Kingfisher Cove

Keep Thinking It's Friday And So Very Glad It's Not

What, I'm short-changing our vacation? All day today I've thought it was Friday and after a flash of despair, such relief in realizing it's Thursday! The week is sure going fast, though. I'm definitely beyond even *thinking* about work, which took me a few days to get to that point. (By Tuesday I was good). Now, I'm sure wishing I had yet ANOTHER week of this. Even with sketchy weather, it's sure better than going to work. I have a little suitcase stuffed full of clean summery clothes that I haven't had the occasion to wear. Capris, short-sleeved tops. I've basically lived in jeans and sweatshirts all week. (Better not run out of socks! I really figured I'd be wearing my sandals most of the time! Hasn't happened).

This was the view from our deck this morning:

It's a Blue Heron on our Fast Red Boat. Pretty cool, but there's likely a vast puddle of heron shit on the boat deck...

We witnessed a dramatic and rather horrifying scene this morning. We were relaxing with our coffee in front of the deck fire and from behind us out of nowhere a hawk swooped down and snatched a dove off a tree branch right before our eyes. Before we even realized what was happening, we heard a lot of fluttering of wings, and then the hawk took off through the gully carrying the poor dove in its talons! It was as fast as lightening. We couldn't even process it as it was happening — it was immediately after the fact that we turned toward each other with dropped jaws. You'd think that after almost five years of coming here that we would have seen "everything", but we're continuously surprised.

Crappy weather-day (other than this morning), so we went to town and got groceries. My dad and his lady friend and my brother and my niece are coming to visit on Saturday — and we're "promised" that the weather will be much improved! (Sure hope so!) I wish Nate could come, too. Weekends are his work money-makers at the restaurant so I don't think he'll be able to get away. Sigh.

A Great Time In Spite Of The Weather

Just as Helen pulled in yesterday, JDub and I were peering at a huge bald eagle perched at the top of a tree "talking" to another bald eagle a short distance away. Just prior to that, I'd seen four of them swirling above us, all calling out in their incongruous "eagle speak" — they sound more like song birds than the ferocious and formidable creatures that they are. The whole time we helped Helen put her tent up we could hear them in the trees. They aren't as common around here as they are at Camano Island, so it's quite an experience to see them so up-close-and-personal. Awesome for Helen, too.

We had such a fun time visiting and eating (and drinking Crantinis!), even though the weather continued to deteriorate throughout the day (and it didn't start out well, either). It rained most of the day, at first intermittent showers, but then steadier as the day wore on. Just when her tent was up and she was pumping up her air mattress, it really started to rain — pretty good timing, really. I'm glad we were able to get the tent up in relative dryness so that the inside at least wasn't sopping wet.  It's a cute tent:

I believe JDub was quite entertained with all our conversation throughout our wonderful bbq'd salmon dinner and then later inside the trailer once the wind kicked up and the fire no longer kept us comfortable out on the deck. We stayed up quite late, not even really aware of how late it was getting! (Time meant nothing much!) Helen, the sweetheart, brought squeaky toys for Bailey and a sock filled with fresh (homegrown) catnip for Mojo (plus Sheba catfood!)  She also brought birdseed!  In the middle of the night, JDub heard major thumping happening in the trailer.  He figured Mojo had brought in a mouse that he was playing with before gutting it (there's good reason to figure that), but when he got up he discovered the sock with a big hole and fresh catnip all over the place! "Mojo got high last night," he said.

We all slept in this morning, and I was glad to hear that Helen had a super-restful night in her tent. I sort of worried about that (not about her "safety" or anything — it's not like we have bears — but whether or not she was comfortable because the wind was pretty much howling and it continued to rain throughout the night. But she slept wonderfully and had vivid dreams, which is something that we experience here, too. We always have.

Then, coffee and English muffins/biscotti on the deck with a fire. The weather today is much improved, although not stellar. (Stellar compared to yesterday, though!)

Helen and I took a very nice beach walk today. I found a couple of agates and some lavender beach glass, and she had some bags to collect some shells and rocks for her garden. What was especially cool was that Mojo accompanied us on our walk! I was so hoping he would, and he certainly did! On the way down the path toward the beach, I kept calling him to let him know where we were going. Then we exited the path and there he was on a log waiting for us! I swear that he remembers Helen (you might recall that one of her kitties is Mojo's mama and she raised him and his  brothers and sisters until they were old enough to relinquish — she kept a brother and sister).  It's so fun for her to see Mojo (I mean, she saw him being born!)  We walked one way and then the other and Mojo hung out with us. What a cat he is! Helen was so intrigued to see him so comfortable on the beach. It still makes me shake my head in wonder. Isn't he lovely?

So this afternoon Helen left to head back to Oregon. I sure wish she could have stayed longer, especially with the improved weather. It would have been so fun to have a boat ride, or go kayaking. (Helen! You and Ron need to come back and spend a weekend!)

JDub's back out in the dinghy with the crab pot, treating it like a crab ring and checking it every so often. Wouldn't that be fun to get some crab? I'm not holding my breath, though. (Bailey in particular is not a bit happy that he's out there — she is watching him very carefully and whining and carrying on. Neurotic little thang...)

Anybody have any idea what this might be? I've never seen anything like this before. It appears to be egg casings of some sort, but for what creature?

A Stunner of a Monday

What an awesome feeling to not have to get up and go to work this morning. In fact, by the time I woke up, work had already been underway for an hour. And today is truly stellar — blue sky, blue water, and calm — but it's sort of bittersweet because it's supposed to go to hell in a handbasket by this evening. Crap! It would be so wonderful if this could last, especially since Helen is coming tomorrow. (It's supposed to rain. Makes me so sad).

I've done some food preparation and JDub has been working his arse off chain-sawing a huge log and hauling it up the slope to chop for firewood. He also dropped the crab pot out by the Fast Red Boat. We'll see what happens. We haven't had great luck around here (no Dungeness in the immediate area, just rock crab. They taste really good, but they tend to be pretty small and their shells are very thick and hard. It would be nice to at least get some good-sized ones — they can be, just haven't seen many around here). 

Of course the dogs were bereft while he was out there, crying on the beach. And also of course, Mojo had to bullet to the beach and take in all the activity. (He's being quite a butt: we've lost count how many times we've had to squirt him to keep him away from the Mojo bait traps birdfeeders. And he showed up a while ago with bird feathers stuck to his fur. Guilty!) 

After I posted yesterday, the wind settled down enough for us to enjoy a beach walk and then later a fire on the deck. It was a great evening! And then two raccoons (possibly Rocky and Rockette) showed up at the bird habitat to decimate the feeders. Grrrr. I'd noticed Sunday morning that they were pretty much emptied and seed had been dumped in big piles beneath them with all the black-oiled sunflower seeds gone. Bailey and Mojo made a couple attempts to chase them off, but they kept coming back. I wish they looked like lizards or something because I'd feel a lot better about blasting them with the hose (or maybe even the pellet gun...).  But they're just so cute!  Their glowy eyes in the dark are sure eerie, though.

Here are a few scenes from yesterday — Mojo the ship's figurehead:

The buoyed Fast Red Boat (lacking the red after sunset):

JDub with Fast Red Boat buoyed behind him:

Setting sun on Mojo:

Day Two (so far): The Wind Makes Going to Wal-Mart Seem Like a Good Idea

"At least it's dry...." Yeah, so? Being outside in this wind stretches your skin and eyes back like bad cosmetic surgery, and my hair looks like a pompadour (or a mohawk, depending on the wind's direction at any given time).  It's not a frigid wind, but it sure does get to you. Like Chinese water air torture. The birds don't like it, and I have a hunch our boat doesn't like it, either.

All morning it was also cloudy with rain threatening, so we decided to head to town and take care of errands today instead of tomorrow (the original plan). You know, like get more propane, more birdseed, more food (including salmon!), more ice, more jig saw puzzles, and even some steak knives.  We went to four different places and covered a lot of miles. At Wal-Mart, JDub (as usual) bought Bailey a squeaky toy. We had several Wal-Mart bags full of this and that in the back of the Durango, and the next stop was the grocery store. Sure enough, when we came back to the Durango with the groceries, Bailey had found her squeaky toy in one of the Wal-Mart bags! She knows! And she doesn't pull out anything else at all — just roots around until she finds a squeaky toy and she simply knows it's for her. What a goof. (She's actually quite bright. Peanut? Not so much, but that's part of her charm).

The sun's out now and it's pretty outside, but that wind continues to howl. It also continues to look a lot like October out there with those gold leaves still falling and blowing around from the Madronas. Helen's tent deck is once again covered in those leaves, so Tuesday morning I'll be down there sweeping it off again. (Hopefully not in the rain...)

On a typical weekend, we'd be already contemplating heading home. I'm sooooo glad that's not the case!  I would have felt pretty cheated! In spite of the totally un-stellar weather, it's still 1000% better than having to go to work tomorrow!

First Day: We Relax and We Launch

Da boat's launched! Yay! JDub finished up his tinkering with the motor this morning and put it all back together, fired 'er up and she ran beautifully. We tried to launch it at the neighbors' which is so incredibly convenient when we can, but the tide has to be just right. It wasn't quite high enough (and wasn't going to be any decent time this week), so we had to drive about eight miles and across the bridge to the public boat launch. JDub then took off in the boat and I drove the trailer back with weenie dogs totally confused ("What'd you do with Dad?") with me in the Durango's driver's seat. JDub beat me back to our place — it's a pretty straight shot via water, and not at all via road. While he waited for me, he took this picture from the deck:

We took a quick ride — but it was quite chilly out there. The weather is not being stellar and it sounds like it's going to RAIN the day Helen is here! I'm really bummed and sure hope the forecast is wrong.

As we pushed off for our ride, Mojo watched us from the beach. (No, we would not entertain the idea of bringing him along. He's a pretty unique cat loving the beach and all, but he would have either ended up in the water and/or we'd all be shredded to hamburger with his freaked-out six-toed claws). But he does look rather forlorn:

Afterward, JDub and Bailey tied the boat up to our buoy and rowed back in the dinghy. (Peanut was terribly upset — I don't think because she wanted to go along, but she just doesn't like it when either of us are in a boat (or kayak) and she's on the beach).

On tap now is thinking about dinner. Wouldn't you know, I have a bit of an upset tummy and our awaiting tenderloins with béarnaise sauce and mushrooms and broccolini is sounding a bit dicey. I may give it a little more time before firing up the grill and see if "things" settle a bit.  

"I'm So Excited...!" (to the tune of the Pointer Sisters)

Vacation has officially begun!  We're at Harstine after both of us wrapping up work-weeks from hell. God. (Yes, we are very fortunate to have this Plot of Paradise to be able to retreat to, but we do pay a price with such over-the-top stressful jobs!)  I'm still waiting for that stress to puddle around my ankles and take a leave of absence.

Utterly exhausted, and so heading to bed.

Entering WTF-Mode

I actually allowed myself to start thinking a bit about our upcoming vacation (that begins in two days!)  I've been so absorbed in details and babysitting subconsultants and pulling out my hair that I just hadn't given it much thought until now — aside from tackling laundry and collecting ingredients for Crantinis for when Helen comes to visit us! Heh! I've been a mad-woman, trying to accomplish as much as possible on this proposal-from-hell, mostly out of pride. I don't want my coworkers to feel totally overwhelmed by having to take it over next week and see it out the door. But today I realized, hey, I can only accomplish so much by the time I leave for vacation, and then my responsibility is DONE. Stop sweatin' it!  The project manager has had two weeks of vacation throughout this!  He's at Lake Chelan this week water-skiing and drinking beer.  And if this proposal is a "win", he's the one who will earn the big-bucks bonus.

Oooh, drama at the office first thing this morning! We have a temp this week helping out with administrative tasks, and her truck caught on fire in the parking lot — just as she parked it! Another employee pulled her out of the truck as it burst into flames. Turned out Annoying Coworker was parked right next to the burning truck so she raced outside to move her car out of the way ("Kept hopin' it wouldn't explode or nothin'."). The fire department came immediately and sprayed foam all over the place. Weird stuff — it was just everywhere, but over time it completely dissipated. The truck was towed, everyone was fine, but certainly shaken up.

Time to fold laundry (I just hate folding fitted sheets, don't you?) and give some serious thought to next week's vacation menus.  Hmmm, what sounds good?  We want to eat fun/good stuff, but not labor-intensive, as it is vacation! (Suggestions??)

Plugging Along at 90 Gazillion MPH

I suppose it's a good thing I'm hella busy this week before vacation because the time certainly isn't dragging and I haven't had a chance to be in "vacation mode." In fact, the week is moving along too fast for my comfort level. I have such a lot to do and I'm running out of hours.

Well, and energy. There's quite a lot to do at home, too (laundry, pick up prescriptions, get my nails done, bathe the dogs, plan next week's menus, pack...) and by the time I get home from work, I'm "done".  Put a fork in me.

It's true I don't have to see this proposal out the door — it's not due until August 4th so that means my coworkers will need to finalize it next week while I'm on vacation.  I really want that to be as stress-free for them as possible because they have a lot of other stuff on their plates.  It makes me feel yukky to know that others will have to finish what I've started (and have well underway). 

Time Flies

It's kind of sad, really.

I swept the tent deck for when Helen comes to visit, and it just looks so forlorn (and overgrown with scotch broom) around there.  We spent just about every single weekend in that tent during our first Harstine summer (2004). It was a lot of work, but it was also a lot of fun.

It looked like this (under the shadow of the McMansion):

The view is great from there:

To give you an extremely lame perspective of where our house will eventually be, I've sketched (ha!) on this photo taken from the beach looking straight on at the property. The red star in the upper left corner is the general direction (way up and beyond) of where the camping trailer currently is.  The "house" will actually be back further than this:

It'll span the gully, and the front will be a nice deck. I absolutely cannot draw. Duh. Never progressed beyond kindergarten in that area...

Where the house will be, the beach access will be a piece of cake (good thing, because we'll be on our way to senior citizenship, if not already there).  This kind of shows how high up the camping trailer sits, so it's always a *hike* to head to and from the beach:

Had a nice beach walk today and then in a little while we're heading to the neighbors' for a get-together. Should be fun, except I'd really rather just hang around here and watch the birdies. I could easily be pretty anti-sociable.

~~~~~~~~~~

Update: The neighborhood gathering was an absolute ball. I'm so glad we went, and the turnout was awesome.

Thank God I'm A Harstine Girl (to the tune of John Denver...)

As a human, I'm sure you know that it's a few-and-far-between occasion that you feel utter joy. There's just so much more stress and angst in life than there is true joy. Which means that when we encounter those fleeting instances, we sure do stand up and take notice.

That would be me today. And it's just a weekend — vacation doesn't begin until next weekend! (And I've got a work-week-from-Hades coming up, but I will not think about that right now).  (See? Even unencumbered joy is tainted with worry).  But shaking that thought off, I'm sitting on the deck here at Harstine on yet another gorgeous summer Saturday.  July has been stellar so far this year. The sky is blue, dotted with a few puffy clouds. The water is blue and calm. The temperature is absolutely perfect. Warmish, but not hot. No discernible humidity. Fresh-smelling and fragrant with sage, rosemary, lavender, and saltwater.  Heavenly. (Such a contrast from the work-week I just wrapped up...)

I accomplished a few chores this morning, and that feels good, too. The poor camping trailer was in pretty dire need of some cleaning and I washed windows and mirrors and mopped the floors. I also washed the deck-side windows on the outside. It makes such a difference on the inside!  The floor is better, but could use some getting down on the knees and scrubbing (but my knees just won't go there!)  I have somewhat of my mother's "clean genes", but not her "anal genes." I tell myself that's a healthy balance. Now I'm working up the gumption to head down the slope, cross the gully, and climb the opposite slope to sweep off the ol' tent deck where Helen will be pitching her tent when she comes to visit on the 29th/30th.  It's really not such a big deal to go do that, but at the moment I'm experiencing that "joy" of vegging on the deck with my computer (and my blog!)

JDub's been working on the boat motor. I believe I've mentioned before that it's a 1971 or 1972 Mercury (135 HP) that's in really great shape for its age, but to keep it that way JDub needs/wants to tinker with it regularly. Especially running it in saltwater, it really must be well-maintained. This man knows boat motors (including unlimited hydroplane motors which are actually T-55 helicopter turbines), and it's a labor of love for him to tinker with them.  Having a machine shop in our garage at home, he's able to manufacture many of the components and he's spent the past couple of weeks working on some of those hose fittings and stuff.

You could call him a boat-motor-surgeon (no, I'm not his surgical nurse):

The bright colored and shiny elements are of his making:

He has discovered that one of the fittings wasn't what he expected, so he's off to the hardware store to pick up what he needs. I was hoping for a boat ride this weekend, but it looks like that won't be happening until our vacation, because he's also awaiting a few more parts. Best to have the thing running perfectly — certainly wouldn't want to risk being stranded somewhere out in Puget Sound.

In the meantime, I'm having a joyful time watching the bird/critter habitat and all the activity. Hmm, Mojo caught a bird this morning. Thankfully not at the habitat — I'd feel terrible if that happened — but I can't control him and the birds/critters throughout the entire acre. (I will do my utmost to make sure the habitat isn't cat-bait).  Why in hell haven't cats evolved into not needing to do this?