Willy Nilly Friday Five

Well if you follow my blog you've probably noticed I've been absent again for a couple of weeks. Seems that is a pattern for me anymore.  I'm still alive and doing okay, just busy.

So today I'm joining Tom (The Backroads Traveller) for:
WILLY-NILLY FRIDAY FIVE.

1.  A Frosty Rose - I finally managed to get the rose bushes cut back in the last couple of weeks.  Captured this one before I cut the bushes back.

                                  A Watery Leaf Print on the Windshield

2.  Seasonal Decore 

 

Spotted this in someone's yard and had to take a picture because Thanksgiving usually doesn't get much attention.

 

                                          My mom's new Nativity and Angel

3.  A colorful Truck I spotted while out one day.

4.  Flying South for the Winter - Geese at Bennington Lake with the Blue Mtns. in the background.  Yes we have (snow) in the mountains already.

5.  It's "Sumo Kitty" (aka - Speedy G)

Hope you've enjoyed your visit.  - Have a great weekend.

 



 

Willy-Nilly Friday Five and Feline Friday

Welcome!

Joining in today for Willy-Nilly Friday Five hosted by Tom,
(The Backroads Traveller) and  Feline Friday hosted by Sandee, (Comedy Plus).

Let's get started on WILLY-NILLY FRIDAY FIVE

CLICK TO ENLARGE PHOTO'S

We took a drive this week up Tollgate to the lake where my hubby is doing some work on a cabin up there.  Today's photos are from that trip.

 

1.  First up, a view of the Blue Mountains from the E.J. Haney Viewpoint.  Notice the crows in the trees on the right.

2.  We stopped at the Tollgate Store to get some snacks and outside the store was this (weird) metal sculpture.

It's a badger catching salmon.  After researching I'm not sure if this was a Bear or a Wolverine but it's not a Badger as they are much cuter that that.   It looks really ferocious and scary.

3.  One of the fancier cabins on the lake.

You have to be a member to use the lake and there is a gate with a code that you need to get inside as people actually live there year round.

4. We didn't see any deer on the way up (except for some horses which I made the mistake of saying, "Look at those big deer" before I realized they were horses) now I'll never live that one down.  Yes I do know the difference! - Anyway while we were looking at the lake this lovely deer was just walking by and munching on grass.

It seemed almost "tame" and hubby says it's there almost everyday.

5.  Some pretty wildflowers growing by a post on the ground.

6.  Can't leave hubby out since he's the reason we took the drive.  Here he is hard at work.

7.  On our way out we spotted this little family happily swimming on the lake.  I'm not sure what kind of birds these were but I'm "guessing" perhaps some type of a Loon.

All in all a very pleasant drive up and back.

Now for FELINE FRIDAY

Today we have, Speedy G just lounging around.  I love how he lays with his paws spread out in front like that.  He has to sometimes because he has such a big fat belly...see the next shot.

 We call him,  "Sumo Kitty" because of that belly!

He has such a sweet little face that I just couldn't resist sharing this shot too.

Leaving you today with a lovely musical selection to enjoy

One of my favorite songs by the Eagles....I hope we all have a Peaceful Easy feeling type of weekend. 

Thanks for stopping by.



Friday Fun

Happy Friday!

Posting Today for:

FELINE FRIDAY - See #6

WILLY-NILLY FRIDAY FIVE

TEN THINGS OF THANKFUL



1. I'm thankful for bacon - Everything always seems to taste better with bacon. I love BLT sandwiches.

Yes bacon is awesome but did you know you can use it for, Art?  Check out this bacon art.

2. I'm thankful for walks around our neighborhood where I can see things like this.

3. I'm thankful for being able to drive around and find different things to share and for people who dare to be different.

Not your typical color for a door but I like it.  Here are some other unusual doors.

4.  I'm thankful for Food Bloggers.  There you can find great recipes for food like this: Beef Tips and Gravy (Found HERE)

5.  I'm thankful for Nature and Beautiful Trees like these Magnolia's or Tulip Trees as we call them.

Did you know they come in other colors beside's pink?
How about a Yellow one...

6.  I'm thankful for having a sense of humor because you need one when you see things like this...

7.  I'm thankful my mom taught me how to cook or rather let me learn to cook by allowing me into the kitchen to try out recipes on my own.  I finally have mastered a flaky pie crust and oh my Apple Pie never tasted better.

8. I'm thankful for music.  This week I started listening to a Bob Seger album (Ride Out) that I have and really haven't listened to all that often.  It has some great songs on it. I wanted to play a song called, Listen from the album but YouTube doesn't have it.  So how about California Stars instead.

 

 



9.  I'm thankful for making it down this road we took up in the hills last week.

Towards the end of the drive down it the road was super "rutty" and I had to really drive slow so as not to drive off into one of the ruts and get stuck.

10.  I'm thankful that I can see things that I would never get to see if it were not for bloggers like Jackie (Junkboat Travels).  Check out this POST, It's pretty awesome.  Thanks Jackie for sharing.

That's it for today.  Thanks for stopping by.  Have a very Happy Easter.

Seasons - A Warm Fall Outing

It's been a busy week (when isn't it anymore) so I haven't had much time for blogging.

Saturday I took a trip out to Whitman Mission for a photo hunt for another Meme I participate in and discovered the changing seasons at the mission.

I'm sharing a few photos today from that outing. - Click to Enlarge Photos

Nothing better then being able to share the outing with my Granddaughter, Coleen.

                                  The Whitman Memorial Shaft

                                                   Native Grasses

                                             
                                          Autumnal Leaves

                         Turtles basking in the warm sunshine

          A lone tree in a nearby farmers field with the Blue mountains in
                                             the background.

  Just a pleasant outing on an Autumn day as the seasons start to change. 

Don't forget to stop by Jesh's blog and check out the other participants of SEASONS

Good Fences #122 - Fences in the "Blues"

Welcome! - It's been quite a week here.  After switching my e-mail address I started having some issues with e-mails and yesterday I called our ISP provider to see if they could fix the problem.  As it happened they accidentally deleted a file that I needed to use the e-mail program and I lost all my contact information.  Needless to say I was not a "Happy Camper".

Anyway it's been fixed "sort of" as I had to switch to a different email downloaded system and am not trying to get people's e-mail addresses back on file. - It's a mess but alas there isn't much I can do but start all over.

 Just wanted to explain why I haven't bee visiting blogs this week.

"Whining" over now....

It's time to join Theresa (The Run-a-round Ranch Report) for some....

GOOD FENCES

So last Sunday I took my mom & Coleen for a drive up in the Mountains.  We took a road known as Blue Creek Road and at the top you get this view:


Click to Enlarge all photos

 That's the Walla Walla Valley below.  If you look closely there are fences in this shot.

Mind you this is a "primitive" road (lots of gravel, rocks, ruts etc....)

I had planned to turn around and head back down the way we came but my mom said, "Well this road has to go somewhere so let's see where it goes."
I should have known better but I decided to keep on driving. The bad part was that I told my hubby I'd only be gone a 30-45 minutes.  And I forgot to take my Cell Phone with me!

Prior to that I took a few photos of some fences:

Looking "up"  at a fence from the road below.

 This is all private property so you can only be on the road itself without trespassing on someone's land.  They have signs posted everywhere from the Sheriff's Department so I made sure to only take pictures from the road itself.

Looking "down" at a farm house below (no fence in this shot)

 

 

Look closely at the left side of this shot and you will see a road way off in the distance...yes we are heading that direction.

Lots of barbed wire fencing in this area.  This one looks pretty "wicked" to me

 

Some of the fencing was in need of repair but it looks pretty cool all rusted and such.

 

Off in the distance you can see storm clouds forming and yet I'm still driving on to who knows where.

 

I liked the lone tree in the wheat field.

 

 

So after several miles of bumping over this rocky road I finally notice a car behind me and I stop to let them pull along side.  It's a Service Car for the Watershed.  I tell the guy that I'm sort of lost and ask where the road leads.  He laughs a bit but tells me that I need to keep driving about 5 more miles and then take a left and I'll end up on a road that will lead me to the small town of Dixie, WA.  The road will be Biscuit Ridge Road.

 

What he doesn't say is that once I reach the left turn I'll have to wind around and around back down more bumpy, rutty, and rock road to finally reach pavement.

 

 

On the way down we spotted this pipe fencing across someone's property.

 

Last but not least we spotted this entrance to someone's property:

 

Their road actually looks nice compaired to what we were driving on.

 

We eventually reached a paved road that lead us into the little town of Dixie, WA and I made the 30 mile drive back to Walla Walla.

 

What an adventure!

 

 



Seasons and Tuesday Treasures

Welcome - No book review today - I thought maybe you all might want to see some photos instead.

Joining Tom (The Back Roads Traveller) for TUESDAY TREASURES
and Jesh (St. Germains) for SEASONS 

Spotted this old Studebaker parked on the street one night while out on a photo walk.  I thought it would be great to share for Tuesday Treasures.  I don't know the year of the vehicle though but I do know it's not a new car for sure.

Another treasure we spotted out on one of our walks.  This old wheelbarrow that has been transformed into a lovely planter.

Tis the "season" for gorgeous flowers.

Speaking of flowers...

We spotted this cactus growing in someone's yard and stopped to snap pictures of it.  The lady came out and offered to let us dig some up after it finished blooming.   I have no space to plant one but it did remind me of a story that you might enjoy.  Stories can be "treasures" too.

Years ago I was with my parents out around the desert region of our state (Washington) where we spotted some cacti much like this one growing out in the wild.  My mom decided she wanted some to plant at their house so we drove down into the area and begin to dig some up.  Soon a State Patrol car drove into the area and asked what we were doing. 

They had seen us with shovel's digging in the area and apparently wanted to make sure we weren't burying any bodies.  We explained that we were just digging up some cacti and they said, "No problem" and went on their way.

It was unnerving at the time but also funny as you just don't know what people out in the desert might be doing with shovels!

A drive up one of the backroads the other afternoon produced this lovely scene of our Blue Mountains, a farmer's wheat field and some awesome clouds. - Summer is an amazing season in our area.

Finally last night produced some seasonal thunderclouds which as the sunset in the west reflected this gorgeous color onto the clouds east over our mountains.  A true treasure indeed.