Oregon City, Oregon  Week 46 - November 15 - November 21, 2021

We did some big cleanup in Greenhouse #1 - a mess since the ice storm in February.  There was a big stack of perfectly good hay. which when exposed to the rain, turned into a wet smelly heavy mess....yuck1

We used the tractor to load the bales into the bucket and then transported them to the garden where the hay will "enrich the soil by add nutrients and organic matter.".

The OSU Gymnastics Season is about to begin.  there was an exhibition match in Corvallis which provided the athletes the opportunity to "pretend" they were at a competition.  with our vaccination cards saved on our phones....

The best part was seeing Jade Carey who is an Olympian (first in floor at Tokyo) on the Beaver team.  Afterwards we went to the MU to the cafeteria to eat.....was kinda a bust because Panda Express was closing and we were able to order only what they still had.

Sunday night we celebrated Gretchen's 10th birthday.

I finished a big project in the basement by installing ten LED fluorescent like lights.  Wow....we can see now.

 

 Oregon City, Oregon Week 45 - November 8 - 14, 2021

Some good news to report....for this season, I have finished cutting and burning in the woods.  I cut down the last filbert bush/tree and burned it with glee--

And here is the last burn pile of the season

There still are filberts and some holly left on our property, but they are over the "edge" that goes down to the Big Creek.  Realistically, the ground is to wet and soft and moist  to safely and easily reach ad clean up the area,  Besides I will need stuff to do in 2022

There was no school for two days, and we had Bev's kids come over for two days while she worked at the Acres House.  The kids were so good.  both days the girls turned our bedroom into the beach with water and sand and wind and bunnies swimming in the surf using water wings.

Saturday was a football game in Corvallis - OSU against Stanford.  I had wanted, for a long time, to make Warren a beaver tail to latch on to the rear of his car when he closed the back  I finally had an idea to use some of the foam mats we used in Greenhouse #8.

And installed on to the car

i thought that some cars on the freeway, on the wat to Corvallis, would honk and wave at us, but no one did.

We took Abby and Clara and left Copeland with Jessica.  We a lunch at American Pizza which is yummy but very busy.

It was a fun game!  OSU won 35 to 7.  Not a lot of fouls - lots of exciting moments.  The weather was perfect.

We had a nice Sunday dinner.  Katy Kuntz and her husband, Beck, and daughter Ella came.  Lots of noise and conversation.

And...we celebrated Travis' birthday  he is 41.  Warren made the cake - what's new?  It was the best German Chocolate Cake I have ever experienced!

Next week my goal is to finish hooking up the barn's downspouts to 3" pipes that drain into the woods.  I also to need to level out the ground and properly slope the area.  I will do it the tried and true Egyptian way...with a shovel.

 Week 44 Oregon City Oregon - Week 44 - November 1 - November 7, 2021

Sigh - winter and the rainy season have arrived,

Burn Season ends in mid December, so I only have a month and a half to go. There are only three more filbert trees/bushes to cut down to finally clear out the slopes of those unwanted and non native trees.  

I spent nearly two days cutting down and burning this tree.  Here is a before photo

Many of the vertical trunks are six inches in diameter and they are all wound about each other.  And the upper limbs spread wide and tangle with one another.  I hate filberts!....as much as I hate ivy and blackberries, and nettles!

I have taken three loads of scrap metal to the metal recycling place.  I think I have only one more load to go.  Finally got rid of the metal fencing and gates that Malcolm has accumulated over the years.  I think I have one more load of metal that I can accumulate to take to the recycler.

I am still helping Camille with her Second Year Algebra.  We're in the middle of polynomials. k I don't remember doing any of this math when I was in high school or in college when I took College Math 101.  I actually am enjoying doing the math.  It is good brain exercise.

In Activity Days we are making paracord bracelets.  We had a "premeeting" this week to train three of the kids ahead of time.  We had Logan and Clara, and Lily Hagberg come and learn early.  Then they will be able to help to help teach the other kids.  This was Kyna's idea.  She said her son Jaxon had a great time learning how to do it.  I think the idea of them bring useful in a survival situation is kinda silly. If you take apart miner in an emergency situation, there will be only three and a half feet of cord to use - not really enough to do anything useful.  Butttttt - the kids are having fun and learning how to make things and follow directions, and so forth.  At home I taught Ruby and Jude and Abby how to make them too.