I haven’t been at the computer or behind the camera recently because I’ve spent the last two weekends clearing the mess left behind from the storm of the century – we had some serious snowdown.

I borrowed a chain saw from a friend yesterday but I’m so in love with my Bahco hand saw (and afraid of most gasoline-powered tools) I ended up felling and bucking the trees by hand – it’s more work but certainly more rewarding and carbon free. Some trees I pushed back to standing so if the ground dries out they stand a chance otherwise I’ll continue to add to the wood pile.

Monday evening I hope to find out the results of the Mountaineers annual photography show. I entered my allotment of ten but I’m not anticipating much in the way of results. In any event, please enjoy a couple of the images I entered which haven’t appeared yet on the blog.

The Skagit County Tulip Festival offered up some amazing scenery and this was one of my favorites because of the way the flowers lead the eye right to the big puffy cloud over the farm. I found the color pleasing as well.

I had to enter at least one mushroom photo and I like the lines and colors in this one. These mushrooms were photographed on a hike with my daughter in The Grand Forest making it extra special – at least to me.

Wish me luck.