A Full-time Life

SUMMER MEMORIES

It's still a beautiful Oregon October around here -- perfect walking weather, wonderful Fall color.   Long beautiful Autumn days are great in real life, but as far as pictures go, last week wasn't all that different from the two posts just before this one.   And besides  it is still October for us -- that month when we have all our appointments and other un-bloggable activities  -- and this year, it is even more Octoberish than usual. 

So this week's post is a collection from the not-so-long-ago archives (all pictures are from this past season and not used in earlier posts.)

 

We see colorful motor homes, buses, and other  tiny homes-on -wheels often.  I'm not sure if there are more of these here in the Pacific Northwest or if it is a country-wide phenomenon nowadays.  I don't remember seeing so many of them when we traveled (in our own, not-quite-so-colorful) tiny home.    Some of the ones we see around here are quite creative and a few are even a little scary.   

 

 

These units are also fertile grounds for interesting signs, because most owners seem to like to let everybody know where they stand on pretty much anything and everything.   This is a closer look at the rear window in the tiny house in the center of the collage.

 

   

The pictures in the above mosaic are all from Eureka beach.  There were patches of that red plant here and there in the sandy beach grass.  It was almost jarring to see that bright color popping up amidst all the blue and green.

 

 

 

At Eureka (California) beach with the birds.

 

 

 

These pictures are from Kirk Pond, near Fern Ridge Lake .  I wish those geese wouldn't always turn their backs to me. 

 

LINKING the memories to the following sharing opportunities.  Thank you to all of the hosts.

 

 

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday; TRAVEL PHOTO SOUVENIRS;  MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS; ;   WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING 

 

 

IT'S GOLDEN!

 

There were Autumn reds in last week's post and red is beautiful, but October around here is really more about the gold and amber.  The  collage below is a combination of photos from city and country walks.   We've had bright blue skies and warm days this week in both places.

  

October seems to be the month when we spend a lot of days at regular appointments -- doctors, dentists, eye checkups, ...  all the fun stuff.     We should probably try to balance those out over the half year we spend in Eugene, but we get into a routine.  And  it is nice not to have to think about appointments during the beautiful summer months. 

  

 

 So we've been sticking pretty close to home this week.  But we always have time for a visit in the country  (and to raid the garden and vine bounty).  Their grapes are at luscious perfection right now.

  

 

Autumn flower boxes on Eugene's downtown streets. 

 

 

 

And more photos from the dahlia garden at the Fairgrounds.

 

 

It really isn't necessary to wander far from home to find gold. 

Especially this time of year.

 

LINKING THIS WEEK to: 

NATURE NOTES; MACRO MONDAY;  ALL SEASONS; OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   MOSAIC MONDAY;  THROUGH MY LENS;   SIGNS SIGNS;   Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY;  SKYWATCH FRIDAY; and  FRIDAY  BLISS  

 Thank you to all of the hosts.

A LITTLE BIT OF LAKE

 

October blue skies are the  best blue skies in the world.   

Knowing those bright days won't last much longer makes each perfect day even more special.

 

To celebrate the new month, our daughter and I took a walk  to Fern Ridge Lake.  It's almost exactly a mile from their home, but  it was quite a few steps more than that as we wandered through Orchard Park, on their side of the shore.   

 

 

 

When we were full-time RVers, we used to stay on the opposite side of the Lake whenever we came to Oregon to visit.  Back then, I often blogged about how the Lake is almost emptied every Fall.    (Here is a link to a post from way back when -- it explains a little more about the reservoir draw-down.)   That draw-down started earlier this year than usual because farmers needed the water -- it has been so dry here.   The above picture is looking across the Lake at the Marina -- most of the docks are already empty --  people need to haul their boats out while they still can. 

 

 

There was even less water on the side where we were.   Great Blue Herons and Egrets have  good luck this time of year, as all of the fish in the lake swim into the  shallows.

 

 

Nobody is swimming here this time of year -- supervised or unsupervised.  When our grandchildren were small they enjoyed the empty lake as much as they did during the summer.  No swimming, but they had fun running around on the big field and, when the rains first started, getting muddy.  

Cyndi and I took their big puppy with us on this walk.  When we got back to their home, Parker was happy to get off leash and run around  his very own five-acre off-leash park (our daughter and son-in-law live there too, but I believe their dog thinks it is all his playground.)

 

 

He found a chew toy!

 

Cyndi and I sat outside for a rest after our walk.   We enjoyed watching the dog tear around the yard for a while until he too settled down for a rest.

 

 

We never seem to visit our son-in-law and daughter without going home with food!  Their picnic table was covered with several varieties of recently harvested winter squash.  We took one of each.   And a dozen eggs.  And some blueberries from the freezer.   All of the pleasure  and none of the work.

 

 

Red leaves in the City too when we got home that afternoon.  And it rained a little bit, but just as we were nearing our door.   A perfect October day!

 

SHARING with thanks to all of the hosts as well as to all the terrific bloggers  who link to the following:

 

NATURE NOTES; ALL SEASONS; MACRO MONDAY;   OUR WORLD on Tuesday;   MOSAIC MONDAY;  GOOD  RANDOM  FUN;  THROUGH MY LENS; ;   WILD BIRD Wednesday;  SIGNS SIGNS;  Wednesday AROUND THE WORLD;  THANKFUL THURSDAY; SKYWATCH FRIDAY;   FRIDAY  BLISS;    SATURDAY CRITTERS; and RATHER B' BIRDING