Category Archives: Family

Family adventures at Spring Creek Ranch

Pandion Haliaetus

Osprey
pandion haliaetus




Pandion from the latin word describing the King of Athens and the father of Procne and Philomela. And Haliaetus means literally, osprey in latin. Ah, good thing we had 3 (yes, that is three) latin dictionaries when I went to check. I suppose that is what you get from starting latin in seventh grade and then marrying a (smokejumper) who majored in the classics.

I was just so amazed by this glorious bird, who most unfortunately met his match atop some electrical wires when they crossed. Trying to look on the bright side- I am so grateful that we got a chance to examine an animal that we see almost daily but never close up.
There has been an osprey family living at Spring Creek Ranch for years now, and we love seeing them circling the creek and the river looking for their next meal. I always thought that they looked pretty, and graceful soaring about. They even glided over several of our weddings- during the ceremony. Curious creatures.
This oprey’s wingspan was over 5 feet! As tall as a person! The feathers are so intricate, stripes, dots, white, grey, brown and charcoal. The beak hooks oh, SO sharply and the talons, really amazing. The bottom of the birds feet feel almost like velcro- a super smart adaptation if you are primarily picking up wet, slimy things no doubt!
I will forever now, have a new reverence for this bird and I hope that its’ offspring circle the pastures, pond and river surrounding Spring Creek for many years to come.

Highlands Day Trip

Visiting dear friends in the Okanogan Highlands…
we were greeted by this amazing spread. Feel the love on that table!
Wild strawberries were picked, garden tours were had, yummy dinner enjoyed and…
back home again. Our tips to the highlands are brief these days. But, oh so splendid.

Squeaky Saga

Apples, cherries, apricots, popcorn…Squeaky loved them all while he was a guest in our home. And I think he loved us too. I’ve never before had such a relationship with a wild animal. Each morning any one of us could extend an arm into Squeaky’s cage and he would gingerly hop onto our hand and crawl right up our arm to say good morning.
Indeed, life was good for Squeaky. Too good, actually. We started to think about the fall and the winter. Would Squeaky stay with us? Would he hibernate with us? Could he survive outside…
So we decided to experiment. One evening we took Squeaky outside and put him into a hollowed out nook inside one of our cottonwood trees. We gave Squeaky a cherry, which he took with both his hands and ate and then we said goodnight. Yes, there were some tears. But, we felt like it was time for Squeaky to have some squirrel adventures. We had successfully nursed him back to health and now we wanted to see if he could survive on his own.

The next morning we went out to the tree, looked inside the nook and called for Squeaky. And out he popped his head and flew on over to me, and crawled up my arm. This pattern was repeated for FOUR days. Each day he greeted us in the morning and wanted to play. Then, on the fifth day- Squeaky was gone. Hooray (we hope)! I for one imagine Squeaky flying through the cottonwoods with his squirrel friends- stopping by the river for an morning thirst quencher and then sleeping the days away in a safe, tiny hollow, way up in the tree tops. Don’t you?

Catherine & Andy Part II





As the weather turns a bit blustery today, I had to look at my (point and shoot) pictures from this wonderful wedding. Such a sunny, blue sky day filled with so much community love. The bride and groom started on a “little” post wedding backpacking trip right after leaving Spring Creek Ranch. They are hiking up Ross Lake in the North Cascades National Park and heading toward Canada. I hope that they have sunny skies above them. I bet they do.

Catherine & Andy Part I

My most heartfelt congratulations to a wonderful couple! Catherine and Andy’s wedding was full of beautiful details- potato stamped banners and table cards, handmade fans and handwritten blessings, a foot washing, great live music, a children’s puppet show complete with hand felted Waldorf inspired puppets (beautiful Marsha- really), get-to-know you games, cupcakes made by a bestfriend- oh, and plenty of bright blue skies. More pictures coming soon, I promise.