Trail Cam 0n Carson Creek Rd.

We put our 2 trail cams out on the 12th to the 21st several miles from the house. We placed them along a Forest Service Road leading up from Carson Cemetery. Nick, you may remember the road as we walked it looking for mushrooms last October. Anyway, one camera went dead as soon as I left it, and the other had a lot of moving branch videos from the strong breezes we had during that time.  We managed to get several bear, deer, and bobcat videos.  Still waiting for the first cougar video, though.

If you have your sound turned up, you can hear the bear chuffing. This bear, unlike the first one,  has a bald strip on its back.

This bobcat (I think the same one) made several appearances.

Shearing Duty

Yesterday, our neighbor Elaine McNichols, called to ask if we could help her with the annual llama and alpaca shearing. One of her helpers was ill, and she said she could really use the help. Elaine is our neighbor who also has all the peacocks.

 We had to wait awhile for the shearer, Jacob Mumford to arrive. Shearing these animals is a niche job, and Jacob was making the rounds from his farm in Kalama Washington.  Gail got along quite well with Bo, giving her neck rubs, walking her, and hand feeding her grass.

 From left to right, Elaine, Jacob, and Dave. Dave is Elaine's ranch hand and his antics proved to make the afternoon entertaining.

 There are 3 grades of wool that come off each animal. #1 is the "blanket" or back and sides. #2 is from the neck and belly, and #3 is from the legs, mostly.  Gail's and my job was to gather the wool and and bag it as to proper grade and animal.  We had to be careful not to spook the animal which could cause them to lurch and get wounded by the shears.  These animals can also kick and stomp when frightened.

 I think this alpaca is Celeste.  She refused to stand, so Jacob adapted.

 Most of the animals particularly disliked getting their legs sheared, so Dave found a way to hold Celeste, here.  Dave talked and swore nonstop as he held, wrestled, and occasionally was spat on by the llamas and alpacas.

 Jacob has started teaching middle school special education students, so we had a little chat about that.  I think his calm, patient, and deliberate manner will serve him well.

Dave is an interesting fellow, who later shared some of his life story with us.  He definitely had a rough time growing up, and ended up in serious trouble. He seems to have found his place on Elaine's ranch, knowing how to keep everything in good repair, and working hard.  He says he does a lot better with animals than people.

 Bo is the most docile of the herd. She is 18, and cooperated well. A couple of the llamas had to be sedated for their safety and as well as Jacob's and Dave's.

 They look so different after the shearing!

The alpaca in the back looks like a delicate little deer without his wool.  Most of Elaine's animals are rescue animals.

Well that was a different day!  If you're interested in learning more about Jacob and his family llama care business, here is a link to his website:  http://www.evergreenllamas.com/

Father's Day

I have to share/brag about the two wonderful cards I received for Father's Day.

From Andria and her family is this poster with past pictures that made my day. 

And Nick made me this beautiful card. What an artist!

the backside

Thank you so much!

River and Rhodies

A week ago, we had a heat wave where it reached 100.8 degrees at our house. We cooled off in the river, floating in a two person raft one day, but on Tuesday, we needed our rear ends in the water. I even did a little underwater swimming.  The river is shallow in some areas, but we have several pools where the water is still 4-5 feet deep. And cold!

 Whee - this is nice!

 We spent about two hours floating around and chillin'.

Of course their is always the ocean, 20 minutes away.  Gail rock hunting a couple weeks ago. She found three large agates in her first 10 minutes, and then nothing after that.  I found one.  This morning had a minus 1.6 foot low tide - really low!

Last month, the rhododendruns were stunning. Gail took photos of some of ours, seen below.

Thanks, Gail!

Spring Updates

Below are a few snapshots from the past couple weeks.  We have been alternating between yard work, and goofing off, for the most part.

The river looking pretty. I have a camera set up at the left end of that big log and have captured bobcats and raccoons crossing it at night.

The cam also captured this Bald Eagle.

We took our canoe out on Beaver Creek for our first paddle of the year. What we previously thought were beavers turn out to be mostly nutria, giant rodents from South America.

 Yummy follows us around the yard, and enjoys climbing up things, hoping to be "rescued".

She enjoys a warm fire as much as we do.

We met the llama, alpaca, peacock lady down the road, and chatted with her for over an hour. 

 We bicycled into town on Sunday the 30th, passing this elk herd at mile 5.

Our other favorite herd is the Belted Galloway cattle from Scotland at mile 3.


Last Monday, we climbed Mary's Peak, the highest peak of the Pacific Range in Oregon. We started at 1,800 feet and reached the peak at 4,097 feet.  The flowers at the top were in their glory.

 This weird plant is Bear Grass.

Fungus never sleep in the forest.

On the drive home, we took a side road to see this covered bridge.

Well, those were some of the recent highlights for us on the Oregon Coast.