one more excuse to get dirty

Our nearby yard place had some late-season deals on mums, asters and dahlias.  We still have plenty of space for plants along the wood wall, so they will go in this week before the next rains.  Besides the flowers I also found a Honeycrisp apple tree for about $30; that will go on the slope below our withered grape vines where it will receive plenty of sunshine.

I hope those vines are surviving below ground because the hot summer was not kind to them - and our watering system could not reach them.  We now have a 100' hose, when added to our other ones the sprinkler can now get beyond the hill-crest.  Next year we are ready!

p.s. It took over two weeks to get these in.. but they are in!

Early: autumn

After record-setting regional heat and a dry spring and summer, the early onset of cool and wet weather is a nice surprise!  This usually occurs in October around here but September has had several weak storms dampen gardens (and better still, forest fires!).  The dry weather is most often July through early October here, and 90° temps in Portland can happen through most of September. This year it would take quite a turnaround to reach even the mid-80s, though it's possible. I turned on the furnace around the 15th, so it's beautiful time to get the wood stove ready for another season. Thankfully the chimney is swept so I won't be working on a slick roof!

Maybe this year we'll see some snow? it would be fun.. for a few days at least!

One interesting item about snow: Portland often gets bitter east winds through the Gorge which can freeze (or re-freeze) precipitation in the cold season.  We're further away from that effect now, and around two sharp curves.  Also valuable is that we're 800 feet up; the Arctic air will have to flow further to reach us and its effects are at the very lowest elevations since cold air sinks.  We may well stay out of the bad winter weather that I've spent my lifetime seeking (or avoiding if I must travel in it).  Huge east winds often produce sleet and freezing rain in Portland.. maybe not so much here?

The easterly winds still reach us: we had many hot summer days here when east winds passed over the Cascade crest and down to our homestead.  This will provide cold air and snow now and then - but since the coldest air prefers the 100-foot high gap by Portland to jumping the 3000-foot crest, we could see fewer sleet and z-rain events.  It may take a few years to demonstrate this though!

I recently found the PRISM website at Oregon State University, where regional climate normals can be found - and they are calculated in very small areas.  I narrowed down to my site and learned that we can expect just under  64" of precipitation each year.  That's quite a jump over Portland's sub-40" total, though not a surprise. Portland has the west hills and coast range to buffer it from the dominant westerly flow, while we're right up the funnel of the Columbia estuary.  We have been here for over a year now, but the weather system has not been up long enough for me to see how we've measured up.  Since April though I'd say "DRY" since no month since has seen 0.92" like our driest month should be!

the Steps arise!

I'm tackling a staircase to the patio at last.  We had held off with the idea that our house refinance could allow us to pay someone else to do it, but that might not be complete until late October when the weather has broken down.  So what the heck: let's make it happen!

After picking out the basic framework it was time to raise the bottom of the stairs to match up with the stringers. That process has been .. interesting! My first attempt was not high enough to end with a solid connection to the deck, and rather than lower the huge deck the answer was a higher base from which the steps would rise. I now have tall concrete blocks for the base, and the steps come to just below the patio height.  The metal clip for the stringers' upper end lands solidly on the deck foundation so everything should be quite sturdy!

I didn't think beforehand about the need to level so many parts in three dimensions though!  First see how off-level the deck is, then align four concrete blocks in a reasonably rectangular array, square to each other And all at the same height - or enough so that the bottom of the staps are as level as the deck itself (i.e. not quite).  If that is all done properly the planks should sit on the blocks without any wobble so the stringers can rest securely on those.  Once all that is done, check that the stringers reach the deck while maintaining their own level bases and top ends that are square to the deck pillars. My first iteration was too close to the deck - so down came everything so I could shift the blocks back several inches from the deck. After re-leveling, re-planking and re-measuring the result is..
It's pretty close :^)

I have a couple of spare blocks that I placed upright on the corners - whether for plants or candles remains to be seen!

In other news Zuzu (ex. Sue from Ms. Pac-Man) has renounced her feral affiliation and now lets us pet her, and she rubs against our legs & occasionally gets kicked when we start walking (oops).  She followed me out to the work site and played around under the steps, through the concrete blocks, and pounced on weeds.  Very helpful.. I suppose?

 

Stranded in the Wilderness!! *

* Yeah, not quite - but always use the dramatic headline..

We finally got the car in to the shop, after four attempts that went awry for one reason or another.  The thing's had a growl under the hood for a couple of months now, and we hoped it was a simple item (and one under warranty).  The good news is that it was found and is under warranty - but it would take another day to get it finished.  So last night we were stuck at home, with just a bicycle for travel.  That might work for the 800-foot drop to a store, but I'd be ruined getting anything back up that hill; I've not ridden the bike more than a half-mile in well over a year now.

We were not in need of anything though, so just being at home was no hardship at all.  This morning is very autumnal, fog and spider-webs abound.  Very pretty, and a nice change from recent weeks.

Update: wow.  The car needed a special tool to remove the noisy part, so it wasn't until middy Friday that it was restored to us.  This makes a good case for owning two cars for remote living!  We were considering a rugged truck for towing and haulng, plus a cute hi-mpg commuter vehicle.  With fuel down to nearly $2.50 with discounts a few bargains could be had!

storm(s) info

Here's how completely the south wind is blocked here.  The hilltop behind us shows the firs waving in the strong breeze, but we recorded no south winds at all!  Unless one of those trees is uprooted and hurled about 30 feet horizontally, we just won't know about wind storms from the south..

it should be noted that this was among the strongest August storms on record 

in the Pacific NW, though just barely not a September storm.

And how about this interesting result from the storms!

Just before the 'big one' hit (the wetter of the two) I took an unused plastic garbage can and put it under a downspout.  I then cut the downspout with tin snips, pinched in the lower part to (supposedly) make a ramp from the back so all the water would fall into the 'storage bin' . I added a small square of plastic foam to improve the diversion, it's at least 80-90% effective in stopping drips below the downspout.  

In theory this would catch 1/4 of the rain hitting the roof, assuming gutters are fully balanced and each corner is doing the same job.  Our home was recently re-leveled so it's a fair generalization. 

The next morning I found the standard garbage can to be Completely Full with a decent amount pooled on our driveway.  This for a storm of less than 3/4 inch!  I siphoned most of it to the ditch beside our driveway, so less water hung out on the concrete and found a way under the house this way.  Proof of concept successful, but clearly not yet a permanent solution..

And another thing..

How's this for entertainment, and for the record 'books' - three cat-4 storms in the w/central Pacific at once!.  Hawaii is left of center between the two storms on the left, so Ignasio is aiming for it but should be curving north in time.

And of course there's this nonsense - "The event has been linked to a stronger than usual El Niño event, which researchers are saying we should start to get used to, as many more are expected in the future. "

But wait there's more! 

Hurricane Fred developed closer to the African coast than any storm in history*!  

Hurricane warnings in the Cape Verde islands, first time Ever!

* at its latitude, at least - a few further south have it beat on this one.

something changed

This region has been in rainfall deficit since late winter.  Spring rains were minimal, summer as dry as usual.  Portland reset its #days with temperatures above 90°!  Given all this it's quite the surprise to see the weather do what it always does, which is break from one pattern to another.  Cool and wet will prevail for the next week or so, and decent widespread rain will quench wildfires and restore greenery to the brown lands.

Often this can happen as other areas of the Pacific fill with late-summer typhoons and Hawaiian hurricanes; these inject plenty of energy and moisture which inevitably gets carried to the west coast of US/Canada.  Here comes the first of them.

We live near the boundary of the Willapa Hills and Lower Columbia forecast zones.  One has a High Wind Warning, the other a Wind Advisory.  Boundaries do that, and we must have boundaries!  It doesn't really matter though, as our home is strongly sheltered from the south wind - we will hear it and its effects, but feeling those winds is unlikely except as they swirl around the highest areas to reach us.

I planted several of our potted plants yesterday, feeling like one warm day followed by an inch or more of rain might settle them in nicely.  Our wood wall now has a sunflower, bush and rock roses as well as our potted daphne are now in place.  The exceptionally dry ground did not wish to yield but I put them in place and gave them an advance sprinkle  Hopefully they will enjoy the rain on their leaves as well as their roots.

UPDATE - here's how well the south wind is blocked here.  The hilltop behind us shows the firs waving in the strong breeze, but we recorded no south winds at all!  Unless one of those trees is uprooted and hurled about 30 feet horizontally, we just won't know about wind storms from the south..

cat update!

The girls spent a couple of days on a field trip (literally, I expect) and poor Inky/Spook fell behind.  He spent most of two days as a solo artist, working on his pitiful meows to make us feel he'd been totally abandoned.  I've found the kittens love chasing coins rolled down the driveway; their reflexes will thank me when the first mousies appear without mama to help!   Later he jumped under the tarp and did some self-motivated play.

Last night mama returned though, so Inky had a little more company at dinner.  And this morning the girls are back!  They were quite hungry so I made sure a bit extra was in each bowl.  Now they're wandering in and out of view, like they have been doing since early June.  They all come running when we step outside (unless it's siesta time) but rubbing against us or actual touching is still not their thing.