Most mornings at the first part of the past week started out foggy after cold nights in the high 40s, but there was no wind and my walks were wonderfully spooky and quiet ... fall at it's best (for me at least).

                                           

The second half of the week it rained .. and rained .. and rained some more!

Threatening skies like these were followed by pouring rain .. that little waterfall on the left of the picture is what's coming down from the roof into our rain gutter :

At times it really was raining cats and dogs ... we even had some thunder one evening!

Today we had some longer breaks in between showers and occasionally the sun came out creating rainbows ..

After spending two days pretty much inside I finally managed to go for a little walk .. everything looked very clean and fresh and vividly colored .. all dust has been thoroughly washed off!

    

I picked a few pretty branches from a shrub I have never noticed before and have no idea what it is but has nice fall colors so .. inside they went:                   

                                   

 

 

I know a flock of starlings is a murmuring but what do you call these, a bunch of starlings who arrive each morning and squawk loudly at each other in a dead poplar tree at the end of the property?  
A gossip of starlings? A racket? A congregation?

 

Of course I had to look that up.
It is called ... a filth or a chattering, a cloud, a constellation, a clutter, a scourge, or a vulgarity. Take your pick!

                                                                

They share the tree with some Acorn Woodpeckers who scream, if possible, even louder!

They're noisy but entertaining on these grey days!

Been holed up in the RV I did a lot of reading this week, even more so than normal, also because I have to finish a book (Order of Swans by Jude Deveraux) before it disappears from my Kindle (as it expires from the library) sometime tomorrow ... don't know if I'm going to make it.
(Which would suck since I waited almost 6 week to get it .. oh well).

                                                    

I baked some cookies .. snicker-doodles, and although they didn't come out as they should, they were good nevertheless. 
Very nice with a cup of hot chocolate, especially on a rainy day!

I also finished another jig-saw puzzle. This one wasn't too difficult... which sometimes is nice for a change.

                    

If everything goes according to what the weathermen are thinking we'll have 4 days of dry weather coming up followed by more rain.

Fall in Oregon .. you got to love it ... and fortunately I do!

 

When I woke up yesterday ( a little before 7am) I braved the cold temperatures (39F) to run out in my PJ's and get a nice shot of the morning sunrise ...

 

By 9am the clouds had disappeared and when I arrived at the pond in Willamina the sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky: 

 

That grass was actually slightly frozen! 

 

                                         

 

The Canadian geese have started their migration south and we see big flocks flying over, and occasionally coming down to the river and the many ponds in the area for a short rest, before resuming their way to warmer climates.
We've had them in our pond last year but this year I haven't seen any .. I was happy to hear their busy doing and honking here this morning ...

 

 

These two above which I scared into flight are no geese but Buffleheads (ducks) .. scaredy-cats!
This Blue Heron stood his ground on a little island in the pond ... he probably knows I'm not getting into that freezing water!

                            

From the pond I walked to the railway yard next to the park, in the back of which you have a peek of the river and the small waterfall through the trees .. the water is still rather low, despite the recent rain.

 

         

 

Unfortunately I can't walk to the park anymore like I used to do, by using the railroad tracks alongside the river. 
A couple of weeks ago I was stopped by police and told it was illegal to do so ... yeah, like I didn't know that .. 
Since walking on the side of the road is too dangerous I now have to drive to the park entrance and sneak my way to the river by entering the rail-yard at the back of the park. (Also illegal because it say 'no trespassing'). 
Oh well, we'll see how long I can get away with it ..
                                            

                                           

Look what I found in the local thrift-store this week?!
A 'Jan van Haasteren' puzzle:

 

I actually own several puzzles of him, so what's the big deal you'd think? 
Well, he is a dutch cartoonist and his work is not really known, or sold, here in the US ... so how did it end up here at the thrift-store?
Any-who, these puzzles are about 20+ euro in Holland but here it was prized down to only $4.95.
In addition, this week all toys were half prized, and on Wednesday seniors get a 10% discount to begin with, so that came to a whopping $2.50. Score!

All in all, another quiet week in the Hess household .. I baked another bread, but that is hardly news-worthy anymore these days ... well OK, here's one more picture of a bread. 

                                              

The crust got a little crusty but otherwise it was a good one ..

It took a fairly long time for 'my' birds to get used to the appearance of a birdbath in the border (where I also have two poles with feeders) but they finally braved the waters and lately they are practically lining up to take their turn!

The smallest ones, like these little sparrows, often go together in two or three-somes!

                                     

This all is happening right in front of the window where I'm sitting to type this up. 
It's so much fun to watch!

We're three weeks into fall and on my daily hunt for some nice fall-colors I found some at the old logging road:  

                                            

I'm still not completely comfortable walking this path by the way, mainly because my neighbor scared me with stories about cougars and bears that have been seen in the area ...
As much as I would like to see them (from a distance), I'd rather not be mauled!

Oh well, I've walked in forests in Alaska, Montana, North Dakota without a second thought (well, maybe a second or two) and survived just fine (famous last words), but I'll definitely have my head on a swivel which doesn't make for the most relaxed walks ..         

                           

As I mentioned last week we thought to maybe continue the Art Harvest tour this weekend and so we did.
The entrance fee we paid last week included both weekends, however and whenever you want to do this, so this time we went and visited several studios in Mcminnville.  

We started with coffee, always a good thing, and we visited yet another coffee-shop, in the same 'Granery-district' we were 2 weeks ago.
It's housed in the Grain Station, a beautiful renovated timber-frame barn, that houses a brewery and brew-pub as well.

Inside you have a view of the huge stainless steel (with a copper finish) beer-vessels through the windows of a closed-off section in the middle of the building :

                                                         
The Flag and Wire coffee roasting company next door uses fairly and compassionately sourced beans and offers a full espresso menu with pastries made daily.

The coffee was OK, although maybe a little bitter for my taste, and the pastry very nice but I didn't like the seating arrangement very much. 
Besides the hard chairs it was also rather cold inside, on this already chilly day, so I wasn't very comfortable.

          

Fortunately there are still a whole bunch of other coffee-shops to explore in this town that we haven't been to yet! 

Third street in Mcminnville or 'Mac' as we locals call it, is lined with maples and of course they are just gorgeous in the fall:

We visited about 5 or 6 art studios that are all situated on this street alone.
It made for an easy walk and gave us a chance to visit a few of the other little shops that line this pretty street as well:

                                            

Included in the tour was a walk through 'Street-art Alley' which showcases a whole bunch of colorful murals done by local artists ..

     

The trees on 3d(main) street are usually wrapped in colorful strings of mini lights depending on the seasons/holidays and since Halloween is just around the corner they went for a purple-pink this time around ...

   

All that walking around makes you very hungry of course so we just had to eat something to keep our strength up ..
Fortunately 3d street has a restaurant at pretty much every corner, and than some, so we chose our favorite Mexican restaurant, Los Molcajetes.

This is about the most cheerful and colorful restaurant you can imagine, the staff is friendly, the prices reasonable and they are the only place in the area, as far as we know, that serves our favorite dish of Chili Rellenos!

All in all it was a very nice day I would say.

It's definitely getting cooler, especially at night (in the low 40s), so it was time to bring out the flannel sheets! Or so I thought ... 
It turned out I had forgotten that I threw the old ones away when I took them off the bed for the last time this Spring ..!
So, off to Bimart we went for a new set. I know through experience that their prices for sheets are not to be beat by any other store so I go there by default, don't even bother to shop around.

This Delilah Collection flannel sheet set, 'Enchanted woods', are about the most fun sheets I ever bought! And the King-set only costs $49! Sweet!
(I checked my blog from last year and found that we didn't take the flannels out until the 30th of October. I guess this year it's cooler sooner .. or we've become wimps).

Triggered by the cooler weather and the changing colors I baked a real fall-desert, a Pumpkin Cobbler:



I baked it before, which made it easier to trust the weird addition of a huge splash of hot water over the dough just before baking.
This turns the cup of brown sugar (and pecans) that were spread on top into its very own caramel sauce while baking!

                                         
                                                          Talk about delicious!

OK, I've got nothing more to say. 
Fall is coming along, we're in the cozy season of the year, soon it will be Halloween and before you know it we'll be putting up the Christmas tree .. life is good!