Finding equilibrium

2012

A good year with a rough ending.

Our lives are a little disjointed without Jackson.  

Things are a bit off, a little amiss.

The house feels different, sounds different.

The energy is different.

One dog + one dog equals about 6 dogs.

Yet, when you take one dog away, you only have one dog left, not five.

I swear dog energy is exponential rather than simple addition, subtraction.

It helps to tell Jackson stories. 

Remember the first time that he and Libby met each other at the dog park?

The camping trip when he absconded with the most wonderful smoked salmon in the world?

His hero moment when he stopped the bad dogs from attacking Libby and me?

The way he would sneak up behind me on the porch and lick my face and then laugh?

The hikes where he would carry Libby's food and his own?

The way he loved water and would dive to retrieve a stick or rock?

Hikes where Jackson would take out our knees carrying a big timber down the trail...our logger dog?

Remember when he ate a whole bag of cat food, a whole batch of cookies, 

all of the Christmas desserts, a box of doughnuts?

And, of course, the elk guts deserve a whole paragraph, but I will refrain.

How he would sneak up into an easy chair and when found out would slither off  like a seal, 

lay down, and pretend like he was asleep?

How he loved haying time, all those mousies under the hay bales?

The way he was always happy to see visitors and offer up his best nyla-bone or rope toy?

How he loved a ride in a red pick-up truck even if it was only from the house to the barn?

How much he loved us and how much we loved him?

Jackson at the crest of Strawberry Mountain

So without Jackson we are a little mixed up and goofy.

It will take awhile to find balance.  

Like disturbed atoms we will jostle around until we find a new equilibrium that works for us in 2013.

___________

Thanks for sticking with me on this two year blog-venture through the happy and the sad.

Marilyn

The story of stuff...

Just seems that this might be timely.  Perhaps a new pre-holiday movie.
Not sure if I am imbedding this correctly.  So if it does not work for you, go directly to

 Annie Leonard's Story of Stuff website.  Scroll down to see her interview with Stephen Colbert.  

Today It Snows

This isn't a blurry picture.  

Just lots of big flakes coming down.

Wreath on the Blueberry Corral Door

Snow turns the colored landscape into one of  black and white.

Not a lot of time to post right now.

We found out that our big pea-eating-sometimes-hero-chocolate-lab has stomach cancer.

But he still loves a ride in a pick-up truck.

Jack has packed a lot into his ten years.

Hiked a lot of trails.

Swam in dozens of northwest rivers and mountain lakes.

Ridden a lot of gravel road miles in the pick up truck.

Eaten (Stolen) what seems like a ton of home baked loaves of bread.

Lucky Dog!

Where did that candy cane come from?

I love that so many different food commodities are grown here in Oregon. 

During mint harvest, Interstate 5 south of Salem smells like one big cup of mint tea. 

Happy Holidays!

(From 1000 Friends of Oregon)

Early morning color....

Apple cider, bumper stickers, & Oregon real estate

Took apples to a friend's place yesterday to make apple cider.

After the juice comes out, these "apple cakes" are what's left.

Sid and Rob

Didn't take long to get all these jars of cider.

So darned good.

_____

I have never had a bumper sticker on a vehicle before.

But couldn't resist these.

Replica of original Tom McCall for Gov bumper sticker
Oregon will celebrate McCall's 100th birthday next year.

Tom McCall made headlines in the late '60s when he said, 

"Come to Oregon to visit, but please don't stay."

Well, times have changed in Oregon.

The economy has gone south. 

Homebuilding has tanked.

You can buy a home for hardly anything.

For example, below are two homes on a prime piece of real estate,

not too far from where we live.

Perhaps a good investment.

Kind of like a duplex,

 live in one, and rent the other out.

Bet you could pick them up for a trifle.

Look closely.  

Can you see the imaginative graphic design?

Bullet holes, moss, and a welcoming sign that says

"Uncle F$%ker's House"
________
With that, I think this post is finished :)

Rain is grace...

John Updike wrote:  Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the earth.

We have had almost 9 inches of grace in the past 24 hours.

Tough by Nature

A month or so ago, I went with my friend, Mary, to an art exhibit in Eugene on the U of O campus.

Tough By Nature

Lynda Lanker is a photographer, artist and story teller.

The farm and ranch women in her pieces are beautiful. 

Strong, gutsy, incredible attitude.

Hats, ropes, guns, horses, and ranch dogs.

One rancher carrying a calf through a barn door.

Committed to the land

and a way of life.

Tough by Nature Poster

My friend, Mary, who lives in the city, loved this exhibit just as much as I did.
We went through the exhibit first without speaking to each other.
Just looking at the women and reading their stories.
We went through a second time.
 This time talking with each other about what we loved about each portrait.
What made us laugh.  What stood out.

The 49 women featured in the exhibit are down to earth, a little timeworn.
Nothing real romantic about it,
Mostly a lot of hard work.

"When you live on a ranch, you don't have to worry about 'going to work' cause you get up surrounded by it...
Laundry is not high on my list of priorities.
You do that when you run out of clothes."
Mary Caldwell (born 1932)

"I love that tremendously intimate relationship with creation,
that day-to-day knowing the meadowlark song better than anything."
Sarah Shields (born 1968)

Tough by Nature
A celebration of western ranch and farm women.

I just saw that the exhibit will be at the Oregon Historical Society the first of the year.
I will go see it again.

Click here for a short Oregon Public Broadcasting piece on Tough by Nature.

Cauliflower Mushroom...

Third year in a row that we have found a cauliflower mushroom.  This one probably weighed 30 pounds.  We brought back half of it.  We are talking one mushroom!

Didn't have my camera with me when we found it, but you can see the size of it in these pictures.  Yes, the mushroom cooking in the frying pans and in the bowls is just part of what we brought home, and ONLY one mushroom.

Cauliflower Mushroom

It gets saute'd and then goes in the freezer for future use. 

Yum!

Yukk!

Lest you all think that everything is always perfect here in Moores Valley, it isn't.

I just burned shit out of the quince that I was cooking for quince paste...now an icky, gooey, crusted on, charcoaly gloppy mess.

AND I went out to pick the cabbage (our first time planting cabbage).
Most of it was slimy gross with bugs, worms, etc.
Difficult to look at, let alone touch, or eat.  So much for that.

Be thankful that there are no pictures to go with this post!

Home from a few days in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in southwest Washington.  

We rented a small forest cabin.  

Didn't see any other people the entire time we were there.  

In spite of the rain, we managed to get a hike in every day.  

We hiked the Dry Creek Trail on Wednesday.  

 So much light and so much color.  

The yellow from the big leafed maples was like sunshine in the midst of a downpour.

River view from the Dry Creek Trail in the Gifford Pinchot

Nurse log on the Dry Creek Trail

The big leaves from the maple trees covering the trail.  

Halloween Day Hike

It is difficult to portray the autumn beauty of this area, the quiet and the solitude.  

Yup, we may have to forego indoor plumbing and electricity, but the pay off is huge.  

Of course, not for everyone, but for me it is renewing and humbling.  

Something about old growth cedar and ancient fir trees.... 

in a forest removed from the everyday cacophony of the world... 

that touches my soul.

Thank you, Teddy Roosevelt and Gifford Pinchot.

“Here is your country. Cherish these natural wonders, cherish the natural resources, cherish the history and romance as a sacred heritage, for your children and your children's children. Do not let selfish men or greedy interests skin your country of its beauty, its riches or its romance.”
― Theodore Roosevelt  (from goodreads quotes)

Sunday at Winter's Hill Winery

This coming Sunday, my friend Ann and I are taking over the tasting room at Winter's Hill Winery in the Dundee Hills.  How's that for a scary proposition?  Ann says she's coming in full costume.  As for me, I am not so sure.  (For those arriving in full costume, the tasting fee will be waived.) However, costume or not, it will be fun.

Tim from Little Cannoli Bakery will bring some of his cookies and share with us.  When we got married, Tim baked our cakes and cookies. He is phenomenal...ahhh, those little lemon cookies!  I am looking forward to his shortbread cookies with a glass of pinot noir!  After work, of course.

Emily, from Winter's Hill, took the bluebird picture below.  Unashamedly and with her permission, I am stealing it for this blog post.  Love the juxtaposition of my favorite bird with my favorite wine.

Winter's Hill Winery Bluebird

I know, I know, this is blatant unfettered promotion. I admit it. I have no excuses, but would be great to see friends.  I can't promise you a bluebird on Sunday, but I can promise great Oregon Pinot Noir. 

See you there!?

Frosty mornings, beautiful sunny afternoons

Perfect fall weather.

I love frosty cold mornings and warm October afternoons.

Fall Color

The rains are coming tonight.

Perhaps the last opportunity for the bread to rise outside...

.... for the clothes to dry outside.

Perhaps a harbinger of things to come.

Can a woolly bear forecast winter weather?

I always thought the fuzziness was an indicator of coming winter weather.

I just read that the indicator is the width of the middle orange stripe....
The wider the stripe the harsher the winter.

Did you know that there is a Woolly Worm Festival this weekend in North Carolina?

Just life....nice, normal, nothing too exciting.

It has been awhile since I posted, but here are a couple of updates regarding the previous post. The barrel with who-knows-what in it is going to a hazardous waste pick up in another week.  I did a little bit of research on the metal tag that is on the can and found out just enough to make me very wary of trying to open it.  It will soon be out of here.

The latest update on the tree protectors is that they will get a third life.  Their first life was protecting grape seedlings at Winters Hill Winery.  Second life was protecting our Conservation Restoration seedlings.  Right after my previous post, a neighbor called who is putting in a large hazelnut orchard.  Wondering if he might use the tree protectors, and promised to pass them on from there. So I am feeling really good about use, re-use, re-use, re-use.  Eventually they can be recycled at the plastics-to-oil refinery that is in the local area.

Fall is definitely here.  The garden is finished.  Picked winter squash yesterday, only a few tomatoes & carrots left. Finished off the beets in some chocolate beet cupcakes.  Good, but not so good that I kept the recipe or would want to share it.  Picked the last of the sweet peas, amazing to have sweet peas in October.  Saving pea seed for next year, not sure if they will revert back to some earlier pea variety, but always fun to play plant biologist.

Our walnut harvest is still a few weeks away.  The local grape & hazelnut harvests are just beginning.  This is the time of year that every one waits for and works for.  I understand why harvest time is a traditional time of celebration and festivals.

Our table grapes are ripe and bountiful.  We don't leave the farm without a box or two of grapes in the car.  Someone, somewhere along the way is always happy to receive them.  There is so much more than we can possibly eat.

Dark blue, yummy, seedless table grapes.

Busy, cleaning out the beds, getting ready for the wind, rain, and cold that we know will be coming. One last hurrah on the rose bush, probably the prettiest rose of the entire year.

Dogs and I have been taking an amble up the hill every morning, a nice way to start the day. 
A few amble pictures....

Moores Valley

Black walnut tree

The moon in the morning

Thanks for taking a peak!

Rust and other stuff...

It seems like I take pictures of the same old stuff....birds, elk, dogs.  

So yesterday, I gave myself the challenge to walk around the farm 

and take pictures of things that don't seem very picture worthy.  

The rust wreath, made from old barbed wire fence. 

Whenever I find a rusty nail or some other do-dad,

it goes on the rust wreath.

Barbed wire wreath

This old barrel has been here forever. 

We suspect it is filled with some horrible concoction that if released, 

might do horrible things to the earth and its occupants. 

We can't get the lid off, and we are not sure we want to.

On the other hand, it is sure to rust through at some point.

It has a Portland, Oregon metal label.  

Perhaps I can put it on Craig's list as an antique.

Not rust, but rusty colored.

I hadn't realized that the old apple tree has been serving as the breakfast table 

for flickers and woodpeckers.  

These holes go all the way up and all the way around the tree.

I would never normally have taken a picture of the tree protectors below.

But for some reason they caught my fancy,

and they are on the light side of rusty.

Recycled tree protectors

These tubes came to the farm to protect the 1000's of new trees and shrubs

that were planted as part of a conservation restoration project.

In a previous life, they protected new grapevines.

I hope that they will have a third life as well.

Hopefully, someone will have  a use for them.

More rust color and more circles.

The old prune orchard that will keep us warm this winter.

And because I simply cannot resist....

The four baby bluebirds from the second clutch have all survived.  

Last night we went out in the front yard with our happy hour toddies 

and watched the bluebirds for a good hour.

At least two are still around from the first clutch, 

so 6 surviving babes this year.

Success!

Things that make me feel rich:  

a nice stack of firewood, 

bluebirds, 

and the ping of canning jars!
This corn relish is yummy and easy to make.
(And I found corn at a local farm for 7 cents an ear!)

Corn relish from freshly picked corn

What makes you feel rich!

For the love of turtles...

For the love of western pond turtles, we hauled this big old log from the top of the hill to the pond at the bottom of the hill.  Trying to provide the three turtles with a spot where they can get some sun, yet be safe from predators.

One log didn't seem to be enough, so we hauled in a branch of an old fallen apple tree. Hopefully, the two together will be stable enough to provide the three turtles with safe sunning habitat.

Western Pond Turtle Day Spa

This was one of those things on the "to do" list that seems like it should take about an hour.
In actuality, takes the whole morning. But feels good to have it done.

Next thing on the list:   Blackberry Ketchup. The recipe is linked.  
So yummy!

LIttle visitors...

In the driveway yesterday

Baby Bull Snake aka Pacific Gopher Snake

On the snapdragons yesterday

A huge bumble bee

This bumble bee is three times the size of the average bumble bee. 

He lumbers from blossom to blossom rather than flying. 

I have read that bumblebee flight defies the laws of physics.

However, the latest theory is that they don't defy the laws of physics, 

it is just that scientists haven't figured out how they are able to fly.

I love that!

Coming home...

Just spent several days in the Canadian Rockies around Jasper and Lake Louise.  Beautiful, beautiful country.  Every place more beautiful than the next.  Mama grizzly bear with three cubs, big horn sheep with triplets -so darned cute-, black bears, elk, and even a wolf.  So busy taking it all in that I got my camera out only one time. 

This is the view that we woke up to during our time at Lake Louise.

Early Morning Picture of Lake Louise

Jack and Libby can relax.  We're home.

Everything is right with their world...and ours, too.

EXCEPT...where in the world did the summer go?

I can hardly believe that tomorrow is the last day of August,

that Labor Day is around the corner and

 school will start in just a few days.

June, July, and August flew right out the window when I wasn't looking.

I am going to do my best to slow the days down

holding tight to September and October.

My favorite months!

I hope your summer has been good....and slow.

More "products"

Here are the latest "products" going to Portland today.

One for a gender-yet-to-be-determined baby.

One for a baby girl.

With baby caps to match.

I am not sure how I missed putting a tail on this pink product.
 All the other products have had a tail of some sort.

Pattern for the pink "pea baby" is linked.
I am the first to admit that my pea baby is a little malnourished compared to the original pea baby.

McKenzie River

A short camping trip to Paradise Campground on the McKenzie River.

 McKenzie River

Such a beautiful, relaxing spot.
I love this river.

What's left after the party...

Party by the numbers:

55 friends & neighbors

101 degrees

2 gallons of iced tea

6 gallons of iced water

7 desserts

1 most beautiful loaf of friendship bread

11 salads

1 bowl of yummy strawberries

573 blueberries

2 quarts of vanilla ice cream

No idea how much beer, wine, etc.

12 midnight when the last folks left

2 shooting stars

2 pairs of forgotten sunglasses 

3 food tables

7 eating tables

1 yellow jacket bite (sorry, Luis)

1 canopy made out of chicken feed bags 

(turquoise in the back of the picture)

21 people took the farm tour

7 dining tables

5 wonderful women who just pitch in 

and do whatever needs to be done

2 doggies

9 coolers

11, 263 pounds of ice 

(perhaps an exaggeration)

What's left when everyone goes home?

Naked Tables

Linens Drying on the Line & More in the Washer

Beware of Jackson Posters

Neglected Tableware and Sunglasses

What's left after a party?

Everything that was there before the party.

What's left after a party?

Appreciation for the friends and neighbors who stop by...

(whether in person or via this blog)

Thank you.


(If you click on "Read More" to the left of this, I have posted the picture album that I put together for the farm tour.