Autumn in no particular order

Fall is just the best, isn't it? Changing colors, pumpkin spice, and building fires! We had another spectacular pumpkin crop and an endless flow of vegetables from the garden, but the calendar has now turned to November. The warm days have given way to rain, and as we move indoors, there's more cooking and crafts and thoughts about the upcoming holidays.

Hauling in the pumpkin harvest

Phew!

The lineup

School field trip to BiZi Farms

Vroom

Flying south



Rope swing, perfect fall day

Painting amid construction

The Balloon Man at the Washougal Pumpkin Harvest Festival

Park ranger with sword

First figs



New much agonized-over curtains, twelve feet long.

 

Wood shed porch with fresh siding and screen door

Found: wind-blown bird nest woven with white and black horse hair.

Late August

No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth. I've been mired in a few technical glitches: my camera started chirping "Lens Error" a couple months back, and my phone automatically restarted every time I tried to press the camera button. So without any good photos to post, I've let it slide. Armed with a new camera and a new phone, I'm back!
My birthday/anniversary this year was just a lovely day. As I looked back at the photos I took that day, I thought in total they summed it up perfectly.


Arrived home from work Friday to this nice surprise. What adventure awaits?

Woke up Saturday to wind and thick smoke everywhere from wildfires in the state.
 It was very unsettling but we were thankful the fire was not closer.

Tomato season in full swing

Ole has been playing Smash-up Derby since our trip to the Wasco County Fair. I was lucky enough to get a ticket for this show.

Him: It's you, Mom. Me: Yes, I can tell.

Plums, blackberries, and our first (and only!) apples from a young tree.

Goofing around with our homemade rope swing.

New birthday bling.

Out for dinner. Looks like I was really tossing back the drinks!

By Sunday the wind had died down, so we headed to Battle Ground Lake State Park. It was the perfect spot for a paddle and a picnic, followed by a swim.

See? Lovely.

Changes

It has been a time of change around here this week, both sad and happy.
First we lost our beloved goat, Iva, after a short battle with illness. My heart has been heavy with guilt and sadness, but we were quickly faced with finding a companion for Iva's buddy, Milton, who has never been alone. He's a bit of a surly fellow so I searched for a friend who could handle his moods. He's been getting lots of extra attention in the meantime, accompanying us on a blackberry picking excursion down the hill.

Mmmm, blackberries!

Introducing Stella! She's a 2 year old milk goat, a mixture of breeds, and very sweet. She rode home in the back of the SUV like a champ and seems pretty at ease with this crazy place. Also she loves to eat! So far the goats have butted heads gently in greeting, but I'm keeping them separated for the most part until she's settled.

 

She's a first-time freshener meaning she kidded and is now being milked for the first time this year. My goat milking experience is pretty limited, so it has been a learning experience for us both. After my first attempt, I quickly set to building a milking stand.

It'll take some time to adjust to the new routine of 8am and 8pm milkings, but so far it has been great. Her milk just tastes like milk, not the pungent tang I was expecting. I'm pasteurizing it for now, until I feel more confident about my own sanitary practices and the goat's health. She's not producing enough for cheese or ice cream yet, but I'm hoping the boost in grain and regular milkings will up her supply and provide enough for recipe experimenting.
Another bright spot of the week was finding a new home for two of our roosters. The flock of seven baby chicks produced two new roosters, and four roosters quickly proved too many. I posted the two oldest on craigslist, and this nice couple came to collect them.

We have a strict don't-ask-don't-tell policy with chickens we give away, but hopefully they're ruling a harem of hens somewhere.
This hot summer has really given us permission to relax a little more than usual in the afternoons because it's way too hot to do much of anything outdoors. These are the times I will remember when I think back to summer.

Sharing popcorn with Pepper.

Everybody needs a little time away

The summer weekends slip away, lost to yard work and errands, so much so that I deliberately schedule in fun or we'd never leave our yard. This past weekend Alex and I got away for a bit--our first time away from Ole in who-knows-how-long. We didn't travel far, just two hours north to Olympia, where Grandma and Grandpa whisked Ole away for a fun night of spoilage and lavish attention.
So we hit the town, bar-hopping and browsing shops, foregoing schedules and meals, surviving on hors d'oeuvres and desserts. It was great.



Olympia's a very mural-friendly town!

Washington's beautiful state capital

The nighttime view from our hotel. Capitol Lake is in the distance.

We went out for breakfast, wandered through the farmers' market, and browsed antique shops. 

The only photo of us. I'm not sure what's going on with my shirt there.

The capitol building looms in every scenic view.

Back at home I tackled a tasty problem...too many cherries! The neighbors graciously offered to let us pick our fill of sweet cherries from their bountiful tree and we did. I spent the next two days pitting with the awesome Oxo cherry pitter and froze several quarts. I also dried two full trays in the food dehydrator. Then I got creative and made Bourbon-soaked cherries and canned the rest in a yummy syrup with vanilla and lemon. Sweet!

Spring chickens

This long warm spring has been so lovely. It has felt much more leisurely than our usual rush to shove plants in the ground before it's too late. Perhaps it's just that we're more settled here now. We have established garden beds, planter boxes, and a set routine to spring. Zinnias, broccoli, kale...check!

And of course there are the chicks. They are gangly and flighty teenagers now, probably not appreciating all the attention they receive. Luckily they're sturdy little things. They've ridden on bicycles, gone down roller coasters, and sat on heads more times than I can count.

One particularly warm afternoon they had their first day in the sun.

 
 

Ole's excitement grew and grew. Let the circus begin!

 

 

And just like that his attention went elsewhere and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.