo’s visit:
The Weekend
This weekend was both a relaxing and productive one. We recently just got finished with milling a pile of logs into lumber. We hired a neighbor to come in with his portable sawmill and break down a pretty big pile of logs. We have been in the process of stacking the lumber, and cutting up the scraps for firewood. There is enough firewood to last a few years now (the house is completely heated with a woodstove, no other means of heat through the winter). So we are getting close to being done with that whole project, it will be nice to have all that put away. I will have to post some pictures of the lumber piles before they get covered with tarps for the winter.
We also harvested the rest of the apples, well actually we have one more tree I believe, but we are pretty close. We have plenty of apples to last us through the winter, and then all the scabby and icky apples are to feed the rabbits through the winter. They LOVE the apples, and we do too. Homegrown apples are so great, no nasty chemicals sprayed on them, and they taste so sweet and fresh.
I am amazed at how fast fall has come upon us here in the northwest. We had a beautiful, warm, late summer, and then fall just decided to drop in. It is a beautiful season, just a little hard to put away those summer clothes and pull out all the layers. I am looking forward to Halloween, it is Bernie’s birthday, and I have been dreaming up little treats to make.
Yesterday I was browsing online for fall dessert recipes, and found some fun ones! Last night I ended up making pumpkin whoopie pies. They are soooo good! It is a Martha Stewart recipe, and my family loved them! A very fun Halloween treat. Baking is one of my many passions, I have a horrible sweet tooth, so I make all kinds of sweet gooey things.
We went to the Bellingham Farmers Market on Saturday. It was a more eventful trip than we thought it would be. First I got to custom order my new purse from a very sweet lady there, Heather Fitzstrawn. It is my belated birthday present from Bernie (on my birthday we were in the middle of nowhere, on Adak island in the Aleutian island chain, not much out there for birthday presents). My parents came also, and mom had brought her standard poodle Angel with us, she walked her around for a little bit and then put her back in her canopy covered truck, and came back to the market. Mom and dad were talking to a friend and dad pointed to a lady walking a white standard poodle and said “she looks just like Angel”, and they went on talking. When we all made it back to the truck we discovered an empty truck bed, Angel had pried open the window and jumped out. We went running back to the market and looked all over for the lady with Angel….. funny huh? Well it turns out they had already taken her with them. So we had to drive all the way home to get the message from them (about a 25min drive). Well when we checked the message there were two, one from the nice lady that picked her up, and then one from a close family friend that said he was hanging out with our dog….. Well it turns out the lady works at the restaurant that he used to manage, he had stopped and talked to her for a minute, and she asked if he happened to know where this address was. And as a matter of fact, he did. So he took Angel and we met him to pick her up. It was a very very strange coincidence. It can still be a small world.
She looks so innocent here……
Well, now we are off, the rain stopped and the sun has come out. We are going to go find some place to walk around and maybe find some animals to take pictures of. If we get some good pictures I will share them.
