Three nights, end of August, 2011

We’ve had a good season, met some new people and welcomed back returnees. Even had a little wedding on Frog’s deck in early August! Right now we have three nights open a couple of weeks from now.
Nights of August 29. 30 & 31 in Frog for up to four people. Kids welcome. (Sorry, no dogs due to allergies.) $175/night, plus 9.8% tax. Next openings begin September 10. Go to http://www.frogandsparrow.com for contact information.

Mo’ Snow

It’s snowing as I write this and it’s hard to keep a sense of humor about it. The photo was taken four days ago and it hasn’t gotten above freezing since. Tomorrow, though, it’s supposed to warm up and rain. In fact, the overnight low temperature is supposed to be four degrees warmer than now. Weird. Well, I’m ready for warmer and don’t mind the rain. Probably lost all the seedlings in the garden. Luckily, I have a lot more seeds. Just not much patience. Sybil, the outdoor cat of many personalities, has morphed into an indoor cat who prefers sleeping under the wood stove. Othercat, the other outdoor cat, gets cabin fever after about five seconds inside the house. I don’t know where he goes to get warm. I have to keep changing his water dish because it freezes pretty quickly outside. So do I. Well, so much for maritime climates. We’ve got lettuce seedlings and cipollini onion starts sitting by the stove waiting for spring planting, whenever that is.

Frog's deck February 23. 2011

Presidents’ Day Special

Full moon on Friday night! Watch the moon reflected on the water from your bed in Frog Cabin.

 

FROG:  Nights of February 18-21.

(1-3 people) Four nights @ $110/night.

Two or three nights @ $125/night

COLUMBINE : Nights of February 18-20

First night @ $75/night, following nights @ $65/night

(Notes: All rates are subject to 9.8% tax. Cabins are smoke and pet free.)

Contact information: http://www.frogandsparrow.com

The Rains Will Come

The alders are full of tiny birds. Because it’s overcast and we are at such a high latitude, everything is in silhouette by mid-afternoon and I can’t tell what the birds are. There must be over a hundred of them, fast moving. The look like they’re  eating alder catkins but they are moving so fast it hard to imagine they can eat at the same time. Then, suddenly they are gone and it’s like they were never here at all.

Shortly after the cloud of little birds departed, a light rain started, a reminder to bring in enough wood for a couple of days, though it’s not cold, just damp. We’ve been promised serious rain (flood watch over all of Western Washington for the next few days) and it’s good to be prepared. That means a good fire, a great book (in this case, In the Woods by Tana French), hot soup with warm homemade crackers. The (normally outdoor) cats are waiting to get in, one at each glass door. They know it’s going to be a cozy evening.

Thanksgiving Snow 2010

On Thanksgiving, it started to warm up a little and we got another few inches of snow. This time it was really beautiful since the wind didn’t hurt our faces and we had already decided that travel off island was a bad plan. Just lots of great food and good company with neighbors. Temperature crawled above freezing for the first time in days.

Freezing!!

Pigeon begins message in Seattle snow, 2008

It’s been two nights since it first started snowing and the temperature has been dropping ever since. Right now, according to my trusty thermometer, it’s just under 20 degrees F. The wind is howling. Yep, it a nor’easter, meaning the wind whips down from the Fraser Valley,  right after it leaves the Arctic tundra. View of the water with its big waves is just magnificent, if you like to watch storms from the window of a warm room. The snow is swirling. Flakes today were tiny: a really dry snow. We have just over three inches, though it’s hard to tell because the last snowfall blows around a lot after it lands.

I’d post a picture of Frog in the snow and of the big waves, but, alas, my camera is broken. So instead, I’m posting a picture of a pigeon who was beginning to write a message in the snow. I took the photo a couple of years ago when we were living in Seattle for the winter. Do you remember that winter? Didn’t get above freezing for about thirteen days and the buses stopped running and Mayor Nichols began losing his job because of the weather, and how he didn’t manage street clearing and public transportation in a way that suited the voting public.  Well, it’s snowing in Seattle even as I write this and the new Mayor is probably practicing his new religion, praying to the weather gods.

One garden note: There is a huge beautiful cauliflower that I should have cut before the freeze, but I forgot. Now I’m wondering if I can cut it frozen if I cook it right away. Worth a try anyway, particularly if I roast it. With garlic. And parmesan cheese sprinkled on right at the end. (Now it’s a few hours later and the frozen cauliflower has been cooked. The flavor is fine but the texture is a little rubbery.)

Anyway, I hope I get a new camera soon and I hope it warms up soon. (And, I’d like to tell you the rest of the message the pigeon wrote back in 2008, but it’s kind of personal.)

Thanksgiving Special

Due to a cancellation, we are offering a Thanksgiving special for Frog Cabin on Orcas Island. Four nights at $100/night or three nights at $125/night for up to four guests. (All rates are subject to 9.8% tax.) Right on the beach, Frog has two double beds, 1 bath, a fully equipped kitchen, and a phenomenal view. Warm up by the wood stove after a walk on the Beach or around Mountain Lake in Moran State Park. At night, you can watch from your bed as the waning moon’s reflection crosses the water. Go to link for Frog and Sparrow (www.frogandsparrow.com) for reservation information or call (360) 739-0203.

Frog’s New Decks

Frog Cabin has two beautiful new decks on either side of the (almost finished) new side porch. These decks have been a long time coming, and for those of you who visited while we were in the process, it must have seemed like they were never going to be finished. For us, they are well worth the wait. This photo was taken today, in mid-November, and we were able to catch some sun while we sat on the driftwood benches. It was absolutely quiet and there was just the tiniest breeze to make a ripple on the water.

Um, finally checking in again.

OK, so it’s been more than nine months since I posted. Is it still a blog if I post only a few times a year?

There are a couple of new photos up now. Look at ‘Frog’s Interior’ to see them. Yesterday was sunny and warm. Tonight it’s wet and cold and the wood fire is heaven.

Still Raining

Cold rain tonight. Hope things clear up for guests coming in on Friday with their babies. Luckily we have a wood stove with a glass door and electric heat, so it should be cozy inside. And Frog is the perfect place to watch a winter storm, if there is one.