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End of Summer Hike

The days are growing shorter and this week the forecast promises cooler temperatures and rain again. Fall is coming. Summer is always the shortest season here in the Methow. Luna and I got up high in the mountains once more this past week to enjoy the sunshine and warmth before fall’s chill settles in.

I always have to stop and take in this view
That’s where we are going
A group of three ravens kept us company
Luna runs for joy
She’s wearing a colorful scarf because hunting season has started. I would not want anyone to mistake her for a bear or mule deer
We hiked across and down that talus slope and through the basin
Blue gentian – one of the few blooming wildflowers
A few creeks were still flowing, probably from the previous week’s downpour
Aster with pollinators
Two of these Red-tailed Hawks soared above us – kiting in search of food
There were few mushrooms along this route
And the view down valley from up high
Mountains looming above the ridge where we started
Slate Peak
Are we going that way?
Canada is only twenty miles away, thirty if you are on the nearby PCT.
A disappearing snow patch
Old, dirty snow
Ravens watch
We went up this trail to return to the road
Mt Baker
We made a little detour to the lookout before walking down the road to the car
I always like to take a walk through the silver forest. There are usually good birds
Another hawk
It could have been the same one we saw earlier
Tiny Campanula flowers

Winthrop Vintage Cars and RV’s

I’m a bit behind with photos these days. Seems like I’ve been working non-stop since we returned from Canada and then when I do have a few moments for fun, I come home with more photos! Maybe someone should stop me…..

Last weekend was the vintage car/rv/bicycle event in Winthrop. The RV’s were in the Pine Near RV Park and part of the main street was shut down for the cars. I never did get to see the bicycles. We had lunch in town with friends and saw some of the specially cared-for vehicles. Like a packrat or magpie I seem to be attracted to bright and shiny objects. Don’t ask me any info about the models or years – I really don’t anything about these things. They are just pretty shiny things.

 

This one doesn’t quite belong in the set.
My favorite of the vintage rv’s. Very luxurious inside.
Watching the people watching the cars from the balcony at Carlos’ restaurant.
There’s something I’ve never seen before. And notice how she’s practicing her parade wave!
My favorite hood ornament

A Magic Garden

Along the Blue Lake Trail

Ken and Luna and I did the short hike to Blue Lake Sunday afternoon. After the previous week’s torrential rain storms, highway 20 is once again closed so hikers can only access some of the trails from the east side. It was a good time to go. And then when we started on the trail we were amazed by the dizzying array of mushrooms we saw! Their spores had waited patiently for the big rains and then they burst through the surface of the soil, moss, bark, dead wood – where ever they could find an opening.

 

The lake is up there
This log bridge always makes me nervous
Blue Lake not in color?
It’s that blue.
A tiny tarn
A small pond near the trailhead
Boardwalks for the muddy areas

A New Border Collie Puppy

My friend Lynne got a new border collie last month! How sweet is that? Everyone thinks Bree is just the cutest little girl they ever saw. No doubt, she will be an agility champion someday. She already wants to do what her big brother, Trip, does in the ring.

Bree sits
Bree looks up to Lynne!
Bree reflecting Lynne
Bree trying to chase down Luna with her bone
Bree trying to figure out how to get her bone from Luna
Bree with her bone
Bree has Luna’s tennis ball while Trip watches
Trip with Luna’s tennis ball
Sweet Bree

Honey Harvest

Continuing on with the ‘abundance’ theme, Ken harvested his honey this past Labor Day weekend. After two seasons of beekeeping we were anxious to see what we would get. We knew it was not a lot but after last year when some other bees robbed all of our honey we felt like any that we could harvest would be a bonus.

Ken had ‘supers’ on top of the bee hives. These supers hold frames where the bees store honey after they have filled the main box and that is the honey that we get. The honey in the main box is for the bees – to get them through the long winter months. Ken took the super and all the frames that had honey in them over to Dave S’s house. Dave is a long-time Methow Valley beekeeper who has mentored many a new beekeeper and he said we could use his honey house and equipment to harvest our honey. The honey house is actually a greenhouse or hot house and it was HOT. This makes the honey flow easier and faster.

The first step is to cut wax caps off of the honey so it can get out. To do that you use a hot, electric knife. The caps fall into a screen and any honey there drips into a sink and then into a five gallon bucket. Buckets are important. The frames hang over that sink til they go into the extractor.

The extractor is an 80 year old machine that works very efficiently. Dave said he can still get parts for it and of course, there are no expensive electronic components to fail without notice. What a refreshing idea. I miss machinery like that. It spins the frames and using centrifugal force, pulls the honey out into the big barrel where it drips in to another bucket! It took all night for the honey to drain so Ken picked it up yesterday and we put it into jars. All told we got about 1 3/4 gallons. Not enough for a whole year for us but enough to get us started and have us looking forward to future years when, hopefully the hives will be stronger and make more honey.

 

 

Dave’s bees
Capped honey in the frame
The hot knife for opening the wax caps
Dave demonstrates how to use the hot knife
Ken gives it a try
Like that?
Like that.
Our honey begins to drip into the sink
And now you do this
The inside of the extractor
The extractor with frames in it
Still dripping
The wax caps. From this I got one muffin cup of wax I can use for encaustic projects.
Dave explains how the extractor works.
Spinning around
It’s a good thing
Round and round
Our honey starts to flow out of the extractor
Pouring out of the bucket
First jar
Overlooking the valley where it originated.
Dave said this is ‘premium’ honey because it is so very light