What's Been Happening

A few notable events have happened for us the past four weeks.  Brian and Lorie found time to come over a week before their wedding, my friends Gabriel, Bob, and Mary Ellen came for a two day visit, and we flew to Sedona for the wedding. Plants have been blooming, too, and we've been busy keeping up with the mowing and trail clearing.  A very noticeable change has been virtually no rain for the past month.

We have started doing Sunday bike rides into Yachats for the farmer's market. We always like to see what the belted Galloways are doing around the half way point (May 13).

The cabana at night.  Gail has tweaked it with romantic touches. (May 14)

In the greenhouse was this little Dunn's Salamander, doing pest control I hope. (May 17)

 Brian and I fired up the humongous grill that came with the house to cook two tiny steaks.  Grill worked great!  (May 19)

No one can resist trying on Gail's steampunk glasses - not even Lorie! (May 19)

The river has been dropping, but looking more inviting for a dip.  (May 21)

In fact I gave it a float on a way too small inner tube.  There were too many shallow spots, however, to want to try this again.  It will be better to float around in one of  the deeper pools on a bigger craft. I'm looking forward to a 95 degree day when a plunge sans wet suit will be fun. (May 21)

I can't believe how the plants have grown since this picture was taken on the 21st.

Spider, as well as the bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies, is liking all the flowers in the front. (May 22)

 Gabriel, on the right, has been a good friend of mine since 1973.  Bob and Mary Ellen worked in the adolescent program at Napa State Hospital with me during the 70's and 80's and have since moved to Salem, Oregon. We're neighbors! (May 23)

 Gail, Mary Ellen, Gabriel, and Bob. (May 24)

 We drove out to the old covered bridge down the road before they left.  (May 24)

Gabriel and Bob. (May 24)

 In Sedona, we took an early morning hike around Courthouse Butte. (May26)

 We also circled Bell Rock.  It felt great to be back in the desert looking for tracks and enjoying the great variety of plants.

Javelina track!  Javelinas are very common around and in Sedona, but we have yet to see one.

 At the wedding, my sisters Sarah and Berta and her husband Paul. Berta and Paul came all the way from Ireland!  (May 27)

Lorie and Brian, bride and groom, flanked by Lorie's family. 

Nick also made it, as well as my Nephew Justin and his daughter Katie from Connecticut. That's Nora, my 12 year old granddaughter on the right. She can hang right in their with adult converstation, no problem.

 Nora and Gail

 Nora and Gail again.

 My grandson Soren and sister Sarah. Later in the evening, Soren was a dancing machine!

 The two flower girls, Katie, and my granddaughter Susanna.

The boys - Dave, me, Paul, Soren, Justin, and Nick.

 When we got home, we were greeted by this blooming peony. (May 29)

While we were gone, our trail cam captured the bobcat at 4:40 in the afternoon on the 26th.

 After three days stuck in the house, Yummy was happy to get some fresh air again. Don't go too far, Yummy! ( May 30)

Yes, the sun does shine here every now and then.  (June 1)

Life At Our Place and Beyond

Now that the weather is drying out and warming, everything is growing right before our our eyes. We have been spending a lot of time mowing, weed cutting, hacking back the salmon berries, and processing firewood.  The following are some snapshots from the past week.

 While I mowed the pathways, Gail trimmed back the brambles.  We still get lost on our meandering trails!

One of the many "happy hour" spots.

 Gail swings a mean ax!

This is down at our lower woodshed.  Luckily, I can use the tractor mower and a trailer to haul wood up closer to the house.  

 I've got some veggies started in the greenhouse.  The banana plant that was left behind adds a tropical touch.  The covering of the greenhouse, except for the ends, is two layers with an insulating air space in between.  Usually my glasses fog up for a few minutes when I first walk in.

 The place to be on rainy days.

So far, we have lettuce, broccoli, and strawberries in the raised beds. In the background on the right is a nice row of blooming blueberries.

"Our" bobcat has been around the past two nights.

We do enjoy our breaks, especially down by the river.  Also, on Saturday we drove down to Florence for a movie at a cool made over theater, and then had a late lunch in the old part of town. The City Lights Theater shows art house films as well as regular movies.  We saw a London theater production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.  

 On the way home we stopped at a wayside to look at a bog full of carnivorous plants - Darlingtonia Californica.

We realized it had been awhile since we took a selfie, shot here with Darlingtonia looking on.

We have a lot of unfamiliar garden plants blooming right now. If you know what they are, please let us know!  These are a few:

 Purple flowers.

 Orange flowers.

 Pull back of orange flowers.

Dogwood?

Not much need for fires for awhile!

Jaunt Up the Coast

Wednesday dawned sunny and calm, a great day to break away and explore the coast.  We hoped to see the murres at Yaquina Head. We saw them and a lot more!

 At the Yaquina Head Visitor Center parking lot we noticed a few people with long lenses aimed at a cliff. It turned out there is a pair of nesting Peregrine Falcons. This is the female. The male was on the nest, out of sight.

 After awhile, the female switched places with the male on the aerie. This is the male.

 It is estimated that there may be 80,000 Common Murres at the rookery at Yaquina Head. They are kind of the Northern Hemisphere's penguin.

 Two Pelagic Cormorants find a little space among the murres.

Murres are very awkward on land, as their bodies are made to be at sea most of the year.  Dives up to 590 feet deep have been recorded.

Our next stop was Cape Foulweather.  The water is 500 feet below.

 We were hoping to see Gray Whales, but immediately saw Orcas! The pod seemed to only be three individuals.  Judging by the dorsal fin of the one on the right, it appears to be a male.

A rare treat to see these!  We also saw Gray whales further out.

We headed north. A couple miles up the Siletz River is this victorian home built just for the 1971 film "Sometimes a Great Notion", based on Ken Kesey's novel.  We recently saw the movie starring Paul Newman and Henry Fonda, and we thought it was pretty bad - very Hollywood.

We finished our exploration with a hike to Drift Creek Falls east of Lincoln City.  That suspension bridge for hikers is 200 feet above the chasm. A highlight of the hike has hearing a loud owl calling not far from the trail.  After listening to various owl calls, we determined it to be a Barred Owl, which has a very distinctive call that sounds like, "Who cooks for you? Who cooks for you-all?"

First Bear

We saw our first bear from the house this morning. Gail spotted it from the kitchen window. Unfortunately, my point and shoot camera would only focus on the closer tree branches before it ambled off.