Another post, heavy on the pictures. Now with less yammering!

I don't really have a ton to share. The farm work progresses apace. We harvest, we plant, we weed, and we market. I think we've all really fallen into our stride. I raked up a mess of beds the other day before we mulched the display garden, and it was as natural as if I've done it my whole life. Still hard work, and more time-consuming than you'd think, but the steps need to accomplish the goal come naturally to me now, and not once did Kelly stop me to show me what I was doing wrong. That was immensely satisfying, I must say.

To start with, I went back up to Lake Angeles, two weekends ago. It was a gorgeous gray PacNorWe day, and it satisfied all the things I go up on the mountain for.

Banana Slugs and Fungi, Wildflowers, gray hazy trees, and mountain top lakes:






I just finished writing a really cool short story, a fairytale of sorts, inspired by this second trip up to the lake.

Last weekend I went hiking with Maggie and Ari, a very cool young man with whom Maggie resides, he has a disdain for shoes, which I found contagious. This led to me wandering through the woods without sneakers on. It was oddly pleasant, at least when we were walking off trail. It was a good hike. We saw the biggest ribbon snake I've ever seen; not large at all by east-coast or tropical standards, but for the maritime northwest this guy was a giant.

Baking bread: many-seeded rye, my first loaf of gluten-free sandwich bread, roasted garlic and shallot sourdough, Miguel's Zucchini fritters with Feta:






Some shots from around the farm. the display garden, freshly mulched:

Ms. Floriana Redflint(That's a name screaming for a story, eh?):

Melons:



The pumpkin patch:

Long pie pumpkin blossoms:
Spaghetti Squash:


Winter squash, shaping up nicely:


Pickles, waiting to happen:


Tomatoes, flax, wheat:


Elephant garlic flower:

My volunteer harvest from my Sunday morning farm constitutional, all of this fruit was on the ground, begging to be eaten despite the fact that some of it isn't yet ripe:


And in closing, a correction to the addendum to the answers to our trivia questions...or something like that, these:

Are not in fact Indian pipes, but a relative of sorts, pinedrops, these are the same ones I first pictured, but a week older. Thank you Maggie for your plant nerdiness, without which we would all remain ignorant...

So, how am I doing? I'm well. Most days, I'm really well, and on the days when I'm not, all it takes is for me to step back, look around at where I am, and I'm immediately reminded how lucky I am to be here. It's interesting to me how easy it is for people who've spent their entire lives here, to take the magnificence of this place for granted.

Went up to Hurricane Ridge to watch the perseids last week, that was a late night, followed by a long day of farm work; it was awesome.

This morning I was bitten by a pony. The lesson learned from this, quite painful, experience? Don't feed a barnyard animal unless you know the proper protocol.

I hope everyone is doing well. Those of you who'll be at Rachel's wedding next month, I'm really looking forward to seeing you all. I really miss you guys, and even though I can now say without any doubt that I won't be coming back to Georgia to live, I find myself missing parts of it, too. Not sure what the future holds. This is causing me a little bit of apprehension, but I'm self-aware enough to know it's also contributing to the excitement each day holds. Love y'all.

I really thought this was a short one, when I started writing...

It seems that one hundred days ago, I left Georgia for the great unknown. Having come to know at least one little section of it, I can confirm, that it is indeed, great.

I don't really have anything profound to say to mark the occasion. Farm work continues, we're quite busy all the time, but I still have time to write, and when someone invites me out for an adventure I always jump at the chance, and have yet to regret it.

Looking forward to Portland this weekend. Have no agenda, and don't even have plans for where I'm staying, or when exactly I'll be there, but I'm not stressing the details.

Some pictures to tide you over until I have something more substantial to share.

My first assortment of summer squash:



Blackberries, coming on strong. I swear the raspberries just started a week ago, and the last time I checked these were still green, and the size of a dime:



Hey look, pumpkins. Is it Hallowe'en yet?:


Food still grows, all of it growing inexorably closer to harvest. Zuccs and Cukes, Beans and corn, Celery, Broccoli, and Kohlrabi:




Sunday morning bread baking:


Some shots from today's hike to Lake Angeles. Wildflowers:




What on Earth are these?:

I don't know, but they turn into this:

And this thing?:


Lake Angeles, herself:


Look at that color:Come on in, the water's...well cold, but it was hot, and so that's fine:

A newt? I got better(sorry):


Waterfalls, at the lake, and on the trail:

I also took a hike with Maggie earlier this week up to Hurricane Hill, From Hurricane Ridge. Holy shit, pardon my swear words children, but holy shit. I don't know what I was expecting, but I can't believe it took me so long to get there. It was as beautiful a place as I've ever been. How does that keep happening to me here? It was fantastic, and I'm glad I didn't bring my camera because any attempt to capture what I saw would have failed to do it justice. The sun was setting, and the light was amazing. I can't say for sure, but I felt myself grinning like an idiot more than once. If mountains and wildflower dotted sub-alpine meadows are your thing, you could do a lot worse than to come to the peninsula. Also we saw bears. Plural. Heh.

I hope you are all doing as well as I. I know the time difference makes communication difficult, but I hope y'all know if you need me, you can call anytime. Love you all.

Oh, and lest I forget...Peaches, who knew?: