'Cor Blimey Mr M - that's a big'un!

This week has been ALL about fencing, so much so we had to find some other entertainment to be able to fill the blog! and Oh Boy did we find something GOOD to talk about!

But first back to the fencing, poor Mr M, it does look like really hard work, all that digging, and then clearing the run for the fence, but it is really coming along and we are all fenced apart from the 300ft along the roadside!

We are using basic "pasture" fencing, which isn't the prettiest of fencing but will do the job, mostly you can't see it as it is running through the trees! 

So apart from fencing and working we have been getting out and about walking the dogs and this week although we haven't seen any porcupines, we have seen lots of seals!

Found some interesting mushrooms! Mushrooms are all the rage round here, you can attend a class on identification etc. This is the time of year for Fungi Fest!!

 

 

And then the biggest excitement to hit the area for the year, we had a Blue Whale wash up about 20 miles South of us, on the beach near the town of Ophir!  The whale is 78ft long and estimated weight of 100 tonnes, so a real big'un Mr M!

Obviously this has been the talking point amongst everyone.  I think pretty much everyone in the surrounding area has taken the entire family out for a day trip, including Granny!  Not much else to do round these parts in November!

So to make sure we are integrating into the community we stopped by and took a look, by the time we were there they had stripped it down of all the blubber and there were lots of people wandering around with small knives hacking bits off of it, at first I wondered if this was some surreal ritual but then I got home and read up a bit more.  It is the Oregon State University Marine Mammal Institute who are stripping it down so they can eventually display the skeleton.  You can read all about it here.. (ironically on a UK news website)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3309128/Rare-100-ton-blue-whale-washes-near-Oregon-s-Gold-Beach-experts-warn-year-s-El-Nino-blame.html

And here is Mr M's contribution to the newsreel!! It was quite spectacular and also VERY smelly, we didn't hang around long, and left the dogs in the car!

Tonight whilst Mr M was out cooking dinner on the BBQ he had an owl watching him, it was also pretty big, not sure what make of owl it is... and it was hard to get a good photo considering how close it was to us!

 

 

This week we found time to go to Brookings to get our OR State drivers licenses, that involved us taking our knowledge (theory) test again, for both cars and motorcycles.. so we spent the night before doing some last minute cramming and reading the Oregon Drivers manual and fortunately both passed both tests so we are now "officially" Oregonians!

 

Finally I will leave you with some pretty pictures!!  Despite having had a lot of rain the sun still shines almost daily!

 



Posts, Poles, Panels and Porcupines!

Another busy week in paradise has come and gone! What has been happening this week - hmmmmmm well let me see!

Mr M did put some gutters up, he has only done the front side of the garage/shop as we are waiting for more guttering to arrive in store! but after a few bleep bleep bleeps, it was up and working well - it got a really good work out last night and passed with flying colors.  There isn't much to show you, its guttering - you work it out!

And he also did some more electrical work - who knew there was so many electrics involved, I thought you just plugged it in and turned on the switch - I am now fully functioning on the washing front, rain or shine!

And then the rest of the week has been spent making the most of the good weather, trying to get as much of the property fenced as we can before it really does get too wet and mucky!  I wish we had the sort of dogs *looks sternly at Daisy* that wouldn't run off to investigate our neighbors, but unfortunately we don't, so we have to ensure they can be out and about and safe and sound. 

Firstly he carried on with the cedar board fencing that we had put up before we moved, this now completely fills the gap between us and our neighbors, it would be nice to put this the whole way round, but that would be a bit too $$ spendy $$ for our budget. 

 

So we will be completing the rest of the fencing with pasture wire fencing, which involves heavy corner posts, that are created into a H shape and with wire twisted tight between them to keep them straight and strong, to allow you to attach the fencing and pull tight - apparently :)

 

There has been lots of hole digging, cement mixing and basically Mans Work going on!

 



This coming week he should be able to get more posts in and some fencing attached and hopefully we will have half the property fenced... only the one long side up the street after that - so *cracks whip* shouldn't take him long!

We are hoping for a nice, dry weekend soon as we want to get our stuff out of the garage and into the container - we obviously don't want anything to be damp when it goes in, so nice weather is being requested!  Once that is completed the garage transformation can begin, there is stuff he can do prior to us shifting everything, but obviously a clear working area is preferred!

The weather here is so changeable, we have had a couple of big storms with really heavy wind and rain, then we wake up in the morning and it is brilliant sunshine again, I love it, I guess the ocean brings storms in and moves them out pretty quickly!  We also have been getting some fantastic sunsets!

The rain and sun does mean that my grass seed is starting to look good, nice to see some green grass rather than dirt!

 

 

Mr M spent the day on my birthday putting up my greenhouse - what a lovely present, at last somewhere to potter again!  I can kill a lot of time organizing nothing in my greenhouse!

AND I got my first raised bed in, we are using the cedar fence panels to make them with, they are not expensive when only buying a few to make a raised bed, as opposed to fencing 1.25 acres.

 

I got my garlic planted on Halloween, which is traditionally the day to plant it for a good harvest, apparently! It felt so good to plant something, now it definitely feels like home!

 

 

Finally, we had a really great walk today out around the Port Orford headlands,  there was a special weather statement issued as high tide/swell was expected so the beach was a no go and we went to check out the waves - pretty impressive... but more cool than that, as we got back to the lifeboat station museum, we found this guy snaffling around - a porcupine! I have never seen one in the wild before and was shocked at how big he was, the size of a spaniel!! I didn't fancy getting mixed up with him, so I sent Mr M to get a good close up photo for me :)

Who lives in a house like this?

Welcome to "Who Lives in a House like This?" where we visit the homes of the rich and famous and take a bit of a nose around!  Imagine, who would have such taste and live in such opulence? - American Billionaire? - Saudi Prince?

Join me on this journey as we peer through the Key Hole - or in this case the window.......

... on our quest to discover - Who Lives in a House like This?

 

The first thing you are met with is the spacious and airy outdoor living space! no expense spared here, even coat hooks made from nails!

You enter in through the door, no need for fancy entranceways, straight into the open plan living room, dining room and kitchen....

Which also acts as a fully functioning office space for the remote worker of today's society!

Moving through the fully equipped galley kitchen, the biggest surprise is all the storage available to the chef, lots of hidden treasures unseen to the passerby!

On through the house we go, along the hallway past the bedroom which again contains much more closet space than you would first think... Rows upon rows of designer clothes are hidden behind those closet doors!

Then we are into the "littlest room in the house" where you are once again thrown into astonishment by the space that is created! Apart from the "throne" there is a very spacious shower, sink and even an airing cupboard for keeping all essentials dry and fresh!

Clearly these people are lovers of dogs.... their presence is everywhere, its subtle but will not go un-noticed..

Finally a walk around the property produces some delights that could pass you by if you just drove on through.... lots of love and attention is being lavished here, as well as money!

Well that's all for this week folks, next week we peer once again through the key hole of the rich and famous to discover Who Lives in a House like This?

 

 

Mr M gets inspected, and does a bit of an Alan Titchmarsh!!

Well another week has fairly flown by here at "Wern Y Wylan" - I told you we have a name for our property - first person to translate correctly wins a week in Paradise!

Lots has been going on, firstly Mr M got his main septic lines laid and had his first inspection - which of course he passed with flying colors! I think the inspector was more interested in discussing his machines and motorcycles, a nice guy who is our "plumbing" inspector!

So once that was all completed the trenches were filled in and the airstream was moved back in under the carport - living in the trailer is easy, but having to move makes it a real pain in the behind! but that is it, we are now back here permanently!

The other BIG job that got completed this week was our decking, we are all about trying to make life as comfortable as possible, especially when the winter arrives and the rain!  decking gets us up off of the ground and will help to expand our living area whilst in the trailer and also when we are living in the garage!

We are going to cover and enclose one end of it to give us more room to store shoes, coats, and other things that you don't realize you need to hand until you don't have them :) also the doglets can then lay out there in the rain and watch the world go by!

More wiring has also been completed, basically that is it now for the electrics and the septic, until he starts on the garage, once we are settled and ready for winter Mr M will be getting on with outside work, making the most of the good weather.

We also did some landscaping, we have raked and leveled and raked quite a few areas and we have sown some grass seed - now we just need some rain! and then we will get some green - lovely!

The weather has been holding steady, we have been treated to some excellent views from Port Orford Heads State Park.

The old lifeboat station is here too, including the house which leads down 530 steps to the old lifeboat launch.

Finally this weekend I decided we needed cake! but we don't have an oven, I remembered I had read somewhere once about baking on the BBQ - so I gave it a whirl.... YUMMY, and yes it does taste as good as it looks!

That's all for this week, Monday tomorrow and it starts all over again!!