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Author Archives: Teri J Pieper

Fall is Slow to Come

The calendar says that fall is only days away. The forecast shows a high of 90 tomorrow. Smoke from forest fires changes the reality of everything. Colors from a distance are muted and without depth. Up close they seem brighter and illuminated. Nights are cool but by late afternoon the oppressive smoke held down by high pressure gives everything a cooked feeling. Maybe it’s just the ever-present smell of charred forests. Initially it’s like a welcome campfire and then you realize it’s not going away. Most likely, some of these fires will burn til the snow falls. And in the long-range forecast there is not even a drop of rain. Normally weather like this in September would be welcomed with open arms.

This morning I took the dogs and my cell phone for a walk and this what we came back with.

 

This soft image has a painterly feel to me. Patterson Mountain is in the distance. On a smoke-free day, you’d see the mountains of the North Cascades beyond it.

 

The chokecherries have lost most of their leaves while the serviceberries have turned yellow and orange in recent days.

 

There hasn’t been a frost on our hill yet. I think the bushes are doing this because it’s been so dry for so long.

 

There’s a chokecherry that has not yet dropped its leaves. Looking up, early in the day, there is some blue sky.

 

Maybe I prefer this in black and white…….

 

Bugs

When summer turns to fall, these bugs show up everywhere. Where do they spend the summer? They squeeze into every little crack and end up all over the house in unexpected places. This one was walking along the newly painted deck before flying off for a more private locale.

 

 

 

Fall Comes to Tiffany Mountain

Yesterday I hiked to Tiffany Mountain again. You may recall that Luna and I walked that trail back in July. Pictures are here. This time, my friend Marcy and her dog Guthrie went along. It started out fairly chilly with Marcy wearing a wool sweater but soon we were warm and enjoying the trail. It was good to be at a high elevation. Our valley is full of smoke from forest fires burning in various places throughought north central Washington. It looks like some will burn til the snow falls. Right now, there is no rain in the forecast to dampen them.

Tiffany looks much different than it did in July. At that time the snow was newly melted and the ground was moist and wildflowers were coming in to bloom. Yesterday, the trail was dusty; most flowers were dried and the grass was crisp. The verdant greens were gone replaced with dusty yellows and oranges. The first larch trees have turned yellow.

 

Exuberant dogs, happy to out of the car and on the trail

 

Stopping for a break in the sun, Guthrie expressed interest in my snacks

 

Layers of forest fire smoke fill the valleys and obliterate the views

 

A cool rock

 

If there’s an edge, Luna will stand next to it and look down

 

Tiffany Lake in the distance

 

Lunch away from the edge and sheltered from the breeze. The smoke is getting higher.

 

Looking back at the mountain top

 

Lots to photograph along the trail

 

We both enjoyed this red leafed plant with tiny leaves.

 

Fall colors

 

And still some paintbrush in bloom!

 

The first yellow larch trees

 

We were late for the fireweed flowers

 

The seedheads are pretty interesting and still colorful

 

An old burned forest.

 

Harvest Time

Putting away food for the cold months is a major preoccupation these days. Like bees gathering nectar for honey, we are freezing, drying, canning and just generally squirreling away food for winter. We have a deer in the freezer and lots of fish already (it’s not even steelhead season yet). From our neighbors, we have some rabbit, a new meat for us. And from the garden I’ve dried onions and garlic for storage, made pesto from our basil and also from our kale to store in our freezer. Beans are frozen as well as corn from the Columbia Basin. I’ve dried nectarines from a roadside stand and tomorrow I need to make some jam from the really ripe ones. There are lots of potatoes to dig. We hope to get some honey from Ken’s bees however they have recently been attacked by ‘robber bees’ from someone else’s hive. He’s covered most of the entrances but still these robber bees are all around and they are not only aggresive to Ken’s bees but to us and the dogs too.

 

These are the ‘robber bees’ trying to steal Ken’s bees’ honey

 

Various kinds of garlic to get us through the winter

Yellow Onions. I am not so good at growing onions as I am at growing garlic

 

Dried nectarines for skiing and hiking outings! What a treat.

 

Little tomatoes. These would be good dried.

 

Big tomatoes for fresh eating or sauce

 

Still some bees getting nectar and pollen from the tall sunflowers

 

 

 

Spring Rolls with Nasturiams

Ok, we like to eat. And we eat pretty well. So we eat a lot. But we do enjoy what we eat. Today I made spring rolls with nasturiams. Dogs surrounded me even though they didn’t get any spring rolls. Just the idea of it. Ken smiled. He likes spring rolls. So do I.

All the fresh stuff came from our garden.

 

The nasturtiams

 

The mess

 

Serve these up with peanut sauce and a savory sauce and what else do you need? A cold beer or a glass of white wine!

Life is good. Maybe we should make a t shirt! Oh wait, that’s been done…………