Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Deer & Hummer Return

Well this morning when the dogs got up to go outside I looked towards the salt block and to my excitement was Big Red along with several does & yearlings, but what surprised me the most was that he already had velvety antlers outside of his ears with 3 pts on each side it's only May 25th. As the day went on other came in which is nothing new but several were the other bucks that stay here with Big Red and they too had velvet outside of their ears, the rest are does & yearlings, they look very healthy. his is when I say spring is at Trinity because wildlife reappears after it being white since Nov. It won't be long before there are as many as 3-400 deer per day out back, in 4 days they have already licked half of the block away.

The hummers on the other hand came in slowly and were about a week later than usual, but hey are making up for it now as you can see in the photos, it's flying room only with a slight wait. The feeder in the photo holds 48oz and it took only 5 days for the humers to empty it, they are very hungry and busy, most of the time getting along but then other times they come in looking like anti-aircraft guns at the ready and will challenge anyone that comes near, even me and my camera. I've learned that unless I want to get swarmed by them not to wear red when taking photos of them.






The snow is almost completely gone from here yet there is still anywhere from no snow to about 3.5' of snow still on the road in places making for a very difficult travel in & out so I haven't done much of either but plan to go out tomorrow and survey everything, see how much the river has changed this year, it's alive and constantly changing as do the creeks and anything affected by lots of water.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too. Namaste'
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Friday, May 16, 2008

It's Melting Now!!!


Well the snow is over now after dumping 515.25" of snow this past season and we even got snow 2 weeks ago Sat in flurries, and the creeks were starting to come up slightly but this past week the creeks have come up almost 1.5' and the snow has dropped to less than 2' when it was over 6' May1. Not only the creek but the Chiwawa River is also coming up and it is now filling the pond in back but not so much that there isn't still water in most of the pond. It is getting very difficult to try to walk in the snow because places that were firm in the morning are very soft and you can posthold very easy which isn't so good on the knees for me, even the dogs find it more difficult geting around once it is soft because the nose dive because of sinking in the snow, they are still constantly hunting anything that they see running across the snow or flying around. If we get the warm temps that are being forecast it could become very sloppy very fast, this is one of my busiest times of the year because with allof the snow melting and water coming up there is lots of debris in the water that tends to clog up the screen at the dam which can shut the plant down so I stay close during this time of year, not only that but with this fast warming there can be some slide action which could block roads going in oad out so it will be interesting to see what happens. This is just the beginning of the water coming up even though it is cloudy it isn't dirty which it will become very soon.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.

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Friday, May 09, 2008

What a Difference 50 miles makes

Well I'm finally back on the air after replacing my computer made it easy I lost all of my photos and music which really sucked. Oh well back to taking lots of photos and maybe this time I'll put them on an external drive, it happens.
As you can see in the top photo that I was getting snowed on April 29&30 while down the road at Gibb's Farm they are working wildly too get things ready in the garden and orchard and I'm still watching the snow melt and not so productive outside right now especially once the sun has been up for a while it is very hard walking around without punching through the snow. This past winter was a very strange winter with big snow dumps when you didn't expect it and then much later snows this year than since I've been here.
I guess that is what makesliving here so special for me I can go snowmobile in my backyard area in morning and go to town and wear shorts & tank top in Leavenworth that afternoon, gotta love it.

The farm has some new help this year Allison & Matt are interns helping and they are a great addition to the farm helping Danielle and Grant get it looking great ready for Farmer's Market. The bull calf is the latest addition to the cow herd and has some great markings, last but not least is Danielle with baby on board driving the tractor getting rows ready for planting. The farm is alive with activity and you definitely know it is spring there while back here at Trinity except for the warmer temperatures and the creeks and river's coming up still looks like winter just harder to walk on the snow without postholing.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too. Namaste'
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We have to Speak Up

Most of you know that this blog has been mostly about the adventures we have here, and even though I don't watch the news or read newspapers there are some things you just can't ignore. Many people are talking about the upcoming election and what changes they hope to see come about after the election but the only way changes are going to happen is when the people stand up and speak out. We've been lied to so often and the only people who benefit normally are those making the laws or the companies who support those lawmaker's with special interest money, what happened to "of the People, by the People for the People?"
Many of you who know me know that I'm a caretaker, but I'm also disabled and have been since '99 because of my knees and the pain related to them and my shoulders which continues to get worse all the time, my knees need to be replaced is what i was told in November. It took a long time but 4 years ago I received a doctors recommendation for medical cannabis because for 3 years prior I was nauseated and lost over 120# was very weak and in constant severe pain that the narcotics didn't help much with and it was difficult to do much, life was painful. Once I started using medical cannabis I started eating and holding the food down for the first time in years, and within 3 months I had reduced my narcotic medication by 75% and have been able to have a somewhat normal life now and thankfully Washington is one of 12 states with medical cannabis laws but unfortunately the federal government still looks at us as criminals and throw us in jail for using medication recommended by our physician and have closed many dispensaries down and arrested patients for using medical cannabis, they have declared war or the people they are supposed help, War is not the solution.
It's taken 36 years since the National Comm on Marijuana & Drug Abuse suggested to then President Nixon to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana, but it never happened but the war was stepped up against cannabis smoker's and has been only lately in some states and cities been a little more relaxed yet there are many people still in jail for small amounts of marijuana while killer's and rapist and other violent offender's get out after a few short years, where is the justice in that.
With all of that being said kudos go out to Congressmen Barney Frank & Ron Paul last month introduced to congress " The Personal Use of Marijuana by Responsible Adults Act of 2008" which would eliminate the threat of arrest & prison for less than 3.5 oz, and or the not for profit transfer of up to 1 oz. This doesn't do anything for the medical cannabis laws in states with them but it might if passed encourage states to change their laws accordingly, it is the first official step in the right direction and now it is your turn to step up and contact you congressman or contact Marijuana Policy Project @ www.mpp.org and you can do that through their website, it is time to SPEAK UP and tell your congressman to support this wonderful bill which is the first step to end the WAR on Drug's that is more of a war against patients trying to have a somewhat normal lifestyle, I'm a patient who lives daily with pain so severe that without medical cannabis I couldn't function because of the pain but with cannabis I have the pain but it is tolerable and has made the quality of my life so much better and I appreciate my Dr. for being open enough to stand up for what works, Thanks.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.

Friday, March 28, 2008

Not giving up just yet

Well if you enjoyed the sunshine and warm temps in Feb and early Mar and were thinking it was spring, surprise, surprise, surprise, Mother Nature had other ideas. I can't say I'm surprised or unhappy about it, I can still snowmobile and play in the snow and the dogs love it too. Today is starting off just like Sunday did and we ended up getting 13" that day so who knows. Lately the pattern has been sunshine then snow, then sunshi9ne again and has been since last week when it started doing that. It took a long time to go over 480" and now heading closly to 500" for the season, not bad for being at 2800'. The dogs are loving the new snow and are really getting into hunting mode they've ben chasing the marten's trails and also found river otter in the river, now I know why they are gone for the long runs they take, once Peace gets on a trail she goes into auto mode and won't stop and her ears don't hear until she finds the source of what she smells. Life is great, enjoy every minute and you will never have regrets.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.
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Monday, March 24, 2008

!st Weekend of Spring @ Trinity

After waiting for a month to get some new snow and wanting to break the 480" mark for the season it finally happened the 1st day of spring with a whopping 2" making it 481" in 2007/2008 season.
Friday I met Ivan & Grant at the sno-park around 1pm and after getting loaded up we headed out to Trinity for a play weekend but we didn't make it far before the first challenge came up. After working on the sled and hopefully getting it in top shape it only made it about a mile so we reloaded what we had and left the sled on the side and headed on up, getting here around 4pm. Got unpacked and tok Ivan up to the settling tank so he could ski the pipeline a couple of times, then we went and played in the meadow on the sleds for a bit. Played some cribbage ate well and planned on getting across the river to ski Ice Cream on Sat morning. After a good breakfast Ivan & Grant and all of the dogs headed up the mountain to get in some skiing and as far as I know they are the first to ski where they did. That afternoon after having to go back up and look for one of Grant's bindings Ivan also found a new run Ice Cream scoop close to Ice Cream but better he said. They had a good time but then I towed Ivan up on Phelps Creek TH rd and he skied it a couple of times between him and grant they each got in several good runs each day along with playing on the sleds being able to go anywhere you want perfect spring conditions. We got up Sunday morning and planned to head up the James Creek draw and it started snowing around 6:30 very fine snow but that kept geting bigger and bigger and by 9:30 we already had gotten 3" of new snow and so after getting Grants ski fixed and me on snowshoes headed across the river again and over to James Creek where we found the waterfall and some beautiful runs here are a few photos of Ivan, Grant & myself on 3 Dog Run in James Creek. This was one of the best times here at Trinity with great friends and loads of fun, skiing, snowmobiling and cribbage along with great food.

While Ivan & grant skied on Ice Cream I had another visit from Rolph & his wife and the Wildfun gang, showed them the Bowling alley and settling tank and some beautiful scenery we ate hotdogs at the bowling alley then they headed back, it was great seeing them and they brought me a wonderful BD present, for which I'm very greatful. It seems that most people are giving up on snomobiling after this weekend and we ended up with 13" of beautiful POWder, what more could you ask for on the 1st weekend of spring.

We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.

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Wednesday, March 19, 2008

New Transplant to Trinity Gang

I want to introduce everyone to Lovely Lillie the latest transplant to Trinity, by way of Gibbs Farm. Peace and Bear have known Lillie since they were little because everytime we go to town that is our home away from home and we are very grateful for having a place to stay where they can run and they know the farm as well as they do Trinity. Since the farm raise chickens for eggs it is part of their income and Lillie discovered she liked eggs not the chickens just the eggs and so instead of her ending up in not so good a place and because she already fit it with the kids I agreed to bring her out here and after some delays Danielle brought her to the snowpark to meet me 3 weeks ago and everything was fine put her in the hauler and thought she was in it but when I got to Trinity to let her out surprise there was no Lillie. I turned around and rode back out to Chikamin Creek but never saw any tracks but the snow was frozen solid couldn't even see my snowmobile tracks and running low on gas turned around and sent a few emails to friends at the other end of the road and close to Fish Lake to be on the lookout for her. I've been in and out a few times and never saw here and had heard nothing about her but knew she was OK. Last Wednesday Ivan & Don snowmobiled out here and we played for a few hours riding around areas that hadn't been touched by anyone but me and the dogs it was a blast. They left around 5 that afternoon and not long after they left I got an email with a couple of photos and there was Lillie looking tired and hungry but safe. She showed up at Dave &Suzanne Neir's place on Fish Lake and they took great care of her until I could get out Fri to get her. Planned to do it Thur but after the riding we did I was very sore and could hardly raise my arm's but it was so much fun. Friday after our morning visit from Rob, Mike &Jon I went out to get her. She is fitting in well and stays close to me right now but everyday she's exploring more and staying with Peace & Bear, they have become a good hunting team and love chasing squirrels and birds.

We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.
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A Real Workout




> This last Friday we had a visit from 3 guys that skied up here from Fish Lake Sno-park. they made it in a little over 3 hours and would have been faster but they had to let the groomer get ahead of them since they followed him all the way out. Rob from Plain Hardware fame, Mike from North Rd, and Jon from the other side, he's a part-timer. By the time they got here they were looking good but need to dry out a bit, drank some coffee talked a little about Trinity and what I know of the place and they got to watch Bear & Peace do what they do best play and do what they can to get attention from all of them. Gizmo even got in the game with nuzzling up to Rob. This is the first time since I've lived here that anyone has skied to Trinity and visited before returning. The stayed for a little over an hour and then I let them have a head start since I was heading out to my truck, and didn't want to make tracks they would have to cross or deal with. That is a great workout since roundtrip is a little under 45 miles and it isn't something I could do on skis anymore but love it on a snowmobile especially when it is freshly groomed. It's always nice to show friends where Paradise is.

We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Kids Playing at A Paw Above


This past weekend we went to Leavenworth to celebrate my 53rd birthday, listen to live music and jam with friends it was a great time. Most of you know Bear &Peace already but this is Abby one of Bear's playmates, she live with Susie & Matt &Katie and she loves to play with Bear & Peace. When we go to town A Paw Above is one of the first stops we have to make so that they can play and get their treats from Susie & Gaby at Siefert's, they race to see them and the love is returned. If you have a four legged family member and you haven't been to A Paw above then you are missing out, go see Abby &Susie, you will be glad you did. We spent 4 days in town which is the longest we have been away from Trinity since last Oct, so it was a great time for all of us. Hanging at the farm was great too now we are all recovering from the adventure and looking forward to the next one.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.

Friday, February 29, 2008

Peace &Bear's Favorite Places



Everytime we go to town there are a couple of places that Peace &Bear have certain placesand people they want to visit. Here are a couple of photos first is Aunt Michelle & UncleTR of Uncle Uli's famous porch where dogs are allowed to hang out with their owners and friends. They've been watching Bear &Peace grow up and once downtown it is a race to get to Uli's for water or to A Paw Above &Aunt Susie &Uncle Matt and playtime with Abbey, not bad for bringing in customers either, they can keep everyone entertained and have endless energy while they are there. They know their food and snacks come from there so it is definitely a Big Fav of theirs. Here Susie is getting them to sit for treats, too bad Abby wasn't there to play and be photographed.
You might not recognize the floor in the last photo but that is the floor of The Purple Pot and Bear's baby sister Gypsy and everytime they get together they cover both stores the Purple Pot &Purple Passion since Gypsy's mom works there or is being watched there so it is usually a good bet there will be some playing involved if we go there. If you haven't checked out any of these places you might give them a shot if the animals love them then the parents should too. It's what makes Leavenworth such a great place to live.
We found our Paradise, Hope you find you's too.

Friday, February 22, 2008

Walking the River


What a beautiful week we have had, sunshine and clear cold nights, the moon has been getting full and then on Wed night even got to enjoy the total lunar eclipse, real Coooool. We had been hearing that it was going to be cloudy with possible snow but again the guys got it very wrong, good for us though it was a beautiful clear night lots of stars were visible while the moon was in the shadow but once it cleared out from bottom to top it lit up the snow like being in a ballfield, simply gorgeous. Peace &Bear just played chasing each other and barking at the owls that were busy talking up & down the creek it was very cool, only thing missing were wolves howling which is a sad thing, we need them, but that is another topic.
We took a walk up the Chiwawa river and I was amazed at how far we could go without having to cross the river but that is because it has changed course and is now flowing against the mountains to the west of Trinity, that could be interesting this year, but not unexpected since it is a wild river and changes several times each year.

You know it is times like this week when it would be nice to be able to share these experiences with someone special, but for now Peace & Bear are it.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.

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Enjoying the Sunshine @ Trinity

What a difference a couple of weeks makes. 2 weeks ago all of the passes were closed in WA many people couldn't get from Seattle to the East side of the mountains because of avalanche dangers and work being done to remove what had fallen on the roads. We had the sled dog races but even several mushers weren't able to get here, it was a mess. Then last weekend the sun started shining and the temps warmed up into the 40's even here at Trinity. We still are 10.5" short of 40' for the season but I'm not concerned it's not over yet. With the warming temps during the days and freezing at night it has really helped to set up the snow so that it is easy to walk almost anywhere they sun has been able to hit but in the trees and shade it is a different story, you can still punch through and sink up to your waist if not careful, note to self, still wear your boots it's not sandle weather just yet.

Peace, Bear & I took a walk up the Chiwawa River and found that it has again changed course and is now moved west up against the Chiwawa mountains instead of flowing towards Trinity, so this could make it interesting this year. The snow is so firm we were able to walk almost a mile up the river to places that we could have snowmobiled to this year before haveing to cross a snow bridge to continue up the river, it was gorgeous. Bear &Peace seemed to have a blast and they like snow bridges and will use everyone to see just how far they can go. This morning we woke up to some light snow/sleet but it turned to rain and has stopped for now. It was supposed to have moved in this Wednesday but fortunantly it help off until late last night so I was able to enjoy the total lunar eclopse which was very beautiful and Big, once it was over though the moon lit up all of the snow as if we were at a ballfield with all of the lights on, I guess it is what I enjoy the most about the winter full moons. What a beautiful time of year, very peaceful.

We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.

What a Beautiful Week

This week has been beautiful, the sun has been shining & warm and the nights clear & cold. Peace, Bear &I have been going for walks because the snow is frozen from melting and refreezing each night, it's been great. On Wednesday night we had a total lunar eclipse which was very cool got to watch it for over an hour, but weren't sure because they had been calling for clouds & snow which didn't happen just a beautiful full moon and once the eclipse ended the moon lit up the snow, it was fantastic to see and experience. This morning though when we got up it was snowing lightly almost sleet and 30 degrees with warming today so what snow we get will melt before the day is over. That is what the weekend will be like I believe. We haven't had any snow all week and with the warming trend we have had the snow is down to 8' on our gauge and we still haven't cracked the 40' mark yet but based on what we have experienced here in the last 4 years it's not over yet.

During our walks we have noticed that the Chiwawa River has changed course once again and is now up at the base of the mountains to the west and further away from Trinity so the melt will be interesting to see what happens. We were able to walk up the river for about 1 mile using snow bridges to cross to the other side of the river and got up past the James Creek drainage and it was so beautiful & peaceful, and makes life great.

We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.

Monday, February 18, 2008

More Friends from the Weekend



Sergio and Amber showed up to listen to Paul which was very nice, you can see Sergio at Osprey if you want to ski or Whitewater, he can get you there. Sandy with Peace behaving and Bear checking out the lens as I snapped the photo. Sandy and husband Charlie (not pictured) own the Tumwater Inn, see them if you are hungry or looking for entertainment check it out in Leavenworth our home in the Mountains.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.

Saturday Night @ the Tumwater


Last Saturday night live music started again with Paul Sweeney accompanied by John the bartender. There was a good and rowdy crowd there and the music was great as always. It was the first time this winter that the weather cooperated so that I could stay and visit friends for a couple of days, Peace, Bear &I had a great time and it seemed that everyone at the Tumwater also had a good time. If you haven't been there yet it is one of the stops you should make when you are in Leavenworth for the weekend. If there is one thing wrong with Leavenworth it is the lack of live music venues or live music shows except the festivals and all which is something maybe we as locals should do something to change that. All in all the sun was shining and everyone starting to think Spring. Live life to the fullest and you will not have any regrets.
We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Doing what they do Best


These are some photos of Bear &Peace doing what they do all the time, they constantly keep me amused and make life interesting.





We found our Paradise, hope you find your's too.
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