Rustic Outdoor Kitchen by Architectural Digest

Getting Ready to Hybernate - Finding Good Books

This time of year - putting the garden to bed, washing windows and screens, filling the freezer with meals - well, I've sat a spell mid-afternoon, savoring my coffee and enjoying the quiet.

I finished "Saved by Beauty" by Roger Housden. It's a sort of inner pilgrimage as he tours Iran, exploring its cultural and artistic side. A contemporary review, he features the webs of intrigue and deceit prevalent in present day Iran.

I'm enjoying "The Land of Feast and Famine" by Helge Ingstad. He is known for his discovery of a Viking village at L'Anse aux Meadows on the far tip of Newfoundland. In this book he relives his memories trapping and hunting in the Northwest Territories.

I finished, "Tundra", part of a trilogy by Farley Mowat. He also describes life 'at the top of the world'. There is an account by Samuel Hearne who explored the area in 1769. He came across a solitary figure in a lone hut hundreds of miles from the nearest settlement. For seven months this person lived alone, never seeing anyone and surviving by trapping and snaring animals. It was a solitary young woman who had been captured by Indians and was now returning home.

She had lost her way, but built her shelter, and had a sufficient supply of food and clothing when they found her. She built only one fire in those seven months which she had never allowed to go out. Hearne described her remarkable fortitude and beauty, the clothes she made from tanned hides, and the time she took to embellish them.

Hearne was astonished at her composure and self-sufficiency. The Indian guides, however, saw her quite differently. They fought with each other to claim her. It was not mentioned what happened to her. I'm pleased she is now part of my memory, a solitary woman who lived over 200 years ago!

I've Google Earthed the entire area of exploration, scanning the shoreline of the Beaufort Sea, the Barrens - what an amazing place. Flickr also has photographs of the areas I studied, showing people kayaking down the Coppermine River, enjoying the beauty of the countryside.

Yesterday I perused photographs of 'The Montana Project', a collection of historical photos online. I spent time reading historical accounts of Browning, where the Blackfeet live not far from Glacier Park.

Tuesday I had a new furnace installed. Sure works great! Today I'll be patching window seams with clay coils to conserve heat. Then we'll put plastic up over the windows, on the inside.

Taraz and Mom at Pike's Market in Seattle

Taraz flew up from Denver to enjoy a family gathering here - Rahmat, Matt and Ruhiyyih, Rue, Annie, Daisy and Daniel.

Multi-Colored Quinoa Salad

Tomatoes from the garden, blackberries from a gulch.

Sunflower Seeds - For the Birds

We are busy putting the garden to bed for the winter. I'm pulling everything out and shredding it, piling it on top of the growing berms. George is digging out the manure in the trenches and piling it on top. We've done three berms and one trench; sixteen more berms to go, with adjacent trenches. Hoping for more sunny days.

Rahmat's Campsite in Hood River

After spending a good part of the summer down in Hood River, Oregon, Rahmat is once again in Tacoma, working at his old job and sharing an apartment with a friend. We drove up in the mountains to explore his campsite then packed his stuff. While George and Rahmat loaded up the van I picked blackberries. Oodles of them, so sweet, by a drainage ditch.

Family Reunion in the Mid-west

"Hard workin' men, good-hearted women". That explains George's extended family. We spent almost a week visiting them in Ohio and Michigan, with all the cousins on the west coast and east coast attending.

I now understand where many American values come from - the family farm, a church community that cushions and protects, and service organizations that fill the cracks, keeping an eye on children and the disadvantaged.

We appreciated farm food, wonderfully home-grown, freshly picked and simply prepared. At Helen's home it was common to have many different vegetables served at a meal, all cooked to perfection. We also had a Sunday lunch in a rural cafe where breakfast was served all day, and dinner at a Lion's Club meeting that featured chopped red jello with Dream Whip sprayed on top - something I haven't had in decades.

The following posts convey images from the trip - visiting family farms, successful family businesses, and the stories that haunt old cemeteries.

We had good flights, easy connections, and the most wonderful accommodations, one of which was a bed and breakfast out in the country. I spent several mornings, coffee in hand, walking through an old barn, and through meadows where mist hovered in the morning. Just an exquisite place, the heartland!

Sharing Haskins Green Photographs

Tom Explains His Business

$60,000,000 in sales, this year.

Touring Glei's Apple Orchards

Glei's grow fruit trees, annuals, perennials, vegetables, process
apples for market, and make apple juice.

Edith and David's - Family Time

Picking Elderberries with Helen

Helen and I spotted an elderberry patch along a country road.
She said she would make a pie, and if there were enough, she'd make a jar of jam. I loved her vegetable garden and her pantry. She cans a lot of her produce, and makes labels that show the ingredients - generally no more than three, all natural.

Going Back: Hillsdale, Michigan

We visited some of the cemeteries in Ohio and Michigan where George's family members are buried. Dick and Judy sit awhile on a family gravestone after watering the plants.
The rest of us quietly wandered the cemetery, reading headstones.
The family checked out the old family homestead.
George's grandparents lived here, raising 8 children!

Lions Club at the North Adams Coffee Shop

Well, as my Dad would say, "It is a little 'one-horse-town'. There are about 12 members of the North Adams Lions Club - devoted fund raisers who meet once a month.

After dinner was served we listened to a presentation by Judy's daughter, Lora, on Leader Dogs for the blind.

This small Michigan town reminds me of 'The Waltons', a TV series I enjoyed decades ago. Down to earth, neighbors helping neighbors.

Magee Marsh Wildlife Area - Ohio

Magee Marsh covers about 2000 acres of wetlands. It is unique because it provides all of the components vital to a marsh system - beach ridge access, deep and shallow water, an open marsh and sedge meadow.

These conditions provide a critical stopover habitat for migrating birds.

We stopped for lunch here, then explored the walkway.

I enjoyed walking in the tall grass along the beach.

Stopping Briefly in Denver

We arrived safely home about 9:45 p.m., found a pile of newspapers in the chair on the front porch, and heard a very lonely cat inside.

We Camped at Baker Lake on the Weekend

We spent the Labor Day weekend north of Seattle at Shannon Creek Campground on Baker Lake. Nestled in the foothills of Washington's rugged North Cascades, Baker Lake lies in the shadow of two of the area's tallest mountains, Mount Baker and Mount Shuksan.

It was a change for us, heading into an area of greater population density. The weekend recreational areas were packed with noise and people - something we generally avoid. But, it was an enjoyable change, being a part of the fabric of humanity on a holiday, and we had a good time.

Listening to loons calling at dawn was a real treat.

One man flew in his family on a private plane, so they could spend the day swimming.

We checked out every campground along our route through the Skagit Valley, to determine campsites for future trips. Whatcomb County's Silver Lake was packed with swimmers and sun-bathing.

Canoeing Lake Baker - A Delightful Afternoon

The shoreline of Baker Lake is beautiful and varied, with lots of tree roots and stumps underwater.

The water is incredibly clear and cold where this stream enters the lake. We paddled upstream as far as we could, then let the currant push us downstream.
Ancient roots reaching for the water.

Hiking the Shoreline Trail - Baker Lake

We spent an afternoon hiking along the shoreline of Baker Lake.

This dramatic beach was washed out in the flood of 2006.

We took the eastern trail down toward Noisy Creek Campground.