Congratulations, Hannah!

This afternoon we went to Hannah's graduation party; she is one of Vivian's many great-grandchildren. There were 16 people in her Ewen-Trout Creek High School Class of 2018. Nathan graduates next year and says there are 13 people in his class.

This is some of the potluck food for lunch; the German potato salad just below the fork to the right is a typical U.P. dish.

For breakfast Margaret made a breakfast quiche last night and baked it this morning. It was delicious, even though she forgot to put the tomatoes in.


This morning, Vivian & I went to the Bruce Crossing Farmers Market; I originally met Vivian going to the Everett Farmers Market. The one at Bruce Crossing is smaller; there were 3 vendors there. I bought some omiyage.

This was my usual view of Vivian in the front passenger seat.

Vivian would always wear her bright pink hat so I could spot her at the farmers market when she wandered off. L to R: Vivian, Kathy, & Chris.

This is one of the items I bought from Kathy & Chris; I have never seen Spruce Tip Jelly before, can't wait to try it.

Another purchase from Kathy & Chris; I gave this one to Kai, he likes to find things with Brussels sprouts since he knows his Dad very strongly dislikes them.

Another purchase from Kathy & Chris; this is for Anne who likes anything moose.

A 3-D printed pin of the U.P.

Margaret & Vivian live in Bruce Crossing; Rob lives in Ewen which is a few miles down the road. That's also where the high school is. Vivian gave Kai & me a tour of Ewen after we left the farmers market, but I didn't get a photo of the welcome sign.


I also spent some time today looking over Margaret's property especially the drainage ditch along the roadside. Because of the rumble strips along the frontage it can be quite noisy when there is a lot of traffic. She wants to plant a screen but there are also telephone and gas lines that run along the frontage, though not in the ditch line. There's a lot of water that flows through the ditch at times; all the driveway culverts are 18" diameter corrugated metal pipes. In rainy Snohomish County the standard is 12" unless there is other data to require a larger size; we think it might be 18" here to handle the spring snow melt. I also found both willow and red osier dogwood growing on her property; I showed her how to make live stakes and told her when and how to plant them to start a screen that is growing along the back side of the roadside ditch. In 3 to 5 years she will have a willow and red-osier dogwood screen between 6' to 10' high; that should help dampen the road noises.

From near the northeast corner of Margaret's property, looking southwesterly. The road is to the left.

Juncus sp. in the bottom of the ditch.

Margaret & I also walked down to the creek that is the westerly boundary of her property. She showed me the crossing that the deer use; they come to eat at her feeders and she usually sees them when they have their fawns with them. She also catches brook trout here.

Looking westerly towards the creek.

Looking westerly at the creek.

Looking westerly at the deer crossing.

Looking northeasterly along the creek.

I also saw a bunch of butterflies today. One I know is a Tiger Swallowtail, another is either a Monarch or a Viceroy; the other two I needed to research. I also saw a caterpillar on the screen tent.

Arctic Skipper (Carterocephalus palaemon)

Canadian Tiger Swallowtail (Papilio canadensis).

Viceroy butterfly (Limenitis archippus)

Red-spotted Purple or White Admiral (Limenitis arthemis)

No idea what this is.

And finally there was a squirrel sitting in the black oil sunflower feeder. I think it is an American Red Squirrel, at first glance it reminded me of a Douglas squirrel (Tamiasciurus douglasii); I was pleasantly surprised to find they are related. I also heard a woodpecker but could not get a clear view of it so no photos of it today, though I think it might have been a Downy Woodpecker; Margaret said to check the suet feeder tomorrow morning since the woodpeckers usually come in the early morning to feed on it.

American Red Squirrel (Tamiasciurus hudsonicus).

Kai and his buddy Cedar spent a bunch of time doing what cats do best (and Kai likes to emulate): sleeping.


Happy Birthday to Beth!