End Of Spring Break

Friday was beautiful, so I was sitting outside and realized one the raised beds in my backyard was covered in weeds. I weeded it and then had this beautiful patch of dirt that was begging for me to grow something in it! So I went to the store and got some sugar snap peas, some red lettuce and two anemone flowers and planted them up. I love having them outside my window! So far so good, no cats interfering and no snails on my lettuce. My little peas are already starting to attach to the trellis.



Yesterday Ashlee and I went to the SOLV Beach Clean-Up in Florence, and the weather could not have been better. Overcast, not too windy, it started pouring on our drive home, so we got lucky. In our get-ups:


Ashlee found a lightbulb and quickly discovered it had life within! Video below...I couldn't bear to throw these guys in the trash so we took the bulb down to the ocean and Ashlee set them free with a rock. She also topped her boots, but fortunately was wearing wool and suffered no ill effects.


We also found this palette, which was quite heavy. We had wrangled a long piece of rope out of a smelly kelp mass earlier, and dug it out of my bag (now containing broken glass due to the rescue effort), and Ashlee rigged this up so we could drag it back. I'm pretty glad that a volunteer came up to us and let us know we could just tell the person at HQ that it was on the beach to be picked up, before we dragged it too far.


A perk to being a good person...Oregon State Police Volunteer magnet for the car! Ashlee was stoked.

Other items found: a needle (ick), many many beer cans and bottles, tiny bits of plastic, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, fast food cups, water bottles, a film canister, a large tupperware lid, one Roxy flip flop, and a pvc pipe.

Here is our video of the little swimmers trapped in the lightbulb. It reminded me a little of the town of Who-Ville on a larger scale. I scold Ashlee at the end because she wanted to let them fight it out...

Birdwatching

My dad led a birding trip last week that I decided to go on. Like any other good birding trip, it all began at the local Adult Shop. I thought it was pretty funny the Audubon group met here, but anyway...


We went to a man's house just outside of Turner who had taken farmland that used to be a wetland, and reconverted it back to a wetland. He has put a lot of time and energy into this land to make it a nice refuge for birds and other wildlife. We found this mystery skull below:


The weather wasn't great, but not bad either, just some sprinkle showers. The main wetland below:


This huge dog lived with a herd of goats and was quite protective of them.


The highlight of the trip was definitely seeing two barn owls fly from the barn (he spooked them out for us to see). A bald eagle also flew over us while we were out walking. Others we saw: Eurasian Wigeon, Bufflehead, Ring necked Ducks, Barrow's Goldeneye, Blue Winged Teal, Kildeer, Great Egret (flew by us while squawking, that was cool), American Kestrel, Red winged Blackbird, American Wigeon, and Song Sparrow. There were some others that I can't remember as well.

Tuesday!!!

I spent Wednesday with Amber and Tuesday and had a great time!


Seriously, how cute is this baby???


I like how after just a couple of hours I look haggard. I don't know how you do it Amber! She is so sweet though, and is becoming aware of her surroundings, she smiles at you! Ok, I am supposed to be out the door in 35 minutes for Redwood camping...gotta run. I'm sure I'll have stories since the weather is forecasted as rain rain rain.

Spring Break :)

Well I've survived another term. I hope this whole thing goes by quickly to be honest. Tomorrow I am headed to Salem to visit Amber and Tuesday. Thursday my dad is leading a bird watching group that I'm going on. Friday morning Ashlee and I leave for the Redwoods!!! I'm so excited to go camping, it is beckoning to me. I've also been working on some new baby batiks (in bigger sizes!). I'm sure I'll have those up after I get back. It's amazing how fast I want to do something creative as soon as the pressure of school is lifted.

Carrots and a Public Service Announcement

I made carrot cake cupcakes. Not the best idea, when I make batches of things, I have no willpower at all. If I had to guess, I bet I've eaten 11 cupcakes in the last three days. They are so tasty though, and I used Aaron's Cuisinart and KitchenAid to make them. I love them, they make cooking fun again!


Now for a public service announcement. No matter how cluttered your counters get, the stovetop really should not be used as a flat storage surface. This is what happens when I try to boil out wax, cook dinner and turn on the wrong burner. Whoopsy-do.


This is what I was boiling:


Awesome purple carrot long-sleeved onesie!

I <3 Wisconsin

I made this pair of I love Wisconsin onesies for Emily in Illinois, who found me via Amber's blog Life In Color. I hope you enjoy them Emily :)

Yummy Dinner and a Baby Tooth

I made fettuccine with cream sauce and vegetables tonight. Carrots, onion, zucchini, asparagus, mushrooms and fresh basil. It was delicious, and I have leftovers :)


I have a baby tooth. I am congenitally missing my adult second pre-molar, so my 6 year (as in you get it when you are 6 years old) molar is still in place, since it was never pushed aside. When I had braces, my orthodontist was careful to leave it where it was so as not to damage the roots at all. It is the only crooked tooth in my mouth. I knew that I would probably lose this tooth at some point, although my dentist always tells me if I take good care of it I could have it until I'm 50. But seeing the radiographs of this tooth was a little disconcerting. I only have 4mm of root left on this tooth, and compared to its neighbors, it is tiny! I'm also a little worried since my distal root is resorbing itself, I think because I clench my teeth. At least I will be working for a dentist most likely when it does kick the bucket, and I can get an implant put in. Hang in there little guy!