In which Luna is better, and we implement Long Weekend Plan B

Luna is feeling much better after her brief illness.

Temp and activity level all back to normal!

I admit to feeling wistful when the pictures and ride reports from Mount Spokane started trickling in via Facebook and the blogworld.  Still, taking a sick dog to a ride would be dumb, and staying home is a cheap way to avoid being dumb.  So, there's that.

Also, there are plenty of other fun things to do in the Swampland over Labor Day weekend.

For example:  it's the closing weekend of crabbing season.

Tim and Jim and I went out to catch us some food!

Dungeness, mmmMMMMmm.

My, don't you look delicious!

We check for size with the gauge.  Note the flying photobomber behind me--
the guys are in the bow of the boat, tossing the female crabs back in the water.

When we got home, Jim fired up the bayou burner.  Our daily temps are dropping fast here in the Swamp, but it's still warm enough that we avoid cooking indoors if possible.

I would happily eat all these crabs by myself, but I am polite.  Uh, mostly.
If you want to read a fun story about crabs, click HERE.

While Jim cooked the crabs, I wandered through the garden picking more food and admiring the sunset.

beanvine at sunset

On our way home from the boat launch, we passed by a corn stand.  Of course, we had to stop and buy corn from these festive ladies!

They were even wearing hand-beaded earrings in the shape of corn cobs

Dinner on Saturday night was a beautiful thing.

Everything on the table came from Snohomish County, and most of it was
stuff we grew or caught ourselves.  The beer is local, but we didn't have
to catch it--it's bottled in captivity about 10 miles from Haiku Farm.

Sunday morning, I went riding.

Ten miles seemed like a letdown for Fiddle and me--we had kinda got ready to "peak" (as much as we ever peak, anyhow) for a tough 55 mile ride on Saturday.  So, ten miles on familiar trails weren't very exciting.

But the food along the trail was good.  That helps.

Fiddle enjoys eating blackberries too.  She
eats the leaves as well as the fruit.

Sunday afternoon was party time at Patty's house. 

A fun mixture of horse people, veterinary peeps, and regular folks.

Labor Day:  we ride!

My happy place

 Since it was a holiday, nobody was in a hurry to go home, so we rode the two longest loops--almost 20 miles.

Logging equipment is a common sight this time of year

And, of course, there are always more blackberries to pick along the trail.

Blackberry picking:  the real reason we teach horses to sidepass

A warm and pretty day.  Not so much blue sky, but still very nice.

After riding, I came home to find Santa Jim industriously installing some improvements in the barn!

Our barn was designed to have these top panels filled with 5/8" plywood, but when we built it, we could see that the design really eliminated a lot of light.  

A dark-ish tack room and hay room is fine--the wood walls keep the rain out, and that's important.  

Top corner of the tack room

But for the horse stalls and the breezeway, we wanted more light.  

Quality Control Inspector Turkey

Roo helps

The finished "windows" keep most of the rain out, and let most of the light in.

Last night, it started raining for real--buckets and buckets of cold, wet stuff.  This morning, the air smells like autumn...and as I fed the chickens, I waved to the school bus driver as she stopped to pick up neighbor kids wearing their stiff new school shoes.

Summer is over, pretty much.  Fall is here.  Winter is coming. 

But for now, it's Good.