A Spring in My Step

Hello Spring Break! I'm enjoying my cold and drizzly week off by getting my butt off the couch and out into the garden. This weekend Andi and John (fellow chicken Co-op members) came over and let us help install John's beautiful chicken coop. It is super fancy. Dr H is very happy to have the stinky Dixie Chicks finally living outside.







I spent my first official day of spring break working on creating a cold frame to get an early start on some of my more tender veggies. A cold frame is basically a mini greenhouse.
We have also purchased some steer manure for my garden, and are now the proud owners of a wheelbarrow. (Call me crazy, but I think there is something so grown up about owning your own wheelbarrow. ) Next up on the the agenda is renting a rototiller (!) and getting down and dirty in my kitchen garden. I want to put my potato, onion and garlic sets in the ground by the end of this week, and hope to have some pea and kale seeds in the ground and ready to grow. Yay Spring!

Guilty and Lucky

I'm looking back over my recent posts and realizing how much I have slacked off. I'm sorry. Outside life has picked up a good deal in the past few months, and my blogging has seriously suffered. My fitness, my crafts and my cooking have also all suffered recently, but I am now going to make a concerted effort to do more of these things I enjoy. Luckily for me though, just because I have slacked off in cooking does not mean I have slacked off in eating good food. Dr. H is a fabulous cook, and has seriously been stepping up. Last night I came home after an after-work meeting, and Dr. H had made me a freaking delicious curry! The man can cook, let me tell you! It tasted fresh and light and a little bit like Love. I know I'm lucky.

Unsprung Spring

I have to say, I am getting a bit frustrated with Spring over on this side of the state. Over in Seattle, the daffodils are already up, and the trees are all in bloom. Here though, it is still mostly bare. Alright, alright, I'll admit that I have seen a few crocuses up in some gardens... but mine is still depressingly brown. Come on greenery! Come on flowers! Come on sun! Until the weather over here decides to cooperate, I guess I will have to continue to feed my need to grow something by tending my starts and reading all the small-scale farming books I can get my hands on. Any suggestions?

Conference-ing and New Career

I'm a sailor! I sail! Well...drive actually. As part of the EEAW (environmental education association of Washington)  conference this past weekend, I got to drive a 60 foot research vessel through the Puget Sound. Talk about awesome! This was by far my favorite part of the conference, even though I live in the good ol' Inland Northwest where this particular skill will not really come in too handy. It really made me want to spend more time on the water though, and we have plenty of that around here. It is just in the form of lakes and rivers, so a huge boat like this one might be a bit overkill.

Strangely enough, it took traveling over to the west side of the state for me to get some sunshine. It has been cold and rainy here in Spokane for far too long. Poor Dr. H was stuck working this weekend and didn't get to join me in lovely Poulsbo. This is a cute little Norwegian town that I like more and more each time I visit it. It is small and cute and just gorgeous with views of the Olympics and the Cascades. Who knows, after our stint in Spokane, Dr. H and I might just go Viking!

Growing Our Family

The chicks: Lucy in front

We are now the proud parents of three baby chicks. We have started a small (read 3 couples) chicken cooperative in our backyard. Well, technically the chicks are in the guest bedroom, but their future home is a lovely coop in our backyard.  These lovely little babies will supply us with some lovely colored eggs in around 15 weeks. Right now they are 3 days old, and just as cute as can be. After some cuddle time last night, we decided on names for the little girls. The Rhode Island Red is named Lucy, the Aracauna (blond) is named Ethel, and the Bard Rock (black) is named Gretta. Collectively, they are known as the Dixie Chicks. hehe

Gretta

Ethel

I have also been starting my veggie garden from seed, and am pleased that most of the veggies seem to be coming along quite nicely. Soon I will have to thin and transplant some of the starts into bigger pots.

Broccoli

So with our new chicks and our ever-expanding vegetable garden, I seem to be well on my way to becoming an urban farmer. Well....more suburban than urban....but a farmer none the less!

Busy Busy

I have been a busy little bee. I have been battling this monster cold, starting my seedlings for my garden, and learning all about hawks and owls for my job. Though I still haven't actually cleaned a quail for the birds myself yet, I was taught how to do it by a precocious 11 year old hunter who participated in "HOOT Camp" at the center this week. If a little boy can do it, well dang it, so can I! 

I have also been going to tons of meetings and conferences, and have schmoozed with all the top environmental Education people in the Inland Northwest. Pretty cool!

Hurray For Snow Days

Last night I experienced the first blizzard of my life. It was snowy and windy and generally blizzardy outside, and it made me feel cozy all tucked up inside my little house. It also caused all the schools and outpatient clinics to close their doors today, so Dr. H and I have an unexpected day off together. We've shoveled the walk and the driveway, and are now snuggled up inside with lots of warm drinks and movies. The temperature is hovering around 10 degrees outside, and I can't think of anywhere I would rather be than inside with my husband and cat.

Quick Update

View of Columbia Gorge

It has been a big couple of weeks. I have officially begun my term of service as an Americorp intern.  I am working at the West Valley Outdoor Learning Center, and receive all my training and support from the Northwest Service Academy based at the Mount Adams Center (MAC)in Trout Lake, WA. I spent all of last week down at the MAC with the 28 other environmental interns playing games, eating, getting our paperwork done, eating, going on hikes and eating. There was certainly a ton of food there. I can't say it did much for my waist line, though it did keep my morale pretty high. Trout Lake also proved to be a particularly beautiful little town. It is nestled at the base of Mt. Adams (aka the sleeping giant), and is chock full of green pastures, wooded glades, and old-growth pine forests. On one of our hikes I saw my first spring flower, and I can't describe the hope that that brave little guy instilled in me.

brave flower

natural arch

waterfall in Columbia Gorge

I came back to a lovely weekend with Dr. H and the cat, and my very own first spring flower.

bulb

There may be a dusting of snow on the ground outside, but inside things are growing!

Snowboarding

Snowboard looking down from chairlift

View up chairlift 5

Yesterday was a gorgeous day up on Mt. Spokane. I spent the day on the bunny hill trying to figure out how to do complete turns on my board, and Dr. H and one of our friends got to go mess around on some bigger slopes. I'm a bit sore today, but nothing like I was the first time I went out. I fell significantly less and I managed to make a few complete turns. I call it a successful day! To make it even better, the clouds parted for the day to reveal a stunning view: lakes, distant snow-capped mountains, and miles and miles of snow covered pine trees. 

View from top of bunny slope

lake and distant mountains

Bottom of bunny slope

I'm now ready to venture out into other snow parks. And I am thoroughly sick of the bunny hill. So next weekend: bring it 49 degrees north!

Seattle/Puget Sound Trip

This last weekend Dr. H and I headed west into the misty lands tucked between the Olympic and Cascade mountains. We treated ourselves to a bit of a brewery tour (5 breweries in 4 days), and explored the areas outside of the city that could potentially be our next home.  Bellies stuffed with all the Pho we could eat, Dr. H, Erin and I headed north to beautiful Deception Pass.

The very next day, we piled into the car and drove a loop through a couple of the islands of the Puget Sound and fell in love with the little  town of Poulsbo.

Poulsbo is small, beachy and has all the required amenities : Mexican food, a brew pub,  and Norwegian pastries. Dr. H was in heaven.