That pretty much sums up my riding of late.
Between running errands on the weekends and the weather vacillating between foggy, rainy, and cold I haven't been on the bike since riding to coffee a few weeks ago.
Troubadour is still commuting by bike, but our lows tonight are forecast to be 23˚F (-5˚C) with freezing fog come morning, so he may be taking the car tomorrow. We'll see how the weather plays out.
We did have a few days off last week, which was nice. My boss was on vacation in Hawaii and so I didn't have to be in the office and Troubadour took a few days off as well.
While not riding, we did manage to get a few home projects a little further along. The cork flooring project we started last February, we finally have mostly done. This last week we finished the hallway and spare room, which just leaves the floor in two hall closets and a walk in closet. We also put the trim up around a few doors and ordered the last four interior doors that we need. It will be weird to have everything match.
Troubadour was out on a few dirt bike riding days at Huckleberry Flats with PolarBear, but I will let him post about those adventures. He had a blast and the XT is still caked in mud. Here is a teaser photo.
On one of our days off we walked downtown (about 5 miles round trip) and I remembered to take the camera with me. Some trees still have leaves and with all our rain the grasses are a vivid green right now.
We also made a few trips to Portland and Salem and the skies were slightly dramatic to the West as we were driving home. The setting sun trying to peek out from behind the clouds is always awe inspiring. These two pictures were a taken a week apart.
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| (Looking West on I-5 heading South through Salem) |
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| (Looking West on Independence Highway South of Salem) |
You can find the recipe on my food blog at this -----> LINK. They are gluten free and actually pretty healthy compared to some other recipes.
So there you have it. Not a lot going on, but it is that time of year. We have a short week next week with Thanksgiving on Thursday. Last year we went on a long ride through the woods and this year, weather permitting, we are thinking of doing the same.
- Au Revoir
" I love to talk about nothing. It's the only thing I know anything about." - Oscar Wilde
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Beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteIt's the time of year to toast crumpets on the open fire!
ReplyDeletemmmm crumpets.
Deletegorgeous gorgeous pics trobairitz, thank you! i need to get up there and play tourist, on of these days!.. it seems lovely...
ReplyDeleteThank you m'lady. Come play tourist anytime. Pretty in the spring and fall, warm, but dry in the summer.
DeleteTrobairitz:
ReplyDeleteI can just imagine how nice your cork floor looks now that it's finished. I have things to do too which I have just left and should attend to before we have guests. You know how it is, when the weather is nice you tend to do other things instead.
It's getting cold here too. -2°c this morning and forecast to be below freezing all week so don't push the riding as the roads may be slippery. Enjoy your short week, we've already had ours and we wouldn't mind another one
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
ps: I can nearly smell those delicious pumpkin squares from here
It is nice to have the flooring done. Didn't realize how different it would look going down the hallway.
DeleteThe pumpkin squares are really good. I confess to making two batches. The first one went down so quick, and I had to use the rest of the can of pumpkin somehow.
Beautiful photos, even if the weather hasn't been the greatest for you lately. Can't wait to get up there next summer...two trips, one to Portland in late May and then return to Spokane in early July. I never did get that email from you. Would you mind trying again? erythros "at" aol "dot" com
ReplyDeleteThank you. Can't wait to meet you in person. I just resent the email from my Trobairitz account (as a reply to yours) hoping that it will get through to you this time. It has been sent once Oct 2nd and once Nov 2nd.
Delete"we finally have mostly done".
ReplyDeleteRon and I have projects that could be described like this....that are over 10 years old.
Thanks for the lovely pics from your walk. It's a wonderful time of year to get out for a crisp walk in the neighborhood - until the rain sets in. Love those dramatic skies from your drive too. I love days like that when the sky is ever changing from one dramatic scene to another.
We have so many mostly done projects, they will get done eventually. Luckily we aren;t on a deadline. We've been in the place just over 7 years and it's gone through quite the transformation.
DeleteAgree with the others about the pictures. I need to get back to Oregon and spend some time during the summer months doing a lot more exploring and being a tourist.
ReplyDeleteWe seem to have two seasons: Rain and Not Raining. And they mix and match sometimes too.
DeleteBut Oregon is a great place to live and/or visit. We seem to love it. January will be 13 years since we moved to Oregon.
We also haven't been two wheeling a lot lately. Days are getting dark soon, and the weekends were filled with other stuff. Soon the dreary November will be over, and that's a plus, and winter solstice isn't that far out, so days will be getting longer again soon (Always look on the bright side, right?)
ReplyDeleteSome days the weather just isn't motivating. I agree though, brighter days ahead. We were just thinking Solstice was only a month away and the days will get longer once again.
DeleteLove the photos!! I'll check out the recipe too!! Yummy!
ReplyDeleteThe bars are easy to make too. I got a batch ready to go in the oven while roasting veggies for dinner.
DeleteBeautiful photos of the fall foliage! What is that weird thing (6th photo down)? Some sort of palm?
ReplyDeleteI will definitely be trying out the pumpkin squares as there is now a can of pumpkin laying around...
That is a dried head/seeds of Queen Anne's Lace. It would be white in summer with small blossoms. It grows as a weed around here even though they are used in floral arrangements. The picture was taken by the covered bridge on the multi-use path from 53rd into campus. It is only about knee high but I squatted down to take the pic.
DeleteThe pumpkin bars are pretty tasty. Might have to buy another tin of pumpkin puree. If you don't have coconut oil you can probably use butter or margarine, just isn't quite as healthy. Can pumpkin bars be healthy? They have oats!! Oh - and they might be good for breakfast too. :-)
I love the cloud photos! Excellent choices!
ReplyDeleteI did not think you would still have such fresh autumn leaves. You are just past peak color? We are pretty much defoliated now.
Pumpkin for any thing anytime is wonderful...and oats, too. Thanks for the recipe!
Thank you Martha. I often think of you when I take cloud pictures.
DeleteSome of the larger trees still have quite a few leaves. We had a wind/rain storm come through on Tuesday that knocked a lot more down and freezing temperatures the last two nights. For the most part the bright maples are done, so we are definitely past our peak.
I can feel and smell the air when I look at your pictures of the cool wet days. Fall is a great time of year but also a little sad for a biker. Hope your fall and winter lets you get some riding in.
ReplyDeleteI love the smell of rain in the air or even the musty smell of the woods during a hike. We usually get a few good rides in during the fall and winter, if nothing else to coffee and back on Saturdays.
DeleteI'm surprised at the color still in your woodlands as well. We're inching closer to monotone brown/grey around here with emphasis on the grey.
ReplyDeleteHope that you can make your holiday ride.....things are looking iffy for me to be able to do the same over here.
Soon we'll have bare limbs on the trees. We are lucky that we have so many evergreens around here though and the grass will be green until summer now. With the rains the grass grows too.
DeleteRight now the lawn is about 7 inches long and needs to be mowed. I was raking leaves in the back yard on the weekend and it looked like I was combing the lawn. Like a zen lawn.
I really like the lamp post and the cement bench. The red on the lamp post's base draws me. Very nice.
ReplyDeleteI was wondering how old that red paint could be. The park and bench/post are on the lower campus of Oregon State University and along the route we take if we are walking downtown from our house. I like to see it during the different seasons with all those old trees around it.
DeleteI woul mad not riding for WEEKS, green grass and pumpkin squares notwithstanding.
ReplyDeleteThe below freezing temperatures aren't very inviting right now for riding, so I haven't missed it too much. I am starting to get an itchy throttle hand though. We are hoping to get out Thanksgiving day.
DeleteI enjoyed reading your post! and I'd sign up to follow but I'm not sure how (yeah ... I may know how to ride a bike, but can't navigate a blog!)
ReplyDeleteHey Laurie. Thanks for stopping by. There is a "Follow me" link on the ride side bar close to the top if you want to follow the blog. I assume it works, but don't have confirmation on that.
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