Cool things re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon

Since moving to Forest Grove, Oregon in late January 2013, I've been sending out tweets on my personal Twitter account, @jayne_a_broad regarding "cool things" about my life here.

When I travel, or living abroad, I am often in this place of utter delight at each thing I encounter. But why not on a day-to-day basis? Why not treat where I live now as a place to observe and discover and delight in? Hence why I have been sending these tweets.

Here are the first 35:

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #1: many neighbors have raised bed for veggies & berries in front yard. (soon, me too!)

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #2: I won't be the 1st person in my neighborhood with a green house in the front yard.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #3: Beautiful, historic homes, & funky converted cottages, throughout my neighborhood.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #4: @FGLeader is free, local-content rich & there seems to be a lot going on.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #5: Neighbors around the corner have decorated bowling balls as lawn art.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #6: More than a few folks living here in the historic district keep chickens.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #7: @coyotetrips might actually get to be a volunteer fireman again!

Cool thing re: new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #8: Cornelius Fred Meyer has German food section. @coyotetrips rejoices http://ow.ly/gYtrA

Cool thing re: new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #9: already invited by a neighbor to have tea, see her backyard chickens.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #10: David Sedaris filmed a movie here last fall; it's now at Sundance http://www.oregonlive.com/forest-grove/index.ssf/2013/01/forest_grove_area_film_all_the.html

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #11: Saw 2 bald eagles flying overhead while parked at a grocery last week.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #12: none of the homes next to ours have a trampoline. Or kids.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #13: Room for TWO composting bins at my house! Just like many of my neighbors!

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #14: A Basset Hound named Penelope. Met her while looking for a house, again yesterday.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #15: Sassy squirrels. Trivia: @coyotetrips can't say the word "squirrels".

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #16: neighbor's French poodle is named "Venice."

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #17: Minister of Church of Christ, living across the street, has NOT tried to convert me.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #18: Virgil, mentally-impaired neighbor living in group home nearby, wants to mow our lawn.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #19: My accountant here was in last graduating class of American University in Iran.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #20: Many of my neighbors know my dog's name, call out to her when we walk.

Cool thing re: my new home, Forest Grove, Oregon #21: the public library! Wow! Great facility, terrific activities!

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #22: @coyotetrips built a green house in our front yard! http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaynecravens/8714977691/in/set-72157626702805577  @HarborFreight

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #23: friendly cat greets me & my dog each morning, is named Ravi Shankar http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaynecravens/8716078328/in/photostream/

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #24: Venice the dog, lives to retrieve tennis balls & be friendly. http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaynecravens/8716058636/in/set-72157633436898124/

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #25: The beautiful homes of Clark Historic District just a block or so from my house: http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaynecravens/sets/72157633436898124/with/8716058636/

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #26: We're not the only home flying Tibetan prayer flags.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jaynecravens/8714953421/in/photostream

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #27: kid using refrigerator box to wind surf down our street on a skateboard. No photo, sorry.

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #28: a gray cat climbs our back fence, hangs out on our porch when she hears us talking.

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #29: @ForestGroveFire resuscitated 2 dogs after a house fire around corner from us. #thankyou

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #30: 2 girls came to door last night, looking for rightful owner of lost chickens they found.

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #31: Delicious chicken pupusas at Forest Grove farmer's market last night. @AdelanteMujeres

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #32: Farmer's market started last night, lasts 'til 8, continues to Oct. @AdelanteMujeres

Cool thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #33: watching from my desk as bluebird chicks in nest in a tree in our yard get fed by parents.

Cool thing re: Forest Grove, #Oregon #34: a LARGE flock of Cedar Waxwings & a hummingbird in a fruit tree in my hood http://sdakotabirds.com/species/cedar_waxwing_info.htm

Cool & confusing thing re: life in Forest Grove, #Oregon #35: 3 people living within 250 feet /76.2 meters of my house are named "Virginia."

To see future tweets as they happen, follow me on Twitter: @jayne_a_broad (account is focused on travel, motorcycle-riding, commuting, sci-fi - mostly fun stuff).

Spring 2013

Sorry for no blogs in April. We've been busy. SUPER busy. It's not just owning a house and having to make all sorts of improvements; it's also because, thankfully, I'm working almost full time on three different consulting jobs.

We've cut bamboo, we've mowed our massive lawn a million times, Stefan has put in ceiling fans in four rooms and fixed the bathroom sink, he's painted the garage - but the big project that's eaten up so much of his time is cleaning out the crawl space and then putting in insulation, including around all the water pipes.

I helped by cutting the insulation as needed. It was a horrible job, but my part of it wasn't nearly as bad as Stefan's - he's had to crawl over and under all these ducts and have everything fall on his face as he works. He made roller boards for us, so that we could keep crawling to a minimal. He's brilliant.

And, as I've said, I'm consulting a lot - but I talk about that on my professional blog. Which I'm sure you all read regularly. Right?

Amid all this consulting and house work, I've been squeezing in motorcycle riding and gardening. I've ridden only 636 miles (1023.5 kilometers) since September 2012. That's not even 100 miles a month. And more than half of those miles happened in the last six weeks! The only thing we've done of significance as far as riding has all been:

• A ride to Beaver, Oregon and Tillamook, on National Forest road 85/Upper Nestucca Rd, which has about two miles of mud. It was my first mud ride since my disastrous attempt at the Portland Alley Sweeper/Urban Enduro Assault in 2012. I did MUCH better this time...

• Twisties to Vernon: we went the backroads to Vernonia to Scappoose to North Plains & back to Forest Grove. It was 96 miles, including 16 miles of gravel.

The gravel part of that route - the Dixie Mountain Highway - is relatively near us, so we spent a whole day on it one Saturday. I'm determined to get comfortable riding on gravel.

It's been sad to miss out on so much great motorcycle riding, because the weather has been FANTASTIC. Not good for farmers and water tables, but awesome for us. It's been unseasonably warm and beautiful for April and May. Sad that we haven't been able to take advantage of it.

I've also managed to squeeze in some gardening. We don't have the time nor the money to do all we want to eventually. But Stefan decided that getting a greenhouse for me was a priority, and so - I have one at last! It's a dream come true. Stefan bought it from Harbor Freight Tools and put it together for me (I helped a *little*). If you buy such, check online for construction tips from other owners - you will need such, as the directions that come with this are woefully inadequate. Since I don't have a way to heat it at night, I wasn't able to start seedlings in February, which is when I need to in order to have a garden by June. We're going to try water jugs for heating next Fall. The raised beds in this photo are filled with strawberries that I had back in Canby; I was able to bring more than half of them to Forest Grove and keep almost all of them alive until I could get them in these beds.

I have five more beds in the front lawn, and am growing everything from seed - various kinds of lettuce, some radishes (for Stefan - I don't like them), squash and, of course, tomatoes - two heirloom varieties, Boxcar Willie and Abraham Lincoln. But to be honest, I'm not anticipating half of it to make it - our growing season isn't long enough to grow all this from seed. Hence why I need to get a heating solution for the green house, so I can start seeds in it in February.

Albi has done really well with the move, better than we ever hoped. She's doing well mapping the house in her mind and remembering where things are - yes, blind dogs can do that. We walk every morning and evening, though just around a block, maybe two, each time. Almost every morning, we are greeted by a cat that comes bounding off his porch or out of a bush to say hello. I sing "soft kitty" to him as he rubs up against my legs and purrs. He usually throws himself down and wants a belly rub as a result. He is the friendliest cat ever and has no fear of dogs at all. Albi, being blind, doesn't know he's there - she sometimes knows something is happening, but isn't exactly sure what. If Albi knew, the cat would come no where near us, as she'd be at the end of her lead, barking and snapping! Recently, I found at the cat is named Ravi Shankar. LOVE IT.

Anyway:

Photos of the house and our progress

Photos of our neighborhood