A Full-time Life

Category: Oregon homes

  • THE DUCKS ARE #1!

    THIS POST IS LINKED TO MELLOW YELLOW MONDAY.

    AND MOSAIC MONDAY at Little Red House.

    2010-11-27 

    104 Bill watches football only occasionally and I'm not a fan at all, but in the Eugene area right now you'd pretty much have to be in a coma not to be a little excited  about it.

    Yes, the University of Oregon Ducks, in the Pac-10 League, are unbeaten and are ranked as the #1 football team in the nation. 

     It's kind of a big deal around here because Oregon hasn't been in this position for many years.

    The Ducks won their last home game of the season Friday night and play the final regular game next week against Oregon State University at Corvallis (the "Civil War").   OSU doesn't have as good a record, but it will surely still be a hard-fought battle.

    On our errand run to town the other day we took a detour to the UO Campus Bookstore. 

     

    Everything there is pretty much yellow and green.

  • A LITTLE LOCAL HISTORY

    Today's post is linked to RUBY TUESDAY AND THAT'S MY WORLD

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    This sign stands on the border between Fern Ridge Shores RV Park and a Federal wetlands area.   The land that now composes Fern Ridge Lake (Reservoir) is located near the confluence of the Long Tom River, Coyote Creek and Amazon Creek. The dam that created the Lake was built in the 1950s.

    Prior to European settlement, these lands were inhabited by the Chelamela group of the Kalapuya Indians.   It would have been good hunting grounds for them back then.       

    Wind and rain and the annual draining of the Lake apparently still occasionally bring arrowheads and other artifacts to the surface. The prohibition on gathering artifacts is because of Federal laws passed to preserve antiquities and prevent looting of Native American graves and other sacred places for purposes of commercial gain.   

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    Now that the water level in the Lake has been brought down for the Winter, it is easier to imagine a little of what this area would have looked like when the Kalapuyas lifed here (and even up until the 1950s, when the dam was built).  In the summer, this green field is full of water — we boat there.

     

     

     

  • APPROACHING RAINSTORM

    This post is linked to SKYWATCH FRIDAY  — click the links. 

    They say if you don't like the weather in Oregon, just wait half an hour.

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    All of these pictures were taken within an hour last Sunday, here at Fern Ridge Shores.

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    When the skies start to look like the last picture, it's time to go inside and curl up with a good book.

     

     

     

  • MIRROR MIRROR

    THIS POST IS LINKED TO YARD ART ON THURSDAY  –  AND  WEEKEND REFLECTIONS.

    This framed mirror has been hanging on a mobile home at Fern Ridge Shores for as long as we've been coming here. 

     There's never anybody at home there when we walk by — I'd like to ask them about it. 

    (Taken today, November 10 — still some golden days in between the rainy ones.)

     

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  • BIRDING ON THE LAKE

    A GLIMPSE OF WHERE WE'RE STAYING RIGHT NOW FOR THAT'S MY WORLD ON  TUESDAY 

    AND WATERY WEDNESDAY (click the links to see watery posts from around the world (most of them with more water than we have right now!)

    There's not much water left on our (no)Lake, but the shore birds love it. Easy pickings!  This was the afternoon view from our window most days last week — the water has gone down since then and the egrets have moved on to a slightly deeper spot.

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    Whenever the sun comes out, even briefly, the perching birds come out to eat and play before the next shower.

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    We like to go outside between the showers too!  Being able to do that is one of the joys of our leisurely life.  Those sunny periods never seemed to happen during regular working hours.     

  • COLOR SPOTS AT FERN RIDGE (no)-LAKE SHORES

     Go see Mellow Yellow Monday to see what sunshine colors people from all over are spotting this week.

    There's not a whole lot of color left around Fern Ridge Shores.  Yellow flowers seem to be hanging on longer than anything else this Fall.

    We are grateful for any and all November color spots.

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  • BEAUTIFUL NOVEMBER!

    An unexpectedly beautiful November day in Oregon this week – – click on the Skywatch links to see skies from around the world.   SKYWATCH FRIDAY

     

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    After over a week of rain and fog, it seemed miraculous to wake up Wednesday to a blue and gold summer-like day.   This is Fern Ridge Lake — now disappearing as it does every Winter.  (Click here to read what I posted about the "no-lake" when we were here last year.)

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    And this is Oregon — just when it is so gray you are ready to give up all hope, you get blue and gold– and even a colorful woodpecker up in the top of this abandoned apple tree.

     

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    It will certainly rain again while we're here — but there is always the hope of another day like this in between the days of needed rain.   

  • BLAZE OF GLORY

    THANK YOU TO TO THE HOSTS OF SKYWATCH FRIDAY WHERE, BY CLICKING ON THE LINKS, YOU CAN ADMIRE SKIES FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD.

     

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    Sunrise over the Lake one week ago today.  It was the sun giving us it's last blaze of glory before it went away for the Winter.  That afternoon, it started to rain and our morning view since then has been gray (fog or rain). 

    Today, the rain is a reminder of why we started traveling during the Oregon winters. 

    But when we look at this picture, we remember why we love it here. (But also why we need to visit earlier in the Fall!)

  • LAST OF THE AUTUMN COLOR?

        THIS POST IS LINKED TO MELLOW YELLOW MONDAY

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    We got to Oregon just in time to enjoy a week of lovely Autumn Weather before the rainy season arrived.  

    There was even a little bit of summer left.  

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     Both of these pictures were taken last week in Cyndi and Jeff's backyard. (Our daughter and son-in-law).  

  • SUNSET, SUNRISE

    THIS POST IS LINKED TO SKYWATCH FRIDAY.  CLICK ON THE LINKS! 

    003 SUNSET — LAST SUNDAY NIGHT, UPRIVER RV RESORT, FORT MYERS FLORIDA001

     

     

     

     

     

    007 SUNRISE — THE NEXT MORNING, FERN RIDGE LAKE, VENETA OREGON  008

     

     

     

     

     

     

    It took us a little longer last time we made this trip.  Notice the jet trails in the sky over the Lake.