An Overnight on the Island

We arrived late Wednesday morning at our family cabin on Whidbey Island with a purpose: to plant tulip bulbs, to try to pry open a stuck septic tank cover, and to take delivery of a new kitchen range.

We were met with blue sky over Deer Lagoon. Make hay while the sun shines, this old farm girl says, so we got right to work.

 Tom got right to work, but the tool he brought to do the job on the septic cover wasn't doing the job. Fortunately, just across the road, a young man was finishing up a job and came to help. He was with the Celtic Risers, which just happens to be a septic servicing company!  He had the proper tools and knew what to do. He got the cover off, and provided information on what Tom should do next. He also provided a fabric liner to keep the lid from sealing again.  

 They got the lid back on and Tom trimmed the liner and that job was done!  Thank you so much, Celtic Riser service man. I think we'll call that company next time we need service! And yes, he did have a lovely Irish accent. 

 We got going on planting the tulip bulbs. These are the bulbs we removed from our Seattle garden after they bloomed last spring. We treat tulips like annuals there, but the bulbs do well in the dry sand of the Whidbey garden, so we order and plant new bulbs for home and recycle the old bulbs here. 

 Then it was time for a late lunch and a rest. 

With the weather still mild and dry, we went for a walk on the dike along Deer Lagoon. 

 The dike trail is lined with wild roses and blackberry bramble. I love the colors here in the fall, with the rose hips, the crimson blackberry leaves, the white snow berries, and the tawny colors of the wetland grasses in the background.  

 Fruit on an old apple seedling. 

 My favorite madrone tree. 

 There were red blackberries and dried up blackberries and black blackberries. We tasted a few of the black ones. 

 Rose hips and bulrushes. 

 Madrone berries. 

 We continued on out onto the wetland trail. With no real rain yet, the trail was dry, not the usual muddy. 

 Reversing we worked our way back on the lagoon trail, where sunlight was back lighting the blackberry leaves. 

 From the back yard of the cabin, we found a heron hunkered down. 

 We took care of a few more jobs, getting things stowed for the winter, then went out for dinner. 

This morning, Thursday, we took it easy while waiting for the delivery of the new kitchen range. It arrived about 10:00, just about the same time the rain came. 

 We had lunch and then packed up and came home. 

The traffic was bad north of Seattle, and it took forever to get home. We got the car unloaded and then Tom was off to get Isaac to soccer practice. I got stuff unpacked and put away. I decided not to go to Irene's track meet, but I have been getting updates from Jill  via text messages while I type. She won the 7th grade 100 meter dash, and was second last week. She was also second in the long jump last week, and competed again today. We don't know her placement yet. Go, Irene!

We have a busy weekend coming up, including the family cider bee. There will be photos.