Let's Open the Mailbag, Shall We?

I have taken these pictures on the mail route over the last few months:

We have a goat farm in Winlock (The Blue Rose Dairy) that produces delicious goat cheese. The goats are not always in the field by the road so I don't get to see them every time I do this route.

In the spirit of past posts highlighting the homemade signs so prevalent around here, I present a warning against human waste. No, I have not visited the website. This sign is an upgrade. For months there was a small stenciled sign tacked to a fence. One day it was gone. The next week it was replaced by this giant sign. Well, giant might be taking it too far. It is maybe 6 or 7 feet wide.

Geese. Mean and Funny rolled into one.

Whatcha doin?

I shot this one rainy day a few weeks back. I was going to put it to music but I decided to leave the background noise. That way you can enjoy a little slice of rural mail route life. I am listening to "The Sound of Young America" on XM133. I know this world is different strokes for different folks but believe me when I tell you there are many moments in a rural mail carriers daily grind that are very nearly perfect.

1000(ish) Words Because I Have No Pictures

I have a 3 gallon glass carbouy sitting in the garage that is just over half full of fresh apple cider. The other day I went over to Tom and Kathy's house. Kathy and I filled a bunch of bushels full of apples from their trees. There is a fellow in Toledo called Kendall and he recently acquired an antique cider press and was looking to put it to good use. So we washed up all the apples and got the machine rolling. First all the apples went into the crusher. The crushed pieces fell through to the tray on the bottom of the machine where they were caught in what looked like a bottomless bucket. Once the bucket was full we pushed it forward along the tray so it was positioned underneath the press. Fitting a round wooden disk into the bottomless bucket we pressed all the juice out of the apple bits. I figure that we had about 5 gallons by the time we were done. The whole business smelled good, tasted good and was so freaking quaint that I felt I was a subject in a Norman Rockwell painting. But you will just have to trust me on that because I didn't have my camera on my person and missed photo-documenting the experience.

My Morning Walk

Theme song for this walk: An End Has A Start by Editors

My Morning Walk

I am getting caught up on my morning walk posts. Seems like some of you enjoy them. Thank you for your kind comment Kate!

If you are a participant in Christmas your tree might come from my neighborhood. There are tree farms all over the place up here.

There is a reason rabbits are easy pickins for cars, birds of prey and coyotes. This business of going tharn is quite a craptastic defense mechanism.

Theme song for this walk: Burn the Honeysuckle by The Gourds

Hay Fever

I made it through 36 summers hay fever free. I felt bad for hay fever sufferers but I really didn't have a clue what they were dealing with. Summer 37 and it all went to hell for me. We are surrounded by hay here in our little slice of heaven. For about 3 weeks this summer I required restraint as I attempted to claw my eyeballs out of my skull, seeking relief from the ITCHING. Everything they say in the commercials for allergy medication is true. Of course I understood that in theory but now I understand it in practice and it sucks rocks.

My Morning Walk

The theme song for this walk: Lotion by Greens Keepers

My Morning Walk

I have posted these birds before but I couldn't resist another picture with the bright blue sky as background.

Theme song for this walk: The entire Mamma Mia! Sountrack. (The movie version, not the Broadway or pure ABBA versions - which I am sure are both fine - just not what I happened to be listening to.) Comment on the movie: It is an embarrassingly goofy exterior surrounding a candy and chocolate covered heart of gold. I unexpectedly enjoyed it.

My Morning Walk - Beach Version

Tom, Kathy, Andy and Andy's friend Megan spent the 4th of July holiday at the beach. I had a strange work schedule on the route over July 4th so we went down on the evening of the 5th and came back home on the 6th. Here are some pics of our brief sojourn.

A citizen concerned about the welfare of sea birds covered an entire section of the boardwalk railing with pieces of bagels, various flavors. The birds didn't seem to care. Perhaps they were full up on people food, this being the end of a busy holiday weekend. Notice the whale skeleton in the distance.

Seriously, this burn patch has to be the best cautionary illustration ever. I honestly wonder if the local fire department didn't burn it on purpose right by the fire danger sign as a dire warning.

Kathy thinks I hate the flag because I am so glum about the current state of the union. I don't hate it. I am just crushingly disappointed in things right now. Doesn't mean I am without hope or that I am the walking embodiment of anti-patriotism. I just want better from my elected officials on the federal level. And also the flag got abused after 9/11, don't you think? Everyone had flags poking up from their car windows. I saw so many sun bleached and tattered flags for months after that that I wondered why, if people felt so strongly, did they let the symbol of our freedom fly so shabbily. I would truly prefer an angry patriot burning a flag in protest over a lax, lipservicey sheep with a shredded flag flying from his/her car window with a new Jack-in-the-Box head on the antenna. And the car flags came from China. And flag stickers on cars request God to Bless America and tell me that "These Colors Don't Run". It all seems so diluted and commercial now. A real flag, in good repair, taken in or lit at night, folded properly when not in use. Doesn't seem to be asking too much. Am I wrong?

The Fruits of My Labors

I doubt the phrase "Michelle has a green thumb" has ever been uttered so this is quite an accomplishment. They are tiny berries but compensate for size with sweetness.

Wee, rolling garden - UPDATE

At the beginning of May I posted about my wee rolling garden. Here is an update. There are little green strawberries on the strawberry plants and the tomato plants are not dead. In fact they seem to be growing normally, if not exactly flourishing. The tiny trees all got a bit of new growth and I added a box full of basil, thyme and dill.

My Morning Walk - Plantlife

More Plants. Don't Fall Asleep

Living so long without seasons caused me to forget an important item. Spring makes winter worth the trouble. I am really digging all the shades of green in the world with punches of floral color. All flooding and freezing are forgiven, at least until next winter.

This yellow flower might be scotchbroom. I am not sure. Scotchbroom is a tough weedy bushy thing that we have been warned about.

Look closely and you will see a worker bee in this photo.

I was listening to my "Country Mice" playlist on this walk and the two theme songs for the walk are "Sandusky" by Uncle Tupelo and "Hasn't Hit Me Yet" by Blue Rodeo. This made for a more leisurely walk than I needed. Drew served us a bathtub size basket full of tater tots the night before and I probably should have found something with a few more beats per minute. Good soul searching music though. My brain thanks me but my arteries do not.