Thursday, June 30, 2016

A Country Drive with Good Fences


Can you believe that June is almost over? 
I am trying to soak in as much summer as I can, 
because I know how quickly it will pass. 

We are still in a cool and rainy pattern here
in the foothills of Washington's Cascade mountains, 
but when the sun shines, 
it is glorious! 

So come along with me and we will take
 a country drive with Good Fences
through the green fields of summer,
soaking up the sunshine. 
xx
This foothills pasture is near to my home. 
There are several young steer hiding in the brush
while their mother's graze nearby. 

We frequently see elk here in the evening. 


Another little pasture has two llamas and some big, red steer. 

You can see the back of one steer as he is grazing alongside
a small, spring-fed pond with cattails. 

There is a little windmill here that pumps water to 
the livestock. 


As we descend to the plateau, large, fluffy clouds
line up on the horizon on their way to 
the mountains where they back up,
unable to cross, causing mountain rains. 

Eastern Washington state is a completely different
climate and topography, (high desert)
from us here in western Washington,
 due to the Cascade mountains,
which prevent precipitation from the Pacific ocean. 


A Raspberry farm sets up business in the shade of the trees. 


A handsome white rail fence corrals a view
of Mt. Rainier and the Cascade range. 

Can you see it? Mt. Rainier is covered in snow. 


Some young cows graze between 
a flower bedecked, modern farmhouse and 
some old farm buildings with wonderful patina. 
You can see the top of Mt. Rainier peeking over the 
 roof of the house. 


A hand-crafted fence highlights blue hydrangea, 
a handsome purple beech, and a rosy smoke bush 
in full bloom. 


This beautiful farm recently had a major make-over. 
It was sad and neglected, but now is a well-tended 
hay farm. 

On a clear day, it has the most amazing view of
Mt. Rainier. 


Even on a cloudy day........

Looking the other way, it has a view of the Olympic mountains
on the other side of Puget Sound - (barely visible in the clouds). 

How wonderful would that be to wake up to?

The yellow structure operates a flume gate to control or shut off
water flow into the nearby river from a dam in the mountains
built to regulate flooding. 

The flume can be directed to a large, man-made lake
that handles overflow, although the lake has been 
heavily built-up with residential homes in recent years. 

It always pays to research the surrounding topography,
industry, and public works in the area before buying a home :)



The first cutting of hay....

I am still getting used to the scene of giant marshmallows
of poly-wrapped hay
instead of  beautiful, unwrapped hay rolls. 


This little farm is a cooperative organic
vegetable farm. 


Members get a large selection of whatever is growing
that week in return for a fee and some volunteer work. 


Some farms are thriving......others are in decline. 

The circle of life.....


This horse farm has never had horses. 

Someone built a beautiful home tucked into the trees, 
then added miles of white rail fencing, horse
shelters and barns that were never used.

Perhaps a sudden life-change prevented the dream.....

We never know what might be around the corner. 


Across the lane, this older farm has been well-loved. 

A small herd of cattle roam the lush, green fields. 


Another handsome barn and fence as we enter
an area of new development. 
You can see daisies and buttercups
growing close by. 


The builders have kept a lovely, rural aesthetic. 

These are typical Northwest-style homes. 

Lots of windows to take advantage of the sometimes,
gloomy light and beautiful views. 


Time to turn around and head for home. 

The clouds are getting darker.....

Through my little Ford Ranger window, 
we see a hidden prairie meadow.
 Black Angus cattle gather
in the distance. 


Another hidden meadow. 

You can see tall Douglas Fir, conical Western Red Cedar, 
flouncy-skirted Hemlock with a few Big-Leaf Maple. 

The Douglas Fir are over 150 ft. tall and probably 200- 300 years old. 
You can see how they dwarf the rest of the forest. 


Some newly furrowed fields at the pumpkin farm. 


Rain, as we pass some contented cows. 
Normally we would see Mt. Rainier here
but it is swallowed by the weather. 

Sometimes we don't see Mt. Rainier for weeks at a time. 
We know it is a good day, when 'The Mountain' is 'out'. 



'Home Sweet Home' as we run inside, dodging the raindrops. 


Come in - make yourself comfortable. 


The sign says it all.....

Sugar and cream? 

Yes, please......
(Stevia and fat-free 'half and half' for me)

How do you take your cuppa?


The last of the sun sneaks under the clouds
as we enjoy our steaming mugs
at the end of the day. 

I hope you enjoyed coming along, Dear Friends! 

xoxo

Today I am linking with:
Run-A-Round Ranch - Good Fences

Won't you join the fun?




31 comments:

  1. you have a really nice variety of cattle, horse and farming country. and i'm already weary of summer. too long, here. :)

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  2. I truly enjoyed the trip through the various areas. Nicely done.

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  3. You sure do live in some gorgeous country, Karen. I love looking at your photos of the surrounding area and always love seeing Mt. Ranier. Seeing the llamas in that one picture reminded me of a vacation we took to Washington several years ago and stayed in a Llama Ranch B&B. For the life of me, I can't remember where it was, though.

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  4. Wow....a great, interesting variety of fencing.
    LOVE, love, LOVE the cattle.

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  5. Karen- Your pictures are all beautiful...love the fences but liked he ending the best---with a Welcome Home and coffee hot and ready. I'll take mine black so you can have the stevia and half & half for your second cup. Hope you are having a wonderful summer so far. Just getting back to blogging a bit---finally---xo Diana

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  6. Beautiful scenes in your area! Like you, I prefer seeing the unwrapped hay rolls!

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  7. Dearest Karen,
    That was again a very nice showing of your lovely surroundings, including lots of fences!
    You got your hare of rain one can tell by the lush meadows.
    Sending you hugs and sunshine.
    Mariette

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  8. Dear Karen,
    thank you for another wonderful Country Drive! And thank you for the lovely Coffee ;O)
    Wishing you a wonderful weekend, filled with love and joy,
    Hugs and blessings to you, Claudia xo

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  9. Karen, yes, you're right, summer flys !!
    Happy July!
    Wishing you a great weekend

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  10. Summer is flying by but unfortunately we are in a bit of cool and wet cycle at the moment, hoping this will get better. You certainly took us on a wonderful tour, you live in a beautiful area. I'll take my coffee with a little milk.

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  11. These are definitely come beautiful country roads...and the raspberry farm reminds me my raspberry bushes need to be picked.

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  12. Hello, what a lovely ride, beautiful countryside. I love all the farm critters. Beautiful views of the mountains. June went by too quickly, I hope July gives you some lovely summer weather. Happy Friday! Happy 4th of July weekend!

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  13. Karen, how beautiful! I feel as if I've just returned from a mini vacation! Those clouds are magnificent. (I'll take my coffee--decaf only--black, please.)

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  14. I love to on your sight-seeing adventures with you, darlin! Thanks for the trip - so neat to see a different part of the country with you. I would LOVE to visit that area one day!

    Sorry that I have been absent so long, trying to catch up on all my blog back-reading! Have a safe and fun holiday weekend. Hugs!



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  15. Hi dear Karen !! Que bonito campo , me encanta mirar ese lindo cielo azul .. Espero que tengas un lindo fin de semana

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  16. What a lovely trip and a nice clear road. Thank you, I'll have a white coffee please. Have a good weekend x

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  17. I really enjoyed my tour with you, the scenery is so lovely and the animals you have included and the fences too ... so much to see.

    The mountain looks splendid.

    I like my coffee white please

    Wishing you a glorious month of July

    All the best Jan

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  18. Just beautiful!! So similar to the countryside of Upstate NY but different enough to know you are in another place. The Mountain in the background is such a beautiful back drop, something we don't have!

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  19. Karen, I do enjoy coming along with you on your country drives. I've never seen the marshmallows of poly-wrapped hay. We just have the original hay bundles here. Coming home to your cozy house after a day in the country must be relaxing for you. Loved your pics today.

    ~Sheri

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    Replies
    1. Oh, I take my coffee with just a little cream and no sugar. :)

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  20. Dearest Karen ~ Once again I enjoyed another lovely drive in the country with you. It is so peaceful. At the end when we pulled up and saw your wonderful home nestled there among the trees, I smiled and said 'Home sweet home'. And that's what you had as your caption. :-)

    Have a wonderful holiday weekend ~ FlowerLady

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  21. Nice photos and a beautiful area. I like the two lamas. So cute. Here in The Netherlands I see them sometimes.

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  22. I love these drives with you dear Friend!! Such beautiful photos of the gorgeous place in which you live. ;) And the icing on the cake is running into your cozy sweet home to share a cuppa and some conversation too. (I'll take the light version of cream and sugar like you please- it is swimsuit season, right?).

    Blessings on your holiday weekend ahead dear Karen! xoxo

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  23. i enjoyed the creative way some of these images were taken. your mountains and landscapes are simply stunning...you sure do have a lot to enjoy on a road trip!!

    i saw those marshmallows a few years ago and had to do some research to find out what they were. the last few images, is this inside your home?? i remember your sitting area, off your pretty kitchen looking different then whats pictured here!!

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    Replies
    1. Hi Debbie, so nice of you to stop by! Yes, the living room as you walk in the door of our cottage. The kitchen is to the right, with the daybed alcove. It's really a tiny home, but the photos distort the space somewhat. I'll have to do a whole house tour one of these days. Happy 4th! xx

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  24. You live in a totally gorgeous part of the state. It's a bit (drier) in my part of the state but we are in a valley so it's not as bad as the desert region around the Tri-Cities area. Love all the wonderful farms & fences you've shown us here today.

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  25. Simply Gorgeous pictures, that is weird that you can go that long without seeing the mountain, such a pleasure it must be the days you can :) When you talked about the horse farm it reminded me of my hubby's Dad that spent years building his own 30 foot sailboat, found a new wife that wanted to go out with him, and shortly after he finished it and got it out in the water, his wife had lung issues that made it too hard for them to do it, he ended up selling his boat and his dream was gone. I never heard him complain even to this day now that she has passed away. Hope you get many more beautiful days to enjoy!

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  26. So pretty. I love a red barn! What beautiful scenery.

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  27. Beautiful scenery on your drive, Karen! Since we will soon be moving to the "high desert" on the East of the Cascades, ourselves (only in Oregon) I love seeing the mountains and the countryside views you always have on your car trips! Hope you are doing well. We are in monsoon season now with the daily rains, sometimes violent storms, and higher humidity. That scorching hot "oven dry" heat was horrible in June, and has been replaced by this, but I am "counting the days" till we are headed north! :-)

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  28. As always a lovely drive to take with you! Mount Rainier looks beautiful doesn't it!

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  29. What a wonderful drive! The scenery is lovely and the cows and lamas are so cute. Have a great week ahead.

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Thank you for stopping by! Your comments are important to me and are very much appreciated. xx Karen

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