Friday, September 17, 2010

An Indian Summer


Northwest Oregon is known for its Indian summers....

Sunny...:

Hot...:

Dry...:

Lazy, September days...:

...best spent doing playful things outside that include a cool glass of lemonade afterward:

Hmmm...ok.
Truth be told, this is not even remotely how it is around here right now. And trust me, everybody is very surprised by the wet and gloomy we've got going on:

According to our calculations, there are still four days of summer left:

But Pete and Reggie already seem to be hunkering down for winter. I can only coax them out of their house by tempting them with tasty greenery outside their door (and under the eaves):

My garden is confused - "There's still so much to do," it says. Tomatoes need to ripen:

Grapes need more sun to finish up:

Raspberries still need to turn red:

Instead, we've got heavy heads:

...which come from feeling just a bit sorry for ourselves:

It's been a challenging growing season. This year, we had less than 2 months of the mild, dry, smile-inducing summer weather that we come to count on after Oregon's wet and rainy fall, winter and spring:

Oddly enough, the chickens don't really seem to mind. Not as long as their breakfast shows up on time:

Oh, and Dottie?:

Just as a side note, she laid again yesterday afternoon:

She has now laid officially one full week longer than last year. Paula, over at Weeding for Godot, left a comment on my last post suggesting an egg wager, you know, for folks to try to guess just exactly WHEN that girl's "final lay" date will be. I'd have to come up with a really good prize, wouldn't I....

25 comments:

  1. Beautiful pictures!! Your place is just breathtaking. I think a contest is a great idea. Go Dottie!!
    Amy at Verde Farm

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  2. OMG those photos are gorgeous!

    ~The Mama Monster

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  3. I'm feeling a little guilty about all my sunshine. Know that my rays are your rays whenever you need them, and there's a great big vacancy sign hanging over the guest room.

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  4. Danni,
    I know I have said it before....but I love your poetic way of writing. Who else could give personality to plants!

    I hate you are having such a rainy "Indian Summer" but it makes for beautiful shots!

    Go Dottie Go!

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  5. Danni,
    I know I have said it before....but I love your poetic way of writing. Who else could give personality to plants!

    I hate you are having such a rainy "Indian Summer" but it makes for beautiful shots!

    Go Dottie Go!

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  6. I love seeing how happy Pete and Reggie are. You have such a lush, fertile farm, it must be wonderful.

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  7. This weather does make nice lighting for your creative camera shots, Danni . . . but that's about all it's good for. But it's also why Oregon is such a beautifully green state, right? And that's why we love coming up here during the summer, right? So lets have four more days of summer, right? NOT! I'm afraid it's not in the cards this week.

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  8. I bet you're about water logged this year. But the pictures are incredibly pretty. Our weather could not be more opposite - it feels like the dust bowl out here!

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  9. wonderful pics! way to go dottie!!! maybe she is confused by the weather too. i got a fix for my chicken envy yesterday and i will post it today!

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  10. We have had the very same weather here, but it's because of hurricane Hermine.
    Once the sun comes out, I'll sent you some. :)
    Love all the pictures. I didn't know strawberries could have pink flowers. Ours are all white.

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  11. They say all the signs indicate an early winter this year. And I just heard from the in-laws that there was a dusting of snow in the cars yesterday morning in eastern Montana!
    The contest sounds fun! But what would happen if Dottie doesn't take a sabbatical this year? Guess there wouldn't be a winner then.
    Well even if it is cool and wet, it still makes your place as lovely as ever! You are blessed in life!

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  12. Yes, come up with a prize! Dottie's egg laying and other activities are so entertaining and surprising, that you should start a nation-wide wager.

    I love my sweet Roxy peeking around the corner in your last photo. She is SO part of everything you do in and around Critter Farm.

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  13. Despite the wet and the gloom, everything looks beautiful. What a bounty of everything you have! :D

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  14. The summer here in Southern Oregon has been hot, dry and miserable. Although today it is lightly raining, the air smells sweet ( other than the skunk that was hit on the road last night), the ground is soaking up the much needed rain.
    Hmmm, Dottie will stop laying October 4th.

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  15. We're dry as a bone here Danni!! Send us some of your drippyness!!
    Ok I'm going to say....Sept 21.
    Great photos! I wish I could sit down there and drink some lemonade with ya'll!!

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  16. ha ha! you nailed it.

    (sigh) i guess we're heading straight into the rainy season.

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  17. Boo on the rainy weather and cruddy growing season. We're getting the same over here. :(

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  18. I love your photos! Especially the close up of the clothes pins.♥

    It's getting cooler around here too. Not wet yet though. We will likely stay dry into October.

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  19. It's raining crazy hard at my house! The ground may soon be too wet to till.

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  20. I am SO with you on the "missing" Indian summer! Yes it keeps everything green...but I sure could use a bit less rain and a bit more sun...sigh.

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  21. Hurray for Dottie!

    I grew up in the midwest, which also has Indian summers. The south doesn't and I really miss them. They are part of my autumn ritual.

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  22. I'll trade you some of our hot,HOT and dry, DRY days for some of those cooler rainy days.........if we could get a little of each this week, it would be a perfect week, wouldn't it? sigh......if only

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  23. so sorry about the weather! What a short summer. We've had rather funky weather, too...just not wet like yours. We had a light frost over Labor Day weekend-crazy!
    Good for Dottie...keeping you on your toes!

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  24. I know!! We had such a short summer. I'm so not ready for more of that wet stuff. *blech*

    Honest to Gawd, Roxy has the sweetest face, I've ever seen.

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