swifts

We are having some beautiful fall weather - perfect for picking a spot at Agate Hall and watching the swifts return to their chimney roost for the night. Before dusk, the swifts circle around in the sky, diving and turning, their numbers growing by the minute.


In a sudden whoosh of wings, the flock separated into two. A sharp-shinned hawk alighted atop her chimney perch - the best seat in the house for dinner. She hung out on the far side for awhile, then appeared to simply hop over to face us.


We had our binoculars so we could see what she was up to. In that little "hop" she had acquired a prize and we could see her pulling her kill apart. Since she was distracted, the swifts began their descent into the chimney (which was enough to drive the hawk away to finish up her meal).


Lovely weather, a colorful orange and pink sunset, and a whoosh and flutter of wings above... an excellent way to spend a Saturday evening!

fall

It's the first official day of fall - happy fall equinox!

In the Willamette Valley we are celebrating fall with some 90+ degree weather. Up here at the 'ole homestead we don't get much of that. The sun has already dropped below the trees so we only get diffused sun through the canopy. I guess it is days like this that we can appreciate it.

Another consequence of our weather - there are very fine ashes drifting down from the sky. You can see a light layer on the cars and tables, but otherwise it is imperceptible. This warm weather comes from California and sweeps across the Ashland/Medford area on its way here. Right now there are a couple of large fires in the Ashland area and I guess that is the ash falling on our lawn right now. Small world.

i'd rather be camping

Our little trip to Matthieu Lakes gave us the bug...more outdoor adventures, please! Early last week Cameron posed the question, "Do you have time for Steens?" For those who don't know, Steens is a7+ hour long trip to south-central Oregon. More importantly, it is spectacular in the fall - the best time to go, in my opinion.

We hemmed and hawed and considered our options. By Thursday, we had more or less convinced ourselves that we would go. I even was thinking about bringing my laptop with me to work on the trip (which is absolutely insane for a 4 day trip, especially when you know that I get too carsick to work on the drive there and 2 days would be spent in the car!). By Friday, we scrapped the trip and thought we might substitute an overnight backpacking trip...something close that wouldn't take us 2 full days for the whole deal. By Saturday, all trips were scrapped. Realism set in and we recognized that there was too much to do.

Knowing that we've only gotten out to the Oregon woods one time this year is a disappointment. However, I should not complain! We've had quite the number of adventures this year (see the past blog posts if you don't believe me) and there are more on the schedule before the year ends. Also, there are many reasons to be at home and enjoy the little joys around us. Like the critters that emerge when it rains...


... found right between the barn and the house... or the zombie invasion emerging from Larry and Ann's front yard (aka dead man's foot or dog turd fungus; no picture - but check it out!).

Also, staying at home gives us time to visit with friends, finish projects, and keep me from stressing out about how I really should be working instead of walking through the woods.

And really, if I was camping I wouldn't get to muck out the chicken run at 7 a.m.! ;-D

oregon adventure

My cousin Matt and his wife Jen found an excellent price on tickets from DC to Eugene and stopped in for a visit with family and friends (and a football game - UO vs. Purdue). They suggested an overnight hike/camping trip, so we decided to take them on their first backpacking adventure.

Matthieu Lakes is a fantastic Cascades hike. The Sullivan book says that it is a fairly popular stopping place along the PCT. Judging by the number of cars parked at the trailhead, it is also a very popular location to access the PCT and hang out at high elevation lakes. We got lucky enough to hit it at just the right time. On our walk in we passed several groups coming out. By the time we got to South Matthieu Lake, we had it to ourselves!

North Matthieu Lake (above) and South Matthieu Lake (below)


We picked this spot because it was short, easy, and an eye-pleaser. It seemed like a perfect trip for first-timers and boy did we get it right!

Picture of Casey hanging at our dinner/breakfast/night sky watching digs


Matt and Jen filtering water


Cameron's grim twinkle

And take a look at that lava field!


Views from the hike around the loop...we had such a perfectly clear day and just the right angle to see peaks from the Three Sisters to Mt. Hood.


We took lots of photos of the trip. If you take a look at the rest of the pictures you'll probably notice some extras at the end from the Dee Wright Observatory, Cougar Reservoir, and an old-growth stand along the North Fork of the Middle Fork Willamette.

animals (part 3!!)

Argh. Now if only the deer would leave something for me to eat this fall! Unfortunately, the food web is failing me and no coyotes, wolves, or cougar are taking out those pesky deer. Though we have no wolves in this part of Oregon (yet - but if we are lucky, maybe some day), I know the other two around. Evidence 1 - Miso and the cougar. Evidence 2 - Miso and the coyote. I guess it is good there are no wolves around...she's not getting any younger!

But the title of the blog is "animals", plural, meaning that there is more going on in the hills above Eugene. First, I got a glimpse of our giant rabbit. We've seen rabbits since we moved here, so having a rabbit is no big thing. This one...this one is special. It's the size of a pet rabbit - huge! He's clearly a well fed beast. I wonder if he visits our front yard....

This weekend we got another visit from the turkeys. Though they come by every once and awhile, using the driveway as their personal gateway to our yard, rarely to they walk up to our front door.


The dogs were surprisingly calm as one poult (a young turkey) and its mother hit the dead end of our fences. They searched and searched for a way out until the mother flew to our roof and waited while the little one ran in circles and, with the emergence of me from the house, found its way out under the fence. They dashed down towards the chicken coop to catch up with the rest of the crew (i.e. "rafters").

Now from the wild animals to the domesticated ones - Lolita. While Larry and Ann are out of town we are taking care of their cat. On Saturday, she went MIA. For those of you here in the area, you know that it rained all weekend - and not just that misty rain stuff, we had real downpours. On the third day since our last sighting of her, we called the L&A to see if they had any thoughts on where to look. We had covered most of the locations, but checked once again. Cameron talked to a neighbor and found that her cat disappeared last week and she found it in pieces in the woods a little way from her home. That got us really worried. Two hours after that conversation, Lolita returned. Not a scratch on her. Looking perfectly happy and wanting to cuddle! Hmm. Cats.

animals (part 2)

Hmm... Critters (3) vs. Nicole (0)

Something ate my veggie starts last night. Grumble. Since I'm not sure what (rabbits?), I'm still not sure how to stop this from happening again.

That's the third set of critters to pull a fast one on me. When we returned from our trip, I found one of my small artichoke plants completely gone. In it's place was a hole the size of my fist that burrowed into the depths. And of course, we are battling the deer.

To be honest, I probably don't deserve a zero. Heck, only some of the fenced in stuff has disappeared this year. Of course, I don't want to "count my chickens before they've hatched"! The season ain't over yet.

Since I promised vacation pics and haven't finished going through them yet, here's a teaser....

animals

Okay, I know I promised stories of New Hampshire and Rhode Island, weddings and hiking and family, but I can't help myself this evening - today it is all about the animals.

Last night, we were awakened in the middle of the night with sounds of the fence being ripped from its post. Cameron thought that Emma might have been pushing against the newly secured screen door in her efforts to bark at raccoons and deer in the yard. In my groggy state of mind, I realized that it was the outer fence of the flower garden. Neither of us knew the extent of damage until the morning. After all these years of battling the deer in our front yard, they never cease to amaze me. Ripping the cattle fence from the wooden posts was a new feat. The last (and first) time it happened was just a week ago, when we arrived back home from our trip and found a yearling in the front garden trying to bash its way out of the fenced in area. That time the little deer split the fence posts in two as it pushed against the metal fencing. Those buggers are persistent!

And of course, there are the dogs. Miso and Emma took sticks to a new height this evening. Miso, who tends to be dainty in her stick selection, picked out a 9 foot branch to dance around with. Emma never ceases to amaze me in her choices. For example, on our hike the other day (see previous post) she entertained our friends with the selection of a 3 foot piece of wood about 4 inches in diameter. She picked it up, then dragged it, happy to have such a prize. Believe it or not, that is nothing new. Tonight, she grabbed herself a 12 foot long, 3 inch diameter (at the base) prize to pull around the yard. No wonder she's all tuckered out!

Then there is Ralph. The blue tick hound first acquired by Jason (Cameron's brother) and now living with Cam's folks. The poor guy is feeling under the weather and had a very close call recently. Such a sweet dog!

Well, enough for this evening. More tomorrow! And pictures too!

vacation over!

Well, it has finally happened. Vacation is over! Getting back to work is never fun and I'm having an awfully hard time leaving behind gardening and outdoors for computers and piles of paper.

This morning Cameron had me come down to the chicken coop with him to show me something "unfortunate and sad". Between two large panes of glass that will one day (yeah right!) be part of our greenhouse, a scrub jay had wedged in and was unable to free itself. There it was, suspended, wings outspread, looking as if it had just fallen through from above or flew right in. We looked at the unmoving figure trying to guess how long it might have been there. Cameron pulled one frame of glass back to remove the poor thing and surprise! It wasn't dead afterall! That sucker flew away squawking and crowing at us. Lucky bugger! I wonder if it realized what a close call that was.



The garden has not been the most bountiful this year, but there are certain pluses. We have tomatoes! That's right, full, ripe, large tomatoes! I think this might be the first year we weren't stuck with only sungolds and green tomatoes at the end of the season. Unfortunately, I think the hottest days are behind us and there isn't much hope for a large squash and cucumber crop this year. Good thing I still have a bunch stored away - I think we've eaten most of what was grown already. But one more thing that did go well - raspberries. We are on our second crop and are picking a meager 1/2 pint a day (but really, I can't complain - they are raspberries!).


Last weekend we headed to the mountains with Elly, Deven and Raiko. We were going to hike Mt. June, but our off-the-beaten-track plans were thwarted by a wrong turn. After a winding route through overgrown roads, we finally stopped and walked a bit just for fun. On our way out we stopped at Eagles Rest for a short 0.7 mile hike to vistas of the Lost Creek Watershed (part of the Middle Fork Willamette Watershed). So you have a better idea of the views:


After the trek we drove around the Lost Creek Watershed in my attempt to familiarize myself with my new stomping grounds. It was good to put all those landowner visits into perspective by checking out the headwaters and connecting up roads.

As you might have noticed, I mentioned nothing about our August trips and I still haven't posted pictures from Vancouver. There are still stories to tell and photos to share. Well, what did you think I was going to write about over the next month, my stunning dissertation analysis?! ;-)