Racehorse Falls!

We took a quick trip to Racehorse Falls yesterday, after reading about it in our Whatcom County hiking book. The trailhead is about 20 minutes from here, but the trail itself takes some scrambling. A few trees have come down near the falls that were a bit of a challenge, and the dogs couldn't get to the swimming hole with us.

Where's Fergus?? The short-legged little gnome does pretty good finding his way over and under the various obstacles.

Both boys, taking a break from the hard slog. They had a blast being off-leash and jumping in mud while running back & forth to check on us.

Looking back from the falls. Check out the downed-tree debris!

Here's Stew the water-dog. He couldn't jump in the swimming hole at the falls, so he found a spot lower down to practice his deep-water stick-fetching skills.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...We're starting to get the itch for building, so stay tuned for barn-building updates this month. The pole beans and corn are starting to peek up. No sign of potatoes yet, except for the ones Newt digs up while looking for a nice potty spot! We picked out the colors for the house exterior, and will probably paint the barn first to see how it looks. The baby chickies have finally been approved for barnyard access, but still end up spending most of their time in the coop. We've also been looking ahead to fall when we can plant more trees & shrubs. The plan is to continue with the modified permaculture plan - edible, low-maintenance plants that will also look nice and add some screening & cooling to the house/yard.

Lassie & Berry have a new home

Here they are, meeting & greeting their new pals.

28 llamas are little intimidating, but lots of pygora friends to play with. They are on a farm on Whidbey Island where they will join the fiber-production business.

Meanwhile, at Seven Trees, the battle has begun - keeping Newt & Crichton from using the tater patch as a toilet. Ugh!!!

Nettle season is just about over. We didn't get as many as last year, probably due to all the changes we've made to the micro-climate. Next season we'll probably harvest some from the woods across the road. Garden activity has changed over from planting to watering & weeding, and a few lettuce plants are getting close to pickability. The ancient apple tree we cut back so hard has a ton of blossoms, but it's too early to tell how many of them are setting fruit. And we need to get a couple of pear trees before it's too late to plant them.