On the Trail

 Hazel and I are finally venturing out a bit beyond our neighborhood.  She is still learning to walk on a leash, but she is much better about it when we are off the sidewalks and on a trail. Since trail-walking is my preference too, I'm alright with that for now. We have started doing my old walk with Clover, through a field and small woods not far from the house. As you walk through the edge of the wooded section, through some large fir trees, the lighting causes the leaves to glow like stained glass on the tree photographed here.  I photographed it once before with Clover, but didn't know what kind of tree it was. Since then we discovered hazelnuts growing on it. So this year I can report that these are Hazelnut leaves. Seems fitting. I can already see that sometimes Hazel is going to get that nickname, and I think it's a good one.

Fetch

Sorry to not have any fall photos to be posting, but this little pup is keeping me pretty busy these days! A milestone day today, she is three months old and weighing in at 12 lbs.  And she learned fetch, which was a lot of fun and wore her out quite well! I got to practice with continuous auto focus to try keeping her in focus while she was running...not a camera feature I normally bother with. I love her earnest expression, which is typical for her. Hoping to get out for a walk in the woods soon, so maybe I will have something else to post this week. 

Here She Is!

I've had several comments asking for a photo of Hazel.

She's grown a little bit since this was taken,

up from 4 lbs a few weeks ago to almost 8 lbs today.

I don't feel I've quite captured her personality yet...

she's a good bit more spunky than this photo suggests.

But I decided I had better post this one anyway because she will probably 

outgrow her puppy cuteness before I get that perfect portrait! 

Lazy Fall Day

I'm not hiking very far these days...

Sitting along the edge of the creek,

Watching the leaves fall,

While a tired little puppy naps at my feet. 

Hazel

Our puppy search is over! Our new family member, Hazel, is a German Australian Shepard mix. She's 10 weeks old and weighs 6 lbs right now. Yesterday she got her first taste of the beach with a short little walk along Cannon Beach. 

Vine Maple Canopy

A beautiful fall day for a walk in the woods!

Huckleberries

In recent years we've driven up to Indian Heaven Wilderness in Gifford Pinchot to pick huckleberries for a birthday pie. Last year we went up late in August. Picking was slim, but the leaves were starting to turn red. I decided to try a hike up here in the fall to enjoy the color, and we returned mid-October...only to find the entire area under two feet of snow! Huckleberries start growing around 3500-400 ft. so rain at the lower elevations can mean snow in the mountains. This year we hiked in September, trying to beat the rainy season. We did find some lovely shades of red, especially in the clearings. Hurray! I'd love to get up here again this season; with luck I'll make it back before it snows. 

Familiar Places

Back to a familiar spot on the WSU trails...quiet, shady little Mill Creek. There's a little foot bridge behind me, and it's just a few steps down the bank before you can dip your toes in the water.  I used to stop here with Clover, especially on hot days so she could get a drink. This was my first trip here without her, which felt really strange. I'm realizing that I spend a lot less time outdoors and also a lot less time photographing since she passed away. It's starting to feel like it's time for a new puppy at our house.

Garden Mascot

Working in the yard today, and noticed this little guy.

Like the ladybug, the praying mantis is a sign of a balanced ecosystem.

I paused and gave thanks with him, then went and got my camera. :)

I tried front and backlit, but opted for the backlit 

because it made the day lily leaf so much more interesting. 

Plus I liked his wing detail and backlit body shape.

Morning Rush

The White Salmon River, originating near Mt. Adams and rushing down to the Columbia River, is a main white water rafting location in southern Washington. Not hard to see why! I was heading back from an early morning trip to Trout Lake and decided to stop at one of the staging areas to check it out. Lucky for me the morning light was making a beautiful reflection on the water! This is my kind of rush hour! :)

At the Herb Farm

Echinacea field

Still Got It

Driving east I saw plenty of the big, newfangled windmills spinning on the hills overlooking the Columbia, but they just don't have the charm of this old guy, toiling away all by himself along the edge of the Palouse. 

Mustard with Clouds

 I might have found the last Palouse canola/mustard field that was still in bloom! Other than the colorful patches this scene is little empty of subject matter...I was trying to stay away from the red barns, and guess I overdid it a bit...but this is mainly what you see driving through the Palouse so in that way it's quite a good representation of the region. Structures of any kind are very few and far between. Rolling fields and rolling clouds as far as they eye can see. 

White Barn

I was out visiting in the Palouse a few weeks ago.  From my few early springtime trips, I have come to know the region for its green fields and red barns.  And for mid-June it was actually still quite colorful, with fields in all stages of growth and harvest.  But there were also plenty of fields like this one, prepping for another round of planting.  I don't typically pay attention to the bare fields, but this one caught my eye with the graphic white barn and telephone poles.

Easy on the Eyes

Well, here's a new salad at our house!  I've got hanging baskets of nasturtiums on my front porch this year, so I didn't have to venture far to clip these edible flowers to garnish our salad today. I learned that nasturtium blossoms (and leaves) are edible, and that they are a good source of lutein which is protective for the macula.  So these flowers are not only cheery and beautiful to look at, but they are actually good for your eyes as well!  Of course to get the amount of lutein provided in one 45mg capsule supplement, you would have to eat 100g or about a 1/2 cup of blossoms. But they are still a fun addition to the table, and pretty tasty too! Flavor opinions varied in my family, but we all thought the first flavor you taste is somewhere between lettuce and cucumber, and they finishing flavor is more peppery or like a radish.