bats!

We’re traveling this week. Staying in a remote lodge in the middle of nowhere. 25 or so miles outside a small town called Ephrata in the state of Washington. The lodge, owned by The Nature Conservancy is located at Whisper Lake on many acres surrounded by large basalt rock walls, a lake, sagebrush, and lots of dry desert land. The lodge is quite nice with ten bedrooms, each with their own bathroom, a large shared living room, dining room, kitchen, TV room, pool table room, laundry room. In its former life it was a bed and breakfast. Still is, but now without the provided breakfast part. We are also the only guests staying here. We have the entire place to ourselves! That’s not taking into consideration the coyotes, marmots, badgers, porcupines, bobcats, deer, rattlesnakes, various rodents, birds, and other unseen wildlife who call the surrounding property home. This is now the Moses Coulee Field Station and it’s maintained for use by biologists doing field work in the area. We are here because M is doing field work with bats.

Our view from Whisper Lake lodge...



The most interesting bat research takes place after dark. Last night our location was over a small coulee just two miles away from the lodge. The moment we stepped out of the car, we were greeted by one of the local rattlesnakes, as well as one of the friendly bat biologists, who outfitted Iz and I with headlamps. Iz was also outfitted in waders and boots so she could help string nets in the stream. There were about ten students being trained on capturing, identifying and measuring bats who live in this area.





Pat demonstrates the proper way to put up a net for bat capturing...



Here's the official site where bats will later be brought for identifying...



Once captured, the bats are weighed, measured, sexed, and identified by species before they are released. And this is the very visually cool part. You'll just have to imagine it for now. A glow stick is attached to the bat's chest using a temporary, non-toxic paste. This allows the researchers to properly point microphones and record the bat’s vocalization (ultrasonic call). For those of us spectators, it’s an amazing sight to see a bat traversing the moonless sky until you can no longer decipher it from the stars.

Iz was given the important job of tying and staking net poles to keep the nets from falling into the stream... She did a great job!



Here’s one of the bats that flew into one of the nets... Iz and I were not able to handle them since we don’t have rabies vaccines. This is a Myotis thysanodes... also knows as a Fringed Bat.



Isn't he the cutest little thing you've ever seen?

...

comfort food

I’d like to come clean about something. We don’t always eat organic, healthy meals. Once in a while we like to eat in what some may actually call a greasy spoon. Okay, M and I have breakfast there on most Friday mornings. This neighborhood diner we frequent is aptly named, Fat City. It’s in the heart of Multnomah Village in Portland, Oregon. There is something so warm and welcoming about this little place. Like a favorite pair of jeans. A comfy pair of socks. It’s a place where everybody knows our names, and usually what we’ll be ordering. What’s not to love?

Our lovely waitress, Ruby, zips around the cafe at the speed of light. She never lets our tea get cold.



yummy!



When you enter this old fashioned cafe, you’re transformed into another time and place. You could be in any small town USA. License plates and quirky signs cover most of the wall space. A long shelf lined with old beer cans sits above remnants of an old soda fountain, which unfortunately, is no longer in service. The local history here is as thick and rich as the homemade cinnamon rolls they dish out in droves on a daily basis.

A couple key events helped put Fat City on the map in Portland. In 1973, a Fat City customer known only as Bob, shot his lover Vivian in the restaurant when his love was not reciprocated. The bullet holes are still in the basement wall as proof of this event. In 1987, Portland’s Mayor, Bud Clark, met his Police Chief, Jim Davis, at the restaurant. Over breakfast, the mayor fired the police chief, saying, “Read my lips. You’re fired.” Signs next to this booth designate the positions of its prior occupants.

On a typical Friday morning, we can be found occupying one of the comfy booths at Fat City, sipping a cuppa hot tea and enjoying french toast, blueberry pancakes, or eggs and hash browns, maybe even a slice or two of crisp bacon. Fat City momentary brings our busy lives to a slower pace and takes us back to a simplier time. Isn’t that what comfort food is all about?



These people cannot possibly go in here...





Also a great place to plan your next vacation across Oregon.


...

knit fit

This post was suppose to be about my beautiful new blue felted hat, but instead it’s about my beautiful ball of blue yarn... that was almost my beautiful new blue felted hat.



Each project teaches me many new things. Usually I unknit (aka tink) several times, often knit pick, occasionally rip back several rows. These are all activities that help keep your knitting skills sharp.



Well this project sharpened none of my knitting skills. It was a breeze to knit. I could talk and knit. Watch a movie and knit. Drive and knit. Well, maybe not that last one, but you get the idea. While binding off the second to the last stitch, I decided to take it into my local knitting group to make sure they thought it was the right size for felting. Would it shrink too much to fit my head? Here comes that lesson part of the project. The hat would turn out to be at least three inches too small and that I am a tight knitter. Note to self: always knit a gauge swatch, even if you’re following a pattern down to the same yarn, same gauge, same needle size.

I ditched the size 10.5 needles and purchased size 13 double pointed and circular needles to compensate for my tight knitting issue. I left the shop $19 poorer and a bit frustrated, but glad to have the advice at this point instead of finding out too late. Oh, did I mention the yarn is Capricorn mohair that I ordered from the U.K.? There are actually two strands knit together. The other is Reynold’s Lopi. The good news, I don’t have to purchase more of it... yet.

Now on to getting that hat knit and felted before snow falls.

sweet surprises...

My daughter wrote this beautiful poem and I just had to share...

MORNING

A streak of light peeks over the ocean
Hits the water and makes it glisten

The wet rocks glow like a fire's light
Waiting to glow again after night

The sun is low in the pale blue sky
Busting in flame and never shy

Barefoot people walk on the sand
Watching it all, there I stand

In the cool water I am waiting
Waiting for the sights of morning

let us eat cake

Happy Birthday Portland Peeps!!! One year old today!



This blog began as a way to tell the world about raising chickens on a small city lot. How to grow a bit of your own food in a small space. How to make the best use of what we have and enjoy being a little more self-sufficient. This blog has also become a vehicle for expressing myself, an outlet for things creative and otherwise. A reason to write. A reason to photograph what I see and what I do. It inspires me to try new things. I am grateful for those who read what I have to say. And I am especially grateful to those of you who leave comments and share a piece of your lives with me. Thank you!

seeing green

This year is all about food producing plants. Green is the color of 2009.





I'm really excited about these columnar apple trees... the Northpole variety I bought came with a few tiny apples already on it. If you're not familiar with these, they are the perfect way to grow apples in a small space. Vertical with almost no branching. Disease resistant. Plants grow to 8-12 feet tall. Can be grown in a pot or directly in the ground. I also bought the Scarlet Sentinel variety. Like blueberries, they do need two different varieties to pollinate (these can be within a block of each other).

As you may recall, I planted several kinds of vegetable seeds inside a couple months ago, to get a jump start on spring. The seeds sprouted, turned into seedlings, and have now been planted outside. It’s amazing what a bit of sunshine and a torrential rain or two can do! I learned a thing or two in the process. First of all, some things do not benefit much from being started inside. Others just aren’t worth all the trouble that’s involved in this process of protecting from cold, protecting from too much heat, and watering, watering, watering, then moving the small starts to larger pots until the outside soil temperatures rises, then watering some more. Truth is, I just don’t have time for so much nurturing in my life!

Butterhead lettuce. Started inside 11 weeks ago...



Mesclun mix lettuce. Started outside two weeks ago...



sure do love basil...



the lone bean seed that sprouted. Pretty sure some chickens gobbled up all the others...



Kermit the Frog said it best... "It's not easy being green!"
Happy spring!

hurray, hurray! the first of May...

...outside sowing begins today! Vegetables that is. What did you think I was talking about? Beans, potatoes, garlic, carrots, tomatoes, blueberries, onions. Oh my! Maybe it's just because I'm a little bit older than the last time I put in a garden, but this is a WHOLE LOT of work! Still to sow... squash, peas, basil, cilantro and more tomatoes. I'll post some pictures as everything begins to grow. Right now I'm too exhausted, and my hands are too dirty, to operate my camera.



This lovely, refreshing looking drink would be tasty about now. Actually this was something my hubby and I enjoyed last week while we found ourselves without the responsibility of a child for the entire week. Our daughter was away at outdoor school, so we spent some time transporting large amounts of soil amendments into our backyard to prepare the raised beds for the planting that finally happened today. Do we know how to have fun or what?

Iz looked so sad when the bus drove away. This is the first time she'd been away from home without one of us for more than a night. I think her acting classes are paying off. She failed to even open those letters marked M-F I so carefully wrote and packed into her suitcase. Claimed there wasn't time. She had that much fun! What happened to that little girl who would cling to my leg sobbing when I left her in the kindergarten classroom?



The first time I saw one of our chickens with it's legs splayed out like this, I thought a terrible illness had taken over her body. Then I realized this is how chickens keep themselves cool on a warm day. Here's Nelly enjoying the soft, fluffy soil in one of the raised beds.



Oprah Winfrey's Pomegranate Martini
1 1/2 cups pomegranate juice (I also like blueberry or grape... just make sure it's 100% juice if you want to consume a few antioxidants... this helps me justify drinking a cocktail)
2 oz. Absolute Citron Vodka
1 oz. Cointreau
Cup of crushed ice
Splash of sparkling water
Squeeze of lemon (or orange)
Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker and pour into chilled martini glasses. I like to run a piece of orange around the rim of the chilled glasses and then dip their rims in sugar. Garnish with an orange slice or pomegranate slice. Serves 2.