Further Adventures - Part Two

From points North on Thursday, went headed to points southwest and decided to spend a day on Friday Harbor, on San Juan Island.  En route to the island we saw an exciting Homeland Security exercise involving about a dozen Coast Guard boats pulling up directly behind the ferry and on loading and off loading people.  Through binoculars we could see dozens of FBI types at the back of the ferry.  Pretty exciting!

After arriving on island, we decided to head south to South Beach, Cattle Point and American Camp, where the Americans encamped during The Pig War.  It seems a trifling matter, but had it escalated, today we could all be having a "cuppa" instead of Starbucks! 

Cattle Point - not sure why it's called cattle, there were none in sight! 

 The Olympic Mountains were "up" as we say here the PNW

 There were hundreds and hundreds of these very large rabbits spread out over the bare fields.  Their holes were everywhere and I can only imagine their warrens rival the NYC subway system.  It's become quite a problem with no real solution.  Although eagles are in abundance, the rabbits only have to go inches to find a hole to hide in, so there is no real threat to them from this predator.

 This is the lighthouse at Lime Kiln State Park.  

 This is the lighthouse at Lime Kiln State Park.  Quarrying and processing of lime was big business on San Juan Island at Roche Harbor.

 Wally and I have a thing for madrona trees and this one is a beauty.

 Ma and Pa Kettle leave the city behind!

 Actually, we have a thing for all trees,  Look at this monster!

 The Olympics from English Camp on the north end of the island.  The British were much smarter than the Americans.  Their encampment was out of the wind in a sheltered cove!

 Heading back home--I never get tired of photos of Mt. Baker!

 The requisite artsy craftsy shot!

 More Mt. Baker

And that's all she wrote!

Further Adventures - Part One

Spring is here and we took advantage of the first sunny days in weeks to go forth.  We headed north first to Crescent Beach, BC, one of our favorite places to enjoy the water.  I love the charming cottages and English style gardens that line the beachfront promenade.

I love this one, so cute.

Even the birds go high class! 

 This place is for sale!  The new owner was there and offering the gazebo to his friend, said "he needed more room!"  I'll take it...hmm. how to get it across the border....  Wouldn't this make a wonderful B & B?  

 There are so many wonderful details to this place.  This is just one of several "gates" surrounding this estate.

 Here's another one!

 They are filming something called "Miranda's Rights" here.  We didn't see any filming or actors, just all their trailers throughout town.

I wonder if you sleep better "within" the circle?

It was a warm, mudluscious, puddlewonderful day and these kids were taking full advantage of it and getting covered in as much mud as possible! 

The intrepid explorer! 

The scenery can't be beat!

There's downtown Vancouver "across the pond" 

And of course there's my artsy-craftsy shot.  All in all a fabulous day.

Eagle Eye

We took a quick trip to Rockport today to try to catch the last of the "outbreak" of Bald Eagles that have been hanging out along the Skagit River this month.  I think we're a bit late, we did see a few, but not the scores we had anticipated.  But I got a few good shots.

Thanksgiving That Can Last All Year

What a glorious day it was yesterday, the day America celebrates Thanksgiving.  My day started off with a view of this

I was enjoying watching the many different birds that frequent our feeders in the backyard, when I saw something VERY BIG fly by the bushes in the back.  It was too quick for me to identify it, but then it flew behind the building in the back, so I  tip-toed out the back door and peeked around the corner of the building and there was this owl sitting on the cross bar of the pole that holds up the old clothesline.  I decided to run back to get my camera and when I came back it had moved into the trees.  I zoomed in, clicked my tongue so it would look at me and snapped this shot.  This is a Barred Owl.  I think this is one of a pair that hang out in the park across the street from our home.  I often hear them calling to each other a night.  

Then I opened up my email and saw this wonderful email from one of the missionaries our church supports and I thought it encapsulated my sentiments exactly, so I'm quoting it here:

We have much to be thankful for as we reflect on who God is and what he has done. We just invite you to share in these Thanksgiving reflections.

Thank You Lord…

For Salvation in Jesus Christ. For being adopted into the family of God. That our sins are forgiven. For sending the Holy Spirit to be your continual presence in our lives. For your steadfast love  that never ceases. For the sufficiency of your Word to equip us for every good work. The refuge we find in you that is certain and strong. For your mercies that are new every morning. For the difficulties that you allow into our lives that cause us to cling to you more. That you have promised to never leave us or forsake us. That you have called us to be your ambassadors. That you have committed to us the Ministry of Reconciliation. That we have been be a part of solid churches with Biblical teaching. That we have had the privilege to grow up in a free country. For physical provision our whole lives. We’ve never had to go to bed hungry for lack of food. For the blessing of our daughter and son-in-law that you have entrusted into our care that they love you and are growing in their walk with you. For good health.

Great start to my day and it only got better.  We headed down to Des Moines, south of SeaTac, to meet up with Jessi and Josh who were heading up from OR and to congregate with Wally's extended family.  We had a great time reconnecting with nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews and sisters et al.  

The "hors d'oeuvres"

Brother and sister, Traci and Jeff, from Seattle and Vancouver, WA

Step-father and son-in-law, Paul and Steve

 Wally's youngest sister, Terry (from Everett), Jessi and Josh

Terry and Traci

A spirited game of Apples to Apples, we had a blast playing this!

Intense concentration...which one to choose?

Wally's other sister, Kris (it's the cabana at her and Paul's condo that we are meeting at), her daughter, Traci, and her grand-daughter, Mylee

Jeff is winning so far

And the piece de resistance, turkey and all the trimmings!

A wonderful, wonderful day, so very much to be thankful for every day!

Bucolic Morning on Vallette Street

Yesterday morning this was the scene out my kitchen window.  Actually I was only about 5' away when I took this photo.  You can see how threatened they are by my presence.  Hydrangea was on the menu.  I don't mind sharing my bushes with them, but it is difficult to grow any kind of vegetable garden with the herds of deer that roam our neighborhood, often walking calming down the middle of the street.

I'm not complaining.  One of the desires of my heart was/is to live in a rural setting frequented by a variety of wildlife.  And the Lord has given me that desire within city limits.  In addition to deer we have a raccoon family that rears their young in a giant tree in our neighbor's backyard, so I see cute little babies wandering thru our yard on a regular basis every spring.  There are coyotes that live in the park behind us, I don't see them often, but occasionally, if I'm out early enough in the morning, I'll see them wandering the borders of the park.  There are a pair of Cooper's Hawks that rear their young in the park as well and in the winter, there are a pair of Barred Owls that frequent the park.  I love to lie in bed and listen to them call to each other. 

These aren't the only desires of my heart that He has fulfilled.  I would love to have a herd of animals of my own, but lifestyle realities have made that difficult.  We don't have a fully fenced yard, so a dog is not an option.  But....my neighbors have a wonderful dog, a beautiful Springer Spaniel Llewellin Setter mix,  and cat and we have all adopted each other.  When they are out of town or late getting home I get to go feed and play with them and snuggle and pretend they are mine.  

I've always wanted a big flower garden for cut bouquets.  I don't own this home, digging up the yard is not an option.  But....my neighbor next door is a master gardener who grows flowers of her own and also helps design bouquets for one of the county farms that sells gorgeous bouquets every summer.  And on an almost weekly basis in the summer, she brings me huge bouquets.  In return, I bake goodies for her.  

How gracious is the Lord to give us the desires of our heart, even if they are not in the manner we thought they would be!  

Are We There Yet?

I'm not really sure where October went.  We spent a large part of it driving north and south on I-5 to Newberg, OR, where Jessi and Josh live and work.  We spent a week in September there scoping out the areas around Newberg anticipating a move there ourselves.  We checked out the libraries, aquatic centers, senior centers, parks and coffee shops :) of several towns.  We've been looking for housing opportunities but haven't found anything that really fits yet.  So there is no imminent move at this point.  We did see one amazing sight in a park In McMinnville. We were walking on a trail when I spotted something white through the brush.  It wasn't moving initially, but soon a brown full-grown deer moved into sight and the "white thing" moved into the clearing and  lo and behold it was a white deer!  I did some research and discovered it wasn't technically an albino deer because it had a bit of brown on its face and a bit on its tail.  But other than that it was pure white.  Pretty cool....and of course the camera was in the car.

We spent the 2nd two weeks of October down there again.  Well, technically it was only 10 days because we had to come back on Fridays to work at Stoney Ridge and then drive back again on Mondays.  Have I mentioned how much I hate that drive on I-5?  We did make it out to  the coast one day which was a real treat.  We haven't been to the OR coast in years and years. 

We also cooked dinner, did housework, took care of the guinea pig (my grandchild!), and helped in Jessi's classroom.  Our goal was to take some of the pressure off of her while Josh was out of town for two weeks so she could concentrate on teaching and grad school.  We graded papers 

and helped at Family Fun Night and helped in the classroom so she could get home before 7pm at night!

It was all worth it, despite the car trouble we had coming home!  The Toyota was running hot and losing radiator water even though we could see no visible evidence of a leak.  A new head gasket, water pump and radiator later, we have our car back.  The mechanic was amazed the car made it back here from Portland.  That's the old Toyotas for  you....they are tanks for sure!