Dog Mountain made my Dogs Bark

Friday, Billy's last day of spring break (during which he graded final exams, developed syllabi for new classes, did chores around the house, and amused me), we decided to take a day and drive up the gorge. I've always been interested in hiking Dog Mountain, so we made that our plan. After getting a rather late start, we traveled through the sunny midmorning to the bridge of the gods, through Stevenson, Washington, and past sloughs and birds to the trailhead.

Dog Mountain, as you can learn from the link, is a 28oo foot mountain that gains 1000 feet in every half mile during the first part of the hike. Billy needed some personal time for reflection partway up, so he sat with his back to a tree and thought about life and work and why he was in a bad mood. Here is a photograph of him checking his messages, which was someone from PSU offering him two new classes. I made it to half a mile from the very top, which was about 3.3 miles each way. The view at the top was pretty great, and amazing because we'd started down at the bottom near the Columbia River.

Unfortunately, Billy had to put up with my groaning and whining all weekend anytime I walked up or down the stairs. He, of course, was fine. (All that mountain climbing in his past, no doubt.)

A Holesome Pastime

Spring has sprung but it's still grey and dreary outside, with just a few warm days here and there. Billy and I have been hopping around the garden, cleaning up from winter and getting things ready for spring. Last Sunday at 3 we started our most ambitious project in awhile: installing fenceposts in the front yard.


I dug a swath of grass while Billy gathered the tools, then we took turns digging the postholes and helped each other center the posts within said holes. Then Billy mixed and poured the cement while I made dinner. Now we have three little posts that are ready to be joined by a few more to make some kind of kid- and methhead-repelling barrier that our cats can still run through if a big hairy dog comes by.

Get Well, Sarah!

Most of you know I'm not the praying type, but if ever there was a moment for sending good energy. . . My friend Sarah was recently diagnosed with cancer. A couple of years ago she broke her leg here at work, which somehow jump-started tumors around her knee. After a knee replacement surgery and months on crutches, yesterday she had an operation to take off her leg to try to save her life. She's also undergoing chemo and radiation for her lymphatic system and lungs. If you have a moment, can you please send some healing energy, or prayers, or whatever you do, to my friend Sarah? She definitely needs it.

See her blog at http://sarahbreazile.blogspot.com

The Toy Piano Band

Recently I found a band that caters to everything I love- silliness, childhood cartoons, animal sounds, and the plinky sounds reminiscent of a beloved childhood toy piano. Ladies and gentlemen, it's Twink!

Click on MUSIC for a listen. (The first song, Pussycat, sounds like Mittens when she's mad.)

For Your Reading Enjoyment

I've found a funny website! Cut, paste, and enjoy.
www.girlsarepretty.com

Too Big!

Billy made me an enormous sandwich the other day for lunch. Here I am attempting to take a bite.
I got a bit of pickle and bread that time.

Snapper's Bath

Here's a bad picture documenting Sylvia's second bath following an oily mess she found while playing outdoors. Her claws made it to my chest only twice as I scrubbed her with Dawn detergent in the kitchen sink. Poor wet furry beast!

It's snowing! It's snowing!

Right around Billy's birthday, Portland had its yearly requisite Snow. Since there was no buzz beforehand, I figured it would melt within hours, so I left for work early and made my way through the gentle flurries.


Here's my view as I was stopped on the Hawthorne bridge, heading into downtown. Look at the snow already piled on my car!

Go, little subaru, go!

Unfortunately, my work closed after a few hours and I drove home mostly in first gear (5 miles- yikes!). For once, I didn't drive like a freaked-out Oregonian, which I'm very proud of.

Billy's truck wasn't having any driving, so he took the bus downtown, only to get stuck about 1/2 a mile from the bridge. Eventually he learned that PSU was closing, and alternately helped push cars up the street and hitched home.

Also, happy birthday, Billy!

Six Days of Paradise

While in Mexico last month, this is the view we saw when we woke up. For the most part, the skies were clear, the sun was out, people were being quiet (unlike at night), and there was a musician playing music on a keyboard.
The roof at the bottom left in the photograph was an open-air bar with pool table, and further left was a cafe that served breakfast, lunch and dinner.
During the day, the hotel broadcast music from two large speakers near the pool, and people lounged, swam, and puttered in the sun. We spent two days at the pool, playing tequila volleyball, reading, enjoying fruity drinks, and swimming in the ocean.

Banderas Bay had a strong enough surf to rip off one of my flippers and break the other, but swimming in it was still thrilling. And boy was it salty! I think I got my RDA of salt in just one accidentally swallowed mouthful.

Evenin' in Mexico

Ah, the beauty of a sunset in paradise!

Which is also a delicious, smoothie-like drink. Mmm, sunset in paradise- delicious AND nutritious!

This is the view from our balcony from our recent trip to Puerto Vallarta. The sun went down at around 6:30 but it stayed warm all night. 83 degrees was perfect for me, although the sun was a bit much for Billy. Our hotel room stayed humid even with the air conditioner on, but we didn't encounter any mosquitos and my hair only frizzed a little bit.

Whining about the Weather

It's 4:53 on Monday afternoon, and everything beyond my windows is pitch black.

Rain is pouring down although the temperature is a balmy 53 degrees.

Everything about the weather is a far cry from the 83 degrees we enjoyed in Mexico two weeks ago!

Brr!

Wow, it's so cold here! Billy thinks Mt Scott is at a different elevation than the rest of the city since the weather seems to be different than other SE neighborhoods. (It's official- I just checked. We're 1 degree colder than Mt Tabor, and 14 degrees colder than downtown. Yikes!)

Today our computer room was 51 degrees, the roof is icy, and the windows are covered with condensation. Luckily our heater is pumping out nice hot air and the cats are mixing it through the house by running and jumping everywhere.

Mittens just discovered the water droplets on the window and is pawing and staring at them. Aren't cats cute?

And so it starts....

The sleeping, that is!
Hooray for the reduced hours of winter, the chilly weather, and the hot meals that all make us want to cuddle up in bed and sleep more. I've been fighting off a cold for over a week now, trying to sleep it off, and Billy- well, he loves to sleep regardless of the season. Even Sylvia's getting in on the action.

Gravity, why dost thou take my catnip from me?

Sylvia and Mittens love their new condo. It's perfectly placed in the middle of the action- right outside the kitchen door for observation of food preparation, and in the dining room with a clear shot into the living room.
Sylvia's curious as to how she's going to get her catnip body pillow off the floor and back in her paws.

Update on Sylvia

Our weatherproofing had its first major test last week as we had a night of high wind and rain.
We discovered that the ceiling in the dining room was cracked because there was a leak, not because the previous little boy hit it with his basketball. Silly us!

Billy got up on the roof and discovered that the siding was rotten, so he covered it with a temporary fix of plastic and goo. Hopefully it'll last us through winter and we can tear off and replace the siding come springtime.

The East window right above our bed is drafty enough to move the blinds, so last weekend I put up the plastic-wrap stuff. I can still see it moving when the wind blows, but at least it doesn't get in.

Sylvia is at the stage where she's getting bored in the house and gets into everything.
I can tell when she's about to do something because I'll catch her staring at it. Like last week when she thoughtfully gazed at the toilet paper roll. I left the bathroom and two minutes later found said roll strewn across the landing floor.
Sylvia!
Later that day I found her actually dipping into the toilet. Such a curious beasty!
She's not allowed to sleep in our room at night because she insists on trying the door to the Secret Closet of Mystery even though it's ALWAYS closed. (She got inside a couple of times and frolicked throughout the insulation and rafting, and since then it's been a forbidden, exciting playground.)

Hopefully she's downstairs napping right now and not eating plants, playing with her food or knocking things over.

And the rain rain rain came down down down...

We disconnected our downspouts and haven't installed our new rain barrel yet (thanks, Dad!), so in the meantime Billy set up a sophisticated and intricate water diversion system. (See above)
The water runs down the downspout and into a metal trough, then through a dirt trough, finally ending on a bunch of rocks.
We watched it in action this weekend during a relaxing rainy day. We had planned to dig holes for the front yard fence but the posthole digger is MIA, so we were just as happy to take a quick peek into the backyard and then retire to our cozy house.

Gutters Galore

Billy's biggest task this summer was to ready the gutters for the fall. Especially bad was the one on the back dormer, as it didn't reach to the end of the roof and the rain poured down willy-nilly.

Upon closer inspection, Billy discovered that the fascia holding the gutters was rotten, so not only did he need to fix/replace the gutter, he had to replace the fascia. He spent days gathering, cutting, and painting boards, and then affixing them to the edges of the roof. Hampering his progress was a small but active wasp nest, which had to be removed (with mint oil spray) before he could proceed. After attaching everything, he caulked the inside of the gutters, and voila! They're ready for rain.

Weatherize while the Sun Shines

Well, the windows that I worked so hard to strip this summer (for about 3 hours) are finally reinstalled for the rainy season. (Notice that I never got around to painting them.)

This weekend we're having a respite from the grey we had last week, so everyone and their dog was at Home Depot, buying up all the weather stripping. Luckily I found plenty at the second storeI visited, and I went to work, gingerly nailing the vinyl strips to the outside of the window. You have to look closely, but it's there. Take that, cold wind!

Sylvia Snapper helped, too.

It's Gorge-ous!

Billy's mom (Hi Linda!) visited a couple of weeks ago. We took her to the usual must-see places in Oregon- the coast, the gorge, our favorite breakfast spot, Billy's work. I love playing tour guide because it gives me an excuse to visit the places that I love in Oregon.

Here's a shot facing East up the Columbia River Gorge, taken from the Vista House. Built in 1918, it was recently reopened to the public and houses great old light fixtures and stained glass, a pictoral history (of what, I don't know- I skipped that part), a little convenience counter, and a huge old bathroom. There is also an information counter with very friendly ladies.
You can tell that it's late summer by the sandbars in the river. The river's much more full in the springtime.

Silver Falls

Recently, a friend and I drove to Silverton to see the falls. Silver Fall State Park has several falls, some of which were owned privately and donated to the park in recent years. The walk meandered from above where the falls start, behind the falls (see the people walking?) and down below to the pool.

There were miniature caves (5' x 3' and smaller) behind the falls, and large holes in the rock that were caused by the freeze/thaw cycle.

If you get a chance, take the drive and see the falls. They're amazing.