Stunning Day 11-27

It was simply a stunning day.  I put our turkey in the oven (we needed leftovers and soup) and then we headed out for our hike.  It was t-shirt weather...short sleeves and mostly sunny.  I was soooo stiff as we started but halfway up the first hill I loosened up.  It was so quiet and peaceful, the highway seemed deserted and there weren't many people out on the trails.  We went to the pond and just rested on some rocks for awhile soaking up the peacefulness.  Our turkey was wonderful, my gravy scrumptious and I got the soup stock made.  Laundry was done and we tidied up the place.  It is going to be even warmer the next two days...we'll take them!  I have weeds to pull and bulbs to plant.

Great Thanksgiving 11-26

Seth picked the colors for his afghan, they are really pretty and I don't think I would have ever come up with this combo.  I'm working fast so he doesn't break out that whip!

Michelle's secret to a yummy, juicy turkey.

I really don't know.....

Michelle getting some yard work done while it wasn't raining, being Oregon you gotta  get out while you can.

Dad watching Daughter struggle with cutting the bottom off of her  tree.

We drove up to Oregon on Wednesday.  We cruised right along all day until we were what should have been over an hour out.  The traffic came to a stand still, then we would move a bit and then stop....no accident, just traffic.  It took us an hour to go seven miles and at that rate we would have been another 9 hours on the road.  We were able to dive off onto 34 and cruised 20 miles out of our way by way of Corvallis, but we would have maybe made it to Albany is all in that time.  Highway 5 was a parking lot all the way up into Washington and we were thankful to have had another route we could take.  Seth is a wonderful traveler...no complaining, twelve hours on the road is LONG.

We had a lovely dinner prepared by Michelle on Thanksgiving and yesterday we watched movies and relaxed.  Today we hit the road for home...it is such a long ride, but we didn't hit much traffic and we slipped on by Eugene before the highway clogged up with Duck and Beaver fans for the big Civil War game...as they call it there.

We watched Crazy, Stupid, Love....great movie, unpredictable, refreshing, entertaining and funny.  We also watched the last Indiana Jones movie...something about a Crystal Skull...it was okay, moved along pretty good.

I'm tired so excuse any mistakes!  Off to my own bed...I missed it.

Random Stuff 11-22

Seth.  Cute, bright, energetic.

The last picking of my dahlias, the bees didn't
want to give them up!

I came up with these color/yarn combos and knit
them in one afternoon.

Seth the slave driver...I finally started on a scarf for him and he grabbed his chair, flipped it around and sat there watching me until I finished.

The garden still has quite a lot blooming.

Still blooming.

This Sharp-shinned hawk spent yesterday afternoon hanging out in the snag in the back yard.

Surprise Animal Sighting

Seth noticed the movement on the opposite bank and we weren't sure what we were seeing at first.  It was too big for a muskrat and we weren't in beaver country, it was too small for a bear and after watching it apparently eating something and seeing it as best we could through our camera viewfinders we decided it was a river otter.  Being about a mile from the river and all the streams dry we didn't expect to see an otter, so maybe he has been summering over.  After watching it finish its meal and swim off across the pond we hiked around the pond to look for signs of what it was eating.  We found the remains of a catfish...it didn't leave much.  After getting home and zooming in on our photos we could clearly see it was a large otter.

Larry was showing Seth the catfish whisker

The mouth and an eye were mostly all that was left.

There were some thistles still in bloom.

Yesterday we had more animal excitement, the biggest buck we have seen to date here showed up.  He didn't have the most points on his antlers, but he was the largest and had the thickest neck and body of any male through here yet.  He was very regal.  He grazed on our pile of cuttings with the doe and fawns and then just laid down with not a care in the world that we were out there watching them.  Seth had been shuffling closer and closer getting pictures with an old camera.

Another fun hike 11-20

Yesterday was cool but mostly sunny so we took out on another hike. 


Larry racing Seth up the first hill.




Larry beat him, Seth gave out almost to the top.





This was the third hill




Me coming down the other side of the hill behind the boys.



Larry and Seth were picking walnuts




Look at Larry's pants...they were covered in what our neighbor calls velcro stickers...the name says it all.




Seth was taking care of Grampa's stickers



I took pictures of the pond while they were busy.



They were still plucking stickers.



Just after getting to the pond we noticed an animal moving on the opposite bank.
Tomorrow after I do some editing I'll post pictures of our surprise creature.



Seth collecting buckeyes.





Seth found a rock he wanted to bring home, we told him he would have to carry it all the way home, he decided to utilize the hood of his sweatshirt.








He made it...over a mile with his rock.



The Prized Rock!

More hiking and yard work 11-17

There were five bucks out front this morning...they are on the prowl and not very shy right now. 
We decided to get in another hike today before the bad weather arrives.  We drove to the paved trailhead with Seth's bike and we walked while he rode his bike.  He and I were worn out by the time we got back but with a wet windy storm coming I decided to prune back the rose hedge so it won't blow over this time.  It had grown bigger since the last storm pruning.  Seth manned the wheelbarrow and made the trips up the hill to the burn pile with the rose cuttings.  Dinner, a game of Scrabble, bath and to bed early tonight, Seth was one tired puppy.