What's outside of your picture window today?

Yesterday, a friend and I drove 50 miles north along the Oregon coast to Tillamook, to attempt to follow the "quilt trail," a series of single quilt squares painted large and hung on barns, businesses, and a few private homes near Tillamook. Here it is, mid-October, and we nearly wilted from the heat...79. You've got to understand that anything over 70 is a "heat wave" here on the coast at any time, but ordinarily October is in the 50s with rain during October. I cannot remember ever having this kind of abnormal hot weather this late. Still, we persisted in the "easter egg hunt" for several hours, getting photos for a program we'll do for Oregon Coast Learning, a group that meets weekly for lectures about a wide variety of things to keep our old minds clicking along. Doing the research in order to present a program for the group is the high point of the exercise!

Friday, I took my boat to Pacific City, to fish for fall Chinook on the lower Nestucca. It was so windy that we had little hope of getting our flies to where we wanted them...no luck with the fish. However, we harvested a couple of containers of ripe blackberries, which ordinarily are ripe in August, finished in September. The long, never-ending wet spring we had during April, May, and June meant that berries were either very late, or, in the case of blueberries, never really bloomed. No fresh local blueberries this past summer! We're supposed to get the first fall rain at the end of next week, which should move salmon upstream, followed by sea-run cutthroat. It also means the beginning of a very long winter where I won't be able to use my driveway, due to flooding of what used to be a pretty little creek in our front yard. I drive to where the driveway meets the road, unload groceries or whatever, put on my boots, and walk down to wade across the flood, then up the hill to the house. I've noticed that the hill gets steeper and longer every winter. <g> Then I drive up the road an eighth of a mile to a place where I can turn around, then back down to the group of mailboxes a quarter-mile west of our house, the closest wide spot that's solid enough for me to park my car. The flooding and marsh (instead of creek) are due to efforts of eight different would-be developers, all of whom went bankrupt, some of whom did illegal things to the creek, like channelizing it below our place, extending our one-lane road across the creek for a shortcut to the main road. To make matters worse, the school dist. purchased 58 acres that drain into our little creek, clear cut about 2/3rds of it, and then BULLDOZED the land...even though they have no definite plans to build there any time within the next decade or two! When we have a storm, all that loose dirt starts moving downhill, and I have a huge chocolate brown lake that covers much of the half-acre of front yard and over 100' of driveway. Then, I need waders instead of just boots to get out to the road. Yes, I really LOVE development!

Oh, wow, what a view 💖

Where’s the nuts?

@johnbishop
Hi John,
I could answer that question but it might be best if I don’t, lol.
Jake

🤣😜

We have rain today! Wow, what a neat thing to see. Unfortunately, 15 traffic accidents on the interstate in one 4 mile stretch as people remember that there is oil and dirt on the road, plus over-driving the traffic condition.

On our driveway is an overload of cedar needles, even though we just cleaned up yesterday in anticipation of today's storm. The heavy wind last night shook the trees.

Inside the house, is our first fire of the season, in the fireplace. Temps never went above 45 outside today. Ah, put away the shorts and tank tops, dig out the winter gear!
Ginger

Aw, we were there last week. Today it went from 44 in the AM to 76. Trying to get everything done before the front comes through here on Monday.

We bring the mower out every 48 hours to mulch the next layer of falling leaves.
Sue

@sueinmn Our neighbor takes all our leaves from the trees, and uses them unmulched in her massive garden. We pull our utility trailer up, load it, throw a tarp over to keep everything inside for the 100 yard drive, and pull it up to where they need that load. These same people go with us to harvest timber on BLM land for firewood twice a year, each of us taking turns to get the permit.

I'll be giving her thinned out tubers from my poker plants in next week.
Great to recycle! Great neighbors and friends!
Ginger

Yes, the garden fills itself with unmulched leaves, no hauling required due to our massive maple, linden and ash trees. The remains of the perennials, standing 1-2 feet high, hold them in place, and protect plants and soil from the freeze-thaw cycle. In the Spring, I pull out the blower, blow them into the yard, and run the mower over them & throw them back in the beds. MUCH easier than the old rake-and-bag gig. And almost never need to fertilize any of the beds - just a few pick plants. The only downside is that I used to use pine bark nuggets as mulch, which were slippery for the deer to walk on, so they stayed out of the beds and only nibbled what they could reach from the edges. Now they wander through at will, sampling everything!
Sue

Today, it's all about rain. I really don't mind the rain. It's the rain on the leaves that really bother me. Makes them slippery. Ugh.

But one of my favorite things this time of year is the crunch on the leaves as I am walking when it's not raining. But not today! And the smell of woodsmoke that definitely says fall is here. As someone mentioned, time to get the cozy sweaters out and put away the shorts.

Has anyone noticed how beautiful the lighting is this time of year. Even on a cloudy windy day? Magnificent!