The Yard Evolves

It seems like every time I look at the yard around the house there is something new in the way of plant life. Especially now that Spring is coaxing flowers of many colors out into the sunshine. Here's some pics I took today while I was out tending the veggie garden:

Wild flowers in the grass.. Yellow is dandelion, Purple is wild grape hyacinth:

 

 Japanese Magnolia tree:

These flowers look suspiciously like those from a peach tree, but since they are growing on a shrub they could be a variety of rhododendron maybe:

I believe this to be a type of geranium but I'm not certain:

This small tree has red wispy flower type appendages.. I have no clue what it is:

These plants are growing in an area behind the shed, they look like they may have been intentionally planted due to their grouping but I haven't a clue what they are either, they look like a veggie crop of some sort.. more research is in order:

I'm sure the next time I turn around there will be more exciting things to see and report. I'll try to keep on top of it!

Day to Day

The rhythm of living is a pretty steady one now, with less frequent spikes of activity. We haven't been stagnant in any way, simply more stable. There would have been a post about our hike to see Elowah and Mccord Creek falls, but I was a doofus and forgot the camera. Here's a link to another blog from someone who did this hike and took really nice photos so you don't feel totally left out: CLICK HERE FOR PICS and description of the hike

I've been working from home as usual, and Ash transitioned to a new job at a mental health facility. She's now a patient advocate, responsible for giving meds, assisting the residents with day to day activities, planning and running groups and classes, keeping charts and assisting with billing. She is on a new and much preferred schedule of 2pm -10pm and a higher pay rate. To say she is happy with the new work would be a huge understatement. It wasn't that she didn't like security, but the company that employed her was beginning to show its lack of ethical business practice. 

In addition to my typical work I've had a slew of new art commissions including 2 elk busts, a snook, a frog, a whole elk, and a California quail. Also been working on the order of 10 life size butterflies. Here's some pics of the little quail:

Also for your viewing is a "RANDOM ETCH-A-SKETCH OF THE DAY" that I did a couple days ago:

As I sit here typing this, I'm glancing over to a ledge on my left and smiling as I take in the sight of a cute pink and floral plush elephant that once belonged to my Granny. I look upon this little reminder of good times from my past often and fondly but with a tinge of sadness that she's not around to share in our experiences since the move. Before she departed this world for the mysterious blue beyond, we had some wonderful conversations about her adventures with grandpa all over the west. Turns out we have plans to see many of the same sights they did, our tires traversing much of the same roadway as their camper's wheels. It fills me with emotion every time I admire a grand vista to think that her eyes may have fallen on the same sight. Love you Granny.

Three days in the making: To the sea!

Sorry for the delay in post, sorting through and editing over 300 pictures took a lot longer than I anticipated. I'd say it was worth it though.. I managed to capture some amazing scenery... not that I had to do much, the photos pretty much took themselves. This was our first time seeing the magnificent Pacific ocean. A complete 360 from the flat white sandy coasts of our home-state. I have no words to describe the feeling of sitting on the edge of a cliff hundreds of feet above huge rolling waves crashing down upon jagged rocky shoreline. Perhaps a feeling of awe and fear for something so grand and dangerous and different. I'm getting ahead of myself though.. Our first experience of the trip was driving through the pastoral valleys between Portland and the coast. The greenest of green grass for miles with a horizon of mountains for a backdrop. Barns of many colors and shapes.. though one was most common and shown in the pictures. Our first destination was Depoe Bay, for an attempt at whale watching. It is late in the season and the migration pattern is 3 miles away from shore, but we bought some binoculars and gave it a shot. The whale center had documented many of them the day we were there, but we were unable to catch any in our view. The only wildlife we saw that day was a raven, a small brown sparrow, and some seagulls lol. They suggested coming back in late summer to see them feeding in the bay, only feet away from the shore. You bet we'll be back then! We made many stops along the coastal highway to take photos of the breathtaking view. We went looking for tide pools, but were too late and missed the low tide. We still got to explore a cool rock covered beach at Hug point and see a couple of  beach caves. When heading to our night time accommodations we stopped at an excellent roadside oasis in the middle of nowhere that was part plant nursery, part coffee and bake shop, part produce stand, and part gift shop that sold home decor, locally made sauces, and preserves. We got some cute little succulent plants and some delicious vidalia onion and dill mustard. Our hotel was only a short drive from there in Tillamook Valley, the place where pretty much all dairy products are made for the pacific northwest. A beautiful place with a not so beautiful smell. There are so many dairy farms in this concentrated area that you cannot escape the pungent odor of cow poo unless indoors. Lucky for us it was only chillin' in the indoor heated pool and spa then sleep then breakfast then gone again the next morning back to the coast. This time we drove north up to a cute little lighthouse then to Cannon Beach to see the famous and quite ginormous haystack and needle rocks. They were immense... think 40 story building. The beach around them was different than the beach from the day before. This one had more familiar sand underfoot and gentler waves. I may have thought I was on a florida beach if not for the haystack and cold wind that had all the beach goers bundled up in sneakers and long sleeves. I almost laughed out loud when I saw a girl presumably sunbathing, laying sprawled out on her back on the sand wearing pants and a fur-lined parka. After getting some sun we tooled around the town of cannon beach looking in the gift shops and ate some dinner. Before departing we stopped into a candy shop and bought some fresh spun cotton candy to munch on the way home. A sweet ending to a spectacular weekend.



Video clip of the shore from atop a cliff:  Click Here for the Video


Of 300 photos, I kept less than 200, all of which can be seen here: CLICK HERE FOR THE PICS

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Experiment- Operation hummingbird

I decided to try and make a hummingbird feeder out of recycled materials.. primarily an empty plastic Coke bottle and an empty plastic salsa container. I used some yarn I already had and bought $2 worth of fake flowers. This is what I ended up with.. cool, but I may need to remake it again because I poked a hole in the top to act like a suction release for the liquid to flow out better, but now the liquid is coming out too fast. The liquid looks brown because I used raw cane sugar to make the "nectar".  We will see how attempt 2 goes.

Field of greens

Look out there, do you see those little yellow flowers poking up out of the grass? Look around your own yard, there's a good chance they are dotting it with gold too... Those are Dandelions, one of the most misunderstood and underutilized plants in America. In other places around the world the flowers, roots, and greens of this plant have been consumed for many many years as food and medicine for various ailments. They were brought over by Europeans as a food crop but now most people kill them as weeds not realizing they have this wonderful food source.. an unintentional, maintenance free vegetable growing in their yard. Luckily modern technology has made wisdom available to all in the way of informative websites with hundred of dandelion recipies, medicinal use info, and nutritional content breakdowns. Who knew this unassuming "weed" was a wonder-food? It's superlatively nutritious compared to all other greens, not to mention it's tasty! You can eat the greens raw in salad, or sauteed like spinach.. the flowers can be fried, sauteed, or made into wine... and the root can be eaten like carrot or turnip and roasted to be made into coffee. The whole plant also makes a very nice medicinal tea. I went browsing the yard today and collected a nice batch of greens and flowers to make into a little meal. This is what I ended up with before washing:

 I decided to saute the greens with olive oil, onion, salt and pepper. I also sprinkled on a bit of  JD's Bacon Salt (a vegetarian bacon flavoured seasoning powder). I fried the little blossoms with a coating of onion powder, salt, and pepper. I used them like a garnish on the greens to ad little bursts of flavour. This is the finished dish:

The blossoms and leaves shrink significantly during cooking but what you are left with is a divine little treat! The leaves can have a slightly bitter aftertaste but you can subvert that by using the youngest leaves from the center of the plant, you can also boil them before use and that will release the bitterness too. I personally think the bitterness adds something to a dish. I'd highly recommend you go forage around your own yard and get in on the dandelion action!

Now for something a little different

Day before yesterday we decided to take a drive out east. Even though we only drove a couple hours, you would have thought we'd landed in another state or even country! The landscape changed so drastically and so quickly as we left the columbia gorge. We were headed for washington wine country with wanderlust and tasting in mind. There are so many wineries but luckily deciding wasn't too laborious since only a few are open year round. I snapped photos the whole way there, mostly of huge rock formations and giant treeless hills. We happened upon a few surprises along the way.. a heard of buffalo, a wind farm with enormous white wind mills, and Stonehenge. Yes I said Stonehenge. Apparently someone decided to build a scale representation of that famous UK phenomena in the middle of nowhere surrounded by cow pastures and turn it into a ww1 memorial. Go figure. There is a web page about it if it interests you:
http://www.legendsofamerica.com/wa-stonehenge.html

The day could not have been more beautiful. It was sunny yet cool in the kind of way that makes it a crime to drive without the windows rolled down. We drove up the oregon side of the river, crossed a bridge and headed to a little town called Goldendale where not much was happening except gasoline and dairy queen. We wandered about, taking more photos then headed to the winery of our choice (Cascade Falls) which was good despite the fact that they only made reds and we are Riesling fans.. no harm in trying to widen the palette though. As the sun started heading down we drove back home on the washington side of the river and saw views almost completely different than the drive out which was a pleasant surprise ending to a marvelous day.

It was one of the best days we've had out here in its own way. Lot of photos to check out:


CLICK HERE FOR PICS
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Bird Brained

The home made vegetarian suet continues to be a big hit in the yard, and these are some recent visitors:

 

A blog of another flavour

Ash has started a blog about her adventures riding the public transportation in Portland, and in it are poetic musings about life through these experiences, check it out here: http://transamazingtrains.blogspot.com/