Blowing weeds

Yard work is never done in Central Oregon.  After the rain came a wind storm and blew weeds and trash all over the place. An empty lot gave up its weeds to become part of everyone's yard decorations along with any trash people decided to throw out. These were so thick the gate would not even open. Took 2 days of burning weeds to get rid of them.

I could have swore I had racked all the leaves and since I don't have any trees at all near here..Come on wind you are making to much work for this old lady.

At least you don't have time to be bored and just set around and watch TV..

Rain makes streets into creeks

The Farmers Almanac said we were going to have a wetter then normal winter in Central Oregon and so far it seems to me like it is true. This is suppose to be a street not a small creek.

Many people had some water in their sheds and garages but no super bad damage.  Lots of problems on the west side of the mountains due to the super dry summer and then the trees are fragile and get all this rain and trees are breaking off and coming uprooted.

Wood stoves in Oregon

Many people in Oregon have wood burning stoves. This picture is a good example of why we should clean our chimneys. You can see the creosote dripping off the cap and you can tell the way the smoke is coming out that it is almost plugged and coming out holes instead of all the way around.

 which lead to a chimney fire shown here after the fireman took the cap off the top. The chimney was glowing red inside from the roof line clear down to the stove and if no one would have been home this was one house that would have been gone.

A special nozzle that firemen use to put down the chimney that sprays a mist and the point breaks up the creosote build up.

You can see all the chunks coming out in this photo.  Please check your chimneys before this is your house.

Madras, Oregon

Tonight they toned out of a structure fire and I headed out to take pictures and was canceled as it was a controlled burn behind a residence which was really good news.

I decided while I was out there to take some photos as the sky kept changing so fast as I had only got a few blocks from my house.

I love Central Oregon

Sunrise cloud formations

The cloud formations this morning were fantastic. I love the early morning and I love the Cascade Mountians. What a view Central Oregon has. Known as "poverty with a view". We don't have high wages but we have a view worth being broke for.

Alpaca day at fairgrounds

They had an Alpaca day at the fairgrounds here. I have seen them with their body shaved and a big head like a lion but this is the first time I had seen one with like a poodle cut. He was so cute!

Watching them weave a rug with Alpaca yarn.

My mom talking to the guy that was carding the fur from the Alpaca.

Many people now raise Alpaca's in Oregon. If you google Alpaca and your area I am sure you can find many places near you to go see these wonderful animals. The people love to show you what can be done with them.  They had belts, hats, sweaters, throws and everything you can think of made from their fur. They also use them to pack when hiking in the Cascades.

Oregon Outback

Some friends wanted me to haul a horse for them from the Rager Ranger Station back to Madras. The two teenage girls showed up and off we went.

I had to laugh when we went through Prineville and told them to say goodbye to civilization. They kind of laughed but by the time we got to Post they were amazed. One of them said they did not realize that places in Oregon were that big without anyone around...lol  I told them they had not seen anything yet at least we had Post and Paulina.  I said see Post is a town, it has a post office, store, cafe combo and a grange hall..

Off to Paulina we continued and they said at least Paulina is a town and they even have a rodeo going on this weekend.  They were shocked when we got to Paulina, A store,service station, post office, cafe, bar, school and even a couple of houses.  They were saying, a town???  There were more people at the rodeo grounds then in the town.

They had a good time since they had not seen an antelope and we saw several herds and even a baby. We saw deer first and they thought that was neat but really excited when we saw the antelope and then WOW elk.

I think it was a good learning experience for them and lots of fun but they sure were wishing that they had brought a lunch and an ice box for drinks. By the time we got back to Paulina with the horse and we stopped at the store they bought 3 big gator aides and some pop and some things to eat.

I told them someday I would take them to the real outback of Oregon where they would not see anything but a few fences for about 5 hours.

They said Madras and Prineville looked really big and they appreciated Madras a whole lot more then when we left it that morning..