| Happy Holidays 2016 |
Redundantly again, 2016 was almost a copy and paste of 2015, same place, same great garden, lots of fresh produce, flowers galore, and no big trips or expeditions. Nonetheless, every year is filled with news. Here follows some highlights interspered with another photo gallery.
Hiking and exploring the surrounding Siuslaw National Forest is a favorite way to exercise in the winter, then it's the yard, garden, and firewood in the summer, then mushroom hunting and fishing. The mid-winter giant maple deadfall last year meant firewood exercise started early. Stashing the best of maple logs and bolts for lumber provided heavy activities. Hiking continued apace. Neighbor Rick and I, with his dogs, have developed more trails leading to excellent Fall mushroom picking. One steep trail into old-growth-sized trees yielded the sought after species the trail was intended for hunting, elusive white chanterelles. We got plenty of exercise developing beautiful walking trails before the ticks came out around Easter.
Container plantings kick off Spring early with bulbs blooming. Each year there are more blossoms, and again this year I established new beds of daffodils. Sara moved here full time from her East Coast home in March, so she enjoyed the entire yard and garden flowering cycle this year. We added a lot more flowers, especially wild daisies, dahlias, and sunflowers.
Rick asked to keep a bee colony here, so I got a new hive and placed it on a maple stump sitting on shitake spawn. It even fruited this summer. We get half the honey. I added a pollen collector to improve our diet, especially good in berry smoothies. Here Sara and grandson Corwyn are keeping their distance as Rick introduces the bees to the first box. Corwyn turned six, finished kindergarten, and is doing first grade. I set up my old iMac and he plays with the apps on "his own computer" now. He enjoys computers and tools, especially his birthday present, a weed eater.
Sara's other grandson Jonah graduated this year and out-of-town family attended. They arrived just as the last trees filled out, a spectacularly green time especially perfect for visiting Texans. We had lots of fun and they enjoyed the riverfront beach and trail. The improved access also served picking blackberries during the summer. I enjoy relaxing in this shady spot on hot summer afternoons.
My niece Christin, Jake, Antawn, and Evelynn visited for their Spring break. The kids got to know their uncle and see the ocean for the first time. I also met up with Gwynne, Kevin, Liam and Ethan in Corvallis when they went to the redwoods. Early in the summer Sara brought home three little kittens. The garden became a playground as these boys grew rapidly. They are my outdoor companions and follow me on walks. Kittens at play wear down a garden but plants are resilient. The crop was bountiful and the flowers grew spectacularly. Fortunately, the elk herd did not eat the wildflower patch outside the garden fence. Here's neighbor Carla enjoying peak blossoms. The blossoms delightfully faced the schoolhouse windows. If you want sunflower and other wildflower seeds send a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
During the summer, neighbor Spruce and I harvested the basal logs from the maple downfall. We cut these merged trunks apart before bringing them over to the property. These two logs and another giant log are curing under tarps, excepting the stump the last visible remnants of the giant maple that once graced my window view . The maple alone provided a lot of exercise this year. Before the rains began, Jonah and I replaced the eye sore and leaking garden shed roof. Jonah was a big help to Sara this summer with construction, painting, firewood, clean-up, and other tasks. The shady patch behind Jonah is where the maple stood. Steadfastly, the historic Fisher Schoolhouse property is improving. Long hours nailing shingles painfully informed me of my true age. After the roof was finished just as the rains returned, I felt sore from leaning down pitch so much. In the Fall between rains, the county replaced the fir siding on the covered bridge with cedar. I was able to salvage the removed lumber for use on the schoolhouse, the bridge's sister historic property. My health remains good after two incidents this year. In the Spring, a tick bite gave me a bad infection and the harsh medication slowed me for weeks. Then a firewood cutting accident bashed my head and broke my nose, causing months of pain and congestion. Life has rough moments, but this year they were small bumps in the road. i wish everyone the best of health in the year ahead, and may all your gardens, verdant and metaphorical, lushly grow. Well, that's highlights from 2016. My research news will update soon in the ArchaeoBlog.
|
