Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Goodbye Bucky

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

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Macaronie

 Kylee's Barrel horse, Macaronie
Come and get me I'm rarin' to go.

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Old Fergie

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

Friday, November 9, 2012

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Saturday, October 20, 2012

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.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

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

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

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

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

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

Friday, October 5, 2012

Kylee and Dally

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

Thursday, September 20, 2012

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

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Cedar Waxwing


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

Saturday, September 8, 2012

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.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Yummy

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

Sunday, September 2, 2012

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

Saturday, August 25, 2012

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.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Saturday, August 18, 2012

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

Sunday, July 8, 2012

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.  

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Logging horses


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

Tuesday, June 26, 2012

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.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Graduation 2012

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

Thursday, May 3, 2012

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.