OH NO! Bad timing little Sunflower...

Spotted this on my morning walk. Can you believe it?  October 31st and this little guy is ignoring ALL the winter signs and heading straight UP.  Can you see the tiny green spec in the lower left hand of the second photo? Talk about optimism...or stupidity...or perseverance? Or, as James Russell Lowell said in "What is so Rare as a Day in June" ( a very long poem that my grandmom taught me at the age of 4!?!):  Every clod feels a stir of might, an instinct within it that reaches and towers, and, groping blindly above it for light, climbs to a soul in grass and flowers...

But it's almost NOVEMBER little guy...

Grown up Chicks...Waiting for the EGGS!

Oh I am just an Iowa farm girl at heart...though I am VERY glad I live in the Northwest :)  My pets are pretty cool and these six chicks were the ones "sneaked" under my Little Red Hen several months ago when they were two days old. By the next morning, Little Red was convinced she had hatched them and became an ideal mama. Vern is not liking the fact that they love to roost on the two adirondack chairs on the front porch!?!?! But it's so hilarious to see them there!

Blooming Mugs Feed Cheney!

The Mason Jar was the gracious host to display and sell all 37 Cheney Blooms Mugs which netted $185 for Feed Cheney this year. Thanks to Jennifer Brock Olsen for her gorgeous succulents, Brian Greene from Greene's Greenhouse, and Chet's Flowers. I am looking forward to a new round next year. Any other flower and succulent sources are welcome to join in :)

God Bless These Little Feet

I'm still loving my three hours in the NICU each week and get the chance to send all my best hopes and dreams to these fragile kiddos. I find out their first name, think of someone else with that name, then tell the little baby all sorts of stories about their "twin"!  Let's hope these tiny feet will find a safe, fulfilling, loving path.

Fire and Beauty...

Surprise! I'm back to the "occasional" blog.  Was looking through this year's Pacific Crest Trail photos and kept coming back to this one of a 1988 fire accidentally started by loggers, which burned 3,000 acres. Was on a stretch between Stampede and Chinook Passes. Such a strange, stark, yet beautiful scene...