Had a beautiful morning hike at Ebey's Landing today, with Cathi and her cousin Lilo's hiking group.

 The vetch is blooming all along the bluff, turning it purple!

The return trail is along the beach.

FRIDAY, MAY 30, 2014

 Love the iris - beautiful patterns.

 Apollo in the Japanese Maple pot with all the caterpillars. Thankfully they don't like maple leaves.

And my wisteria has finally covered the whole structure and is blooming for the first time!

 Oh, euwwww! The tent caterpillars have been horrible this year on the trees. Today, they decided to attack my newly blooming Lady's Mantle. Yuck! In the few hours since I left for work this morning they have eaten the tops off the plants, and are working on the next layer of leaves.

 They're pretty creepy, but these close up views are kind of intriguing.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 28, 2014

 So now it's beer-making time! First the water is heated,

 then the grains are soaking in the wort.

 It needs to come to a boil,

 then the malt is added.

 Apparently it can get pretty yucky!

After the yeast is added - look out! I obviously have a very active ferment going on!

TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014

Wish I could figure out why these won't load properly! Anyway, this is the wine I am making - blueberry. It just finished fermenting, and we bottled it. I happen to like bottles that you can open easily, even if other people think they are beer bottles! It tastes pretty good to me, and should be even better after another few months of aging. Isn't it a gorgeous color?

I will be entering a bottle in the County Fair, along with items in 17 categories. It's a special thing called the Super 17, and the goal is to win a blue ribbon in each category. There is a group of us who do this, and we meet every Wed. night to work on projects. Making this wine, quilting, art projects, baskets - the list of things to be entered is endless!

There are categories in Food and Plants, too, so I am growing some vegetables, and will need to do some baking, candy making, preserving, and more! Fun!

MONDAY, MAY 26, 2014

Spent the weekend weeding and cleaning at Barb's house. So pretty!

SATURDAY, MAY 24, 2014

 Apollo relaxing on the deck.

FRIDAY, MAY 23, 2014

 Scored a brand-new carpet remnant for free from my work! It included the padding, and Cory cut it to fit into the bedroom of the apartment. All ready to move in now!

The bathroom in the apartment, with another sideways photo. Sigh.

SUNDAY, MAY 18, 2014

 Never get tired of the views - Leavenworth is surrounded by tall mountains.

 This fence is a favorite western bluebird hangout. We saw them here last year, too. This is a pair - chances are they have a nest nearby.

 Birding at the Leavenworth Fish Hatchery with Ranger Mark.

 Crow.

 At the blind on Icicle Creek.

 A venerable fir.

 A Calliope hummingbird at the tippy top of a pine tree.

 We painted bird tiles to be donated to a public garden wall.

And, finally, back in civilization. Kind of!

SATURDAY, MAY 17, 2014

 A Western Tanager! One of many highlights of the birding!

 A unique mount for a spotting scope. It seemed to work quite well.

 The guy furthest left, Max, gave a talk, then led the group on a walk. We heard lots of warblers, but those flitty creatures are hard to spot!

 Phlox and lupine in bloom.

 Look this way! No, over here!

 Playing at a tree house in the woods!

 Relaxing on the deck at Bird Central. Wenatchee River below.

 Sorry - I don't know why this is sideways, and I can't find a way to rotate it. So just pretend you can see the wonderfully colorful dinner we had at South.

 The evening lecture took place at the Sleeping Lady resort, which has a lot of outdoor art. We got there a little early and viewed some. This is a Dale Chihuelly piece. It looked like they had lights on it at night, but we couldn't stay that late.

The lecture was very entertaining, and the final slide was of a White-headed woodpecker, which the speaker had not seen until earlier today! One of his life birds!

FRIDAY, MAY 16, 2014

Up bright and early to go to Fish Lake for the Birding by Pontoon Boat excursion. Lots of hummingbirds - there is a Rufous perched on top of the cattail on the left.

 Aboard the pontoon boat.

 Cathi.

 The other boat in our group, over there in the bog end of the lake.

 Rufous hummingbirds at the Lodge on the lake.

 Afterwards, we stopped at a little winery for a taste and a tour.

 Back at camp, we had a wild turkey visitor!

Down to the river for some photography and sketching. Another go at a double exposure.