Rick and Lavinia Ross Farm & Music Newsletter for February 2017

We indulged in a short trip this month to visit family.  Our February feature photo of Mount Hood was taken through the airplane window as our plane approached Portland International Airport.  Mount Hood, an active stratovolcano, is the highest peak in Oregon at 11,249 feet, and the 4th highest peak in the Cascade Range.  The honor of highest peak in the Cascades goes to Mount Rainier up in Washington at 14,410 feet.  Mount Hood last erupted in 1865, and has been quiescent since then, for which we are grateful.  For more information on Mount Hood, please visit the U.S. Geological Survey and Wikipedia links below.

https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/volcanoes/mount_hood/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hood

Mount Hood as seen from our plane on the way back in to Portland International Airport. As with any photo on this blog site, click to enlarge. You won’t find any gremlins on the wing, I promise you!

The Multnomah tribe knew this mountain by the name Wy’east.  Please visit the links below for more information on the history of the Multnomah people.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multnomah_people
https://www.pdx.edu/magazine/news/chasing-the-multnomah-myth

A Special Thank You

I would like to take a moment to thank the many wonderful people I have come to know through this blog since it began in 2013. They come from many different countries and walks of life, each with his or her own unique view of the world.  As in the non-electronic world, some people will touch your life more closely than others.  Nia Sunset, feline photographer and author of several blogs including “A Cup of Tea With This Crazy Nia”, “Photography Of Nia” and “IsTAnbuLY”, takes readers inside her Turkish homeland and introduces them to her history, culture and the many things of great beauty to be found there.  Many of those items are hand-made by Nia herself, and I was the grateful recipient of some of her handiwork recently, which I will share with readers in the photo below.  Those of you who craft, knit, crochet or weave will appreciate her talent.  Thank you, Nia, for being a part of our world!

Please visit Nia at https://istanbuly.wordpress.com and https://acupofteawithnia.wordpress.com/

News from the farm

Old Man Winter has still been lurking about on our little farm in the Cascade foothills.  Although he and his companions Wind and Storm have not dealt us truly bad weather this season, his continual presence has grown wearisome to all who reside here.  The days have steadily grown longer since solstice, triggering daffodil, iris and crocus to awaken and send forth shoots and buds from the dark, cold earth below.  The cheery faces of dandelion and ox-eye daisy can be found keeping a low but watchful profile amid the green grass, while the new leaves of lemon balm hug the soil in the garden beds.  I, too, am feeling restless now, still enjoying the dark slumber of the season, yet anxious for the return of Spring with all her colorful, frantic activity.  Winter will eventually give way to her, grudgingly, as he always does, and he will find his own way down the road to the southern hemisphere.

Snow irises emerging through clumps of low profile lemon balm.

Same irises after sleet and snow on February 27th.

Patiently waiting for spring and bud break. Rick has finished pruning the table grapes pictured here, and has moved on to working in the pinot noir vineyard.

A bashful ox-eye daisy in February.

News from the Cats of Salmon Brook Farms

Our Resident Feline Correspondent this month is our own Mr. Lucio, who would like readers to know about his superior grooming services before he gives his report on the photographers excursions about the farm.  His associate, correspondent Marcus, was willing to provide a demonstration.  Mr. Lucio will be 12 years old this summer, and his sharp-eyed observations out the window and continual commentary have been invaluable to our understanding of what goes on here at the farm.  Without further ado, we present Mr. Lucio, Resident Feline Correspondent of Salmon Brook Farms.

Grooming commences with the chin.

Includes the ears.

And the face.

Not quite done yet.

All clean and sparkling! A satisfied customer.

And now, his report for February.

Days are still relatively short at this time of year, even though the increase in light is quite noticeable as the calendar moves forward.  It is the wet season, with mostly cloudy to overcast days and grey, misty pall, contributing to the feeling of winter’s dark cocoon in which we slumber through our days as much as possible.  Pruning of the vines, which commenced in December, is still underway at a leisurely pace; it has been completed in the table grapes, and has now moved on to the pinot noir vineyard.  Old vines wait patiently for bud break, having been pared down to two canes from the previous year.  From the many buds along these two canes, new shoots will grow, giving rise to leafy canopy, flowers and finally fruit, if spring frosts do not cause too much damage.

An ancient Cascade table grape, waiting for spring. These vines were planted by the previous owner’s parents.

The birds have come through the worst of the winter, and have started preparations for spring themselves.

The photographer stalked this plump male American robin (Turdus migratorius), and finally got within range. The bird cast an annoyed look down below before taking off for more private surroundings. As with any of these photos, click to enlarge.

Cold tolerant flowers can be found in more protected places, while lichens and mushrooms cling to their supports.

Primroses in the front garden bed, snuggled up against a small log for protection.

This grouping of what I believe are turkey tail mushrooms (Trametes versicolor) on the east side of an old hazelnut tree seem stained a bit green with what looks like algae.

Interesting fungal growth on the trunk of a hazelnut tree where a limb has ripped off in past years.

A patch of crocus planted out in the hazelnut grove many years ago. They have miraculously escaped the attention of the gophers, and have come back every year, purple gems among the grass in the wild area of the farm.

Life is everywhere engaged in its various cycles, living, breathing, returning to earth, even as the winter darkness still reigns in our part of the world.

As the our new day unfolds, we wish our readers a pleasant last day of February, good food and the warmth of family and friends.

– Mr. Lucio, Resident Feline Correspondent reporting from Salmon Brook Farms

Thank you Mr. Lucio!

Music news (schedule posted on the Performance Schedule page

Three views of the Guild 12-string guitar, one of several guitars I used on my CD, “Keepsake”. The back and sides are flamed maple.

The new year is already flying by!  I am still working on projects which are long overdue.  Until I can post some of that work, The Orchard, our distributor, has placed some of our music from the Keepsake CD on YouTube.  Anyone wishing to see the entire track listing and stories behind the songs should visit my personal page under MUSIC in the menu at the top of this post.   Depending on what country you live in, the music placed on YouTube by The Orchard may be blocked.  Readers can also access some songs from the CD via the old IUMA archive site.  See https://archive.org/details/iuma-lavinia_ross

In the meantime, in your area, wherever you may be, please do all you can to help keep your own local music alive. Go out and see someone you don’t know, host a house concert, download songs or buy CDs. Or even just stop for a minute to hear someone at a Farmers’ Market. Live, local musicians provide a wealth of talent most people will never hear about in this age of iPods, Internet and TV.

Bookings and home-grown produce:
Lavinia and Rick Ross
Salmon Brook Records / Salmon Brook Farms

http://home.earthlink.net/~redwine5
https://salmonbrookfarms.wordpress.com

Early morning on the farm on Valentine’s Day. The colors change quickly! Wishing all of you pleasant days ahead. Be kind to one another. We are all neighbors on this one Earth.