Sunrise in the Okanogan

Fire, fire everywhere. The sun peeked through the smoky cloud cover this morning. Other pictures show the various stages of the fire . . . until it crept up too close for comfort.

Watching the Chelan fires from the top of our mountains. Very far away!

The first hint that something's burning closer.

Burning alongside highway 97 on our way evacuating. Glad I'm not that house in the front.

Top 12 Things to Enjoy on the Homestead

What's so fun about visiting the homestead? Let me count the ways through pictures . . .

1. Getting as dirty as you like and nobody makes you take a bath!

 

2. Hiking to the "top of the world."

3.  Fishing!

4. Hanging out in the hammock.

5. Rafting on the lake.

6. Shooting BB guns.

7. Riding the 4-wheeler!

8. Sleeping in the pole barn (you don't have to keep your room clean).

9. Doing projects in the garage, like building and painting birdhouses.

10. Hanging out with Grandpa.

11. Catching butterflies and other critters.

12. Working hard . . . Oops. Maybe not a favorite . . .

Springtime on the Mountain

I went for a walk in the woods the other day. Here are some early spring arrivals, but I don't know their names.

This is a wild strawberry plant.

This is a close-up of the hillside covered with flowers like this.

Garden of the Gods

We stopped to visit Andrew in Colorado Springs this week. It was a beautiful spring day in Colorado! So we went to the Garden of the Gods and hiked around.

Roger and I with Pikes Peak in the background.

The rock climbers were out in good numbers today!

Pikes Peak, third highest mountain in the continental U.S.: 1. Mt. Whitney, 2. Mt. Rainier, 3. Pikes Peak

I've been to Mt. Rainier and stood on top of Pikes Peak, but have not made it to Mt. Whitney (yet).

If you look closely above the summit, you can see a contrail from a jet. Andrew told us that Jane often goes on pilot-training flights from Texas and flies up here and goes around Pikes Peak!

The Blood Moon

About 4:45 am, PT. Nearly total

 It was dark. It was cold. But it was the night. The night of the blood moon, and I was hoping for clear skies. The weather map showed a finger of clear weather for central Washington State.

Armed with a warm jacket, a fleecy blanket, and a pair of binoculars, I made my way out onto the deck. Roger had already gotten up and snapped this first picture, but it was hard for the camera to focus on it.

I peeked at the moon, but it was the stars that overwhelmed me. It's dark up at 3,000 feet with no city lights! Since I'm never up at this time of the night, I didn't even recognize the constellations. Orion had set hours ago.

I didn't last long for the first peek. "Not total yet," I said and crawled back under the warm fleece sheets and blankets of my bed.

5:00 am. Total lunar eclipse. April 4, 2015

I watched the clock for 4:53, supposedly the first of the whole 4 minutes the moon would be totally eclipsed and "blood red." Well, it wasn't blood red, but a beautiful dark orange. It looked amazing through the binoculars too!

I sat in a porch chair this time, wrapped up in my fleece blanket, but I didn't last long. I didn't have to. Four minutes is a very short time for a total lunar eclipse. I saw it. Roger took pictures. We went back to bed.

I went back to sleep.

I believe there is another "blood moon" scheduled for September. It is amazing to me how mathematicians can calculate an upcoming (years, even) lunar or solar eclipse to the very minute it will begin and end, and yet they can't make the obvious conclusion that an ordered universe--precise to the second--demands an orderly Creator. It boggles the mind to hear their convoluted explanations.

Thanks. I'll pass and stick with Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

New Cabinets

 Finally, at long last, the kitchen is beginning to shape up. Here are pictures of the first set of cabinets, the ones across from the sink/counter. The first picture shows the little range/stove  top and the microwave, and formica counter top for baking. The second picture shows the extra storage in the under-counter cabinets from the living room side. When you live in a 625 sq ft place, "small spaces" takes on a new meaning. The cabinets are lovely!

The Blueberries Found a Home

Our blueberries finally found a home for the winter. Deer netting in place. Mulch around the plants. Hopefully they last through their first winter in Eastern WA!