~ A Week At Long Beach + WPC: Serene ~

Our morning didn’t start out serene — quite the opposite! Around 4:30 a wild call from outside aroused both Jello and me. “Loon?” — I wondered — “not at this time of day!”  Then the yips started — little barks between the cries — Coyote.  Of course we couldn’t see it from the deck, but after satisfying our curiosity we both tumbled back to bed and sleep until our normal wake up and walk time!

High wrack lineYesterday’s storm drove the tide close to the dune-berm, leaving behind wrack and sea-foam that looks like snowdrifts.

After the stormFoamWith no rain or wind to contend with, serenity filled me as I ambled up the shoreline trying to identify specific shorebirds that were working the surf.

Once home, before I was able to hang up my coat and hat, Jello was growling at the sliding door. “Hope it’s not the Coyote!” I thought. Happily it was a young Columbia Blacktail Deer — the first I’ve seen on the grounds since May. Notice how its coloring matches the meadow — and how calm yet cautious it seems.

Columbia Black-tailed deer

Serene

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~ A Week At Long Beach – Tuesday + WPC: Transformation ~

Lucky for me, Jello forces me up around 7:00 to get her breakfast and take her out.  Though the wind was strong and there was a light rain, we made it to the beach and back without getting soaked!

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However, it wasn’t long after we returned when the storm began in earnest.

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Downpour from the deck. 

Soon, this meadow will become a wetland marsh!

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By dinnertime the storm had passed.

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 Transformation

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~ A Week At Long Beach + WPC: Transformation ~

Sunshine had crested the eastern horizon as Jello and I walked the quarter mile of Discovery Trail to the point where Clark’s Tree sculpture is installed. As we departed the macadam trail, a crow cawed into the coming day.

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We climbed ahead over the dune-berm to the wide sandy flat that is Long Beach.

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In the afternoon workers began what will be a year-long project at The Breakers — building a state-of-the-art indoor swimming pool.

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Though sad to see the trees come down, I’m excited about how this upgrade will improve the experience of the many visitors who stay here!

 Transformation

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~ A Week At Long Beach – Sunday + WPC: Transformation ~

We arrived Sunday afternoon to pelting rain, but that didn’t keep Jello and me from our ‘arrival’ walk to the beach — her reward for being a patient traveler and then waiting for her people to get our gear out of the truck and into the condo!

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With my big umbrella to fend off the downpour, we trotted along the Discovery Trail. Just as we reached the beach it stopped raining!  Jello streaked and romped while I drank in the beauty of the ocean breakers — light and sky — and breathed the fresh salty air.  Sadly, we came across a lifeless harbor seal that had washed ashore, likely a victim of the stormy surf.

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As we returned to our condo, the sunset reflected in ponds that are starting to form in the meadow grassland.

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Transformation

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~ November Briars ~ Wordless Wednesday + Daily Post: Transformation ~

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 Transformation

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~ Savory Herbs ~ In A Vase On Monday ~

On Thanksgiving day (USA) I gather with my family around food to share memories, and make new ones.  

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Parsley, Sage, Rosemary & Thyme

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Savory seasonings for the feast, plucked from my gardens and served in a small pottery vase.

Inspiration to share from my garden comes from Cathy, at Rambling in the Garden.

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~ Shifting Sands ~ Silent Sunday ~

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~ In The Kitchen with Cee ~ B&W Challenge + WPC: Experimental ~

Tools and basic seasonings by the stove top.

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Cee’s challenge to take photos of “things in the kitchen” prompted me to snap these candid shots this morning.

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Stemware in a glass cabinet.

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The experimental connection comes from using my camera to investigate a place intimately familiar to me — filled with things I love — and present them simply as they are: without creating a special arrangement to “show them off.”

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Torquay pottery collection

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A fun old tin I use to store the dishwasher soap 🙂

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Welcome and Cheers!

Experimental

black-white-banner

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~ Breakers ~ Wordless Wednesday ~

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Long Beach, WA  USA

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~ Good Morning! ~ In A Vase On Monday ~

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Today’s vase features Nandina berries that are beginning to turn from orange to red, with lace-leaf maple (Acer palmatum var. dissectum) and Forsythia branches, and Korean feather grass (Calamagrostis brachytricha).

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The vase is a lovely pottery one given to me by a dear niece.

Just past Remembrance Day and coming up to USA Thanksgiving – thanks to Cathy at Rambling in the Garden for getting me out to see what’s pretty out there!

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