Dec 16 two sunny days in a row!

and the forecast had predicted rain!
I drove to Coos Bay to get Locke on Monday night.
Tuesday, I started volunteering for a program of disabled kids riding.  One of the helpers built the barrel horse for the kids to practice on.

It was great to have the new lens-Canon 18-135 mm, get here, and after Andrew helped me get the old lens off, I was able to use it. Locke and I went to the North Jetty so I could try out the telephoto.
 Its nice for shooting into waves although I felt that it overexposed shots. the exposure, color details were more mushy than the old standard lens. Also, when Locke found a tiny, 1/2" crab, I could not focus on it at closer than about a foot.

The focus and light adjustment seems fairly nimble but I have some getting used to the lens! I love how the telephoto compresses the waves and makes a confused sea more realistic.

Dec 12 sunny morning

The hourly forecast said that the rain would start in the afternoon so I called Helen (of Helen's guide service, recovering from back surgery) at 8:30 AM to see if she wanted to take a walk. We tried to get out on the flats below her house and where the elk hang out, but the river was too high so we drove up river to the "Ferry Hole." While we walked she explained that it was where, before the bridge was built(1934), a ferry crossed the Rogue.
The river was high but peacefully flowing seaward. There were some fall colors and some trees plump with spring buds. A few buffleheads floated in the eddies.

After about an hour and a half I dropped Helen off and drove down the south bank road.
Dungeness fishermen were able to start fishing at midnight. The bar seemed impassable, the ocean angry. Spray formed a cloud along the south jetty as it sparkled in the sun.

I crossed the bridge and continued down the north jetty. One cat hung out at the Jetty-cat houses. No raccoons, this time.

I walked out the jetty and down the beach, happy to be out on a spectacular day.

It started drizzling by 2:00 PM, and rained by 4:00. Another front is moving in and it may rain most of the week.

Dec 11 showers

In between rain showers I rode to the P.O. and got out to take pictures of Madrone trees. I'm obsessed with getting a good picture of a madrone--getting closer.

baby shore pine and tan oak

Then I decided to document December flowers.

honeysuckle

Rock rose

vinca

Lotus--gold flash. Loved by the hummingbirds

Rosemary

geranium--no flowers, but cool leaves

And...a black mushroom

 A neighbor's yard, home of an extended family of gophers. Ed trapped three and speared one last spring and I trapped three as they worked through the pea vines during the summer.

During the past couple of wet afternoons I have been repainting living room walls with a water-like pattern of streaks of blue, light grey, dark grey and then I washed it with a diluted sea foam green.

Today was almost oppressive with low dark clouds. I went to Brookings to attend a Progressives' brunch. I never seem to make the events so it was good to meet some like-minded people who had also listened to Bernie Sanders' rant / filibuster / Berniebuster yesterday. The group was interesting and thoughtful and I have an invitation to do the Christmas bird count in Del Norte County next weekend.

Dec 9 Southerlies

Sunday was Bennii's birthday. Her daughters, Kiki and Karmen had a gathering with lots of Dungeness crab. How nice to love crab and have a birthday coordinate with the opening of the Oregon season!

Winter rains began again with the arrival of the southerlies on Tuesday, windy and squally yet warm. I managed to get a couple of good bike rides in on Sunday, up Eucre creek and Monday, to Nesika Beach. I took pictures of holly trees and Cryptemeria in its red winter foliage.

Since then, I have been concentrating on finishing my final project for advanced creative writing through University of Alaska, Sitka. It's an article about the Italian bike trip that I would like to submit to AARP. Although the south wind has kept the temperature in the fifties, the wind and the dark clouds have discouraged me from beach walks. I get outside to re-secure the cloche covers every day until more clips arrive, tend to the chickens, and collect about three eggs/day. However,I was able to dig up a couple of pounds of beets.

Dec 3 sunny

Too bad that the sun waited until the visiting Alaskans left before it won the tug-of-war with the rain clouds.
We have had three days of sunshine since they left on Wednesday morning.

It was nice to get a couple of big-tide walks on the beach and to finish the cloche-covers. Especially since the last wind storm had blown by seine-web fence down to where the chickens escaped. They proceeded to decimate the young greens. Now, three of the four beds are covered, one with bird-mesh, two with plastic.

Hmm, how do we get into the beds with the tender lettuce?

gathering around the last of the kale

I was planning on seeding them somewhere around solstice but decided that, if lettuce can be grown 200 miles south of here in California, it is worth trying here. So, on December second, I planted mixed greens, butter-crunch, and butter-head lettuce. I saved enough seeds to replant in late January.
People here say that it is not worth it to plant so early--the cool weather and the short days contribute to sluggish growth. Its really hard for me to adjust from an attitude of-- working the soil as soon as it thaws.

The chickens have been picking through the been, parsley, and raspberry rows for the past month. Yesterday, I opened the barrier between the raised beds, lawn, and the rest of the garden, giving the chickens access to the whole yard. They were happy to attack chickweed and to strip the last of the chard and kale. They love anything that elevates their viewpoint so the one bed available to them was the most popular spot. After eating the chard and kale, they scratched through the dirt and around the onions looking for bugs and seeds.

Buffy--so-named for for cross beak. The grandkids said it was "Backwards, upside down, forwards, hence, buf.

I'm only getting three or four eggs-a-day. Barely enough for me, visitors, and neighbors. I hung the "No eggs" sign on top of the "eggs for sale" sign. Laurie and Jeff liked that the directions to the place were, turn at the "no eggs" sign. Laurie suggested I put out "no bread" and "no milk" signs.
Today Bennii (neighbor who grew up here but now splits time between Ophir and her husband's racetrack near Bakersfield) came over and beat me in two games of scrabble(423/306 and 405/371).
Afterwards, we went to the Gold Beach Christmas bazaar. I was underwhelmed--it was almost nothing but candy, cookies and pot holders. I guess most of the artists here already display there works in the gift shops.

I bought some fudge for Bennii for tomorrow's birthday and she bought a couple of hand-knitted washcloths. Outside, the high school was conducting a fundraiser. They were selling potted live evergreens with battery operated lights on them. I donated $10 and made out an adoption form for a five foot hemlock.
We went on to the second-hand stores, Christian help and Friends of Curry County Animal Shelter. She bought a serving plate and two cinnamon buns, me--cookie cans and coat hangers.We returned to have a scrabble rematch and warm the buns. This time I won(406/350).
The tide was out, the sun shining, fifty eight degrees, and low tide so we both went to the beach. The swells were as small, about four feet, as they ever get on this relentless exposed part of the Pacific. A family had parked at the rest stop and a couple of boys in shorts were playing in the surf.
Benii and I walked a couple of miles without finding any agates.