Snow Goose Festival

Last weekend was the Snow Goose Festival in Stanwood - just south of here. Don and I have been to Skagit Valley to see the snow geese and the Trumpeter swans many times - and this year we found out they have a festival celebrating the birds. We packed up some water, snacks, coats, hats, gloves, walking sticks and walking shoes and headed out early.

We wanted to be on the first tour bus that takes people around to see the magnificent flocks of snow geese. This was a special treat for Don, as he got to be a passenger instead of being the driver - and was able to see much more of the scenery and the birds.

Thousands of Wragnell Island (Russia) Snow Geese winter here - often covering the fields. . .


Our bus was driven by a lovely volunteer, Sharon, from Josephine Care Home. She volunteers for many events, besides doing her regular job as activity coordinator for Josephine Home. She was sweet and accomodating - and very interesting. She told us of trips she has arranged for seniors to Disneyland - to Las Vegas - to see a loved one - many of these she does on her own time. What a thrill to be driven around by such a wonderful woman. I didn't think to get a photo of her - but her memory will last with us for a long time. She is the spirit of giving.

Mt. Baker (second highest peak in WA) in the background. . .

We were able to find a road where we could stop and get out. The main roads have signs posted - and police in plain view - saying NO STOPPING AT ANY TIME - NO PARKING - and they mean it. The main road is a busy highway that goes to the San Juan Island ferries and it would be dangerous and foolish to park and get out of your car on these roads - but you see people doing it all the time.


Hundreds of Snow Geese - walking about - jabbering - eating - fussing with another who gets on their "space".

The geese can fly up and land again without ever sitting on anyone's head - amazing.

A bald eagle is flying over - and the birds are getting restless . . . they don't want to be lunch. . .Up they go - like curtains . . .

The whole flock takes flight - the sound is amazing as they call to each other - we had gotten out of the bus and were standing right next to the flock - we could hear the sound of their wings as they flew up.

Overhead shot - they circled right over us - calling the whole time - it was like a blanket of noise.

Settling back down - the eagle was past and they could get back to eating. They eat grass and seed - and often they will take over a winter wheat field and pluck up the new plants and the seeds. They are also partial to the pea plants that are grown here - eating seed and new sprout. The farmers receive subsidies for their damaged fields.

Then a walk on a self guided tour. It was right along the bay and the tide was way out - leaving us almost no birds to see - and no birds to photograph. There was an amazing amount of drift wood in the area and I loved the shapes of the tree roots. This must be an interesting place in the winter when the storms beat against the shore and the drift wood is piled high.

I thought this one looked like a seal . . .

It was so cold and windy - the wind cut right through our heavy jackets and gloves - so back into the car - and where else - a thrift store of course.!!!!

We poked around for quite a while and didn't find a lot to bring home - but I got two more shopping totes ( 25 cents each) to add to the bunch we carry in the car at all times.

One of the bags was Mary Engelbreit - and the other was for Save the Spirit Bear - a really worthwhile organization - set up by the youth of Canada.


I got some embroidery floss storage boxes - just like this - but not filled with floss. I got four of the boxes for 6.00 and will use a couple for sorting my vintage buttons into - and the others for organizing my floss - which REALLY need organizing.

Then lunch at the Stanwood Cafe - no photos - I never remember to bring in my camera while eating. It was a darling cafe - with great food. Don had a burger and fries - enough fries to serve almost everyone in the place. I had a turkey sandwich and a salad - both delicious. They hire local high school girls to be the waitresses - and all were very helpful.

There are all sorts of antiques in the cafe, as well as a counter with stools that go round and round. While we were there a family of three boys, mom and dad - came in and sat at the counters. The boys really loved those stools. There was such local color there - retired farmers in their overalls and boots - the young family (apparently just finished with basketball practice), older folks chatting with long time friends. And the prices - we had our big filling lunches for just 13.24 for the two of us - you don't see that very often around here. We will certainly go back for lunch when we visit Stanwood again - and next time I'll try and remember to take photos. It was such a great "hometown" cafe.

A great day - birds, shopping, lunch and when we got home - Jahn came over for a visit - just a perfect day. And a tired Grammy.

A fly went by - well not really a fly

The other day I heard some strange beeping and chugging and bumping and general noisy noise. Ben was here and was taking a rest in our bedroom. I looked out the window and saw a man walking backwards up our hill (near the rock wall that gets hit so regularly on snowy days) - and he had a remote in his hand.

Watching him - I saw this come into view . . .

Wait - there is no driver - that is weird. I ran to the bedroom and had Ben look out the window - he was really excited to see a whole house going down the street. He said to me - Oh Grammy, so that is how you got your new house.

Past the boat. . .

Hey - watch that rock wall there buddy . . .

Look out - there is squishy grass there - you might sink up to your axles. . .

Now to get around this corner. . .

Safely around the corner - see the guy on the right with his remote - he handled the whole moving process with this remote - it enabled him to run back and forth and look at the position of the house on the road.

Goodbye house - wonder where it is off to.

Taking a ride

Now that gas prices have gone down a little - we are paying 1.79 a gallon most days - Don and I have started taking rides again - it is one of our main entertainments - don't go to the movies - don't eat out much - and we have nice chats along the way - such a pleasant way to spend a sunny afternoon in the winter. . . or summer . . . or fall . . . just about any time.

Our main destination was to a spot where we can have extraordinary views of some of the mountains in our area. . .

The Three Sisters - when we first moved here we were confused as to the name of this group - sometimes called the Three Brothers - so now we just call them The Siblings. There is a nice spot in the road to pull over for a view.

Getting closer - there is a lot of snow blown off some of the rocky mountainsides . . .

Even closer . . . those are some fine mountains!

And the best view of all - I am thinking of entering this photo in a local contest for calendar photos - what do you think?

Then on the way home we decided to take a road that goes along the back of the big lake. There isn't much traffic and we can daudle all we want. We saw this road sign and our minds were busy with thoughts of how it came to have this name. Was it older than all the other lanes in this area? Did older folks live down this lane? Did someone named Older live down here? Oh the fun of the imagination!!

And a new sign - what a dandy one!

A log with wonderful fungi on it - amongst the old leaves from last fall . . .

The fun things you find on a slow, old road - someone's great mailbox . Across the road from this was a house and a very old hamburger stand - all saggy and worn out - but at one time you could buy hamburgers along this road behind the lake. I can just see the kids gathering around in their bathing suits - waiting for their hamburgers and milkshakes - ahhhh summer.

And what is this? We saw it on this tree stump - out in the forest. At first we thought it was a strange bird - but at closer look . . .

We still don't know what it is. Sometimes it looks like a rock - how did it get way up there? This stump is about 20 feet all. Sometimes it looks like a package wrapped up with string - how DID it get up there?

Ohh a Green Man spirit on this fabulous mossy tree. Maybe two - do you see them?

Then - out into the sunshine along the lake - and these fabulous bird houses - can't you just see them in the summer, full of nesting birds.

It was a great ride - thanks for coming along. Where do you like to take rides and what do you look for?

The BIG Snow

A few posts ago you saw that it was snowing here again - well - it snowed and it snowed and it snowed. Most of the night it snowed. And we woke to this.

Looking out the dining room window throught a loon stained glass panel given to us by our son and daughter-in-law last christmas.

This is the Oso Berry bush behind the loons - it was heavy with snow. . .

I stepped outdoors onto the porch in the early morning with my new camera to get a few shots of the snow. I had the camera in my right hand - and reached over with my left hand to undo the latch on the storm door - and knocked the camera out of my hand - it skipped right across the steps - spurted through the railings and into a snow bank. I have on fuzzy slippers - don't move too fast in those because they are floppy and come off my feet if I hurry. Back into the house - slam on some shoes - and out I go - down the steps into the deep snow (lowcut slip on shoes really fill up with snow fast) searching - find the spot where the camera hit - come on - find it quick - your new camera is in the snow!!!!. Ok - dig around with your bare hands - figure the trajectory of the camera once it left the steps - dig some more - how come there isn't an indentation where the camera hit? - ahhhh dig more - here is the strap. Pull the poor little snow covered camera out of the snow - shake off most of the snow - blow on the rest of the snow to make it fly off the camera - ohh camera, don't die!!!! Blow off all the snow - now wipe carefully around the lens - it is extended and wet - don't want any water inside the camera.

Wheewwww - seems ok. I take some photos and go indoors - my feet are soooo cold and my hands are now numb - but the camera seems ok. I get out the special cleaning cloth from my glasses and wipe the lens and any place that I think might have moisture. Then I close the lens and the automatic cover has moisture on it - open the lens - yup - steam on the lens. I wipe it down - repeat a zillion times until there is no more moisture or steam visible and leave the camera to sit all day. As you can tell, the camera is fine. Add this to the list of things to never do again.

The snow was thick and heavy and coated everything. The car looked interesting - but underneath that fluffy coat of snow is an inch of solid ice. Don had to carry gallons of water out to pour on the windows - after scraping what he could. The driver side door was frozen shut - the handle seemed to work but the door wouldn't open. He got in from the passenger side and pushed on the door until it opened - and then it wouldn't latch when he closed it - a little screwdriver work and it finally latched when closed - what a start to a day.

Two frogs - huddled under a blanket of snow . . . ribbet ribbet

Frogs without snow . . . candles go in their tummies. . .

Inukshuk is under there someplace. . . Read more about Inukshuk - it is also the mascot for the Vancouver BC 2010 Winter Olympics.

Neighbor's bushes . . .

Snowy boat . . .

Snow ghosts - this was the first photo taken after I found my camera in the snow - you can see some of the fog on the lens. Look at the upper left corner - see that sun - I had NEVER noticed it before (click to enlarge). It is on a hanger left by the previous owner. I've used the hanger, but never saw the sun face. When I saw this photo I had to go outdoors and look at that hanger to see what it was, as I didn't remember seeing it before. Now I shall look around my yard more carefully and see what else I'm overlooking.

Trees across the road . .

Birdfeeders and suet feeder on the right with oranges for the birds - frozen solid. . .

On the way to work the sun had come out and the world looked like a fairy land - heavy snow on the trees - it was absolutely glorious!

Reflections of the glorious blue sky . . .

A Blue Jay sitting in a cedar tree. . .

Can it get any prettier?

Oh - I guess it can . . .

Those colors just make your heart sing . . .and your fingers freeze. . .

These are raspberry bushes out near our youngest daughter's new house. There are hundreds and hundreds of acres of these fields in our area. The vines are trained up and tied to wires - making it easier for the pickers to get in and harvest the berries. In the summer we go to the farmers' fields and buy flats of raspberries - 14.00 for a flat of berries - they go in the freezer for winter eating and for jam made on cooler days.

It was an amazing snow - but I don't want any more - thankyewvery much - I've had enough of winter - give me some spring and daffodils please!!!! Is your winter holding on tight? Or beginning to loosen its grip a little?