Fall Feast

Good thing I took that hike Sunday! Today it was 48 degrees for the high in Brightwood with snow predicted at 3,000 feet. To celebrate Fall's prompt arrival I got into comfort food mode with my world famous meatloaf, mashed baked potatoes and a blue cheese topped salad.



Nick was doing a kiln fire today so to keep warm at home he fired up the wood stove for the first time this season.



Our house is very seasonal - we spend all summer in the cool basement and then all winter in the toasty living room. Truck approves for sure!

Ode To Indian Summer

Yesterday was a perfect indian summer day - blue sky and a light warm wind, so Scraps and I decided to take advantage with a hike. The film crew was camped out all over our property so we headed up Hwy 26 to do the Mirror Lake/Tom Dick and Harry trail.

The Mirror Lake hike is one of my favorites and I have been meaning to do it all summer. Each weekend somehow became filled with house or land projects and general life chores until there weren't many nice summer days left.

The pullout for the hike is at 3,000 feet and it has a pretty quick ascent from there so I was huffing and puffing pretty quick.

Thirty minutes up is when you hit Mirror Lake:



Here is a great view of Mt Hood a little further up:



Thirty minutes from the lake you hit this awesome rock pile as the trail levels out somewhat:



Just fifteen more minutes and you are at the top! The view of Mount Hood with Mirror Lake below is beautiful:



It was SUPER windy and you can really tell by the way Scraps' ears were flapping in the breeze:



Here is a shot of us together courtesy of the self timer:



Come on out and let's hike!

Go Geo Go!

My 1994 Geo Metro is the key to my existence. At 45 mpg I loving describe it as my "poor man's Prius". One of the benefits if living in a house with a garage is that Nick has been teaching himself auto mechanics. The main reason we purchased Nick's car was so that he would be able to take the time he needs to fix my car when it needs it.

On the way back from our friends' wedding in Poulsbo WA I noticed a loud humming emitting from the front right wheel area. I EXPERTLY diagnosed it as the wheel bearings going out. Nick was not convinced but after a Les Schwab consult agreed with me.

Yesterday Nick replaced the front passenger side bearings in the Geo. His mechanical skills never cease to amaze me! It only took 1 trip to Napa for some specialty tools and a lot of time but he got it. It is still a work in progress with a small tweak that needs to be completed but I am very proud of him and thankful.


Here is a shot of Nick working on the bearings:



Here is a shot detailing the custom diamond plate Nick outfitted the Geo with after a snow mishap where we parked the Ford ON TOP of the Geo and it busted out the back plastic piece. My ride is one of a kind!

Ready For Another 30!

Nick and I are rather infamous for our avoidance of doctor's offices. Annual exam - no thanks, how about one per decade? I KNOW that is not is not proper protocol but with the state of health insurance in this nation....don't get me started!

Any whoo...I DID go the the dermatologist yesterday. One of my girlfriends had a malignant mole removed from her leg earlier this summer and well, fear is a great motivator. Good news - clean bill of skin health. The doctor was a really nice guy with a great sense of humor (very important component of all my daily interactions). During the visit my phone rang. My phone does not have a vibrate mode (long story), instead it plays Safety Dance. So there I am getting my once over and suddenly safety dance starts to play. The doc laughed and correctly identified the tune! That soon led to a conversation of "kids these days" and all the eighties (bad) fashions cropping up at the mall. Stirrup pants - I have seen them..recently! Ugh - you would think they could learn from their elders! If I start seeing "mall bangs" I will know the apocalypse is near.

So I got a clear skin check and guess I am ready to go another thirty(ish) years until my next appointment. Here is a pic of my last birthday party - AT SKATELAND in case you were wondering how I roll.



P.S. - I won a free small soda for my performance of The Macarena on skates. Hey - maybe that will come back too!

No Autographs PLEASE

It's official - Truck is a MOVIE STAR. Nick has been helping out with an independent film being shot on Mt Hood and they were in need of a dog for a shot. Boy were they in luck! There really wasn't much competition...Mackus Crackus....White Bitey...OR the cutest pug-dog ever?! Nick said he performed like the star that he is - sitting outside the store as the main character walked by.

He can't wait for his next speaking role!

Setting The Scene

Last night Nick had a really good point, ( I know, once a year I like to give him a little credit) that you may not have visited us during our ten years in NYC so all this woodsey stuff doesn't seem like such a big deal. Oh it is a BIG change folks! Just last night I was catching up with an old friend who had visited us is NY and she was in awe at the blog and all the relative craziness our new farm life entails.

I will have to dig for more pics but here is a good intro, the last apartment we built in Brooklyn..

Before:



After:



The space was totally raw minus the kitchen water pipes and a bathroom (complete with shower stall) when we moved in. We built two lofts - one for living (above the entry/kitchen) and another (in front of the windows) for plants and storage. The entire place was probably 800 square feet and it housed us, two dogs, a cat, multiple large aluminum sculptures, welding equipment etc.. It was a great space.

Now we have an even greater space for this time in our lives and we are very thankful. One of the weirdest things about living in OR now is that we have had to adjust to living in more than one room. I will admit though that we usually are together..in the kitchen.

TIMBER!!!!

Yesterday Nick and I really put the skidder to work! One corner of our backyard (right outside our kitchen window) has a huge stump (20 feet tall) that has been there so long it is completely covered in ivy.


The bats do enjoy nesting in it but it really is an eye sore. In case you didn't know, English ivy is an invasive plant in Oregon and the bane of my existence. I actually hate ivy more than blackberry vines. If I had 10cents for each hour I have spent yanking out ivy from its roots, I would be a thousandaire by mow. The stump is a breeding ground for ivy and it takes up a ton of valuable sunny space in the yard so it had to go. Nick has already tried unsuccessfully several times to cut it down, but pulling it down was really the only option. Thank goodness for the skidder!

I have video of the stump coming down but it won't upload properly so you will just have to use your imagination. Above is the stump before. Here is the stump on its side:


And here is the finished product:


We had to take down the fence to have enough room to down the stump. Once it was down and dragged away then I had to clear all the remaining ivy.

Now we have a nice clear patch that gets some nice sun. We plan on making it the fruit grove with our blueberry bushes and strawberry plants.

The land renovation is already getting rave reviews from the wildlife - I saw a Lynx near the clearing this morning!

Surprise Part Two

Friday night traffic was such a pain this week. I had talked to Nick before I left and about 40 mins into the commute he called to see where I was. I told him traffic had been terrible but that I was almost home. He replied good because he was outside waiting for me. Outside waiting for me? Something had to be up.

Boy was I right! When I got home the skidder was up and running and Nick had used it to clear the completely overgrown upper section of our property! It is so wonderful to be able to actually walk almost the entire length of the upper portion of our property. We had done some tree clearing earlier this year but it was so overgrown that it was impossible to actually walk through.

Now there is a huge pathway leading from the house:



Here is a shot from the middle:


Here is the end of the path looking back towards the house:


So wonderful! Now I love letting the dogs run around back there each day. It is great to be able to take advantage of our acreage. We still have the lower section to conquer, but this is amazing progress.

New Lawn Ornament

Last winter I was home after a busy day, trying to fix dinner and Nick was driving me crazy! He was on the laptop at the kitchen table and kept pestering me to come look at some video. Finally I peered over his shoulder to watch this video:




I watched for a few moments and then realized - that is MY house and that is MY tree. I immediately ran to the front door, flipped on the porch light and sure enough, the huge fir in front of our house was on the ground. It was so dark that I hadn't noticed a thing as I whipped the Geo into the garage that night.

The tree had been dropping limbs like crazy and really crowing our cedar so I was glad it was down. The only problem was that it was down, but not gone. Since last winter that huge tree has been taking up a large portion of the plot next to our house. It has been impossible to mow all of the cleared area to that side of our house and it also blocked the spot we used to access the side portion of our property (the rest is too grown up to battle through).

Beggars cannot be choosers though and since our friend fell it for free and offered to move it at some point for free, we have waited. I had been hearing rumors that the skidder was making its was towards our house but by now I know better than to hold my breath. Thursday night Nick told me he had a surprise for me. When I came home I saw that the tree had been MOVED! The huge logs were by the driveway. Finally!

Then the kicker....the skidder punctured its gas tank and is crippled on my lawn. So now, instead of a big tree, we have a large skidder out front. Trust me, no one ever gets lost looking for our house!

Fruit Of My Labor

My project the past two days has been canning tomatoes..and more tomatoes..and more tomatoes. I can honestly say I am sick of boiling water (if you have ever spent any time with me in a hot tub you know this is QUITE a feat) and tomatoes (usually one of my favorite foods).

Here is the mound o'maters I started with:



In case you need a perspective reference, here is me and Scraps with the pile:



All the animals have been eying me (and the tomatoes) in the kitchen pretty closely.
Luke guarding the boxes:



Truck guarding the tomatoes:



In the end I canned over 20 pints and quarts worth of pasta sauce, salsa and diced tomoatoes.



In addition to canning we have been eating tomatoes as a side with each meal, I passed some out at work and here is me making tomatoes provencal. Yummy!

Our OWN Oktoberfest

Last weekend was the Oktoberfest celebration in Sandy Oregon. Being from Tulsa Oklahoma originally, I LOVE me some Oktoberfest. The Tulsa Oktoberfest has huge beer tents, tons of brats to choose from and a never ending chicken dance. The advertisements for the Sandy Oktoberfest were everywhere - all the way into Portland (about 20 miles away). How can something with that much advertising not be amazing?!

Well, it was the opposite of amazing. Nick and I went on Sunday afternoon and the only highlight of the trip was that we were smart enough to avoid the pay to park lot. There was only ONE brat stand. I was so confused by the setup that I had to ask the brat lady where the beer was. Can't find a beer at Oktoberfest - that is insane! Well we did finally find the beer - in the chain link cage you had to pay to enter. They were out of most beer. Again, out of beer at an Oktoberfest that is insane. Luckily we got the last two Hoegaardens in the joint. We ate our dog. Drank our one beer and bailed.

We decided we could have our own Oktoberfest at home. We swung by the local Thriftway, grabbed some Pyramid Pumpkin Ale and proceeded to party it up at home.

Even Truck got in on the fun:

One True Love

Nick's love affair began a couple of years ago. Exactly how it began I am not sure, but he is absolutely smitten....with Vanagons specifically the Syncro-Westfalia crossover! I think one of his favorite things about Oregon is the abundance of Vanagons. They were far and few between in Brooklyn (although there was one a few blocks from our last apartment) but in Oregon they are often seen roaming the hillside.

Vanagons are so prevalent in Oregon that they have become our new "slug bug". Whenever we spot a Vanagon it is a race to be the first to shout it out.

Last weekend I made the ULTIMATE Vanagon sighting. We were in the parking lot of of Office Depot and there it was, passing right by. I shouted out Vanagon and Nick was even more excited than usual. Apparently this particular Vanagon is from South Africa and must have been imported. Wow - what a sighting! Who knows this stuff??

Enjoy....

Last days of summer

Yesterday was a picture perfect summer day so we decided to take full advantage!

Scraps and I headed out early for a hike. The plan was to avoid the heat but as you can see from his tongue we were not successful in that aspect.














We hiked up a closed road on some BLM land near our house. The road is used to maintain the tall power-line towers. It was pretty steep (I am feeling it my legs today) but the view from the higher elevation is pretty cool.















We passed through some nice lush woods on the way to the top. One of my favorite plants in OR is the fern. These babies get HUGE out here! Here is a picture of Scraps next to one to give you some perspective on size. This was not one of the larger ones, rather one we could reach without falling down the ravine.















While we were gone Nick cleaned the barn in preparation for painting. He also made more progress on finishing up the trim and awning for the window we recently put in. (pics to come). I tackled mowing the dandelions in the front and back of the house, then it was time to head to Timothy Lake.

Nick recently found some waders at Goodwill and needed to test them out. Good news - they worked great! Lookout winter steelhead.













The sunset was gorgeous and with hardly anyone on the lake we got some cool shots:

The many faces of Truck

Truck (our French Bulldog) is a dog of may names: piggy, stink face, truckus buckus. He never really comes when you call him so his name is technically irrelevant. He lives for two things: cookies and booze. If you hold a cookie, you can call him whatever you like.

The other night Nick and I were hanging out with the pig in our bed and got some really great shots.

Here is the Truck SMILE:


Awh - a face only a mother can love.


Here is his ferocious face. If we are ever attacked by a large hand we are set. Truck will be on the case!

09-11-09

Each year I think that I will be unaffected by the passing of September 11th. To sum it up, neither Nick nor myself are. As two people who thankfully LIVED through September 11 2001 we ask you to pray for Peace. Let's live so that maybe there will be a hope for Peace in our children's future.

Happy 09-09-09!

This was what greeted me this morning. Hope your day was just as beautiful!

Gotta Love Craigslist!

Once again my life has been enriched by a chance meeting due to a posting on Craigslist. I always say that I should write a book of Craigslist encounters. I have so many great tales - my Geo leading to a tour of a house with a turret and a garage of classic cars, Nick buying the contents of a pet crematory, how we came to live on the Mountain... I can honestly say my life would not be the same without Craigslist! We just wrapped up a 2 hour transaction that resulted in the sale of our old pellet stove, a list of fishing holes we need to visit, the details of a Germany-Oregon romance, the best way to profit from Icelandic horses and we now know that it is okay to pick chanterelles when they are frozen. And those are just the highlights. Whew!

Strike!!!!!

Yesterday we decided to get out of the rain and bowl with some friends. Nick was the King of Strikes and reached 160. I was delighted to just break 100!

Here is Nick admiring his score:


Me in action:


After bowling we went to McMenamins at Edgefield to meet Jason, his mom and step-dad for what turned into drinks and dinner. Such a blast! While we waited for them we wandered the golf course. We even found a few balls so we can actually play and save some cash next time.

View from the course:


It was raining off and on so we took shelter under this very cool gnarly tree:


Wandering back to the pub we passed by this awesome web gate. Nick needs to fire up the welder and get to work! This would be awesome on the barn.


Happy Labor Day!

Lots of fishing, not a lot of catching

Despite the wet and chilly weather yesterday we decided to go to Trillium lake and fish. Trillium was recently stocked so we thought it would be like taking candy from a baby. Not so much.

Nick fishing:


My view (Nick enjoys the first person shooter aspect of this particular pic):



On the way home we took the back roads and found some great camping spots along Still Creek: