As I write this
post, I am sitting on a ferry boat headed to the mainland, today is
the shortest day of the year (always a nice turning point), Christmas
will be here very soon, I will head off for another little adventure
in Mexico right after that, and life is, as always, full of change
and excitement and beauty. But of course these blog posts are
looking back at recent events and in this case the post is covering
early October to late November, a fairly long period filled with
putting the garden to bed for the winter, a new baby for my friends,
a lot of work, some solid progress on my cabin and some family time
in Seattle. I know I said the last post was going to be the final in
the 'quick and dirty' series catching up and that I'd write more on
this one, but I'm going to renege on that promise, sorry for that,
I'm just too busy right now but still want to get the blog back into
current times, so this is the best way. I hope you still enjoy it,
so thanks for reading and checking out my photos!
Me running the pump
panel at fire drill. The Darley is an older fire engine, but she
still gets the job done!
Jack loading up some
manure into Nick's truck. We will be using this in the garden for
the coming growing season.
Now that it is fall,
the leaves are turning colors and the meadow is even more spectacular
than usual. This is the view out the main window of my cabin, pretty
nice eh?
With the growing
season for the farm very much over (since we are not currently doing
a winter garden) it was time to pull plants and put the farm to rest.
It is a lot of work, but worth it and makes everything better for
the next season.
Ellen pulling the
irrigation lines.
A bald eagle in the
dead top of a fir.
It's not always
sunny this time of year, but it sure is amazing when it does decide
to shine!
Ellen is getting
ready…
A large clearing job
at work. Rob the excavator operator is very good and knows just how
far he can push his his machine. From this point he was able to rock
it back onto the tracks and carry that entire tree up hill to the
chipper.
For a few days, the
sun was rising right as I was taking the ferry to work, and setting
just as I was taking the ferry home. Made for some truly stunning
run rises and sun sets from the water. If you look closely, you can
even see Mt Baker in the distance.
While doing some
tree work for a customer, they asked my boss if he wanted their old
playhouse, moving it was a fun little project.
Pulling the corn.
Digging drainage
ditches through the garden. It's awfully wet in the winter so by
putting in temporary ditches, we can help retain the good soil
structure, and get the ground dry sooner, allowing us to plant sooner
in the spring.
A crane job at work,
this was a dead madrona tree over a few buildings.
Installing the
flooring in my cabin. I went with sheet vinyl because it's cheap,
easy to install and easy to clean since I know I'll be in here with
muddy boots often.
My bone collection
continues to grow. and my shower in the background continues to be great.
After doing a large
project clearing trees for a new fence, Nick and we were able to take
home this huge load of cherry logs for firewood.
The Jones clan
checking out progress on my cabin.
It's fall/winter,
and the garden is mostly asleep, but it is time to plant the garlic
which stays in all winter. Here Colin and Jean are helping out.
With Nick's mower
out for mechanical issues, Jack loaned us his pair of zero-turns to
do a final mow on the meadow. Very nice of him and awesome mowers!
A ferry coming
through the fog between Orcas and Shaw.
Cover crop in the
garden beginning to sprout.
The ditches in the
garden doing their job well.
And big news, Nick
and Ellen returned home with their new baby Angus!
A little behind
schedule, but utilizing the new firewood processing area and it's
working well.
Looking out my
bedroom window. It's not exactly the great plains of Africa, but it
is fun to watch groups of deer walk by. (the most I've seen at once
was 8)
Jack cutting down a
huge rotten alder as part of clearing for a new livestock fence.
What I'm looking
like these days. When I posted this photo on facebook, I captioned
it “In the summer I grow vegetables, in the winter I grow beards.”
The stairs to the
sleeping loft are coming along well. Made by notching 2x10s (for the
bottom set) and 2x8s into fir 4x8s they are going to look awesome.
Spreading new wood
chips in the chicken run. Yet another great use of all the chips we
made during our clearing project.
Beams ready to sand
and stain. It's kind of scary making something like this, it's a lot
of cuts and one mistake and you can ruin the whole thing!
Loading wood chips
at the monastery, we then spread them in the cattle run to help keep
them out of the mud.
A little birdie.
Heading out with
friends for a walk.
Ellen, baby Angus
and Nick.
A beautiful day for
a beach walk indeed.
And returning to a
beautiful piece of land.
Windy weather took
out some power lines and I found myself staining my stair treads by
headlamp. Can't wait to put it all together!
I returned home to
Seattle for a family visit, a sort of early thanksgiving.
My sister Holly came
from Alaska, my brother Brian from California and sister Robin came
from Montana. We drove up to our family cabin, and surprise, the
power was out! It was funny coming from the power being out at my
place to another place with no power, but we made it all work and had
a great time!
Breaking ice off the
stairs of the cabin.
A family photo at
Gold Creek.
More family showed
up and we met at the new Washington Ski and Snowboard Museum at
Snoqualmie Pass, here is my sister Holly next to the piece about her,
detailing her growing up skiing at Snoqualmie and going on to be on
the US Ski Team, the World Cup circuit and two Olympics.
You can read her great blog here: http://hollyskis.blogspot.com/
Family dinner. This
cabin was a huge part of our lives growing up and it's always
wonderful to have the family gather again around the table.
Back in Seattle, it
sure is a different scene than my life on the islands, haha.
Dinner with my aunt
and uncle, here we are tasting the wine from their vineyard.
Having family over
for dinner at my parents house the next night.
With my latest
Seattle visit over, it was time to drive north, board the ferry and
head home to the islands. It sure was great to see everyone because
it doesn't happen very often. But home calls and it's time to get
back to work!
That wraps up the latest edition. Next post will bring the year to a close, show some awesome progress on my cabin, more beautiful scenery as always, Thanksgiving, Christmas and one step closer to my vacation in Mexico which will be the post after.
