Happy Fall!

Happy Fall

from all of us here at Cove Cottage Farm

to all of you!

(I may be MIA for awhile ~ I am off

to visit Daughter #2 in New York.)

~*~

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven..."

Ecclesiastes 3:1

Come to the Western Washington State Fair...

...or as we call it,

Doin' the Puyallup!

~*~

Just a few of the many things to see at

The Fair!

~*~

Quilts

(and quilting!)

in the Hobby Hall

~*~

We saw the Fab 4!!

(The Beatles revisited)

~*~

~A vintage sewing room vignette~

~*~

~Largest Pumpkin Contest~

~*~

~Pumpkin Carving~

~*~

~Grange displays~

~*~

~Piglets!~

~Piglets with Momma!~

~Goat Milking~

~Goats who would not hold still for a picture!~

~?~

Miniature sheep or goats,

we never saw their heads!

~Sheep in the petting barn~

~Chicks~

~Sleepy hens~

~Spunky Mini Goats~

~Draft Horses~

~Percherons, my favorites!~

~*~

~Belgians~

~Spotted Drafts~

(My first time seeing these big guys!)

~Beautiful Harnesses~

~High Diving Pirates~

~A fiery finish!~

~*~

Joining Susan for Outdoor Wednesday!
~*~

"Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so. And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding see; it shall be food for you; and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so. And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good.

Genesis 1:24-30

More than books ...

In the room that once was our youngest

daughter's tiny bedroom,

I have my little 'library'.

I have a varied assortment of books

and authors, including

Jane Austen, Janette Oke, Phillips/Pella,

George MacDonald (one of my very favorites!)

James Harriot, C.S. Lewis (another favorite),

many gardening books, soap-making books,

The Left Behind Series,

devotionals and Bible Studies,

old books from my Grandmother which

include some old history books telling of

many things you won't hear about these days

in public schools! There are sewing books,

quilting books, classic novels, and The

Gentleman Farmer even has a shelf of his own

with manly titles such as Tales of the Canadian North,

Big Game, Big Country, and several more hunting books,

old west books, collectible Scouting books,

and a series of woodworking books.

But I have more than books on these shelves.

I love the outdoors and the creatures, critters and plants

that you find there. I have made several little vignettes

on the shelves with treasures I have gathered as

they are found.

~ The Bookshelf~

From the forest floor ~
Blacktail deer shed antlers,
bracket or shelf fungus that grow on trees,
a Monkey puzzle tree cone...


more of the fungal growths, elk teeth, a deer hoof
and two porcupine quills.

A little lucite case containing moss and a Swallowtail Butterfly
and a moth, another moth on the book (left)
and an interesting seed pod (right).

Another shelf holds a few odds and ends ~
a Moon Rock from Idaho,
a bit of sheep wool, gathered from the fence along
our lane, left by the neighbors sheep,
and two whole shed snake skins ~ rare to find
an entire skin! Even the eyes shed!


~*~


Dragonfly on lichen from apple trees
and
small paper wasp nest
join Jane Austen.

Poor little Bumblebees that have perished with

tummies full of Lavender nectar

and a June bug or Japanese beetle

on yet another type of moss.

Little birds eggs found on the ground

now share a 'nest' of flannel in a

vintage jar,

and another wasp nest.

A robin's nest and egg, another butterfly wing,

a pretty feather and some dried rose buds.

From our beach is a crab and a barnacle,

two shells from a little journey GF and I

took last year,

and a lovely smooth rock from Lake Ontario near

our youngest daughter's home in New York.
~*~

I enjoy looking at all these treasures that have been collected

from little adventures here on our little farm

or from travels to places beyond. They remind me

of the people I love and places I love to visit.

And like the books they share the shelves with,

they are fascinating to look at and full of information

about their particular subject if you look closely

and take the time to study them.

Their intricacies tell the story of their wonderful

Creator!

~*~

"For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities-all things have been created by Him and for Him."

Colossians 2:16

YUMM!

There's Cinnamon Rolls

in The Pantry!

~*~

"Awake, O north wind;

and come, thou south;

blow upon my garden, that the spices

thereof my flow out.

Let my beloved come into

his garden,

and eat his pleasant fruits."

Song of Solomon 4:16

This Weekend I..., grouse hunting and the High Steel Bridge

And

Joining Susan for...

Please visit A Southern Daydreamer for

more Outdoor Wednesday posts.

~*~

• 
  
  Did lots of sewing


• 
  
  picked blackberries


• 
  
  made a wild blackberry buckle


• 
  
  had an awesome dinner at friends


• 
  
  ate the blackberry buckle with friends


• 
  
  sewed some more


• 
  
  heard one of the best sermons ever, delivered by our Youth Pastor


• 
  
  marked logs for Gentleman Farmer to cut for firewood


• 
  
  went grocery shopping


• 
  
  picked up a ready- to -bake pizza


• 
  
  baked ready- to- bake pizza and ate it


• 
  
  listed items I sewed in my Etsy store


• 
  
  went grouse hunting with Gentleman Farmer
  (story follows)

Thanks Becky, for hosting This Weekend I...

Why not stop over and see what others did this weekend?

~*~*~*~*~

Gentleman Farmer asked if I would join him

for a morning of grouse hunting. Of course

I couldn't refuse. We drove up into the hills

near where I grew up. We didn't see one grouse,

but enjoyed the scenery just the same!

I've traveled these hills for nearly 50 years

hunting, camping, Christmas tree hunting, and

snow sledding and tubing with friends and

family. I thought perhaps you might enjoy

what we saw, too!

Acre upon acre, mile upon mile of gorgeous

evergreen forests!

Who needs grouse when you can feast your

eyes on such spectacular beauty!

A road less traveled

Early Autumn splendor

Pearly everlasting
(blogger has turned my pic again!)

Golden ferns in their seasonal finery


An old 'burn' that reminded me of the tundra
in Alaska

A splash of sunshiny yellow provided by wild tansy.

~*~

And then we came here!

The High Steel Bridge over the Skokomish River.

I haven't been here in a few years, but I used to come

here lots of times as a child when hunting with my Grandpa

and boy cousins (we were all raised by my grandparents

so I call them my brothers.)

I must preface this part of the story

with a little history (mine).

Once when I was around 7 years old, I went

hunting with said brothers and we crossed

this bridge. It looked different then, it had not

yet been rebuilt. The railings were shorter, and made of

wood. It was great fun to stand in the middle of this bridge

and peer down into the canyon to the river below.

(This bridge is over 600 feet above the river below

and many people hiking to the bottom have fallen

and been killed. Hiking is now forbidden but many

continue to do it. Just last week, a 16 year old, hiking

with friends, fell and had to be rescued. She is now in

critical condition in a hospital. )

Boys being boys, my eldest cousin/brother picked me up

and held me over the edge and laughingly said he

was going to drop me!!!

(Please understand, this guy is very strong and NEVER would

have hurt me in any way. He is just a big tease!)

BUT....

I have never been the same since!

I am now afraid of heights!

I don't enjoy flying!

I used to have very vivid nightmares about

falling off this bridge.

I haven't had those dreams for over 20 years

so I thought I would be okay

going out on the bridge this day.

Here I am about one third of the way across

I even came to the edge and held the camera over to snap this photo!
(though I couldn't look!)



More shots just holding the camera over ~

I'm kind of amazed that they turned out so well!

(I looked at them when I got home!)

and this one on the other side of the bridge...

and even this one...

(I'm still not looking!)

and this one!

Then it happened!

I started to feel sick, dizzy and nearly in tears,

panicking, I handed the camera to Gentleman Farmer

and he finished taking photos

while I quickly got off the bridge!

UGH!

I feel dizzy just looking at these pics!

But I didn't have any dreams of falling!

:~D

~*~

~Epilogue~

We came home and one of GF's hunting buddies

called and said he got a few grouse while hunting

that day!

He brought us some and we did have

it for dinner.

Thanks, friend!

~*~

Please follow the link highlighted above, for some

info and more photos on

The High Steel Bridge.

~*~

"For as high as the heavens are above the earth,

so great is His loving kindness toward those who fear Him."

Psalm 103:11