Well, it's May once again, can you believe it, and some migrant birds are starting to arrive here in the North-west.
Among them this pretty Black-headed Grosbeak (picture above) and his wife:

                                           

I've even seen what I think was a Tanager!
Unfortunately he only visited for a few minutes and I didn't get a picture, but hopefully I can entice him to stay around by hanging a few orange slices amidst the feeders.

(btw, that's not a Tanager in the pic but a Gold Finch, photo-bombing my picture of the orange slice)


I'm also very happy to announce that I've started my 'walks' in earnest again! Yahoo!
I wish I could also say that my foot was cured but unfortunately that's not true. Yet.
The pain has probably lessened by 60% give or take but I've also found out that if I take an Ibuprofen every 2 or 3 days the pain is as good as gone.
I have no clue how that can be since they're usually only good for about 4 to 6 hours, but I'm not complaining. I take it! The only thing I can come up with is that any swelling that's there might be reduced for a longer period of time which will than come back very gradually.

                     

So, here I am, walking again. I can't quite explain how happy that makes me feel but walking just clears my head, brings the world in perspective, gives me hope and peace and joy .. just makes everything OK.
It also keeps those couple of pesky, extra pounds at bay ..
I'm not going too far yet but I managed to take the little path through the woods, just down the street from us.
Look at all that Spring-green, it's just radiant!

                

As I mentioned in previous posts, this year's spring so far is a very wet and cold one, hence the little creeks, rivers and ponds that have been created everywhere ..

                                            

Oregon is often rather wet of course, which is also the cause of al that moss everywhere!

            

One of the neighbors has this absolutely stunning tree in the front yard, I'm not quite sure what it is, I'm thinking Pink Flowering Dogwood, but it is gorgeous:

Another yard's front border is completely taken over by these  pink flowering strawberries. If I remember correctly they produced an abundance of tiny little strawberries last year.



My own batch of strawberries are flowering as well and have already produced 3 whole berries, how about that?!

   

Also, I couldn't resist the hanging baskets on display at my local Bimart, so I picked this one up filled with pretty red-flowering Petunias and Verbenas.

In Holland, which has a similar climate as Oregon, most people wait putting their flowering pots and baskets up until the Ice Saints* are 'over', (May 15) so I'm pushing it a little, but I think I'm good.
*The Ice Saints are the name days of a number of Catholic saints that fall in the period from 11 to 15 May. The saints themselves are also called ice saints. According to folklore, these are the last days in spring when night frost can still occur.

We're still doing our weekly 'Wednesday dinner-out' which this time brought us to the tiny town of Carlton, about 12 miles from Newberg.
James had to take a few pictures of houses he needed for an appraisal over there and his brother Doug keeps mentioning the great food they have at the local gas-station, of-all-places, so we gave it a try.

It's called Carlton Corners and is a one-stop-shop; a gas station, restaurant and growler fill station with ten rotating Oregon craft beers and cider and non-ethanol gas.
It's known for Best Burger in Yamhill County 2015-2016 and Best of Mac & the Yamhill Valley, 2018 – 2020.

      
It definitely has a lot of character .. and a good sense of humor ..

                      

By the way, a 'growler fill station' allows consumers to purchase draft beer in reusable, to-go containers.
Growlers, shaped like old-fashioned moonshine jugs, hold 64 ounces of fluid and used to have a lid. Supposedly they got their name because as the beer sloshed around, it caused the carbon dioxide to escape and created a growling noise.

Here in Carlton locals can join the "Corner's Mug Club', have their (ceramic, lid-less) mugs numbered and have them hanging on the wall in the 'growler room', ready to grab when they come in for a 10% discount. There's a 100 member limit and there's a waiting list!

                           

We just settled for a local beer from the tap and ordered the Critter Burger to split.

We're no fan of the thick fries they serve here but they were tasty enough and that burger was delicious!
I think we'll be baaaack ..

And there you have it. Another week, neatly wrapped up and disappearing into the sunset ..
Until next time!

Last weekend we went for another visit to Bret and Serena (our landlords) in Sheridan.
It's a beautiful drive south/west along Hwy 18 where you can see part of the Central Coastal Range in the distance with still quite some snow left on the high peaks.

James had volunteered to help Bret install some new electric in one of their barns and I went along to 'get out of the house' and of course for a chance to visit with Serena.




While the guys were working at the barn I got a tour through their newly planted garden after which we prepared a hearty (lentil) soup with cornbread for lunch and blueberry crisp for desert!
This involved a lot of talking and catching up on latest news and gossip as well of course ..

                                                                                                             
After lunch we went for a walk around their (34 acres!) property. How amazing is that, to go for over half an our hike and still be on your own land?



   

They have a couple of ponds, one of which houses some interesting creatures ..

                   

These are Rough-skinned Newts, Salamander-like amphibians that can live on land but also in water since they posses gills as well as lungs.
Though they may look cute and harmless, they can be dangerous; toxins secreted through the skin as a defense mechanism could kill a person!



Another interesting fact: they can also regrow lost limbs and organs, even eyes.
(Yes, Shakespeare's 'eye of Newt' comes to mind but apparently that is actually a pseudonym for mustard seed).

On Tuesday I celebrated my 61st trip around the sun! Now I'm not just 60 anymore, which was already bad enough, but I'm even 'in my sixties' .. Lord help me ..
My mum send me a new jigsaw puzzle, a library with cats, two of my favorite things, how difficult can it be .. right!?

                                                              

The pop-up card that came with it was truly a work of art! Besides that there were more cards and a nice bottle of red wine from Doug and Brenda ..

                     

That evening we went for dinner at Red Lobster. James had given me 'carte blanche' and I was fancying Lobster so why not, let's splurge a little!

We actually split their 'Ultimate Feast', which included snow crab and shrimp .. and those sinful Cheddar Bay biscuits!

                      

And although we seldom have dessert, we went for their famous Chocolate Wave as well!
Hey, you only turn 61 once .. I think .. well, who knows?

OK, moving on .. although quite slowly after all that food (I won't go into all those calories, which Red lobster has listed on the menu card, but it's definitely not the healthiest meal).

With all the rain still coming down on an almost daily base, my vegetable garden is sort of at a standstill.
Nothing is dying but nothing is growing much either. I see quite some yellow leaves, a sure sign that the ground is totally saturated and the roots are not getting enough oxygen!
The Lilac at the end of the orchard seems quite happy still and is putting out a whole bunch of beautiful, sweet smelling flowers ...

I always forget that the RV is just too small for their strong smell which tend to give me a headache, so I cut some and put them in a vase, only to have to move them outside to my patio table after a couple of hours .. oh well, they look good there as well.

Here's a few pictures I took in between the rain-showers of the different tree-buds I see emerging around the RV ..

Work has been a little calmer lately, winter is always a more quiet time in the appraising-business but Covid and it's effect on the economy have slowed us down some too.
Fortunately we still have more than enough to do though, but we've taken the opportunity of the down-time to install some of the programs we work with at the office on our home computer as well.
We can now both, albeit partial, 'work-from-home'!

I still have to go into the office to collect the paper files/dossiers for the orders that come in and to download a few things that are only available on the computers over there, but than I can take the whole shebang home and work when and how as I please from the comfort of my own, cozy home.

Cool!

Despite a wet and cold weather forecast Easter was a beautiful, sunny and rather warm day here in the Northwest!
It felt very spring-like. Finally!

                                  

Eostre, the Pagan Goddess of fertility, new beginnings and growth. 

We were invited for lunch/dinner at Doug's and enjoyed a delicious ham and a very tasty celery-casserole. Brenda had made the overnight salad both Doug and James grew up with and love, which is a staple in our house for Easter as well, and I brought a Rhubarb Strawberry pie for desert.

As usual, nobody took a picture (seriously, we all have cell-phones with us and the young 'uns at the table constantly make selfies, but nobody thinks of making a group photo?) ... so all I have a is a pic of that pie.
Shows you what's most import in the Hess family right there .. 😁

Now the rain finally seems to have stopped for a while I managed to take a walk to our, still very soggy, 'back 40' to see if any of the wildflowers I saw there last year had come up already.
And lo and behold, the Trilliums were not only 'up' but flowering as well!

So pretty! They actually all open white and turn pink/red when they age ..

   

Also present .. the Glacier Lily!

            

The Ferns (actually these are called 'Bracken') are simultaneously shooting up and unfurling and I came across one lonely Common Camas Lily (on the right), at least I think it is ..



I've lost some regulars at my bird feeder over the last couple of weeks.
I've not seen 'the flock' (of Titmice) for a while and the Nuthatches have also disappeared. The House - and Gold Finches are still here though and are changing slowly in their much brighter Spring/Summer colors ..

                 

Both were rather drab looking during the winter but now mating season is here, they definitely 'dress to impress'!

  

I'm afraid that's about all for this week, I've racked my brain but really can't remember doing anything else noteworthy ..
I mean, sticking the butt end of a used up celery bunch in some water and watching it re-grow is rather exciting for me, but is probably not for everyone .. oh well, I'll show it as a 'filler' :

 

I actually have to move it over to another area because the yellow color indicates it's not getting enough light, but other than that it's growing real fast. Fun!