Sandy explores an Ancient Forest

There is a beary famous forest in our neck of the woods. It is called Cathedral Grove and some of the trees there are 800 years old! That's way older than this little bear... Let's see, that would be... 1213 AD I think. Way before Columbus and Jacques Cartier!

Yup, those are big trees!!

My goodness... the tree is almost too wide for the photo. It is a Douglas Fir, you can tell by the gnarly bark...

They are super tall too!

Hmmm... this little baby tree looks like it got started at a weird spot! Now it's trying to grow down and find some dirt... or grow up and sideways and??

Whoa!! Can you even see me in the photo?

I wonder if there are any honey combs up there...

It sure is peaceful in the forest...

This tree is the oldest and tallest in the park!

According to the sign, it is way taller than the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy... If you look beary closely, you can see some tiny people in the picture between the tree and the tower... That tells you how small humans are compared with this tree. A little bear would just be a speck on that diagram!

Of course there are some pretty ferns here as well.

And a lake too... but too cold to swim in.

Some trees have fallen down and this old cedar has a beary interesting and scary looking root-wad. Can you see me in there?

Oh Oh!!! This is an edible mushroom!!! It is called Bear's Tooth mushroom! It is a beary funky mushroom and Gramma has told me it is a "choice" one to eat. Too bad she's not here to eat it... because Mama wrinkles her nose at the thought of eating mushrooms! Which I don't understand because in Vietnam she ate a live cricket and cooked crickets! How are mushrooms worse than crickets??
Uh-oh... Mama's giving me "The Look"... I better go now!

Goats on Roof

Well... all I have to say is that I am a super surprised little bear!! Today we went for a car ride adventure. And stopped at a market in a place called Combs. Why anyone names a place after a grooming implement is beyond me! Oh wait... Mama says it's actually named Coombs... Uh-huh...

Anyhow, this place is famous for it's market building. Can you guess why?? Can you see what is behind my head?

Yup, there is grass growing on the roof!! And you see that little house on the roof?? It's a goat house!! Can you see the goat?

There he is!! The goats roam around on the roof and eat the grass...

They do a pretty good job of it too by the looks of it.

That is one way to keep the lawn mowed... that is if you have lawn on your roof of course! I wonder what happens if the roof ever gets a leak? Hmmm....

A Fall Hike

I got to go out for a hike today!! I have been waiting patiently (not a common little bear virtue!) and finally it paid off. And yes, it is still shirt sleeve weather... 12C during the day... practically balmy.

We hiked to this lake... isn't it beautiful?

It's nice to just sit and enjoy the view and not have to try and keep up with Mama in the garden. I warned her that planting too many things was going to lead to more work later (and less hiking adventures)... but does she listen to me?? Nooooo....

There were a bunch of mushrooms along the trail and I kept a sharp eye out for chantrelles... these are not them. These are just common russula...

Ooooh... pretty view!!

These are cute mushrooms but not what I am looking for...

And these are just puffballs...

Icky ones... these are growing on a tree and aren't edible either...

Ah well, at least I had a good hike and got to enjoy some beautiful fall weather!

Halloween Preparations

Well, today's the day... I've been procrastinating for a while on this pumpkin carving thing...

I thought I would start by cutting off the top of the pumpkin...

There we go... oooh there is a lot of gunk in this one!

You have to get all that stuff out with a big spoon...

And put it in a bowl. Because there were so many seeds, we decided to try to roast them... First you separate the seeds from the gunk and then you rinse any remaining gunk from them.

Then you put them in a pot of water and cook them for about 10 minutes, then into the oven for roasting. After that, you crack them open and eat the insides!

It sure makes a lot of compost! But that is good for the garden (eventually)...

Sigh... yes I am procrastinating... Let's see, I could carve something on this side...

Or maybe this side??... sigh... mumble...

Mama!! I need some inspiration!!!

Ooohhh... I like that!!! It's a bear-paw!

Oooh yes!!! That would be a great one to do! It's all curves and stuff but I'm sure it can be done!

Heh-heh... look at that.... 

This might be a good idea I think!

Let's see... here we have some tools to choose... and off we go.

You have to cut beary carefully... cause of all those rounded pieces...

It took a while but... LOOK!! It is done!

I think this is a beary cool pumpkin... because you know there's nothing as scary as a Bear Paw! But just a minute... I have to run inside!

Ta-dah!!!! This is Supreme Commander Sandy of the planet Bearspaw!

Take me to your leader who knows where all the honey is!!

My henchman has ways of making you talk!!

That was fun!! And it look super cool in the dark too... Grrr... watch out for the Bear Paw!! Of course there the Bear Claws but they aren't scary... at least not the pastry ones!! Ha-hah.. ha... hmmm....

Follow-up!!

The results of Jerry & Ben's Halloween Costume & Pumpkin Carving Contest are IN!!