Spring Horse Classic 2017

Carus went to the State competition this weekend to compete in Horse Bowl - which is a trivia type competition where they answer questions about horses, how to take care of them, the equipment used with them, as well as riding and showing horses and other 4H rules.  Our county competition was delayed by a month thanks to all the snow in January, which gave us one less month to prepare than the other counties had.

She was on the Intermediate team - and they got 4th place out of the 12 competing counties!  Washington County's Senior team got 3rd place out of 10.  The competition was fierce and each round quite intense.  In one round, Carus buzzed in to answer the last question - the deciding point!  It was quite a difficult question with multiple parts that had to be just right.  The whole room focused on her hard while she answered, and as she said the last words, she froze in place.  Her hands still held up mid gesture she was making while speaking using her fingers to list each part out.  The whole team was leaning forward and perched on the edge of their seats.  Everyone in the room, from the score keepers and timers, to the other team and all of the parents in the audience, seemed to collectively hold their breath.  As soon as the judge nodded and said, "that's correct," Carus and her team collapsed into their chairs with relief and the room let out an audible, collective sigh.  Carus's was the loudest.

Our last round was against Clackamas county (who came in 2nd) and we tied with them, then lost the tie breaking round by 1 point!

We watched the final round, and Carus and her friend were bouncing in their seats at each question because they knew the answers! It was quite comical to watch their dramatics of not being able to scream out the answers -- but you know, some of those answers came to them so easily because they weren't in the hot seats with a buzzer in their hands anymore.

I've never been to Redmond/central Oregon before.  Goodness, Oregon is pretty all over!!  The views coming over the mountain were gorgeous, and I kept getting awestruck at the view of the mountains from the fairgrounds.  I'm so glad the weather was nice - kept the drive uneventful.  And I'm glad I was able to take her to this event!  We drove down early Saturday morning, and headed home Sunday afternoon; just over 400 miles round trip in one weekend! I'm still a bit knackered, but oh so proud of her.

Rainy day(s)

Because it's Oregon, and it's spring, we have been getting a lot of rain lately.


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I was stopped at a stoplight and was in awe of the sky and clouds, which were more beautiful than my phone could capture, when the light turned green.  I put the phone away before I started driving again and uploaded it after I got home, much later.

It's "real" rain, with the rain smell (what causes that smell).  Oregon doesn't get that fresh rain smell often because of how often it rains here, so it's nice when we do.  This week we even had thunder and lightning, also not usual for northwest Oregon.  We also have had a few tornado watches (we're currently in one now), with a couple touching down; though nowhere near as bad as those in tornado alley get them.

I don't mind these late spring rains.  They have an end to them and are followed by sunshine and some GORGEOUS clouds and skies.

We've had nearly 4 inches of rain (per my probably rather inaccurate rain gauge) in as many days, and many more days of rain storms to follow until we reach the "drought" of summer.  I wish I could share the rain with other parts of the country and world.  It would be nice if it worked that way everywhere - sharing the sun and rain as needed.


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During the thunder and lightning storms there were many downpours.  It rained, hard; and passed quickly.

I had such fun taking pictures of the rain splashing that I got enough photos for a little gif. (Remember my tree cutting down gif?)

How about a Wordless Wednesday?

How about a Wordless Wednesday.  Then I don't need to think of something clever to say.

Moss covered rocks

We have a retaining wall in the backyard that is becoming quite green.  It's no surprise that moss grows so well with all of our rain.  I think it looks great, like they're in a forest from a fairy tale.  It's bugging Robert though, and I think he might remove the moss this spring/summer.  I hope not.  It's more mossy then it was last year and I'm curious to how mossy it will get next year.

If I'm stuck with the rain and wet, I'm going to make the best of it.