Working on Whidbey

Tom and I went to Whidbey Island for an overnight to meet up with his sister Jan, who wanted help with a project at the cabin.  It was also a good opportunity to get up there and get the front garden cleaned up before the weeds took over.  With our mild winter and early spring, everything is growing, especially the weeds. 

I walked about as we waited for our ferry to come in at Mukilteo. 

 I had ferry coffee and shared we our favorite ferry food, a trail mix cookie, on the ride over to the island. 

We arrived at the cabin about 10:30, and after moving in, I got right to work on the garden. Tom joined me later in the afternoon, and finally it was all cleaned up.

 Jan started a fire in the fire pit and we added to it with yard debris. 

The hazy sky made for subtle sunset colors over Useless Bay. 

 In the center of the photo below you can just see Mt. Rainier, and to the right on the horizon, a few skyscrapers of downtown Seattle. 

 I got up early to peak at the pink sunrise Friday morning.

 As the sun rose in the east, the moon was setting in the west.

Then I went back to bed.  After crawling around and bending and stooping for five hours the day before, I was tired.  

When everyone was up and moving, Tom and Jan finished the tile back splash project in the kitchen. 

I went for a long walk.  Eagles were sitting in their tree right over the roadway.  A large mature baldy just flew off before I got my phone camera out of my pocket. 

 Looking back from the top of the hill.

The Olympic Mountains.  There's not much snow on any of our mountains this year. 

 I walked several miles before coming back down on the trail through the wetlands.  

 Old Baldy was back as I returned down the beach road. 

 And tTom was flying the Sounder flag!  Our season starts tomorrow!

I rested a bit, and then I went for a walk on the dike, this time taking my Nikon and my Canon cameras, instead of just my iPhone. 

Up we go. 

 I suppose for some folks the dike trail always looks much the same, but I always see the subtle color changes.

 Wild cherry trees, I think, were in bloom. 

Bird song abounded, especially from this chorus line of red winged blackbirds. 

 There were ducks, like these green winged teal. 

And chick-a-dees on the cattail fluff. 

 I was thrilled to see this beautiful pin tail duck. 

After lunch we packed up and went our separate ways, Jan to see if she could find a long eared owl, and us to poke around Langley.  We like the new beautification along Second Street. 

We watched some glass blowing at the old fire station glass studio. 

 It was getting dark as we finally made our way back through Seattle, avoiding the jammed I-5 freeway and using the viaduct instead.  

It's another beautiful Saturday, but all I've accomplished so far is some grocery shopping and this blog post.

Maybe I'll get outside for a bit this afternoon.  It's time to clip all the sword ferns here in this garden.