Molting Chickens

Russ was quite alarmed to discover feathers all over the pen and two white birds, Hazel and Scratch with no tail feathers one afternoon in October. He thought there was something seriously wrong with the ladies, as they had been attacked or severely frightened. It turns out, this is a normal thing for hens. It is not that different than a hairy animal shedding it's coat. The process just looks rather disconcerting on a chicken as they tend to have bald patches and exposed feather shafts. Molting is quite a natural and regular process for a bird. However, since they are spending all that energy to molt, the egg production ceases to exist. I broke down and bought eggs at the grocery store the other day; they don't taste the same at all!

Ice Caves at Mount Adams

The weather has brought us a welcome break of cool sunshiny days, quite a contrast from the dark, rainy winter weather that seemed to have settled in since late October. Russ and I decided to take advantage of the nice day and make an adventure east up past Trout Lake, Washington and into the Mount Adams wilderness. Our destination: The Ice Caves. There is an ancient lava tube that had a tendency to hold cold air in the winter time and keep the caves at freezing temperatures all summer. The ground water leaking through the ceiling and floors makes some amazing ice sculptures in the cold air. So we packed up some warm gear, flashlights, and Max (Phoenix is still recovering from a leg injury and has been given the huge responsibility of guarding the sofa - it is an important job to make sure it doesn't leave the house!) and set out on our journey to the caves. Of course a trip east means a venture through the Columbia Gorge, and over to the "east side" where the air is drier and the landscape is noticeably different.

Trout Lake is a small mountain community that is peaceful and quite. I have spent sometime in the area working with the dairy farmers who live there, so I am already familiar with it's slow easy going pace. Russ found the atmosphere just as appealing. Once we left town and headed off onto forest roads, we found the wilderness to be just as peaceful and serene. Upon arrival at the caves, we equipped ourselves with lights and headed into the cave.

At the end of our decent of the stairs into the abyss, we were greeted with large boulders to climb over and then amazingly icy floors. The air was quite cold and damp for being "the drier side" of Washington. Russ has a wonderful assortment of lights from flooding beams to spotlights that would illuminate different aspects of the cave and the ice. Since it was the end of fall and the cold air in the cave had not been re established from the winter, yet, the ice formations were not all that spectacular, but there were a few beautiful and interesting structures to observe while in the dark.

After navigating over large boulders for a little while, and evaluating and comparing beams of various flashlight from the small collection Russ brought with him, we re surfaced into the light again. We were greeted by a family who missed the group they were to connect with for a tour of the caves. The elementary school - aged daughter was looking a little bummed that she was not going to be able to see the caves as she had no flashlight, and her parents were not too keen on making the excursion on their own. However, they were in luck, Russ and I were able to help in that department! We took the family back down in the cave and while the parents stood timidly at the foot of the steps with Russ, the gal and I went back into the caves to explore. We were not able to help them find their group, but we were able to assist in sharing with on our excursion.


Our next stop was to the natural bridges, just up the road. This was another ancient lava tube that had formed but collapsed, leaving some solid places and some deep gullies. The solid places made bridge structures over the gullies. It is a pretty neat phenomenon.

Portland Bike Ride

Sunday was one of the last beautiful fall days in October. Russ and I decided we needed to do something outside to absorb the last bit of sunshine. So we took our bikes to his office, in downtown Portland. From there we rode along the waterfront (on the Willamette River- which flows north through Portland and empties into the mighty Columbia - how is that for confusing?) all the way into down town, crossed the river and then back again. We stopped at a small cafe for sandwiches on the way home. It was a beautiful clear day and there were lots of folks out enjoying it. There were joggers, bikers, dog walkers, strollers, hikers, wheelchairers, rollerbladers, and skateboarders. The path was busy, but somehow everyone managed to not run over each other and all traffic seemed to flow well.

Aiport observations on my travel to Savannah

I went to Savannah this past week to celebrate Ben and Danielle's wedding. I left Portland on Thursday about 9 AM (10/9) on a little prop plane to Seattle, it was a short, very entertaining flight. The two flight attendants were actually stand up comics (or they had me and the rest of the flight convinced of it at any rate) and just did the stewards thing on the side. The gals were absolutely a joy with their witty comments, big smiles and their light spirited safety information shpeel. It was a fun way to start the journey. When I got to Seattle, I hiked across the airport and found the gate from which my next plain was departing. In the Sea-Tac airport there are numerous coffee shops, the most popular being Starbucks of course. Northwesterners take their coffee pretty seriously, ya know. Another interesting observation is the presence of built in recycling receptacles to all trash cans in both Portland and Seattle., no recycling to be found in the busy Atlanta airport.
The 4 hour plus flight to Atlanta was a loooooong squished to the window sort of flight. Thank goodness Delta had free satellite TV. Me and Rachel Ray had a good time in the kitchen and I have oodles of design and storage ideas for our house, thanks to the Home and Garden channel. As soon as I stepped off the plane, there was no doubt I was back in the southeast, I could easily shed the winter layers in which I started my journey.
After finding a bite to eat at the Checkers, I found my gate and the sat to people watch in Atlanta for a good 3 hours. Then it was time for another short plane trip to Savannah. There must have been a Red Hat Society convention happening in Savannah that weekend too. There were all sorts of ladies sporting their purple and red wear. There where several carrying red hat boxes while they sported red visors, purple wraps, red shoes or purple sweaters. There was even a gal with purple overhauls. I am sure the whole crew was in for a fabulous fun gathering in Savannah.
As we approached Savannah, I could see lightning flashes in the distance. It was a good ol southern thunderstorm that we were flying into.
We landed safely, the rain must have just passed as there was a smell of rain on the air but nothing falling to the ground. I waited for all the red and purple and black bags as they were carried around the baggage claim carousel and no bag looked familiar to me. Then came the dreaded "final bag" sign and I still had no luggage. So I wandered over to the Delta office, and there was my bag sitting waiting for me. I guess it took a different flight to get to Savannah. My brother was waiting for me and we journeyed to his house. By then it was 11:30 PM. Long day.

It is hard to resist a sprinkler on a hot summer's day...

Really, who doesn't want to go running through the sprinkler on a hot muggy summer afternoon? This family had the right idea!! (Make sure the sound is on when go to this link.)

http://www.maniacworld.com/twin-baby-moose-in-sprinkler.html

Garden Harvest

Well, it looks like we are going to have a little longer summer, at least this week. We are getting promises of mid 80 degree temps for the next few days. I hope that is enough to get the big healthy green Brandywine tomatoes to turn red. We have been getting yellow squash, butternut squash, peas, red peppers, chili peppers, broccoli, lettuce, basil, dill and 2 varieties of cherry tomatoes pretty regularly. The mystery squash plant that has sprawled out of the boxes and all over the yard are pumpkins! There are 2 mighty fine looking pumpkins on the verge of turning orange. I bet we'll have more by Halloween! Oh yeah, speaking of crazy squash plants, I have 2 butternut squashes that are making their way down the driveway and out towards the road. Renegade squashes!!! I harvested a cantaloupe today too. It was OOO so tasty! I am really thrilled to have grown these plants, it's tough to do in this climate. I have 4 more on the vine that will be ready soon, it seems. I have really enjoyed watching my garden grow this year and been even more delighted with the tasty bounty it has been providing Russ and I this summer. If only I can figure out how to keep the hens in the front yard to help with bug control! (it's been hard enough keeping them in the back yard; Fern has been jumping the fence into the neighbors yard!) Never a dull moment on the suburb farm!

It's not summer without a trip to the beach!

I got together with a group of horse buddies and took Warren and Phoenix to the coast for a few days last week. We stayed in an Oregon State park that catered to campers, bikers and horse folks alike. It was a lovely few days.

I brought a friend of mine with me from Wintergreen farm, where we board. She has a 3 year old draft cross named Special.

We got to our camp site Tuesday afternoon just in time for the tide to be out which makes for great beach riding. We took a short ride letting the wide eyed Special take in the sand, the salt and the sound of the ocean. Warren had seen the beach once before so he did not seem to surprised with the scene when we got to the top of the sand dune. We took a stroll in the wet sand where the waves hand washed it smooth. It did not take long for even the horses to become soothed by the rhythmic sounds of the ocean. Even though Warren and Special are both comfortable with water, water that moved rapidly towards their feet was a new concept to them, it took a few walking forward and running backward maneuvers until the two of them figured out that they were not going to be attacked by watter approaching them.

Tuesday night we had a potluck dinner with the rest of the gang and hung out for awhile enjoying stories from the season's competitions. Then we all turned in for the night. Warren and Special each got their own corral at our campsite and while Lea camped out next to her horse, a wet, sandy Phoenix slept with me in the horse trailer. (While the horses initially had a little apprehension about the water, Phoenix had no aversion whatsoever; she plopped right in with typical wallowing Phoenix grace and style)

About 2 AM I woke to the sound of rain. It was a little cool and the horses had no roof over their heads so I felt compelled to go through a rain sheet on them. So I used one of the handy super bright flashlights that I had been so lovingly equipped and got the horses tucked in a little snugger for the rest of the night. By the time we started thinking about getting going in the morning, the rain had let up and there was blue sky tyring to break through. After an easy breakfast, Lea and I took the horses down to the beach walk in hand (no riding). As I suspected, Warren couldn't resist the soft sand, he had a lovely roll in the soft stuff. Special had an exciting romp on the beach when her lead line broke and she got a chance to run around freely. Fortunately, she had deiced that Warren was her buddy and after running around Lea in a few circles, she wasn't too interested in getting out of her pal's sight and Lea was able to catch her easily enough. Wednesday afternoon turned out to be beautiful so Lea and I went for another ride, we rode all the way down to Nahlem Bay. It was quite exhilarating to be cantering along the beach with the rhythm of waves crashing on shore and the sounds of two pairs of thunderous hoof beats drumming along.

Early Thursday morning we went for one last ride on the beach before heading home. It was a beautiful morning with the tide and the fog headed out and the sun rising to warm the day. We had a fun time on the coast and look forward to the next time we will return!