Thanksgiving BEWARE!!!

JJ picked me up from work the other day to have lunch at Lithia Park (because I was too lazy to make my lunch before I went to work). Our normal picnic trip turned into a wildlife safari! We saw a group of pheasants, 13 deer, and 9 wild turkeys. We caught some pictures of the turkeys since I have never seen an actually wild turkey before. Mom, I know you are afraid of the turkey from your childhood experiences, but don't worry. These turkeys won't hurt you. They better hurry up and hide though. IT'S ALMOST THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Turkey on the hill with this feathers puffed up.

Final Harvest my Butt!!

Though the temperature has been to the frost point in the evenings, we expected all of our plants would stop producing. We were happy with the last harvest and were going to leave it at that an not try to cover our plants during the cold temperatures. Well, WE WERE WRONG!! Our pepper plants have been going crazy!! These pictures show about thirty to fifty peppers which have ripened with about the same number which are still green. Oh, how I love you pepper plants. Not much can be said for our tomatoes which have been poor producers all year this year, but oh well. I don't have any expectations about Final Harvest 3 but will keep you posted!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Brazilian's in Ashland!

A few weeks ago Mariana and her mom came down to Ashland to visit us. Mari's mom is visiting from Brazil for a month and wanted to see some of the sites in southern Oregon. We spent on afternoon exploring Crater Lake and enjoying the majestic views of the lake from every angle you look at it! I haven't been since I was about ten and barely remember the trip, so it was really great to visit.

Of course we took a walk around our cute little town and stopped for the biggest one scoop ice cream cones ever at Zoey's!It was so neat to have Mari bring her mom here. Since she couldn't speak English Mar translated between all of us, and we learned a bit of Portuguese. It was great to see them interact together and see just how much Mari is like her mom.

We all spent one morning shopping at the local Farmer's market for fresh produce. That evening Mari and her mom cooked us a delicious authentic Brazilian meal. I hope someday we get the chance to visit her in Rio and let her show us her hometown. Go Olympics 2016 RIO~ It unfortunate other places didn't get this, but after chatting with Mari's mom, Rio needs it. She explained that it's a beautiful town of dance, culture, and history that is falling apart. The crime and bad reputation is causing the business and tourism to struggle. Understandably. The people are hoping that the event in their town will not only show the world what a great place it is to experience, help the city rebuild some of the economy, and push the government to enforce laws and safety to make Rio a better place. Will see.

Family's Fall Visit to Ashland

It was great to have the parents and the Bridge's come visit us again! It was a short trip and unfortunately Regan did not get much time with MOJO. Sniff. But it was nice to have the whole gang for the weekend. As always we had a great time.

We saw at the Angus Bowman theater, Paradise Lost. The play was set around the depression and told the overlapping dramatic stories of five characters. It seemed to be a fast moving play with all the stories intertwined together. It was very interesting to see the similarities of economic downturn and the rippling effects of it, mirror so much of our current societal situation today. I think this was overall everyone's favorite play!

Of course the ladies all had a great time shopping on Main St., especially at Paddington Station.

We had very nice seats at the Elizabethan Theater for Don Quiote. This theater is great because the multilevel historic stage is set outside creating a great ambiance. Although the local fires cast a haze of smoke in the sky and we could barely make out the stars, it was still nice. I can't speak for everyone, but I really enjoyed this play. It was a comedy play about a crazy old man trying to live out his truly rediculous fantasy's of heroism and adventure.

We saw an interesting Deaf dance group perform at the Green show. They really weren't that great of dancers, but the idea and meaning behind the show was sweet. We all sat on this brick wall for at least an hour. By the end of the show I think all of us were hurting a little form the uncomfortable seat!

The Final Harvest

Even though it was 90 degrees and sunny a few days ago, today it was only about 60 degrees and rainy with reports of snow in the mountains. It will be somewhere in the 30's tonight so we might have the first frost of the season which means we decided to do a major harvest. Here is the remaining bounty of ripe veggies. There are still lots and lots of unripe produce which we hope will ripen but who knows. It is sad the summer is now officially over for us.

Ashland Fire

On Monday, just before I left for work at the crack of noon, I was standing by the table and the light from outside looked like the sun was setting. I looked at the light on the ground and couldn't understand what was going on. I told JJ to come outside and check out the sun. Much to our surprise, there was a HUGE cloud of smoke coming from the hill a mile or two away from our house. It was about 100 degrees and windy that day, which didn't help to keep the fire contained. The smoke covered our little town and made many evacuate their homes. All in all, everything turned out alright. I think there may have been a couple houses burned, but no injuries. While they have not determined what started the fire, I was told by one of my customers at the bank which works for a local news station, they believe it to be arson.

The first four pictures were taken by JJ while the others were taken by a local professional.

Standing at the back door of our house.

The parking lot.

A Walk around Ashland '09

While living in this town we have taken THOUSANDS upon THOUSANDS of photos. Well, maybe not that many. However,with all the "photo shoots" I have been forced to be a part of, it feels like it. These are picture from about a week ago as JJ walked around town experiencing Ashland through the lens of the a100.

Right out our back door.

Bamboo and Bell

Outside the Ice Cream Shop

The Plaza

Water Street

Ashland Springs

The Other Side of the Tracks

Beauty