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Wednesday, July 27, 2016

Dog Days of Summer

What are the dog days of summer you ask?  "The sultry part of summer supposed to occur during the period that Sirius the Dog Star rises at the same time as the sun; now often reckoned from July 3 to August 1.  A period marked by lethargy, inactivity, or indolence."

We haven't really been doing too awfully much lately in the way of motorcycle riding or mountain bike riding.  Since early June almost every weekend has been taken up.  Sometimes with visitors from out of state, Troubadour teaching Team Oregon classes, and/or visiting with family from out of town.  I think we had one weekend in June where we had no plans and every weekend in July was booked, but August looks a little more promising.  Our first weekend off together with no prior engagement on the calendar is in the middle of August.

While Troubadour has been busy teaching, going to the Black Dog Dual Sport Rally with PolarBear, and moto-camping with his work mates, I have been holding down the fort.  Yard work, housekeeping, grocery shopping, and picking 24 pounds (10.88 kg) of blueberries.  I work a half day on Fridays, so one Friday afternoon we went out raspberry picking as well, although we only picked 10 lbs of them.  The freezer is now stocked for another year.

While I haven't been on the motorcycle much, if at all, I have been riding my bicycle to work and back a few times on the days when I don't have errands to run after work.  It is only 3 miles each way but at least it is exercise.  And because I ride on a path that parallels the Oregon State University barns and pastures, I get to say good morning to the alpacas, llamas, sheep, and cows.

Since I have no moto-content in this post, I've included some photos we've taken over the last few months, but hadn't posted.

(Looking south on the Oregon coast near Cape Perpetua)

(Oregon Coast near Cape Perpetua - early June)

(Trobairitz - Photo by Troubadour)
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And just because we haven't been on the bikes doesn't mean we haven't been to Eugene or Portland in the Fiat and eaten tasty vegan food.

(Eugenewich Sandwich at Cornbread Cafe in Eugene, Oregon - Photo by Troubadour)

(Red velvet and black forest vegan cake at Sweet Life Patisserie in Eugene, Oregon)

(Buffalo Bomber 'chicken' burger - my favorite at Veggie Grill in Beaverton)
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We purchased some new patio furniture and have been enjoying it after work.  We can see the hummingbirds while we sit.  They have been drinking out of the hosta blossoms and up above is also a feeder.

(Hummingbird visiting the hosta blooms - photo by Troubadour)
We used to have interesting wildlife out back as well.  A family of deer liked to hang out in the grass  just beyond the back fence.  

(Deer enjoying the morning sunshine)
The occasional bird of prey would stop by inside the yard too.

(Cooper's Hawk I believe - sitting on the pergola in the backyard)
I say "used to" because they've torn down the forest behind our house.  We bought our house 10 years ago and have always enjoyed the forest out back.  For the last year or so we've known the owners had applied to build a 12-house subdivision, it didn't really hit home until coming home from work one day to find the trees had all been cut down and the machines had moved in.  It felt like FernGully.

(A view of the backyard looking at the construction behind us)

( A zoomed in view - we are now exposed to a main road that was hidden by the trees)
While we don't have the critters resting near our yard, we do see deer occasionally as they walk through the construction zone.  There is still a large forested area on the other side of the busy road that they wander over to.  I sure hope people slow down for them as they cross.
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We bought a new made in Oregon Stanton sofa sectional earlier this year and it took Basil a week or two before he would go near it.  I took the following picture when we finally caught him accepting it.  He was sleeping on it this morning when I left for work.  He has adopted it now just as he did the patio furniture.  It is his mission to get cat hair everywhere.

(Basil - deciding he liked the new sectional)
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Our nephew Max turned 2 years old in March.  For his second birthday we bought him a Stryder type bike from REI.  He was supposed to receive it near his birthday, but we weren't able to actually get it to him until early July.  We met my brother, his wife, and Max in Eugene and had a picnic in the park and enjoyed a sunny afternoon.

(Max and Uncle Troubadour at Alton Baker Park in Eugene, OR)
Poor Max - his legs weren't long enough to touch the ground (the seat wouldn't go low enough) so he put his legs up on the frame and Brad pushed him around.  He was quite happy with that. My brother has since taken the seat post off and zip tied the seat to the cross bar and it works fine for him.

That about sums up our summer so far.  While the weekends in June and July have been occupied, August and September should be a little better and we hope to get out on the road bikes and dual sports more.  Fingers crossed.

- Au Revoir

" Summer has set in with its usual severity." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge


I leave you with a little tune about Dog Days........


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28 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. I'd much rather look at them than eat them. :-)

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  2. I've wondered what that phrase meant but never enough to do any research, so thank you! Nice beach photos (and food pics). Too bad about your new neighbors. Are the new houses going to be right up to the fence?

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    1. I had to look up the meaning of the phrase too.

      As far as we can figure from the subdivision plans we'll have two yards up against ours with a property line to the right of the pergola. The property on the left will have a house close to the fence the one on the right will be a little further out. The lots are about a third of the size of ours. Yikes. And they will be two story. Doh!

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  3. Sorry to hear about your backyard changes; they seem to be inevitable. Areas that can transition do.

    Nothing to feel bad about with your summer, sounds full of good to me. I do wish you luck in getting out more on two powered wheels though. :)

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    1. One of the drawbacks of living in a college town is that there is never enough housing. The town has really grown since we moved here 15 years ago.

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  4. those sandwich photos....now I'm hungry.

    nice pics seaside....

    real bummer re losing the forest out back....

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    1. Thanks Dom. Looking back at the food pics, I think I am hungry now too.

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  5. Sorry to hear about the construction. That's a bummer! Your food pics really make me hungry (and I have just eaten, thank you very much.). We haven't been out on motorised two wheels a lot either, it is just not our year for two wheeled travel. And if so, they might even be pedal powered ;-)
    Enjoy our summer, Brandy! Love the seaside pics (sigh!).

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    1. Yeah we will be living in a construction zone for a while. The noise and dust aren't pleasant but I am hoping the buyers of the houses won't be worse......lots of screaming kids, barking dogs, or smokers.

      You may not be on two wheels Sonja, but you sure have seen some pretty sights this summer.

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  6. Education (didn't know what Dog Days were), wonderful scenery and wildlife and food to make me hungry (only an hour after breakfast) - the post has it all! Seriously impressed with the wildlife that hangs out with you and hope that the subdivision doesn't have a major impact on that. Lovely post!

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    1. Glad I could make you hungry. Makes me hungry too looking at the pictures.

      We still have a numerous varieties of birds that visit out feeders (we have 5 hanging in the trees) so that keeps us pretty happy. And the squirrels like the feeders too. Haven't seen any raccoons, opossums, or foxes since they tore down the forest though.

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  7. What does one do with many blueberries? We have the same problem with grapes and mulberries!

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    1. We had so many grapes last year we finally ripped out the vines (they don't freeze well). We use the blueberries and raspberries for baking and also smoothies during the year and I make Troubadour batch of blueberry/raspberry chia seed jam once a week as he likes it on his toast for breakfast every morning. We were down to our last bag of blueberries but still had raspberries left from last year.

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  8. Sometimes there are just too many things to fit into one summer. Sorry to hear of the destruction of the wooded area behind you but hopefully the neighbors will be wonderful and plant lots of beautiful things.

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    1. I agree. Hard sometimes to work in all the hobbies plus the obligations.

      One could be optimistic about what our neighbors will be like, but just in case we have a nice row of Leyland Cyprus planted along the fence, some are already fence fence high. Give it a year or two and we won't even be able to see them.

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  9. sounds like your a busy bee picking all those berries
    love blueberries but not that common down here

    glad to see Troubadour had a helmet on max

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    1. When we lived in BC the blueberries had to be brought over from near the coast. We are lucky they are so abundantly grown here.

      Max tested that helmet too. He did take a wee fall. ATGATT.

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  10. You haven't been riding and neither have I. Looks like our busy lives have taken over from our bikes. Time to change that soon.
    Great photos by the way.

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    1. We need to change that no riding thing. Oh wait, you are going to be heading to NZ again. Lucky dog.

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  11. I would be beside myself at the sight of so much construction next door. Layne and I are planning retirement in a few years and we are working out how to stay mobile. Neighbors...humph.

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    1. It disturbs us after living here 10 years, imagine our neighbors who have been in their house since it was built in 1968..... He used to feed the deer out back and probably remembers when the forest was just small trees.

      Have a tiny house built on a trailer and buy a truck to tow it, you'll be mobile and can pick your neighbors.

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  12. Sigh, we haven't been riding much either, but it makes me sad to know others seem to be in the same boat.

    Ahh, but your photos, the coastline is so beautiful. You are making the most of the days and have much to show for it, even if the bikes are a bit lonely :)

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    1. We are just in that time of year. I think we ride more in the fall when things settle down.

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  13. Hope you get a chance to use what's left of summer to get some miles on the bikes. We're in the middle of winter here in Oz and riding days are rare. Have to use every opportunity. Sorry to hear that suburbia has been thrust upon you.

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    1. I am sure we'll get a few rides in. Our weather typically stays nice into October/November.

      At least you have spring to look forward to, or are those typically stormy for you too?

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  14. Great to see you guys earlier in the summer. Some of those pics look familiar! Construction sucks. My house is surrounded right now. No fun.

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    1. It was great to have you visit in June. Was so nice to hang out for a few days rather than the usual few hours.

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