Today was the Remembrance gathering for my friend, Erl Bangston. That is him in the slide show, and his wife Cynthia and granddaughter. Although I had been dreading it, it ended up being a fun time.

 While I was waiting for Cathi, I got to watch this little squirrel feasting on maple seeds. He wasn't too worried about me, and sure was cute!

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2015

 Basket Guild meeting - we had a speaker from the US Forest Service, Susan Hummel, talk about beargrass. She gave a great program, and brought some beargrass, and an old basket she had been gifted many years ago.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2015

Another sky photo - the air was so clear!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2015

 Apollo found a sunny spot!

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2015

 Some interesting clouds as the sun started to set.

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 6, 2015

 We went to Fort Casey State Park to play around the gun batteries and store rooms.

 Siobhan, Cody, Joel, Shawn and Matt.

 Then we went up to Deception Pass State Park and hiked up to Goose Rock. Cody and Siobhan did some acro-yoga, and Shavo enjoyed the view.

 Taught the guys how to pose the "Flag"

Deception Pass Bridge

MONDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2015

 Got a surprise visit from Cody, and his girlfriend Siobhan! I was hoping to meet up with them next weekend when they were in Portland, but they drove up to come for a whirlwind visit! Not the best photo, but I was sure excited to see them!

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2015

We hiked in the pre-dawn darkness to a blind along the river to watch the sandhill cranes wake up and head out to their feeding grounds.

Geese flying over our blind.

On a later hike, we saw these raccoons feeding in a blackberry thicket.

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2015

 Birdfest in Ridgefield, WA. Sunset from one of the little city parks - a great sculpture!

 Picked the final apples from the tree - I believe these are Liberty. Most are quite nice, except for the woodpecker damage on one of them! I waited a bit too long - there were more, but they had begun to drop, and the deer just stand under the tree and wait for them!

I made a new baby gift for my renters. I saw phtots of this cute star baby blanket, and tracked down a pattern to make my own from cozy fleece, which also doesn't fray and is nice and stretchy. The front has overlapping parts, so there isn't any closure needed - should be easy to get the kid in there. There's even a little hood to pull over the head, and you can use it in a car seat. Seems pretty handy, so I hope they like it!

 The moon is setting later and later in the morning, since the sun is up, the sky is light, and it's easier to get a good exposure. This is 2 days after the full. A nice way to start the morning.

My neighbor's Beauty Bush is in full purple berry!

Thrift store score of the week! I found an eight-gallon stainless steel heavy duty stock pot - it will be perfect for brewing beer and whatever else I might need 8 gallons of!! Now I can get rid of some of those other pots that are too big for regular cooking, but not big enough for brewing.

 Sunset from Greenbank Farm, looking west.

 Looking east.

 And, finally, the full moon, the super moon, the eclipse. We all waited for the moon to rise, but there was a haze over the mountains, so we didn't even see the moon until it was this high. The eclipse was almost at totality!

 As the sky darkened, the reddish color became more apparent.

A long exposure with an airplane tracking red lights above the moon.

 Later still, back at home, the eclipse is finishing up.

SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2015

 Pretty kitty in the spotlight - gotta take advantage of that sun whenever you can!

My latest favorite hard cider.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2015

 Our local grocery store had a "Hats Off to Our Customers" event, complete with hot dogs and hamburgers, and a Hat Contest. Cathi entered her "Stack-O-Hats".

 Nuts!

 Top Hatters danced and 'whistled' - very silly!

 Cathi and Sarah

 Sarah's pumpkin hat - she was getting tickled!

 More of the hats

 Autumn Equinox very early this morning - now the days are shorter than the nights. 

Our Vine Maple tree is beginning to show color.

 Got down in the woods in time to catch the late afternoon sun slanting through the leaves.

 That hint of fall is in the air!

 And on the ground, with lolly-pop mushrooms,

 and teeny-tiny stark white ones growing in a fir cone.