Get Your Geese in a Row

We live very near a huge lake - Lake Whatcom.  It is right in the middle of town and extends miles up into the woods.  There are parks along the lake, and many houses.  We drive past the lake, sometimes several times a day, and I always look for an opportunity to get more photos of it.

Early one morning - I could see the Canada Geese on the logs that separate the swimming area from the boating area.  Quick, park the car (there is no place to park by the geese, and traffic is heavy all day at this location), get out of car, gather camera and tripod, wait for traffic, across the street, find the best location - ok - Canada Geese.

Some of these geese will migrate south - some will stay for the winter. I wonder how they decide?

Some days the water of Lake Whatcom, just a few blocks from our house is still and flat, this day there was a little wind to ripple the water

Most of the geese were sleeping

Some were tending to their feathers

With the sun coming up behind the geese, I got good silhouettes of them

Is he the guard?

Someday I'd like to stay long enough to watch them all get into the water- that would be exciting!!!  I'll take a lawn chair!

Scenic Weekends  Smile It's Friday  

Weekly Top Shot  Weekend Reflections 

NatureFootstep - Winged 

Are We Walking To Alaska ?

This is a different kind of post - but one that I'm very proud of - my book, Are We Walking to Alaska?,  has been featured on Fourth Wall Friday - at Cabin Goddess, a wonderful site that features authors and their books.  My book is a bit different than the ones regularly featured on the site.  Kriss did a fabulous job in the feature story.

That is me on the left in the photo.  This picture was taken on my mom's birthday. My little brother has a cast on his arm and a black eye - the story is in the book (no, I did not beat him up)

I'd be honored if you would visit and see the post about my book.  I'm very proud of my book - the story of our family moving to Alaska in the 1950s, before Alaska was a state.  My adventures were exciting to a young girl and I'd love to share them with you.  

You can purchase my book from a link on Kriss's page - or by clicking the postcard just under my header above, or from Amazon.com, just by searching the name of the book, "Are We Walking To Alaska?", in print or kindle.

 It is a book that the whole family can enjoy - I hope you will find it intriguing and as interesting to read as I found it to be when I was writing it.

Me and my youngest brother, Jeff, making snowmen in Alaska.  Notice that Jeff's hat is on the snowman in front of me.

Oh The Places I've Been  

Mt. Baker

A whole blog post - devoted to nothing else except Mt. Baker.  After the rains cleared away, we could see the mountain - and she is wearing her first winter coat - of snow.

 

 Our first view of Mt. Baker with snow - not too far from our house.  The mountain is actually about 50 miles from our house, but we have many wonderful views of it.

The side peaks appear to be flat against Mt Baker

 

The next familiar view of Mt. Baker - taken from near Ferndale.  The Sisters are on the right, I  love it when I can get both in one photo.

A peaceful country scene

The little cloud over the side peaks on the right is called a Lenticular Cloud - they form from the unique climate created by the mountain itself.  This was the first one we'd seen on the lower peaks, usually the Lenticular Clouds are above Mt. Baker

 

Later that same week we went to Skagit Valley - and had a completely different view of Mt. Baker.  Mt. Baker is 10,781 ft (3,286 m) tall and can be seen from British Columbia Canada, the San Juan Islands off the very NW corner of Washington, the Olympic Peninsula and on very good days from as far south as Seattle and Tacoma.  One day I shall have views from all those places.

In 1999 Mt. Baker set the world record for the highest recorded snowfall in a single season—1,140 in (2,900 cm).  That is 95 FEET of measurable snowfall in one season.  

The view from Skagit Valley shows the side peaks are not flat up against Mt. Baker, as they seem to be from Whatcom County (our county)

 

Close up of the trees growing on the foothills in front of Mt. Baker

Mt. Baker

Rurality  

Oh The Places I've Been  

Cottage Style Decorating

I have to give in - summer is gone - autumn is here - rain, blustery, chilly, cozy in the warm house days are here - so it is time to dig into autumn decorating.  Avoiding as much bright orange as I can, I think I've decorated quite well.  I don't decorate a lot, but what I do is fun. Let's have a look around.

Come on in - you are always welcome

Sir and Madam Crow are here to greet you

Come in, make yourself comfy, says Sir Crow

Yes indeedy, we've been waiting, Sir just swept the porch for you

See my lovely black bird and punkin

And a cute little birdhouse at Madam's feet.  We're glad you came.

The sideboard is set with pretty harvest fruits and vegetables

A mini ghost pumpkin in a pear dish (hmmm is that similar to a partridge in a pear tree?)

Little pitcher is great for serving hot soups in, on a blustery autumn day like today.

My newest thrift store find, from Blaine, WA in  a lovely shop, "Needful Things Amour".  A charming shop with a charming owner. She greets you sweetly when you arrive and answers any questions cheerfully.  She also gives classes in painting furniture with chalk pain.  I also got the pear dishes there the same day.  We definitely will go back.

Leaves and vines on the handle of the new pitcher

And one of my all-time favorites, a medium size cabbage soup tureen.  Perfect for autumn dinners.

A few candles and a doily complete the setting

More leaves on the spout of the pitcher.  I like the subdued colors of this pitcher.

And autumn tea is ready for company - read more about this tea and the new teapot HERE.

Cottage Style Party  

Starlings

Starlings in their winter finery, dining on Ash Tree Berries.  There are two birds enjoying the treat - do you see them both?

Tuesday Muse  

Geese and Reflections

The ponds in our park are very near our house - we stop be often to see what the Canada Geese and ducks are up to.  On Friday it was sunny and the reflections were amazing.

The late afternoon light made wonderful reflections of the geese and the grass on the banks

A nice lazy afternoon - swimming on the pond

Wait for me!

There are houses on the edge of the pond and the light reflected the lawn chairs and the picket fence in the water

Mint and pink lawn chairs - with Canada Geese and a Mallard churning through the colors

NatureFootstep - Catching the Light  

White Autumn Teapot

As you might know -  or will soon learn - I'm not a fan of the bright autumn colors - no bright oranges for me thank you.  So this weekend Don set out to find me some small white pumpkins - they called them ghost pumpkins.  He found some at the grocery store and surprised me with them - they are just the perfect thing for my tea for two with my new teapot.

We  made a brief stop at Goodwill this last weekend and I always browse through the teapots and dishes - and what  a treasure I found.  I can't believe someone else hadn't snapped it up - I know they put out new merchandise mainly on Wednesdays - and yet there it was - waiting for me on Sunday.  And two matching cups. 

Isn't this the prettiest all-white teapot?  Leaves and berries and flowers, oh my!

Perfect with some white candles and the mini ghost pumpkins

To add a little color I used a green Depression Glass plate for the cookies, and yellow checked napkins

And green Depression Glass saucers for just a little more color, Washington is, after all, the Evergreen State.

A footed Milk Glass cake stand is perfect for setting the teapot on

A few shortbread cookies and we are ready for tea

The top of the lid has a strawberry and leaf - so cute

The front of the teapot has strawberries and flowers and leaves

The back is mostly leaves

Come, sit, enjoy a cup of Constant Comment tea this fine, rainy, blustery autumn day

The ghost pumpkins sit atop upside down dessert dishes.

The tablecloth is a fabulous hand crocheted find on ebay (12.00 if you must know).  My mother had one just like this one when I was a child.

Milk Glass and Depression Glass dessert dishes are just the right size to hold the pumpkins

A wonderful day for tea with friends, I'm so glad you stopped by

Each time I look at this teapot and the cups I like them more and more

Is two cookies enough? There are lots more - and might I add a bit of honey to your tea?

We Call It Olde    Tea Cup Tuesday  

Tuesday Cuppa Tea    Return To Loveliness  

Friends Sharing Tea