B&W Trip to Whistler BC

Over at Springtree Road you can find so many interesting B&W photos - so stop over and pay a visit. It is fun and quite a different perspective.

I'm showing some of my photos of a trip we made a couple years ago to the resort town of Whistler BC.

A stone circle - with stone chairs, for gatherings . . .

Puffball mushrooms, growing under some grasses . . .

There were metal sculptures all along one pathway near the river

that runs through town . . .

Stars and burrs - quite intersting in B&W

One of my favorites - a crow . . .

And the river - with lovely square stones lining it . . .

Birdhouses on a pole -there were lots of birdhouses along the paths . . .

And some shelf fungus - or as we called them in Alaska,
when I was a kid, Bear Bread. We used break these off and paint
scenes on the white side, and stand them up on the side that was attached
to the tree stump, they are fan shaped and stand up very well.

Wordless Wednesday

More Wordless Wednesdays -

An old Log Cabin

Maya at SpringtreeRoad is featuring black and white photos during the month of November. Stop by and see the other wonderful black and white photos.

Let's go back in time . . .

We've driven past this old log cabin so many times . . .

It is in an area of the county that we love, and the ride is peaceful.

I can just see the people who lived here. . .

working in their garden . . .

picking apples in the fall . . .

Keeping a cow or two on the hillside pasture and of course, chickens pecking about under the trees. They would pick blackberries in the fields to can for winter and watch as the geese flew overhead in their migration to the south, and warmer days.

When it rained the people in this cabin would stay indoors . .

making quilts, with the frame raised up to the ceiling
when they needed to use the room for other purposes . . .

mending harnesses by the fire and sometimes making the trip of two miles to the nearest neighbor.

They would share dinner together, perhaps bring a loaf of fresh bread

made with their bread trough . . .

And help with quilts or spinning. It was a different life, lived in this tiny cabin with two babies running about. They worked hard during their time and never could have imagined that someday, many years later, their house would appear in a blog, on the internet - speeding around the world - their heads would spin from such ideas.

A Drive Through the Country in the Autumn

Autumn is in full swing - soon the rains will knock all the leaves off the trees and it will be cold and rainy - but for now - we can take rides and see wondrous things. The autumn colors here in NW WA rival those of more famous areas - yet just a few miles south of here it is not so colorful in the Autumn.

Big Leaf Maples in town - and when they say Big Leaf - they mean it - sometimes the leaves are bigger than a dinner plate - much bigger. It doesn't take many leaves to cover your yard.

Hillsides full of color . . .

Hillsides are aglow!

The horse had come to see if we had anything to eat - when we didn't, he turned and left.

Down by the river. . .

Some mushrooms growing on the side of a tree . . .

Mosaic Monday

Again the mosaics are here - I love Mondays!!!

Stop over at the Little Red House and visit all the other Mosaics.

I have two mosaics this Monday - the first one is our grandsons at the
NW WA Fair - in August. My mosaics are about summer - because I don't
want fall to come - I don't care for it all that much - I would much rather have
summer, or spring, or even winter. Our summers here are simply gorgeous
and I never want them to end - so here is summer - two little boys at the fair - and their grampy riding on the merry-go-round.

Click to enlarge the photos if you like. . .

And another summertime passtime . . . .

Picking blackberries. We came across this fabulous old house and asked the neighbors if they knew if the owners would mind if we picked the berries hanging along the driveway. The neighbors assured us that it was fine - as the owners were only there to bring things to the old house and to mow the lawn
and pick the apples from the orchard.

The house was in horrible condition and probably no one has lived there in years - but there was certainly a lot of stuff in it - upstairs on the main floor and in the basement - stacked high!!! One window was broken out in the kitchen and there were poles hung from wall to wall, full of all sorts of cloths - leopard print dresses, fancy hats, lots of men's suits, feathers and lacey things. The clothes didn't look like they have spent a rainy winter there, so they much have
been brought there fairly recently.

We picked 2 gallons of blackberries and had hoped to get back to pick more. So far we haven't, but we've thought often about the shabby old house and its funny contents.

Wordless Wednesday

Blue Monday

Stop over at Smiling Sally's and see lots of other blue blogs. I think blue is a great summer color.

A Blue Jay sitting on a mossy old birdhouse . . .

A blue teapot - just right for cooler summer days and a pot of tea . . .

A cozy blue and white seaside quilt . . .

A nice corner of the seaside quilt - wouldn't this look great in a beach house?

A cute little boy helping fill a blue bag . . .

Oh - and a nice stack of blue dishes . . .

Ooops - this isn't summer - but a pretty blue ornament . . .

A blue quilt to comfort a friend . . .

And a tiny little blue bag for a summer treasure . . .

What do you like that is blue?

Mosaic Monday - summertime

Stop over at Little Red House to see more fabulous summertime Mosaic Mondays. I can't think of summertime without thinking of little boys and ice cream, swimming pools and playing games (with baskets on their heads) - flowers, donkies in the field, seagulls singing their songs and lovely summer days.

Hooked of Fridays - and flowers

There is a party going on - on Fridays - over at - Hooked on Houses come along and see the wonderful things other bloggers are hooked on.

My obsession right now is flowers - all sorts - all colors.

These bright little pansies are in a pot hanging on the porch railing. They survived the winter and are blooming like crazy - and have been for weeks. It gets really hot on that porch in sunny weather and yet they keep right on. Just recently I noticed that a stalk of bird seed was growing in the same pot - and the bird feeders are not nearby. I'll have to try and get a picture of it.

Foxgloves are one of my favorites - the name come from the traditional "folks gloves" - because the little folks in the gardens would take the single bells and wear them for gloves.

White against a purple rhododendron - what a combination!

And the lovely pink "folks gloves" - one of my favorites . . .

This white one was growing across the street, near the woods, on a slope. It looks like it grew upside down. The next day it had fallen over in the rain, I was glad I got a photo of it.

I love the freckles inside the fox gloves. . .and you can almost see the fairies putting their tiny babies to sleep in the flowers, rocking them to sleep in the breeze. . .

This sweet little fairy sits next to a new miniature rose on the porch - see the rain on the bench? We've not seen much of that lately - but hopefully more soon. The blossoms on this rose are so cute and sweet - again - I'll get a picture of them soon.

We dug these ox eye daisies alongside the roads in the country, this spring. Our oldest daughter helped me transplant them into our garden and they've gone crazy. They reseed quite well and I envision waves of them next summer.

And the larger shasta daisy - I got these in a barter group we belong to. They have grown to be about 6 feet tall and are peeking through the railings on the porch - 6 steps above the ground level, and Crow Crow is enjoying them.

Don loves to buy me bouquets and he couldn't resist this big bouquet of sunflowers from the farm stand a few weeks ago. They are so bright and cheery.

Up close and personal with one sunflower - such a pretty face!

A lovely bouquet of snapdragons - the brightest sunniest yellow possible. Do your snapdragons sing when you pinch the bottom of the individual flowers? Mine can't stop singing - some high, some low, always singing all the day long.

Listen closely - don't you hear that sweet music? Laaaa la la la laaaaaaa . . .

Two bouquets of gladioloas - Don's favorite flower and I get to enjoy his love of flowers too . . .

More pink and white - and just a glimpse of the purple bouquet . . .

Close-up of the purple - such colors!!

And the pinks - so lovely . . .

The white is spectacular, with just the fainest pink shading.

I am so lucky to have Don bring me bouquets - sometimes he picks flowers from the yard and brings them in to me also - and sometimes he buys the flowers - but however they come - I love them all - and Don too.

Happy flowers to you - what is your favorite flower?