FEATHER DRAMAS @ THE SMITH'S

 Such a on-going show in our little backyard this year!  Looks like the first photo here will lead me to show how the little crooked birdhouse that Norm made....very much like this one shown here, blew off into the 'wilds of Roseburg'.  We don't normally have the types of winds that we used to experience on the coast.  Anyway, off it flew and I asked Norm to make another one just like it since it was one of my favorites.  Below is the in-the-rough beginning.  Further down you'll see Norm working on it as it nears completion.

 Above is one of my first of the David Austin roses...........I love this rose.  It's so delicate in appearance, has a beautiful fragrance and seems pretty hardy.......I'll try getting some slips soon.

 Just a little house or purple finch that visited.  Since he arrived in the middle of the great war between the swallows and the bluebirds, I think he just wanted to watch the sport.  He hung around for a while as the show went on around him..........

 Now this birdhouse is the one that the swallows used to raise their babies last year.  There was a confrontation between the two last year, too, but they finally settled into agreeing to disagree..........The bluebirds, which I thought were friendly, sweet little guys, that just spread happiness all around where ever they came.....Oh, so wrong!!!   They are aggressive and relentless in their declaration of territory.....So, whenever the swallows would begin patching up their previous nest the bluebirds would move over to stand on top of their house.........like the photo above.  There is another birdhouse that  the male swallow would sit guarding the female's work.  (typical) but this year the bluebirds would take that guard station over, too.  The bluebirds finally started going into the swallows nest and I think they destroyed it.  Everytime the swallows come in now, the bluebirds are right there and I[ve noticed the swallows have given up...........can't blame them, but I'll miss watching the new brood being raised.

 A few days after the destruction of the swallows nest I thought it was pretty funny to hear some birds just fussing away........there on top of the bluebirds birdhouse was a bright big blue jay...........what goes around comes around, don't ch'a know?

Through this time of torturing the poor swallows, the bluebird of happiness were busy attacking every window around our house.  Their reflections were as relentless as they were.  Norm started threatening about getting his b-b-gun when they started leaving messes on our brand new deck.  I started dropping blinds and doing everything I could to discourage them, at least around the deck. Something finally worked.....About this time I noticed there was all kind of dried weeds on the front porch.  A pair of sparrows were now trying to build a nest on the timbers over the porch.....the bluebirds eventually scared them off, too.  I read on Google that the aggressiveness of birds is based somewhat on the size and strength of their beaks.....I'd never thought about that before, but it makes sense, doesn't it?

 So hear in the ever so talented husband of mine, finishing up the new birdhouse.  See all those little shingles on the roof?  A hassle, apparently, to tack on. The shingles are fairly thin and would frequently split when he would try to tack them on.  He must have worked all day on just the roof.  Finally, it reached a stage of painting and then 3 coats of varnish.  I think it looks great!

TRAVELING UP THE NORTH UMPQUA AKA STEAMBOAT INN

 A week or so ago Norm was asked to help friend, Dick, with a 'not-working-right' lazy susan in the kitchen and it was down low rather than above the counter.  After quite a frustrating and long afternoon both Dick and Norm's arms were covered with dark bruises from elbows to hands.....taking turns crawling on the hands and knees was hard work.  It was all fine, though and it's to be expected for 2 senior 'gents' to have a few dings here and there as well as the bruises.  So, Ginny, Dick's pretty wife, wanted to take us out to a special meal......(I had a 'sympathy' bruise).  We had all heard about Steamboat Inn so off we went Saturday morning..........It far exceeded my expectations!  The weather was perfect..........white dogwoods in full bloom could be seen hanging onto the hillsides overlooking the North Umpqua river.  Beautiful!

Much to the utter annoyance of the men, we stopped a few times here and there for me to take some photos......And the landscapes just kept getting better and better.  I think my preference is the mountains compared to other surroundings and I was so in awe!!

 Our lunch at Steamboat......actually we ordered breakfast since they serve either up until the dinner hours........was delicious!  and a very nice selection..........Loved the young waitress so friendly and in a natural way........nothing artificial about her.   Our table looked out onto the beautiful garden pictured above.  That path you can see in that photo leads down to their cottages and they also look over the river.  Steamboat does have dinner open to the public and reservations are a 'must'.  They have local chef guests that change every weekend.  Guests get first chance at the reservations.  The cottages rent run generally in the $200+ per night.  It is a destination site and really calls for the time to look around and appreciate all that it has to offer even if just for a meal.  Inside the lobby there are photos of some of the more famous guests of t he past. (Jimmy Carter for all you Democrats, Hemmingway for those fans of his)......

 After lunch was when I picked up my camera and started wandering..  It just got better and better and truly, the photos don't do any justice at all to the enormity and grandeur of the view.  You follow a path down and then onto a rock overhang.  The sound of the rushing of spring water pouring downstream and bubbling and bouncing over all the rocks, little islands and brave little trees that stand tight against the force of the river just kept my camera snapping a mile a minute.  I wish I could have

been able to post more but time and space won't allow that.  Do yourself a favor, though, and if possible take a trip to Steamboat Inn.  You won't be sorry.

an after thought..........walking down the path over the river, watch out for the fresh, healthy poison oak.........

OAKLAND SEEN AS AMERICANA

 Norman Rockwell would  have loved this town in the spring.  The older buildings with so many beautiful established plants, trees and more give a bygone days kiind of feel.  It seems like there is a lilac in every yard and on every corner..........Here below you can see Ginny given homage to her favorite fragrance......The lilac pictured on top is closer to being a tree rather than a shrub.  I love that gorgeous old brick in the background, too.

 Lauren, Ginny and I had the usual good lunch at Tolly's.   I should have taken a couple of photos of that,too.  It's one of the more popular restaurants in this area.  There is one particular artist who places a lot of his paintings in Tolly's.   His work looked familiar but I thought it was just that I admired his style.  Everytime I go in there I have to take a few minutes to look at John Benjamin's newest (and older) works.  This time I spent a little bit more time and read the  bio on him,  There I saw how it was his work that I would seek out to study and look at for in 2nd St. Gallery in Bandon when I lived over on the Oregon coast.  The same gorgeous blue sky is what I remember.  The first painting of his that caught my admiration was a long and narrow canvas with just a little strip of land at the bottom but the emphasis was on that gorgeous blue sky with just a few puffy clouds......Absolutely beautiful!.....I just fell in love with it.  I've looked and hoped to see where he might have a website, but no.........I'm out of luck.  Good to know, though, that he lives in the area and much of his work is of various pastoral scenes from the Umpqua Basin that I find so inspiring......I can only imagine what beautiful works, Elaine Roemen could catch if she were here......

 After lunch we wandered with camera and every place reminded me of Norman Rockwell paintings....Americana, small town style.  Love it!

 And the flowers are so happy........tulips, scilia, wallflowers, roses getting ready to break open, lavender and iris.........Many, many more....

We hit a couple of antique shops on the way..........unfortunately there was one that was so overwhelming with the smell of cat that we just couldn't stay...I couldn't care how many bargains there were.  It was truly over the top.......They needed the lilac aroma badly.......

This Saturday, we're supposed to be going to the famous Steamboat Inn.  Hit a waterfall or two, also.......I'm really looking forward to it.  It's open for breakfast and lunch Saturdays and Sundays without a reservation.......dinner is a different story.  Guests that are staying there have first priority and reservations are required.  They have a different guest chef every so often.  I'm not sure if that changes every weekend or longer........but it's somewhere to go when you want something very special...........so I've been told.  I'll let you know about lunch and hopefully some good photos.
Have a great weekend!

A MORNING FOR THE BIRDS

Beautiful weather the last few days..........I think with such super days all the folks we passed in our jaunt to Stewart Park duck pond, were friendly, smiling and just happy to be out and about.  Spontaneous conversations popped up here and there.......one lady on her way to play golf greeted us like long last friends....

 My niece, Lauren, was down for a few days visiting us.  Which is always a treat for Norm and I.  She and our friend, Ginny, had met last fall and so the two met up again as we all did a photo shoot with the morning catching the birds at being birds.  They're pairing up and one couple of Canada geese had a flock of goslings......I counted 9.

This little cutie and her sister (not shown here) were excited about feeding the birds.  Some looked bigger than her..........but she found out soon enough that they'd scatter if she ran at them.  Great fun!
And speaking of birds, we have our usual Hatfield vs McCoys battle in our backyard.  The western blue birds and the swallows.  We went through this last year until they could learn to ignore each other.  They each take over one of Norm-built birdhouses, both lined up on the fence and facing each other.  Stay tuned for further developements............

This group of ducks just spent so much time upside-down they made me laugh.  As they had bottoms up, they would sort of bob up and down like those little bobbing balls that fishermen use.    

Here is one final long view of the pond.......from here we went on to Oakland to have lunch at Tolly's...(Yum!)  Then toured the small town dressed in all it's Spring finery.......I'll continue our photos in my next post.

So..........here in the Umpqua area don't put away your winter woolies just yet........a small chance of showers tonight...........No moaning now.....most aren't quite prepared yet to jump into the heat of summer.  It was 91 degrees yesterday!  Record breaker for sure.  Summer will be here soon enough

Nite for now.............

BRIGHT DAYS OF SPRING

 Wow!  I was shocked to see how long it's been since I'd posted here on my blog!   I guess I just needed a bit of time doing other things for a while.  Like making new friends, facilitating A Course Of Love group, gardening, etc. etc.  Day to day in getting familiar and comfortable in our new home.  It's been over 2 years now and in some ways we still feel like newcomers.........other times, not quite 'old timers' but not the new kids on the block anymore.

Our garden is thanking El Nino for the wet winter......I think anyone living on the west coast is thankful for the abundance of the rain.  Even with some of the problems it might have caused.  Quite a number of hillsides and rocks not wanting to stay in place.  Thankfully, no one was hurt that I know of.  Oh.....one woman I believe was killed up in Florence when her house slid down.  

I actually haven't been taking as many photos but have been exploring some of the arts and crafts.  A little painting and sketching.......did Zentangle until I got a little bored with it.  My newest is Iris Folding.  I love it.......It leaves a lot of area for creativity.  Something like Origami but more expressive, I think.  

Above is one example of a card I made up.  After cutting out a particular shape and using a pattern you start folding pieces of paper.......on overlapping another........It's a little time consuming but I enjoy it.  

And Norm?  It's been a long time in developing but it seems he's made some sort of woodworking items for everyone one of the women in my art group.  Some have a specific item in mind and wonder if he can accomplish what they can't find at the stores (without $$$$)   Small items.......but he comes through.  Lately he's been repainting our outdoor furniture.......love the new soft mint color.  He has some men neighbors who stop by on their walks if they see the garage door open.........which means he is accepting.......

Now with such warm weather happening I'm spending more time gardening.  There are a number of plants that I thought I'd lost.............particularly ones I brought over from the coast.  The prize goes to a couple of peony that not only popped up through the creeping phlox, but one has about 6 or 7 buds all ready to bloom with exuberance!!  

I saw that on the last post back in May of 2014 I showed our new pergola.  At the time it was placed on a cement patio.  Just last week we had Precision Plus build a deck.........Although I like to call it a 'back porch'............on top of the cement..........They used Timber-Tec rather than wood.  I love it!  It's maintenance free and it matches the pergola so perfectly you'd think they were all installed at the same time in the same material.  I can't say enough for the workmanship of the crew, also.  Precision Plus earned the top spot for building the best decks in all of Oregon.  Everything they did from the foundation to the final touches was accomplished perfectly.  No rushing through to hurry and get the job done..........and I do know they have a big job coming after ours.  The photo below shows one angle of it.  Norm still wanted that screen cover over the top, more to insure privacy than another else.  The pergola does have more slats now.  So. there is more shade.  All in all, the result more than passed our expectations.

 My niece might be coming this week for a visit and I'll have more photos and tales to tell in a few days..........I hope.   Next weekend, TJ and Aiden will be coming.......more on the adventures of grandson and great grandson......
Our friends, Ginny and Dick, will be taking us up to Steamboat Inn for lunch and photos of waterfalls I hope.  Steamboat is a internationally know resort where 'serious' fishermen from round the world come to try and thin out the fish from our lakes and rivers........The beginnings of a good summer....
till next time..........

It's good to be back...........