It Snowed in my Forest!

I have a miniature forest and some "boulders" on the railing of my deck. It's very cute and rather full of trees. I may have to do some logging soon, as I'm not sure there is room for all the hemlock and spruce trees that are growing in this little area.

This summer Mike had the house re-roofed and new gutters installed. This wee forest was growing in one portion of his rain gutter and was removed whole. Not being able to discard it, Mike saved it and I have adopted the trees for my own. The dish was found at Raintree and was the perfect shape and size. I have no idea how long my forest can survive here or exactly what kind of care it will need. It is very charming now and I'm hopeful that I can maintain it for quite a while.

And, about the snow. The storm took Portland by complete surprise this afternoon and resulted in a traffic snarl the likes in which I have never before had the displeasure of participation. My normally 50 minute trip home was three hours tonight and without my studded tires I would likely be one of those cars that you see in a ditch on the 11:00 0:clock news. As it was, I had no "incidents" other than not being able to cross the river for 2 hours. I am still trying to relax enough to sleep. Hence, I am updating my Blog!

So, goodnight to all and Happy New Year!

Christmas in St. Helens

Christmas day was beautiful here. It was suuny, just a slight breeze and 35 degrees. For those of you in warmer climates, 35 degrees may seem too cold to be considered beautiful. But, keep in mind that, just about 10 days ago it was 4 degrees and 11 degrees here. So, 35 is downright balmy for this time of year.

Seeing the sun out and not going out myself seemed more than I could stand, so I went for a walk. As I made my way down the several flights of stairs that lead from 2nd Street to the waterfront, I noticed that the old, corroded pipes that had served for handrails for untold years had been replaced with new shiny black powder-coated pipes. The last time Mike & I had taken those stairs we mentioned that those old pipes were getting sharp and dangerous. Someone else in my little quaint town must have noticed too.

Standing by the fence in Columbia View Park, I watched a tug (are they still "tugs" when they push and not pull?) pushing several large barges up the river. He was making good time against the current, perhaps 6 knots. Maybe the barges were empty. I hoped the tug captain was enjoying the solitude of the sunny quiet river on Christmas day as much as I was. I walked down onto the public docks, now completely empty save for a lone fellow fishing. He was bundled against the cold but seemed to be enjoying the day. The water was still and the reflection of the silently moored boats in the slips was irresistable for snapping a photo.

I continued on my walk around to the public boat launch, also totally deserted on such a fine day. Oh, there was the occasional person walking a dog in the distance (most likely at the dog's request) but not the people that this day deserved. Again, the reflection of a lovely red boat was more than any photographer worth the title could resist.....and resist I did not! Same to be said for the interesting black bird on the old pier piling. The bird noticed me and seemed to preen and pose for my picture. I obliged with several takes.

As I made my way back towards home Eric called to wish me a good day. He accompanied me all the way home chatting about Dylan (their new son) and about going to visit his sister Karen on Sunday. Eric is one of those folks that would think 35 is too cold for a pleasant walk. His loss!

A Long Needed Update

Well, here I am again afer a long absence. I could make excuses, but they'd be just that: excuses. Life gets in the way and I forget to blog. But then again, maybe no one really cares anyway!

Mike & I had a charmed and magical road trip this summer. We went back to where we met 50 years ago. I have spent the last 2-3 hours trying to get my Picassa program to upload a folder of our pictures onto this Blog site. To no avail, obviously, since you don't see a folder here. But, I will include a couple of the photos if I can.

In August of 1959 someone (we don't remember who) took a photo of the two of us in Reds Meadow campground. That was the weekend we met and both our families were getting ready to leave. The camera was Mike's but the photographer remains unremembered. Reds Meadow is near Mammoth, California in the Sierra Nevada range of mountains. We were determined to find that exact spot this summer and re-take that photo. We were indeed able to find "the spot" and found a kind fellow that tried his darndest to replicate the original. He held the original photo in one hand and my digital camera in the other while moving us to the right, the left, fore and aft. I'll include both photos here.

We also were able to hike where we hiked as children and young adults. Most of the area and campground is basically unchanged. There was a fire several years ago that destroyed a lot of very beautiful forest. I had hiked there the following year and was saddened nearly to tears. I was able to warn Mike, but, even with the growth that has taken place, the view was changed from what we knew before.

The trip was awesome and without problems. We had a wonderful time; so much so that we kept adding on and prolonging our vacation, finally ending up tacking on 3 days in Kahneeta before we finally drove home.

OK, OK, It's not Still Snowing in St. Helens

This winter has been filled with things other than snow.................although for a time it seemed as if that would not be true. After several weeks of snow and more snow the "normal" rain returned and most things returned to what a regualr winter is like here in Oregon.

The different part for me was that, after 35 years, I returned to college in January . I enrolled in PSU as a Psychology major with the ultimate (and far, far away right now) goal of earning my Masters of Counseling. First, though, I must finish my BS degree. I am enjoying school more than I ever imagined possible! I have made some really cool new friends, all of whom are younger than several of my grandchildren. But, it seems as if the classroom is the great equalizer and I am just another student trying to maintain a good GPA. So far my grades are great. We'll see how far that lasts when I take Statistics in the Fall. For the first time in many years I actually looked forward to Spring Break and am certainly looking forward to Summer vacation. Did you know that an almost 65 year old can get by on 5 1/2 to 6 hours of sleep for 10 or 11 weekes at a time? Well, I can if I can sleep in on Saturday morning. Of course, during Spring Break and Summer vacation I still have my "day job" which requires 40-50 hours a week. Bummer!!

The rest of the winter was filled with cutting and stacking (and burning) firewood. There were several weeks at a time where the weather was bad enough and cold enough that I couldn't even get to the coast to see Mike. That was not fun. But Spring has arrived at last and we are beginning to do things again. Last month we drove, in the Jag with the top down, to the Woodburn Tulip Festival. It was a beautiful drive, a long wait to get in, and the tulips were as pretty as ever.

Today we took a hike into some actual forest where, thankfully, there hasn't been logged in many years. It was so beautiful and peaceful we didn't want to leave. Riley came with us even though he had gome on a run with me earlier in the day. Mike found an enormous fallen tree whose roots had been wrapped aroung a volkswagon sized boulder. It had fallen and still had pieces of and imprints of the boulder in the roots. And growing on the ground side of the now up-ended roots was a beautiful Trilium. What a beautiful place we found. I'm sure we'll go back again.

So, I have a midterm exam on Tuesday. But as this quarter winds to an end I will try to be better about keeping up my BLOG. This summer should bring some interesting photos as we plan to retrun to Reds Meadow again to celebrate 50 years since we met. That should be a kick and the roadtrip there should be great as well.

Egads, it's snowing again!
The forecast is for more snow tonight and tomorrow and then rain starting Friday. At this point I am hoping for rain and above freezing temperatures. I am sooooooo bored and ready to go back to work. Yesterday I scraped the snow off my truck so I
might at least be able to go buy another book to
read. I am really out of things to do. I have
cleaned my house, split wood for the woodstove,

made chicken noodle soup, steam ironed all the cl0thes Karen gave me and on and on. This is not my style for sure. Now, at 11:00pm on Tuesday evening it's snowing again.

As some of you know, I am going back to college to get my degree inPsychology and Counseling.

I received my tuition bill for Winter Quarter this week. Mind you, I am only taking one class for Winter Quarter and the bill is for $837.00. Even given that $250.00 is for matriculation fees, that is still pretty steep for one class at a State University. And that does not include my text books. I sure hope the new administration will put more value on education than the last few. Education should not be an elitist thing. We are falling behind in this country with our lack of emphasis on and access to higher education.

So anyway, back to the weather (a safer subject). I sure hope the rain comes as predicted and melts the snow, at least in the valleys and lower hills. I really want to spend New Years with Mike and friends at the coast. And I'd love to get back to my regular schedule.

Have a Merry holiday, whatever you celebrate. Tomorrow is Christmeas Eve and the second day of Hannukah. So, Merry and Happy to y'all.

More Snow & Still Coming

It has snowed again almost all day. I can't imagine when this will end. Everytime I look at http://www.wunderground.com/ it shows snow on every day. I feel like I'm living in the Dakotas or something.

My next-door neighbors invited me to go into town with them this noon and I did. I wanted to buy another book to read. I wish I had my textbook.........I could have read it all by now.

I measured the snow in my backyard and it's over 1 foot almost everywhere. And it's still coming down. I wish I could capture a picture of the cute little birds that inhabit my front porch and hop around for seeds. They're so little and pretty. I wonder where they go at night.

I wonder if I'll be able to get to work tomorrow. The weather in Portland is so different from here. Oh, Rachel just called me. She's not going in. Apparently even Portland is a mess. Jeff told her he didn't know if the clinic would even be open tomorrow. Wow! That would be a first.

Stay warm and dry, if you can.

Snow #2

Here are some more of the photos that I took on my trip through town today. I suppose if I didn't take such high quality pictures I could get a dozen on my BLOG. But I like good photos and I never know when I will grab one that I can print in large format and possibly sell or display. So, enjoy and stay warm and dry.

SNOW in St. Helens #1

As far as I can figure, it's been snowing non-stop for >24 hours. It has snowed all week, but this session began as I arrived home from work yesterday and has not so much as paused since then. I have over 12" on my patio right now and it's still coming down.
After driving over 14 hours on the icy I-5 corridor to get home from Karen's in Rocklin, California on Tuesday I was ready for a nice hot shower, a woodstove fire and a relaxing cat on my lap or a book to read. I got the fire, the cat and the book. As for the shower, my pipes between the house and my shop had frozen. I had no hot water to the house (plenty of VERY COLD water though) and no water at all to the shop (read washing machine). On Wednesday AM I was referred to RLJ Plumbing (great folks!) and my pipes were thawed and I finally got my hot shower. However, my washer was spurting water ( over 15 gallons of it) all over my shop. Bart & I vacuumed it up, replaced the hoses and tried again. Smaller spurt this time, but apparently I burst a water valve inside the washer that needs to be replaced. (Also, my shop will need to be heated in the future when it freezes) The replacement was scheduled for Friday but Steve from the appliance repair could not get up the 4th street hill, so, no washer until next week.

After reading 3 books and cleaning my home office, I was finally able to get into the clinic for a while on Friday. Yes!!! But, today brought more snow and NO CHANCE of getting down my hill. Idleness not being my bag, I donned my warmest ski clothes and snow boots, put my camers in a plastic bag and tromped around my little town for a couple of hours taking photos. I have included some here and will post a second BLOG for more.

Snow is so quiet and squeaky. I just love the sights and sounds. I had hoped to get some photos of the marina and possibly the ships in the channel, but it was snowing so hard that I couldn't even see Sand Island, much less the channel. I could hear the ships from Columbia Park and listen to their horns sounding, but could not see them. Very eerie! I walked twice through the woods at the end of my street. The first time was from 3rd Street around to 4th. I went in the house to stoke the fire and doubled back to the woods again. My footprints were already hidden by the snow in the 5 minutes I spent inside. Good thing I know my way and was not trying to follow my steps or bread crumbs!

Go to the nest BLOG for more photos.

Happy Birthday Patrick Capper

This is for Patrick...............Happy Birthday!

This is a mish-mosh of what has transpired since the Hood to Coast in August. There is a photo of my team at the finish. For the very first year we all met at the finish line and even stayed to drink beer in the beer garden. It was another great race and we all planned how we would run in 2009. Except that we didn't get in this year!!! It was bound to happen sometime and it did. No one can quite believe it, but it's true. Maybe next year or maybe we'll try to run the Rainier to Pacific up in Washington.

After the H2C we went to a concert at the zoo. Rain, rain, rain!!! Patrick and Anna met us there but we all sort of huddled under something. However, Hettie, Cathy and Eric were dying to see Shawn Mullins. We not only heard him sing, saw him but had photos taken (by me) with him at the end of the concert. What a nice guy! We were hoping for a photo op and Mike stood in line behind a guy with a rain jacket on. They chatted and Mike said "Gosh, I wonder if he's going to come out to sign CDs?" The fellow replied, "Well, I want to but I don't know where to go." It was Shawn! So, I asked to take a picture and the result is posted here.

The next week Mike & I made our annual pilgrimage to Kahneeta for some sun. It was beautiful and we spent 4 days soaking up the very warm sunshine. A photo of Archaeologist Michael Capper is included here giving a talk about the "petroglyphs" on the rock.

Fall arrived with a greater than usual display of colors. On one of my trips thru Vernonia to the coast I snapped a typical Oregon road photo of the trees. I still marvel at the beauty of my state. I hope I never grow accustomed to the sights that I see and the views of nature that appear to me as I drive to work, to the coast and even to the store. I simply cannot imagine living anywhere else. I'm not quite sure how I managed to land here but I surely am glad that I did.

Of course, with Fall. Winter cannot be far behind. So we have begun to split wood for both of our woodstoves. Some is huge and must be split several times and then given over to the hydrolic splitter. Of course, that's another story for another BLOG day. But we have wielded our splitting mauls a few times this year.

The final photo is of one of those really pretty, warm sunny days that sneaks into the middle of stormy and rainy times. The Sunday before Thanksgiving we were able to walk most of the afternoon on the beaches. We were really looking for the pelicans that appear to be wintering in Cannon Beach, but we found waterfalls and other very pretty sights as well. We finally found the pelicans up on the North End on Bird Rocks but they were a little too far away for really good photos. Perhaps another time.

So, Patrick, Happy Birthday and I hope you enjoy this scattered array of photos.

Concerts and Almost Hood to Coast

Another concert last Sunday at the Zoo. It was Boz Scaggs and it was WONDERFUL!! What a great evening of music. I'd have to say it ranks up there as one the best we've been to. The weather was a little "iffy." It rained on the way in, cleared for much of the concert and then rained a little towards the end. At that point the music was so good that I doubt if anyone really cared. We certainly didn't. The clouds and sun did make a beautiful scene above the turrets of the building adjacent to the amphitheatre. The above shot is one I grabbed during the music.

Today (Wednesday) I spent at home preparing for the H2C that begins Friday morning. I had thought I would trim the lawns and mow again, but it rained all day so I cleaned my house instead. About 4:30 the sun came out briefly and I was able to rearrange my front porch a little. The lovely bench is the one I bought at the estate sale a few weeks ago. After I replaced the rotted slats with the ones Mike cut, I painted the bench. It looks quite nice on my porch I think. It kind of matches. I'd love to make a cushion for the seat one day. It would need to be waterproof but I could manage that.

Eric, Cathy and Hettie have landed and are shopping at REI. They will be here later tonight. Then, it's full on to the Hood to Coast. And, of course, another concert on Sunday evening. This time it's Shawn Mullins.

All Green Gone!!!!

So, now all the green paint really is gone! I finished with all the trim around noon. I did the trim in the bedroom and then just kept going to all the door jambs that face the living/dining room. It sure looks better.

The door took only two coats-even though the paint "guaranteed" one coat coverage. I don't think they had my green paint in mind when they made that statement. But I was thrilled with just two coats. The paint dried fast enough that I was able to get the trim paint out again and paint the white multi pane parts. Both sides too! Although it is now 7:00pm and I still have doors and windows open, I will actually be able to close the door tonight. Gotta love that new paint!

So much for my weekend. All that remains is dinner, a shower and some ironing.

Gone, Gone Green

Almost all the green is gone. It was banished from the bathroom last winter, Mike replaced my back door this spring and today I painted my bedroom. It no longer looks like Henry Ford had a bad dream of St. Patty's day. The bottom of the walls took three coats of paint to cover the green. But now it actually looks like part of my home. Since the bedroom is visually a part of the living room, I chose paint that matches. The top of the walls are the same color as the north wall of the living room and the bottom matches the west living room wall.

Tomorrow I will paint the wood trim and install the new mini blinds I bought to replace the (yes) green ones! I love dark, shiny green on grass, leaves of a tree and on Mike's Jag but not on the walls and doors of my house.

Speaking of doors, the only green left is my front door. It's a metal door-not my favorite-but it has a nice arch-shaped multi pane window. If it doesn't take forever to paint the trim tomorrow and the weather is warm, I may take a shot at painting the door. I have some very nice satin outdoor paint in a kind of brick/tomato red. It would be wonderful to have that done as well.

So, we'll see what tomorrow brings. Right now I am waaaaay tired and am going to bed!

Progress

Another day "off" on Friday used for purely personal stuff. What a wonderful luxury. I arranged for kayaks to use on the Tuesday after the Hood to Coast. Eric & family want to do that and so do I. Scappoose Bay Kayaking is closed on Monday & Tuesday, but for a "local" they will arrange to meet there and provide the equipment. We get a tandem and two singles with all appropriate gear. I offered a deposit and was told "Oh, we'll settle up after you come back. After all,it's not like you wont return." What a joy to live in a small and trusting town!!

Up the road a bit from the Kayak shop was an Estate sale! Wow, one of my favorite homes on Old Portland Road-the one with all the beautiful Rhodies-is empty and for sale (6 acres and a lovely home) Of course, I found treasures to buy; old tools, files, copper plant markers and a wonderful old double garden beach. Picture included here. The bench had three rotten slats. Mike to the rescue.........in less than 15 minutes Saturday he had cut me three new ones to match the crumbling sample I brought!

The rest of my day was spent painting the rest of my bathroom. You remember, the top half of the "red project" from last year. It looks great!! I think I'll try to paint some more before the HTC group arrives. I'd just love to rid myself of the Henry Ford green in my bedroom.

Saturday brought me to the coast after an HTC meeting. It's been so long since we've been able to do anything but clean up after the past two winters of storms. Saturday we did firewood. I carried logs to the road and Mike split the huge rounds that were too big to even get onto the truck. He has the most interesting pile of logs to split up on the upper level. Instead of a traditional wood pile formation he has created something that brings to mind a large, solid tepee of wood. It's round and very tall. He just keeps adding rings around the outside. The is just an amazing amount of wood to be split. While we worked Riley stayed with us but made a nest behind the old woodpile. I don't know if he was hot and sought out shade or if he's just weird. We took pictures and he posed. He's quite a ham.

Sunday, at last, I felt like I was able to make something "pretty" again. The lower, west flower garden was covered in January with huge fallen trees, broken limbs, smashed magnolia, maple and plums trees. Not to mention the azaleas, roses and other flowers that were buried under the rubble. We both felt that it would never recover, never be the same and never be pretty again. We underestimated nature. The smashed trees are growing back (a little different shape), the plum tree is recovering, the azaleas and roses are intact and (drum roll here please) I was able to reveal the stone border along the bed that I put in 3-4 years ago.

That felt so good, just to see it looking nice again!! I snapped a couple of photos just before dark and you can see the border. It's not the same as before, but it's there, things are blooming and growing and it actually looks nice.