Not bad for a digital camera! That's our pasture gate, sticking out of the water. I'm really starting to love living off of a wetland. It's fascinating how the local wildlife ebbs and flows with the flood waters. I never thought I'd have wild ducks paddling up onto my lawn, or endangered hawks wintering in my backyard. No squirrels, though. I miss the squirrels.
We did have to put up a temporary fence in the south "yard" by the duck-inhabited koi pond, because our domestic duckies have taken up the habit of spending their evenings in the lower pond at the bottom of the yard.....you know, the section that is now underwater. With the pasture fence submerged, they could paddle right out onto the Tualatin river. Since duck hunting season isn't QUITE over with here, I'm not too hip with that idea. So we fenced off a smaller portion of the side yard for them, and they don't seem to mind at all. On the subject of ducks, Sadie and the Donger have paired off and appear to be madly in love. I'm really looking forward to spring ducklings! (Don is not.) Lola, our male Pekin duck, still has an obsessive stalker crush on Daisy, and Daisy still hates him. What a ducky soap opera....
All else is quiet here on the western front. The current whale watching season peaked last week, but we missed it due to two malfunctioning cars, snowfall in the coastal range, and massive flooding and mudslides on HWY 101. Hopefully, conditions will be more favorable when the whales pass by again in March or April!
I took my Christmas lights down and I think I will have to go out tomorrow and buy a flat of primroses to plant in my flowerboxes, to make up for the loss of color outside. Plus, I just like the idea of purposely planting something outside in winter and watching it actually SURVIVE....can't say that I miss icicle farming back in Illinois!!
This is what January can be like in Oregon:
Until next time! |
