There we are! The happily-married-for-25-years couple!

And this is my crazy family, congratulating us in their own hilarious way.  😂😂

Bunch of nutcases! 💕

As I mentioned in the last post, we went on a little vacation this last week to celebrate.
We had a great time, the weather was just about perfect, the Washington coast absolutely stunning and the company, even after 25 years, still the best!

Here's a little (!)  recap of where we went and what we did:
Our route first took us, via the coast, up to Tillamook and than by the more inland Hwy101 to Astoria, at the very north-west of Oregon, just before you cross over to Washington.



Since we'd never visited the 'Astoria Column' from where you have a great view over the ocean and the surrounding area, we decided to stop here and have some lunch as well.

Gawd, that thing was high, but the view was fantastic!

                                                                      

That's Oregon on the left and Washington on the right

And over the bridge we went ...

                                                          

... for the next half of our route:

                                 

Unfortunately the 101 doesn't get very close to the ocean and we only got glimpses of the water every now and than. 
But it's a pleasant enough drive while meandering through the very dense forests. No shortage of trees here!
                  
We arrived at the Ocean Shores' Resort around 4pm, which was right at check-in time, so we quickly got settled in:

Unfortunately our room was 'street-facing', which we knew but I'd hoped it had a little area in the front we could sit maybe, but no such dice ..
The room itself had very recently been re-done. All the furniture was new, and very cute, and everything (well .. besides the floor) was very clean.

                                               

                                               

As you can see on this fun map below, the town of Ocean Shores is basically a narrow peninsula completely surrounded by the ocean .. the epitome of a beach-town!
It is equal parts kitschy, brash, touristy, and fun.

There's something to see or do for everybody from beach-combing to clamming, from bird-watching to golfing, from camping to shopping and there are restaurants everywhere:
Although we were a little disappointed that we couldn't see the ocean from the motel, nor was there a path to the beach, but public beach-access was only 2 blocks down the road at the State Park:

                                                        

And not only could you walk up, but you could even bring your car!

Of course we had to try this. We'd heard about beaches in the south where you were allowed to do this but had never done it ourselves.
To be honest I've always been too scared to try. What if you get stuck or swept away by a sudden wave!

We survived and yes, that first day it was a little cool in the morning!

                                                                             

The first day we drove a little loop-route to the south of us (you can just see a little piece of the Ocean Shores peninsula (in white) pointing down at the top left of this map):

This area is known for it's cranberry 'bogs'. Apparently approximately one-third of the nation's cranberry crop is produced in Washington State.
We didn't see any, or didn't realize it, probably because most of the year they are flooded and the shrubs are under water ..

The weather was a little gloomy but it still was a very nice drive.
We had coffee in Westport, where we climbed the viewing tower for a view of the harbor and town:

  

We also stopped for a little in the small town of Raymond, which is known for it's metal sculptures. They're everywhere:

  

   
     

Fun! 

The next day we followed the coast up North to the Olympic National Park and all the way up to Ruby Beach.
This beach is the northernmost of the southern beaches in the coastal section of Olympic National Park and famous for its reddish sand, driftwood and its striking rock formations and vibrant tide pools.

                                       
                     

                                                   

   

We'd brought lunch and coffee and spend some time sitting in the sun, leaning against the rocks, out of the (rather cool) wind, enjoying the view.
There are worse places to be ....



I discovered this Bald Eagle on our way back from a walk along the water:

                                                        

On the way back we stopped at several viewing points. Some of them involved a short hike through the coastal forests:

                                                   

The next day we stayed close by, checked out the neighborhood and drove to the end of the Peninsula:



We visited the small coastal Interpretive Center and learned a lot about the area and it's wildlife:

  

 

 

                                                               

After which we went for a short hike at the Weatherway trail:

                          

We played a round at the local golf course:
                        (This was actually on another day but who's keeping track?)

It wasn't the best course we ever played but we're not that snobbish and had fun anyway.
I hadn't played for 2 years and really didn't do that well, but I managed to score the only par between the two of us so I guess it could have been worse!

We had to share the course with the local wildlife though:

      

                  

We also explored the coast directly north of Ocean Shores on another morning. There are a few small villages, your typical little beach-towns.
We had coffee at Copalis Beach:


 
After which we drove to the small town of Seabrook.
Founded in 2004 by developers Casey and Laura Roloff, Seabrook is a beach town based on the concept of the late-20th-century New Urbanist design, a 'planned paradise'.  

It was inspired by Seaside in Florida, a town we've actually been to in 2018, a town James actually remembered studying during his UCLA landscaping classes.

                                

It is a town of a little creepy perfection, not even a nail seems out of place, more like a movie set than a real town. Something like Pleasantville or the Stepford Wives ..
At first it gave us bit of a weird feel but there is also a lot to love about this resort town, it's actually quite charming .  
I think a lot has to do with how seamlessly it connects to its natural environments with it's many pretty green spaces, walk-able center and lots of public community spaces.

Sitting on a scenic bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean always helps as well of course.

  

On one of our last days we took another trip 'up North' into the Olympic National Park but a little closer this time, only about an hour away, to Lake Quinault.

As usual we'd brought our coffee so we found a picnic table at the lake next to the historic Lake Quinault Lodge for a first cup. 
(It's beautiful 100 year old lodge but $400-450 a night is just crazy!)




                            

We'd planned to hike a few of the (fairly short) trails that are around the lake, the Quinault Loop trail being the longest one of approximately 4 miles.

                                                                        

The Quinault Loop Trail, also known as the Rain Forest Nature Trail, leads you through the Olympic temperate rain forest and Quinault Lake.  

This is an old forest and the trees are humongous:

  

Lots of trees are covered with moss:

  


                                               


The Quinault rainforest can average 140 inches of rain each year (!) so most of the little creeks here are flowing year-round and there are several small waterfalls along the trail.
This is Willaby Creek:

                                                        

A wooden boardwalk allows you to walk through a swampy wetlands-area:

                                

Everything here wants to grow, and vigorously .. a little tree-stump won't stand in their way:

                                                        

It truly was a gorgeous hike!

 

We didn't see much of the lake until the last mile where we had a few glimpses:

                      

Back at our starting point we took the car to drive a couple of miles up the road, where we had a quick picnic lunch before setting out on a short trail to take a look at the 'Worlds record Sitka Spruce:

                                                       

Yup! It's BIG! 1,000 Years old, with a 58'11 circumference and 191' feet tall.

    

That's me there, sitting on it's roots. It boggles the mind to realize what this tree has seen ..
 

We had one more short hike on our itinerary for which we drove to the North (other) side of the lake. 
(due to recent floods both bridges on either side of the lake are 'out' so you can't drive around the lake at the moment)

 

After a short visit to the ranger station we started the 0.5 mile Maple Glade Rainforest trail:

                    

The short walk is on a level and well-maintained path that takes you through this very peaceful place - nothing but thick lush rain-forest in every direction!

The path basically encircles this beautiful, almost magical, 'glade' ..
Elk, bear and cougars (bigfoot?) call this home but we didn't see any.

                 

      

The gnarly trees are full of burls and covered in thick, dripping moss ..

What a beautiful, serene place!

Well, that was about all we 'did'. 
That and just lazy-ing around, having long conversations of how our life together so far has been (very interesting at the least) and what we imagine it is going to be in the future (we're still full of plans), reading, napping .. oh, and let's not forget the food!

There were many toasts to our good health and our 'sticking around with each-other for so long' and thanks to a generous donation from my mom (thanks again Mom!) we were able to go out for dinner several times .. and lunch .. and breakfast!
We'd bought a whole key-lime cream-pie (one of our favorites) and had planned to eat it in two sittings (just for once because we could) but that turned out a little too much so we settled for three ..

And that's all she wrote, needles to say we had a great time and we pledged another 25 years to each other .. that might be pushing it, we'd be 91 and 89, but we're optimistic!
For now we are doing great and are still very happy with each other so I say our chances are good!

Here's a few pics of the sun setting in the Pacific .. a fitting 'the end', although not of 'our' story together!

Juvenile Green Heron

It's been a while that I made it to the pond in Willamina and, as usual, it didn't disappoint!
This time I met this cute Green Heron, a youngster, as is visible by the fluffy down feathers it's still sporting on top of it's head.

Green Herons usually stand motionless at the water's edge as they hunt for fish and amphibians. They typically stand on vegetation or tree branches that overhang the water,like this one does, and they don't wade as often as larger herons.                                                            

                      

He didn't mind me much and proceeded fluffing those feathers like I wasn't just standing a couple of feet away!
Like one of the locals assured me one time 'Huddleston Pond always surprises'! 

Closer to home, as in at the end of the driveway, the telephone wires were 'buzzing'. 
Not so much with phone calls but with long rows of little Swallows:

I think these are tree swallows although they could be Violet-greens but it was hard to determine their color in the bright morning light ..

                                                                                                                                   

I seldom have the opportunity to photograph them at all since they're almost always flying, they eat 'on the wing' and I've heard they even take (very short) naps while flying?!
(Apparently they can sleep while flying by utilizing unihemispheric sleep or by entering brief periods of REM sleep. Some theories suggest they may also descend slowly in circles while sleeping, regaining altitude when they wake up.)

  

 

I've found another area to go for a walk! To the left of that fence up above is some room to move around it and according to the neighbor that lives next to this property it's totally OK to do so, despite the 'no trespassing' sign.
Apparently locals/neighbors are exempt .. great!
 

It's an old logging-road and is in a very good state. No weeds or mud or overgrown vegetation, just a very easy (flat!) dirt-road.
According to the guy I talked to it goes in for about 3 miles and meanders through a mixed forest. 
Wildlife sightings are plentiful and are usual of the 'benign' sort although cougars and bears have also been seen on occasion (mostly at night on the trail-cams), so he advised carrying a phone, a big stick and some bear-spray .. oooo-kayyy! 
I'll keep my head on a swivel!

The apple and pear trees are looking better and better:

 

   

 

Also, my Morning Glory is finally starting to flower! 

 

 

And I got a, not that good, of a shot of a California Sister, a butterfly common in California but also seen in Oregon:

 

 

                         

 

 

OK, this is a little bit of a hastily written post because I'm busy packing a suitcase for our clothes and several totes with kitchen stuff and food ... yes, we're going on a little vacation! 
Next week Tuesday the 19th of August happens to be our 25th Anniversary if you can believe it (we can't!). 
Since we're not people for a party, and neither of us has family or friends close by, we've decided to celebrate this huge and utterly unbelievable fact with a little outing to the coast.

Tomorrow we'll set sail, or in our case start driving the car, to Ocean Shores in Washington state, about 4.5 hrs from us.
I've booked 6 nights in a cute (looking) little motel which sits about a block from the ocean. Sounds great!
We'll probably drive up to the Olympic State Park for some hiking and will visit some of the little coastal towns along the way.

A quarter-century of love and commitment ... we're sort of in awe of ourselves. 
We're (still) together and we're for sure going to celebrate!

Nothing more summer-y than hay-bales in a meadow

Summer is in full force by now, we're already in August, and fortunately so far it has been a fairly 'mild' one temperature wise.
Last year, as well as the one before that, Oregon suffered through a long and very hot summer, which was so unlike the Oregon as it used to be.
James is a native Oregonian and he cannot remember it was so hot, and for so long, when he was young.
But this year has been much more like it used to be and of course I'm not complaining!

The forecast is showing some hot days coming soon though, so we won't completely escape all of the heat, but only for a few days after which it will get cooler again.

                               

The Queen Ann's Lace in the fields around us are slowly setting seed and turning brown.
For some reason I see quite a lot of bunnies at the moment ..?
Most of them are of a pretty cinnamon color:

           

Our landlord is slowly making progress on the new barn. Materials have been arriving:

                                                                

And the first 18 poles for the main body of the building are in:

For only two people (husband and wife) working on this I think they're making amazing progress so far!

Here's something I build myself ... a bird-bath/drinking dish. 
I'd been looking to buy some but the better ones are quite pricey, so I googled around for a bit and came up with this much cheaper alternative:

A tomato cage and a plant dish!

So far it isn't used too much yet. I wondered if the see-through dish is scaring them, by seeing no bottom, so I added some gravel. Let's see if it helps ..

Since I moved my Morning Glory to the front porch, where I thought it will be happier with the morning sun, it started to grow like crazy!
After rapidly climbing to the end of the bamboo stakes it reached over to the poles of the awning and is now winding itself around and up towards the awning!

         

I'm finally harvesting some tomatoes in addition to that first big bell-pepper I showed in the previous post.
Guess what .. there are 6 more coming! Wow, six, yahoo!

                              

    

And look at this, that's a cucumber! Yes!
(I know, but it's the small victories in life isn't it?)

When James doesn't have to go out for an appraisal we're having coffee in the morning on the back porch.
It's a wonderful shady spot to sit and talk and read, it's my favorite time of the day!

Especially when there's pie. (Cream)cheese mousse-pie with our hand-picked raspberries.
Life just doesn't get any better than this!

                                             

I'm mostly fascinated by nature in all it's aspects but of course it can be both beautiful and brutal.
It was mesmerizing to watch this beautiful Blue Heron eat this poor frog.
It took forever and he even had to chase it again after he'd dropped it while readjusting his grip (I did root for the poor thing) but eventually he swallowed it whole, barely dead I would say ...

                                                        

While I was impressed with its tenacity to get the poor frog down, it just broke my heart that it took sooo long!! I wished I had a way to put the poor frog out of its misery!
But in the end the bird had a meal .. and we have one of those loud bull-frogs less .. such is life.

OK, let's move on to something a little more fun shall we?
We went to see another play at our favorite theater (well, it's our only one, so yeah ..). 

It's good that I write these things down on my calendar btw (and yes, I still have a genuine paper one!) or I would have totally forgotten about it .. again. 

This entertaining (1950s) comedy, “The Curious Savage,” written by John Patrick, is the story of an elderly widow, Mrs. Savage, whose husband left her $10 million dollars. She intends to give the entire fortune away to people who wish to pursue their dreams, but her stepchildren strongly object. To stop this, they commit her to a sanatorium where the gentle residents become her “new family.” 

                            

                            

I know I write this every time but once again it was a great performance. 
Every single performer was outstanding in their role but our favorite was 'Fairy', a cheerful and imaginative character, often lost in her own world of hilarious stories and fantasies.
All in all another winner! 

I really can't come up with much else to write about for this week.
We fed our landlord's dogs and watered their garden while they were away for a couple of days but otherwise it was a very quiet week with pretty much nothing happening ...

I came across the West Valley Fiber Enthusiasts on Facebook which reminded me that I actually came across them at the Willamina Library when we checked it out after we'd just moved here.
They happened to be there for a couple of hours to show the public what they're about and I remember watching a lady demonstrate a drum-carder and I was sure James made some pictures.
Which I found:

They come together monthly at the library on the 4th Saturday, from 12-3 p.m. 
I'm not much of a 'club' person, or very social to begin with, but I might actually just go once to see if there are any people I like .. you never know.

Getting my vegetables to thrive is still an ongoing battle but I managed to grow at least this one huge bell-pepper!

                                 

I also have some cherry tomatoes coloring and the start of two (yes, wow, two!) larger ones, the cucumber is showing one whole, but itsy-bitsy, cucumber, and one of my pole beans has several (gasp) flowers!



Well, that's about all I could scrape together for this week.
Weather-wise we're still doing great, moderate temps in the 70s with a couple warmer ones in the 80s thrown in for good measure but so far nothing crazy yet.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed for August which is usually the hottest month over here.
Let's hope this year is an exception!

Most afternoons it warms up enough that I move inside in the coolness of the AC (although there are days that just opening the windows for a cross-breeze suffices) where I always have a puzzle 'going'.
 I just finished this one, it's a Spring garden so it was about time I got it finished!