New Year's Eve

Just got in after an hour of coatless chasing Trask around in freezing fog. He had a 3lb block of sharp cheddar cheese in his mouth. The chase was not easy. With all the downed tree limbs still in the yard, he had a lot of tight spots to run through.

Maybe next year I will figure out a way to get the counter surfing king to change his ways or I will remember to never turn my back on the counter.  - And sometime next year we'll have a lawn again.

Vineman ready for the end of 2016.

 So too is Topydog

After a FB posting of Vineman, a friend suggested he needed a scarf. He is now festively dressed for New Year's Eve.

After retrieving the block of cheese (you can't stop and chew when being chased), I re-tied Vineman's hat. The wind made him look as if he had already celebrated a bit too much.
We have a special guest for the Holiday - Lupin. She is a bit slow in her old age but still attempts to play Chinook Tag with the others.

Lupin Christmas morning at her home.

Lupin enjoys her stays here but does miss lovin' from her girls.

2007

12/30/2016 a hug before leaving for her visit with us.

Happy Last Day of 2016. May tomorrow bring snow, canine kisses, health and happiness.

Trask the Surface Surfer

From this vantage point, Trask can survey every surface in the great room, including unwrapped gifts containing food and sandwiches made for guests to take home. He can also see when no one is watching said items. 

This holiday season, Trask has learned the fine art of quick snatch. unwrap and consume. Afterward the packaging and ribbons make great chew toys. Lind and Kerstin, I don't know what was in your gifts, but I am sure Trask, Koyuk and Cedar enjoyed every bite.

Happy Holidays

Koyuk and Cedar watching for Santa on Christmas Eve.

 Holiday pose only because I had treats.

 Vineman was frosty on Christmas morning

 Before we headed for the ski area, I let the dogs out for their morning run.

 It was a little early for Trask.

 Frosty paws Cedar.

My present this year was going to the ski area with Dave. Since 1978, every year the ski area has been open on Christmas day, we have taken up dinner for the patrol.

 Bluebird day, sixteen degrees and empty slopes.

The Register Guard photographer needed a "skiing Santa" for holiday shot. Since I was wearing my Santa hat and red coat, I got volunteered (and made the front page).

 Mt. Bachelor, Broken Top and Three Sisters

The day remained clear, cold and quiet. The only "cloud" in the sky was the fur on my hat when I looked up.

My quads definitely let me know I should have stuck to my plan of only skiing the easy runs for the first day of the season. My mind could not resist continually heading to the top for the views.

My sister Linda and brother-in-law Chuck came for Boxing Day. Again Vineman was dressed in white.

 Before they came, I cleared the road of car scratching branches and took pictures as I worked.

 The road to the ridge top and backside is under there.

Not only do we have fewer trees, but the stripping of branches make the forest much lighter.

This is my urban mushing rig, tie-out where I turn around after the paper runs with the dogs. At least the tree trunk is still standing...

but we won't be making runs any time soon. I can't get the quad up into the woods to exercise them or run them on our road until I do a lot more debris clearing. Good thing there is snow in the mountains to run the sled.

Lind and Chuck got to meet Vineman in person.  They also got to experience the joys and marvelous sounds when skipping rocks on a frozen pond.

After a wonderful dinner and gift exchange - I wonder how they knew I needed a device that would charge the phone when the power goes out (couldn't have been my whining last week), Dave and Chuck talked radios. Boxing Day for Lind and I was starting the mega sort of pictures from our parents which are amassed in several file boxes. Many of which we had never seen. We also viewed the 1,290+ professional, digital photos from Emily's wedding. Dave and Chuck both fell asleep while Lind and I laughed at pictures of us in mom-made matching outfits and oohed and awed at all the beautiful wedding photos. Finally we too were too tired to look at another picture. Rested Chuck drove Lind home and I crashed. A Boxing Day filled with memories old and new ones made. Happy Holidays.

Vineman Saga Continues

Vineman was finished are placed on November 6th. December 4th he got decked out for the season.

 December 6th Ma Nature further decked-out Vineman with freezing rain and 1 1/2 inch of snow.

Still missing was his nose. This morning (December 13) being a "frosty" morning, I couldn't resist. After all what is a frosty Vineman without a carrot for a nose?

 Or maybe it isn't a nose at all but a treat for the local deer.  To be continued...

Vineman is a bit air-conditioned because my primary use of my grapevines is to make wreaths. I saved enough to make 4 large gift wreaths...

(Somehow I missed getting a picture of the wreath festooned with baby booties I made for my newborn great niece Lucy Joy and her parents).
a wreath for the house and...

 a wreath for the dogs.

While gathering wreath greens, I came across this hand-size mushroom in my garden.

Little did I know when I started this post that we would get an epic ice storm.  On December 14, while Eugene got 1.5" of rain in 24 hours, we got the equivalent in freezing rain up here. We immediately lost power, water and road access to the outside. Vineman morphed into Iceman.

December 15 the freezing rain continued. Hundreds of ice coated trees crashing to the ground sounded like canon fire and shook the house with each timber. Countless tree tops and branches continually crashed down with a rifle retort and cascade to tinkling ice.

Cell texting had to be done outside in the 20 degree weather.

On the 15th, the final straw came when I couldn't recharge my batteries on both cameras and the cell phones. I had taken hundreds of pictures of ice coated greenery and destruction. Our power line is normally 30+ feet above the pond surface. (By the time it was restrung, it was actually in the water.) Trees blocking our road had broken it in several places.

What's a Iceman to do?

As it continued to pour freezing rain, I got my ski helmet (after a first trip out resulted in a serious bonk on the head) and started to again clear the road. Cell phones were hooked to the car battery but there continued to be the issue of declining camera battery.

With the help of a neighbor, I got three large trees off our road and Dave and I took a drive around town to survey the ice carnage while charging batteries.

On the 16th, with more trees blocking the drive and not being able to start the chainsaw, I again asked for help and a spark-plug. The Lind family not only came out to assist, Jon helped clear the trees; fixed my chainsaw; drug the generator from the pump house and tried in vane to get it going; did get the generator in the motor home going and helped me move freezers to expose plugs and string power cords. We celebrated with a brief joyous lighting of the Christmas tree lights then hooked up the all important battery chargers.  I was back in the photography business.
On the 17th we received a few more hours of freezing rain. Poor Iceman didn't fair so well and crashed to the ground under the weight of his icicle hat.

On the 20th Jon again rescued me when I couldn't start the chainsaw. He came out to clear several more newly downed trees blocking the road. Poor Vineman had to remain supine while I was occupied with still surviving in the dark and without running water.

We got power on the 21st, just in time to shower and go to the Brown Family Christmas celebration.
Exhausted from returning the house from camping mode and road clearing, I joined Vineman in the supine position on the 22nd.
This morning I resurrected Vineman.

He still wears a hat of ice and is a bit misshapened but arises as a symbol of the return to a battered normalcy.