The PrEZ

I'm sorry, I could not resist this. Somebody's humor is just too good!

Down the Valley

There is nothing like the Okanogan Valley in the springtime.

Wannacut in Aqua

After visiting the cemetary on Memorial Sunday, I thought a short drive in the hills might be theraputic. It was. Wannacut lake was an absolute brilliant aquamarine blue set in lush green.

Above the Valley

Memorial Day on the upper wannacut lake road.

Groundhog Day

Okanogan County Sheriff's Office
Date reported 05/13/2006

Per U18 out at location attempting to extricate a groundhog from the engine compartment of a vehicle. It is not cooperating. Per U18 the groundhog was extricated. Per U18 the groundhog was not acting normal. Was very aggressive and not afraid of humans. Looked about 5 to 6 pounds. Groundhog is still in the area. -Chevron - Okanogan-

No, this is not Da Vinci code, this is from the online police blog for our county. You may have to click on the picture to read it. Imagine somebody's surprise when they tried to check their oil. We are now on groundhog watch up here. He may not be armed but it looks like he's very dangerous. Obviously, he knows how to travel, so we do not consider the 40 miles to Okanogan all that safe. In a fast car, he could be here in less than an hour! Save yourselves! Keep your hood down! And for all you groundhogs out there.... Cooperate or YOU WILL BE EXTRICATED!

Scarecrow

My garden is not planted yet, but somebody's idea of a scarecrow mysteriously showed up one day while I was at work. I wonder if the B patrol has logged him in yet...

Trailor Progress

This is almost ready for painting and roofing. A very bad picture because of the strong light yesterday morning. Steps are temporary and won't be like this. Bottom trim board will be finished. Carpeting should go in this next week.

Moonrise

Nature has certainly been busy giving us something to look at the last few days... first a great double rainbow that was so close my camera couldn't fit it all in, and then a spectacular moonrise. My camera never has done well with night pictures, but I tried anyway. What a huge orange moon we had the other night! Sorry the picture doesn't do it justice....

A Fish Story

This young fisherman caught this rainbow trout on his first fishing trip to our little lake. Unfortunately, fishing here is for 14 and younger, or I might just give it a try. Well Done!

Chopaka Mountain

For me, Chopaka is the gateway to the Cascades, even though it is actually still in the "foothills". I stopped along the roadway between Nighthawk and Oroville, and instead of thinking about the beauty of what I was seeing, I was thinking "here I am stopped along the roadway and somebody is going to come along and think I am smuggling people or something! Things have really changed in this area with human smuggling, drug smuggling,... it really makes a person feel apprehensive about being close to the border.

Yard Color

Okay, it looked a little better after I mowed the lawn, but I wanted to get a picture of the crabapple tree before it lost its blooms. Rumor has it a couple more weeks until move in time.

Neighbor's Rainbow

I was too close to the rainbow to get both ends touching down, but it was a great sight to see.

A Day's Color

This is what was greeting me as I got home from work yesterday. My camera could not do it justice, as it was a full rainbow that turned into a Double full rainbow within a short time. The bird is one of the swallows flying around.

Reflection Pond 2

This is the opposite end of Reflection Pond.

Whitestone

This is Whitestone Mountain from the Tonasket-Loomis highway. Not only does it look neat from here, you can see the other side of it just south of Tonasket on Highway 97 and it looks just like a Buffalo.

Entrance to the Sinlahekin Valley

This is the entrance to the Sinlahekin and the Wildlife Game Preserve where we went camping. Too dark to see, but it was great looking with the green valley floor, and just a touch of snow at the top of a taller mountain. I did not mention that it is called "Rattlesnake Mountain".

Sunfire

We got a late start on our camping trip so we got to see the sunset on the way to Forde Lake. I had to stop and take a picture along the highway. I think that is Windy Peak in the middle that looks like a Pyramid.

High Rise

The Power company found out about the Osprey's new home construction site and did a little re-modeling for them. They ended up simply placing a plastic PVC pipe over the top of the pole so the birds couldn't land well. Ingenious! They didn't even have to use duct tape!

Construction Material

This is a very large piece of black plastic strip being removed from the top of a power pole at work. It was put there by an Osprey a couple days earlier. Go P.U.D.!

It don't get more Country!

Springtime is garden time here, and garden time means.... yup. Fertilizer. Now some people might get squeemish (great word), but this is all natural and improves a garden immensly. There are no pesticides or herbicides, lets just call it "processed grass" using the bovine method!

Ospreys

This is as close as I could zoom to a couple of ospreys trying to build a nest on the top of a power pole just North of work. One was just landing and the other is sitting right in the middle facing me. They are beautiful birds to watch... big, and they gracefully hang on the wind as well as any seagull I've ever seen. The day before on company audit day, I didn't take my camera and there were four of them flying around.