Ha. This morning I am being pissed off about my subscription to Wired Magazine.

This is a great magazine! In the past I've subscribed to the delivered paper mag for years and years. But at some point I had to quit... it was too much to read!

But with the Trump regime and last January's disgusting DOGE disasters, I knew I wanted to keep up with that news. And Wired's political reporting kept showing up in my feed.

So, I signed up for one of the super cheap deals, 6$ for a year, with digital access, to renew at 30$ after that.

Well. My subscription is coming to an end, and the renewal is 80$ a year!!! Holy!

And when I looked around, it seemed that a normal subscription was 60$/year!!!

The 60$ seems reasonable. (Tho going up from 30$/year in just the single year of my orignal subscription seems kind of ... sus.) The 80$ they now want me to pay... feels like I have to pay them back for the 6$/year, for the rest of my life!!

And that does not make me happy. The cover price of the magazine, to buy a regular 2-month copy at the newsstand is 8.99$... times six per year is only 54$/year!! I get that digital access is extra. (Except, why should it be?) But don't you want to give subscribers a break, since that is dependable money?? Instead they over charge by a significant amount?

It doesn't make sense!

So, I've emailed them to see what they are willing to do for a long time subscriber. A Subscriber who really does want to pay for good journalism.

It's chilly... the overnight low was 26°!

But the sun shines, and it will warm up eventually. Except it's still just 34° when I head out and the Zero wind reported on the weather page is not accurate at all. BRR!

And the guys are still working on the new Compost corner at the Community Garden. So I walk on by again.

Tag: january 2026

I had loaded up the small backpack, thinking I would start my volunteer time at the Community Garden... but as I arrived...

Oh crum! I forgot that they were working on the new Master Compost area this week.

The Extension Service Compost Specialists have an area where they work, at one of the Community Gardens over at the river. But they are shutting that Garden down. I don't know why.

And our Community Garden will be inheriting the Master Composters area!

Today they've got a little front end loader scraping up the grass to make a flat area behind our regular compost pile.

So that's exciting. And altho I do wave at the guys working, I don't want to go in. So I walk on by. I will start my volunteer work another day!

At the back of the Events Center, there's a crow standing in the parking lot. All by herself. Something is wrong.

She just looks at me and I ask, Are you okay? and she coughs a couple times in response.

oh no. Definitely not okay. It's been a while since I've seen anyone dying of H5N1, but it's still going around of course. It usually kills the ducks and geese, but any bird can get it, I think. (Yep, there's a Bluebird in that list and then a couple Crows.)

sighs.

Tag: january 2026

I stop in at the garden to have a look around. I'm thinking about the volunteer time I have to do... Digging out the invasive Lesser Celandines.

I had worked on this plot, near the sandbox, last year. This back corner had been an absolute puddle, and I fished out the Lesser Celandine and hauled home backpacks full of mud!

It's great that they've got some winter gardening happening!! But yeah, all along the border, there's Lesser Celandine coming back.

There's some cute little Speedwells blooming here as well.

And you know what else I've been thinking about? The Sunchokes.

I never got around to digging these out, and that needs to happen at some point.

But today I'm taking some of these roots home to eat.

I don't really like Sunchoke roots. But I've got them, I may as well see if I can eat a few. heh.

The second, little volunteer Cosmos is still alive.

With the stupid Pot People's pot.

I should probably just move that thing back to their plot. It annoys me every time I look at it!

Will you ever get to bloom?

And all the Elephant Garlics are happy.

And heading home.

In the paper today...

∞ PDF News Article: DOJ says it will investigate Eugene swim class

This disgusts me almost as much as it cracks me up.

The city of Eugene is offering a class at our YMCA: BIPOC Water Safety & Lifeguard Cohort which lets BIPOC youth aged 12 to 18 increase their water safety and water competency skills in preparation for the lifeguarding classes.

Yeah, sounds awesome to me! Because, yikes! Read this:

Campbell cited CDC data that shows Black youth ages 10-14 are more than seven times as likely to drown as their white peers, and Black teens aged 15-19 more than five times as likely to drown. These differences are not about interest or ability, but are instead linked to access, Campbell said. Many youth from historically underrepresented communities face barriers to swimming lessons and aquatics programs, including cost, limited access and environments where they may not feel welcome or supported. Campbell said the class is designed to address those barriers and the department views the program as both a drowning-prevention strategy and a youth workforce development opportunity that strengthens overall community safety.

And of course, while the program is designed to support BIPOC youth, no one is turned away based on race.

That the DOJ feels the need to investigate (flamboyant air quotes there!) this class, disgusts me to no end. They just hate Black people and that pisses me off.

But I'm amused as well. Because JFC, the DOJ of the United States doesn't have anything better to do than investigate small town YMCA classes for kids??! It's just ridiculous on so many levels.

I hate this regime.

Tag: january 2026

We've got an Air Stagnation Advisory that started yesterday and goes thru the week.

Bleh. It means chilly nights and no rain. These high pressure systems tend to just sit over us for a while. and it kind of sucks when we actually need some weather... the kind of weather that brings rain!

Spotted Towhee.

The Nootka Roses are looking lovely with their hips.

um. Who's this?

Little bird is bouncing, boucing. And I'm looking into the sun which is just starting to come out from the clouds. And I just can't tell who it is!

but some zoom, and oh okay! That splash of yellow there...

Yellow Rump Warbler.

Recently the star of the Sept-Oct edition of BWD Magazine...

Where I discovered that Yellow Rump Warblers are affectionately called Butter-butts! *laughs* Cute!

Tag: january 2026

Oh! There's a family of Bluebirds at the Community Garden!!

Oh my gosh, the cuteness!

*laughs*

Oh! You're checking out the nesting box!

Hm. I'm not sure... there's a lot of squirrels around here. Not to mention the humans. But lots of bugs to feed growing children, too!

You'll think about it? Okay!

I continue my walk.

And at the dog park, there's Another group of Bluebirds!

Ha! A Bluebird Day!

Tag: january 2026

I've got to stop by the credit union today, and so I think I'll go across to the park and walk it backwards.

Good Morning My Sweet!

The path the humans have created, walking thru the fallen Oak Tree trunks -- one laying southeast, the other laying northwest.

There was a guy walking his dog thru here, so the little patch of forest doesn't hold any bird songs right now.

Out at the prairie, there's some Canada Geese.

And, oh glorious! The pond on the other side of the street has filled up!!

We've gotten 2.25inches of rain in the past week or so! A good bit, but it's not enough to catch us up... The rainy season starts in October but it's just been drier than usual.

The big ponds, across from the bike path, have filled up a little. But def not as big as it should be... most of this entire field should be a pond.

But I'm happy to see what little pond we have, is supporting some customers!

They are Northern Shovelers, and they are not very cooperative with the photography! *laughs*

There's a big flock of Starlings behind me, they are holding a very important meeting and wow, they are loud!

I've come around and heading back on the bike path... Some Robins are enjoying the Hawthorn fruits!

oh wait. That's not a Robin!

Cedar Waxwing.

And then a flock of Bushtits, but they are nothing but a cute blur!

Yes, you can.

Well, maybe I can... another day. :)

Tag: january 2026

The clouds are moving around this morning and the sun was peeking thru. And it's not cold, it's 45° when I head out...

But the sunshine tricked me. The wind is blowing and I immediately wish for more layers to keep warm!

I get on the bike path and soon it started sprinkling. And then it started raining.

Well. That's okay. I usually walk to see the wildlife. But days like today, I'm walking for the exercise instead.

But I do find someone to take photos of... and he's looking as bedraggled with the rain as I'm feeling!

*laughs* He's a Downy Woodpecker.

And then I see the female Common Merganser is still here.

I would wish better things for her... She's not going to find companionship here at the creek. I hope she flies out to a lake soon, to look for her people and find a new mate.

And coincidentally, with my exercise walk, I happen across this article at Wired...

∞ Here's How Long You Should Walk Every Day to Prevent Back Pain

This was a study done in Norway... and WOW! Those people walk a LOT!!

The results showed that walking time is more important than walking speed in preventing back pain. While brisk walking also has some effect, it is the total amount of time walked per day that has the greatest impact on preventive effects. Those who walked 78 to 100 minutes per day had a 13% lower risk of back pain; those who walked 101 to 124 minutes a day had a 23% lower risk; and those who walked 125 minutes or more had a 24% lower risk.

125 Minutes! Over two hours of walking. PER DAY!

*Laughs* That's a lot of walking, right. But what I'm really really wondering... These people are all out in nature for 78 to 125 minutes a day...

That's quite a bit of Nature time!

I bet that's giving people good vibes as well!

...

∞ ICE Murders US Citizen In Minneapolis, Murders Her Right In The Face

...

You know what? I just can't. There's not enough Nature time in the world.

My heart is with the family of Renee Nicole Good.

And with all of Minneapolis.

...

Later, in the comments, something important...

∞ Avoiding traumatizing images/video on social media (and dealing with them when you have to see them)

Tag: january 2026

A dreary day. There's a slight chance of rain during the day, and 100% rain tonight!

Oh hey! Here's someone different.

Female Common Merganser.

But where is her mate? I look up and down stream, but there isn't anyone with her.

sighs. That devastates me. The first time I saw her mate, a couple years ago? He was hanging out with a female Mallard with a bum wing. And then the last time I saw him, he had TWO girlfriends!

and this must be one of them. And I'm so sad she's alone.

She paddles away and I continue on my walk.

Someone bright yellow catches my eye.

Um? Any chance you could calm down for a second?

Not really?

*laughs* Well, they are Townsend Warblers and I am delighted to see their cheerful colours today!

Heading back and this little patch of wild Miners Lettuce catches my eye.

It's edible and last year I had bought some seeds. I never got around to planting them tho because we had flooding early last year and I don't like to play in the mud at the garden. *laughs*

Tag: january 2026

Good Morning My Dear!

I'm stopping at the Garden today to drop off kitchen scraps for the compost. As I walk to the back, I notice this leafy thing.

I'm not sure what it is but wow, that shade of green certainly Pops!

On the way back... *Gasps* It's my friend the Kingfisher!!!

And she lets me get her photo!!

That's so sweet. And then she flies away, laughing. Declaring her territory!

She reminds me that I haven't seen the Barred Owl since I got back... Hopefully she's found a nice forest to hang out in.

And I've not seen the Wood Ducks, either. And that's kind of a bummer... they had invited so many of their friends to check out the creek, I really thought at least the original couple would stick around.

Tag: january 2026

It sprinkled thru most of the night and this morning the clouds are moving around, bringing more rain clouds!

Thank goodness. And there's some puddles getting started at the wet prairie!

The overnight low was 40° which makes the morning walk much nicer than the other day with my cold and wet foot! And the birds are out, also enjoying the warmer weather.

I decide to walk thru the Community Garden again.

In the front, is this plot with the pink insulation that annoys me so much.

They are getting trees started in them, and Trees and Woody Perennials are banned... but because these are real gardeners they are allowed to do whatever they want. *grumbles* at the unfairness.

But that big potted Rosemary bush is pretty impressive!

And *Deep Breath*... letting go of my annoyance.

But this is the next thing I notice...

foo. Lesser Celandine. Very, very invasive.

And I usually spend my volunteer time digging it up. So, I guess I need to start thinking about that. bleh.

In my plot, the couple of volunteer Leeks that came up are doing well.

And the clump of Leek seedlings that came up from a fallen bloom are very happy as well.

And the Beets and the volunteer Elephant Garlics! These things make Me happy!

I think this is Dusty Miller, in a neighbor's plot.

Oh! It's so warm, a caterpillar has woken up!

She's just a couple inches from the edge, so I don't have to move her off the path. But I've caught her attention...

:)

Back at home, I finished reading The Bean Trees yesterday afternoon...

And I am so far behind on my Scientific American magazine subscription, I decide to read magazines for the rest of January in order to catch up!

I'm currently in the middle of the July-August edition. So I've got some reading to do!!

Tag: january 2026

I'm starting to get more organized with the projects and all that have piled up while I've been away.

I've got three separate lists: House Chores, Mail, and Website Work. And stuff is getting done!

Today I've worked on the house plants. ha. Partner took care of the plants while I was gone, and they are all over watered, of course!

*Laughs* Fortunately, there wasn't enough time for him to kill any of them!

But I need to empty the trays of overflowing water, and set each plant into the sink to drip for a while.

Surprisingly, the African Violet is blooming! That pot doesn't have drainage holes, but the plants aren't sitting in water. It's dirt is wet, and I decide to leave it alone. I probably won't have to water it for another month or so!

Heading out for a walk, it's cloudy with a good chance of rain in the afternoon.

I enjoy the Calendulas at the Solidarity Garden.

*laughs* When I was in Colorado, I really tried to get photos of their local pigeons. That was basically a fail, from circumstances beyond my control.

So I am happy to see a little group of Rock Doves today, and I don't even mind that I have to photograph past a chain link fence.

They are beautiful and I love all their different decorations on their feathers!

And Look! There's a red one in this group as well!

Well. Maybe we will call that one brown. :)

I wish they would stick around so I can get to know them. But that is not their way!

And all their individual colourings have been named! Audubon says they come in 7 colour morphs...

∞ Pigeon Watch: Get to Know (and Love) Our Amazing City Birds

If you scroll down that page, there's a list of the seven colour morphs and then pictures of them all: We've got Blue Bar, Red Bar, Red, Spread (which is black!), White, Checkered and Pied (the ones with random leucism)!

So most of the Rock Doves here today are Checkered, you can call them Dark Checkered and Light Checkered. And there's a couple Blue Bars.

The brown Rock Dove has white feathers in her wings so she gets a combination morph, Red Pied!
... or Brown Pied, actually! :)

Fun! It is good to learn new things!!

Tag: january 2026

It's just cloudy today with a 50% chance of rain. But the quarter inch of rain we got yesterday helped with the dryness tremendously.

And more rain in the forecast. Good, this is looking more like normal weather for this time of year!

Ha, Artsy! That's a Steller Jay, but look at the glorious tree...

It's an Alder tree with brand new catkins, but there's a lot of old cones as well!

Aw, Look! A family of Nutrias!!

So adorable!!

And, foo. I've made them nervous by staring at them, and when a biker slows down to look, it's too much. They all scatter into the water.

The babies go back into their den. But one of the adults stays out to keep an eye on the situation.

In the evening, YouTube served me up some more Nutrias in a short...

∞ She chose kindness

Well, it's a pretty long video, to be called a short *laughs* But super cute story.

And later in the evening, I'm printing up a big batch of postcards.

Ahh! It makes me happy to be getting back to my projects!

And while we are on the topic of cute videos... Here's Alastor.

∞ Stick Your Toe Beans Straight Out!

I've been watching this creator for a long time, starting with Billi. Their new crew, Alastor and Coda, are simply adorable. I love watching them!!

Tag: january 2026

Yay! It's been raining this morning and it's a good bit warmer than yesterday. Thank goodness.

I need to get back into my blog posts. I didn't work on that at all while I was gone, and now I'm behind by five and a half weeks. meh.

I'm a little overwhelmed, and I ease into it, with some archiving and back end stuff.

It's still sprinkling by the time I'm getting out for my walk. And that's nice, I love walking in the rain!

But I barely even get across the street when I realize my right sock is wet. what the? I didn't even step in a puddle!

I stop on the sidewalk to look at the bottom of my shoe. Sure enough, there's a hole in the sole. Crud! These shoes are just over a year old, I remember wearing them for the first time when I went to Colorado last year.

But, annoying as it is, that's about right. I do so much walking, the shoes just wear out.

Drizzle and sprinkles for the entire walk. And even tho it's warmer than yesterday, it's still chilly... and my one wet foot was painfully cold!

I walk by the Community Garden... oh!

A Red Shoulder Hawk!

Tag: january 2026

Okay! Slowly but surely, I am getting all the December projects organized!

I've started sorting photos. There's a bit over 900 to work thru, which is a lot but could easily have been twice that! *Laughs*

I've got the pile of mail organized. Pulled out the swaps I need to deal with right away, and I'll go thru the lovely Holiday cards one by one, as I get time.

The house is getting tidier. I am getting thru Swap-Bot stuff.

And today I'm walking across the street to the postal stop to return my brother's broken gift. Another chore, checked off the list! AND they've already sent the replacement, so that's great!

But it's so cold today! It got down to 27° last night and it's still only 30° when I head out the door at 11am! ... I think about how it was 75° in Colorado on the day before Christmas. uh huh... that was nice. Climate change is terrible, but that was nice.

Well. There's some rain in the forecast so hopefully that will warm things up... Normal for this time of year is 47/34. None of this 30° at midday business!

And here's something that IS normal... bad bird photography!

*laughs*

Oh, here's that blond Mallard again!

Not that I can get decent pictures of her, either! sheesh.

A little bit further downstream... oh no. A Cackling Goose. And she's alone. :(

Her mate must have died. sighs. I'm so sad for her.

But here's something interesting. Cackling Geese look a lot like Canada Geese, but they are much smaller. And here she is demonstrating her size next to a Mallard. She's just barely bigger than him!

I'm looping around the neighborhood. Glad to see xmas decorations still up.

And amused that this neighbor has strung xmas lights over their Camellia bushes!

Tag: december 2025

Home again, home again, jiggety jig!

Much to do today. Need to get the files moved from the Emily Laptop, back over to the computer. And I can probably backup files while I'm at it. Do an organizational sweep thru the photos. I need to start a list. But also the house is a little bit trashed, and I need to take care of that.

It's clear and cold this morning. But the sun warms stuff up and it's 37° by the time I get moving.

The wet prairie doesn't have a single puddle. Has it not been raining?

hm. Yeah, we are almost 2inches behind on our normal rain for December. And November was dry too, 2.5inches behind.

It makes the frogs sad when they don't have puddles.

I'm noting some other unfortunate changes around here... Aw, they cut this branch?

The police have left a Surveillance Trailer out here... and the homeless people have been swept. I wonder if something happened.

And the bench outside the Community Garden has been removed. *grumble*

jeez. I was excited to be home, but now I'm as sad as the puddle-less frogs.

Plus the bird flew away.

And the squirrel moved before I got his photo.

Well. I go into the Garden to see what my plot has been doing. The Borage has all died finally, and that's fine and normal. This second volunteer Cosmos is still green and alive...

And that stupid pot is still on my side of the border.

The Leek seedlings that I had separated are all dead. I figured they would die. But this clump that I left alone is still happily growing!

There's some cute little mushrooms in the pathway.

And someone has some Calendulas that are still happily blooming!!

The little splash of bright colours lifts my spirits.

Tag: december 2025

Last day in Colorado, I've got my flight home this evening.

But the morning starts as it has. I come down to the kitchen table with everyone, and surf the internets and work on puzzles!

A couple of birds have finally found the filled up bird feeder!

A Flicker? That's weird. I don't think she'd be interested in sunflower seeds. Have some bugs gathered under the bird feeder?

And a Meadowlark!

I'm excited to see a bird I wouldn't see at home! I haven't had much luck with that on this trip! Just that blurry and too far away Blue Jay the other day.

I wonder if the Flicker and the Meadowlark are friends. Where you hang out, I shall hang out. :)

And I think there was a Goldfinch as well, but they flew away too quickly. Perhaps they will report the full bird feeders at the evening gathering.

Dad comes up from his exercises in the basement and Mom asks how the Tylenol is going. He's a day or so off the oxi, and you can tell he feels a lot better! He's brighter and he says the Tylenol is working.

I wander off to pack my bags. I had pulled the sheets off my bed, and asked Mom if I could re-make the bed, but she said she's hung them up to dry in the basement!

I also get a couple bags of cookies to take home! I grab all of the bad Molasses Cookies... the chopped apple hasn't helped much, but I'm betting the 100% humidity in Oregon will do the trick!

With the Xmas presents, there's more than will fit into my bags. So I find a box and put the rest in it. Mom will ship it to me, when she gets back into town.

Mom's birthday is in a few days, and she opens her presents. She gets books!

And then we play one last game of 65... and Mom wins!

After lunch, we're just killing time. I fiddle with my luggage some more and Mom and Brother play a game of cribbage.

Brother drives Mom and I to the airport. Since we are coming in a different way than usual, we have trouble finding the ticket counters. They are doing construction and there's a serious lack of signs and the whole place is just a mess, a huge mess!

We finally get my luggage checked in... and then there's no place to just sit and hang out. We wander around in circles, but the only place we find with chairs is completely filled up and crowded with humans. sheesh. This airport is Terrible!

But then it's time for me to go, hugs all around and I wish them luck trying to find the car again! *laughs*

I get thru security, which is all new and different but I don't see how it's better than the old security... all this construction for nothing, really!

And then I walk a million miles to my gate, which says Omaha. Oh Crap! I back track to look at the departure screens. Okay, just have to walk a little bit further down!

I like it when the plane ride has no turbulence. And then, somehow the plane arrived a full half hour early! ha! Of course partner isn't there to greet me when I come down, but that's okay, when is your plane EVER a half hour early?? He shows up before too long, and we still have to wait for the luggage carousel.

At home, a Long hot shower makes me feel better.

It's good to be home.

Tag: december 2025

It did snow last night! Well. Technically.

*laughs* Just a dusting. and it's soon to melt.

But on the drive to church, we saw the snow had actually piled up a little in places. It's very patchy.

The sermon today was a visting pastor and he's got a surprise sermon which is anti-evolution. I'm really quite annoyed, and I wonder what the resident pastors think.

*shakes head* The Theory of Evolution has stood for well over 150 years. The science is used extensively in the medical field and without it, we would be left behind in the dark ages.

Also. Please do not use the word evolutionist. It makes you look ignorant. Do we call people Gravitationalists just because they believe in Gravity?!? Do we call people Germ Theoryists? or General Relativitists?

Anyway. That occupied my brain for a little while. And my opinion of my parents church fell quite a bit.

After lunch, Mom helps me make cookies. Sure, it's after xmas, but we're still eating cookies! I'm making Molasses Cookies... but I made them bigger than they are supposed to be and we had to cook them longer.

The first batch is done and Mom says I should try one. I'm all, What if they are terrible? *laughs* I put one in my mouth, They're TERRIBLE!

Hard as a rock. gah, I hate cooking.

Mom reduces the cooking time for the next batch, we pull them out when they still look undone. That does actually help, but jeez, stupid cookies.

When I finish, I'm out for a walk, and Mom joins me, going a little bit further than the ½ mile turn around. And then I go by the Alpacas.

And then some horses.

And then I get to the Prairie Dog colony!

Out in the distance, I can occasionally see movement.

Actually, they're all over the place! There's five in this photo.

Well. Looping back home.

*laughs* I was hoping to see a Blue Jay, since we don't have any in Oregon... But this is apparently all I get.

That's a bummer.

Back, and I'm looking over the stupid cookies. Not all of them are terrible, the last ones are actually pretty good!

But I say we should dedicate a whole apple to the rehabilitation of the first batch that was so hard. I find a wrinkled apple in the fridge, a little too far gone and I cut it up and put it in with the crappy cookies. Hopefully that will help.

After dinner, I lose spectacularly in a game of Phase 10. I guess my luck is back to normal! *laughs*

Tag: december 2025

It's gotten cold, here finally. Tho it's still above freezing, and it will warm up in the afternoon. But there might be some snow tonight!

The weather here, besides the terrible wind storm, has been warm. Overly warm. The days have been mid- and upper-60s. The day before Xmas Eve the high was 75°!! Crazy! I've enjoyed it, but it's def not normal.

I'm just surfing the internets again this morning, but it's making me feel lazy. So I work a little bit on the backend of my website. There. Accomplished something! *laughs*

Dad's got physical therapy and I go with them. Mom runs some errands, and I sit and read The Bean Trees on the kindle.

There's just one therapist today. He's their substitute, while they are all on vacation! He's got interesting stories and I'm listening to him, more than reading.

Afterwards, we go to the next town over to check out the CBD store we had found online... But, bummer! It's closed for the holiday.

Back at home, I wanted to go for a walk... But Dad reminded us of the phone call!

Dad's brother in Iowa had called while he was at physical therapy. A bunch of family, probably sitting around the kitchen table there!

We rescheduled the call, and we've got half an hour before they call back! Plenty of time, to walk out to the half mile mark and back!

Mom and I go out. I'm happy to get some exercise, but I don't get any photos.

We all take the call when Mom and I get back. We are talking to at least 6 people there in Iowa - my aunts and uncles and a cousin - plus my little second cousin who is, what? like 10yo or so.

After dinner we play Can't Stop. I get the first column...

I'm green. Everyone captures a column, but ultimately Brother wins when he gets his third column.

Mom has gotten me an extra quilt... The snow is still in the forecast and it's to get down to 20° tonight!

But that's nothing! The forecast says the next night will be 8°!! EIGHT!

Tag: december 2025

I've slept in again today, and that's nice.

It's another warm day out there, the high today is 58° and Mom suggests we go to the Reservoir for a walk this afternoon. _IF_ the wind keeps down. Sounds great to me, but Brother says his ankle hurts. Bummer!

I'm just surfing the internets again this morning. And eating Amber's wonderful Cinnamon Sourdough bread. Mmmm!

I come across this article at The Guardian, and I love it!

∞ 'Weapons of mass construction': the US 'craftivists' using yarn to fight back against Trump

And from there...

∞ PDX Knitterati... Portland Frog Hat

Oh my gosh! That is the cutest, most awesomest! But Dangit, it's a knit pattern and I only do crochet.

And I've never crocheted a hat before, so there's no way I can improvise. I will have to go looking for something I can work with!

Dad wants to fill up the bird feeders with his Xmas present black oil sunflower seeds and I go help him. I'm surprised he can do it, walking in the grass with his double knee replacements. But he goes slowly and has Mom's walking stick. And we get the job done, no problem!

I hope the birds saw us out there, so they know to come down and eat!!

After lunch, Mom and I go out to the reservoir!

It's a beautiful day and the colours coming off the water are amazing!

The round thing out there is part of an ultrasonic water treatment machine...

They've named it David Buoy! haha.

In the summer, they set him up with some solar panels for power and the thing kills toxic algae blooms! Awesome!

The ducks here are mostly Wigeons.

And more Canada Geese are flying in to join the party!

There's some other ducks at this end of the reservoir. Buffleheads!

Back at home we play a game of Hand and Foot... Dad and I have lost spectacularly even tho I've had more luck than I usually get. But it's so bad, we don't even have to count the last hand. ha.

Dad went off for some stretches and exercises and the rest of us played Natalia's Four Square... I kept getting dealt an ace in the bottom right spot. For FIVE rounds in a row! So that was weird, but I used it to my advantage and I won!!

After dinner we played Junk. This is a relatively new card game for us. And strangely? We all ended up with a tied score, except Mom was three points behind.

Then Mom, Brother and I played Up and Down the River. I really enjoy this card game but I lost by about a million! Mom won!

Tag: december 2025

Christmas Day is a day of rest. We play with our new toys, we eat leftovers, we generally do nothing!

I slept in, and that was wonderful!

Everyone is just hanging out. I'm surfing the internets and I work on some of the sudokus that are on my newspaper subscription page.

I also discover a free Ken-Ken website... I really like how they have set up their number choices as a little circle around the space! It's much faster and more efficient. In fact, I can see myself continuing to play at this site, even at home!

After lunch we decide to look at Mom and Dad's photos from the trips they took this year: New York City for their anniversary and Egypt.

It was absolutely fascinating!

The Grand Egyptian Museum had _just_ opened! Like literally a week ago! and wow. Amazing stuff there.

Mom had mentioned that the poverty in Egypt made her sad. There's boys begging all over the place.

What made me sad was the human rights violations. It took a while for me to notice... but there were no Egyptian women. anywhere. They aren't allowed to work.

We got the games out later in the afternoon.

Brother brought up Kimbo. This is a board game that is nothing but strategy, so I'm pretty indifferent to it. I don't have a brain for strategy.

But... Somehow... I won! That has never happened before!

To get even with me, we played Scattergories next.

*laughs* This is a game I WISH I could play. You'd think I would be good at it... but my brain freezes up with word games every time. I'm lucky to get even one or two answers! We did three rounds and I only got 6 words! That's how bad I am! :)

And then I found Chinese Checkers, and brought it up.

I couldn't remember how to play, and I was all, So if you land on someones marble, you kill them, right? Nope. Um. Send them home? Nope. So you have to jump over someone marble to send them home? Nope. What? The Chinese are nice in this game! *laughs* You just jump over marbles to get to the other side. That's all. No removing marbles, no sending marbles back to the beginning, you just move yourself forward. Ha!

One of Mom's presents to Dad, a tee-shirt...

:)

Tag: december 2025

Since Renee Nicole Good and Alex Pretti were murdered...
I have rage.

And my words just felt inadequate for the situation.

I did write a couple postcards.

But they keep piling on the evil...

∞ ICE Leaving Ace Of Spades Death Cards Just Like In Vietnam, Which Worked Out Great

So, yeah. I totally stole that image of the Ace of Spade Death Card! Why? Because, folks! That's an address! It's postcard time!!

The other postcard is blank... I will probably write some vitriol on it and send it in a day or two.

Tag: january 2026

My family celebrates Christmas on Christmas Eve. We always have, both my Mom's side and my Dad's side! I don't know why!

We'd go to church in the evening for the children's play, come back and eat and open presents. Or maybe it was open presents first and then eat dinner later? *laughs* we must have done it both ways over the years.

Mom and Dad's current church doesn't do a childrens play, but they've got regular services thru the afternoon and evening. We'll be going to the 3 o'clock one...

Which means I've got time to wrap the last of my presents! Haha! Yeah, I forgot to do it yesterday!

But that project starts with disappointment. When I open the amz envelope that contains my brother's present... It's broken. Very broken. No fixing it.

Arg. And I don't have time to deal with that problem right now! So I wrap it up with a SORRY, and I'll take care of it later.

Brother is cutting off a chunk of Amber's Cinnamon Sourdough bread, and I request a piece as well... oh my goodness! SO GOOD!

It makes me think about making my own Sourdough! I think it's pretty easy to get a starter going. Yeast floats in the air, everywhere, after all. It's just the growing and maintenance are a bit time consuming.

But how wonderful if I could make bread like Amber's!!

We go to church and the sermon is done by one of the regular pastors and it's much better than Sunday's sermon.

When we get back there's a present out on the front porch! It's from the neighbors and look! It's something I can partake in too!

That's so nice!

We settle in and open presents the rest of the evening!

We eat dinner at some point in there as well.

I should have taken an "After" photo, with all the wrapping paper ripped up in the middle of the floor. ha. oh well.

When we were done, we chatted for a while and then Dad went to bed. Mom and Bro and I played a game of Group and Run, a rummy type card game. But the rules and the rounds came to us slowly! It's been a few years since we've played, I think!

Mom went to bed and I started washing dishes, as a xmas surprise for her. I imagined her delight, coming down the stairs on Christmas Day and finding much of the work done!

But just as I was getting into it, she came back down to the kitchen! Bahaha! Surprise Ruined! *laughs*

But maybe this is better... she can sleep in and not have to even think about getting up to do the dishes! :)

Tag: december 2025

The house cleaner is coming today, and Mom has moved things around in preparation.

*laughs* Yes, you have to tidy up before the house cleaner comes! :) It's a big house, and Mom wants to make the job as easy as possible.

One of the things that Mom does is move the house plants out of the way. Mom's plants have been dying, and these are the only two left.

A new Hibiscus, two little six inch starts she got this summer, which have grown beautifully!

And a Christmas Cactus that I got her in 2021. It hasn't grown much in that time, but she says she's watering it more often now and it seems to like that. There's little buds popping up all over it!

I talk a little bit about my house plants and Brother says he might like to have a Spider plant. Mine at home is blooming and has spiderlings hanging, I will have to send him a couple!

Mom's Spider plant is quite dead, and she's tried to plant the spiderlings but they just die. My Spider plant is actually a clone of hers from about a million years ago. Maybe if I plant one of mine, and get it established, and then send it to her.

Amber the house cleaner arrives at 11am. And she's brought a present! Oh my gosh! Cinnamon Sour Dough Bread! She baked it this morning! It's vegan and I'm thrilled to bits!

I go upstairs to keep out of the way, and I write a letter. And then I see if anyone wants to go for a walk.

Both Mom and Brother join me. Mom turns around at her new spot, a little bit down from the half mile mark.

And Brother doesn't want to do my 3.3mile loop to see the Prairie Dogs. So we do the 2mile loop instead. And hey, there is a single Pigeon back on the power line.

Well. He's not really back. He sees none of his friends. When he flies away, off to the northeast, I watch him fly and keep flying some more!

Amber is still working, so we go down to the basement when we get back. Everyone is there, kind of doing our own thing. Dad is watching tv and Mom has a book and I've got the kindle with The Bean Trees.

Dad decides to go upstairs to do his torturous stretching, and suggests we play billards.

Brother and I start with a regular game of pool. I clear out my solids, and Bro still has two striped balls out! I'm winning like crazy! But I can't sink the 8 ball, darn it! And Brother wins.

Then Mom joins us for some Peaball. This game took a while, we kept putting the white ball in the worst places! ha. But Bro had gotten the 3 pea, and then he got to put the 3 ball in, and won. Thank goodness, that game was definitely getting tedious!

3:30pm Amber is done and heads out, with many thanks for the Sourdough! And we decide to get Papa Murphy's Ten Dollar Tuesdays again! We put in an order online.

Dad has been thinking about getting some CBD in order to get off the narcotic oxi painkillers. We all look up information online, but it looks like you should def start out with a lower dose to see how it goes. And the 'medium' pain relief dosage is quite a a bit more than where you should start.

But we find a good store in town, that looks like they can talk knowledgeably to newbies.

Brother drives to get the pizzas, tho he doesn't know where he's going so Mom gives directions. And then I run in to get them. They are paid for, so you just have to find them on the rack and grab them.

It takes me a minute, the pizzas have been split instead of being three stacked together. And I double check the toppings before I leave... ARG! They've put gross cheese on my vegan pizza! Yuck!

I guess it's an easy mistake to make, and I do try to be polite. The manager fixes it right away, and it only takes a couple minutes to make a new pizza. But Sheesh.

After dinner we all play Cribbage! Mom and Dad play this regularly, but we have to look up the rules for partners. I was slow to catch on, and the math really distracted me. So I didn't really get into the strategy of putting down specific cards to make runs or whatever.

So Mom and Brother won, for sure. But I continue reading the rules of Cribbage even after we've finished our game! Ha! Maybe it will sink in?!

Dad went to bed and we play Phase 10, a rummy type card game. It's fun... Mom zips thru the first few phases, then Brother starts catching up. But, somehow, in the end, I won! ha!

Yeah, it's even more fun when you win! :)

Tag: december 2025

I came down to the kitchen table and first thing, I'm working on an email to Partner. I had been typing at him right before I go to bed, but last night I just went to bed!

And I had screwed up something in my batch of postcards... Somehow I had printed someone's address twice. I don't know how that happened, or why I didn't notice it when I was cutting them up. But I was rather rushed, making those at home, right before travel!

And then I realized the count was correct, which means I had skipped someone! Arg. Fortunately, I'd brought a couple blank postcards. And after going thru my list carefully, I found the missing address. Glad to get that fixed!

After I took the mail out to the mailbox, I was surfing the internets and found this story of a rescue!

∞ Man describes narrow escape after boats pulled into giant hole on Shropshire canal Major incident declared as 50-metre-long breach opens up in waterway previously flagged as 'amber risk'

Whoa, this is crazy! And a 75yo man saved everyone!! He woke up in the middle of the night because he had to go to the bathroom. Ha!

He noticed what was going on, the loud rushing water and then his houseboat was starting to tilt! And he woke his neighbors by banging on their hull. Everyone got off their boats in the nick of time! Yay! Zero casualties!

And this is amazing.

∞ The best nature photography of 2025

Noon... Mom and Dad are back from Physical Therapy. Dad has been working so hard with his exercises and stretches at home, and the therapist is pleased with his progress!

Dad has almost full range: 127 with the bending, where 130 is 100%! and Zero with straightening, which is 100%! The extra pain he's been dealing with is probably from Dad's bowed legs... The new knees have fixed that and the muscles have to re-shape from a lifetime of bowed-ness!

After lunch, I start wrapping presents. I'm not sure if they've all arrived, so I stop when I'm about half way thru.

And then those of us with natural knees go for a walk. Brother turns around at the half mile mark, and Mom walks with me a bit further.

As I approach the Prairie Dog colony, they are chirping their alarm calls, but there's one who has stopped to watch me before diving into the tunnels!!

When I zoom in... ha! There's two!!

And in the distance, the other colony is watching as well!

There's at least 2 colonies here... they have slightly different tones of alarm chirps!

So Cute!

There's stir fry for supper tonight, and I help cut vegetables. Mom and I are the only ones who like cabbage tho, so we both munch on the raw chunks while we're getting other things ready! A litle bit of cabbage still makes it to the stove! :)

After dinner we play the board game Camel. It takes a bit to set up, and then it takes a bit to remember how to play. I always lose because I can never be bothered to bet on the end results. You make good money on those bets. Brother won, of course. But Mom wasn't too far behind him.

Dad was up for another game so we got Mille Bornes out. Another one we had to re-learn how to play. We played partners, and Dad and I won. But meh.

Dad went to bed and we tried a three player Mille Bornes, but that was even less fun! ha.

Tag: december 2025

I get to work on my Swap-Bot letter first thing! I've got the envelope addressed and the first paragraph or so.

We've got church, some other guy with the sermon and he's kinda boring.

After lunch, I finish the letter and write a couple postcards as well. I'm feeling accomplished!

I want to go out for a walk... and everyone else is parked in the living room. Dad has his feet up, Mom is napping under a blanket and brother looks overly comfortable as well.

*laughs* So I'm on my own again for a walk, and I decide to go across the street for something different.

Yep! Here's the pathway I was looking for.

A horse walks over to look at me.

But gets bored of me quickly!

These are some weird looking turkeys.

The lot of them are all the same colour.

It looks like they are all girls. Probably used for their eggs. bleh. and how sad.

The wide open prairie is amazing... but I'm glad I live in a place with trees!

There's a little draw to walk over.

And on the other side, a bird has bought the farm...

These feathers are pretty big. And that colour... I wonder if this is one of those Turkeys.

There's a bit of a seep here, and I was trying to get down to these trees.

But the path I'm on takes a u-turn. So I'll have to back track and take the fork that looked like it was heading in the other direction!

The path I find takes me past the trees but not under them. Oh well.

Some Prickly Pears? They are VERY prickly!

And the Cattails, down in the wet spot.

Tag: december 2025

Came down to the kitchen this morning and it's 31° outside and Light Snow... and sure enough! There is actually some dots of tiny balls of snow on the deck!

Haha!

I've got Swap-Bot stuff to do again and I assign partners for the last TGIF letter of the year. I'll be writing that tomorrow. But right now I've got more postcards.

I get eight postcards written and I put all my writing stuff away... And then decide to write a postcard to Partner at home. I want him to get it before I get home. ((( But, ridiculously, it shows up the very day I get back! ARG! Ten days travel time isn't terrible for the holiday season, I guess. But I really wanted Partner to have some mail of his own while I was gone! sighs. )))

I work on some puzzles in the newspaper. The ken-ken is an easy one, now that I have learned all the tricks of the 6x6 square. And then I work on a crossword. And then I waste the rest of the morning surfing the internets.

After lunch, I'm out for a walk. On my own again, and Dad has suggested a route that makes a loop, after I visit with the Prairie Dogs! That's going to be much nicer and I look it up on google maps to find it's 3.3miles! A little bit over an hour walking time... Perfect!

Besides the Pigeons, who have been scared away, and the endless supply of European Starlings, and the Robin's here and there... We've also got Eurasian Collared Doves.

But wait! Upper left? That isn't the beak of a dove! Ha! He's a Flicker! When I zoom in, I see his red moustache. This is the same race - Red Shafted Northern Flickers - that we've got at home in Oregon!

I go by the Alpacas.

And the little Escapee Goat is now on the front porch of the house with a black and white friend goat! Haha! They must get out regularly!

Going down the street to the Prairie Dog colony, there's a dog out as well. I'm a bit concerned, at first... like maybe I shouldn't walk by this loose dog.

The house is completely fenced in and the dog is at the driveway gate, and she's studiously staring at the house. I don't think she's going to move from there, so I keep walking.

Did you get locked out? I ask her. She barely glances at me.

The garage door opens, out races her friend Border Collie who is all excited and running circles! And when the garage door opens enough, the human comes out. Oh, so you're escaping now too?

*Laughs*

The end of the street and then it's Prairie Dog country!

But on the ground there... Ha. The wind has blown away someones window screen. That's a bummer, I bet they will be surprised and annoyed when they go to open their windows in the summer!

Mom mentioned that it's unusual for the wind to keep blowing day after day. And up in Boulder, they had wind speeds over 110mph!!! Whoa! Insanity!

The wind even got a page on Wikipedia!

∞ December 17-20, 2025 North American storm complex

At the end of the street... There's a Prairie Dog! I can see a little face and a little tail!

Cute!

And out in the distance.

Little sand coloured creatures in a sand coloured landscape!

They are impossible to see, even close up. But when they move, I get a lock on their location! Tho mostly they are just running into their holes!

Walking back thru the neighborhood, and up the street for my new loop... I notice wind damage here and there.

But honestly, it's not that bad. They have to deal with wind all the time here. It's not usually 60 or 70 miles per hour, of course, but they've got most things battened down.

huh. I wonder what this tree is with all the little round balls.

When I get back, Brother and Mom are just finishing up some SnickerDoodles. They are excellent and Brother says I have to make the rest of the cookies. *laughs* Yeah, definitely my turn, but dangit I hate cooking!

After dinner we sit in the living room to watch the videos of Dad and Mom's trip to Egypt. This was their cruise down the Nile. They were traveling with a big group, and they named people who were sitting on the deck of the boat.

The views of the river and river bank were interesting. Lots of other cruise ships, boys down in the water begging from surf boards.

I had to look up one of the birds from the video... African Swamphen the colours are crazy! Mom said she also saw Hoopoes but couldn't get photos of them.

And then Mom realized that she had lost her phone. *laughs* Problem is that she had it set to vibrate because the wind was tripping the porch webcam constantly. Ha, so calling the phone did no good.

We found it eventually... She normally sets it on the wall between the kitchen and living room and it had fallen behind the couch.

Tag: december 2025

I've brought down my writing supplies, to the kitchen table this morning. And I start working on the batch of postcards, that I had printed up, just before I left home. Finally! But I'm glad to get a bit done on my projects... Usually I completely abandon that stuff when I'm away!

After I put the postcards in the mailbox, I'm surfing the internets. And I come across an interesting article in Wired. Don't bother clicking, there's a paywall...

∞ Americans Are Increasingly Convinced That Aliens Have Visited Earth Polling shows that nearly half of Americans now believe aliens have visited this planet - and that the number who aren't sure has dropped by two-thirds. The reasons why, experts say, are complicated.

Almost half - 47% - of Americans say they think aliens have definitely or probably visited Earth at some point in time. and Just 16% of Americans said they were unsure if aliens had visited Earth in the new poll, down from 48% who were unsure in 2012.

Hm. I absolutely think there's life on other planets out there... Even civilizations more advanced than us! But I'm not sure ordinary people understand how big the universe is. It's impossible to go faster than light, so the aliens aren't going to be going anywhere, and they are definitely not visiting us. We are all stuck in our own solar system.

Brother says we could develop warp drive. Dad says there's no aliens anywhere and no visits.

Today we are driving to Brother's house. The crazy wind has knocked down the solar panel for the webcam on his porch. It's funny, because he can see the solar panel on the web cam! It's lying on the ground but still connected and it's power side up, since the web cam continues to work!

We drive out and he fixes that and he also wants to check the back yard and all to see if the wind has brought any branches down. There's just twigs and small branches, and the fences are all good.

The wind is crazier today, I think, but it's not so bad in town.

Brother's neighborhood is filled with trees. And the trees are filled with squirrels and robins!

Eastern Fox Squirrel, the same species we have at home in Oregon. I suppose they are invasive here as well? Or maybe the old split that kept them in the east was the Rocky Mountains, rather than the Mississippi River?

On the way back, I try to take a photo of the Rocky Mountains, out the car window. haha.

Mount Meeker and Longs Peak.

After lunch, Brother gets started on another batch of treats: Peppermint Meltaways.

And I've decided to not go for a walk today. The wind is just insane. It blows me around and it's just hard to fight it! And also the left shin splints have been bothering me again. bah.

The dough for the Peppermint Meltaways needs to chill in the fridge, so we play a partner game of Hand and Foot. Mom and Brother win, but it's a close game. They had 9595 to Dad and my's 9150.

Brother makes and bakes the Peppermint Meltaways. Mom makes the frosting, and I have pounded the candy canes into bits. And when the cookies have cooled enough, Brother and I frost them and top them with candy!

These are definitely everyone's favorite!

After dinner we all play a game of 65... And Dad is on a roll! He gets EIGHT STARS! Brother only had 4 stars, Mom 1 and me with zero. normal.

Dad goes to bed and we play a bit of Fun Trivia after I revive our account from last year!

It's a fun site, tho the quizes tend to be either way too easy or way too difficult! *laughs*

Tag: december 2025

I got some laundry done this morning. And Mom has an appointment in town.

Dad suggested Rack-o and we played a few rounds. But Brother was thrashing us... he got 350 points, Dad just got 180, and never mind my pathetic 135! haha.

After lunch - still leftover pizza! - Dad had to go to physical therapy, and I joined them.

Mom dropped us off at the place, then left to run errands. I sat in the front with my kindle, and Dad petaled on the stationary bike for a while. He does that every day at home, as well, but I suppose they make everyone do that, since there's probably a few people who don't do their slated exercises after knee replacement surgery!

Evenutally they move him to a platform where he lies down and does stretches with a resistance band.

And then eventually they do this crazy electric thing, on his legs, stimulating specific muscles or whatever.

And then eventually they ice him down for a while.

Yeah, I was surprised at how long it took! The whole appointment took an hour and a half. I got a good chunk of reading done... The Bean Trees by Barbara Kingsolver.

Back at home, I'm completely antsy after sitting for so long! I need a walk!

Mom and Brother join me, but only to the half mile mark. The wind is kind of cold today, and I wish I had my coat. I decide to do the shorter 2mile loop.

Coming around on the gravel road, the Goats are at the back fence!!

Ha!

Hello!

And then this one comes around the corner...

Can't you just hear them saying WHAT is going on here, people??!

*laughs* and that's a Muscovy Duck.

As I'm coming back up to the house, I'm looking west. Mom and Dad's house is so close to the foothills, you can't actually see the Rocky Mountains behind them.

But from this place, out on the road, I realized I could see a mountain top! Just barely!

After dinner, we all played a game of 65, the rummy game. Brother won, but the stars were fairly evenly distributed. He had 5, Mom had 4, Dad had 3, and never mind the one star I got. *laughs*

Dad went to bed and we got the Qwixx dice out. Mom won a game and then I won a game. Brother's usual luck with winning everything seems to have left the building! But I'm glad to win something every now and then!

Tag: december 2025

It starts out overcast and chilly this morning, around 35° but the sun peeks thru now and then and it warms up nicely.

But the wind is blowing like mad. 30 to 50mph with gusts 65 to 85mph. What the heck!

A little flock of birds comes to the back porch to check out the empty bird feeder.

The empty bird feeder problem will be solved... we got Dad 40pounds of sunflower seeds as a xmas present!

We finally got organized to make some xmas treats. Bro's vegan Rice Krispy Treats are wonderful, but it would be nice to have some variety!

Brother works on the coloured peanuts. And I work on Cranberry Cookies. Well. Mostly I just help Mom!

After lunch, Brother, Mom and I try a game of Rook. I don't remember ever playing this game, and I like it, even tho Bro wins by quite a lot!

I was on my own for a walk today, and I made my way over to the Prairie Dog colony. This way is just an out and back, not a loop. And is just over 3miles.

The sun has warmed up the earth, and the walk is comfortable, temperature wise. But the crazy wind is pretty annoying!

I go past the Alpacas.

And on the other side of the street... Um, this little Goat is on the outside of their pen!!

Ha! Her friends are all eating dinner on the inside! The little escapee!

I arrive at the Prairie Dog colony... They were chirping alarms at my presence, but I only saw a single, little fat one running to their hole, no photos.

oh well. Maybe I'll have time for them to get to know me better, so I can take more pictures of their cuteness!

When I get back, the garage door is opening and the car is backing out. What's going on?

Dad has been calling for days about his pain killers, and it turns out they renewed the prescription, but no one said it was ready to pick up! He was down to one pill, and if they hurry they can get to the pharmacy before it closes!

Dad is taking a shower, and with everyone else gone, I decide to sweep the kitchen floor. Mom's mentioned it a couple times, and really, it's the least I can do.

After dinner, we include Dad in our new Rook obsession...

Partners, Dad and I against Mom and Brother! Dad and I started out strong but then at the last hand Mom and Brother wiped us out: Me&Dad = 265, Mom&Bro = 335.

ha.

Brother was drinking a lemonade mixed drink, and I got a Kissing Caramel Coke. Yum! I was happy to discover the Kissing Caramel was vegan! Mom had an Uncle's Sipper with Baileys and Kahlúa. The homemade Kahlúa is vegan but the Baileys is not, of course, it's made of cow milk, yuck. But this drink was invented by her brother and is one of Mom's favorites.

Dad went to bed and we tried out the different three player variation of Rook.

I won wth 310, Mom 290, Brother 230.

And then we modified the original rules and Brother won that one with 180, Me 110 and poor Mom at 35. Haha.

Tag: december 2025

It's cloudy and warm today.

In the morning I fiddle with some of my mailing projects and then I work on some newspaper puzzles. I'm getting pretty good at the ken-kens, which I enjoy doing. and the crossword puzzles are on the easy side. So that makes them fun, even tho I can't quite finish one on my own!

Mom has a bunch of errands lined up for the afternoon, and Dad suggests we get Papa Murphy's for supper because it's Ten Dollar Tuesday.

*laughs* I check, and Papa Murphy's crust is vegan, they have lots of vegan choices, and some locations even have vegan cheese. So that's awesome!

It takes us a long time to get the order sorted out. And then we're not sure about the pickup time because we've already got five stops for errands, and the pizza joint location will be in the middle.

But we finally get it done, and then Bro and I go with Mom to help with errands.

At Walmart, we've each got our own mission... But we end up having to wait for Mom because she ran into a friend and had to stop and chat.

We arrive at Papa Murphys 7mins early, but they've already got our pizzas out on the rack!

A couple more stops and then back home.

Dad is looking at the tv schedule and I see he's got a couple Castles recorded. I used to watch that show, and enjoyed it. Nathan Fillion, he's a good guy.

So we watched a couple of those and I got a Margarita, because we had gotten the stuff for it during our errands today!

The pizza was Great! Pre-cooked...

Mom and Dad got a veggie with cheese, Brother's is the pepperoni. And mine is Artichoke Hearts, Mushrooms and Olives, extra everything, no cheese. (They didn't offer vegan cheese at this location, but I prob wouldn't have gotten it anyway. Vegan cheese is terrible!) (ha.)

I LOVED the artichoke hearts, Yum!!

After dinner we passed Catch Phrase around. It's a little device that shows a phrase and you have to get your partner to say the phrase by describing it. It's old, so some of the phrases don't make sense anymore. And also it doesn't have a lot of memory, so eventually the phrases start repeating.

I'm not a fan of word games. My poor brain usually freezes up! But we have fun.

Bro had also brought up Aggravation, that game where you move marbles around the board. That's usally Mom's game. But I won!! Dad was losing badly, because everyone was picking on him! Sending him back to square one over and over!

And then we tried Flinch, which is a Skipbo type game where you try to get rid of your pile. And the directions are Very Precise about *exposing your cards* haha.

I was getting tired of games, even tho Brother had also brought up Mille Bornes.

Instead we talked about the book Brother is reading.

Ha! The good parts version of the Princess Bride, written in 1973.

It's a fake re-telling of a book that never existed! *laughs* S. Morgenstern isn't real, he's a fictional character in the book by William Goldman!

It took a while to wrap our heads around that!

The movie, The Princess Bride, is based on this book, of course. And Bro says it's fun to read because many of the quotes in the movie are lifted straight from the book!

Tag: december 2025

Dad has physical therapy first thing this morning. I want to go with them at some point, to see what happens... but not today. To early! Mom and Dad have already left by the time I make it down to the kitchen table!

I've got another Swap-Bot thing to take care of, an email swap.

And then Brother wants to take my trackball apart.

I've brought it because I don't like using the track pad on the Emily LapTop. But the buttons on the trackball are failing, and it's really frustrating.

After lunch Brother and I go out for a walk... a different loop this time, since the only exciting thing on the 2mile loop was the Pigeons and they won't be coming back.

This loop is 2.7miles and there's Alpacas!

The way their legs fold up under them is so cute!

And the floof of hair on their head!

We play this 10 Card Golf game... and it takes a minute to remember how to play. Oh, yeah: everyone gets their own discard pile! And then Mom beat us with -43 points! Dad had a respectable -25 but Brother and I were positive 14 and 15! haha, terrible. That's normal for me, but weird that Bro would lose that bad!

Dad has been watching a news channel that sprinkles bible verses into the news. *shakes head* And I'm thinking about this...

∞ Sadly, America may be permanently broken by MAGA

After dinner, Brother has dug out a Bowling Dice game. *laughs* It's pretty lame!

And then we decide to play a game of Hand and Foot. Brother definitely has his mojo back, he's beaten us by over a thousand points! haha!

Mom and Dad have gone to bed, and Brother and I discuss theme songs of the shows we watched as kids.

Do you remember the theme of Macgyver? Heck yeah!

Knight Rider, yes. AutoMan? um, nope. Street Hawk, vaguely. What was the helicopter one? oh yeah, Air Wolf.

And can you name the characters of The A-Team? Do you remember who Mr T was? haha!

Tag: december 2025

Morning at the kitchen table, Mom asks What was that movie you said we should watch?

Yeah, last night when we were going thru all our favorites by genre, we all agreed some movie would be great to watch again. But no one can remember what it was! ha!

I'm drinking coffee and I pull out my letter writing stuff. I start with the envelope and realize I don't have any return labels. It's been forever since I've had to write my own return address, and it amused me a little!

There's church and then there's lunch.

Brother says he has a craving for Rice Krispy Treats. Marshmallows are not vegan, but Mom says she has a recipe from Grandma M that is vegan, using peanut butter instead of marshmallows! Yay!

Mom gets all the ingredients out for Bro, then she and I go for a walk.

Mom turns around at her half mile mark, and I continue on the two mile loop.

The wildlife here is not very cooperative. Probably I just need to get used to everyone... and get everyone used to me!

Mostly there's the ubiquitous European Starlings.

And then the next common is Robins.

When I come around to the gravel road, there are some Starlings on the power line...

But I don't see the Pigeons. That's a bummer, I really wanted to study that red one.

But then, at the end of the road... oh. A pile of feathers.

That was probably a Pigeon. Maybe eaten by a hawk.

I can't begrudge the hawk. Everybody's gotta eat.

But the Pigeons aren't going to hang out here anymore, and I'll never get to see that red one. bummer.

I come back thru the yard. ooh, big ... canine!

Yeah, it's probably a dog. They might have coyotes here, but they wouldn't get this big. That paw print is a good 4inches.

And then, heh, the results of a deer.

In this part of Colorado, they probably have both Mule Deers and White Tail Deers.

I happened across this web page... and I LOVE the author's drawing!!! And it made me laugh.

∞ Colorado Wildlife, 107: Deer - the Mule Deer and the White-Tailed Deer

(What a fun site, the drawings are fabulous! I'm sad that blog ended in 2023. Sighs.)

Back to my walk. Someone's nest.

And the one and only bunny I saw during my entire stay.

Brother had finished the vegan Rice Krispy Treats by the time I got back into the house, and they were cooling.

They were... surprisingly good. I mean, really good!

I asked if Bro did any baking at home. He said no, and I told him he should. I mean, he could sell these, they're so good!

*laughs*

I finish up my TGIF letter for Swap-Bot and then after dinner we play an old board game called Fun City. Dad won, but Brother was just a couple points behind him. Mom and I were the big losers: she had 18points and I just had 13points.

Yep, that's my usual luck.

Dad went to bed and the rest of us played Tri-Ominos.

Brother won.

Tag: december 2025

A good nights sleep! Then I come downstairs to join everyone at the kitchen table.

I've got some work to do at Swap-Bot, for the TGIF swap that I host every week. I thought it would be fun to continue the weekend letters while at my Parents' house! So I'll be writing a letter tomorrow, and I set up a swap for next weekend as well.

Dad has gathered some puzzles from the newspaper, and I try my hand at a ken-ken. But the 6x6 square defeats me! *laughs* Brother finds my mistake, of course. He's a lot smarter than I am. :)

After lunch, Dad and Bro get the lights out to put on the xmas tree we set up yesterday.

And then Brother, Mom and I go for a walk. Bro and I are doing the 2mile loop, but Mom turns back at the half mile mark.

Many neighbors here have farm animals... lots of goats and alpacas! A few horses!

Coming around the loop, there's often birds standing up on these power lines. European Starlings, and then the Pigeons flew away before I could get close enough for photos. There was an unusual red Pigeon in their midst, and I'm looking forward to walking out here again to get their portrait!

But this one did stick around for photography!

Western Meadowlark! That's exciting. A bird I wouldn't get to see in Oregon!

Back at home, we play Natalia's Four Square, a golf type card game. I win!

Mom hasn't started her Xmas shopping, and I haven't either. Bro goes up to help her, and I get some shopping done as well.

I get distracted tho... I rediscoverd this story and couldn't stop laughing!

∞ He's living his best life: drunk raccoon hit DMV for snacks before liquor store

Brother has a topics list of all time favorite movies. He's a movie guy, has seen all the most obscure movies out there.

He would state a genre, and I would pick my favorite movie. And then he would say his favorite... sometimes I'd agree and want to change my favorite, sometimes I'd not seen or even heard of the movie!

We continued this thru the whole evening!

In the afternoon, today, Brother and I had been at the kitchen table. There was a crash from upstairs and then Dad cussing. A lot.

It terrified me! Do you think he fell? If Dad went down with his new knees and his recent surgery, that would be very very bad.

When Mom came down later, I asked what had happened.

Dad had dropped his water.

Phew. All that cussing for spilled water? Yep.

heh. *shakes head*

Tag: december 2025

These ornaments are decorating a tree at the Eugene Airport, and how cute!

And now I'm in Colorado!

My Dad got double knee replacements, not even three weeks ago. So this is going to be a low key visit at my parent's house.

Once they got me settled, Mom and Dad had to leave again for Dad's physical therapy. He calls it torture.

In the afternoon, Brother and I got the xmas tree out of the barn and got it set up.

Mom's been so busy -- taking care of Dad plus doing all of Dad's chores, plus all the regular every day stuff -- she's not been able to do much Xmas stuff.

So hopefully Bro and I will be able to help a little!

We played a couple games. 65 is a rummy type card game and Brother got most of the stars and won. And then the dice game Qwixx that Mom won.

Tag: december 2025

I've got about a million things on my mind.

So today's walk is just a calming activity. *laughs*

Lots of gardeners have Calendulas still blooming!

Making the pollinators happy! This is a Hoverfly!

And even some California Poppies!

um. jeez. this is... yuck.

If this was my neighbor, I would complain bitterly.

We aren't allowed to have trees, or woody perennials. Those things are supposed to be in pots. And this looks like a tree to me.

jerks. The thing is, they are obviously Real Gardeners so nothing will be said and they will continue to break the rules, year after year.

Whereas gardeners like me, who enjoy a little chaos and wildflowers, will be threatened with expulsion, year after year.

The unfairness is so damn annoying!

And so much for my Calming Activity!

I try to get back to it.

Napping Ducks. Very Calm.

Tag: december 2025

And then a bit further on, this one gave me a terrible angle as well. *laughs* oh nature.

I'm at the garden plot, mostly just making sure everything is kosher since I'll be leaving in a few days.

Behind the fallen Cosmos, I've not moved the pot that I 'inherited' from The Pot People. It was an accident that they left it on my side of the border. But they've done that before and it just annoys me!

To the left of the pot is another little volunteer Cosmos.

Cute little thing! I wonder if it will live thru the winter.

And the Pet Nasturtium in the Strawberry patch is still hanging on to life. I hope the seeds are able to mature, so I can have more next year!

And I'm so Very Very happy that they changed the rules about Borage. Being able to keep this beautiful companion plant is good!

It's not native, but it's not a plant that causes any trouble. They come up in bunches in disturbed soil, but they are easy to identify and they are easy to pull up, if you don't want them.

The mature plants are easy to pull up as well. And their leaves prevent a lot of other weeds from coming up.

And, of course, they evolved with European Honey Bees... And making the Bees happy is the most important thing of all!

And here's the state of the Lettuces...

The Slugs have finally munched them to death.

Good. I'm tired of worrying about it!

I've decided to get the last huge beet...

Partner has finally taken a liking to beets, so he can eat this one while I'm gone.

I admire the little Elephant Garlics on the way out.

But then the Red Amaranth catches my eye as well.

The Crows are having a conference!

Tag: december 2025

Well Hello Henrietta!

It's nice to see him every once in a while!

I get out to Stewart Pond Park... and there's no ponds yet.

Not even a puddle. It feels like we've gotten a good bit of rain, and the rains even started early, in September.

But when I look it up, we we were actually a good bit short of rain in November. We got 3.47inches for the month and normal is 5.98inches.

So, the Wet Prairie is still in Prairie Mode!

As I'm taking pictures, I happen to notice one little tree in the distance which is still green.

Oh my gosh! It's a Pacific Madrone tree!

There aren't any Madrones in the little bit of forest here in the park. So it's interesting to see one here.

As I get into the little patch of forest, ha, there are a couple of Pacific Chorus Frogs singing here, despite the lack of ponds!

Winter and the rainy season is their breeding season. But there's no place for their little tadpoles to swim, right now!

But there has been enough wet to make some mushrooms grow!

Okay. I'm a sucker for mushrooms and ferns and moss!

I come around to the back. Looks like someone started cleaning up at the fallen Oak tree.

Oh. The other half of the tree has fallen too.

It's crazy how the roots have just sheared off. It doesn't seem normal.

Coming back thru the forest, I've found a bird after all!

Male Flicker. He's looking for bugs.

Their favorite meal is ants, but I suppose ants are impossible to find in the cold and the wet.

Tag: december 2025

A grey day, and the temperature is nice at 55°, tho the wind is annoying.

I thought they said Atmospheric River but it's not rained much at all, barely spinkles. 0.04 and 0.02inches doesn't really constitute an Atmospheric River! Another weather service failure.

And hardly any shin splint pain today. I can feel it, and I'm walking slowly still, but so much better than the last couple of days. I feel like there's no rhyme or reason for it!

That new Heron again!

Ha. A duck steers around her.

Oh hey! A Common Merganser!

Where is your partner, my dear??

A few years ago, a male Common Merganser was hanging out with a female Mallard who had a messed up wing. Last year, he showed up with a couple females. Or, actually, three females?

I suppose this is one of his partners, and I'm sad that she's not with him. He must have died, and she'll need to find a new lover. sighs.

I stop by the garden to grab the hand fork to take home. It doesn't quite fit in the back pack!

The Leek spouts that I broke up and transplanted the other day, seem to be mostly still alive.

But I have more confidence that this flower of sprouts will live thru the winter!

I stop to look at the diagonal neighbor's Strawflowers.

I still haven't figured out what this thing is. Maybe some kind of Mustard?

It makes the Honey Bees so happy!

Walking home, the Kingfisher flies by me with a laugh!

ha. She flies ahead, and lands in a tree and waits for me to catch up with her. But as soon as I find her, she flies ahead again!

Six or seven times in a row... She's just messing with me! :)

Tag: december 2025

Grey morning, and it's misting when I head out. And soon it's drizzling.

And the 'not' shin splints hurt a good bit again, so I'm walking slow.

I'm hoping that when I'm at my parents house, that stupid thing will heal up. I will definitely be walking there, for exercise, but I won't be going as far as I do here at home.

Ha! The Barred Owl! Sitting in the same tree!

In fact... this is the same branch that she was standing on yesterday. That's weird. I hope she's okay.

Maybe she just likes this branch because no one is mobbing her here.

I've come to the garden to do one last check. I've finished with plenty of time before my travels next week, and that makes me happy.

I drag the big trellis to the middle of the plot and I set up the nested tomato cages under it...

Those wire supports are just so hard to see in the leaves, and I don't want anyone tripping over them if they walk thru my plot.

The little plant at the bottom of that pic is one of the Avocado Trees. :)

And here's a couple more Avocado Trees in front of the Strawberry patch!

The big volunteer Cosmos has partially fallen over without the support of the big trellis.

And the Elephant Garlics.

mmm! Next spring! Roasted Elephant Garlics, just out of the oven! Maybe I will eat them on rice with a little bit of vegan butter? oh yeah. I can't wait!

And the Barred Owl, still here.

And then I remembered the hand fork.

I keep the hand fork at the garden plot all summer, it's hidden under that orange bucket at the back of the plot.

So I guess I'm not quite done at the garden plot!

ha. I will pick it up tomorrow, I guess!

Tag: december 2025

We got good rain yesterday and today the clouds seem to be breaking up a bit.

I'm heading to the garden, and hope to finish hauling leaves today.

I meet up with this guy with the short tail. I've seen him a few times, tho haven't been very successful getting his picture...

I've never noticed he has a tuft of white fur at the end of his poor tail!

Oh, wow! It's the Barred Owl again!!

So cool. I hope she decides to stick around!

I arrive at the Community Garden... and there's someone splashing in a puddle in the parking lot!!

Oh my GOSH! Cooper Hawk! Taking a bath!!

She notices me, but I keep my distance and she continues with her bath!

As I watch, it looks like she's putting on the dance moves!

Dip...

And Shake!

And Dip!

And Shake!

And Shake!

OLE!

*laughs*

So that's fun! She flies to some nearby trees, and I lose her in the branches. But she'll be up there preening and putting her feathers back into place.

And I have my own work to do. Hauling the last of the leaves.

I did four wheelbarrow loads today, and I'm done!

This is the back corner of the plot, where the water faucet is, and you can see the surprising amount of green growing things all around!

I also remembered to grab the sprayer from the hose.

A couple trees catch my eye on the way home.

The Barred Owl is still in her tree. Still not being mobbed!

And it's just the one pair of Wood Ducks today.

The female is over here... But there's no talking to birds when they are preening!

*laughs*

Tag: december 2025

The rain started yesterday evening. Did it rain all night? Maybe! And it hasn't let up since I got up this morning.

Which means I am definitely not going to the garden today. I hate working in the rain and mud! So I'll just walk, instead.

But, with the shin splints hurting so much, maybe walking extensively isn't the best idea.

I've asked Dr Google about the pain, and it's not actually shin splints. That pain is in a different place than mine. Mine is coming straight up from the foot, at the bottom of the shin. And a little bit across the ankles as well.

But whatever. It sounds like another one of those things that either gets better or it doesn't, no matter what you do.

And I can't not walk. So I'm walking in the rain today.

I can walk slowly. At least when I remember, I can walk slowly! ha! My mind wanders and then I notice I'm walking at my normal pace and things hurt again. Slow Down!

I'm glad I came out here... because Look!

Those pink ties? They are marking TREES! They've planted some saplings here! Yay!

Some of the baby trees still have leaves attached, and I go down to see what they are.

And then I remember I'm terrible at identifying trees! Haha!

Okay! Here's an oak tree sapling! It's probably an Oregon White Oak!

And there's some pine trees planted as well.

So that's nice. Planting native trees is always good!

Partner took the new PT Cruiser to the shop yesterday so they could work on the rods.

This will be a couple thousand dollars, probably, but if the rods go, the car will be done and we will have wasted the money we've already put in. The new tires and the new brakes.

But when they open up the engine, they discover a lot more wrong with it, besides the failing rods. They say about 6,000$ will turn it into a regular car.

Yikes. Partner says that's too much.

So that's a bummer. I was actually envisioning being able to drive to some other hikes here in town... I'd head down to the Cascade Raptor Center, and hike out to Spencer Butte, and go across the interstate to Mount Pisgah, and, and and.

And that is not to be. Partner will drive the PT Cruiser just like the Buick. Slow. and only around town. and we'll hope the rods last a year.

Sighs.

Tag: december 2025

Hmm. This sparrow is too dark to be a Song Sparrow, but I wasn't sure who she was until I got home to look closely at the photos.

Fox Sparrow!

The map at AllAboutBirds says Fox Sparrows are winter visitors here, but the western birds only migrate a short disance. Maybe even just coming down from the hills.

Always happy to see someone new!

I get to the garden, and what the heck... I had leaned the trellises up against the dividing post, in the back. And someone has moved the tomato cages and laid the trellises down.

And that patch of Horseradish in the right neighbor's plot -- the Pot People -- has been dug up! They must have gotten the Non-Compliance email from the Community Garden Director! ha!

Well. The trellises weren't technically in their way, but I'm glad they put in some effort. The Horseradish will regrow, it doesn't look like they dug very deep for the roots. And I guess we will see how they handle that in the future.

Also, it looks like I have inherited one of their pots! *laughs* Okay!

Meantime... I'm going to haul some more leaves!

My plot passed the Compliance Check, I got the email yesterday! But I still need to finish the work of winterizing the plot!

The left shin splints still hurt... tho maybe not quite as bad as yesterday. I still have to walk weirdly on the uneven ground, with the heel out.

And I do take it easier today, just five wheelbarrow loads of leaves. And I walk slower and more carefully. Being successful on the Compliance Check makes me feel more confident about getting everything done before I travel next week!

Plus, Look! The plot passed the Check, even with that Red Amaranth still standing in the front!!

*laughs* I feel like I've gamed the system now!

Maybe I'm IN with the Garden Director, now. Maybe she considers me a Real Gardener now!

Yeah, right. But I can dream!

*snort*

I've left an open space in the leaves for the Beets. They will live thru our mild winter, and the small ones will hopefully grow some more on warmer days.

And it's stupid, but I put a tomato cage over the thrice munched Lettuce seedlings.

*cringe* I really need to stop thinking about the damn Lettuces. Especially since the leaves I'm hauling in will certainly contain more slugs. I can't imagine the Lettuces will survive for much longer.

Heading home, I find another little bird who I have to look up!

Ruby Crowned Kinglet.

Another one I only see during the winter. And it's easy to forget their name when you can't see their Ruby Crown!

Tag: december 2025

As I walked to the Community Garden, the shin splints above my left foot are hurting again.

Arg! I thought it was healing! The other day, when I hauled nine wheelbarrow loads of leaves? And that didn't even bother me hardly at all. But now it's hurting again, and what did I even do yesterday to hurt it? Nothing!

So that's frustrating.

And I need to haul leaves today.

But the shin splints hurt so bad, I have to walk weirdly! Especially when I'm bringing the full wheelbarrow back to the plot... I walk with the heel out. Every time I walk on uneven ground, the pain starts shooting. Heel out seems to hurt less. But pretty much every step with the heavy wheelbarrow, is annoying.

Sighs! I get six loads of leaves done today, but I'm really questioning my life choices here!

I've still got that back left quarter left to cover. But so much is still green and alive. Ususally by now the Borage is looking a lot more pathetic. Even the Nasturtiums, which normally wilt away at the first chilly night! Still alive!

I clean up my tools, I've used two forks and the wheelbarrow, and I take them back to the shed.

Heh, this one thinks he wants to check out the inside of the shed, but I explain that I don't want to trap him in there!

I give him some pets and he forgives me for twarting his curiousity!

These pink beets are in the front of someone's plot, and I walked by them every time I got a new load of leaves. What a cheerful colour!!

Heading home. Oh! Is this someone new?!

I thought that was a stick, but nope... a little minnow.

She swallows poor little fishy down.

And goes looking for the next snack.

At home, I've gotten an email from the Community Garden Director!

The Garden plot has passed the Compliance Check!

Yay! But that's different. Usually we only get an email if we've failed the Compliance Check.

But it's really good to know!

Tag: december 2025

It's cold but the sun is warming things up!

As I walk up to the garden plot... oh my gosh! I think the Elephant Garlics have grown about an inch since I uncovered them from the Borage the other day!!

Ha. How wonderful!

Okay! I am going to weed out the Quack Grass from this corner today...

When I get down to work... Well, sheesh...

These baby Leeks are just lying here? What the heck! How did they get on top of the dirt?? I don't even know what's going on! *laughs*

And then, this is one of the Leek flowers that fell over into the dirt and is now turned into hundreds of Leek sprouts!

I decide to break up the spouts a little and replant them. And of course I put the baby Leeks into the dirt as well.

And You know what? I bet these Leek Sprouts taste AWESOME! I wonder why they don't sell them?!

I mean, alfalfa sprouts are okay... But Leek Spouts would be Next Level!

Anyway, after I moved the sprouts, I got the feeling they weren't going to survive the move. hmm. But I didn't know what else to do to give them life... it would be nice to give them some water to make their roots connect with the soil. But the water has been turned off.

Well. There's another fallen Leek flower over here, with it's own sprouts. I will leave that one alone, and hope it lives thru the winter with it's hundreds!

Okay! I got distracted from my orignal mission. But I did get this corner weeded!

The sun has warmed up the Earth and there's some Honey Bees buzzing the Borage blossoms!

On the way home, the Barred Owl again!!!

There's no one mobbing her, and she's relaxed enough that she's preening!

And again, I don't want to bring attention to her, so I don't stay long. As I walk away, I take one more photo... but haha...

:) oh well.

Tag: december 2025

I'm here at the Garden and the Compliance Checks start today, but the Garden Director isn't here yet. So I'm going to continue clearing this front bit...

I had weeded the Beets a couple days ago, and pulled up the rest of the tall Borage yesterday. I am tiding up the smaller Borages today. There's some Quack Grass to weed out, and I'm going to pull up the Tomatillo.

Here's the After pic...

That patch of green going up the middle is baby Dead Nettles. I love these wildflowers! I just hope they keep going thru the winter.

Here's the Tomatillos I pulled off the plant. And some of the Sunchoke roots... I really need to figure out what I'm going to do with that.

I've left this Avocado Tree, along with the Clover on the left and the Nasturtium which hasn't died yet.

Trees and woody plants are definitely against the rules at the Community Garden. But there's plenty of people breaking that rule. My plan is to dig it up a couple and see if they'll live in a pot.

Here's another Avocado Tree in front of the Strawberry patch.

I'm not sure how many Avo trees I've got, I haven't specifically counted them. But enough to experiment with!

I'm done with work today, and I'm looking around. The left side neighbor, of the crazy family, has done work over the weekend and has covered some of their beds with leaves. It looks good, with their winter crops over on the other side, and some cover crop too.

The right side neighbor, on the other hand, remains a disaster. There's lots of random flowers, but there's various species of grass taking over.

Not to mention the stupid Horse Radish that they've let grow in the back... I regularly dig that up for them, when it starts invading my side. Annoying. I hope they get kicked out but I doubt that will happen.

The diagonal neighbor on the northwest side has these Strawflowers and they are a welcome spot of colour!

It was chilly while I was working at the garden, I kept the rain jacket on for warmth. Maybe it will warm up a little bit this afternoon, if the sun comes out.

Tag: december 2025

Oh no. Your poor feet. I am so so sorry.

I'm coming up to the Community Garden, and I see a Red Shoulder Hawk fly up to one of the trees across the way... Except there's someone already in this tree...

um? My Dear? You are going to get eaten!

Red Shoulder's favorite food is snakes, but they will also eat mice and chipmunks. A squirrel would be a big, but doable, meal.

But they just look at each other for a few moments.

And then the Hawk flies away.

And I go into the Garden.

It's Sunday, and I don't usually like to do work on Sunday. But I've decided to pull out the rest of the Borage in the front of the plot. Just to make it a little more obvious that I'm making the effort, since Compliance Checks start tomorrow.

Looking under the Borage...

More Elephant Garlic!!!

There's a patch here, and a patch there, and another! Yay!

Haha, that one clove above is confused to be upside down!

So that's lovely! It'll be a bumper crop of Elephant Garlic in the spring!

And the front of the plot looks better still.

And I'm totally leaving that Red Amaranth!!

Last year they dinged me on the Amaranths I left in the plot. I wanted to leave the seeds and the perches for the birds, but the Compliance Check said Weeds! and I had to remove them.

I'm hoping I can be bold this time because the right side neighbor has abandoned their plot. It's a weedy mess, and my plot in comparison is pristine! *laughs*

Tag: november 2025

There are quite a few people at the garden today, doing their own winterizing. I really don't feel like talking to anyone, and because I hauled leaves yesterday, today I can just hang out in my plot. Do more clearing and ignore the humans.

I gathered tomato cages and nested them neatly. And I started clearing weeds from the Fallow Area.

I got a decent start...

Plus I had to bury a few volunteer Fava babies... There's quite a few fava beans that had fallen from the plants growing here. Many are several inches tall and well established. But there are a couple sprouting beans just laying on the top of the dirt. I thought they would be more comfortable under the dirt!

But then I realize... with the compliance checks starting on Monday, I REALLY need to clean up the front of the plot!

So I change my focus! There's Borage all along the front of the plot. Borage is allowed by the rules, now, but you can't have any within 1 foot of the border of your plot.

So I pull that. And then weed the beets! And that actually makes the whole plot look a lot better!

Still much to do, but I don't think they can give me any marks down at this point!! I am clearly getting things done, and I am down with most of the important rules.

I feel good about what I've accomplished here today!

This is the solo girl...

I've seen her a few times. It's unusual that she doesn't have a partner. She just hangs out at the edge of Mallard groups.

Closer to home, I had just crossed a street and my brain was complaining bitterly about drivers who don't slow down for pedistrians at the crossing.

And then I saw the Kingfisher!

I was so shocked to see her, I stopped in my tracks!

Ha! Newbie mistake! Her head whipped around and she stared hard at me for a second. And then she flew away.

Foo.

*laughs* Girl needs to warn me she's around, by declaring her territory! Just suddenly showing up isn't working for me.

And, not to depress myself... but...

∞ United States Military Clearly Commits A Crime

And.

∞ Breaking News: If Hegseth Gave an Order to 'Kill Everybody,' He Must Be Removed and Prosecuted

No quarter given.

Military in the Caribean are just damn pirates.

Tag: november 2025

I put these postcards in the mail this morning.

I wrote these to the six Dems who made a video to remind military personell that they swore an oath to the Constitution, and they should refuse to follow illegal orders.

∞ Dems Telling Troops To Disobey Illegal Orders, And Trump's Nazis Are Flipping Their Sh*t

Hell Yeah!

The postcards just say Thank You. Translation:

Dear Senator Mark Kelly and etc.
Than you for reminding our military (and us!) that they took an oath to uphold the constitution and must not obey illegal orders.
It is good to see some democrats fighting against fascism!
Sincerely,
rift v.
Eugene, Oregon, USA

Back to hauling leaves to the garden plot!

The shin splints are getting better... but I may have over done it today. I hauled nine wheelbarrow loads of leaves to the plot!

But look what I found!

A little patch of Elephant Garlic!

I didn't dig any up this year, for whatever reason. I thought about grabbing a couple of these to eat, but they are just so cute with their little green leaf growing!

They will grow thru the winter and I'll get them in the spring!

Tag: november 2025

Today is technically Thanksgiving, but I don't celebrate. So, moving on...

The other day, when I was looking up to see if the red rash around the covid vax injection site was normal, I saw the other side effects and thought to myself, Well, at least it's not itchy.

And today it started itching! haha!

Thru the morning, I could ignore it. But when I jumped in the shower, the water tickled enough that I had to scratch.

And oh my gosh... if I just ignored the minorest pain of the bruise from the shot, if I could just scratch hard? It felt SOOOOO GOOOD!!

*laughs* I mean, really good! And then, about an hour later, it would get itchy again, and I could scratch again.

So this is really not a big deal. But I was thinking about the covid vax... The pharmacy gave me a choice about which vax I wanted. I got Moderna this time, and I'm pretty sure I got Moderna last year as well. Maybe next year I should switch to Pfizer!

I thought the clouds were breaking up this morning, I did see the sun for a bit. But it was misting when I headed out for the garden.

You see this row of pale dots? Those are tree stumps. Some guys have been cutting down the trees, the past week or so!

It makes me sad and mad and I wish I could scream "WHY???!"

The trees were planted, obviously from the measured space between them. Why destroy your ancestors work?

And even stupider? The trees behind them, that they've left? They are all Douglas Firs. The Firs are going to die soon due to climate change. So there's going to be no trees left on that side of the creek. Why would you want that??

humans are so stupid. I just can't stand it.

Still misting when I get to the garden.

But it stops in a few minutes and I'm back to work!

I'm going to move the big trellis out of the way...

And I'm gathering seeds from the Basil!

In my hand, it feels like it's all chaff. But when I look closely, there are a couple seeds in there.

I was careful about the Mystery Plant when I moved the big trellis.

I've asked Google, but it says this is a grape plant! haha! I know that's not right, and I kept looking at a bunch of photos of plants whose leaves look vaguely the same.

And then I gave up, because that's a dumb waste of time!

And then I weeded out the grass along the right border.

That neighbor has basically abandoned their plot and that's Bermuda Grass at the bottom there and it's taking over their plot. Which is a major problem because Bermuda Grass is REALLY tough!

Heading out, and a plot down the aisle from mine has this patch of... Whatever this is, flowering. And there's a bunch of bees being happy about it!

If I can figure out what this one is, I will def plant it next year. Happy Bees, this late in the season is a wonderful thing!

Going home and Oh My Gosh! It's the Barred Owl again!!!!

*laughs* Sleepy!

And for once, she's not being mobbed by anyone today!

That's a nice change! But it makes me want to move on quickly, so I don't bring attention to her.

But she's so cute!

See ya later!

Tag: november 2025

I've still got the red rash around the covid vax on my arm. Still a circle about two inches across.

I've never had this before, for any of the vaxes I've gotten and I wonder if now I will get it for every covid vax I get in the future.

It was sprinkling this morning and I wondered if I should bother going to the garden. I hate to work in the rain!

But the forecast said it was only 50% rain today, and I hoped it would stop before I got there. I packed up the small backpack and headed out. And sure enough, it did stop sprinkling!

I need to clear some space before I haul more leaves, and I get to work around the big trellis.

The Borage I pull up and then throw down. But the Smartweed and bit of Crab Grass I haul to the compost pile.

The Cosmos is still alive, just barely, and I leave that. And I want to see if I can gather some seeds from the Basil and the Goldenrod, so I've left them for now as well.

As I was clearing out the Wax Bean Vines and the Tomatillo from under the trellis, I found some food!

Some of the Tomatillos have been laying in the dirt, but most of them are fine. They keep well, and in general no wildlife likes to munch on them.

The Wax Beans I will put under the fan and see if I can save the seeds for next year. There's just a couple beans there, but that's a couple I won't have to buy!

And I rediscovered the other mystery plant that was growing under the trellis... It's a couple feet tall now!

It was shaded by the Wax Bean vines, so never got to flower or do whatever it was supposed to do. But pretty leaves!

Well. I will need to continue clearing tomorrow. But I'm done for today.

On the way home, I find a little flock of Juncos and Finches bathing in a puddle!

I don't want to disturb them, so I'm a little bit too far away. But they are so cute!

Splish Splash!

And that's a Lesser Goldfinch with the Juncos.

Tag: november 2025

Yay New Year!

I am back from my travelings, where I went to my parents' house and got to be really lazy! *laughs*

So now I'm all fired up about returning to my projects and maybe taking on some new ones!!

Looking over the New Year post of last year, oh yeah... that was the beginning of my Tiny Cleans! This new habit, breaking huge cleaning jobs into tiny, daily tasks which take five minutes or less, has been hugely successful!

I cleaned the plant area in the porch room, and went thru the living room and cleaned up there as well!

I also started organizing the walk-in closet, but that has fizzled... That project was more about decluttering, rather than cleaning, and that takes too much brain power and I eventually just quit.

But I'm really proud of the cleaning that I accomplished!

Moving forward... hmmm. I'm just not sure how to convert the Tiny Clean into decluttering. And decluttering desperately needs to happen. I will have to experiment, to see if anything works!

2025 was also another year of postcard failure. I technically kept up with my GR postcard project, but I was perpetually about a month or more behind. And I have not returned to my Family and Friends postcard lists. And that bums me out.

So I want to organize the GR project differently. And hopefully that will get me going with the Fam and Friends list as well.

Tag: january 2026

I've got almost zero soreness from the vaccines I got yesterday! Absolutely a tribute to my awesome nurse and the little elbow nudges!!

But! When I took a shower, I noticed there was a circle of red, about 2inches wide, around the covid vax site. I googled it right away and it seems to be a normal side effect.

Okay. Not gonna worry about it!

Okay! Here I am at the garden, and I'm going to start hauling leaves to cover the plot.

Here's three wheelbarrow loads in the back...

That's Kevin's raised beds, and then the Pet Nasturtium over some of the Strawberries. And on the right is the Old German, which I probably should just pull out, but it's still got a couple tomatoes ripening.

And I put three wheelbarrow loads here at the front left of the plot as well.

I put these leaves a good bit deeper, since I'm trying to cover up the pulled Borage I've laid here. The dead plants will return nutrients to the soil, and the seeds will grow next year!

And, sure enough, the slugs have eaten the damn Lettuces down again.

dangit. I wish I could grow Lettuce. A home grown salad would be so nice. Stupid Slugs.

Heading home, and here's another Downy Woodpecker. So weird that it's only males around here!

And here's Earl again!! Still Mr Muddy!

Tag: november 2025

I've got an appointment to get a covid vax and flu vax this morning, and I'm walking out to the pharmacy.

Boing, boing, boing!

As the regime destroys the CDC and RJKjr, the secretary of Health and Human Services, spreads conspiracy theories about vaxes causing autism, I have been so worried about my own access to vaccines... I absolutely must get the covid vax! Even tho I've gotten every covid vax, I've still fallen ill with break thru covid a few times. It sucks, being sick! And I know that illness would be a lot worse without the vax!

I am so glad that the western states have formed their own public health partnership: Washington state, Oregon, California and Hawaii compose the Western Health Alliance.

So the shots I get today will be free. And I'm so grateful to live in Oregon, where we follow the science!!

When I arrive, there's a line at the pharmacy and I have to wait a few minutes. But once I get in, the process is pretty quick.

My nurse was AWESOME!! I sat down and tried to relax for the shot, but she moved my elbow just slightly forward and I realized my arm was a million times more relaxed in this position! She did this for both arms, covid in one and flu in the other.

And then I was done! I was leaving the store just 15minutes after my assigned appointment!

And in other news, my Dad got double knee replacement surgery today. His surgery went well.

I'm glad he's finally gotten this done. He is a hiker, like me, but he's not been able to go out for walks in years. It's restricted his life considerably.

oh, haha. Here's another Downy Woodpecker! They are everywhere! Tho it's weird that I've only been seeing males.

And here's Earl the Grey Squirrel! It's been ages since I've seen him!

Tag: november 2026

Well aren't you cute!

What's that? You could take a nap, if only I wasn't staring at you? :)

It's so nice to live in a place where flowers bloom in winter!

Just the one couple of Wood Ducks today... They always like to be tucked under the bank in the dark.

I get to the Community Garden, and the side gate is not only unlocked, it is wide open. I fix it, but I'm *cursing* at the damn gardener who left it like this!

I'm assessing the garden plot...

There is So Much still alive. It's crazy! Usually by this time of year, there's enough plants dying from the chill that I don't mind pulling stuff out for the winter cleanup.

But I really need to start hauling leaves soon. I've got less than three weeks before I'm traveling to see my family!

Look at how much the Strawberries have grown this year!! The Pet Nasturtium didn't slow anybody down!

The Strawberries make me so happy. Last year, I had nabbed a couple freebie Strawberry plants about this time, but they all died over the winter.

A single, bigger Strawberry plant that I had bought did survive and I bought a couple more transplants this summer. I only got a couple of fruits this year, but didn't restrict their growth at all, so there's runners all over the place!

Next year I'm hoping for a bumper crop!!

I break open a couple Cosmos seed heads to see what the seeds look like... Oops! There were a couple bugs in there as well!

And I check on the stupid Lettuce seedlings as I head out.

I'm just waiting for the slugs to munch them all down again.

As I walk home, the Kingfisher flew right by me, with her laugh.

Tag: november 2025

I didn't notice anything pecular about this Flicker when I was taking his photo. He is a bit too far away to see details.

But when I zoomed into the photos on my computer...

Oh, cool!

Look at how dark his moustache is! There's some red, as is normal for the western race of Flickers... but it's so dark, it's all but black, like the eastern race!

But then he turns a little.

Oh! My! Gosh!

The feather shafts on his tail!!! They're YELLOW!

I've never seen a Yellow Shafted Flicker! That's the eastern race!

But this one must have a bit of Red Shafted in his genetics... maybe a grandparent or someone further back?

It's not just the very dark red moustache which is a Red Shafted trait. He also doesn't have a red nape.

So that is very interesting and I'm obnoxiously excited about it! *laughs*

Okay. I'm at the garden and there's one other person here... but they are hauling leaves.

I had thought about starting to haul leaves myself. But I don't want to interact with humans today.

So I decide to stay in my plot and do more clearing instead. I'm going to continue in the right back corner... Here is the Before.

And I'd like to weed out this grass, as well.

Ha. Nevermind that squash... it's been sitting there for ages and it just hasn't decided to break down yet!

And look at all the work I've gotten done!

That is the nice thing about the work in the garden, this time of year. You can easily see the progress every day!

I found a few more Tomatillos to take home!

Tag: november 2025

The Amnesty International report on Alligator Alcatraz... Yes, it's still open and ...

∞ PoliticsGirl: This is SICK and DISTRESSING
Video is 5m33s, and it's important. Watch it!

The United States with our concentration camps and torture.

We knew it was happening, and now we've got proof.

disgusting.

Liberty and Justice for all?

Tag: december 2025

The dense fog of the morning is burning off and the sun has slowly emerged. But dang, it's chilly. Still just 39° when I leave the house.

Oh, hey! It's Henrietta!

It's good of him to stop by to see me, now and then!

The Wild Squash has died and I'm disappointed... I had wondered if the warmer water would keep it alive all winter!

Well aren't you a funny little thing? Just hanging out on your wood stake there?

At the garden, I did some weeding at the front half of the path going do the middle of the plot. And then I tore down the dead Sunchoke stalks and I put them in the path where I had finished weeding...

The bare dirt... well, just this side of mud, really, is going to get pounded down with me walking and eventually with me bringing in the wheel barrow. And it will get slick with a bit of rain, so the Sunchoke stems will help with traction here.

Walking home, I notice the Nootka Roses... it's the time of year for Rose Hip Tea!

I think about gathering some, but I don't feel like digging the scissors out of my backpack.

And plus, that hole! Who's in there? :)

Hooded Merganser. He's by himself today, getting some alone time.

Tag: november 2025

It rained all night and kept dripping a bit this morning. The clouds start moving around, but it gets darker instead of breaking up.

By the time I get organized and get out of the house, it looks like the sun might make an appearance after all.

Two pairs of Wood Ducks at the creek today.

At the garden, I worked in the back right corner. I pulled out the Brandywine, but left the Old German since it's got a couple tomatoes to ripen. And then I weeded around the Strawberries, and left the Pet Nasturtium.

The raised bed at the top is Kevin's plot... His Zinnias are still blooming, and are those Onions?

I look at the Lettuce seedlings. I really should just ignore them tho!

Back and forth to the compost pile, tossing the weeds I've pulled... Is this some kind of crazy Lettuce?

Wow. Whatever it is, it is beautiful.

Just growing in front of the compost pile, I have to walk around them. I'm almost tempted to dig them up and put them in my plot...

Heh. But I follow foraging rules... If I'm not 100% sure what it is, I don't eat it! Even when it looks like Lettuce in the garden! *laughs*

I'm surrounded by Juncos today!

I wonder what they are finding to eat.

I found a few Tomatillos to take home. The husk hasn't opened, but they should taste fine even if they are not quite ripe.

And another little group of Juncos, on my way out!

They are really bouncy, of course, but after they check me out, they hardly mind me at all.

Whatever they are finding must be very yummy!

I walk out of the Community Garden and go a different direction, and come across these two.

*Laughs* It looks like the are posing for a family portrait!!

... LATER ... Partner saw the photo and here's his take...

Right Squirrel: I get the first treat! Look at my perfect posture!

Left Squirrel: Screw you! I was here first! I get the treats! ALL the treats!

*Laughs*

Partner has taken the car to the shop, for the first round of repairs. 1500$ for the brakes. And they discovered the radiator is cracked, that's another 400$.

*snort* Fixer Upper, for sure!

Tag: november 2025

There's a Heron, and I'm turning on the camera and trying to figure out who this is. And right as I click the shutter...

WHOA!!

Oh my gosh, we caught a fish!!

I didn't even know we had fish like that in the creek!

Poor little fish gets swallowed down immediately.

So that was really exciting. But I still don't know who this Heron is! ha. Someone new I guess!

*laughs* Steller Jay with those blue eyebrows!!

And a Red Shoulder Hawk, talking about something.

I go into the Community Garden, and there's a passel of House Finches in the plot!!

Oh, some Golden Crown Sparrows, as well!

Well. I've got work to do, so I shoo the birds away.

But it turns out my heart isn't really into clearing today. I pull out a couple Smartweeds from the tomato area, and not much else.

It's a bit of a mess back here in the tomato patch, but I'm so pleased at how the Strawberries have taken over!

I stop to admire the Beets on the way out.

But then this plot catches my eye!

Wow! The wonderful colours!!

And the textures!!

On the walk home... a pair of Teals!

Oh my gosh! This hummer is right next to the path!

Ha! What a sweetheart!!

Tag: november 2025

Okay. I got the email yesterday that the Winter Compliance Checks at the Community Garden will happen the week of Dec1.

Which is odd, because in the past, they've always been in mid-December. And I've not started any winterizing yet, because so much of the garden is still very much alive! ha.

So I have much to do, and not much time to do it!

And I got up this morning and it had gotten down to 30° over night. BRRR! What the heck, that's not normal! Normal is 52/37 for this time of year... none of this freezing nonsense!

Looks like we are back down to one pair of Wood Ducks at the creek today.

*laughs*

Oh, interesting! There's a pair of Northern Flickers bouncing along the Community Garden fence... and they are both male!

And they aren't displaying at each other or anything, they're just hanging out like friends!

The other one has a red nape, which is normal for the eastern race. But the rest of his colours match up with our western race: red moustache and red feather shafts.

Just a hop and a skip! Haha!

Okay. It's time to get down to work. I think I'll begin on the left side of the plot. I had the Crooknecks here in the front and then the Green Zuchinni in the Fallow Area.

But I've let a lot of Borage come up, too. It's still blooming, and I know the bees are still visiting, tho it's too chilly for them right now.

It kills me, but the Borage in the front especially, will have to be pulled up. The rule is, you can't have Borage within a foot of the borders, so all of that will have to go.

Sighs. I will leave as much as I can, for as long as I can... the Bees depend on those flowers this time of year!

And here's the Fallow Area. Some healthy looking Fava, which can stay as a winter cover crop. But the Perth Pride and the Sungold are still alive and producing, and they will have to go.

The one thing that is dead... the Sunchoke.

Okay! Work!

The Borage is easy to pull up, and I just lay the plants back down on the dirt. They will return important nutrients!

There's just a bit of weeding to do under them... Borage is Really Good at keeping other weeds in check, but there's a few blades of Quack Grass here and there. I am happy to pull out what roots I can, and any other little weeds because it'll make things easier for next year!

When I took the bucket of grass and weeds to the compost heap, I saw that someone had dumped their tomato plant with cherry tomatoes still on it.

Yep. I totally dumpster dived them!

I am definitely getting a black or purple tomato plant next year! A couple these are ripe, and I hope the rest will ripen on the counter.

They taste like normal tomatoes, but what fun colour, huh!

Plus, Oregon State University bred the first purple tomatoes... a cherry tomato called Indigo Rose, which became commercially available in 2012!

And then...

Kevin has pulled up his Cucamelon plant that was at the back of his plot, and I found a couple fruits that had fallen into my plot!

I ate them! um. It's a pretty plant, but I am definitly not going to grow them myself...

They were hard, but crisp. and more sour than I thought they would be. Zero cucumber taste! They'd probably be better when they are pickled, maybe. But I would not snack on them, on purpose!!

It's good to learn these things! *laughs*

I got a little distracted from my assigned work area, and started clearing the end of the big trellis.

The ProCut Plum Sunflower was here and it still had some seeds on it, so I set that aside. And quite a few weeds to pull around it.

At the other end of the big trellis, the Cosmos is still alive!

Some of the flowers look like this. Weird!

And lots of seed heads for the birds!!

Here's the after picture.

ha, since I just threw down the Borage, it doesn't actually look much different! Plus I wanted to keep those Nasturtiums there in the middle... most of the seeds growing on them aren't ready, they just need more time!

Another thing I noticed in the Fallow Area...

Last year's Leeks didn't grow very big because there's something wrong with the dirt in the Fallow Area. I just left them and they bloomed this year, and eventually fell over.

And now there's hundreds of seedlings coming up out of the seed head!! That's never happened before, and I'm kind of excited about it!!

There's also a couple of Leeks coming up from the original roots. And I didn't know that could happen, either!

As I leave, I check on the Lettuces...

Tormenting me. The biggest Lettuce leaves are about 2 inches... About the size when the slugs got them last time!

I don't want to think about it. Because look at how cute that purple lettuce in the back is! And that particoloured one.

It's hard to not have hope! If they could just grow fast enough to get past the slugs. But with the night getting down to freezing, that's not going to happen. sighs.

Tag: november 2025

It's been sprinkling off and on this morning. And the shin splints are bothering me excessively again today.

The Maybe-Cure for shin splints is rest, of course. But I can't just not walk! That would probably kill me! *Laughs*

And it's just a Maybe-Cure because it seems that lots of people just have chronic shin splints, no matter what they do. SIGHS.

Another Downy Woodpecker. A male again, tho you can't tell in this photo. In his search for bugs, he was moving around too quickly for the camera.

At the back of the Events Center, Yay! Cackling Geese!

They like to hang out in big flocks, there's several hundred here!

Oops! I got too close and they start to walk away.

I don't want to disturb them, they've had a long flight, down from the very northern most edges of Alaska and Canada!

Their cute little faces!

Cackling Geese are quite a bit smaller than their cousins, Canada Geese. But you can't tell size when you're looking out over a flock. (Unless there's a couple Canada Geese hanging out at the edges. That does happen regularly!)

But you can tell the difference when you look at their faces. Cackling Geese have a cute little snub beak! Canada Geese have much longer beaks.

And as I scan my photos...

Cool! I don't think I've seen a Cackling Goose with leucism over their head like that!

Before I go, I notice this interaction... Bahaha!

He goosed his friend! *laughs* Trouble Maker!!

Heading back home, along the creek...

Wood Ducks everywhere!

*Laughs* Well, there's five pairs, the fifth are a bit downstream!

Ha, leftover Halloween decoration. May have found a permanent home here!

At home, I'm doing a load of laundry today...

We don't have a washing machine in the tiny townhouse, but have a community laundry room we walk to, across the way.

I was all set up and feeding quarters into the machine, and one didn't fit in the slot. I saved it and put in a different coin... I always bring extra because we regularly get Canadian quarters here. Those normally do go into the machine, but pop right back out. The coin machine doesn't accept them.

But it's weird that this coin didn't even fit into the slot...

When I got home, I examined the coin.

Oh wow! It's a British ten pence!

That's different! It's almost the same size as a US quarter, but a bit thicker. It probably just got rolled in with a roll of quarters!

:)

Tag: november 2025

Misting and sprinkling today, heading out.

And apparently the long walk yesterday irritated the shin splints. It's overly bothersome to walk today. It's been about a month now and I'm annoyed I have to deal with it.

But then... oh my gosh!

This is a Golden Crown Sparrow with Leucism... that's what causes those white patches.

And I recognize her!!!

I first saw her in January...

∞ Jan15 Leucistic Golden Crown Sparrow
and again on Mar16 Leucistic Golden Crown Sparrow

How cool is that??

She's flown up to Canada, had a nest, and now has migrated back down to meet up with me again!

That's SO awesome!

There's two pairs of Wood Ducks here today! But they are being shy. Maybe I will catch them on the walk back.

I had turned around early, because of the stupid shin splints. But I'm not ready to go home yet, so I stop in the Community Garden.

Oops! It's too chilly for her to move.

Heading home, and oh good! The Wood Ducks are still around!

Ha! How round his head is from this angle!

This pair are talking to each other, but they don't quack! I don't know how to describe their chat, but you can listen to some recordings here: AllAboutBirds: Wood Duck Sounds

They are heading downstream.

And here's the other pair, looking so cute, tucked under the bank.

Tag: november 2025

I am still feeling discombobulated from yesterday's Jury Duty... and I realize I should have just gone out for a walk when I got home. It would have cleared my mind and cleared out all the stress hormones.

I would have felt so much better! Why didn't I?? I don't know, just dumb I guess.

The clouds of this morning have gone POOF! It's already 55° when I head out and it will get up to a very pleasant 65° today!

A bit of red in the tree catches my eye. Red Shoulder Hawk.

But we are preening and not available for photography. *laughs*

And this cute little Downy Woodpecker, bouncing up and down his tree.

I just cannot get enough of the sky today!!

I decide to go up and around the Events Center, to look at that Honey Bee nest... Yep! It's warm enough today with the sun, there's a few bees coming in and out!

They should be well protected in there, I'm sure they will survive the winter and be active here again next year!

I'm walking down one of the neighborhood streets, and meet up with a Ginkgo Tree. So Lovely!

Oh, and look! It's a female! That's pretty unusual for a tree on the street!

Tag: november 2025

Yep. Jury Duty.

I had gotten the notice mid-September. I had a relatively low juror number, so I was pretty sure I would have to show up. And sure enough, last night the website said Jurors #1 thru 175 must come to the court house.

It's an early morning for me... I have to be at the bus stop before I usually get out of bed! ha. And then, there weren't many other people at the stops to pick up, so the bus was running WAY early! I arrived at the courthouse ten minutes before I meant to, and I already meant to arrive early!

*Laughs* I hung out on the park blocks, where they hold Saturday Market... and huh, it looks really different without all the people and the vendors and everything!

But I could see people were going into the courthouse, and I finally got up my courage and walked across the street and went in. The lady at the info desk was all Jury Duty? Yes! Go that way.

Down the stairs and around the corner and there were a few people in line ahead of me. Getting checked in with the postcard I had gotten in September and everyone else had driven and they got a parking stub validation. And a note for your employer. Fill this out. Go sit down.

People kept streaming in, but def not 175. Maybe 100... I should have counted! I definitely had time!

One of the last people to come in, caught my attention and I listened in to the conversation... She announced that she's so confused, thought she was supposed to be at the Municipal Building, but look at what this thing says!

It turns out she had Jury Duty at the Municipal Building yesterday and Jury Duty here TODAY, and she had just assumed they were the same Jury Duty!!

So that's really crazy, to me! Why do we have to do ALL the stupid jury duties, at the same time??! Sheesh!

So Tina, that's our person today. Tina said to call them and explain and it would *probably* be okay... ie, they might not throw her in jail for not showing up!! Bahaha!

Tina's got everyone checked in and then she had a speech, explaining things: Be sure you're parked in the parking structures (she had sent a few people away as they checked in so they could move their cars). Parking violations are aggressively pursued in the downtown area and if you're parked in the wrong place you _will_ get a ticket!

Tina also went over how they got our names for jury duty. What happens if the fire alarm goes off. This is a small group, Wednesday was huge because they needed 12 people each for 3 trials and the room was packed! And there were some kids here, the other day, doing a tour, seeing an actual trial happening and coming down to this room, our home base. And you get 10$/day but on day3 you start getting 20$/day. If you declined your 10$/day, that's what pays for the coffee bar over there, please help yourself. When you get jury duty be sure to bring a lunch, it's expensive to eat out downtown.

And then there's this long list of things that you absolutely must not have on your body when you go upstairs for jury stuff. Weapons. And anything that can be used as a weapon (including knitting needles, ha!). So, its a list, a long list, and I'm starting to get worried ... and, sure enough, at the end of the list: Pepper Spray. Which I ordinarily carry in my small backpack, and crap, I didn't think to take it out. And she's explaining they have a tiny spot to keep these things, but it's not secure and I assume I'm just going to lose my stupid pepper spray, and nutz, ya know.

Tina talked for a good long while about all these various things, and more. And yet she didn't give us any information that my brain wanted!

And then we had to watch the same two videos that we had gotten links for. I had already watched them, so that was kind of boring. The one about bias was interesting, that we ALL have unconscious bias, and we must be aware so that we can be fair. And it is VERY important that our juries be fair. *nods*

But the other video was more terrifing, now that I was actually facing being picked for a jury... you have to talk in front of people! GAH.

The video went thru an example trial and some of the questions that all the potiential jurors have to answer, up in front of everyone. And the questons are probably going to be about something you've never even thought about before in your entire life... so you are basically thinking out loud, with people who are going to be staring at you for the rest of the trial. And then the deliberations sound scary too! But I can't even make my brain imagine that because GAH!

*laughs* It's about 9:40am and Tina says she still has no information so she's handing out employer letters and giving us a break to walk around or whatever, be back by 10am.

I just walked up and down the hall, to look around. We are absolutely not allowed to go upstairs, that was reiterated and pounded in by Tina, because we might run into trial people and that would be bad. That would be a mis-trial and you do NOT want to waste everyone's time and effort here!

But the halls down here are boring so I went back into home base and got the kindle out to read. But they had turned on the TVs to America's Funniest Videos. The volume wasn't loud but I had a hard time reading with the distraction.

Finally, we've got some action and my anxiety spikes again. A judge has come down, all in his robes and stuff and gave a longish speech. About how things worked during Covid but now things aren't going so smoothly. And I didn't really understand everything that he was saying and I was really trying to focus.

But it turns out that he was just excusing us. There will be no trials today, and we are free to go. And we won't have to be called for jury duty again for two years for _this_ court, but we could be called for the federal court or municipal courts. (GAH!)

I took my time leaving and walked slowly to the bus stop. And the bus rolled right up within a minute or so.

But I am seriously discombobulated. I'm half way home when I realize I've got a free ticket to ride the bus all day! I could have taken the bus going the other way and walked across to the river. Except I had left the camera at home and I don't want to go to the river without the camera.

And there's no reason to be discombobulated! I've done my duty, I'm going home.

But ... I kind of want a redo. If I could just redo this whole morning, knowing that I would just go in, and then come home -- no jury duty, no public speeches... It just would have been so much easier and nicer and more interesting.

Tag: november 2025

Sprinkles this morning, but that quit and it's just cloudy for my walk.

Just the one pair of Wood Ducks at the creek today. Maybe they got tired of the party and sent their friends home!

Most of the trees are losing their leaves now. But the trees over here are still beautifully autumn-ish!

I wonder what their secret is!

So. Partner has gotten a car.

He insisted on buying the cheapest, crappiest thing he could find in Eugene. sighs. So it's definitely a fixer upper. I don't know how many thousands that will be.

But it runs. And it's what he wants. Which is all that matters!

Tag: november 2025

It was dreary this morning, but now the clouds are moving around.

Oh, nice! Someone is offering strawberry plants...

But nope! I am not even tempted! The ones I nabbed last year all died! Granted they were a lot smaller than these. These are big enough that they probably have a chance to live. But nope! Not going to do it! As much as I love free stuff... But nope! *laughs*

This is the top of the Goldenrod, lots of seeds for the birds or whoever enjoys them!

The leaves on the Goldenrod are still green, and I think it will come back again next year from the roots. I'll probably gather some seeds too, later on after everyone else has had a chance to munch on them!

But today I'm gathering Fava beans from the Fallow Area!

The pods are kinda hard to remove from the plant, so I just open up the pod, right on the plant...

I drop quite a few of beans this way, but that's okay. I'll be happy to see more grow here eventually!

As I'm going thru the Fallow Area, I notice some of the Buckwheats still have some seeds as well.

I bought a bulk bag of Buckwheat seeds for summer cover crop, and I have lots left. But they are a few years old. So I decide to gather a few of the Buckwheat seeds as well. I want to leave plenty for the birds, I just break off five or six seed heads.

And I've harvested some veggies today as well!

The Fava beans...

And the Buckwheat seeds...

I'll put them under the fan at home and hopefully I'll be able to rub off the chaff when it's dry.

Buckwheats are just so pretty. :)

We are well into November, but there's still a good bit of life in the garden...

The Cosmos are looking a bit rough.

But the plant is very much alive and still has a lot of flowers!

And here's the other side of the big trellis, with the Goldenrod at the bottom.

The Basil is quite dead and the Wax Beans have lost all their leaves. But all the Borage makes everything else seem green and alive!

The cute little Speedwells. And some volunteer Clover that came up under the small trellis with the Lemon Cucumbers.

There's some Honey Bees flying around still, too! They appreciate all the Borage!

This one had buzzed me a couple times when I was gathering the Favas! Finally came back when I was holding the camera, but didn't stick around for decent photography! So I'm not sure if this is a female or a male.

I'm heading out, but pause before I go...

*laughs* The plot is a jungle! It'll be a lot of work to winterize. And that probably needs to start happening soon. In a month, I'll be traveling and all of this will need to be cleared, weeded and covered with leaves before I go!

So apparently a plane crashed last week? What the heck?

So weird! I didn't hear a thing about this in the news or anything.

∞ Tragedy in Louisville

A cargo plane that had catastrophic problems as it was getting into the air. The three pilots died and eleven people on the ground.

The article is written by a pilot, and it's a really interesting breakdown about what happened.

My Dad is a cargo pilot, so I'm interested and I know a little bit about what the author is talking about.

And it's just so strange to me that this didn't hit the news at all.

Tag: november 2025

∞ Breaking News: If Hegseth Gave an Order to 'Kill Everybody,' He Must Be Removed and Prosecuted

I have been vaguely following the war crimes the military have been performing in the Caribbean. 80 people murdered by the US Navy so far in 21 incidents.

And now we have proof of war crimes...

Instead of telling Congress that the second strike was designed to finish off wounded survivors, Pentagon officials claimed it was to remove a navigation hazard.

That isn't just spin: it's an attempt to rewrite reality.

The [Washington] Post quotes Todd Huntley, a former Special Operations military lawyer now at Georgetown Law, saying exactly what any first-year law student would immediately recognize: because the United States is not legally at war with drug traffickers, killing the people on that boat amounts to murder.

Even if a war did exist, Huntley notes, the order to kill wounded, unarmed survivors would in essence be an order to show no quarter, which is defined under the Geneva Conventions as a war crime.

This isn't an obscure legal debate. This is basic civilization. Armed states do not execute helpless people in the water.

And yet this is now U.S. policy. The boat strike on September 2 was not a one-off. It was the beginning of a campaign.

It's so horrifying, I just really don't have words. I hate what America has become. I hate that we voted in that rapist bastard. And I hate that no one is standing up for the right thing.

And that's the thing that gets me. Throwing missiles at little random boats, just to kill people? How did the military guys think that was okay?? HOW? And then they doubled down with a second missile to make sure they were all dead. This is literally the TEXTBOOK EXAMPLE of an illegal order!

What is wrong with these people?

Tag: november 2025

Today there are 4 male and 3 female Wood Ducks! ha, we're starting to gather a whole flock!

There's a ruckus! Scrub Jays yelling, and a load of little birds twittering like crazy. Could it be the Owl again??

I look and look, and eventually I see a face peeking out!!

She's missing her Cooper Hawk today.

But all the other birds mobbing her are too loud for sleep.

Tag: november 2025

Oh, poor Dear, what happened to your tail?

um, hmm. There's someone yelling about something here... and it sounds so familiar, but my brain isn't providing any information.

I have to walk back and forth a couple times, triangulating from the yelling. But then I finally see...

Cooper Hawk. She flies to another branch where I can see her better.

And that's who's yelling. Just like the other day... Are you yelling about someone??

Ah ha! *laughs* The Barred Owl. It must be the same owl. I wonder if it's the same Cooper Hawk as well. Probably not, but how funny... always being mobbed by a Cooper Hawk!

I walk back and forth, again, trying to find an angle with less leaves. Nope!

ha. well. sheesh.

The Cooper Hawk has flown away, and it's a lot quieter now.

And I decide to move on as well.

Ah Autumn.

Tag: november 2025

Ha! This one flew out of the sun and right past me.

Oh! Mackerel Sky!

I'm at the same place that I saw the Kingfisher on Friday... I can hear her laughing, she's followed me! And I happen to snap a photo just as she flies by!!

*laughs* That's her on the left!

She goes on by and doesn't stop. That's fine but I wonder if she'll ever let me get her portrait again!

Mackerel Sky walks across to the other side of the creek.

And I notice she has a companion.

A female Hooded Merganser. No male hanging out with her, and she seems to be following Mac Sky.

It's good to have a friend.

I decide to go into the garden to check on the lettuce seedlings. Look how happy they are!

Well, that one on the left has been munched again.

And this one over here, by itself has also been munched again.

This pretty one has a couple unmunched leaves!

I know, I know. I shouldn't get invested. The second I start to hope, the slugs will come by again. SIGHS.

Oh, but look over here! A fallen Fava bean is sprouting!

I cover it with a little bit of dirt to help it along!

The yellowing leaves on the left are the Echinacea that Roz gave me. I think it's had plenty of time to establish itself, and will come back next year from the base!

On the right, a couple of beets. But most of that photo is wildflowers! ha. Borage, and the little viney things in front are Speedwell, which have tiny blue flowers.

Well. I've gathered some Tomatillos to take home...

And I've decided to walk home with the stirrup hoe.

We've had too much rain, and the hoe won't work in the mud. And the handle being wet all the time isn't exactly good for it either. I should have taken it home a while ago, I was just putting it off.

SIGHS. Now, since the car is dead, there's no way to drive the hoe home. I figure I will feel pretty awkward carrying a hoe as I walk on the bike path, but there's nothing for it.

And actually, the most awkward moment comes as I'm leaving the garden! haha! A couple people have come in, and there's at least two people close enough to see me as I leave.

I've not been anywhere near the tool shed, but if I saw someone walking out of the garden with a hoe... I would assume they are stealing it!!!

Bahaha!! No one confronts me, thank goodness. But I still feel like a criminal! With my own hoe!! ha!

Tag: november 2025

Oh it's cold this morning! Fog and clouds and 43°.

The forecast says it's going to warm up to 61° today... but the clouds never break and the actual high is just 49°.

Ridiculous that it's off by 12°. Twelve Degrees!

And, based on the very wrong forecast, I'm still wearing my shorts, thinking it'll get too warm when the sun breaks out. haha. Yep, I was kind of miserable for the cold!

Yep. Even the Wild Squash feels the cold today.

sheesh.

*laughs* Try again tomorrow!

This is a YouTube channel that I enjoy...

∞ Molly Burke: I Was on Dr. Mike's Podcast... and The Comments Section Proved Why Ableism Still Exists

Molly is blind. She mentions in this video that she did a TedTalk, which I need to go watch.

But basically: Designing for disabled people helps EVERYONE.

Tag: november 2025

Good Morning, Friend Towhee.

Good Morning my cute little TNR kitty!

Oh what beautiful eyes!

I've wondered if one of the businesses on that side of the creek has been feeding some strays. I see a variety of cats and kittens here, and they've all looked healthy.

I chased after this one for a little bit... American Lady Butterfly, maybe?

*gasp*

The Kingfisher! She's letting me look at her!

I can't believe it! And Look, look, look!!! Her rusty belt is broken! A clear identifier!!

She's been flying back and forth, looking at the bank of the creek here. Kingfishers dig holes in the bank, for their nest.

But my dear! This would be a terrible place for a nest! So many humans walking by all the time! You can do better!

Oh my gosh, I am just so excited that she let me see her!

∞ 'Sandwich Guy' triumphs over ham-fisted charges

Ha. Good. But I don't know why we have to live thru this timeline.

Tag: november 2025

I've got an appointment at the DMV to get a Real ID... Oregon was the last state to get caught up with the Real ID laws, but they finally got compliant and since May of this year, you are required to have a Real ID if you want to fly in an airplane.

It's just a bit of extra paperwork, but I've been putting it off because procrastination is what I do!

*laughs*

Because I don't trust the car, I made the appointment for the office here in town. I can drive down to my usual spot at the river, walk across the river and then go across the mall parking lot... and the only thing I was vaguely worried about was the 100% chance of rain.

But the chance of rain has dropped down to 60% and I don't even get a single sprinkle! Yay, lucky!

I arrive 16minutes early, just like they suggest you do. It doesn't seem too busy, but as they are checking in one of the people in front of me, I can hear the conversation: It's going to be an hour and a half, wait time.

Holy Crap!! But since I have an appointment, I just have to wait for the appointment time.

Everything is going smoothly, I've brought all the appropriate documents and all the staff is happy.

The guy helping me was double checking all the info on my old driver's license...

Hair colour X? Yep.
Eye colour Y? Yep.
Weight Z? I was still nodding from the last question, but now I stopped.

Weeeellll, I said. Maybe Z+5.

He paused and looked at me. No, he replied. I think Z is just fine.

*Laughing* How very endearing!! I might have fallen in love with him just then. :)

And then, I went over to the printing desk where they print up a temporary ID. This lady was so awesome, too, explaining exactly how my new ID would arrive in the mail, and answered my questions about what happens if the ID doesn't come and what to do about my travel in December.

She was so precise about every single detail and every single possible outcome!! It made my brain SO HAPPY!

And now I love everyone at the DMV! *laughs*

I'm done and I head for the Riverbank Path... I'm going to walk the new Delta Pond Loop. Ha, which isn't new anymore, they finished it last December! But this is only the second time I've walked it.

As I come off the parking lot, I see a guy taking photos with his phone. Hmm? Oh wow! There's a Bald Eagle, and she chooses just that moment to fly, dang it.

Ha. But that's cool!

There's a good variety of birds at the Riverbank Path ponds... Here's a Coot and a pair of Gadwalls.

Double Crested Cormorant.

A Teal and a Northern Shoveler.

The Shoveler has an interesting design on his feathers!

I take the exit off the Riverbank Path and go across the street to the Delta Ponds Park.

There's a single turtle out! Unfortunately it's the invasive Red Ear Slider. But still cute!

oh. Looks like someone got eaten. bleh. Carnivores.

There's Wood Ducks all over the place... but mostly too far away.

And some more Cormorants.

I wish they were closer so we could see their amazing aquamarine eyes!

I've come almost all they way around the loop, and looking down from a walking bridge...

Someone's skeleton! There sure are a lot of Life and Death situations here today!

And this is the walking bridge that goes over the Delta Highway.

I'm back on the Riverbank trail, oh! Kingfisher!

Belted Kingfisher, this is a female. The males lack the rusty red belt.

Belted Kingfishers are one of the few birds where the female has more colour than the male. In other species with that arrangement, it's usually because the male takes on child rearing duties. He's a duller colour so he can avoid detection from predators so he can bring up the next generation.

But with Belted Kingfishers, the parents share child duties. It's completely 50-50, and scientists don't know why the female is more colourful!! Isn't nature cool?! :)

There are a few other species of Kingfishers in Central and South America... and they all follow the usual rule, the males have more colour!

There are a few other species of Kingfishers in Central and South America... and they all follow the usual rule, the males have more colour!

And overlooking the Kingfisher...

A juvenile Bald Eagle!!

Looks like 2½ year old! Here's a page with good photos of all the stages to maturity:

∞ The Plumage of a Juvenile, Immature, and Adult Bald Eagle

And going back across the river to the car...

I get home without any trouble. But Partner took the car out in the afternoon. It stalled out in traffic, and did not restart.

He got it towed to our new mechanic... and they told us the car is done. There's a laundry list of thousands and thousands of dollars worth of stuff to fix. And they don't know which specific thousand dollar repair will actually get the car running again.

sighs.

Tag: november 2025

Whoa. The news today says:

The third atmospheric river in a string of storms is sweeping through Eugene and Springfield on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain and winds strong enough to briefly spin up a funnel cloud or weak tornado, according to the National Weather Service.

Well! That's exciting! *laughs*

And the wind is definitely blowing when I go out for a walk, weather page says 19mph.

The clouds are moving around a lot and I do get some sprinkles on the walk home. But except for a bit of thunder in the afternoon, the weather is not as interesting as they make out!

I'm not finding anyone to take photos of, so I decide to go a different way. It's been a while since I've been thru this park.

The acorns under this White Oak are so shiny!

The squirrels need to get to work here! ha.

Oh, Squirrel! What happened to your poor face?

It's fine, you say? Hmm. If you say so. How about no more fighting?

I go by a gathering of crows... this is just one edge of the flock, which spreads out over the park.

There's probably around 100 crows here.

I get back to the creek, and huh. Where did all these Wood Ducks come from?

This is awesome. The original couple must have invited their friends to visit!!

There are two couples and one extra male. I hope they stick around!

Back at home, I'm trying out something new.

I had bought this tofu press a couple years ago when I had a good harvest of soy beans. I never got around to making my own tofu... bummer, right? But there was just too much kitchen stuff involved and I hate cooking!

But you can press store bought tofu in this thing as well.

So I'm giving it a go!

I always get extra firm tofu and it goes straight into the freezer. It keeps a lot longer when it's frozen, and it changes the texture as well.

The press will make the tofu super extra firm, I guess. and squeeze out extra water so it will suck up sauce.

I don't anticipate anything major here. It's just... I have this tofu press, I may as well use it!

:)

Tag: november 2025

Cedar Waxwings!

On this one, you can see a little red dot of their waxwing!

No one at the garden and I'm walking about!

I've decided to grab the single Butternut today! They've turned the water off, so I had to scrub the mud off in the grass of the pathway.

Here's the state of the Wax Beans on the big trellis. They've lost most of their leaves, and I need to gather the last of the beans!

The Honey Bees are still busy at the Borage blooms!

The Cosmos is starting to look a little pathetic. It still has some good blooms tho!

Oh my goodness! Look!!

This is a Virescent Green Metallic Sweatbee!

She's not moving around. It must be too cold for her, even tho the Honey Bees are still able to do their thing.

She certainly is beautiful, tho.

And you know what? This tomato on the Perth Pride is starting to ripen. I think I'm going to get that today, as well!

Hmm. I don't know... I may have gotten carried away gathering veggies...

Will that all fit in the small backpack?

ha. Just barely!

There were some Sungolds, but all the ones I picked had cracked. Probably best, they would not have fit in the backpack!!

Of course, I have to look at the stupid lettuces.

*shakes head* Slug food.

And looking over at the lovely Beets!

This little patch of Calendulas catches my eye as I leave the Garden...

What a weird colour!

How Lovely!

Tag: november 2025

Last night and this morning, my face is exploding every few minutes. I just can't get a break from the sneezes and coughing and everything is blurry because my left eye keeps filling up.

But, even tho I can barely see, my energy is still fine! My face feels like it's on death's door, but the rest of the body is ready for a walk! ha.

I'm walking in the other direction today, because I don't want to have to talk to any of my bike path people. My friend Eric rode by on his bike, but that was just a smile and a wave.

But actually... I felt better as soon as I got outside! Breathing fresh air feels SO Good!

And no face explosions, and my eye quit filling up!

It's pleasantly warm with my heavy shirt and rain jacket. I'm not sneezing, I can see, YAY!

Down at the bridge, check out this duck! A bit of Leucism!

And then I hear my Kingfisher friend, she's laughing as she flies over the creek. And Oh My Gosh!! She's got a mate!!!

Oh this is so fabulous!! I'm so happy for her!!

I decide to go over this bridge for the first time.

I've never been down these streets before. It's industrial on the west side, but there's a neighborhood to the east. And then...

huh. There's a Tiny House Community here.

These tiny houses have electricity via an extension cord, but not running water. There will be Porta Potties, and shower space around here somewhere. And a Community Kitchen and gathering space.

And that's a lot of chickens.

The Chickens make me sad. But I suppose that's an effecient way to feed a lot of people.

When I walk past the community entrance, I recognize one of the buildings! This place was in the news recently!

∞ Eugene's Everyone Village opens innovative on-site clinic

∞ The Register Guard: West Eugene's Everyone Village opens on-site medical clinic

That's awesome!

I've walked back around to the bike path and oh, hey! Black Phoebe!!

Well crum... I was balancing my elbows on the railing of the bridge, and I really thought I'd get better photos! ha. oh well.

And back at home... One of our native Western Grey Squirrels...

I've seen him around, now and then, but haven't named him yet.

I get home, and I wonder if the break in my cold symptoms was a temporary thing. But I think I'm getting better!

Tag: november 2025

So, sheesh. I forgot about the time change, and got up an hour early. And I really could have used the sleep, too...

The mild disease I have has turned into an annoying head cold. Yesterday afternoon, my face started exploding and I'm sneezing and the sinus headache is worse.

bleh. But I still have energy!! ha! So I load up my pockets with kleenx and go out for a walk!

This might be a Walnut tree, but I'm just guessing.

It is really pretty tho!

Someone has dropped a bag of... food or something?

Oh, haha. Bagels!

I'm going thru the neighborhood, and oh good! People still have their Halloween decorations up!

I like the purple bat!!

Oh nice! I wonder what these are!

I really really like the blowup T-Rex above, but I think these skeletons are my favorite display.

Tag: november 2025

The sore throat has calmed down a little, but now I've got a bit of a sniffle and a sinus headache. Sneezing, too.

Bah. It's annoying but energy is still okay, and I'll keep going out walking as long as I am able!!

Grumpy Grey Cat is right outside. Yep, I know exactly what you mean, Kitty!

He or she has been a regular here this year, with neighboring cat lady feeding them. Yeah, I'm not sure if they're female or male, but they've been Trapped, Neutered and Returned (right ear tipped)!

There's some sprinkles, on and off, this morning. But it's nice and warm, 64° when I left, so that's nice. What's not nice is the 19mph wind.

I'm dropping off kitchen scraps onto the Community Garden compost pile... and there happens to be no other humans here! That's pretty unusual for a Saturday, and I aim to enjoy it!

The wind is blowing the flowers around, tho, and making the photography a little bit frustrating!

It's nice that there's still so many flowers at the Garden!

I can't help myself. I have to check on the stupid Lettuces.

I come out of the Garden and decide to walk a little bit further... just enjoying the warmer weather, despite the drizzle!

Tag: november 2025

Well, still with the sore throat. And just kind of blah in the head. But energy levels are fine, and I'm walking again today!

So I'm walking along the bike path, this Crow in front of me sees me and starts rapidly walking towards me!!!

Hello? Do I know you?

Ha! She walked so confidently towards me! and when she got a couple feet away, she just turned in front of me...

and walked into the grass...

And then she decides to go away.

so that was a funny encounter!!

:)

I decide to stop at the Solidarity Garden.

Oh my gosh, look at their Crookneck!! It's got some mildew, but it's so very much alive!

I wish my crooknecks were still alive.

The Wood Ducks!

Tag: october 2025

oh, ugh. I woke up at 2:20am with a sore throat. bah!

But I'm heading out for a walk. Yep, I'm definitely a little bit sick. But my energy is fine, and I have no trouble.

Good Morning Henrietta!

And Good Morning friend Towhee!

And the Wood Ducks, too!

Yep, they are both under there.

oh! Haha, See Ya!

The wild squash plant is starting to get droopy.

And it's single fruit is going bad.

Starlings all in a row!

I wonder what that tree is with the round fruits.

Okay. Heading home to take it easy. Maybe some vitamins and tea will make the sore throat go away.

Tag: october 2025

The fog this morning is burning off and there's a few clouds up there but the sun is emerging!

But I am feeling sorry for myself. The shin splints in my left leg are really kind of hurting this morning and walking is bothersome.

But I keep walking, regardless!

And then I hear a ruckus!! There's crows cawing and... I'm not sure, is that a hawk yelling?

I stop and look across the creek to see what's going on. It takes me a minute, but then I see!!!

Oh. My. GOSH!!! An OWL!!!!!

There's all this squawking going on around her, and she's just: Dang it, people. I need some sleep!

*laughs* So, okay. No ears on this owl, and she's pretty good size. Not small.

Ah. Barred Owl.

This is the owl that conservationist want to murder because they are taking away nesting spaces from our little, native Northern Spotted Owl. Which is a perfectly shitty thing to do.

Meantime, this one continues getting mobbed by everyone around her!

I saw the flash of red, and assumed that was a Red Shoulder Hawk. but nope. When I zoom in...

Cooper Hawk!!

The hawk lands in the next tree over...

The hawk is not cooperative at all, but I get confirmation. Def not a Red Shoulder!

But back to our owl... just look at how cute her face is!

Poor owl. The Cooper Hawk is to the left, and on the right...

There's some crows yelling at her!

Just need to get some sleep.

Well. I walk on. and decide to go into the Community Garden.

There's no one here, so I go down the aisles...

And Oh My Gosh, AGAIN!

Ha! A Wilson Snipe!

The only shorebird that I actually know. I wonder if I can get a better view, and start moving around. But she's a nervous thing, and flies away.

Oh well.

I look at the stupid lettuce.

and head out.

Tag: october 2025

I have kind of been avoiding the ICE news. I want to keep informed, for sure, but honestly, it makes me cry after reading a couple paragraphs about what ICE is doing.

And ICE has been stepping up their evil, here in Eugene and today's news article sent me over the edge.

∞ Venezuelan asylum seeker swept up in Woodland Creek FBI raid (and in case you hit the pay wall there, I've saved this as a PDF here.)

This apartment complex is in my neighborhood, barely over a block away!

It just terrifies me. As a asylum seeker, this guy was in the US legally, and was kidnapped by federal officers... ICE is bad enough, but FBI now going into people's homes is terrifying!

It's terrifying. It's ethnic cleansing. Straight up, it's ethnic cleansing.

ICE and other federal agents are kidnapping people who are here legally, who have done nothig wrong. ICE is using excessive force, and in general they don't have warrents. (600 of Chicago's ICE detainees are being released because a judge found they did a bunch of illegal, warrantless arrests.) We've got effing concentration camps all over the US.

They've been assulting citizens as well, no one is safe from ICE... Oregon DOJ says videos show federal agents using excessive force against anti-ICE protesters

It's just so disgusting that this is America now.

Tag: november 2025

The weather page says 50° and 5mph wind... but the wind is a bit more brisk than that and I'm glad I grabbed the rain jacket to act as a wind breaker!

Hi Henrietta!

My left leg and ankle have been acting up for a week or so. Shin splints. I'm finally starting to pay attention and change up the morning exercises. Hopefully that will help.

It's more, just annoying, and it won't slow me down!

Starlings.

Invasive but cute!

Aw, Baby Squirrel at Blazey's old spot...

Maybe he's a descendant of that one squirrel who was eating Blazey's cat food all the time! haha!

I go into the garden, and huh. This is new.

I hope this doesn't mean they will build the new fence on the inside of the old fence. That would make the outside pathways really narrow!

Okay. Today I am assessing the Beet situation, since I got distracted yesterday!

I pulled up a giant Beet to take home, and there's one more giant beet here.

Four normal sized beets. And a bunch of seedlings and about 1inch beets, which should all be fine over the winter and grow for a spring harvest, perhaps!

But today's harvest... mmm!

hey, the Cosmos at the big trellis is starting to lean!

Tag: october 2025

Well. The sun shines and I've got the camera battery charged up! *laughs*

Will I see ANY of the wildlife I got to see yesterday, when I couldn't take the photos??

No. Of course not!

There's a little group of Golden Crown Sparrows. They are bouncing around and a little too far away.

Maybe I could catch one of yall in the sun?

GACK!

Welp. Today is not my day with the birds. Typical.

Maybe I will find something interesting in the Community Garden. There's other people here today, so I stick to my own plot.

This is kind of hard to make out, with the Crazy Neighbor's tomatoes on the left. But this is my Sunchoke...

It's already shutting down for the season. It only had about a dozen or so flowers, and the birds have already plucked all of them.

I can see it's got a good load of roots to harvest, tho! Too bad I don't like them! *laughs*

But I'm thinking about leaving the roots this time and gathering a few after some frosts. Which will be in January or February. Supposedly the roots get sweet after a frost, and the sugars change. So maybe I will like it better then.

Oh cool! These Tomatillo husks are skeletonizing right on the vine!

And a bug! Spotted Cucumber Beetle.

I actually meant to get a Beet today. But I looked around and found some other groceries!!

When I go to load up my backpack, I notice these things at the back of Kevin's trellis...

What in the world?! They are very small, about 1inch long.

Cucamelons!!!

Wow, how interesting! They are native to Central America. They taste like sour cucumbers, you can enjoy them raw or they make great pickles.

Aw, they are also called Mouse Melons! How adorable!

Here's the Lettuces that are tormenting me.

I'm heading out and oops, I almost step on these.

Tag: october 2025

The Camellia bush is just starting to bloom!

But as I'm taking photos, I realize the battery light is flashing.

Well, shoot. I forgot to charge the battery. Well, that's okay... I've usually got about five minutes of life left when it starts flashing. That should be ...

And the camera beeps three times and turns itself off.

Oh No!

I turn it back on and the message on the screen says Oh Hell No!

ha.

And what do you think happened after that?

ALL THE WILDLIFE comes out!

There was a Kestrel on one of the solar panels. Flew over the prairie, pounced! Did they catch someone? Comes back to another solar panel. (To rearrange the luggage?) Then flies away, I can't see if they are holding anyone.

ARG! I don't think I've ever seen a Kestrel here!

There's a Nutria, grooming on the other side of the creek.

Next up is a Black Phoebe, making loops over the bike path, from perches in the trees next to the creek.

Then I hear a Towhee just before the Community Garden. Creeeeaak like a rusty door.

But a little bird, who is definitely not a Towhee, flies up to the other side of the creek... I see a pale patch at the base of their back. So that might have been a Yellow Rump Warbler, but who knows without the camera.

I see Cloudy Sky the Great Blue Heron. I've not seen them in ages!

The Belted Kingfisher flew by me! Settled on a branch, saw me and then flew towards me!! I would not have been able to get her pic, but they are definitely female, I saw her rusty coloured band!!

And then the Cackling Geese are at the Events Center, again. Remember last year when I found a few geese with Leucism? Are they still around? I'd like get some photos of the flock, so I can zoom in and look.

But nope. Sighs. Very bummed, very bummed. But this is my own fault!!

All the wildlife is crazy, but of course that's what happens!

*laughs* and *shakes head*

Tag: october 2025

It was pouring down rain this morning when I got out of bed. And it continued to pour, until the very moment when I thought I should go out for a walk!

The rain stopped. And now the clouds are moving around and the sun is peeking thru!

I love the couple of deciduous trees that are in the Douglas Fir forest on the hills!

Hello Pretty, Little Birds!

That's a Golden Crown Sparrow on the left and behind the tree cage is a White Crown Sparrow.

I went into the Community Garden and I started taking pictures of these Cosmos... but then I realized I could see MY Cosmos in the background, and I tried to get artsy!

*laughs* Whatever! :)

At my plot, of course I stop to look at the stupid Lettuces...

They are making a come back. But it's just to torment me. I'm sure the slugs will munch them all the way to death very soon.

I decide to walk a little bit further before heading home. And I come across this group of Crows!

A different view of the hill!

As I'm walking, some more clouds have been rolling in. And pretty soon it's sprinkling.

And in a minute it is pouring down rain again!

But there's a group of geese! First sighting of Cackling Geese! *laughs* The camera lens gets wet as I take the pictures of them, but oh well!

And I'm totally soaked by the time I get home, but that's fine... a hot meal and a hot shower are bliss!

Tag: october 2025

It is such a dreary day! The clouds are thick, and I keep thinking they are going to open up and pour down rain on me!

But nope. I get a few sprinkles during my walk, but no rain. The clouds just hang there.

oh nice! There's no cars in the parking lot of the Garden, and I'm the only human! Let's look at everyone else's plots!!

Oooh! These black cherry tomatoes!

Yep! Next year I am definitely getting a purple or black tomato!!

I've made my way around to my own garden plot. The Stupid Lettuces.

Well. Nevermind that. Look at the pretty Basil which has gone to seed!

Ha! With an artsy twist of Wax Bean vine!

Okay. I'm heading out, but first going up my aisle to look at these Cosmos before I go... I just adore this unique colour!!

And on my way home, it's Earl the Grey Squirrel!

Of course, he can't be bothered with the photography.

And then I was thinking about the photo I got yesterday of that dead white tree trunk.

Here it is from almost the same angle as yesterday.

I will be so sad when they cut down that trunk.

Tag: october 2025

Some fog this morning, but it has burned off and now the sun shines.

And when I come around the corner on the bike path, the colours surprise me!

The Wood Ducks!

Whoops! My staring at them has woken them up and they decide to move on.

I stop to look at the Solidarity Garden. The delightful fig bush.

Here's one that's starting to ripen!

The sun hasn't quite made it around to these Dahlias.

Their Sunchoke is doing a lot better than mine!

Hoverfly!!

When I get back to the creek, there's a Kingfisher laughing as she flies up and down stream. She flies right by me several times, and of course will not sit for me.

I think this is someone new. Her laugh is very fast and insistent.

But she's alone, I don't see or hear a mate calling with her.

Tag: october 2025

A female Flicker, looking for ants in the crack in the bike path!

Oh good. Someone has finally noticed this invasive Tree of Heaven and has started killing it.

When I looked out across the parking lot...

ummm, oh my gosh, funny!

The Crow and the Gull are going back and forth, dragging the takeout container away from the other...

Whoop! We've got reinforcements for both sides coming in!

Oh, this new Gull is a different species! And much bigger!

Yeah, I think we have a winner for this competition!

I decide to go into the garden.

The amazing Cosmos!

And the poor little Lettuces. I mean, technically they are still alive.

Oh! Here's a Lesser Goldfinch! They are here all thru the year, but I rarely see them during to summer while they nest.

Getting artsy with the Cosmos!

And going home with something!

Tag: october 2025

Yep. It's impossible to walk past the Persimmon tree without getting photos!

Wow. All the Blackberries that haven't been eaten! A bonanza for the birds!

There's a handful of birds flying LOW over the prairie. Who are they? Too far away and it's too gloomy...

Oh well.

There's a cute mixed group of little birds in the thicket.

Juncos

House Finches

And Golden Crown Sparrows.

Cute, cute, cute!

I don't meet up with any birds in the little patch of forest. But that's okay.

Tag: october 2025

The wild squash plant over the creek.

Oh hey! It's the Red Shoulder Hawk again... no snake this time!

I go into the Community Garden and walk around before going to my plot.

Haha, and then he comes over for pets!

I oblige him!

He goes about his day, and I go about mine.

And he hasn't scared all the birds away!

At my garden plot, I pointedly do NOT look at the stupid Lettuce.

The Borage is still alive, but the Butternut vine is dying! I can bring home the one and only winter squash any time!

The fruits inside these Tomatillo husks are pretty small, but I suppose you can eat them before they ripen.

A couple more Sungolds that will have to ripen on the counter at home.

And the glorious volunteer Cosmos.

Okay! Heading out.

Tag: october 2025

I cried myself to sleep last night.

And getting up this morning, I was all set to email and postcard the eight politicians who betrayed the American People...

But in reading about it today, it turns out the eight were throwaway pawns. They were carefully chosen and told to vote the way they did.

So, this is 100% Chuck Schumer.

It's probably still worth sending the postcards to the eight... spineless losers. But I'll be saving most of my vitriol for that bastard Schumer.

Senator Chuck Schumer
322 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510

∞ Angry Democrats call on Schumer to resign after eight vote to end shutdown Some lawmakers and progressive groups blame minority leader after eight senators defect

Actually the first thing I read this morning was the email from Indivisible. It's a good run down...

∞ Senate Democrats surrendered

∞ PoliticGirl, Don't Give Up!

So. We're not going to have ObamaCare... and with the Medicaid cuts as well, hospitals will close without that money. Trump is still pushing to cut off SNAP, and grocery stores will close without that money.

It feels like Doom. But we're not actually there yet. We don't know what will happen.

So! I'm writing some postcards.

And then I will continue going out for my walks. My work here is to share Nature with you!! Please scroll down and enjoy!! Let your brain calm down and relax.

Tag: november 2025

When I got home from the Protest yesterday, I got some lunch and then I spent the rest of the afternoon, and into the evening, processing the zillions of photos I had taken!

Ha! It took SO Long!

Heavy clouds and so dark, first thing this morning. But the clouds are moving around a lot by the time I get out the door! I see blue sky but the forecast says 80% rain today so I'm definitely taking the rain jacket!

And the clouds have rolled in again.

When I arrive a the garden, it's been sprinkling off and on. But look at the glorious volunteer Cosmos! Hundreds of blooms!!

But then I look down. oh, the Lettuce.

WAI! My Salad! Aww, you stupid slugs!

sighs.

I try to go back to the beautiful Cosmos, to cheer myself up...

But it's just pouring down rain now.

So I'm going home. The slug munched Lettuces are a major disappointment... But Lettuce is always a long shot in the Garden plot anyway.

And the clouds have rained themselves out!

And ya know? I'm happy to be rained on today... it means we didn't get rained on yesterday during the NoKings protest! The weather for the protest was so amazingly perfect!!

Tag: october 2025

Continuing with the NoKings Protest photos I started in the previous post!

Check out the lady on the left, she's given away all her whistles...

This is something that Chicago is doing and it's brilliant.

∞ Migra Whistle

That website has a 3D printer file to make a whistle and a PDF to print a zine with info and instructions.

When you see ICE, whistle in three short bursts. If ICE is actively detaining or kidnapping someone, whistle in long blasts.

When you hear whistles, come out and document!!

The PIRC Hotline is in Oregon, so be sure to google your state to see if you've got your own organization to report to!

And, incidentaly, here's the Boston Terrier and I am Antifa dinosaur I saw earlier! It's crazy, with all the thousands of people that this keeps happening!

Okay... Do I like the Unicorns better?

Or the Axolotls? *laughs*

Oh my gosh. I just walked right by Peter Defazio!!!

It took a few seconds to register, but then I turned around and came back. Sure enough, it's him! Peter Defazio was one of Oregon's Representatives for almost 30 years and he did good work. I was sad to see him retire in 2023.

I wanted to get a photo with him... but I was too shy to ask! Ha.

And shortly after that a woman tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around and she says, I think we live in the same apartment complex? She named the place where I live and ha! I didn't recognize her, but her friend lives in the building right across from mine!

Haha, this guy's taco shirt! and the bee!

At this point, there were quite a few people carrying their small dogs. I think we are all getting a bit over-stimulated!

And this I Tread on Tyranny with the kitty! HA!

On the right of the above pic... A Lion King reference! The hyenas singing No King, No King, La la la la. :)

So many brilliant signs!

Our Only Monarch!!

Make Treason Wrong Again!!

Also, on the left of the above:
When I see a policeman with a club beating a man on the ground, I don't have to ask what side I'm on. -- Orwell

The Greatness of a Nation is measured by how it treats the least among us.

Anne Frank said: What is done cannot be undone. But one can prevent it from happening again.

Not sure what the Silent Bob sign above is referencing. And, top right... ha, I noticed a few signs with misspellings!

It's a bit after noon, now, and I think I'm done. The march will continue down to City Hall on the river, and I would love to walk the Riverbank path... but nope, I'm done.

I turn back. I thought I was close to the end of the march by now, but even walking against the flow, it's still ten more minutes before I hit the end of the marching protesters!! There's a cop car following the last of the people walking in the street...

But actually, there's quite a few protesters walking on the sidewalks behind!

On my way back to the bus station, I ran into one of my bike path people!! She had left her little black pug at home, he's older and she usually walks with him in a stroller, these days. And again, it's crazy to me to find people I know in all these thousands!!

I saved my favorite moment for the end of this post...

There was a little bit of space in front of these two T-Rexs, a break in the crowd...

And they grabbed each others hand and skipped down the street!!

Awww! So Sweet! I think they're in Love!

And I am too! America has been broken by evil people... but We The People are going to fix it and it will be even better than before!!

Tag: october 2025

Yay! Today is the Day! NoKings Protest and March!

Chilly last night and we've got heavy clouds this morning. It looks like rain, actually, and I briefly consider taking my rain jacket. But no! The clouds are starting to break up and it seems like today's forecast of sun and 69° is going to happen!

A PERFECT day for a protest!!

I took the fast transit bus again and walked from the hub. I went around the edges of Saturday Market, which was bustling as usual even tho it must have been tough finding parking at this point.

And I was approaching the courthouse around 10:45am. There had been speeches since 10am, with ever more people coming. And there were people everywhere!!

People Everywhere!!

*laughs* So I waded in. There were inflatable costumes all over the place as well... I almost stepped on a T-Rex tail! Haha!

And, in fact, there was a gathering of people with inflatables!

And over here a gathering of frogs with homemade masks!!

Quite a few dogs here, too!

The Boston Terrier above has a sign that says No Dog Killers, Send Kristi Noem to the pound!

I've just been wandering around aimlessly, but I wanted to be close to the drummers when they start the march at 11am. They aren't quite organized, it seems, and I've gone past them... and I happen to be in the street when a bunch of people decide to start the March in front of the drummers!

It was actually intimidating seeing this wall of people walking right at me!! But I clutched the camera, and that gave me confidence!!

I stepped to the side and let the people flow by.

The above I Heart My Portland sign is referencing the Emergency Naked Bike Ride that happened in Portland, Oregon a few days ago!

∞ Emergency Naked Bike Ride
Presence as power marks massive pedaling protest against Trump

Not all of the inflatable costumes were full body... There were a variety of creatures like this one.

Frogs are an indicator species! Ha!

Ha! When I first arrived today, I had walked towards the courthouse next to the lady in pink with the terrier!

Another gathering of frogs!!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Tag: october 2025

Woolly Bear!

I put my hand down in front of her and she climbed up like a pro and then I took her into the grass in the direction she was heading.

Ha, this wild winter squash is still alive even tho the three cold nights totally killed the squashes in the garden plot! It must be quite a bit warmer by the water.

The river is around 55° this time of year. I suppose the creek water is a bit cooler than than. Or maybe not.

At the Community Garden, I go by Roz's plot on my way to mine.

Oh weird. I suppose the cold nights have done this to the Tomatillos.

Ha, you can see the condensation on the inside!

The top of the Perth Pride has died, but there's still some living, green leaves on the bottom.

The one lettuce in the clump still has it's bigger leaf, but the others are getting slowly munched.

And this little green lettuce over here has been munched almost down to the ground. Grr!

I should stop looking at the stupid Lettuces. Here. No one is bothering the Beets and there are huge ones, and little ones coming along!

And here's a pretty view, looking past my volunteer Red Amaranth and Borage to the Cosmos in the neighbor's plot.

I'm ready to go, but decide to make a loop around the Community Garden first. I just LOVE the dusky rose shade of these Cosmos, a few plots away!!

And these Strawflowers are really pretty as well!

I'm out, and I decide to go up to Dragonfly Land, where the Hawk was yesterday.

As I'm approaching the bridge, I hear an angry creature yelling from the left! And then two long creatures come dashing out of the grass... I don't even register who they are, but I know without a doubt a little female is pissed, and chasing away a male!!

And he's running away! Nobody wants to face an angry woman!!

They are Minks! And I'm delighted!

He goes down into the creek and I wonder if I can catch him in the water. I wait a few minutes, and yep, he starts swimming across. But he sees me and turns around and hides again.

But eventually he gets his courage up, and goes across...

I only see him for a couple seconds.

And then he dives and is gone.

Maybe he has a den dug into that side of the creek. Or he's just climbed up on the other side and is hidden under the thicket.

So that's totally exciting! I wonder how long they've been living here! I think Minks are nocturnal, so this was a pretty lucky sighting.

Tag: october 2025

It was chilly again last night, got down to 36°. But the sun is warming the earth quite nicely this morning!

Oh! That little Nuthatch from the other day is hanging out at this Bluebird nest box again.

I do go into the garden, but I just futz around for a few minutes. I check in with the little Lettuce seedlings, but realize that looking at them every day just gets my hopes up. And that's a bad idea.

So, here's the volunteer pea plant, instead!

I'm walking out to Dragonfly Land, and WHOA!

A Hawk POUNCES on someone in the grass! And then carries them to a tree right next to the bike path!

Red Shoulder Hawk... and she's found her favorite meal, a snake!

Poor snake. A decent sized Garter Snake, probably just out getting some sun.

Okay. That look is telling me to move on! So I do.

Huh. These acorns fell without their hats!

Tag: october 2025

Yesterday morning I woke up with an exciting idea!

This weekend is the NoKings Protest, and I am so very excited!

I was thinking I could host a swap about the protest... write a letter about your experiences. Everyone is sure to have fun at their protests, and talking about it in a letter will just extend the happiness!

So, I set up a couple of swaps first thing in the morning! A No Kings! Letter and a No Kings! Email and Photos

And today I'm so happy to see that three people have signed up for the Letter swap, and three people are watching the Email swap!!

This is Great! And I only wish I had thought of the swaps earlier, so there's more time for people to think about it and signup. And as far as I know, no one else has hosted any protest swaps this year.

So now I am excited about the protest this weekend in so many different ways! *laughs*

Heading out for my walk... Here's the neighbor's outside kitty, Riley. I do not approve of the outside-ness. But he seems to be a nice boy, if a bit skittish around humans he doesn't know.

Oh, it's been ages since I've seen new Suspish art!

I'm at the garden, and spot this when I'm walking in. ugh...

This plot had a beautiful hedge of Zinnias and Morning Glories on the right side. I wonder if the gardeners are leaving or if they just want to start fresh next year.

I don't approve of the black plastic, either. Like there isn't enough plastic in our environment! And plastic out in the elements, heated up by the sun, rained on and maybe frozen? Leaching toxic chemicals right into the dirt where you are going to grow your food!

I don't know why people think this is a good idea!!

To cheer myself up, I go look at someone else's Zinnias!

It got down to freezing again last night, and the summer squash plants are done.

The squashes left on that plant aren't big enough to bother with, but I do grab one of the tiny zucs...

But actually the end of that zuc is soft, I might not be able to eat it after all.

Well, I'm glad I'm still getting Wax Beans at least!

And the Lettuces don't mind the cold, tho they aren't growing very fast.

The biggest leaf above is not quite 2inches tall!

This green one over here is getting munched, but the purple ones seem like they are going to do stuff.

Yeah, I'm getting hopeful about salad!

As I'm heading out, oh! A little group of Bushtits.

But they Always bounce around too quickly.

*laughs* oh well!

Tag: october 2025

Remember that ugly as sin fence section they put up the other day. Yeah, that didn't last very long! The homeless people have cut a section so they can get thru.

Let's see. They put the fence up on Oct1... I'm kinda surprised it lasted two weeks! but yeah, entirely predictable, a waste of money, and just plain stupid.

There's some sparrows here again.

Hey! Don't yank on my tail feathers!

I'll tell Mom on you!

The cold last night mostly killed the Crooknecks and the Zuc. The forecast said 38° but it actually got down to 33°. At least they gave a frost advisory this time.

sighs, it just makes me sad that the Trump regime has destroyed the weather service so much that we can't depend on the forecast anymore. It was just 5 degress off this time, but we used to have perfectly exact numbers with the 'day before' forecast. Making America Great? More like making America a third world country.

The ripe Sungolds were cracked, and I tossed a lot. These will ripen on the counter at home.

And now I have to revel in the blue sky and my Cosmos!!

Oh shoot! Virescent Metallic Sweat Bee!! And she flew away after this single photo!

And a teeny tiny fly! All the cute little pollinators!!

Okay! I'm a sucker for the flowers. I could probably stand here for an hour or so! But let's move on!

The little clump of Lettuces.

And the Lettuces over here.

And I head out. As I'm walking on the bike path around the Community Garden... Hello?

Ha. Nuthatches look funny when they stand there like a normal bird!

Here we go! The standard Nuthatch pose!

And heading home... Earl!

And... typical.

*laughs*

Tag: october 2025

It is SOOO COLD!

I wasn't paying attention to the temperature before I left the house... and it's COLD! It's 45° and there's a brisk 12mph wind. Plus a bit of rain, but that's no trouble.

The work crew came thru here yesterday, weed whacking the blackberry vines... And Look! They left this wild squash plant! Ha!

So impressive! Draped over that Willow, it's probably a good 9 feet long! And it's got a fruit coming along!

And the Wood Ducks are here again!!

All the ducks are under the bridge this time, and there's not enough light for the camera.

Maybe we will call these photos Artsy instead of just Crappy. hahah!

Ever more autumn colour is starting to show!

I'm at the Community Garden... there's some kind of Mint blooming in the path.

I disturb some sparrows as I walk up to my plot. But one has just flown to Kevin's trellis at the back...

Oh my gosh! A White Throat Sparrow!

They are winter visitors here, and I read such an interesting article about them in Scientific American.

∞ This Backyard Bird Has a Lot to Teach Us about Sex Variability White-throated Sparrows demonstrate that traits we usually associate with sex can be influenced by genes that are not on sex chromosomes

(It looks like you can read a couple articles there before their paywall kicks in. That article about the sparrows is long but absolutely fascinating!!) (I LOVE my subscription to Scientific American!!)

Here's a decent photo. This is the tan-striped morph, tho I don't know what it means that the white patch at their throat is so very white. That isn't how it's shown on the Scientific American chart!!

Well. They fly away and I do my garden things.

Ha! Birds are already pulling off the petals of the Sunchoke!

I can't imagine there's been time enough for the flowers to make seeds yet. I think the birds are jumping the gun!

And then I get buzzed by a hummingbird. Ha. She? She pauses at the Pet Nasturtium blooms to get some nectar. A moment at Kevin's trellis...

And then she goes over to a Trumpet Vine, where I lose her. foo. I look at my own trellis instead!

On the way out, I check on the Lettuces. Still getting tiny munches every day.

And I run into Earl the Grey Squirrel again!

Ha. I could have called him Mister Muddy! I've never seen anyone so consistently covered in mud!! That's what you get when you bury your nuts in the bank of the creek!

I'm sure his muddy bits are cold, tho. Makes me wonder if he will actually stick around.

Tag: october 2025

Oh! Wood Ducks!!

There's some Mallards gathered near the bridge... I bet the guy brought grain for them this morning! The Wood Ducks must have partaken as well!!

Unfortunately, I don't get good pics today. But this pair has been visiting the creek during the off season for several years now. I'm sure I'll get another chance with them!

And look at how glorious the volunteer Cosmos is!

The Sungold in the Fallow Area is still trying to do it's thing!

The other Sungold in the tomato patch is closer to giving up.

This Tomatillo sprang up as a very late volunteer in the Fallow Area... It's got loads of very large husks, but the fruits inside them are very small. They won't have time to get to full size or ripen.

The Lettuce seedlings, slowly getting a bit more munched by the slugs every day.

But the little Lettuces are just so cute, I can't help but have hopes for them to live!

And the Echinacea from Roz is doing just fine!

Before I go I must admire the Cosmos some more!

Tag: october 2025

Good Morning My Dear!

Oh! Baby!

What's that? You're not a baby? *laughs* Okay. Youngster!

There is an event at the Community Garden. Probably fun but not my thing. A tasting and recipe share. Kevin said he was bringing his radish kimchi... *laughs*

I don't like to cook, so of course I have nothing to bring. And being vegan, makes stuff like this a bit awkward... especially when I don't bring anything.

So I walked right on by the Community Garden. I could see they had set up a tent and a handful of people at the picnic table. eh, good for them!

I walk past the Leaning Tree saplings as well.

I'm still looking for an angle that will compliment these cute little trees.

The invasive Tree of Heaven is still here, but nearby a baby Oak has come up!

Unfortunately, not a descendant of the original Leaning Tree, which was a White Oak. But I am happy to welcome a squirrel planted acorn which has made good! :)

I go around the corner and see the Honey Bees still have their nest!

I'm glad they didn't get removed, even tho this tree is right next to the sidewalk!

Coming home, I meet up with this Western Grey Squirrel again.

He's definitely burying a nut here, so maybe that means he will stick around for a while?

This is the 4th time I've seen him but I was fumbling for a name. My Brother suggested Earl.

My first thought was the Earl the dog from the comic strip Mutts!

Mom's first thought was Earl the Squirrel! *laughs* it rhymes!

But Brother is shaking his head, Earl Grey Tea.

ha! Perfect!

Tag: october 2025

I had to close the windows of the house last night. Too cold! And it's sprinkled and rained all thru the night and into the morning.

I've decided to go out to Stewart Pond Park... with the rain and the chill -- it's 54° when I leave -- probably no one is playing Frisbee Golf.

They've mowed some of the prairie here. That's nice. It'll make it easier to see the ducks and shorebirds, once the ponds fill up for the rainy season!

oooh! Cackling Geese or Canada Geese?

You'd think I'd be able to tell the Canadas from the Cacklers by their voices. But, nope, I can't!

And who's this over here??

There's actually two of them. They land in a far off tree. Way too far off! But I dutifully take photos, hoping for an identification!

And look! A pair of Kestrels!

The female on the right was less cooperative, but the male on the left, you can just barely see the blue of his wings.

Kestrels are the coolest. I wish I got to see them more often!

At the trail head... ha.

This is BLM land, and I suppose they are talking about the mowing... which looks to be about done, unless they meant to mow all of the wet prairie. They've mowed thru the Frisbee Golf course as well.

There's some birds fluttering out there, close to the ground. But they are even farther off than the Kestrels and the camera gets next to nothing. The bright yellow? Shorebird, I suppose.

I walk into the patch of forest, and find more blurry birds! *laughs*

A mixed group of sparrows. Juncos, Golden Crowns, White Crowns and a pair of Towhees. Not that they grace me with decent photography or anything!

Sheesh, why does the best focus always happen when they are looking away? *laughs*

There's construction happening this summer on the other side of the ditch at the back of the park.

And there's a couple frogs singing back here! They are on this side of the ditch, and I wish I could find them. But they've hidden themselves very well. As usual!

On the way home, I notice the Hawthorn pomes. All the Hawthorn trees around here are having a Great year. Loaded with fruits!!

And one more missed bird opportunity! *laughs* Steller Jay.

Tag: october 2025

I took the mail out to the mailbox first thing this morning. Blue sky and I could see my breath for a couple puffs!! Eeek, was it supposed to get that cold?

No. The forecast said 45° and it actually got down to 35°!! What the heck?!

That's been happening pretty often this year. This year after DOGE has come thru and the Trump regime is ruining all of our goverenment services.

If I could wave a magic wand, I would remove that traitor and rapist. I would set everything right.

But of course, there's no magic wand! Instead, We The People are fighting for democracy. And WE will win!

A Scrub Jay flew away. And then a Flicker flew away. And now a Steller Jay is way too bouncy.

*laughs* That's how it goes sometimes!!

At the Community Garden, they are bull dozing the compost pile!

The dump truck is not here, and that makes me wonder how many loads it takes to clear the pile!

A local company takes the organic matter, composts it properly! We also have curbside food waste collection here in the city, which also gets properly composted. They bag and sell some of the resulting compost, and some gets offered back to the community for free!

Unfortunately, since I live in an apartment complex, we do not get the curbside service. I regularly bring kitchen scraps to the Comm Garden pile, of course. But it's a bummer that so many residents can't participate.

It's just me and the tractor guy, and eventually the dump truck guy, at the garden! Walk about, looking at everyone's flowers!!

I thought I was going to do some garden cleanup... but everything is still so green and alive! I can't bear to pull up living plants!

And look! One of the Nasturtiums is making a seed!

The Goldenrod is leaning over, and the bugs have moved on, it seems.

Hopefully this Brandywine will ripen at home... but with those deep cracks, it might just rot instead.

The Sungolds aren't quite ripe either, but a few days on the counter will fix that!

This little Lettuce has gotten munched some more.

And there's a couple munches on the clump as well.

I really should let go of my hopes for salad.

Look how glorious the Cosmos are at the big trellis!

Heading out, and a Seven Spot Ladybug catches my eye!

Oh! I don't get to see their underside very often!

Ha, there's a little patch of Milkweeds right next to this plot.

Tag: october 2025

I sat down and shelled the dried peas and Sorana beans...

And look! The Snap Peas have some Weevils coming out of them!

So that's interesting! They look about the same size and shape as the Broadbean Weevils in the Fava beans, but are a different species: Pea Weevils of course! It's nice when creatures have good, descriptive names like that!

Heading out. Some clouds today!

I stop by one of the Pear trees. Wow, so much fruit!

I'm at the garden and no one is here... and someone left the gate unlocked. *cursing* Jerks.

*laughs*

Oh hey! A Yellow Rump Warbler! Not that they bother to turn around for me...

Recently, I've learned that these birds are affectionately called Butter Butts. Haha!

At my plot, I've decided to pull these Crooknecks. A smooth one from a bought transplant, and a rough one from one that I planted as seed. They are pretty small, but don't seem to be growing bigger, just turning a darker yellow.

The back of the big trellis, the Wax Bean vines are starting to die back. *little sad*

Oh foo! *laughs*

And my lovely Cosmos!

And look at the cute little Lettuce seedlings!

And this awesome multicoloured one!

This kitty leaves the garden at the same time I do. She greets me, but doesn't let me get close.

Oh! The pair of Hooded Mergansers!

And this time, the female is waiting for her hood feathers to grow!

The Belted Kingfisher flew by me again. Flying just a foot or so above the water. She's quiet again, not declaring the territory.

Tag: october 2025

The full moon caught my eye last night.

And this morning, I'm off to the Garden.

Seeing all the Woodland Skippers at the Community Garden this year, makes me happy!

Her cute little tongue! But that wing must be painful.

And my cute little Lettuces!

uh oh. This one over here has gotten munched.

Okay, so today I'm going to gather some Fava beans so that I can replant them for another winter cover crop.

The big Fava in the front is the only Fava to survive thru the last winter, and I def want to keep that DNA! When I go to it, tho, I see a Daddy Longlegs Spider is hanging out in one of the pods!

*laughs* I gently poke her and she moves on so I can do some work!

And wow, there's a lot of beans on this one plant! Awesome.

Then I check out the Fallow Area. I planted bought Fava beans here in the spring, and I can harvest some from them as well.

I gather beans from the dry brown pods, and leave the green ones for later.

And then, on a whim, I decide to check on the Sorana beans. Oh, hey! Those vines are all dead! It's well hidden under the Wax Beans, so I didn't notice that before.

The vines didn't get very big... They didn't get the chance to. The Soranas were one of the freebie veggie starts that I planted way late, and were way root bound. But I've pulled off 12 bean pods! Awesome! I can plant these next year and maybe get enough of a harvest to make some soup!

The lightest tan Fava beans are from the Fallow Area.

And that perfectly round hole in the top bean? That's made by a Broadbean Weevil, a harmless bug. The damage to the bean is negligible... It causes about 15% less productivity in the plant that grows from the seed. That would matter in a commercial setting, but makes no difference to us in the garden!

And in fact, as I handle the bag of Favas, a couple Weevils fly out! *laughs* Fly Free, my cute little bugs!

As I'm packing up to leave the garden, there's some crows making a fuss. They are mobbing a Red Shoulder Hawk!!

And when I get home, I put the beans in front of the fan to dry.

The bag on the left is holding the Snap Peas I had found the other week. I haven't taken the time to shell them.

I also cut up the rest of the Green Zebras to freeze!

Tag: october 2025

I'm out at Dragonfly Land, and there's a big group of Cedar Waxwings!!

Anyone care for some photography?

Oh, hey! Thank You!

That's a juvenile... doesn't quite have that lovely mask, and the stripes on her chest is also a juvenile trait.

I'm at my plot in the Garden, and looking around.

Ha. The Sungold in the back has reached all the way over to the Strawberry's Pet Nasturtium!

And the Brandywine and the Old German have become intertwined!!

And there are a few more blooms on the Sunchoke!

It got a pretty late start because I tried to kill it last winter! ha! I had dug up all the roots I could get down to, but I missed a few roots that were buried deep.

And when the leaves started popping up at the beginning of the summer, yeah, I just couldn't bear to kill it some more.

And this time around? Do I try to kill it again, this winter??? ... I'll have to do something. Even trying to kill it, it gets so big! I don't know. I will have to think about it.

All the tiny Lettuce seedlings are still alive. Here's the clump, it's about one inch tall, maybe.

And then I was looking up at the Tomatillo, and realized I could get an artsy photo with the Cosmos in the background!

I've gathered the day's harvest.

And I'm heading home.

The Kingfisher flies by and laughs! Ha. I wonder if we will ever get to meet!

and then I see that Western Grey Squirrel again. But he refuses to let me get a decent photo! That's his fluffy tail on the left side of this pic...

*laughs* He's a funny guy! And this is the third time I've seen him, so it's time to start thinking about a name for him! :)

Tag: october 2025

Tag: october 2025

Tag: october 2025

Tag: october 2025

∞ Trump Gets Away With Sh*tting On Half The Country Because That's The Whole GOP Platform Anyway... Name one Republican policy that isn't about hurting someone.

I have been thinking along these lines as well, ever since the start of the government shutdown.

Here's my understanding of the situation...

The government was providing extra funds to ObamaCare so that even poor people could get some health insurance. Those funds are expiring and now many millions of people aren't going to be able to afford the health insuranace any more.

Republicans are fine with this and don't want to put any more money towards ObamaCare.

((( Except, hey. Didn't DOGE come thru, earlier this year and remove all the waste and fraud from the government? Shouldn't the government have loads of money now, for this kind of thing? hmmm??? )))

((( What's that, you say? It doesn't work like that? All of DOGE's actions actually cost the government billions of dollars? DOGE actually Created waste and fraud and America will NEVER recover from the damage done. Not to mention all the people who have died because of what DOGE did. DIED! And Are DYING! And Will DIE! )))

((( *Screaming* ))) ((( and taking a breath. Well that was a nice little tangent. But perhaps we could FOCUS on the original topic, eh! )))

So. Republicans don't want to put any money to ObamaCare. But Democrats absolutely do. In fact, they are kind of putting their foot down about it. They aren't going to sign off on anything unless all that money gets back to ObamaCare again.

And then we have Speaker Mike Johnson, who is not a leader, who has no effing clue about how to lead. or compromise. And a compromise is what is ALWAYS needed when trying to govern. Right?

But to boil it all down. Dems want people to have health insurance, and by extension, health care. Repubs want... what exactly? They want people to not have health insurance? What are people supposed to do? Just die? Is that what Repubs actually want?

I just cannot understand. I do not fucking get it.

Well. The article above is not about this, but it's a good read, if you're interested!

Tag: october 2025

Tag: october 2025

This one made me cry. and pisses me off to no end.

∞ Blind man, 4 ft 6, dragged by six ICE Agents in Portland

Roughing up a blind man? What is wrong with people?? I don't know why we have to live in this time line.

And yet again... If ICE is willing to pull this shit on citizens, when they know they are being recorded... What is happening to the people in their custody???

Tag: october 2025

Tag: october 2025

Yay! Oh my gosh! So much fun!

So many people!

I took about a million pictures and it's going to take me a few minutes to get all that organized.

Meantime, here's some local news, including photos!!

∞ KLCC Latest 'No Kings' rally brings out thousands in many Oregon communities

∞ KVAL No Kings 18 Oct (wow, loads of photos here!)

∞ LookOut Eugene Springfield Photos: Thousands take to Eugene streets for 'No Kings 2' rally

∞ (Sorry, this one is Wired Mag, and they have a paywall.) Scenes From Saturday's Nationwide 'No Kings' Protests Organizers say the No Kings protests drew more than 7 million people across 2,700 cities. The crowds included high-profile politicians, A-list celebrities, and more than a few creative inflatables.

Tag: october 2025

And I am protesting today!

It's cloudy this morning but the forecast says it'll be mostly sunny today and 69°. Sounds great!

Looks like they are saying more than 2700 events today... all across the US, including a couple dozen across the world! (Yay! Thank you for your support!)

I'm excited and nervous! But it'll be loads of fun!

Stay tuned for photos!!

Tag: october 2025

Just so we are clear!

I am signed up for the Oct18 protest and am excited about going!

It's going to be huge and it's going to be a ton of fun! I hope you will join me!! All events are explicitly peaceful and family friendy!

You can find an event near you at the site...

∞ NoKings.org

Tag: october 2025

Tag: october 2025

January 2025

February 2025

March 2025

April 2025

May 2025

June 2025

July 2025

August 2025

September 2025

January 2024 (partial)

February 2024

March 2024

April 2024

May 2024

June 2024

July 2024

August 2024

September 2024

October 2024

November 2024

December 2024

February 2023 (partial)

March 2023

April 2023

May 2023 (partial)

June 2023 (partial)

July 2023

August 2023

September 2023

October 2023

November 2023

December 2023

So I've looked at a map, and I hope I get around the new Downtown Riverfront Park without getting lost this time. It's closed because they are using it for the World Athletics Championships, which started yesterday and runs until the 25th.

This amazing mural just outside the Rose Garden was finished just in time for the Championships.

And, of course, you can't go by the Rose Garden without obsessively taking photos of the roses.

And then we gotta check the Osprey nest on the other side of the river. There's one child there today, and she takes off ... only to make a loop and come back to the nest.

XXX... Goal: Finish this post!

Tag: xxx 2022

I'm archiving the 2022 posts...

∞ January 2022

∞ February 2022

∞ March 2022
Story of nesting Anna Hummingbird begins here!

∞ April 2022
... And the nesting Hummer story continues here, until the babies fly away in mid-April!

∞ May 2022

∞ June 2022

∞ July 2022

(completed 28 May 2023...)

January thru July 2021 Archive

August 2021 Archive

September 2021 Archive

October 2021 Archive

(No entries for November 2021)

December 2021 Archive

Goal: revisit August 2021... Road Trip to Utah!

And then keep filling in posts from there thru the end of 2021.

Tag: 2021

(completed 27 Dec 2020 thru 5 Jan 2021...)

2020 Archive... January thru July

(posted 21 Apr 2023...)

2020 Archive... Aug thru Dec

GOAL...

Revisit the Aug thru Dec archive page and add photos and clear out the xxx!

Tag: 2020

(Posted 22 Dec 2020...)

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2019 journal entries

Tag: 2019

(Posted 18 Dec 2020...)

I have managed to move all of the 2018 journal entries into an archive page. I did not write very much in 2018, so I decided not to divide them up into months, like I usually do.

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2018 journal entries

Tag: 2018

(Posted 19 Dec 2020...)

I have managed to move all of the 2017 journal entries into an archive page. And again, I didn't write very much, so the posts for the entire year are on one page.

The new archive is HTML5, and completely validated!

2017 journal entries

Tag: 2017

Sat, 08 Jul 2023
Partner's Mom passed away
early this morning.