Two Ducks a-laying

A storm is blowing in today. Crazy wind. This was a nice surprise to find when I let the ducks out of their house.

Walk to the Beach

Winter storms drastically changed the beach trail. The lagoon was opened when all the log debris washed out so now the creek flows steadily into the ocean, but it makes for easy access to the beach when tide is low.

The bluff collapsed destroying all the stairs that had provided means to the beach for many years, and even the tree that served as the eagles' perch was washed away. 

Pictures of the dogs playing on the beach. Tux and Hattie have become close friends already.

Clay

Porcelain, actually. I'm several weeks into the e-course, first week doing pinch pots (aggravating my carpal tunnel), then doing two different thrown forms. Results below, before trimming, which we do next week. My right hand is stiff and swollen today. The garage is cold and damp, even sitting between two blasting heaters, so I don't enjoy spending much time in there working. Looking forward to finishing my little shed/studio which is small enough to actually get warm when a heater is running.

Hattie Sick / Pasta

Hattie had a rough night. Lots of vomiting, today diarrhea. Trying to limit her activity (haha) and feed a bland diet until she's over this thing. There must be some law among dogs that the most expensive rugs, furniture, whatever, in the house is what you throw up, pee, poop or bleed on. With all wood floors and a bunch of cheap throw rugs spread throughout the house, somehow the messes always end up on the nice wool rugs.

You can't possibly mean me!

I tackled homemade pasta today. Result below. I bought attachments for my Kitchenaid mixer after having a delicious dinner at the neighbor's. He has a very old pasta machine that belonged to his Italian grandmother but those machines really need two people, one to crank and one to handle the dough. The Kitchenaid attachment does the cranking so I can work alone. It's pasta and pesto salmon for dinner tonight. For the people, not the dogs.

Linguine

A Gift From the Ducks

What a surprise. I was not expecting to find anything at this time of year and almost overlooked it in the duck house this morning. I think it is Emerald's. Bob is preparing to eat it!

First egg

Nothing is happening

Boring, routine days. We've done some chores in the garden, cleaning up flower beds and preparing for another go at veggies. The most exciting thing is filling up the duck pool now it's warmed enough. This morning the ducks came running after me quacking like mad because I hadn't given them enough water. Had to go back and finish the job before they would calm down. And so it seems I am enslaved by ducks as well as dogs.

A Dungeness Walk

A sunny day. Walked at Dungeness. All the puddles were frozen. A cold new years tonight.

A Walk in the Park

The day started cold and sunny so we went to Robin Hill Park, about a mile south of our place, for a walk in a beautiful cedar forest. Other days we go to Dungeness, a mile or two north, and get some ocean views. Sometimes we just walk in the neighborhood. The trail down to the beach is in rough shape after all the rain storms - trees down, trail washed out, bridges knocked over, so we just walk on the road around the ranch. There is little traffic, only locals, so for a road walk it isn't bad and it gets the dogs out when I don't feel like driving anywhere. But now the clouds have moved back in.

We had an earthquake about 11:30 last night, although I didn't know that till the morning news. I thought one of the dogs had banged into the door.  I happened to look outside and noticed the neighbor's lights on. Thought it was odd that she was up so late. The star-studded sky was gorgeous, reminding me of the desert at night. The quake epicenter was almost directly north of us in the Strait, I think 4.8, so not big enough to do any damage here.

Here are the dogs in their new harnesses at Robin Hill Park. Yes, leashes required everywhere except our private trail to the beach.

Pictures from Oatman

Look at that blue sky. Wish I'd gone with Bob after all. Our house is still in good shape despite the long absence. The saguaro (picture 1) has a new knobby top or arm growing. The pool garden (picture 2) lost the little tree and a shrub, and some of the tender cactus appear to have been damaged by the cold, but most stuff survived. The palo verde (picture 3), aloe, and mesquite up top are thriving. High winds took their toll somehow knocking over the heavy exercise equipment on top of the garage (picture 4) and monsoon rains cut gullies in the driveway, but nothing major happened and I guess Bob won't be staying long. He's cleaning up loads of dust both inside and out and making friends again with Flop, the only burro in town right now. I want to plan a whole family trip in Feb-March, even thinking we could bring the ducks and keep them in the fenced lower yard. Can ducks eat scorpions safely?! I could sure use a big dose of sunshine.

The Eve

What else is there to do on the eve before Christmas but drive around looking at lights. It was pretty slim pickings in Sequim until we went out to the casino. The Jamestown S'Klallam tribe puts up an amazing display. This was the best I could do from the car, in the rain, with my jams on.

Clay

I've been making boxes (see sidebar) to finish up an open bag of clay so I can clean everything. I'll be taking an e-class to learn how to work with porcelain next month and don't want any stoneware contamination. But it is so cold in the garage my hands ache after a short time in the water and clay, even sitting right next to the heater.