Fair Day

Not a sprinkle in sight today so headed for the fair

Who knew Llamas could drive

Craft and Grange, always colorful.  The Dahlia was the supreme champion and my photo does not do justice.

Tricky little critters to photograph

Mechanical things for guys big and small

I'm not sure I knew there were Hairy sheep.

But certainly know about "woolly" goats.  There was an excellent display of different hairs, wools and furs.  The angora goats only outdone by bunny fur

This lovely Brown Swiss won many awards through the morning.

These little peewees were champion and reserve does.  They had to have their ear tattoos inspected and recorded.

At the wash rack

Nap time

Fun time

Snack Time

Berry Scouting

I took Lil Blue out for a spin along the Snoqualmie River Trail, Duvall to Carnation.

It was super early to beat the heat and I pretty much had the trail to myself.  The air was almost chilly to start

Along the way I noted the bounty of Blackberry, always present in areas like this.

I think it is going to be a banner year.  Many berries already dark and needing just another week of hot sunny day to convert those sugars and loosen up.  The forecast is for a good solid week of no rain, so first pick should be next weekend.

After first pick, which will go into flavored vodka making, there will be waves and waves of berries to come on.  Today I note plenty of green and red berries, enough to make a long season

Birds were everywhere and Robins lead the way.  They gorge on these berries and I saw some evidence that Coyote were here about as well.

Peter Rabbit was plotting his attack on the bounty too.  Cottontails dashed and darted across the trail.

I peddled into Carnation and stopped for a decaf (aren't I wild ) before beginning the five miles back.  Along the way I could feel that point where the rising sun had burned off enough fog and it was the start of another warm day.

Meet Little Blue

A new toy and option for getting out and about.

This is Little Blue, a Dahon Vitesse folding bike.  Seven speed weighs slightly less than 30 lbs.

They say you never forget how to ride a bike.  I have not ridden since I was a kid, when I use to ride everywhere on my 1 speed, coaster break bike.  Aside from a brief ride on a bike at the beach, nothing.  But it does appeal to me in a somewhat limited way.  I am not full of the courage that road bikers have, nor the athletic ability of those mountain bikers.  No for me a paved bike path is just my speed.

I took my first ride today.  Part of the fun is figuring our where to adjust the seat and handle bar height to.  Next is how to sit in the saddle.  I am a horsewoman and have sat in many saddles, good and bad.  This one is going to take some getting use to.  Finding where the sweet spot is will take time.  There is always an option to try a different type.

I drove to Woodinville, the town north of me and headed south on the Sammamish Slough trail, back to Redmond.  I was going to head north but my neighbor encouraged me to try the southbound track first.

It is a pretty trail down the valley.  There are several truck farms and small properties on one side of the slough, the other side is more light industrial and there is a large golf course.  Most of the way, these are hidden behind trees and shrubs.

The trail is popular and I really wished I had a sign on my back saying Olde Fart Beginner.  The speedsters race up from behind (on left on left) and the joggers and strollers are always present.  I made several stops on my way south to enjoy seeing and hearing birds

There was a large encampment at the soccer fields.  Tents, cars from all over the western US and shouts and yells.  I thought at first a soccer tournament, but as I got close I saw that they were throwing Frisbees.   I asked one woman " Frisbee soccer?"  She was a bit aghasted that I did not know "Ultimate Frisbee"

The whole of the area was ringed with tents.  It looks like they are set for a fun, long weekend.

Other people were out having fun.  This looks like a good team building activity.  I could get with this.

I was surprised not to see kayaks and only these two paddle board riders.

A popular trail gets attention and along the way there were a lot of very nice footbridges and some public art.

So a two hour round trip is under my belt.  My first impression , I would have rather have jumped on a strange young horse.  I felt pretty much out of water.  Like riding a horse, you do better if you keep your eyes up and ahead.  Balance comes to me better when I have something to push against when peddling, so I explored learning the gears and what suits when .  The smaller wheels react pretty quickly to a change of balance and I had one brief panic when a speedster snuck up behind me.

I could feel it in my hands and wrists (numb) and now feel it a little in my shoulder, so conditioning into this is vital.  I raised my handlebar height on the return leg of my ride so I will start out higher next time.

I am hoping Little Blue can come with me and explore some areas not so easily reached on foot or by car. There are some nice trails in eastern Washington that go along old rail beds and get you into some interesting countryside.  There is , of course, the 14 mile trail at Long Beach half of which covers some real gain as you climb up to Cape Disappointment.  

More Burlaping

Last weekend I spent a morning with the Nisqually Land Trust placing burlap on a riverside property in Yelm.  This long, thin property has a home on it and staff members of the Land Trust have lived here over the years.  In its former life it was a riding stable.  Most of the evidence of that past life has gone.  There is one clearing where the old sand arena has given over to soil and supports a healthy growth of young Cottonwood and cedar.

Today we hiked in about 15 minutes and fanned out, placing burlap over the invasive Reed Canary Grass.  After letting this grassy area die back a bit, native trees and shrubs will be placed.

This area was a bit tricky.  It is near the river and there are a few small water paths cutting through it.  In the thick grass it is a little challenging to see.  Also buried under the grass are many small fallen trees.  Some I assume are wind-tossed but I would not be surprised to find that some local residents did some of the cutting.

Beavers, this property has beavers.  They love hardwood; alder, maple and the like.  They will not eat conifer.  This does not stop them from damaging the trees however.  They will methodically girdle the conifers in order to kill the trees and increase the sunlight, boosting the growth of favorable trees.  The Land Trust has tried to protect as many of the conifers along the property as they could, but resources are limited.

These roots and trunk have been girdled.  Some smaller, recently planted trees at the front of the property have had their trunks painted with a pasty mixture containing sand.  This makes a sandpaper like coating and the Beavers avoid it.  For this old tree, it is too late.

The work was easy and fairly pleasant.  There was a lot of dragging sacks from the stockpile out to the patch being worked on and back and forth again.  Throw them down and piece the edges together like a huge quilt.  Hands and knees crawling about type work.  At one point I simply took a break and lay down and checked out the clouds.  Pretty comfy.

We had a ton of singing woodland birds.  Spring is clearly in the air.  I heard many mating songs and chases.  Brown Creepers wound up and down tree trunks in courtship and territory display.

Highlight for a few of us was a visit from a little charmer.  He was in the grass and hopped onto the burlap we were in the process of placing.  I cannot believe I was able to roll over grab my camera and sneak back for this terrific shot

A teeny , tiny Tree Frog, Hyla regilla.  He is not much longer than 2 1/2 inches nose to bottom.  He posed quite nicely for us.  Chris, the volunteer coordinator observed that the bug life under the burlap gets quite robust and these frogs make a good living.

Three hours passes quickly.  I can feel it in my hands they are simply not as healthy as they use to be.

The walk to and from the work sight was time to enjoy the first hints of Spring.

Early Blue Violet ; Viola adunca

Salmonberry ; Rubus spectabilis bringer of Rufus Hummingbirds.

Impossibly tiny puffballs.  I didn't know what they were, for sure and after getting the pictures ventured to touch one.  They dent slightly and did not puff any spores.

The prize of prizes

We spotted two Trillium ; Trillium oviatum .  I don't remember ever seeing one this early!

The rains continue and the river runs high.  Right now it is hailing, crazy start to Spring

Ah well.  Sit back, stay warm and have another cup of coffee.

The Worlds Cup Comes to Yelm

I had the unique opportunity to join the Nisqually Land Trust on Monday for some habitat restoration work.  Having a holiday week from work allowed me to do all sorts of things and getting in some volunteer time was on the list.  This opportunity came up at the last minute.

With a generous donation from Green Mountain Coffee  http://www.greenmountaincoffee.com/Our-Story   the Land Trust has received a huge supply of burlap coffee bags.  These bags tell a global story.

Burlap is made from jute.  The jute plant is ecologically easy to grow requiring little in the way of fertilizer or pest control.  It is second to cotton in the production of fibers for weaving.  The center of jute production is West Bengal and Bangladesh.  Many of our bags appear to have come from the region around Calcutta from the Howrah Jute Mills   http://www.mjindia.com/jute/howrahmill/html/index.html . 

The bags circle the globe and are used to package a wide variety of food products for shipping, including coffee.

Of course coffee producing nations are represented on the grounds of our field.  A warm welcome to players from India as well as

Brazil

El Salvador

Sumatra

Indonesia

Uganda

Mexico

Honduras

USA

and Germany and Columbia

All are assembled and will go to work doing weed control in this meadow.  The area has been planted with native trees and shrubs.  Our coffee bags are lapped in pairs and snugged in around each planting tube as you can see in some of the pictures.  The seams and corners are fixed with long , non-anodized metal landscape fabric pins.  The jute will biodegrade over a short time, as will the metal pins.  During this time they will suppress weedy growth.  Thistle loves to invade these wet areas and this day the dead and rotting thistle of the season did a great job of getting through two layers of fabric and harshing the skin on my knees.

Also adding to the fun is the presence of  green coffee beans.  They tumble out of many bags.

There is no chance of a coffee plant sprouting, but I have to wonder if the meadows small critter population is going to get a little caffeine buzz if they try these.  Further away from the river near the woods, moles are doing a bang-up job of digging around.  If they get a caffeine buzz I hope we don't see them out both night and day.

This generous donation will go a long way in supporting the Land Trusts work.  They budget for weed control is depleted and these bags look like they will cover this large property.

These jute bags have come full circle ecologically.  They certainly tell part of a story of a global commodity.  I wonder if workers in these many areas know how far their work reaches.