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!

Movin' Right Along....

I have country in my blood....if you give me a choice between a townhouse in the big city with all the accouterments and a plot of land with a broad view of pasture and a tiny house with just the basics, I'll take the latter.  So it should come as no surprise that I have a yen for tractors, especially old ones.  No I don't have a plot of land, no I have no need for a tractor, but one can always yearn, n'est ce pas?  So a few weeks ago we had a chance to go to Lynden's Antique Tractor Show.  Here's a sampling of what we saw.  It was a great day--hot, sunny, dusty...perfect farm weather!  If you're bored with old farm machinery, you should move on!

There is a "parade" of tractors and other antique machinery.  As they pass the "grandstand", the announcer gives the make, model and year of each entry

 

Check out this old steam roller

I love this old thing...such classic lines!

 That should be me!

 This one's for Jessi...it's orange!!

 Another beauty "lettin' off steam"

I think this is one of my favorites

 Lined up for duty.

 Then there were the steam powered threshing machines, mighty to behold.  What a boon to farmer's this invention must have been...can you imagine threshing by hand...

 Wheat goes in one end, chaff goes out the other and the wheat berries collect in the special container

 Feeding the beast, takes a lot of heat to produce enough steam to power these machines

From father to son, passing on the heritage...what a treasure.

What a fun day and a glimpse into a life that I'm sure I've romanticized.  I know it's hard, hard work, but what a blessing to have the ability to be in such close harmony with the land and the seasons.  One can still dream....

- Tide x 2 = Adventure!

One of the perks of living near Bellingham Bay is enjoying the great beach combing opportunities that the lowest minus tides provide during the summer months.  We took advantage of one of these days to explore the Taylor Shellfish Farms at the south end of Chuckanut Drive.  They were having a festival of sorts which allowed us the opportunity to learn first hand about their operation here as well as their other locations throughout WA.  Because of the extreme low tide we were able to walk out to the oyster beds to learn how they seed and harvest the oysters and clams that they are famous for.  Hot dogs, grilled oysters, steamed clams and other such fare were available for lunch.  So we took advantage and had a great meal.  

This sign met us at the entrance, how could one resist, we had to check it out!

The staff had gathered natural materials and kids could pick out whatever they wanted and create their own fairy house

Some creative Taylor family member created this "lighthouse" made of clam and oyster shells

These are oyster "grow bags" which help keep predators away and reduce the amount of silt that affects the oysters as they grow

The view looking south to Anacortes...the tide is out so far you can barely see the waterline!

Oysters are harvested and packed in bundles like this...these bundles are made of empty shells which will be used for new oyster beds and for other uses such as chicken feed

There is a crew harvesting oysters out there...in the winter, they have to do it at night, when the minus tides occur

Looking back at the farm store--we're way out in the bay! 

Time for lunch!

The day is still young and the tide is still low so we head on over to Larrabee State Park to hike down to Clayton Beach.  We hiked down to this beach a lot when Jessi was little, although she doesn't remember it.  It was known for it's huge sand dune that rolled all the way to the sea.  The sand dune is a thing of the past, it's now a huge "garden" of blackberries and sand peas.  But the beach is still wonderful for walking when the tide allows.

I love shape, pattern, light and shadow, so it's a field day for me with all these sandstone rocks full of holes and pockets and hidey places 

And then I can get all artsy craftsy and start putting crab shells in nooks and pretending like they "landed" there! 

There's someone else who likes the hidey places! 

The window to the sea
  

The tide's starting to come back in...that's Lummi Island out there in the distance

The beach has its own art forms 

This is a very special flat rock--when Wally and I were MUCH younger, we used to hike down a steep rock cliff to get to this rock where we had the sea to ourselves.  We'd picnic and sunbathe here...but alas, someone has built a house at the top of the cliff where we used to start our climb down...no matter, there's no way we could do it now anyway! 

The flat rock is waaaay out there to the right, so you can see the height of the cliff we had to navigate--it's about midway down the hillside.

Then it was time to hike back up to the road and head home for a hot shower and some ibuprofen...just kidding!

Bygone Days

It's been a long, long time since I posted anything here.  It's not for lack of subject matter, as in times past.  We've had lots of adventures, but it seems like we never stay home long enough for me to post anything.  And it's not a speedy process...photos have to be re sized on camera to post-able size, then uploaded, then edited to erase the original photos that were too big--you get the picture.  Pun intended. 

So I'll start with our trip to Mt, Baker--in JUNE!  This is unheard of most years.  The road to Artist's Point is generally not plowed before mid-July.  But the Pacific Northwest is currently in the throes of a months' long drought.  The snow pack on Mt. Baker is at an all time low--this after it set the record for the most snowfall in the entire world in the winter of 1998-99.  We made our way to the end of the road thinking we might have to navigate some snowy paths, but we found all paths completely free of snow and the meadows bursting with wildflowers.  This would by a typical scene in mid-September--not in June!  We had a lovely day hiking paths and it gave me a chance to try out my new camera which I am thrilled with!  Here are some samples:

This sculpture of ravens is at the entrance to the Mt. Baker Ski Area

A view on the way up

I love seeing the power behind the formation of these volcanic mountains that line the West Coast

Reflections at the top of the world

Clouds around Mt. Baker--notice the lack of snow

Sample of wildflowers in bloom

Looking back from the trail

Folded back on itself...must have been an amazing sight

And a rainbow on the way back down to top off the day

We need to get back up here soon or all the huckleberries will be gone, they must be ready now since everything is 2-3 months ahead of schedule!

Gifts That Keep On Giving

I have always had very thin and basically worthless finger nails.  Over the past year advancing age, combined with Raynaud's Syndrome, finally caused my nails to peel and split and even though I kept them trimmed as short as possible, they were cracking back into the nail bed.  It was becoming evident that drastic steps were necessary and I decided to get my first-ever manicure.  I found a small nail salon located near the school where I worked and stopped in to see what they would suggest.  That's when I met Tho and her husband, Le.  They, as are most local nail salon workers, are Vietnamese.  Training as a manicurist is one of the few ways Vietnamese immigrants can make a decent living in this area.  The job doesn't require the ability to read or even speak English with much fluency.  

Tho and Le opened their salon just about a year ago and are working hard (as in 12 hours a day, 7 days a week) to build up a clientele.  Tho and I hit it off immediately and we have formed an unlikely friendship.  I visit her about once a week just to chat and we ended up exchanging Christmas gifts.  I gave them some of my homemade boeterkoek and she gave me a box of these:

Somewhere in our many conversations I had shared that I loved tamarind candy, but that is not what this is!  This is whole tamarind and I hadn't a clue what to do with it.  Thanks to the internet I learned that I could make tamarind paste or chutney by processing the pods.  If you've had pad thai, then you've at least had a taste of tamarind paste as it's one of the ingredients in the sauce.  It's a uniquely sweet/sour combination that I love.  The candy is the seeds which are coated with the "meat" (inside the pods) and then rolled in crystallized sugar, you suck on the seeds until all the meat and sugar melt in your mouth...YUM!  I digress.

So, in order to process these pods I had to crack the hard shells

and then remove the "meat"-covered seeds and the fibers that surrounded them

then I had to soak the pods in water for most of a day to soften the meat so I could separate it from the seeds.  Once I had the meat separated I cooked it with a bit of the water I soaked the seeds in and added some spices and voila, I have tamarind chutney.

I've frozen the chutney into small ice cube sized portions so I can pull it out when I want it.  It's a fabulous combination of flavors.  What a treat to receive such an unusual and practical gift that I never would have bought on my own.  I am continually amazed at the variety of fruits, vegetables and spices that the Lord has given us.  It's a never-ending source of delight for me.  I always wonder about the first person to attempt to use some of these things--who would ever pick these off a tree and imagine that they would end up with this final product?  

I am looking forward to how my friendship with Tho and her family (she has a son who is a sophomore in high school and a daughter who is in 6th grade) will grow in this new year.  For those of us who take our native born freedoms for granted, it is humbling to see how hard people  work to make new lives for themselves.  Tho did not want her daughter to grow up under the oppressive paternalistic and communistic society that her country struggles under. She misses her family so much, but wants a better life for her children....don't we all!