Camelama

24 ears, 12 tails, 48 hooves - how many horsepower?

It was Plowing Days this weekend, and Mr Cow was there and took pictures.  His favorite was the 12-mule team.  I greatly admire the people who can drive a team like this - just think how many reins they have to manipulate at the same time, with *MULES* on the end of 'em!

I surrender! Your pollen has defeated me!

The enemy:

Aieeee-ACHOO-eeeeeeeeee!

Another Birthday Ferry trip!

It was my pal's birthday again (amazing how it happens every year) and so we set off on another grand Island adventure on the WA state ferries.

The day started out quite wet:

And waiting in the Anacortes ferry line was still very very wet:

But once we got to Orcas Island, it wasn't too bad. We set out for a hike:

We stopped to throw some rocks in the lake:

We touched some trees:

And threw some sticks into the lake:

We went halfway up Mt Constitution (the road was closed due to ice and snow):

And we enjoyed a GORGEOUS sunset heading home:

It was a beautiful day full of rain, friends, rain, sunshine, fun, rain, and ferry rides.  Oh yes, and rain. :)

Gray Cat Week

Today's entry is a weathervane kitty from Flickr.

You could see a gray cat from far away with a telescope......

(see how I fit this in to Gray Cat Week? har!)

New book on telescopes has been published, I wish I had "buy books" in my budget!!

Grey Cat Week

Cat in the wind

Gray Cat Week

Grey and brown cat teapot from Rubylane:

Gray Cat Week

Gray/Grey cat week

It's a gray day out, cold and windy and rainy - perfect Gray cat week weather!

Here's one from Flickr:

Grey (Gray!) Cat Week

One more Etsy cat!

Gray Cat Week

Here's another Etsy cat:

Gray Cat Week

i'm feeling fond of the furry one today, so I'm going to feature gray cats daily.

Here's a gray tartan cat from Etsy:

Mmmmmmmmmmm, bacon.....

I have a new love.  Niman Ranch Applewood Smoked uncured bacon, center cut.

It is divine.  Sorry, vegetarians, but sometimes I gotta break the budget and have some MEAT.

This stuff is so good - just opening the package is a moving experience. The lovely aroma of high quality meat and applewood is mouth-watering.  Cooking it is enjoyable - the house doesn't mind the smell at all.

Eating it?  Ambrosia from the gods.  It crisps up deliciously, stays together, handles well, cooks completely (none of that awful cooked-meat-raw-fat mixture that most low-grade bacons have), and in the mouth it's delicate and hardly even needs chewing!

Much of the pork that the Niman Ranch farmers raise is Berkshire, which is a favorite of mine (The Empress was a Berkshire, after all!).

Excuse me now, I must go cook up some more to crumble over my lunch salad.  Mmmmm, bacon....

Unseen Design

I love unseen design - a little extra that an engineer or architect or anyone creates, that goes unseen during general use. The design serves no purpose other than to please the eye, though the item itself is useful.  When there's also some whimsy, it's even more enjoyable.

Like this jumper arm in the H1 timekeeper at the Royal Observatory:

Isn't that marvelous?  It's never seen until you actually take the timepiece apart.  Currently the H1 needs some small repairs so it's off exhibit and thus this design piece was discovered.

Batten down those hatches!

Whipping winds outside, rain slamming into the walls of the house, the stovepipe constantly rattling... it's a wild night out.  I count my blessings, to have a cozy little house for us to live in, even with a rattling stovepipe that keeps us awake!

I just wish I could sleep through storms.  7am is going to get here sooner than I want...

This Etsy item captures the kind of day we'll have tomorrow!

Snow again today!

This winter just won't stop.

(Image from myballard.com)

Sail away...

There are days I just want to sail away from the city and lose myself in the islands - on a Viking ship!

Help scientists, with your own backyard observations!

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2008838705_buds11m.html

I remember we used to note the date that the pussy willow in our backyard burst its first bud. Who knew we should have been telling someone?!

Somedays you just need your kitty slippers.

It's been a bad week around here.  Deaths of friend, job hunt going nowhere, broke my glasses and ran out of contacts, you know how it goes - one big thing and then all the little things start piling up.

And then it snowed again.

I took the snow as an excuse to hibernate.  Put on thick socks, got out all the blankets, popped popcorn, put the "My Man Godfrey" DVD in, turned on the heating pad for the cat, and embroidered away in happiness.

Oh yes, and dug out my old kitty slippers just because. 

Aye, tis an elegant life I lead, it tis.

The sun has risen and so must I...

And to brighten the day even more, I'd put one or two spring greens in this little bud vase and eagerly anticipate the day I could put one gorgeous forsythia branch in there.... that would really mean spring!

Northern Flicker

Isn't this a great felt version of that marvelous bird?

The photo links to her flickr page with more shots of the bird.  I've never seen a handmade flicker, I think this one is great!  Look at that speckled belly!

What's green and glows?

Seattle after we lose volcano monitoring funding and we're buried under lava?  Har har har.

No, it's this great eco-friendly bag I got from the Dose of Design blog giveaway!

It's such a great color, especially in this quick afternoon sunbeam on an otherwise spitting-rain day. It really makes me think SPRING IS HERE!  (Ok, not officially, but my tree has flower buds straining at their fuzzy covers already!)

It's a great bag - big size, square bottom, it's perfect for grocery shopping and library book toting and picnic-lunch-carrying in the summer!

Thanks, Dose of Design!  I'm off to the library now, 13 holds just came in!  Wooo!  :)

Baaaaaaaaaa!

Today I helped a friend shear her flocks of sheep.  Great fun!  Even in the mud.

We had a very good supervisor, you see ....

"Mehhhhhh! Bahhhh! Just a little off the top, mister!"

This is what we came away with: a car full o' fleece