Early in the year the rains were heavy and the river rose high carrying whole trees downstream. One of the trees which washed out got caught on the waterline over the river. Clearing out that mess was a real challenge above the swift river pushing against the debris pile. The waterline serves two homes, the old schoolhouse and the old teacher's house now rebuilt, home to neighbors Rick and Carla. Rick provided the handy extendable limb saw which accomplished the difficult part out over the swift water. A large log got caught spanning the river, but it had to wait for summer water levels.
I just hunker down inside most of the winter, taking advantage of weather breaks to go on walks and looking forward to spring activity in the sun and gardening. Around Labor Day one of my walking buddies disappeared, Achilles the black cat has not been seen since.
In early March I got my first covid vaccine. I PM'ed Rick and Carla about the vaccination clinic, and Rick showed up for the same one hour slot as I did. I'm now double vaccinated and had the booster shot too. Here's a much repeated scene this year.
Rick and Carla are also the local beekeepers. The garden hive developed several queens and we caught two swarms of three we know about, so now the garden has three hives and there's a new one in the forest somewhere too. The swarm which got away first built a large comb high in a fir tree, I imagine to raise a brood of young, and then moved on. Even with the splitting the main hive grew immensely and produced a good honey crop.
Several record breaking heat events this year really impacted the local forest, turning fir needles brown and drying out the landscape. I kept the yard and garden well watered and many vegetables and flowers really enjoyed the heat. Crops which are difficult to grow on the coast thrived, produced heavily, and matured faster than normal. I ate a lot of vine sweetened watermelon this year. The freezers are still near full of vegetables and a lot of tomatoes.
Last year I ran out of chili powder so I decided to start more peppers. They grew wildly and produced baskets full of hot peppers and sweet peppers. Making chili powder was a fun two day job with plenty of sneezing.
The two full dehydrator loads roasted on the wood stove before getting pulverized in the blender produced three 12 ounce canning jars of a really delicious mixed hot chili powder. I estimate the result is a 3-5 year supply, far more than expected. Anyone need a quart of chili powder?
The flowers did really well too thanks to the mountain supplying sufficient water to keep them happy. Some of the dahlias started from seed last year showed their color for the first time this year. They provided a great new color spot in a variety of rosy pinks. One grew to be quite tall, and they all are great free standing plants. They sort of match the other new pink spots, the amaryllis transplants from neighbor Todd's yard.
Of course, the dahlias out in the open yard became elk food a few times this summer, and the elk even pulled planters off their stumps to eat the flowers and they broke a big pot too. The dry, hot summer likely impacted their foraging habits. We rarely see them anywhere near the yard in the summer. One day four of them were just outside the window in the afternoon so I went out with the camera and used a shed for cover to get close to them. I got my photo, said "Hey guys" and they bolted for the woods. The last few nights I've awakened to the whole herd in the front yard, with impressive trophy bulls near the living room windows. They are welcome visitors in the winter when they closely mow the lawn, typically in moonlight and unnoticed.
The local deer were hungry too by the end of our hot, dry summer. I toss out the downfallen fruit in the back yard and the deer figured out I'm the good guy. One afternoon I walked around the shop corner and came face to face with a doe. We both froze, I retreated, then returned with a few apples. When I rolled an apple out the doe came closer to eat it and then two spotted fawns came out of hiding in the weeds as she started eating. I'd been trying all summer to get a good photo of them. As free fruit season continued them became tamer and comfortable with me around. When the plums ripened I became their best friend and by the time they lost their spots the fawns were eating from my hands. Several times when they've seen or heard me in the yard, they came running towards me, expecting a treat of course. With the return of the rains and our emerald green meadows, they are no longer skinny. They still show up every evening, but the last stored apples will be gone soon. It has been enjoyable to watch them grow up and fatten up, and to be so near to such wild creatures.
One of the important annual activities here is firewood, and this year the supply of maple and alder came from clearing/maintaining the road sides up Crab Creek valley. With such a hot, dry summer, the wood was inside the shop building early.
Before the weather turned too cold I did some repairs and residing of the schoolhouse and attached garage. Prevlous owners doing additions and window replacements had used recycled vinyl siding of various colors. Sara followed behind my recycled wood applications with the new paint. The front of the schoolhouse is now a much better backdrop for garden photos. Cedar shingles are planned for the front porch.
Twice this summer on my monthly grocery run to Corvallis I was lucky to score free batches of discard cedar from fence replacements. I ran the best boards through a planer loaned by neighbor Mark and used the material for batts over the recycled covered bridge 1 x 12 planks. Mark got a nice bundle of the best replaned cedar in return. Sara finished the first paint coat before the wood got wet or the weather turned cold. Other than the paint and nails, everything was recycled and planed and milled as needed on site. The old schoolhouse looks a bit restored at last.
One thing I'm celebrating this December is moving from the Peruvian Amazon to Oregon fifty years ago. That means my tools are getting old, so the outlet strip is the replacement switch hanging on the table saw. I'm still feeling young though, and am happy to be active and healthy still. I hope everyone is feeling great, staying warm and safe, and with due cautions enjoying family and friends during the holidays.
