Sunday, May 30, 2010

Walking The Dogs Up The Winchuck River

this Morning I received a newsletter from Ceasar, The Dog Whisperer, http://www.cesarsway.com/askcesar/cesarspeaks/Go-the-distance-Hiking-with-your-dog reminding me of the joy of hiking with our dogs up trail close to our home here on the Winchuck River in Southern Oregon. I hope you spend a moment reading the link to this post. It might just inspire you to get out there yourself re-connecting to nature while giving your dog some real joy! The picture above is myself with Marley, our Wired Hair Pointing Griffon who MUST run to have a complete life.


Myself again with both Marley and Maggie. Maggie is half Jack Russell and half German Shorthair. Can you imagine having that much energy? I certainly cannot. I appreciate her outlook on life going for the most at all times! If we could channel her makeup, we might just get our task done each and every day with time to spare! Look at that beauty of early spring forest!


The challenges for us old folk is hopping over rushing creeks. I wore boots this day, but prefer my hiking shoes so I don't really want to wade across. It is good for us keeping us able and moving even at our advanced ages. I am 69 and Jim is 72. We know many people that cannot imagine walking as far as we do and stop at the first creek...even those younger than us! It amazes me how we can put limits on ourselves that just don't make sense! Move it or loose it!


I love this regal picture of Marley seemingly on point high on a fallen tree. Staying home throwing a ball across the lawn just can't compare with getting up close and personal with our surrounding nature with Marley using her nose to find special smells not available in her home life.


You can see that I could walk further and faster to loose a few soft areas I have gathered on my body in old age. The dog treat bag is my fashion accessory; along with a whistle and a dog clicker. I look at all dog activities as a training session of sorts. The dogs are expected to come on call, sit and then get a reward. My training is to keep the heart rate up, breath deeply and take in my environment. I like to stay in the moment, enjoying the silence of the woods; while giving my dogs pure joy.

Friday, May 28, 2010

Living Up The Winchuck In May

This is our favorite hike with the dogs. Chimney Rock or Wheeler Creek trail is like walking through a magical forest. We seldom encounter another person enjoying the peace of the woods; while the dogs follow their noses to a state of wonderful exhaustion. This is just a short distance up river from where we are fortunate to live.
May is the most beautiful month here on the Winchuck. The Rhodies start popping and the wisteria hangs in abundant glory.
We recently transplanted our back slope with four additional rhodies. They have reached full bloom. This morning the hill is in full sun ablaze with red, pink and lavender. The rose on the back shed is now in bloom. I transplanted a rose to find that the wild rose root stock is what I ended up with. I love all things wild, so it is happy decorating our shed.

The little object in the center of the shed is a bird house that shows us the level of the water we have left. It goes up as the water goes down. It is handy to check to see whether one of our pipes has been knocked apart by a deer or the catch boxes up the creek needs cleaned out. It is great to have a man with an engineering mind. Living in rural Oregon means that you might have more than one way of getting water. We have catch boxes up the creek out back along with a well. We don't use the well, but feel good that we have a back up if needed. Pipes run the along our fence around our property to carry any water that is not needed that is used to water our garden. We manage to have green grass even by late summer.

This weekend is not only the end of May, but the beginning of summer life here on the Wild River's Coast of Southern Oregon. We will now have to wait an extra minute to pull out on a road, with the influx of tourist who return to enjoy our mild weather, good fishing, and beautiful flowers. We are known for our flowers and fauna along with salmon fishing.

I will share pictures of our Aspen Grove soon. It is our retreat in warm weather. You can find us there in late afternoon sipping boxed wine with our feet up gazing across the valley talking about how happy we are to live here and how exhausted we are from having way too much fun gardening, fishing or hiking with the dogs.

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Pacific Antique Mall Brookings, Oregon

Here are just a few of the items that Elmo Williams has for sale at the Pacific Antique Mall in #141. I will update this blog often showing new items that we have placed in the mall. This set of antique copper pans is not in our #141 space, but elsewhere in the mall. They were purchased in Europe during the period that Elmo worked for Fox Studios as European Productions chief.
Elmo found this lovely antique copper sink while working with Kirk Douglas and Tony Curtis on the movie The Vikings. Just a bit of trivia that Elmo shared about the movie was that the children running across the field to greet returning Vikings. The children are Michael Douglas, Jamie Lee Curtis and Elmo's daughter. It was a late minute decision to have the children in the scene so they used the only children they had on set.
Tony Quinn and Elmo worked well together. Elmo got a letter from Tony expressing that he was looking forward to working together again. We also have a Quashi-Quai Runner measuring 14"6" x 3'6" for sale at the mall that was purchased while filming the movie, Caravans. Along with this movie still, we also have one of Jennifer O'Neill and a few others, including the Press Package for Caravans.
You will be delighted to see the selection of storyboards for Tora Tora Tora we have for sale that have been signed by Elmo enhancing their collecting value. Mentor Huebner was the artist that drew most of the storyboards. We also have a set of 10 storyboards drawn by the Japanese.

Mentor Huebner (19 July 1917 Los Angeles, California - 19 March 2001 Burbank, California) was a leading Hollywood production illustrator who did storyboards, production art and creative concepts for more than 250 films, including King Kong (1976), Blade Runner (1982) and Francis Ford Coppola's Dracula (1992).

His early work was uncredited on Fiddler on the Roof (1971), The Time Machine (1960), Ben-Hur (1959), North by Northwest (1959), Forbidden Planet (1956), Quo Vadis (1951).


Monday, May 24, 2010

Trying to Find Retirement in Brookings, Oregon



I've closed my website for Winchuck River Store, pulled out of a local shop where I was selling and compromised by placing my items in an antique mall where working time is minimal. I can now spend more time with mom, work in my garden and enjoy our home near Brookings, Oregon.

The reason for all of this movement or lack of movement is that I brought my mother home from Long-Term-Care. She was on 5 mind altering drugs. I had lost all trust that she was taken care of in a dignified and even sound medically manner. I am now responsible for the care of my mother. I have hired a friend to watch over her when I need to leave; which is working out very well.

My mother's "sitter" loves to chatter and mom loves her for chattering. What a union made in Heaven! Taking all but one mind altering drug away from mom has restored her memory and level of function. She is no longer in need of "memory care"!

I have become a Ombudsman for the state of Oregon as a result of my frustration and need to learn all that I could about long term care. I am glad that I have had the experience I did with mom, as it makes me more alert to potential problems in long term care. I do not assume that all is well. I'm more likely to say...hmmmm...what is really going on here? I'm here for anyone who may be searching for answers to any long term care problems. If I cannot personally help, I do have some sources that possibly could.

We lost two of our labs to illness and old age this past year. In late December, we found a girl in need hanging out in Gold Beach at the dog shelter. Marley, a Wired Hair Pointing Griffon, is now just 2 and beginning to simmer down. Her previous family apparently spent a fortune on her (her breed runs 1K or more), didn't socialize her or train her and gave up after 1.5 years. I imagine she was stuck in a small backyard alone and ate it for something to do and chewed on their smaller dog! She was very aggressive with our other dog, Maggie, which shows her lack of socialization let alone good manners. I rushed to learn all I could about getting rid of anyone's need to eat another living being. Maggie was also guilty of wanting to rid the world of Marley's presence. I rushed to get on Cesar's website, read other internet information and bought two books one on dog body language and one on aggression. It paid off, with two girls that actually play together and enjoy a run in the woods together. I got the help of my husband and the two of us did not let a side glance go unattended to. We were on those dogs like glue for well over a month...and then to less than glue and more relaxed even today! We both agree that the trick was also to walk and run those dogs together each and every day to get them bonded into our cohesive pack with us as the leaders. What power! I am a pack leader!!

Brenda Atwood's great book, Aggression in Dogs, which saved us from death on the Winchuck, can be found on Amazon.Com. I found much of what she wrote in her body language book repeated in Aggression in Dogs. I've learned to speak "dog" . It actually works to go into their world to communicate in a way that is very clear and not a bunch of run on sentences in our "foreign" human language hoping they get the meaning. I've learned to lick my lips and yawn to help a stressed girl relax a bit. I'm not yet sniffing butts and scratching my behind! LOL

and now that I am back on the blog, I will make an effort to update more frequently with what is going on in and around our world here on the Wild River's Coast of Southern Oregon.

We Welcome You to Our Blog!



We blog about our rural area in the Pacific Northwest . This blog is all about my life and the places where my mind wonders from day to day. Have fun reading and looking at pictures. We welcome comments.

Be sure to watch, just above this blurb, my husband, Jim, using his 10 foot hands-free electric fishing kayak

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Electric Powered Hands-Free Fishing Kayak

Be sure to check out the separate blog to find out about our electric kayak, Kingfisher 10! You can find the blog at http://electrickayakkingfisher-10.blogspot.com . You can also read the features list on this kayak and purchase building plans and building kits at www.winchuckriverstore.com .

About Me

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We moved to our current home on the Wild River Coast of Southern Oregon from San Jose, CA. Our family consist of Jim and Karen, two dogs and two cats. Karen's passion is gardening. Jim's obsession is building electric powered fishing kayaks and fishing.