First snow!

Saturday afternoon the snow started to fall out north! Town already had gotten a bit, but we were still in the frozen ground mode at mum's. 

Sunday was lovely. Around 5pm I went out to take a few photos. The fog on the lake was startling and surreal. 

 The first snowfall is always so magical! Actually, almost every snowfall is magical! The lake seemed to be solid enough for the neighbor's labs to cross on, I reckon a few more weeks and it will  hold a human my size!

 Tracks of all kinds were scattered in the fresh snow. No moose, though.

 The birds were fliting and chirping and hopping to and from the feeders like crazy!!! There were lots of different kinds out there today-

In Five Days

This will be a rather long photo post. In just five days the lake has gone from open to closed. I was hoping to kayak in snow, but I didn't really want to go through ice to do it. The first photos are on October 14th just after 7 pm. 

I had decided I should go out on the water while I could and while there was distracted by styrofoam bits floating on the water. I was confused as to why the stuff was coming out from inside the pallet. It was making a mess in the water and I didn't want any of the ducks to try to eat it. I scooped it up for the trash. 

This is what I found when I flipped the pallet over. I was very annoyed! I will staple a 'covering' of plastic on it and maybe that will help protect it. 

 As you can see, it was nice enough to go out in a tank top! I did have a sweatshirt with me and added it before too long. Once that sun went down behind the trees, it got quite chilly!!!

On Tuesday, one of our friends from the Senior Center came over to trim trees and take out the downed one. Jim was a blessing for doing this for us. It was cold out, but more crisp than numbing. 

 I was so glad he took out this dadburn bush thing. I'd tried using an axe on it last summer. Or was it the summer before? No matter, it is now shorn down!

 This is the most surprising part of the yard now. I hadn't noticed how tall these trees were getting. Now they are stumps!

 Several of the wild flower seeds I'd planted were finally blooming. There were tiny blossoms here and there. I'm hoping for more next year.

 I was told to not do any of the larger pieces. He'd get to them after he was done trimming. Jim was surprised I loaded them all. I told him I was a short violet, not a shrinking one.

 See how different it looks????????

This was today. October 19. The lake had ice on the edges a few days ago, then there was ice in just the center. Wednesday and Thursday, it was mostly covered. The neighbor's had some clear water and there was a bit up at the top of the key. I opted to put up the kayak anyway. 

 When I flipped it over, it was camouflaged! I didn't scrape it off, I figured I'd let it warm up a bit inside the garage before cleaning. The frozen mosses were fairly secure on the fiberglass!

So ends another season on the lake. The ducks are almost all gone, the few left huddle in the clear water. I reckon they'll leave for warmer climes soon. 

I'll follow them, eventually. Maybe! Gary's Weather station reads a high of 64 today and now it is in the 40's. He does have a reading of 74, but not sure when that was. Perhaps Athena's fall is further away than Halloween this year! 

Hiking with Guns-2017 Conclusion

This second sojourn into the mountains was interesting, but lacked anything with 'cranial appendages' (Jon's words!). He shared some of  his other finds with me and thru me, with you! 

All photos except the last one were taken by Jonathan. 

 Ziggy, the preying mantis. Ziggy kept moving around and wanted to grab the camera!

 It is so odd finding things after decades of seasons have assailed them. This is a glass bleach bottle circa 1955 or so (Jon told me, I forgot to write it down!). It was near the old combine near the road to the ranch.

 Chipmunk having a snack of some sort-

 Jon took a few photos of odd shapes in the trees.

 This was the sunset on Sunday night. Mt Hood had a shadow mountain behind and over it! (the photos look better bigger. If you click on the picture you can see it singly on the screen)

 Jon took this fun photo of what we surmise is a sun dog. It moved during the course of the photos from one side to the other. (the sun dog is the spot on the side)

 Some of the deer Jon saw. He also saw a family his last night out hunting. It was too dark to take photos and they were about 10 feet away. He said it was perfectly still and no breeze, if he'd have moved, they would have skittered off. The fawns were  playing and the doe had to keep them in line.

 VERY odd (what we assume) jumping spider. We usually see them in greens, it was very different finding one that was red.

 This sunset was on Tuesday night. Jon and Steve were sad they didn't get a deer this year. They did NOT want a forked  horn and so, they came home with good memories and sore bodies. Some years are like that.

Arness Dock in October

Mum wanted to visit the beach today. Obi was just excited to go somewhere! It was very nice, almost warm, at Arness Dock. The tide was out a bit and the water was calm. A perfectly lovely hour next to the Inlet. 

 Obi has a thing about waves. He absolutely must bark at them. I reckon he doesn't like how they keep moving and he can't do a thing about it!

 Mum was quite a ways down the beach. I stayed closer to the car.

 Mum picked up lots of loot!!! Rocks of all kinds-Obi just barked.

 Adding a picture of me. Steve made a comment that photographers don't often show up in photos, so I figured I should put one in.

 This rock had a face. I'm not sure you can see it. I almost stepped on it and was a bit startled!

 Mum's rock haul.