Our version of retirement: Living a childhood dream

More beautiful photos, Gary! Which part of Oregon are you in? My son lived in the Ashland area and then followed his girlfriend to Bend. They broke up and he's now in Hawaii. :D I wanted to take our RV to Oregon to visit him but we never got the opportunity. I still want to see the PNW; I have only been as far west as Montana.
 

C'est Moi said:
More beautiful photos, Gary! Which part of Oregon are you in? My son lived in the Ashland area and then followed his girlfriend to Bend. They broke up and he's now in Hawaii. :D I wanted to take our RV to Oregon to visit him but we never got the opportunity. I still want to see the PNW; I have only been as far west as Montana.
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We're on the east slope of the Cascade range
approx. 80 mi south of Bend
'Tween Chiloquin and Chemult
15 mi due east of Crater lake
Far enough off Hwy 97 to make it a good hike in

If you tour Oregon....

Mid summer; stay west of the Cascades
The trees are bigger (Douglas fir)
Hwy 101 is a freaking gorgeous drive
Lotsa mountains and fertile valleys

otherwise
if you aren't fond of rain
keep east of that range
anything around Mt Hood is quite scenic

further south, where we are
Lotsa renegades
it's recommended to carry
But the drive to Crater Lake is rather breath taking
 
something I writ after a summer afternoon of basking under ol' Sol



Wutizzit?

So this afternoon we're worshiping ol' sol, layin' on lounge chairs in the meadow, and I'm on my stomach, peering over the edge of the cushion, to observe the tinier world.

Seems there's a hatch goin' on.
Furry/fuzzy white creatures.
Delicate.

I touched one and it disintegrated.

They were all climbing grass blades. Hundreds of them.

To the casual eye, it's nothing more than a piece of dryer lint.
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With a bit more delicacy I carefully broke off a blade and scrutinized one up close.
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This little guy that from a side view, sometimes resembles a miniature mountain goat, somehow enjoyed strolling around on my finger, and actually preferred the comfort of my skin when I tried to re-introduce the blade of grass.
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Also it can be confusing as to which way he's going since he moves rather slow.
The little yellow nub could either be his head or a hemorrhoid.
(reminds me of a Benny Hill skit where he plays a drunk: 'well, wouldja look at that one eyed cat'.....wait...oh....he's goin' the other way')
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Anyhoot, anyone know the name of my new fuzzy little buddy?
We'll be at the ballpark....once I find a tiny Dodger cap


wait



....never mind




somebody showed me their search results;
'It's a....
Mealybug Destroyer!! Cryptolaemus montrouzieri / Coleoptera Oak Ridge, TN June 2008 I was very surprised to learn through an internet search that this fuzzy white "aphid eater" is a type of ladybug larva! It closely resembles some of its prey; talk about a "wolf in sheep's clothing"! It has white waxy secretions that protect it from attacks from ants. The ants try to protect the aphids, which this larva eats, because they eat the honeydew produced by the aphids. What an amazing relationship between the three different types of insects! A Chinese relative of these predatory beetles is being used in the battle against the Hemlock Wooly Adelgids in the Smokies.

from EastTennesseewildflowers.com'

Duh...NOT!
 

Bugs can be fascinating, can't they. Yours reminds me a little of the "trash bug" (green lacewing larva). I ran across one of those one day long ago---a tiny pile of trash that moved. :)

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NancyNGA said:
Bugs can be fascinating, can't they. Yours reminds me a little of the "trash bug" (green lacewing larva). I ran across one of those one day long ago---a tiny pile of trash that moved. :)

View attachment 47870
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truly fascinating

In summer, we rise early and work from sun up to not more than two in the afternoon

Then head to the meadow

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During these times, after my bath, sprawled out, drying, I'm given to watching cute tiny spiders skitter thru the grass, sometimes running into industrious ants, carrying the equivalent of houses
sometimes they just climb over 'em, sometimes they both stop and run the other way

seems humans aren't much different
 
Incredible
Temps in the 60s

Last year at this time, 5°F and 4 ft of snow
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This snow from a few days ago is now gone
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Don’t know whether to start on the garden or chop wood

or snooze (got up for the 2nd time at noon today)

the light of the waning super moon was a joy for us last night when we toured the meadow
it's good to have a mate to share these marvels
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'contentment is great gain'
 
When we first moved here, we got rather inundated by well-meaning folks
Visitors
Dropping in
Anytime
Any day

Any way, we put some to work, three families, tearing down an old heap at the edge of our property, of what someone considered was a cabin
Payment; they could keep the salvage (win win)

Somehow I ended up with their spawn


Actually, the kids did good.

I had some staining to do on some 1" pine for trimming the windows.
Good thing I just bought a mess of brushes at the dollar store.

'OK, kiddies, who wants to paint?'

'Meeee, Meeee, Meee!'

So I lined up the boards on the saw horses and let 'em go to town.

'Whoa....whoa....WHOOOO-WHOA!!!!'

'OK, look, watch carefully.
Ya gotta hold the bush like this, all four fingers on the ferrule.....no, that's the heel.
This is the ferrule.
And thumb on the other side.
Anybody that holds it any other way has to clean up in the mineral spirits pan.'

'Can I clean up? Does it sting?'

'No, I wanna clean up. Does it sting?'

'Why does he get to clean up? I want to get stung.'

'Can I have my own pan?'

'OK OK, nobody 'gets' to clean up.'

'WAIT!'

'OK, you get to clean up.
And never ever ever ever dip yer entire brush in the paint again!'

'I want to see straight lines, no globs, and less paint on yourselves than the boards.'

'Why did you flick yer brush at her?!'

'She stuck her tongue out at me.'

'OK, little lady, wipe the paint off yer tongue best you can on this clean rag.
No, you won't die of paint poisoning.
I think we got it in time....manslaughter by errant hammer maybe, but not paint poisoning.'

'OK, miniature fiends, here's how you feather over the paint so it doesn't look like somebody blobbed the paint on with some sorta jack hammer sponge,
then played swirly finger brush, like Anne here just did.'

'I want a jack hammer sponge!'



'Yer doing quite nicely young lady, nice lines.'

'You smell like olives.'

'Yer probably smelling the paint.'

'No. It's you.'

'Wonderful'...(pat pat)



'Hey....Hey....HEYYYYYY!
How, for the love of Mike, did you get paint on THAT?!'



'OK, everbody clean up.

Yer all done.

Yup.

Nice job.

Satan just texted me.

Wants y'all back now.'

That was three years ago

We now have a gate

...and fencing
 
I know the feeling Gary. I was always thrilled when grown ups let me do grown up things. One time I got the great job of putting insulation in the attic, crawling way into the corners of a sloped down roof because I was little. I was so proud. :rolleyes: Win win situation!
 
Had a bit of a storm blow thru

Little snow



Mostly wind

It’s a bit unnerving to hear trees pop thru the night

Mostly small, unhealthy ones

Nature’s housekeeping



Gonna get a cold snap

-7°F predicted



Snow or no snow

It’s now winter



First year we moved here we lost a dozen trees to winds pushing 100 mph

50 mph sustained



Got lucky

A tree just missed our only genny (generator) at the time
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And one fell right in front of the Wrangler
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Others, larger ones, just toppled over

The ‘soil’ here is mostly pumice, thanks to Mt Mazama (Crater Lake)

15 mi due east

Two feet below that is hard pan, virtually cement

Once a tree gets so big, so tall, it’s gonna come down

Happily, they haven’t landed on our cabins

And, now, the large ones that once threatened, have been consumed, chunk by chunk, warming our winters, heating our water, cooking our food.

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We are in some sorta vortex.

Winds come from all directions

They can originate from the north, and come in from the south.

The last two years, they’ve abated some

But

They come up from time to time



‘The weather’ here

Is seldom a dull conversation

Even a normal sun filled day makes one thankful, grateful

Savoring each vibrant moment
especially mornings
sipping hot coffee

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no complaints

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SifuPhil said:
Gary, I would think you'd want a "kill zone" around your house and take down all the trees within striking distance, to eliminate the risk.
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Did just that with the large ones
Those left near the cabins and shop are of little to no threat
aaand
they provide much needed shade in summer
gets to be close to 100°F
even though nights could freeze

Some folks down the path cleared...stripped a good portion of their place
after thoughts are sometimes not good ones
 
Meanderer said:
I think that I shall never see.....
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truths

forgot about the natural wind break of a clump of even small trees



Even though the benefits are huge, I enjoy the visuals most

Phil is right though
The big ones that threatened the cabin had to come down
Glad to put my Husqvee to 'em before the wind pushed 'em the wrong way
 
Gary O' said:
Did just that with the large ones
Those left near the cabins and shop are of little to no threat
aaand
they provide much needed shade in summer
gets to be close to 100°F
even though nights could freeze

Some folks down the path cleared...stripped a good portion of their place
after thoughts are sometimes not good ones
Click to expand...

Yeah, it kind of goes against my Druid nature but thought I'd mention it anyway.

Boy, talk about temperature swings.
 
SifuPhil said:
Boy, talk about temperature swings.
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yeah, lost many a seedling the first summer

This spring will be the year of the cold frame troughs
At least give us a chance
Still
we'll cover when the sun goes down

stepped out to capture the rise

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quickly stepped back in to keep a certain appendage from breaking off
 
Man, that is beautiful.

I stepped out to catch the rise this morning as well.

old-car-city-sunrise.jpg

The frolicsome interplay of the red rusted metal and the struggling green grass imparts an almost Ansel Adams-like quality, evoking the eternal struggle between Man and Nature.

...

That, or it's just a really crummy neighborhod. :crushed:
 
SifuPhil said:
The frolicsome interplay of the red rusted metal and the struggling green grass imparts an almost Ansel Adams-like quality, evoking the eternal struggle between Man and Nature.

...
Click to expand...

Like it!

better words than '55 chevy in rust

or corroded back seat memories
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or step van ambiance
or last tango in parts

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OK, gotta get my tongue outa my cheek, and around breakfast

day has fully broken
 
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NancyNGA said:
Gary, do you have a tractor? If not you need one, and a building to put it in. :playful: :cool:
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Had that same thought before we moved here
Considered it a necessity
$20K and up for anything worthy
Old Ford 9Ns are out there, but parts, not so much
The lad, 2 mi up the path, that forges all my hinges and knives, has a very nice tractor
….and a very nice pole barn to put it in
…..aaaand he pays for the repairs

He is also the lad that plows the snow when necessary

THAT, I don’t mind paying for
(figger I’m $30K ahead, looks nice in my fire safe)

I do have the walk behind
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...and what would I do with Bone-a-part?
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