The orchard with almost three acres of trees, and not just pears. Get out the canner.
And getting right to work outside...
Maya in front of the beautiful Russian wood stove...
(Going to be a learning curve there.)
And Nica, already a country dog.
Wishing them a safe and quick move to the new home. They need to be completely out of their old one by November 15th for the renter.
Our house is neat as a pin and ready for another long winter, which is closing in fast. Yesterday morning the hills around town had the first dusting of snow.
I walked up the familiar street to Amanda and Tom's house for dinner one last time, something I've enjoyed over the years and frankly, will miss. I sat on the porch looking at the same view of Mill Hill that captivated me when we first came to Twisp about 18 years ago. That long!
And now a new and exciting chapter begins for all of us. I saw their new home for the first time yesterday. The old farmhouse is dripping with charm, and the orchard a wild and wonderful thing to behold.
I don't have time to sort through all the pictures this morning, but here's a teaser:
In case you are wondering, orange wine is a "skin contact wine," made by fermenting the juice in contact with the grape skins, which gives it color.
The pours were a bit strange, including a "natural" Gewurztraminer from a Washington winery called "Savage Grace."
Gewurztraminer is an extremely aromatic grape that can be quite delicious, but they managed to turn it into something that looked and tasted like unfiltered vinegar. Savage, indeed! The Germans would be horrified at what goes on with their grape out here on the frontier.
But all in good fun-- the company you're with, as always, makes the excursion.
And it hasn't been just boozy excursions!
Methow at Home organized an outing at the Shafer Historical Museum in Winthrop.
And something near and dear to my heart: finding aids. These documents are the key to the archives, describing in detail the various collections.
Almost all the work at Shafer is done by local volunteers and historians. Much of the museum's collection of photographs and documents is scanned, cataloged and available online through their website. Impressive.
Amanda and Tom's new home is set to close on Monday, and they had a walk through yesterday with the owners. It was the first time they've been inside the house since that sunny day in August, and there's still much to discover. They are excited and of course overwhelmed. I'll see it for the first time today.
So a new adventure begins just as winter is closing in fast here. They're moving everything (including 12 chickens, 2 cats and a dog) over the next 2 weeks.
This is the homecoming dress I've been talking about. Whew, alterations complete. I'd post a picture of Nova wearing it, but it might crash the Internet. Ha! She is growing up to be a lovely person.
And as the saying goes:
"Red sky at night, sailor's delight. Red sky in morning, sailor take warning."
The first atmospheric river of the season is poised to hit the Northwest coast tomorrow. The storm is potent enough to bring rain over to central Washington this weekend and snow in the mountains.
How much snow and at what pass level is the question, but the first snow always seems to catch people off guard. A bad time to be out on the highways. I'll keep a close eye on the pass reports for the drive home next week.
In the meantime, I'm in no hurry to leave the cozy house, and enjoying the last few autumn like days, with the valley covered in golden foliage. All too soon, the leaves will be down and the ground covered in snow until spring.
What a dramatic sunrise this morning. The sun climbs over the eastern hills about 8, although that will soon be an hour earlier, as we go back off daylight savings time. Why oh why, we ask ourselves twice a year.
Today I have a dress to finish,and will make dinner for the crazy busy family tonight. Curry.
I like driving in shoulder season, especially on a fall weekday when there's less traffic on the highways.
The 93 mile leg from Cle Elum to Lone Pine Fruit and Espresso is my longest, so the store is a welcome sight and rest break. Customers are unfailingly greeted with a hello and smile from the familiar sweet women who work there.
Yesterday was still warm enough to sit outside and have a cup of their homemade soup.
It looks like good weather for the next few days and I'm hitting the road to Twisp. It might be my last solo trip for the year-- when the snow piles up in the passes and the driving gets dicey, I'm not keen on being out there alone.
Moving day is approaching for the family, and Nova has a homecoming dress that needs a bit of alteration before Saturday. Hopefully Nana can handle that with her rusty sewing skills.
Coopers Hawk, also known as a chicken hawk, took his time dining on the Petit Lapin, then left a few unappetizing bits for the crows.
Urban "Coops" are the most common hawks in the Seattle and have been sighted in many parts of the city, including the West Duwamish Greenbelt which is close by, as the hawk flies.
In less gruesome news (hopefully) the Blue Jays forced the Mariners to game 7 to finally determine which lucky team goes up against the well-rested Dodgers in the World Series. We've been listening to the baseball games on radio, but can watch this nail-biter on television, followed by the Seahawks on Sunday night football. Seattle's sports moment in the sun.
The problem is, who eats a half cup serving of pasta?
Useless factoid of the day:
There are about 600 shapes of pasta, and no surprise, the most popular being spaghetti. The rarest shape is called "Su filindeu" from Sardinia, meaning "God's yarn."
Made from a simple semolina dough, the threads are painstakingly stretched by hand into a weave mimicking fabric.
Speaking of which, tickets for the Mariner's game this afternoon have dropped from the $1000 range to about $150. Oh ye of little faith...
Well, Friday rolls around again and it's going to be a rainy weekend up here in Seattle. Have a good one.
As Yogi Berra famously said, "It ain't over until it's over."
But the rout in Seattle last night means the Mariners aren't headed lickety split to the World Series after all.
At 2-1 now with the Blue Jays, it's far from over. Hey, it just means more games. We don't have cable, but if they're broadcast on antenna TV, John has a Rube Goldberg set up with cables and antennas to pull in the Fox signal. No go on that last night, which in retrospect, was a blessing in disguise.
Here's another good quote:
"A baseball game is simply a nervous breakdown divided into 9 innings."
Robert Real Wilson
Perfect autumn weather in Seattle this week with no rain in the forecast until the weekend. As luck has it, our West Seattle ukulele group is scheduled to play outside on Sunday afternoon at the Fauntleroy Fall Festival.
Once in a blue moon, the Costco geraniums survive the winter, but doubt that will be the case this year. We're going into a La Nina pattern, trending to wetter, colder and snowier than average (whatever average means these days.)
As you've probably noticed, the fall and Halloween decor (except for tons of candy) is almost gone in the stores. I went to Home Depot yesterday looking for winter blooming pansies and the nursery was already shut down, with full on Christmas inside. They did have a nice final display of chrysanthemums outside the door. Of course the yellow pot hooked me.
Since Tom painted the shed door many years ago, I've been attracted to that Viking yellow. It's a garish color for sure, but cheerful and improbably it looks good with blue.
I'm not going to jinx it by talking about it.
Grey skies and golden roses-- on Saturday I picked the last ones before the rain ruined them. It was a wet and chilly weekend, with the first snow falling in the high mountains.
Here in the Emerald City, we were glued to the television watching sports. The Seahawks and Mariners both won. The Mariners play a second game in Toronto this afternoon before heading back to an ecstatic Seattle. Many baseball fans were not even born, the last time we had a championship team!
Oh my, the darkness descends rapidly up here in the left hand corner of the map. The decline in solar radiation especially noticeable in October. A few golden battery lights help keep the late afternoon gloom at bay.
So let us go on, cheerfully enough,
this and every crisping day,
though the sun be swinging east,
and the ponds be cold and black,
and the sweets of the year be doomed.
From "Lines written in the days of growing darkness" by Mark Oliver.
Anyway, we stopped at the flag point, settling in for a long delay, but no sooner had we reclined the seats when traffic started moving. Lucky timing. A few minutes earlier, they opened the highway in both directions
An unhealthy stop at the Diary Queen in Cle Elum (involving onion rings) and we were home by early afternoon.
Big baseball game in Seattle last night, did you hear? I tried to stay awake through all those innings but didn't make it past the 10th. I went to bed expecting a heartbreak finish anyway (Oh ye of little faith) but they're ff to Toronto next week. Go Mariners.
John and I drove by yesterday and took a peek from the road. The rural setting is lovely, only 6 miles outside of Twisp, but a different world entirely, with the farm nestled up against the wilderness.
More pictures and information soon on the orchard and farm life to come. Green Acres is the place for me!
We're headed back to the big rainy city today.
Downtown Twisp all decorated as usual, with a collection of creative scarecrows on the street corners. Monopoly Uncle Moneybags parked in front of city hall.
We dropped by The Confluence Gallery to check out their new show called "Rhapsody in Hue." I really liked this blue bowl and bought it! Something I rarely do so that’s exciting. I’ll pick it up in November after the show closes. In the meantime, other people can admire it. The local artist called it "Galaxy Bowl” which is perfect.
Tonight we celebrate Maya's birthday. Karen and Brice invited us over tomorrow, then back to Seattle Friday.
Lately Nova has been working as a horse sitter, sometimes even spending weekends alone at ranches doing chores while the owners are away. It can be a lucrative gig, but lots of responsibility, to say the least. At sixteen, her confident way with horses is impressive, and safer and more skilled than many adults I've seen at horse barns over the years.
Nova also works at Methow Valley Riding Unlimited after school, and has been a student of the formidable Annie B. since she was a toddler. Annie is a tough and no-nonsense teacher to put it mildly, but she has taught Nova well.
We're headed over to Twisp today via the North Cascades Highway, because our usual route over Blewett Pass closed due to fire. Just a short family visit for Maya's 13th birthday tomorrow.
