Blast From The Past

 On the way to the Renaissance Faire in 1974, we stopped by the Community Mental Health Center for a photo op.  These were some of my co-workers from the Napa State Hospital Adolescent Program.

Me, Tom, Maggie, ?, Carol, Rocky, and Karen.  I wonder where they are now?  

Interspecies Affection?

 Yesterday, Nick sent me videos of what he was greeted with when he came home from work.  I had to edit out snippets as Blogger only can handle about 10 seconds of video at a time.

Nick has somewhat of a nature reserve surrounded by the city of Napa.  I think the animals trust his gentle and respectful personality.

Mushroomapalooza and More!

 The past couple months have been something like a "super bloom" here in the forest.  Last year, mushrooms like chanterelles were difficult to find.  This year all kinds of mushrooms have erupted, including a new one for us that is now a favorite.  Our friends Bob and Mary from Salem spent a couple days with us for some coastal fun.  Oh, and November had 22.47" of rain which kept the weather mild and the water rushing.  

"Our" waterfalls

"Our" Big Leaf Maple

Our little network of neighbors determined that this is a Mock Matsutake.  Although it is supposedly edible we didn't try this one.  We like to be 100% sure.

We have a patch of Amanita muscarias (Fly Agaric) that come up each year.  We liken them to pizzas, but eating them could be fatal.

Gail made this spore print of an Amanita muscaria by placing the mushroom cap on paper with black charcoal rubbed on it, putting a bowl over it, and then waiting about 24 hours.  The spores are white and they fall in the pattern of the gills that hold them.  The color of the spores can be a key identifier.

Another spore print showing yellow spores from an unidentified mushroom.

Bob and Mary came over from Salem for a couple days.  We met them for lunch at Newport's new restaurant, A Taste of India.  From there, we went to the Oregon Coast Aquarium which had a new jellyfish exhibit.

Pacific Sea Nettles

Spotted Lagoon Jellyfish

Rockfish

The next morning we took Bob and Mary up the hill for some chanterelle picking.  They will be going to Vietnam in January.  

Gail and I started this hike with the hopes of finding a Cauliflower Mushroom.   A neighbor had found one in the general direction of this area.  They are scarce but are sought after for being edible, tasty, and easy to identify.  I spotted this one next to an old stump.

Cauliflower Mushrooms look a lot like egg noodles.

I sauteed a couple batches.  They cook down a lot and taste somewhat like bacon.

The next day we went to a different area that I thought might be the right habitat.  Gail found these two, again, next to a stump.  We cooked these up yesterday.  They go good as a garnish or appetizer.

We have been exploring a lot off trail, lately.  It is fun to be surprised by little discoveries and to be away from news and digital devices, not to mention getting exercise.

✌

Shore Acres

 Monday, we drove down to Shore Acres State Park just south of Coos Bay.  My goal was to photograph dramatic surf action.  I had been following the surf and weather reports for the past couple weeks, and Monday was forecast to have a fairly large swell, and not much wind and rain.  Shore Acres is a well known spot for watching storm surf explode upwards as it slams into the sandstone cliffs that tilt towards sea.  The swell was originally forecast to be 25 feet, which would have been even more awesome,  but as Monday got closer, it was downsized to 13 feet.

Looking up the coast you can see the observation building on top of the cliff.

Zooming in from a distance.

Where the observation building is today used to be the summer home that lumber baron Louis J. Simpson built as a Christmas present for his first wife. It sits 75 feet above the waves, had an indoor saltwater swimming pool, and acres of gardens with exotic plants.  It burned down in 1921 and an even larger mansion was built.  The financial crisis in the 1930's caused both house and grounds to fall into disrepair.  In 1942, the state of Oregon bought the property for use as a park.  The mansion was torn down and the gardens have been restored.

Below is a sequence of one wave hitting the rocks 75 feet below the two people on the cliff.

Below are photos looking at the railing on top of the cliff where those two people were standing.

Below are photos from our walk down the coast to Simpson Cove.

Notice the unfazed gull perched on top of that rock.

I cant't wait to return for an even bigger swell.  

A Break In The Rain

 Yesterday, we hiked up to the lookout stone shelter 800 feet above the ocean.  We enjoyed the mild weather, intermittent sunshine, and sparkling drops of water hanging from needles.  Of course the ocean is always a focal point as no two days are the same.

This is a cell phone picture through our spotting scope from our living room.

After about 11" of rain the past week, the river is flowing strong.  

October at River Song

Beau and Ginger are back for their 3rd year of greeting folks on Yachats River Road.

 

I got expert help in reskinning the greenhouse.  The two layers of 8 mil plastic weighed about 125 pounds, making pulling them up and over the framing awkward and tricky. 

Roy proudly poses in front of the "double bubble".  A fan fills the space between the two layers with air where they go over the top. You can see how the top is somewhat inflated, adding further insulation.  Wiggle wire holds the plastic in the channels that run along the sides and ends. 

We're easily finding all the chanterelle mushrooms we want this fall, unlike last year.

I don't know that I've ever seen a mushroom like this one.  It looks kind of like a broken egg.

Gourds anyone?  I planted one little "miniature gourd" seed in the greenhouse, and the resulting vine went from one end of the greenhouse to the other, up the walls, and over my tomato plant.  I'm not sure what we'll do with them.

A nutria exploring the yard during daylight, and pretty far from water.

A bobcat coming up the trail from our big spruce gets suspicious of the camera.  

In front of the camera is a scat that could be a cougar scat.  It was solid fur with a few bone fragments, 1.25 inches in diameter, segmented, and in a loose pile stretching about 10 inches.  It was much bigger than the bobcat scat we commonly find.  I placed the camera in this location in the chance that the mystery animal might come by again.

Cougar scat?

In Memoriam

On Friday, October 11, we lost one of the pack.  Yummy Delicious was diagnosed with cancer several months ago.  She continued on with her affectionate spirit and valiant efforts to be normal, but when she became uncomfortable, we made the decision to alleviate her suffering.

Fifteen years ago, Gail rescued Yummy as a kitten from an apartment rooftop.  We will miss how she used to follow us around on the trails of River Song, sit in our laps drooling instead of purring, and generally just being a good, undemanding cat.

💖

River Cam

 My trail cam on the river right below the house has captured the following in the past few days:

Nutria

We apparently have a family of nutria on out property.

Nutria were brought to Oregon from Argentina to be bred for their fur. The market for pelts became saturated and many breeders just turned the nutria loose.  Now they are in waterways eroding banks, eating native plants, and raiding crops.  Their bodies are about 2 feet long, and their round, hairy tails add another 1-1.5 feet.  There is a good, short video that includes historical photos of Oregonians raising their nutria.  Here is the link:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5v5DuP_XBsI

American Black Bear