Another sign

The Pond in the winter

No snow....yet

it's waterfall

It's that time again

MERRY CHRISTMAS

I am amused by this sign

Goodbye Bucky

We gave Bucky to a little horse crazy girl aged 3.  They love each other

Macaronie

 Kylee's Barrel horse, Macaronie

Come and get me I'm rarin' to go.

What's wrong with this picture?

Giant tables--small horses....Hmmmmm...

Old Fergie

Bob's tractor, old Fergie, a 1950's Ferguson.  Works like the workhorse it is

Friday night Moon

Holding the water in---meaning no rain in sight.

My Daughter's Fence for Friday Fences

One of several fences at my daughter's house on the ranch in Ritzville.

To see many more fences go to http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com/ and enjoy

HAPPY HALLOWE'EN

Bridge over the Mighty Columbia at Vantage

To see more Sunday Bridges go to http://bayphoto.blogspot.com/ and enjoy

The Snow Geese have arrived for the Winter.

Skagit and The Stilly Valley of Stanwood are Winter quarters for Snow Geese.  First sited this year October 14th.

Fall has arrived.........

This is Silver Lake up off the Mt. Baker Highway.

To see more reflections go to www.weekendreflection.blogspot.com

Ols barns but still using?

 Is it falling apart?  Is it still useable?  Look the house behind it all seems pretty new and there is a horse nearby.

Chho Choo you way to SoMo to view more stunning barn shots at Tricia's:  bluffareadaily.blogspot.com and enjoy

Kylee and Dally

Kylee riding her other horse (not Macaronie) Dally at the Rodeo Queen tryouts.More pics on my other blog Saturday.

Sunset through the slats in the fence

To see more Friday Fences go to http://lifeaccordingtojanandjer.blogspot.com/

Into the light

I took this through the dirty windshield and I should have cropped it I suppose, but this is what I got and you also.

To see more wonderful SKY images go to www.skyley.blogspot.com

Tripping at the Tree Farm

Cedar Waxwing

Fall is Cedar Waxwing time.  They love the berries of the Mountain Ash and and all kinds of berries and fruits.

Stanwood Saloon and Hotel

Taken from the Everett Herald Newspaper written in May 2012

STANWOOD -- The Stanwood Hotel is once again open for business after decades of decline and decay.

When Marilyn and Leonard Guthrie bought the 120-year-old hotel and its tavern in the old downtown nearly six years ago, squatters lived upstairs and the building was falling apart.

Today the tavern has the ambiance of an Old West saloon, with a player piano and planked floors dusted with peanut shells. The hotel rooms upstairs boast furnishings from the late 1800s and early 1900s, along with modern flat-screen TVs and Internet access.

There's no longer a communal bath down the hall, though. Each of the five completed guest rooms has its own new bathroom.

For the Guthries, who have done much of their own construction to bring the hotel back, more work remains. They hope to open another five guest rooms and a banquet room before the end of the year.

For city officials, the opening of the hotel, the only one in Stanwood, marks another step toward a revitalized downtown -- and economic development. For members of the Stanwood Area Historical Society, there is relief that another local treasure has been saved from the wrecking ball.

And for the ghosts in the hotel, it's party time once again.

That's what Tod Kertz believes. He is the founder of the Marysville-based Northwest Paranormal Research Group, which this year recorded what he said are the faint voices of children in the refurbished hotel's main hall. No children were in the building, but voices could be heard, Kertz said.

The Guthries, who live in Stanwood, are intrigued by the haunted hotel story, but their primary concern is to regain some of their building's historical integrity.

Marilyn Guthrie is proud of her big notebook, replete with historic photos, newspaper clippings and remembrances from customers.

She has framed copies of the Everett Daily Herald and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer from February 1929 that her husband found stuffed into the walls as insulation. Historic photos and watercolors of the hotel are displayed throughout the building.

"We wanted to bring the Hotel Stanwood back," Guthrie said. "It deserved the attention. We've been working on it for years, little by little. The hotel had a bad reputation, but now it's lovely. I want people to see what is here."

Leonard Guthrie, 61, has a construction business and works on the hotel in his off time. Marilyn Guthrie, 59, spends most of her time running the busy saloon and reopened hotel, working Craigslist and visiting thrift stores to find just the right old sink for the new men's restroom, or the perfect door for the outside entrance to the hotel.

"People love this old place. There's not anything else like it in Stanwood," Guthrie said. "Leonard and I met in seventh grade and we've done all sorts of things, but I never would have thought we would end up running an old hotel and saloon."

Guthrie charges $125 a night for the hotel rooms, which includes a continental breakfast and a possible visit from a ghost.

Yummy

Tomato sandwich with garden fresh tomatoes.  A little added Avocado (from the store) on nie grain bread.  MB

Mighty Onion

Still life

 Onion, tomatoes, cucumber, pepper and zucchini.

This one from the garden has an 18 inch circumference and weighs in at 2 1/2 lbs.  Stir-fry anyone

escapee

Gazania

 Isn't this one pretty.  He is about 5 inches across. and shiny bright.

 close-up.  and the guys below surivived last winter and are much smaller.

One of my favorite flowers is Gazania.  They come in many different colors ans sometimes on the same plant.  The open when the sun is out and close up at night.  They last all summer and into Fall.  Bright and shiny.

Pink amidst the blue

 Isn't this a pretty one.  Blooming with the Blues.

Drying Lavender

Since I don't have much to do while I am laid up I thought I would tie up and dry some Lavender.  Smells good.  MB

Some of the boys....

....on the ranch

In Black and White.....

 A zebra Butterfly alighting on a Cherianthus flower.

Strawberries

June was strawberry month in the valley.  All the small communities have festivals.  These berries are from Sakuma Brothers Farms.   They have been in the Valley since before and after WW11.  It's a great story I may tell some day.  

Logging horses

These work horses live down the road.  They are used for logging. These hard workers are Belgians. Look at the muscles.

Racing......

Kylee and Macaronie blazing down the home stretch. 

Look her saddle is sans stirrup.  She's a trouper.  The stirrup fell off somewhere. 
This was Friday at the Darrington Rodeo.  I didn't take this pic. though.

Graduation 2012

My 
grand-daughter Kylee and her barrel racing horse and best friend, Macaronie.
This is her high school year book picture.

Sky Watch

The sun did try to show itself last evening.  But then again it was almost sunset so why bother.   
Rained ALL day today. 

To see more skies from all over the world go to  www.skyley.blogspot.com and enjoy.

Is it raining???

At least we have flowers now.  Whew!!!

Red Tulips