black bear beginnings

drive way to our new property

100 yards of narrow tracks leading back to the only clearing on the 5 acres

this lot is pretty heavily treed, minus a fair sized clearing where a yurt used to reside. amidst the acreage there are sufficient game trails which should provide an easy template for making our own walking trail.

remains of yurt platform to be used for other projects, along with the urbanite we have on hand. the remainder of rubbish will be burned in a welcome ceremony for the land.

our first friend. we have now found this little guy twice, slithering under the carport. this morning we arrived with hand tools to level the ground under the carport before we dump a bunch of gravel down and build up the outdoor kitchen and rocket stove area. thank god i didn't plunge him with a shovel! no worries, he has been relocated further down the hill by the compost piles.

our new home & only shelter we have until the Spartan is restored. thankfully Bob's woodshop is just up the hill, so we have a large warm space to work in, use the computer and lounge. above is the future area of a crude outdoor kitchen set up to be heated by the rocket stove. Rico will be our snug & warm sleeping abode.

let the transformation begin!

Bob scored a wheelbarrow full of tools yesterday at a garage sale. i think he's maybe more eager to use them than i anticipated. Bob has done a great job moving all the urbanite to the site, pallets for a 4 bin humanure composting system, and is now shown tackling some brambles. luckily we have a neighbor with goats that i am hoping to sweet talk into eating away our bramble issue.

spartan - seattle & beyond

finally, bob is back and we were able to make the trip over to Everett to meet our beloved Spartan that we blindly bought last month. Here she sits on a boggy 14 acres smeared under highway 2 on your way to Darrington. It was awesome to step inside and visualize the transformation. soon sweet spartan...soon.

after our jaunt to Everett we drove down to have a day in Seattle and also to visit Kent, where Bob had a client to meet and bid a job. above are our tasty nibbles from Macrina...yes, mine has all the butter.

"Ah-Ha...Tree Beard!!! "

taking a fall stroll through Queen Anne

if you know, please tell me.

waiting patiently while Bob works. waiting patiently to kill the cat.

bored in black & white

bored in color

what i'd like the inside of the Spartan to look like, Brouwer's.

one of our top 5 favorite pubs. brouwer's boasts the best brews & flemish menu, not to mention your choice of 5 different dipping sauces for frites...need i say more?

tip of the iceberg of beers available at Brouwer's

bourbons and such

bob loves beer, but can't decide.

Pliny the Elder...fairwell!

more fire. more fun. more time.

what remains of our little crop of inky caps basking in the fire's glow

Luke..what are you thinking?

hatchet time

if Luke, Bob and Maria were in a band, this would be their photo. the band would be called SquidBillies.

these are not apparitions. this is Maria jumping the fire-chair.

Bob fire-chair jumping

Luke fire chair jumper extraordinaire

sweet cards from Marilyn

Luke shows us some future home building plans

Luke and Maria's departure date keeps getting pushed back. I'm sure they are anxious to hit the road and visit some exciting places...but i'm just pretty darn glad they have been delayed. More time to spend with our friends!

big fire - bad girls

Maria came over on this fine fall and blustery day. We decided that it would be perfect to ignite the bonfire and have some wine. We pulled off all the large pieces of wood to make the size more manageable. But it was still too big. As the wind picked up, we scurried around checking for flying embers and dampening the dry tall grass around the ring. My poor Maple Tree just frowned down at us as the hot flames kept licking it's leaves. oh dear!

We got off by the skin of our teeth and as the fire smoldered we chatted about our friendship and life.

i think Maria was working on a new profile photo for her FB page right here. either that or she is relishing in her "dark & stormy" drink.