Crazy Recycle Lady

That's how I feel.
Like the crazy recycle lady.
The tiki bar is slowly taking shape...of course the lumber is recycled.
I don't know the story of the support posts or the rafters, I bought them from somebody else who had a lot of used lumber they needed a home for.
But the 2x12's that we used for the bar top...this is the third time I've built something out of the same boards, and I'm pretty sure this is where they'll stay.
It looks unusual, maybe a little goofy...
Goofy works for me.
Next step is sanding and sealing...so I can do some sitting and sipping!

Have a great weekend, be sure to enjoy your views ;)

Big Fat Ice Trucker Fakers

I'm not much into reality TV...so I wasn't aware that there was a show called "Ice Road Truckers"...or something like that. From what I gather it's a Discovery channel show about truckers driving on icy roads, okie dokie...not interesting to me but I guess there is somebody out there watching, and they think it's the real deal.
Well, last night I had the misfortune of watching them "fake it".
Driving home over the mountain pass from the cabin, the seventh car in line, the first ones through after the long winter closure...I was soooo happy not to have to drive the long way around.
And then.
We stopped.
Because this truck was hanging off the edge of the highway at the hairpin curve. The story is that the Ice Road Trucker people wanted to roll a big semi truck over the cliff and film it, but the truck got stuck...no tumbling, no rolling, no fire, no crash...no Big Faker Ice Trucker footage to suck people in...oooooing and ahhhing on cable TV.
Just one cranky lady who still had three hours to drive who really wanted to get her own show on the road...dang it!
Today I googled Ice Road Trucker just to see what all the fuss was about.
Hmmm....people watch this stuff.
Oh well....some people babble away on blogs ;)
Other people watch fake truck crashes on cable TV.

The show is supposed to air in May, I think I'm busy.

Drive by Door Hunting

I was at the cabin this week working on construction and painting projects. I thought for sure I would be able to find cool doors for Jientje's Opening Doors photo challenge. It's an area with a lot of creative people, funky artists...I really thought I would come back home with a plethora of photos to post. Tuesday evening I jumped in the new rig and went for a drive, I found a stunning sunset.

A fixer-upper, I think this one would be too much work...even for me. No doors on this one.

And only one interesting door photo. This is at the pub where we like to go if we're in the moood for some great food in a casual setting.

The carving over the door was done by a local artist.

I was pretty disappointed, I drove for miles and this was the only cool door I could find. I guess I live in the land of boring doors.

Check out my link to Jiente's blog, now that blog has some cool doors!

From the Ground Up, Catch Up

I've been off-grid and unplugged so I've missed a few days of From the Ground-Up. Bummer. I've been looking around and catching up on some of the other participants project posts...they're great!
Today I was driving home and saw this avalanche chute...people were hiking up carrying snowboards and skis so they could ski or board down. What a lot of work for an icy, chunky, bumpy run. I love to ski...but give me a chairlift and a groomed run. Oh yeah....and ski patrols and avalanche safety crews. Call me a princess, I can take it.

I took this shot around the corner from the avalanche chute. It looks like another world, I know. It's exposed to the sun so the snow is melted off. If you click on the photo to enlarge it you can see a railing for a scenic look-out point at the top of the white rock area. It gives you some idea of the scale of the cliff.

I was going to tell you that I went rock climbing today and took this photo after I had finished rappelling down this rock face....you'd believe me....right? He he...

*Bloggers note: I just noticed that Anna Carson has announced Project Blue....guess this last shot qualifies for my first post. Prepare for Blue, Wahooo!

I can bearly believe it!

Today was nature day I tell ya! This morning I looked out the bathroom window at the cabin and right there...stretched out was a three foot rattlesnake (I think...not positive... it may have been a bull snake)...I'm not posting the picture because snakes are creeeepyyyyy. I opened the window and snapped some shots. If anybody wants to see them just ask and I'll post....ewwwww.
Then a golden eagle swooped down at the puppy when she was out in the yard! Yiiikes.
On my drive home I had to stop for a quail and five little chicks who were standing in the road...it took them quite a while to move, I hope they smarten up and stop playing in the street.

And thennnn....the grand finale. I was minding my own business driving home and lookey here who I saw! My oh my...I was so excited. I flipped a u-turn...pulled up alongside the bear to snap a photo and oooppppsss....the dog went crazy! The bear gave us that Pacino look "You talkin' to me?" I wanted to get a better shot but decided I had better move along, my car has a soft top and if that bear wanted to it could rip it open in one swipe.
What a fun nature day.

X is for Xeriscaping

Xeriscaping...it's my next project. Landscaping a really challenging site. It's incredibly hot and dry in the summer, watering is possible... but the whole point of a xeriscape is to use plantings that don't require a lot of water once established. We'll be using native plants like the photos below...these plants are currently growing at the site. It's a whole new world for me, a completely different zone, a water challenge, very low maintenance...oh yeah...and the deer...that will be snacking on everything that isn't caged.Balsam Root

Cute little blue flower..guess I need a reference book!

Bitterbrush...the deer will keep this pruned

Construction site clean-up crew.

W is for Winding Roads and Waterfalls

SR 20 North Cascades Recon 010

SR 20 North Cascades Recon 010
Originally uploaded by wsdot

Guess I'll have to pine for this view just a bit longer...projected Hwy opening date...

May 1, :-( sad face. Oh well...there's always

the looong way around.