Birthday Hike

 

So on my birthday this year, I decided to.. hide. I mean hike.

 

Jack and I started off the morning around the neighborhood. For short walks, especially through dumb city-dogs-are-people-too territory, Jack with a large toy in his mouth is for the best. Don't tell Uncle Bobby we stole his football from the cabin. Oopsie.

After rush hour died down, we went up to the Tokul area for a loop and play in a big field up there. My mom told me she was sick of all the pictures of just Jack, so I took a selfie, hiking with dog style. I love that he's looking at the camera.

 

 

After lunch at the North Bend Bar and Grill, we hung out at Snoqualmie Point Park. Basically the day was jumping from one big place to play fetch to another. Once he knows where we are going, he grabs a ball and pulls me until we get to the field. Like a Labrador Retriever pulling to the lake I suppose.

 It was so windy up there. He's not pleased that I'm staging this photo. Note the mud all over his face. We had a fun day. :)
 

Oh, here's the mud. And the ball. On the way back from the field. Noticing a trend here...

 

Here's another selfie. That word sucks. Here's another picture of the two of us. Jack looks like a horse here, but the other ones I took are either him barking or my hair billowing in my face. Horse picture it is.

 

 

Nice day off from work spent at a slower pace with my best buddy. We went home and I met a couple of friends and my family for dinner too - lucky me!

 

The day ended with a quick walk through the park near our house. Credit where credit is due, Jess took this picture, but I had to use it here. I love it so much - even considering the sissy daisy leash.

 

I often toy with the idea of tattooing the silhouette of his ears on the inside of my finger. Those crazy batman ears deserve a tribute. :) 

 

 

 



Is that how you spell "Porpoise?"

 

Our family is fortunate to have a place to "get away from it all," that isn't hard to get to. The cabin is located in a tiny little blip of neighborhood near the Hood Canal Bridge, leaving us with miles of empty beaches for leash-free romping with dogs, historic towns to explore and overall quietness to absorb.

 

Not a particularly pretty cabin, but who the hell cares? It's by the beach and away from the city.

 

Jack normally starts to bark once we hit the bridge, and I swear, I can feel stress lift off once the truck tires hit the grating of the bridge.

 

In the fall and winter, there isn't a soul in sight. Pull through the Port Gamble coffee stand and hit the bridge (not literally, don't do that.) Once in Jefferson County, take your pick - Teal Lake, Ludlow Falls, the tidelands, the golf course loop, or our own secret places, found during explorations over the years. Jack and I know them all.

 

This is our secret place. With the exception of the summer months, which tend to produce masses (and by masses, I mean five or 10 people) of strangers tromping up and down the shoreline, this place is deserted. Sometimes we slip kayaks into the water and glide through the frigid water - without the disturbance of a heavy boat motor, seals, otters, and Dahl's Porpoises make their appearances known with little reservation. Once, a small pod of porpoises took the crab out of my pot as I pulled it to the surface. In a kayak, no less.

Here we are as a family, on (what we have named) Seven Sisters, this small inlet near Dragon Head Island (also not an official name.) When the tide is out like this, you can walk all the way to the island. When tide is in, the water is all the way up to the tree line there. It is, without a doubt, one of my most favorite places in this universe. It's also where Romeo, my brother's dog, learned to swim. :)

 

I think this was Mother's Day or something. My mom always gets mad when I take pictures of her (wonder where I get it) but I am so happy I snapped this picture. My brother's girlfriend and Romeo are there too, behind Dad. 

When I first bring friends up to the cabin, they always seem shocked that I carry a beer through the neighborhood and walk Jack down to the beach without so much as a collar on. That's just the nature of the territory. (Plus I have a ball in my pocket and Jack wouldn't leave his toy for anything.)

 

I was lucky to spend several warm evenings like this one last summer. I think this trip was Jess, Daisy, and another friend. We hauled the fire pit out of the shed and loaded up with some firewood, two salty, soggy, and blissfully tired dogs, and a beer or two.

 

We actually do this in the winter too - just pile on the blankets and trade the beer for hot cocoa. :)

 



 

I'm one of those dog parents that think everyone in the world wants to see pictures of my buddy. Because he's perfect and handsome and, and, and... Sorry. I take a lot of pictures of Jack.

 

Below is a photo I took in Port Gamble at the aforementioned coffee stand. He's looking across the big fields that they do Civil War reenactments on, towards the woods that he knows we are about to run into. Port Gamble is a tiny (teeny tiny) historic town people have probably driven through on their way along highway 104.

 

Sort of the same deal as the beach near the cabin. Summertime yields a surge in tourism, but it's still not a huge attraction. The General Store just opened up a new café and bar - if I lived there full time, the ol' pocketbook and I would have a situation on our hands. It is so good. So delicious, friendly staff, and a young feeling respite in the middle of an old timey area. Oh - and the best damn catsup you'll ever have in your life. I don't know what it is, but the waffle fries and catsup are a must have. The garden burger is a delight as well. Okay... now I'm trying to justify taking a ferry across tonight.

 

Deep breath.

 

Seriously though, if you're already planning on passing through Port Gamble, I highly recommend the General Store Café. You won't be sorry.

Remember when you were a kid (and maybe now too) when you would wake up with ease on weekend days, and have to claw your way out of bed on weekdays? Kind of the same deal here.

 

This is sunrise. You know.. like.. at the start of the day. I see almost all the sunrises at the beach. Each one a little more beautiful than the last.

 

Curse the spots in the photos. Arg.

 

These are from October, judging from the color of the leaves. I can't tell who is in this photo, maybe Daisy and Jessie.

 

Here is a sunrise picture from the very break of day. Jack was chasing a crab here I think. I love this shot because of the obvious solitude and silence and.. majesty? Perfectness?

 



 

Who is Princess Porpoise, you ask?

 

She only comes out in summertime, when sitting in the sand is tolerable. And she lives near a huge boulder that the porpoises surface out from, unofficially named "Porpoise Point." I've yet to capture them on camera - usually because I'm not carrying one at the beach but also because they're fast buggers, and cell phone cameras just ain't that quick yet.  

 

Okay this is getting long and weirder by the minute.

Ode to Sky Nursery at the Holidays

 

Now that I work so close to Sky Nursery, I can often swoop in for a quick coffee break at their NEW coffee stand. (Do you hear me, Sam?!) Up and running as of last week, the stand offers a soup of the day, bagels and pastries, and of course, coffee. Coffee in all its splendor. Oh, the toddy mocha is the stuff daydreams are made of. Seriously, I shall never tire of running in, avoiding the major line and crabby attitude at the Starbucks across the street, and making a loop in the greenhouse with my hot drink in hand, before returning to work.

 

But. It gets better.

 

Really.

 

Come my child, I will show you the way.

 

Christmas at Sky Nursery.

 

Can we talk about how wonderful this place is? Starting.. mmm.. Halloween, the nursery begins to undergo its transformation. The walls of seed packets and gift items are pushed to the sides and back of the nursery and nearly half of the indoor supply area is dedicated to ornaments, gifts, and decorations for the holidays.

 

Add one more thing to the fifteen minute coffee break. Jump into car. Race to nursery. Buy coffee. Take lap in greenhouse. Frolic through Christmas area. Go back to work.

 

Here's a taste of the magic:

 

Berries. On sticks. For decorating. I must have these.  

 

I love this green. And the foliage is soft - not prickly like non-holiday shrubbery.

 

And the primroses! In every color imaginable. Sometimes to cheer myself up (and our front yard,) I just buy a couple (MILLION) of these to plant in pots on by the front door.

 

By now in my daily walk, I have probably spilled coffee on myself as I crouched down to pet a dog walking through the greenhouse, picked up and put down about a hundred different plants I can't live without, and am emotionally preparing myself for the look-don't-touch walk I must force upon myself.

 

Ready?

 

The sign near this fellow reads, "Better Gnomes and Gardens."

Wit and Christmas? I can't take it.

 

 

Oh there's the sign. See?! Amazing.

 

 

Different trees for different themes, of course. Above is the mushroom/fairy/gnome/magicalness tree. Below is the camping and nature-y section. I almost bought the teardrop trailer ornament for a friend (who may or may not have let me and Jack stay in her teardrop trailer one night.)

 

Santa Clauses and snowmen are my one true weakness.

I could go on forever, because, well, the Christmas section goes on... forever. But I won't. I will exercise restraint. Also, it's 11:21 p.m. and I have to be at work at 8:00 tomorrow.

 

One last thing though.

 

Christmas tree.

 

My family always jokes (can jokes be serious statements delivered without a laugh or a smile?) about how traumatic Christmas tree selection was during my brother and my childhood. Granted, I do recall that... anything regarding one item being purchased for both kids resulted in a tantrum of some kind, I always remember the Christmas tree purchase fondly. Maybe that means I always got my way.

 

Anyway. My parents insist on a fAkE tree. Ugh. Alas, their house knows no longer the sweet aroma of pine. Their carpet stays clear of the trail of pine needles and that sticky pitch crap, and no one chucks the broken strands of lights off the deck. Yes, Mom and Dad simply pull the dreaded item out of its hellish box and plop it down in the corner.

 

But not Jess and I! Ah, the search for the perfect tree commences, and we disappear into the maze of green, the lights hanging above illuminating (HIDING IMPERFECTIONS?!) the different types and sizes as we pass by.

 

Sigh, nothing like a crisp winter's night. Families all bundled up in the annual (bitch fight) search for the tree upon which to lovingly place prized family treasures.

 

In actuality, Jess had two trees picked out already and I didn't give a crap which one we bought because it was suuuuper cold. Also, we had to shove the tree into Jack's dog crate in the back of my truck which, I must say, ruined the romanticism a bit. (On the plus side, Jack smelled like a pine forest for a week afterwards.)

 

 

 

 

Pete Lake/Spectacle Lake Backpacking Trip

My poor neglected blog...

 

Last weekend a SAR friend and I hiked up to Spectacle Lake. Disclaimer: If you've never gone backpacking before, and you're carrying all of your gear, eleven miles one way is... far. We got to the trail head at about 0800 and set off after a group of (crazy) teenagers doing a trail run. By the time we caught up to them coming back out, we had almost reached Pete Lake.

 

We took a little rest on a boulder overlooking Pete Lake. For some reason I didn't get any photos of the actual lake - just a million of Jack... typical.

 

We continued on, and came to Lemah Creek. Apparently when you have to wade the creek, it's called a "primitive crossing." We changed into water shoes and made the crossing through a thigh high creek with a bit of power in the current as well as an ankle deep second channel. It was a great chance to cool down before the climbing began.

 

After the creek, we meandered through a very mellow series of gentle hills before reaching the burned section. I think this was from a fire in 2009, though I'm not positive. It was amazing to walk through - and eerie. The gray trees were ghostly and offered little to no shelter from the heat of the day. Still, the trail wasn't too steep, so we could really take in the magnitude of the fire. From the looks of it, the trail was almost the boundary line - one side was normal green forest, the other, barren ashy trees, and you could follow that line up over the hill in front of us. Truly a sight.

 

 

After the burn, we entered into a series of 11 (they were long) switchbacks which led up to Delotte Falls. We met a through hiker up at the bridge... which made me feel crazy. He was the real deal - full beard, super skinny, sitting in the mist of the falls, happy as can be. I think he was eating a full loaf of bread and jar of peanut butter!

 

 

 

After the falls, it was "one or two" more switchbacks until we turned off for the Spectacle Lake trail. A little farther than I had emotionally/mentally prepared for, let's say that. Plus, bees. Poor Jack, I looked down and he had several in his fur. Nothing like a shot of adrenaline to kick on the after burners to get us the heck out of there.

 

And then.

 

Once we got down and found a space to set up camp along the middle section, the tent went up and Jack and I took a nap. Can you guess which camp is mine?

 

 

We came out an hour or so later and went for a most refreshing swim (brr) and then made some dinner. Crunchy mac and cheese has never tasted so good. My friend had filtered enough water to fill my reservoir back up, bless him...

 

Evening was approaching and once the sun went down behind the mountains, it got chilly. We didn't get much of a sunset, but the reflections on the water were beautiful.

 

 

Around 7, we tucked in for the night. I woke up a few hours later for a dog potty break and snapped a few pictures of the moon over the Three Queens. Notice how "a few hours later," the sun is still setting. :)

 

After a most uncomfortable night, we got up to a crisp and silent lake. Jack and I sat on a big rock in the sun and watched the other campers start to wake up. Of course, his occasional bark piercing the morning air probably didn't make anyone very happy.

 

Because it was getting warm, we decided to pack up and get moving so we could make it through the burn area before the heat really set in. We had a little breakfast, and were greeted by a little friend. Jack was very interested in him (I named him George) but didn't want to give chase until Tule, my friend's dog, tried to pounce. A gave George a few peanuts before he scurried away over the rocks.

 

 

We climbed out of the canyon and started our trek back. Thankfully the climb out was the majority of the climbing on the trip back. Still, the legs were a little wonky from all the walking the day before.

 

After we had crossed the creek again, and passed Pete Lake, I thought we were home free. Ugh. Just didn't have anything left in the tank. Even though at this point we were passing people with no gear, no water, and no intention of being in wilderness for more than a couple of hours, I was tired. We passed several horses, one of which was sans rider and tucked away in the bushes. Lovely. Glad Jack finally listened to me and came back - I may have said the "f word" a couple of times to encourage him.

 

I think I started seeing the reflection of car metal with about .5 miles to go. The last time we took a break, the pack was absolutely excruciating to heave back onto my sore shoulders so I vowed to not take it off again. I definitely had thoughts of pulling out my massive, cheap tent and chucking it into the woods... but that would have required taking the darn thing off again. The fit was just not good - too much weight on my shoulders. I also found that my ankles got really sore from the height of the boots. All of these things flashed through my brain with every one of those last steps.

 

When my hiking buddy finally turned the corner to the trail head in front of me.. oooh was I happy. Jack jumped right into the back of the car and collapsed into his crate. We both had a good long drink of water and headed back through Roslyn and home.

 

The experience was amazing. For a first backpacking trip, it may have been a little punishing, but I definitely have the bug. We just need a little (a lot) of conditioning.

 

Glad to be home.

Bugs, bugs, and more bugs.

What are two twenty-something year old single gals to do on Friday night?

 

Release ladybugs into the vegetable garden, of course!

 

 

They come in a pouch - one of those refridgerated and asleep, creepy zombie scenarios... Of course I thawed them out immediately so they woke up and started crawling all over the place - little black spider legs sticking out from the mesh of the bag.

 

They come with food and water - all you do is bring them out (we released at night so they'd hopefully stick around longer), let them thaw for a minute or two, spray down the leaves where they are going to be released (so they can have a drink, I think), and open the bag. I had to dump a bunch on my hand for the fun of it.

 

The next morning!!!

 

 

The garden is still crawling with ladybugs. It's amazing.

 

Here are a couple of photos of some other friends we've collected this summer.

 

BEES! Okay, if you have a big section of flowers where the honey bees and bumblebees gather (and you aren't deathly afraid/allergic of bees), stick your head near the flowers. Then listen. Sparing those who've had traumatic incidents with bee swarms, the hum of the busy bees... is pretty cool.

 

And now the stuff of nightmares. Guess what this little beauty is?!

 

Praying mantis egg! (I can hear the shudders from here.)

 

We think it's nearly time for the mini babies to emerge. Honestly, I can't believe Daisy and/or Jack haven't eaten this yet. It must be hidden well.

 

They'll emerge looking like little clear shrimpies... there is a ton of aphid activity on these sweet peas, so they'll have plenty of food waiting. (DOWN WITH THE APHIDS!)

 

Seriously. We have nighttime slug/aphid squashing parties (because that's how we roll... and it's not a party... it's just us two weirdos with headlamps and the dogs bouncing around.)

 

Here's more info on the worst garden pests.

 

Did you know people keep praying mantis as pets? Good Lord. I thought my brief tarantula ownership was bad enough, but these little dudes are CREEPY looking. I rue the day I come outside to find a three inch long praying mantis hanging from a bird feeder in wait.

 

Don't believe me? Check out this video. And don't blame me for the nightmares.