LaConner

This is Dan.

I haven't met Dan but he made an amusing video of the charming little town we live in, and  I wanted to share. 

Go Outside

We had a small outing to the nearby city of Anacortes a couple of days ago.  My husband had a customer to go see so my son and I went with him to wander around.  There is a great waterfront park there so even though it was grey and misting a bit we decided to go throw some rocks in the water.   

We ended up meeting this guy

 There is a boat launch at the end of the beach and according to one of the fishermen I talked to this seal has been a local fixture for about 15 years.  He hangs around the waiting for the fishermen to come in and hand over their extra bait.  You might notice that one of his eyes has been damaged, the man I spoke to said it's been that way as long as he's been around.

Yesterday was bright and sunny so we stopped on the local rainbow bridge to take a couple photos of our picturesque little town.

Picturesque right?

Here's a photo of the rainbow bridge I took a couple summers ago from a neighbors boat, it's named for it's shape, not it's color

I really is nice around here.  I really should drag myself outside more often, but for today I have some embroidery to do.

Pumpkin Shopping

Gordon Skagit Farm is one of my favorite places to visit in the fall.  

We stopped by yesterday on our way back from town and it was the perfect time to go, the weather was chilly but not too cold and it wasn't too crowded (on weekends the place is packed, and I'm not a fan of crowds).  

They really go all out with the displays and there are so many different  pumpkin varieties to choose from.  Looking through the photos I took I'm noticing that they really don't do justice to the variety of pumpkins and squash they had available. 

Besides pumpkins, squash and apples they sell local honey, apple cider and gorgeous dried flower swags and wreaths.

We picked a bunch of yummy Jonagold apples. Great for pie!

I wanted to take that fabulous huge pumpkin painting home with me

We will definitely be stopping by there again soon.  You can never have too many pumpkins right?

I'm totally inspired by all the Halloweeney autumn goodness.

Stopping by this place every October has become a tradition for us.

What are your favorite fall activities?

Ahhhh Camping

We went camping this weekend, it was our first camping trip with our son's Cub Scout group.  He had a ton of fun, the people are really nice, they planned lots of games and activities all with a space theme.  Some nice people came with big fancy telescopes so we could see the moon up close plus some binary stars and a cluster, it was pretty cool.

Really I'm not a big fan of camping.  I don't like coming home covered with mosquito bites, sleep deprived, the packing, unpacking and extra laundry. It was all for the little one, being home schooled we need too find other ways to get him some social interaction (the idea that home schooled kids end up socially stunted is a fallacy, but that's another blog post.) and as I said he had a blast!

It's not without it's good points too though, I do love a good campfire, hot cocoa, s'mores, nature (minus the mosquitoes) and watching the fog roll off the lake in the morning with the sunrise.

How was your weekend?

Cabin Fever

I have horrible cabin fever. Every year around January....February, March and April I get sick of Washington State. The grey grey days with just a tease of sunshine every once in a while. This year spring is slow to start again, it's beautiful and sunny today as was yesterday but we had snow nearby just last week. Bleh. I long for summer weather, skimpy clothing, sandals, picnics and other outdoor activities.

How is the weather in your area?

On another note but still having to do with cabins, I found this listing on Craigslist for a rental house on beautiful San Juan island:

800 sq.ft. (feels bigger on the inside, sort of like the Tardis) newer cabin in the middle of the island. Quiet, and sunny, this one bedroom cabin offers parking for 2 cars (or 6 Smart cars or 5 Smarts cars and one motorcycle/scooter or 1 really big truck/2 Smart cars or 1 boat and 1 car/truck and a scooter AND a bicycle - the possibilities are endless!) propane fireplace/heating (a real one, not one of those HeatSurge Amish plug-in fireplace things) , newer gas range (perfect for stir-fry - veggie OR meat!)) and lots of windows to let the sun shine in and birds fly into. Native front lawn abuts the woods (great for Sasquatch watching from your front porch) and small raised garden (3x6-ish) is already planted for spring. Separate storage unit (6x12-ish) for boxes, bikes or even small boats. Fresh artesian well provides the best island water you've ever tasted and awwwsome water pressure. Water and sewer is included in the price of rent (that'll save you what, $200/mo. - can you believe it?). No dogs, but small domesticated cats (no, a housebroken ocelot does not qualify) are negotiable. 1 year lease @$850/month.

Even though we are not looking to move at the moment, and its quite small and out of the way (browsing rentals is a hobby of mine) I almost want to live here just because of their add.

A Deer a Doe

I was looking at the rock face just outside our back window this morning, and noticed a visitor.

How about a closer look...

It's always a pleasure to have a visit from a doe and her family. The family moved on before I could get to my camera.

Have a lovely weekend!

Holy Cow that's a lot of Geese!

It's Snow Goose season here in the Skagit Valley. Every year they stop by here on their way to wherever they are going and hang out for a while. There are a few places here they like to congregate, some of them are have been set up as wildlife preserves, and others are farms. I went to see them with my parents a few years ago, it is impressive to see the sheer numbers but most of the time they are just sitting around, eating worms, doing goose type stuff.

I'm not much of a bird watcher, but can appreciate a pretty bird when I see it.

So, yesterday we had to run an errand that took us right by the wildlife sanctuary and happened to be passing by right when the WHOLE flock took flight. I have to emphasize here that it is A LOT of snow geese. Luckily I happened to have my camera with me (I'm trying to get into the habit of taking it everywhere). This is one of those things that is amazing to see in person, and a bit hard to capture on a little point and shoot camera, but I did get a couple acceptable shots

I put this one up just to show the sheer number of birds, I couldn't get them all in the frame. I did manage to get my husbands finger though. If you look closely there are a few people out in the field right under the birds (maybe why they took off) It would be an amazing vantage point but way more likely to get pooped on than from our view from the car.

They flew right over our car and landed in a field on the other side of the road...just to give me a nice shot with the sunset in the background.

Also, my prize arrived from the OWOH event. I won a lovely ATC made by Rein at Stamping Rika. Thank you Rein!

Breathing Space

Just Past Pull & Be Damned is a little beach we like to visit. It's usually quiet, this weekend we were the only ones there.

At home I find it's hard to relax most of the time, it's difficult to sit still without thinking about something that needs to be done.

Here, we get a little reprieve from household duties.

There are interesting creatures to be found.

Treasures to collect.

And little boys can throw sticks and stones with reckless abandon.

A Day For Visiting Family

Last week my family took a trip over to Port Townsend, Wa to visit one of my brothers. It's a fun little town to visit, if you are ever in NW Washington it's worth a side trip.

Port Townsend is full of artists, and my brother is one of them. He has always had an interest in archeology, and has found his own little niche. He specialises in antique bottles. Most of what he finds come from digging up old outhouses. It may sound gross, but it's not....really! What he is looking for is anything from the early 1900's or earlier. At that time all the garbage went down the hole in the outhouse. So much time has passed that by now it's all just dirt. Along with the bottles he finds all sorts of bits of dolls,toys,pipes,various household items, guns (someone got away with something) and pieces of broken china and pottery. He saves all these little bits and bobs to make mosaics.

His work has a ton of personality, from the simple designs like this girl on the moon
(sorry, I didn't get a good close up of the little doll)

To this skull and bones.

Notice all the little details, the fork in the eye, the little doll ear on the left the horse teeth, and he's smoking a pipe.

Some day I hope to help broaden his market but for now his stuff is for sale around Port Townsend in the coffee shops and gallerys.

After touring his work we had a lovely breakfast and a walk on the beach where we found 2 of these large red jelly fish.

Homeward bound.

Wordless Wednesday

On the Farm

I am by no means a farm girl, but had fun this morning helping to get hay for my father in laws horses. We started bright and early...up with the sun.

The sun is still working it's way up by the time we arrive at the farm.

The horses are very happy to see us, and apparently kinda hungry.

Need to watch out for these things.

This is Rose, she is such a sweetie someday I may have to steal her.

The barn

Happy Sunday!

Did you lose an Emu?

There is always at least one thing in our local weekly paper that makes me giggle.

Drive by Blogging

I had to make an extra trip into town because I forgot to take care of something the first trip. It's about a 20 minute drive so on the way back I took pictures to entertain myself. It may not be the best idea to take photos while driving down a country road at 50mph but I made it home safe and sound.

I like the yellow fields.

Soon, this is where we will go get our pumpkins...There will be more pictures later.

I dig this guys make shift cover from the elements.

This is a turkey feather my son found today. We have roaming turkeys here. Well, I'm pretty sure it's a turkey feather.

Grey

What the beepity beep happened to summer? I'm all for the change of seasons, in fact I love the change of seasons. It's not time for summer to be over, it's only August.

I think I may drive right into the ocean to hang out with mythical sea beasts until the sun comes back.

Please Don't Flip Children The Bird

Small town life can be entertaining, depending on the small town of course. We have lived in a variety of places, large cities, small cities, and now a small town.
My husband was corrected by one of the 3 ladies that work at the town hall building when he referred to where we live as a small a city...no it's a town.

There is a newspaper here that comes out once a week on Wednesdays, It's a lot of fluff, but usually an entertaining read. The police blotter is always fun.

This week on the front page was an article about the White Trash Food Festival and Cooking Contest at a local market+ .There is a large photo of the three food judges, including local author Tom Robbins, doing shots of whiskey...apparently bribes from some of the contestants. The whole thing is meant to be tongue in cheek, but a prime example of the weirdness here.


An oldie but a goodie is a letter to the editor that was in the paper last year.


It obviously is different from the kind of entertainment you find in a big city, but certainly has it's own appeal.