Happy New Year!

Hoping for clear skies and smooth sailing for 2011!

Happy Holidays!

Here's to putting the "SEA" back in Season's Greetings!

Best wishes to all for the upcoming year.

The blog is migrating south to Bonaire at the beginning of 2011. Come along for the underwater photos.

Winter solstice

Tonight, those of you with a clear sky in North America may view the total lunar eclipse. Our skies are overcast, with rain coming down. I'll keep checking, but in the meantime, I'm sharing an earlier eclipse, from February 2008.

Welcome to Winter!

Evening sky

December has continued the cloudy spell that started about mid-November. But when the clouds part, we enjoy whatever sun breaks we find. This morning was quite sunny, but some clouds moved in this afternoon. A cold east wind is blowing, which has stimulated lots of people to crank up their furnaces, wood stoves, and fireplaces. Smoke then contributes a red hue to our sunsets.

This is what our sunset looked like tonight.

Not-exactly-turkey Day

The snow has melted, and our temperature hit 50 today, for that we are thankful. And the neighbor's dog that bit Bori has had its shots, for that we are grateful.

For dinner we ate stuffed cod, the other white meat!

Be well and be thankful.

Snow girl

This morning, the snow spoke to me. I couldn't resist building a snowgirl. But I couldn't find anything suitable for her mouth. My first attempt with huckleberries, gave her pale pink lipstick. Later, I went out for a hike in the woods and on the beach. I came back with bright kinnikinnick berries for her mouth, and sea grass for her hair. She got a make-over.

River walk

Today, after a day of nice weather, we headed down to the nearby Yachats River. I hiked the path along the edge of the river, and Bori fished from the bank. The river is rather wild and organic looking, lined with fern-laden alders, giant spruce and cedar trees. No fish today.

Rain break

'Tis the season for rainbows. Although bits and pieces are easy to spot, complete arcs are harder to find.

Sun breaks

Although we are certainly well into the rainy season, contrary to popular opinion we don't have rain all day, every day. When the sun comes out, we seem to be drawn outside to enjoy the rainbows, the clouds, and all that the rain supports.

Yesterday, I gathered more mushrooms, and planted my annual elephant garlic crop.

Today, just before our first early sunset, back on standard time, I headed out for a walk, to cloud watch. But first I stopped to check on my artichoke and kale crops.

A brief look under the cap

In the last couple of days I have gathered 3 species of tasty wild mushrooms. I shop in the woods! They are all quite distinct from one another and represent 3 different groups that can be easily recognized by looking under their caps. (Remember to double click on photos for an enlarged view.)

The spores of king boletes (and all the other boletes) are held by a sponge layer of densely-packed tubules on the bottom of the cap. See bottom photo.

Many of the familiar, commercially-raised mushrooms (seen at the grocery store) have a spore-bearing, gill structure on the bottom of the cap. Chanterelles, the upper two mushrooms in the top photo, are a type of gilled mushroom, although their gills are thicker and and shallower than those seen in store-bought mushrooms.

The bottom two mushrooms in the top photo are nearly the same color and texture as chanterelles, and are found in similar habitats, however they are hedgehog mushrooms. A look under their cap reveals downward-pointing, spore-bearing spines or teeth. This group is called teeth fungi.

Please don't think that this is anywhere near enough information to enable you to pick and eat wild mushrooms. Be sure you really know the identity of any wild mushroom before eating it. There are lots of guide books and other resources out there that can help.

On foraging

Last Sunday, after the rain stopped, I set out searching for some of the riches that the rain provides, that is, I went hunting for edible mushrooms. After hiking around in the woods for a couple of hours, I was quite satisfied to come home with about 3 pounds of chanterelles, and 4 king boletes. On my hike, I saw and heard many flocks of Canada geese as they flew south, high above me.

Because wild huckleberries are ripe now as well, I filled a small bag with berries that I picked along the mushroom trail.

However, in both cases, the best pickings were in my own yard. When I returned home from my foraging trip, I found a lovely king bolete, in nearly perfect condition, under one of our trees. For several years, I have been spreading the spore sponges of the king boletes that I bring home under our trees. And am always happy to reap what I have sowed.

We have many wild huckleberry plants growing in our yard, and we plan to pick them this week. It's a great season for eating wild things along the Oregon coast.

Putting food by

In case you think that we exist on salmon and mushrooms out here, the fall is a busy food season. We've been busy dehydrating apple chips and tomatoes. This year our freezer is getting stocked with oven-roasted marinara sauce. And the local Dungeness crab are calling us.

Before and after

The blue cast and my broken wrist are gone. I'm back to gathering bolete mushrooms. I especially enjoy having a thumb that works again.

Summer's end

As summer draws to an end, we headed out fishing and gathering. One Chinook (king) salmon was caught, and the first king bolete (mushroom) of the season was gathered, as well as more than 2 pounds of chanterelles.

Sunset in progress

Living on the Pacific coast, we have the great fortune to witness a variety of colorful sunsets. On clear days we see the green flash. Today wasn't quite clear enough for a green flash, but the progression of colors was quite striking. I tried to capture the colors just before the sun popped out from behind the clouds (top), as it was setting behind the horizon (middle), and a short while after it had set (bottom).

A tale of two fishing trips

A little over a week ago, we headed south to fish at the mouth of the Umpqua River. The weather was mild, and lots of common murres were present, with parents feeding their chicks. The fishing was pretty slow, but after several hours, Bori caught a really nice Chinook salmon that was at least 25-pounds. It fought, but he brought it to the boat.

From there, things went downhill. I attempted to net the fish, and knocked it off the hook. Let's just say that a few discouraging words were heard. But in my defense, I have a broken wrist, and limited mobility. It would have been a good time to have an "undo" button.

Speed forward to this weekend, Bori went fishing in our home inlet, about 2 miles from our house (top photo), by himself.

As you can see from his happy expression (bottom photo), he caught a very nice Chinook. Just in case you think it was easy, he had another odd experience when he brought the fish to the boat. This time, his reel became disconnected from his rod, so he had to grab the leader with one bare hand while netting the fish with the other.

Fishing and gathering

It's that time of year when our thoughts turn to fishing and gathering. And fortunately enough, each of us had some success this week. The fisherman brought home his first Chinook salmon of the season (bottom photo), and I brought home three pounds of chanterelles. Tasty!

Another day, another King salmon (top photo).

Family visit

During this summer's family visit, fog prevailed, and through the week, our temperature hovered around 59 degrees. The marine layer, also known as fog, is why we don't need air conditioning. The sun came out on Saturday, which made for a great beach day.

The bottom photo is Bori with Fran, the wonder woman. The top photo is Grandpa Bori and Sadie, heading out for a bike ride.

From the earth

Mid summer in Oregon is the time to pull the garlic. The bottom photo shows my elephant garlic harvest. Kale has been doing quite well this summer as well.

In the woods, the wild mushrooms are starting to appear. Right now, Chanterelles (top photo) are popping up. However, our weather has been so dry, that the mushrooms aren't growing very fast.

Bird notes

Last week our pine trees were graced by the presence of a family of cedar waxwings. Their whistling call was easy to identify, but the birds were hard to find. That's because a pair of partially hidden, fluffy fledglings were calling to their parents, who later returned with meals for them. The bottom photo is one of the fledglings, and the middle photo is one of the parents, watching us watch them.

The top photo is of brant that were walking along the beach on the north side of Alsea Bay, on Saturday. These geese were probably molting their plumage, as there were 22 of them, they looked rather motley, and they showed no inclination to fly off.

The end of the road trip

This photo is a still life, a very still life. It is a red-breasted sapsucker that met its end on the road. Our mountain journey has also ended.

Gold Lake

Another favorite lake for a canoe paddle is Gold Lake. It is just west of Willamette Pass. The lake is named for its color, which algae are responsible for. Along the south side of the lake, in the shade of the firs and spruces, a pretty white flower with fringed petals (grass-of-parnassus) is found (bottom 2 photos). The north end of the lake is a bog (top 2 photos).

Davis Lake

One of our favorite Cascade lakes for a canoe paddle is Davis Lake. It is very shallow, with reeds rimming much of its border. Water birds are usually quite abundant and active here. The setting is rather spectacular, and can only be appreciated by viewing as a panorama. The bottom photo is the panorama to the west. The top photo is the view to the north, and includes two of the Sisters, Broken Top, and Mount Bachelor (a top ski area).