My Everyday Photos

A Change of Scenery

Weather at home has been cold, frigid even with temperatures in the single digits and below. I missed that. Nine days ago four of us left Twisp traveling for 25 hours; first by car to Seattle, where we met one more friend, flying to Chicago and then to San Juan Puerto Rico and then a short flight in a tiny plane to Vieques. There we met our yoga teacher for a week of yoga practice, snorkeling and some really terrific food. It was a wonderful experience. Just yesterday I saw my first iguana, cuckoo, and sea turtles and I spent much time snorkeling.
Here are just a few images as I await a connecting flight at JFK.

(this did not upload before our flight so today, at home, I finally got it online. Sorry for the delay)

November is Over

December 1, 2013 – 8:06 pm
Posted in Puppy
Tagged Christmas tree, clarks nutcraker, fireworks, labrador puppy, pygmy nuthatch, Winthrop
Comments (1)

Snow fell last night and turned to rain and now it’s snowing again. Some of us feel that the snow is a little late this year. The pass out of here to the west closed this afternoon and it might not open again. So that brings us to ‘the end of the road’. Winthrop celebrates this during Thanksgiving weekend with Christmas carols, bonfires, Santa’s arrival and my favorite – winter fireworks! We watched last nights pyrotechnics from one of Winthrop’s pedestrian bridges and enjoyed their reflections on the Chewuch River. Friday we went to the mountains to get Christmas trees with our friends and we also found snow. There are few birds around these days. The local wintering species are few and far between and the interesting migrants from the north haven’t arrived. Well not at my house, anyway. And the puppy keeps growing.

She might be a good tumbleweed retriever?

Clark’s Nutcracker

Sky puts the sneak on Luna

Playing

Pygmy Nuthatch

Black-capped Chickadee. Most of our chickadees are Mountain.

Little dog likes big sticks

What was that?

Scott got a lovely tree, not the Charlie Brown kind.

Sky helps. Not.

Ken hauls our tree down the hill. Don and Mary already had theirs.

A successful Christmas tree hunt shared with good friends.

After the dry and sometimes gray November it is time for a change of scenery.

Frozen Rainy Lake

November 28, 2013 – 7:14 am
Posted in North Cascades
Tagged alpenglow, ice skating, labrador puppy, North Cascades, Rainy Lake, snow
Comments (1)

Once winter really settles in, the passes out of the valley to the west are closed to traffic and we find ourselves near ‘the end of the road’. So far this year, we haven’t had too much snow but it has been cold enough to freeze many of the lakes. On Sunday we took the drive up to Rainy Pass and walked through the snow to frozen Rainy Lake. Ken took his ice skates and I carried my cameras and we took the dogs too. Of course. It was mid-afternoon by the time we got up there and the sun had dropped behind the North Cascades but it was warmer up high than down here in the valley. This is a weather inversion and has caused a bit of air pollution in some places. It was a fun walk and Sky’s first real experience with snow! Nothing seems to slow her down. We did try to keep her from going to far off-trail for fear she would get stuck and we’d have to rescue her. The ice was pretty rough for skating and Ken thought it might be a little soft too but he gave it a try. The dogs loved running on it and I just tried to keep them all away from each other. Walking back to the car, the alpenglow light on the high peaks was amazing.

We are ever so grateful to live in this beautiful place.

Frozen creek along the trail

Frozen Rainy Lake

Ice skating

Portrait of Sky

Looking west on the highway

Alpenglow

Last of the light

Looking towards the big switchback below Washington Pass

Late November

November 25, 2013 – 4:56 pm
Posted in dogs
Tagged clarks nutcraker, dogs, labrador puppy, Methow hikes, mule deer buck, swans
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No snow on the ground here in the valley. It came and went earlier in the month and recently it has been mostly just cold and clear. Good conditions for walks with dogs and watching wildlife. There is some skiing up on the pass but it looks like it will be a while before our local trails have any snow for grooming. Seems like last year there was skiing at Thanksgiving weekend. Maybe I am not remembering right.

Handsome fellow

This one was just across the street

Coyote running away

Hi. Do you need your screen licked?

Cold mornings make for great images

Pipestone Canyon from up on top

This one was at our house

Osprey nest, also used by Canada Geese earlier in the season

No wonder she drives Luna crazy

There were lots of swans around the valley earlier in the week. Most of the smaller lakes are now frozen. This photo is from Tuesday and by yesterday, Sunday, folks were ice skating there.

Downy Woodpeckers are plentiful this time of year

A Clark’s Nutcracker caches seeds in the loose bark for wintertime foraging

I got the stick!

Shiny

I got the bone!

Is that a jackrabbit?

A boy and his dog and a photo bomb

I’m taking my stick and going home now

Puppy’s First Mountain

November 15, 2013 – 10:25 am
Posted in hike
Tagged black labrador, dogs, hike, Patterson Lake, Patterson Mountain, puppy
Comments (1)

On Wednesday, the dogs and I hiked to the top of Patterson Mountain. It’s not a long hike or particularly challenging but if you are a three month old puppy, it might be a big event in your short life! According to the hike report it is 1 1/2 miles from the lake to the summit, gaining 1100 feet elevation. Enough to warm you up. Sky was a trooper, staying on the trail and keeping up with no problem. We encountered one other group of hikers on our way up – the Wednesday hiking ladies. We stopped and had a nice visit with them and I was warned that if my puppy went missing that I might want to check in Chris’s backpack! As usual, Sky attracted a lot of attention. We started and ended the hike with a visit to Patterson Lake and Sky almost, inadvertently, went swimming!