The Soul of the North Cascades
Bernie and I went to Big Valley to go snowshoeing on Thursday.
This is one of the few groomed multi use trails in the valley.
The groomed trail was so nice and compact that it was easy to walk on in just my boots.
And then at other times we made our own trail by snowshoe.
We made a track down to the Methow River.
We actually used to live across from Big Valley when we lived in Winthrop before.
We would cross the river by foot, and explore the trails that snake their way through
Big Valley.
It was good to visit this area again.
We enjoyed many expansive views from the large open fields.
See, here we are in BIG Valley.
(Bernie is showing us how big)
~
I have been practicing writing most mornings lately.
Below is a piece that I wrote that I am pondering sending into our
local weekly newspaper, just for the heck of it.
I am enjoying writing, and I look forward to improving on it.
Bernie and I just moved back to the Methow Valley after 3 years of exploring our country through the beauty of the Aleutian Islands in 2008, the Pacific Crest Trail in 2009 and the Appalachian Trail in 2010. Over the last three years the valley has been in the back of my mind and deep within my heart. We had only lived in Winthrop two and a half years during our previous stay from 2005 to 2007, but there is something so special about this area that it has felt like home from that first moment.
When we were pondering a place to move to for 2011, I kept trying to convince myself to try another part of the country, to experience something new and fresh. We visited the Southwest, and were in awe of the raw beauty that red rock country holds. And then we talked about the Oregon coast, to experience the wild call of the open ocean. The west still holds many places filled with the pureness of nature, and each of them would be spectacular to explore. But the more that I thought about exploring a new area, the more I felt the call of the Methow Valley.
In our travels through the United States, this area is still one of the most beautiful I have experienced. Being nestled in the North Cascade Mountains provides a setting that is nourishing for mind, body and soul. How can one not be moved by nature here in this place that is still so saturated by it. The sheer majesty of the North Cascades provides a picturesque backdrop to our little communities. Right in our backyard we have an almost endless playground to go explore, and the inhabitants of the valley make sure to take advantage of this. I am being reminded each day of the amazing bounty of outdoor recreation opportunities that this perfect location grants us. We are exploring on almost a daily basis by snowshoe, and the spring and summer months call to me with their endless trails that will be revealed as the snow slowly retreats higher and higher in the mountains.
The community that exists in the Valley was another strong draw to return to this area. Sadly there seems to be fewer true communities in our nation with each passing moment. I feel that small towns are one of the few hopes left for whole communities to exist. And the Methow Valley holds one of the kindest and loving group of people I have had the honor to experience. When living here it feels as if you are part of one large family, and yes, like any family we have our small upsets with each other. But more often I see everyone holding out their hand, asking how they can help each other, or simply being there with some kind words. During difficult times I think a community is measured by its kindness rather than its monetary gain, and with that I see the Methow Valley’s great riches.
And so after trying to ignore the melody of this area, it has called me back. I am excited to once again be an instrument in the great orchestra of the Methow Valley. We have been welcomed back with the warm embrace of the community, and the joyous beauty of nature. Our time here will never be measured by the turning of a calendar, but by the experiences that build ones mind, body and soul.
A little treasure of nature that I found on our trek through Big Valley.
Cama Beach Wooden Boats
On Saturday my Parents, Bernie and I went on a little outing to Camano Island.
The Center for Wooden Boats at Cama Beach was having a nice get together for people with wooden boats.
So we brought along Bernies newly finished Kayak, and dads woodstrip Canoe.
Bernie got to take his maiden voyage in his kayak.
It felt a little different than he imagined it would, but its a good boat.
You can see by the smile on his face that he enjoyed getting it in the water for the first time.
There were beautiful wooden boats of all types.
These traditional style skin kayaks are amazing to look at.
They are simply held together with artificial sinew.
Instead of skins now they use Nylon.
The beautiful thing about these wooden boats is that we got to see all the details of the boats,
including some in the process of being made.
My dad got many compliments on his beautiful woodstrip Canoe.
He made a matching set, one for him, one for my mom.
He followed a method, but instead of nailing the strips to the form,
he strapped them down, so there are no unsightly nail holes in the wood.
It created an amazing finished product.
He even learned how to weave a cane seat.
Pretty impressive!
There were several sail boats that people brought.
It was a perfect day for them too.
Enough of a breeze to be able to move around, but the water wasn’t too rough.
It was a lovely day, and fun to look at everyones beautiful work.
I enjoyed some time sitting on the beach,
looking out across the water.
A boat drifting past every once in a while.
North Cascades ~ Day 2 ~ Part 2
We made it to the top of Devils Dome. Filled our tummies with a good meal, still not sure if we were going to continue on or camp for the evening.
After enjoying the view for a little while we decided it would be much nicer to camp up on top and watch the sunset and get to see the beautiful morning light on the mountains. From Devils dome we were headed down to Ross lake and then back to the car. It would have been a shame to hike on farther and not get to see the sun set on the North Cascades.
So we stopped early. It was only 5:30pm, we had lots of time to just sit on top of our mountain and admire all the mountains that surrounded us. We set up camp.
I enjoyed a brief cat nap in the warm sunshine, ahhhh!
After a few minutes of that I got up once again to stretch my legs around the top of our dome. Looking around at our 360 degree view. Ridges surrounded us, snaking in all directions.
Being out in nature brings great joy to the soul. Mind, body and soul can’t help but blossom when one is surrounded by such beauty and pure energy!
As we moved into the magic hour the light was AMAZING! Natures radiance glowed from everything that surrounded us. We were blanketed in her warm embrace. The sunlight seeped into each pore of my being.
I love the lavender hue that moves across the landscape as the sun gets ready to dip below the horizon.
When the light is just right you can see the magic that hangs in the air. Can you see it?
What an amazing place to spend the night! I am so glad we decided to camp on top of Devils Dome. Our evening was filled with so much beauty and magic! The sunset was Stunning!
North Cascades ~ Day Two ~ Part 1
On day two of our hike I am not sure we even made it 10 miles for the day. There were so many magical scenes to capture our attention. It really was a beautiful day filled with lovely hiking and many stops to just soak in the nature around us. We got so many pictures that I am making day two a 2 part entry.
We really were stopping all the time to absorb the feelings and beauty of nature around us. It seemed like even though we were looking at the same mountain range most of the time it really was changing with every mile or two that we hiked.
We saw so many different angles of Jack Mountain. It really is a stunning peak. I am not sure that many people even get to see it. One of the best hikes to view it is this loop, and there was no one out there except us. We heard from another hiker that there was a family that probably did the same loop as us, but it took them 11 days. In the above picture I loved the stripes of exposed rock on the left hand side of the picture. We actually walked right under those little rock shoots. I think it was rock pushed by snow/snow melt in the spring. It just had such an interesting feel to it.
The white peak on the left is Mt. Baker from the backside. Its so interesting to have a totally different perspective of the mountain that we get to look at from our yard. It just looks like one of many peaks from this perspective. From our house we only see it and the Twin Sisters, you would never guess the magnitude of the North Cascades lingering just behind it. Its always good to get another perspective in life!
Here Bernie is basking in the beauty of the mountains that are embracing us. Ah, such a peaceful moment with nature! He is stretching open his mind, body and soul. When we fully open ourselves to the world around us, we are often amazed by the feelings that flow through us.
All the different colours of the meadows, forests, rocks and skies made it feel as if we were immersed in a painting. You can feel the brush strokes of nature here! Look at the amazing colour palate that she chose. I think its called “Mountain Summer Splendor”.
And of course in between photo stops we had blueberry stops! I love to pick a handful at a time and then pop them all into my mouth at once, Mmmmm! Nature has the most pure tastes, so vibrant and full of energy!
We also got to overlap a section of trail that we hiked back in 2004 when we did the Pacific Northwest Trail. It travels from Washington’s outer coast to Glacier National Park. It came right through this part of the North Cascades. It was neat to see what parts of the trail I remembered and what parts seemed new all over again. I found myself drifting back to that hike a little bit.
As we neared Devils Dome we got to do a little bit of ridge walking. This opened up some of the views to the north, giving us even more expansive views of the mountains around us. We stopped often at different view points, pointing out other ridge lines and peaks that we know from other hikes, such as the Pacific Crest Trail.
We are almost to the top. Another pause to absorb these views. I could sit and look at each of these views for weeks and still not absorb all that there is to see and feel in these places.
There are so many special places on this earth. We could spend lifetimes exploring them all. I am endlessly grateful for the amazing places I have been able to experience in my lifetime, and I look forward to visiting many more. I am also very grateful that we have one of these beautiful places so close!
Nature has taught me so much through the years. I love her and am drawn to her embrace. With time I have learned to take her with me when I return to society, and each time I return to visit her wild places I bring even more of her back with me.
North Cascades ~ Day One
When we were still hiking on the Appalachian Trail earlier this summer I was dreaming about getting back to Washington for a hike in the North Cascades. Originally I thought that we would take a week off when we got back home and then take off on adventures of different lengths through our mountains. Well, the rest period proved to be a little longer than that week, and a month after ariving back in Washington we made our trip into the North Cascades.
We chose a 40 mile loop near Ross Lake. We have had the chance to hike through North Cascades National Park in the past, and the mountains are so rugged you really dont get to enjoy them because you have to hike through the valleys where the views are extremely limited. The ridgeline we followed on this hike is one of the first ridgelines to the east of the park that allows you to hike up high and get an AMAZING view of all the mountains. You are truely immersed in the center of the mountains in that area. We took my Canon Rebel Camera with us, and took turns taking pictures. This is a collection of pictures from both Bernie and I.
Our first day we started out hiking along a most beautiful creek that follows highway 20 for a little while. The song of the water tumbling over the rocks dimmed the sound of what traffic did happen to go by. This stretch of Ruby Creek has several reminders of its prospecting past. There are a few old cabins, barely holding form in this world any more, their stories fading into the dirt even faster than they are.
And then we started our climb. Its a stretch of a few miles to get up to our first real views of the hike. I huffed and puffed more than I was hoping to, but it was a good journey up. The trail took us through beautiful woods with little streams cascading down the steep hillside. Even though its a steep climb up, it was so very nice to be on a graded trail again! The east coast does not quite grasp the concept of switchbacks, so it was lovely to experience those once again.
Soon we found ourselves with the first views as we stood in McMillan Park (my moms maiden name……). It was not a very big park, but the woods opened up in little patches of meadow and wetlands. I was out front along this stretch, and as I strode along the path all the sudden a movement on the trail ahead of me caught my eye. At the same moment s/he saw me. I believe we even froze at the same moment. About 150 feet in front of me a coyote stood almost motionless, assesing the situation. I even started to second guess myself, is there something on the trail? Or are my eyes playing a trick on me thinking a log is an animal? Nope! I saw its tail twitch. So there we stood for a moment, Bernie paused a few footsteps behind me. And then the coyote decided to move along, and it trotted off the trail into the woods. I am sure watching us long after we had last caught sight of it.
Next we came to Devil Park Shelter. I had forgotten that there were a few shelters still dotting the North Cascades. Many have been torn down over the years instead of putting time and money into repairing them, which is a bit sad really. This one needed some roof work, but it was still a fun experience. It made me feel as if I was on the Appalachian Trail once again! We enjoyed a little break exploring around the shelter. A deer and group of grey jays stopped by while we were there, on the chance that we might have something extra to share with them. While we did not pull out our food, we offered them some company and a little bit of conversation.
Devils Park was really the first amazing views we got! What an amazing energy the whole area had to it. And the light and colours of everything. I could have just sat in Devils Park for days to absorb everything. If one fixed the roof on the shelter you could easily set up a summer camp and just absorb nature 24/7!
As the day passed we started following along the ridgeline that we would be swinging around on. The light changed, highlighting different mountains as the day wore on. Giving us endless photo opportunities. Each moment was filled with such beauty, it was hard not to take a picture every second!
I love being able to look ahead, or behind us and see the trail stretching off into the distance. A faint slender line gently making its way across the sides of ridges. It creates such an amazing sense of scale. You can see where you have come from, where you are going, and how tiny your trail looks from this distance. You can start to feel the immenseness of a landscape such as this one!
That first night we slept in a lovely little blueberry clearing. We were both tired and fell asleep promptly at dark. I woke a couple times to enjoy the beautiful stars shining so vibrantly above, but would quickly pass back into dream land. Mmm, a lovely first day to our 3 day trip!
Birthday BBQ
Yesterday my parents and I went to a BBQ at our friend Stephanie’s house. It was a very lovely gathering of about 20 people. It was partially to celebrate her birthday (which was on the 8th….), but also just a yearly party she throws to get to see many of her friends. She has a beautiful yard filled with bright blooms, and an amazing view of Mount Baker. The weather was so beautiful, it actually felt like we were in big sky country! Mt. Baker was mysteriously hiding behind a cloak of clouds.
The nicest seats in the house were going unused….. It was a shame, what a beautiful place to sit and visit! As it was I didn’t even try to take pictures of people because everyone was sitting in the shade with the sun behind them, so I didn’t feel that I was going to get anything good. So I enjoyed wandering around the yard and capturing the beauty that we were surrounded with!
Not only was I enjoying the flowers, but many little guys were totally immersed in each bloom. I love the fuzzy bumble bees!
And then Mt. Baker made a grand entrance! I think many of the guests even missed it because they had their backs turned toward it, or were immersed in their conversations. In the first picture of this post, Mt. Baker is hiding behind that pile of clouds. It shows you how vastly different the perspective of one view can be. Her view is even more spectacular than ours, just because she is a little bit closer to the mountain than we are. It just looks amazing with those big fluffy clouds sitting behind it, accenting its rock and snow.
I enjoyed getting to meet some new people, and visit with others that I had not seen for many years! And there was SO much good food! Everyone brought a dish or two, and it was all amazing. Gatherings such as these are wonderful, because you get to share with each other in so many ways.
Best Friends
Last Sunday when mom and I were at the Pike Place Market, there was a man and his beloved bird performing on a corner. He said that he got him when he was a featherless baby and now he is 15 years old. I never did catch the mans name, but the birds name was Phinius (really not sure on the spelling there). This guy had taught his bird all kinds of great tricks, and had us all smiling. I just loved this first photo, cant you just see the love that this guy shares with his bird? And that piercing gaze in the second photo, he was looking right into my soul.
I wish I had been able to get some video of the act these two friends did. They both seemed to enjoy the attention, and even though Phinius was doing most of the work, you could tell he was so much happier than a bird that had to sit in a cage all day. I have seen birds that live in a cage plucking themselves bald out of stress and bordom. This bird was as healthy as you could ask for, nice feathers, good weight and a wise joyful expression. So lovely to see!
Having grown up with many animals, I love to see someone that is so loving, and having so much fun with their animal companion. Its such a special relationship to some people, and that is just wonderful! I have never understood how some people can honestly believed that animals do not have a soul, or are incapable of thinking, I suppose we all have a different perspective on the world…… Whats one of your favorite experiences with a beloved pet?
I am off to Las Vegas tomorrow, and then the Grand Canyon and Sedona, AZ. I hope to get many wonderful photos to share on here, and to remember my adventure. I am truely blessed to have great opportunities to go explore the world, and am endlessly grateful for them. I may not have internet access again until I get back in a week (at this time I do not have a laptop or other mobile device to take with me). I hope all of you have a magical week! (Oh! And my last post was my 100th post! Does not seem like I have had that much to say….)
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!
A Journey to San Juan Island
On Tuesday Bernie and I took our guests, Lyndsay and Jordan out to San Juan Island. I had not been out there in years, and it was wonderful to re-visit and get to experience the beauty of this wonderful place. The day started with a Ferry ride from Anacortes to Friday Harbor (ferry photo courtesy of Bernie). A ferry ride is something that everyone should do at least once in their life, it is just so much fun. This one is an hour long, and gives you a wonderful tour through the San Juan Islands (now to clear up any confusion, all the islands in this area is grouped under the name ‘the san juan islands’, but one of them is named San Juan Island….) There is a magical feeling of peace and adventure riding the ferry. They float you along the water, transporting you along the highway of the islands. The deck of the boat rumbling and vibrating under your feet as the massive engine pushes the mass of the boat loaded down with the weight of cars and passengers through the softly rippling waters. The weather could not have been better, it was a calm warm day. The waters stood almost completely still for us.
When we arrived at our destination we spent a bit of time exploring the town of Friday Harbor. We found a quaint little used book store, with shelves pouring out onto the floors and counters surrounding them. Lyndsay bought a little french childrens novel to practice her french, and I bought yet another cookbook to add to my never ending collection. After a tasty lunch at a restaurant with the best view of the harbor we set out in my (wonderfully cute!) car. The first stop was Cattle Point, a beautiful windswept point on the south end of the island. We frolicked and strolled along the beach.
Is he sticking his tongue out at me?
The Island is filled with great history and beautiful places. This lighthouse is located at Lime Kiln Point state park. Its on the side of the island that looks toward Vancouver Island (yes you can see canada from right there). Its a really deep channel that runs between San Juan Island and Vancouver Island, this creates a rich feeding ground. Often Orcas are spoted along this shore, unfortunatly they did not make a showing while we were visiting. I was really hoping that they would so that Lyndsay and Jordan would get the chance to see them. The park also has an old restored Lime Kiln. There are many great places to visit, two of them are American Camp (close to cattle point) and English Camp. These were occupied at the time when the border between America and Canada were being determined. They are both amazingly beautiful spots, and so vastly different! They are on opposite ends of the island, and have such a different feel from each other.
Of course there was much picture taking the whole day.
The best part of all is that the ferry ride home was right at sunset, and although it had clouded up part way through the day, the clouds were well worth it at sunset. I have not altered this photo in any way, the sunset was so amazing. It really was a magical end to a great day. The next morning Lyndsay and Jordan boarded Amtrak for a train journey back to their home in Tennessee. I hope they enjoyed their visit to our little corner of the world. I had a wonderful time exploring places of old with a fresh perspective.
Friends and An Ancient Lesson
We have a lovely couple visiting for a couple of days who we met on the Pacific Crest Trail this summer, Lyndsay and Jordan. They ended up finishing a couple weeks after us, and spent some time enjoying Canada. It’s great to get to spend a couple of days with them before they head back home to Tennessee. We actually met them somewhat early on in our pilgrimage this year, and actually last saw them in southern California. I had wondered about them many times along the trail, and did not hear how they were doing. I am glad we got in touch right at the end!
We had a lovely day today. It was relaxing, and we visited some beautiful places around Bellingham. I really liked this picture of them enjoying the views out toward the islands. Tomorrow we journey to the San Juan Islands. It should be a great outing, and I hope to get some nice pictures out there! We get to go on a Ferry ride, and thats always a great experience.
Tonight we all watched the movie Kung Fu Panda. Cute, as expected, but it also had a great message. I love the disney movies, because even though its usually a basic concept they are very profound if you take a moment to reflect on it. So I leave you with this thought:
There is no ‘hidden ingredient’ to transform us into something special,
We are special.
A New Adventure
Well everyone, tomorrow a new adventure begins. We fly to San Diego to start the Pacific Crest Trail.
I will miss getting to interact with everyone in blog land.
I wish you all the best of summers!
I hope you have the most spectacular time doing what each of you love!
Thank you for all the kind thoughts and comments that you have all shared with me.
A Springtime Surprise
Wednesday my lovely friends Christie and Jessica came over for the first time. I was giving them the grand tour of all the creatures here. We started out with Chickens and Chicks, then we moved through the Rabbits and Chinchillas. They both enjoyed getting to feel and hold the Chinchillas for the first time (their fur is really a magical thing to experience). Then I took them back outside, and was going to show them the cow herd, mostly because of our miniature black bull. I was pointing everyone out and paused, wait, there was an extra being out there. One of our girls had a calf! He was very literally brand new! Still wet, had not yet stood up. Very exciting.
This was a surprise for us, because we weren’t sure that our little bull had figured out his job….. We had never seen him accomplish the task before (mom says he must be a midnight lover). We had no clue that the girls were bred, just thought they were FAT. Now that she has had a calf, we can tell the other little girl is pregnant also, she will probably have hers in the next few days.
The two girls are not miniature cows, but mom bought the smallest girls she could find. They have stayed pretty small as they grew up. So their babies should be nice and small, because their dad is smaller than both of the girls.
It was a fun event for all of us. He is a really cute little calf. We decided his name should be panda, because his little face looks a bit like a panda with his black eye patches. I’m glad Christie and Jessica got to experience a bit of our “farm life”.
He has been figuring out how to use his legs and everything else. The photo above is Panda at one day old. We had to put him and his mom in a separate pen than the other cows, because they were being a little too curious of the new family member. They seem quite happy in their space, and he enjoys running around with his little tail up in the air. It will be fun when the other girl has her calf, and they are put in the same pen, the babies will be able to play together.
A birth can be even more exciting when you have no idea it is going to happen! It’s rather funny we didn’t catch onto any of the ‘signs’, its just something we really didn’t expect.
So Welcome to the Farm Panda.
A Spring Time Giveaway!
Giveaway Closed!
Thank you everyone for participating!
Chick Approved
Three Beak Rating
Well everyone, with fresh spring energy comes fun new things! I am hosting a giveaway for my dear friend Christie. She makes SPECTACULAR herbal body products at Birchwood Botanicals. I have a large collection of her items, and love using every one of them!!
Birchwood Botanicals carries a wide line of luxurious herbal body products. Christie lovingly grows a wide range of organic herbs and flowers that are hand harvested to use in her products.
If you have gifts that you need to get for a lovely lady in your life, whether it is for Mothers day, a birthday or any special occasion; any of the Birchwood Botanicals products would bring a huge smile to their face (followed with many ooohs, ahhhs, mmmmms, and THANK YOU!). These products are not only wonderful for the women in your lives, there are many of the products that men would love to use also.
The body butters come in a wide range of to die for scents. Made with Shae Butter they are wonderfully rich and moisturizing, and feel great to put on. When I spend a little too much time out in the garden without gloves on, and then come inside with dry rough skin. After washing the dirt from my hands I put some of this wonderful body butter, and my hands feel so wonderful!
The Avacado Foot Balm make your feet feel so wonderful. After a long day on your feet come home, soak them and then relax and massage your feet with this great balm. Feel the tension melting away.
These are just a couple of her many wonderful products. Visit Birchwood Botanicals website and read about everything else Christie has to offer.
Christie has given me a spectacular package to give away to one lucky winner! The items that will be won are in the above photos. Three bars of soap (tuberose, sandalwood vanilla, white tea ginger), a White Tea Ginger body butter, and Avacado foot balm (a total value of $39) (Chicks not included).
There are multiple chances for entries in this giveaway.
1) Visit Birchwood Botanicals here and come back here to tell me what your favorite item is. (1 entry)
2) Go here and leave a comment in the form, telling Christie what your favorite part of her web page is. Be sure to come back here and let me know you have done this. (1 entry)
3) Buy an item(s) from Birchwood Botanicals, come back here and leave 3 seperate comments telling me what item(s) you bought. (3 entries)
This contest is open to everyone. Please be sure to include your e-mail with your entry, so that I am able to contact the winner. If you do not follow the three criteria listed above I will have to delete your entry. The drawing will be closed at midnight on Wednesday, April 15th. I will pick the winner using random.org. I will notify the winner by e-mail, if I do not get a response by midnight on Friday, April 17th I will randomly select a new winner. Good luck! And thank you for participating in my giveaway.
A Weekend Full Of Spring
My Dad and I outside of the Farmers Market
This weekend finally felt like spring. We had REAL spring weather. Today it made it up to 68 degrees, wow!! And the energy felt like spring also. We got to do some fresh, new things. Saturday started out with my parents and I going to a local car auction. It is a once monthly thing, and there are some great deals sometimes.
My car is on its last legs, so I am looking around for some new possibilities. Unfortunatly I have little money to invest in a new car, so I am looking for the best deals out there. I had my eye on a couple of the cars, but they ended up going for a little more than what I could afford. I think they were still a very good deal, but just not for me. I will most likely go again when we get back from our hike.
And then we went to opening day of the Bellingham Farmers Market. I LOVE farmers markets, as I have said many times before, so it was really nice to go and enjoy it again. Bernie did not have interest in the auction, so he met us at the farmers market. I got to visit with some people I know that are vendors there. Christie my good friend that I work for some times was selling her body products, and doing very well.
Bernie and I went to visit Heather, the lady that made my purse (which you can see by going here) . She is such a sweet and loving soul, she always gives me a great big hug when I see her, and I barely know her! I can tell she is someone I would really enjoy getting to know more. We told her we are getting ready to hike the PCT, and she was very excited for us. Its always been a dream of hers to hike the PCT. She told us to chose one of her little pouches to carry with us on the trail, to put our things in. So sweet and generous! This is the one I chose, her new peacock design. It will be cherished, and well used!
We have a hen hatching out chicks. What we have been doing with the chicks from the last hen and this hen is to take most of the chicks away as they hatch and raise them in the trough with the chicks that we bought. Then the last couple of chicks to hatch (they hatch over a few day period) we leave with the mother. We have been doing this because in the past when we have let the hens raise all of their chicks, things go well for about a day if we are lucky. Then a chick dissapears here, and then there, and over the next couple of weeks we whittle our way down to one or two chicks. So instead of loosing those ones, we are simply raising them ourselves, and letting the moms handle the number they seem to be able to keep track of. It works really well!
This lovely trio is the chicks that I pulled out of the nest today to join our growing group in the chick trough. They are sooooo sweet! I had them out in the lawn, featuring as models for an upcoming post. These are some of the behind the scenes photos of them snuggling with me in between takes. They really thought I was their mother. They were sticking close to me, and I could tap my finger around in the grass and dirt and they would run over to see what little snacks I had found for them. My family was making fun of me (in good nature of course) of my love for chickens. I am a bit lost on chickens….. oh well. How could you not love that?
It was a very lovely weekend all said and done. Productive and full of fresh spring energy.
Up and Down Weather
Our weather has been a bit up and down lately. I know its all part of the shift between winter and spring, but it keep catching me off guard. Perhaps a bit of the reason is because of our month spent down in California. We were immersed in the begining of spring while we were down there, flowers were starting to pop out all over the place.
We drove back up to Washington the end of February, the day after we got back it snowed about 4 to 5 inches. It took it a few days to slowly melt off, but since then we have been in a cycle of rain and sun, a little more rain than sun. But it has been getting a bit warmer, we even had a couple flowers pop up in the yard. I was getting all excited about spring, and then it surprises me again!
I woke up to snow this morning…… It’s a swift reminder that we aren’t quite out of winter yet, and probably to get me to enjoy what winter has to offer. This morning it was slightly challenging to want to go out and do chores, but once I got out there, moving around it was just fine. I moved a little faster than I might usually, getting things set up for the cold windy weather. The chickens however thought that the weather was less than desireable to come out in, and requested that I close their door as I left. So I did.
I came back inside and finished working on a shopping bag I started the other day. It is the same style and fabric as the bag I gave away during the bloggy giveaway. It felt good to get it finished. I am not always the best at finishing a project I start, something I have been working on. By finishing a project, I clear space in my mind to start on something new and fresh.
This afternoon the sun slowly burned off the clouds that had been spitting snow all morning long. With the strong energy of the sun, the snow slowly began its surender. As if the snow knew it has few opportunities left this season, in this area. We gave the chickens a second chance at the out and about thing for the day, and the sun made the snow much more appealing aparently. This is one of my new favorite chickies. She was hatched out by incubator last September, so she is still rather young. She is a silkie cochin cross, so she has those big brown eyes from the silkie, and the cute bowling ball shape from the cochin. I really should come up with some cute name for her, any ideas?
After following the chickens around with a camera for a few minutes, Bernie and I decided to go for an outing. We headed to Hovander Park for a walk/jog along the river. It really was a beautiful day, the chill air was extremely refreshing. We are trying to get out most days to get exercise in my quest for getting in shape for the hike. Again this includes the mental aspect. And so today along our walk, we spent some good time coming up with mantras and intentions for me to practice for getting rid of the tensions in my body.
“If a man’s mind becomes pure, his surroundings will also become pure” ~BuddhaReturn to Semiahmoo
Yesterday we spent the afternoon on Semiahmoo Spit. We had a beautiful sunny day here, and it was so nice to get out and enjoy it. Semiahmoo is a nice place to go to enjoy wildlife and scenery. Bernie had an enjoyable time taking pictures of the many different birds.
Our first stop was on the pier next to the resort. Its a good spot to get out closer to the sea birds. They have a few benches along this area, I found one in the sun, and sat down to enjoy a book I brought along. A couple moments later Bernie told me to come look at something, and there swimming along the survace of the water was 3 flounder type fish. We had never seen them near the surface like that, it was fun to watch them swim/glide. And then one of them did a series of underwater loops, and they all dove. Another fun observation to add to this lifes experiences. I got to enjoy a little bit of my book as Bernie took pictures.
I have started re-reading “Mending the past and healing the future with soul retrieval”. This is a very good book for helping us to find and release old wounds and thought patterns that are detrimental to us in our lives now. I have been thinking of reading it again for a few years now, and just have not gotten to it, so now I will. The author, Alberto Villoldo, spent over 25 years studying with the Amazon and Inka shamans. He created the Four Winds Society, at which he trains people in the practice of energy medicine and soul retrieval. www.thefourwinds.com
We then decided to go for a walk along the spit. We started down the east side of the spit. They have worked on the trail/park since the last time I was there, putting in a couple of structures, a few benches, paving more of the trail, and some free viewing scopes. Canada is on the other side of the bay, so with one of these viewing scopes you can see people walking along the beach up in Whiterock Canada.
The tide was out quite a ways, and along one of the rocky beaches the sea gulls were pulling up clams, and then they would fly up in the air and drop them on the rocks to break them open. They were pretty good at this game. Bernie got some fun poses as they were taking off, hovering and diving (he posted a couple on his blog http://northwestnaturalmoments.blogspot.com/ ). As we continued on we had an enjoyable walk, stopping now and then as Bernies new camera got to click away.
In two different places I left a couple felted acorns, with a little note, for anyone to find and enjoy. I hope they brought a smile to someones day. As we were about to leave the light got quite nice shinning through and under the clouds. I took a few photos, but they were nothing compared to how briliant the sky got on our drive home. Unfortunatly there was no longer a nice background to take the photos then.
Greetings Blogland!
Hi everyone. It has been a while! Sorry for the lack of updates. Well the weather continues to be rather wet around here. We did have a couple of days of dryness though. That was nice. We got to get out and stretch the legs a little bit.
Last Wednesday Bernie and I went to the free day at the Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. When we got there mid morning the line was sooooo long, we decided to go take a walk through the park to pass some time. We walked along a few nice paths and made our way down to the beach. Its always nice to see the Pacific ocean, and the waves crashing against the sand. We had a nice little walk in the sand, watching the surfers trying to catch the waves (they weren’t the best quality waves for surfing, at least they didn’t seem to be, but what do I know…) And then we sat on a nice little bench looking over the beach and ate our lunch that we had brought along.
We made our way back into the park and decided to give it another try with the line. It was shorter this time, and we only had to stand in it for about an hour…… Free day is VERY popular aparently, probably because it cost $25 per adult per day to get into that place normally. Thats sooooo expensive, especially if you had a family. It was a fun experience over all. The aquarium was pretty interesting. They had a few very large tanks, and then many smaller ones with all kinds of different types of habitats and creatures. We didn’t make it into the Rainforest dome, because there was a large line for that, but it looked pretty interesting from the outside. Thei other exhibits weren’t too bad. Although I do have to say, I was excited to see their Penguins, but VERY dissapointed when I actually saw them. They had those poor guys in a dispaly that I thought was much too small, especially since they had about 10 animals in there. I felt so sorry for them. I have a real hard time supporting places that do that kind of stuff. A few of the tanks in the aquarium were much to small for the animals in them also. Oh well, its only expected with something like that I guess.
And then the last two days we have gone for hikes in the hills, to help me get in better shape, and to enjoy being outside a little bit. Yesterday was quite the workout for me, there was one hill that the trail went pretty much straight up on. My legs feel it a little today for sure! But it was nice. There was some ridge walking, in which you got expansive views from.
Unfortunatly we have been getting very few pictures, either because of rain, or grey days. We did find a hummingbird on a nest a week or so ago, and if we happen to get a sunny day before we leave for Arizona Bernie wants to try to get a picture of her. She was quite cute, the nest is barely large enough for her to stick in.
We are planning on leaving for Arizona the begining of next week as long as everything goes right. The weather has been warming up and drying out there over the last week. It will be nice to get into some real sun! And then we should be able to get some nice pictures! Hopefully there will be a few more dry days this week, so I can go up and down a few more hills to get back into shape, so I’m not huffing and puffing each time we have to climb a hill on the hike.
Hope all is well for all my blogland friends. I will try to make it into libraries now and then while we hike, so that I can do updates on our trip. I wish I could share pictures along the way, but I will at least try to share some of the best when we are all done.
Crazy Times
Can you all feel the crazy energy that has been surrounding me lately? Well yesterday we did indeed pack up the car and head toward Arizona. BUT…… When we reached Bakersfield, we were really getting dumped on with rain, and thus the mountains we were about to cross over were getting dumped on by snow. Sooooo….. We had to turn back, the pass was closed. So here we are back in the Bay area. We have decided to stay for another two weeks, and take the train to Arizona.
The storms that have been hitting here have also been hitting Arizona, and where we start out is slightly higher elevations. So it will be good to start in a couple of weeks. Hopefully this weather will calm down a bit.
It is strange to get yourself into one mind set, all ready for an adventure, and have it change all of the sudden. I really hope to get the chance to come into the library a hand full of times before we leave in a couple of weeks, so that I can see what everyone has been up to.
Thank you as always for all your kind words. It’s amazing the warmth that I feel each time I log onto my blog and read the kind and beautiful things that everyone has writen!
We Made It!
We have made it to California! We left yesterday morning at about 7:45 and drove right on through, stopping only for gas and rest stops. 16 hours later, here we are! I am still a little worn out from the trip yesterday. Mind you, its very easy for me, Bernie does the WHOLE drive. He amazes me some times, once he has a goal, he accomplishes it.
Today we spent some time settling in. We did a nice walk along a shoreline trail here on Bay Farm Island. Bernie’s camera died a couple days before we left Washington, and so he is borrowing my camera for now. He ordered a Canon 50D, which will be an upgrade from his last camera. It is being sent here to his parents house, but it looks like it will be a little bit of a wait for that one. So I might not be getting many pictures to share over the next few days. Bernie is always offering my camera back to me, but he gets so much more joy and bliss out of taking pictures than I do, I want him to enjoy every moment of being down here in the sun.
Bernie got some nice shots on our walk today. He should be posting some of them over the next few days as he gets them.
It is very nice to be in the sunshine. I hope to soak up as much as I can. We are supposed to have sun for the next 7 days, and then possible rain showers. Hopefully even the rainy days will have the sun peeking out now and then.
We will be spending some time traveling around to different parks in the area for Bernie to get photographs, and then we will be making a few trips into San Francisco to do the whole tourist thing. Bernie is very patient following me around to the many different shops while I browse. Shopping is not his favorite thing in the world, so I am always very grateful when he is willing to keep me company while I look around.
When we are in this area we always go to a few local botanical gardens, so I am looking forward to those outings! It’s always great to see all the different plants and flowers. I do hope Bernie’s new camera shows up soon though, so that we can both enjoy the photography world. I really do feel bad that his Camera gave up on him when it did, because the main reason for the road trip was to get to sunshine so that he could take pictures.
The dial up connection here is even slower than it was at my parents house, so unfortunately I don’t believe I will be able to make it around to many blogs. This makes me very sad, but it takes forever to load each page! So I apologize now for neglecting my friends out in blog land. We do hope to make it to the library or a café now and then to use high speed once in a while, so that we are able to catch up a little. But for now, my thoughts are with all of you!
Getting Ready
I am in the process of getting ready for a couple of things. The biggest one is a road trip. Monday Bernie and I are heading south to visit his parents in the San Francisco Bay area. We do this just about every year, around this time. We will most likely spend about two weeks there, and then we are continuing on with a road trip. We are heading down through the desert. We have no idea what route we are taking, but we are just heading toward Arizona and see what catches our attention.
While we are at Bernie’s parents house we will have our computer and be able to do blog entries, but there is a high chance we will be leaving the laptop at his parents house so that we can leave the car for a couple of days to do hikes and not worry about things being stolen. In that case we will not be able to keep up with blog land *pout*. I have to say I have quite enjoyed the opportunity to meet all my friends out in blog land, and I will be sad to not be able to keep in touch for a little while. But we should have a quite enjoyable time on our road trip, so we should have lots to share once we are back near a computer.
The other thing I am getting ready for is participating in the Bloggy Giveaways Carnival. I am trying to get together a nice giveaway package of items that I have made. I thought I would share the link in case anyone else felt like participating. Its fun, and its amazing how many people have giveaways during this week. It runs January 26th – 30th, with the drawings on the weekend. If you are interested in having your own giveaway or just entering in hundreds of giveaways when they come along visit:
Along the Forest Path
Yesterday’s adventure was a hiking one. Lately when ever the sun has come out we have either gone to Hovander park, or Boulevard park. Yesterday the sun came out, but I felt like doing something a little bit different. So we made our way to the Chuckanut Hills. There are numerous trails snaking their way through the hills, giving us quite a few options. We started off without a map of the trails, just a general idea of where they went and met up.
Along the trails/paths it was all shade, because of the trees. But you could see the sun streaking along the tops of the trees, and every once in a while there would be a gap large enough for the sun to make it to the forest floor. I love this quality of light. It makes what ever green item it hits glow against the dark background.
The farther back we got on the trail, we found some snow still on the ground. I was quite surprised to see this, as I have not seen any other patches around town for quite a while now. But it gets so little sun back in there between the trees and the hills blocking the sunlight.
Our trail came to an end at Lost Lake. I am not really sure why they call these lakes in this area, they are so shallow they are really more like big ponds….. But it was still fun to come across this, tucked back in the valley. We stood there for a few moments to rest and soak up the scenery. Then we made our way back. When we were almost back to the car we saw a little group of kinglets flitting about the brush, looking for bugs, and we also got to see a couple of winter wrens. I love all these little birds, its amazing how agile they are.
Over all we hiked about 9 miles yesterday. We haven’t done that in a while, so my body is feeling it today. I like that feeling of muscles being used, and stretched in ways they haven’t been for a while. It was a nice outing.
More Hovander
Here are a few more shots from our adventure to Hovander Park the other day. This barn is an amazing thing to stand next to. It’s so large, and they have taken such good care of it over the years. Bernie did a little research on Hovander, and the Barn was finished in 1911. Bernie also did an entry on our visit there, he got some beautiful shots of the barn, if you would like to see them visit his blog:
To see other peoples worlds visit:
Clear Chilly Day
This morning I pulled myself out of bed to another grey day, and shortly there after a bit of snow started to fall again. Ah, another day in the house staying warm, I thought to myself. But leave it up to our crazy weather lately to prove me wrong. An hour or so later blue started to break through the clouds, and before I knew it, it was almost clear out. So Bernie and I headed off for an adventure. We went to Hovander park to see what we could find as far as wildlife and scenery. Unfortunatly for Bern there wasn’t too much wildlife, but there were some nice scenery shots. And it was just so nice to get out and enjoy the sun. I am going to put up some more pictures from our outing once I get them worked on. For now, I have this one of a frozen slough/pond.
Hovander is an old homestead, and every time we go there I always spend a little bit of time reflecting on what it was like for the people that used to live there, and work the land. It’s a very beautiful farm, with this HUGE red barn (which I will post some pictures of in the next couple of days). I spend a lot of time day dreaming really….. and I love thinking about the simplicity/complexity of living off the land. There is a very large part of me that would be very content settling down on a farm and raising most of my own food. At the same time there is another large part of myself that is very grateful for the technology we use on a daily basis, and the freedom to go explore when and where I want.
For more sky shots visit:
Reflecting On The Holiday Market
Well, its only been one week since the end of the craft show, but in certain ways it seems like a month. I never did share my total experience over the four weekends at the show, so I thought I would post a few pictures that Bernie took on the last day.
I love this craft show, because we are set up for a month, we become a little community. Everyone bonds with different people, forging new friendships. Some of the people you will never see again, or at least not until next year at the same show, and others you will become close friends with. Last year I was lucky enough to meet Christie, and I did get to know her a little bit through a couple of shows last year, but we didn’t have the chance to be super close. I had the insight to keep in touch with her over the summer, sending her updates of our adventure in the Aleutian islands. This fall and winter I have become close with her and her daughter Jessica. They are a very sweet family, and I am happy I got the chance to meet them through these shows.
This year I was across the isle from Christie, so I got to visit with them the whole time. And then I got to know the lady across another isle from me, Connie. Her husband and her make wooden puzzle books. She was another very enjoyable person to get to talk with. We had some nice in depth spiritual conversations about health. She was diagnosed with MS 20 years ago, and has made some key changes in her life. She is doing well, and she is looking for other ways to improve her point of view in life. So I suggested a couple of books that have helped for me.
I have a wonderful time being around like minded people. And its great to see how all these people are expressing their souls through their creativity.
