Two fat birds........

are sitting on a wire, just above my kitchen window.... all week i've been travelling around and enjoying the early spring feel.... listening to all the different birds in the marshes.... the oregon coast is littered with marshes... it's a wonderful place if your a marsh bird... for now that is..... i'm thinking our 'recession' is a good thing and hopefully the march of building will be curtailed for awhile... a bit of repreave for the animal kingdom.... unfortunately in my marshy travels i've seen more garbage than i have animal/bird life... rather sad don't you think :(

the past week has been pretty nice, not much in the way of rain or clouds, so i've been making up for lost 'good weather' time..... i've been to florence a few times and over to eugene... mmmmm Trader Joe's triple ginger cookies were a high priority... i bought 2 containers of them, for my return trip... and NO i'm not going to eat all of them as i'm driving!!! they are for the family... or so i'm telling myself ;) i bought a container of Trader Joe's low fat yogurt (plain)... i was amazingly suprised at the texture and taste... very good product... the past few mornings breakfast has been Nature's Path pumpkin flax granola, fruit and a generous dollop of yogurt... mmm yummy.... almost reminds me of 30 yrs ago, when it was a daily breakfast ritual of homemade yogurt, fruit and homemade granola.... i'm not much for the bacon/egg platters ... before i came south i'd never eaten the 'hearty oh so not so healthy' bisquits and gravy.... probably just as well... could be dead by now!! to me, it seems like a royal heart attack on a plate

i found some prepackaged 'eggo' type waffles that are pretty good.. gluten free... those are reserved for a sunday morning breaky ...

watched the documovie... Sicko ... a Michael Moore production.... i thought it was pretty good actually... after knowing of a woman who will most likely die because she's exhausted her funds and the 'company' won't let her past the door without cash in hand... grrrrrrrrrrrr... how can that be so, in a country that is so wealthy... how sick is that.... i could rant and rave, but i'm sure it would push up my blood pressure!!!

another week or so and i'll be returning north... just like the snowbird i am... i tell ppl that when i go north, it's a sign that spring is here... at least on the west coast .... poor easterners are buried in the white stuff and no respite yet.... UGHHHHHHHH give me rainnnnnnnnnn and more rainnnnnn... :D

Do i need a.........

title? probably not today, since the weather is semi miserable, the dogs sleepy.. and i'm ... well i don't know... not bored, but especially lazy? i was so lazy i didn't make my own soup...
Wolfgang Puck was the chef today... tomato... no msg and very tasty.... unfortunately not terribly cheap... sighhhh maybe it will be cheaper up north... or not!!

was cruising through Flickr and came across an especially good group that i like.. Extreme Street Photography - 2 Images/Week .... i'm now a member, but haven't submitted a photo yet... sometimes taking street shots is a dangerous occupation... wrong photo of the wrong person... i have a friend who was taking street shots in China Town in Vancouver (canada) and promptly got a cup of hot coffee thrown on him.... if its a close up shot.. ask first!!

Places i've been....

in the last couple of days..... the weather is spectacular so who wants to be inside!!! not me, nor two puppies.... so we had a couple of adventures.....

went to florence the first day... took my friend with me, and away we went.... went to the dunes and watching the riders on the dunes.... great fun... wish i could do it... unfortunately this pic doesn't do it justice... it's actually very steep, very long and looks like great fun!!!

then we drove along the jetty...stopped at a few places...

watched a couple of clammers... using some sort of tool... it works slick... unfortunately i think if everyone had one, there'd be no clams left... tooo efficient...

gave the dogs a good walk in the sand... dora was her usual hyper self... can't contain her enthusiasm and continually in trouble... ahhhh for some maturity... i know it will come :D

eventually!!!!

after our trip to the dunes, we got hungry.... went into florence and spotted this car... hmmm is this a DUH or what???

finished up the day at a great little cafe, had grilled salmon with chipolte lime sauce... and sliced fried sweet potatoes.. some excellent bake beans... mmmmmm good!!!

did i mention that we went ......... gambling... we didn't lose too much... about 20$... that i can live with.... more than that and i get annoyed with myself!!!

yesterday was pretty cool... same weather... glorious i must say... warm, so this time i wandered north... to Siletz.... up the Siletz river.... was a great trip...

the seagull was probably smart... below were 2 seals who just had made a snack out of something... not sure what it was.. a fish or bird... who knows... alas i didn't have the right camera with me, my smaller camera takes great fun pics, but doesn't have the speed that my nikon does....

further up river we stopped at a few more places.. wandered and let the dogs do some high tech sniffing.... dora really perked up when we got to farmland... the farm girl comes out in her... sampson just loves having his head out the window, sniffing at all the things he's never seen...

went to Siletz and beyond, up as far as the pavement goes... was pretty... i love the farmland too... i love the ocean, but i'm more a farm girl i think...

checked out Moonshine Park... i didn't see any moonshine, but it did appear that some of the occupants might have found it ...

lots of fishermen all the way up the Siletz... must be good fishing... passed a Fish Hatchery on the way... so i guess it's probably well stocked....

this looks painful... i did see 2 calves but they were laying down and i couldn't get a photo of them... i thought about getting out of the car, but the cows were all free range... thank goodness for real cows... :D not the feedlot variety... that should be banned...

Covered Bridges and Warped Barns...... (part 2)

up the Alsea about 20 miles further and turned south to see the Fisher Covered Bridge...


by the bridge was a notice board, with directions to get to Yachats 'the back' way... and next to it was the quote from the bible... i wonder if it means anything about the travelling the back route.... hmmmm




i'd have rather seen the original one, but such is life on the coast... nothing lasts very long here... salt, wet, mildew, etc... killers on wood...

then we wandered further south and i found a pretty cool barn...

as i was out walking along the road, to get a better shot, the owners came out and came to ask me if i needed help ... i said no, just came to take pics of their beautiful barn... they probably thought i was nuts... u know 'them' silly outtatowners' ...

i think i should gather all my barn pics and post them one day... will be quite a chore... something about the mathematical dynamics of 'why shouldn't the barn fall down' :D

Covered Bridges and Warped Barns........(part 1 )

are very cool... at least in my brain... my day started out early... decided the dogs needed a diversion from boredom and trouble... so with great joyous bouncing and barking... into the car we went... and down the road.... i LOVE adventures.. even if they are small... today's adventure was up the Alsea River... a beautiful day, 2 happy puppies... what more could i ask for ....


last years bullrushes...


some kinda fungi


see the bird?


we did a walk about next to a slough... mmm sniffy sniffy... some critter made a deposit, dora didn't like it.. and promptly made her mark on it... me thinks it could have been a raccoon... only dora and sampson know i guess....

Cupid's day.......

is today... or so they say! personally i think it's just a hype from the chocolate and gift dept. of the corporate world.... but alas there is a history..... several actually.... but starting out with The Feast of Lubercus, a pagan celebration... check out the link if you'd like to learn more about Valentine's day....

"Oft have I heard both youth and virgin say
Birds choose their mates, and couples too, this day;
But by their flight I never can divine,
When I shall couple with my Valentine.
"Herrick"

sad part of all of this... is that it really has come down to corporate greed... buy buy buy and your sweetheart will love you forever.... ahem... pardon me while i get into all of that hype...

whew... now that i have that out of my system... i feel so much better... even to the point that i don't need that 10 lb box of chocolates or the dozen roses... if only my dogs could send me some :D

been cruising through some more blogs... i've discovered blog hunting really is quite fun and sometimes informative... Wanderin' Weeta is a pretty fun site... she's into birds birds and more birds.. and did i mention bugs too... she's taken some pretty cool photos and videos of some insects...

Dog blogs .....

worth reading...... Dogster For The Love of Dogs is one of them... terrific reading, information, a lot of links to other dog blogs and generally well formatted for easy reading... gets my 'slurp' of approval...

so i suppose whats good for the dog is good for the cat??? and here it is... Catster, Here Kitty Kitty ... its a different format but just as informative....

sometime today i need to get into the shed of horrors... several years of neglect and heapings of dead boxes....... ack... i KNOW there are monsters in there... i shall wear protective clothing.. well a good set of gloves anyways... never know who's lurking in the corner!!!