hangin in our backyard

No, not our backyard with all the flowers and vegetables...I mean our backyard as in "our backyard of Washington."  Today, in an hour's drive from our house we were at a seemingly distant trailhead, donning boots and hiking to Lake Serene.  We started in the green green rainforest under super cloudy skies, but after climbing a couple thousand feet ended up in the rocky peaks at a still frozen-over lake.

Yes, its mid-June.

Our good friends Simon and Faith and Hala joined us for the first outing of the season - was a spectacular day.

 

AJ under Bridalveil Falls

 

forest color

 

dopey hikers

 

gaining altitude

 

new ferns

 

brute strength

 

fallen log

 

after the rain

 

approaching Lake Serene

 

Lake Serene

 

remember - its mid-June

 

snowfields to the lake

 

our little rosy-cheeked friend, Hala

 

wildlife!

 

AJ and JJ

 

frozen lake

 

picnicers

 

blue skies comin thru

 

river crossing, going back down 

 

verdant valley

 

Skykomish River down low

 

down the mountain we go

 

manifest destiny

 

selected greenery

 

forest light

 

fiddlehead

 

mossy maple

 

Devil's Club

 

cooling off

 

green, green, green

a visit from the stanleys

 

AJ and I just said goodbye to our old friends Ryan and Aura - they came up to visit us from LA over the long holiday weekend.  It was awesome, and we were graced with good weather...so the mountains stood tall and the Sound was sparkling. We sight-saw, walked around the city, and of course did a bit of wine tasting.  Below are some pics from the weekend - which includes Ryan impersonating Flat Stanley - very effectively - in lots of different places. 

 

Seattle looking lovely - with an orange-capped Space Needle to celebrate its 50th

 

Ryan, Aura, AJ, and I.  And the Puget Sound.

 

Bowler-hat Flat Stanley

 

Snifter Flat Stanley

 

Tractor-ridin Flat Stanley

 

Camel-ridin Flat Stanley

 

Hog-ridin Flat Stanley

 Headless Flat Stanley

 

Our guests on our deck enjoying dinner and a fire.  Ugh - newlyweds.

 

Touring the 'hood

 

A new perspective of a classic Seattle scene

 

The Plant Conservancy in Volunteer Park

 

At the Volunteer Park water tower - the poor man's Space Needle.  Great views from the top.

apocalyptic bee cloud

The bee hive went nuts today.  Every bee came out at once (well, it seemed like every bee) and had a look-see above our yard.  They zipped around for about 15 minutes and then all went back inside.  Nuts.

backyard all a'buzz

I know we just had a beehive PURPOSELY placed in our backyard - and things are going well with that. But today AJ and I came home to find this dogpile, several thousand bees stacked up and wrapped around our fencepost. We called our beekeeper to tell him what was up, and he said it was totally unrelated to our real beehive - just a random swarm that stopped in our yard to rest for the night!

this week's blooms

I know, there have been lots of flower postings lately.  But its beautiful up here!  See below for what's blooming this week at the Centenarian.

Orange azaleas

More baby succulents!

sage

Pink rhodies

Purple rhodies

irises

chamomile

rock succulents