Seasons

Seasons, originally uploaded by Hotash.

The Lonely Tree

this is a tree i have passed a million times in my life and a fellow friend cdpugh inspired me to photograph with his more than awesome shots of this tree
this is one of my fave faves of his

a lovely old buckeye tree
http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=AECA

Another "crack in everything"

Another "crack in everything"
Originally uploaded by Hotash

i mean come on!

this time the crack started on the drivers side and spread to the passenger side.
the window POPPED! shortly after i scraped off the snow & turned on the defroster. . .

who knew?

all this on the hot on the tail of a busted windshield last year


oh and the seat belt light keeps coming on even though i'm wearing the dang thing!

Coyote Moon

Coyote Moon
Originally uploaded by Hotash

this is what greeted me early this morning when i woke for bathroom visit

nearly every night at least once a night we hear a small group of coyotes in the vineyard to the west of us across the river. they are so amazing to listen to -the dogs and cats all have a natural fear of them it seems. we have yet to see a coyote but i can assure you they are nearby :)
i'm curious about how many are living near and if the gathering yelp/barks/yips are a sign of kill or if it's a sign of gathering to commence on a hunt. . .
sometimes we hear them two times a night-i'm leaning toward a gathering call-once around early nightfall and once again around early morning

it's nice to open the upstairs door and listen to them right across the river-everyone is silent at the house while they do their thing. . .

Recall Notice

Recall
Originally uploaded by Hotash

Important Notice About Your Konica Minolta Product

Posted: 09/10/2006


"Thank you for your support and patronage of Konica Minolta cameras.

It has come to our attention that a limited number of products, manufactured between October 2002 and March 2004, that incorporate a certain type of image sensor device (CCD) may exhibit the following:

When the product is used in camera mode, the LCD panel and/or electronic viewfinder exhibits either a distorted image or no image at all. We have determined that this only occurs in a limited number of devices, but may be accelerated if they are exposed to hot and humid environments.

From October 7, 2005 through March 31, 2008, Sony will repair free of charge, affected Konica-Minolta cameras exhibiting the above-mentioned problem where it is caused by the image sensor device. We will also cover the cost of shipping and handling from and to addresses within the United States and US Territories for service to correct this issue.

Follow the steps below to determine if your product may be affected by this issue and require service.


IMPORTANT: For information regarding the proposed settlement of a class-action lawsuit related to this issue, please visit ca.konicaminolta.com/ccdsettlement/ "

More info on the problem
&
a bit more

request ups pick up tag and fill out online request at Sony
esupport.sony.com/US/perl/news-item.pl?template_id=1&...

we went to use the old minolta the other day (during the high water storm) and well, it didn't work. after much wonder i decided to go online and try and find out if there was a problem-sure enough there is.
this camera gets very little use and had been sitting for a long while. the pictures and the lcd display were pink with varying lines. all other functions appeared to work, like sound etc. but the image was not there.

the whole return process appears to be painless. i shipped ours off last week-
i'll keep you posted

i know it's a bit late on the notice - but i figured maybe someone else may benefit :)

'Bitchy' Kitty

'bitchy kitty'
Originally uploaded by Hotash

What can I say

She is a Siamese if I ever met one! Very, very vocal – always demanding everyone’s attention.

Her newest nick name
She gritched all the way to and from the river
I don't know why she even goes!
It utterly annoys her that we go to the river

She has a keen sense of fear it seems.

She meows and meows and will attack your legs if you (or a dog) gets too close to the river

She also does this when I set the smoke alarm off in the house. She is the only cat who will not leave the house. Instead she screeches at us and attacks our legs until we make it stop.

She is a really strange kitty.
Wants loving and then bites the crap out of you-lucky she usually gives you warning so you have an opportunity-but sometimes there is no warning.

ALL the dogs steer clear of her at all times
I’m certain jester has her to thank for his recent eye problem (that is finally starting to heal up after a bit of infection and a lot of work)



Big Kitty - Female
Born late 2002
Came to live with us around Christmas 2002

Big Kitty couldn't stay at the local homeless shelter with her family so she came to live with us (the first cat & queen of everything).

She is everywhere we are. . . Digging holes-can you believe that? Digging holes!

Bottom line. . .
Big Kitty is easily pissed off~but we love her :)

Squirrel news

Mid morning snack
Originally uploaded by Hotash

the squirrels are doing well.
we see them all the time.
they are not easy to photograph though-often split as soon as they see us or the dogs

the only one i ever get a chance to photo is the littlest-he's the only one willing to acknowledge the 'squirrelly nutkin' call and he will hang out for a picture here and there.

they make regular trips across the bridge on a pretty specific schedule-everyday around 10/11am.

for the most part they stay next door in the neighbors yard and huge bayleaf trees.
but
the other morning they woke me up racing across the roof of the house again!!

we still put out fresh food for them a few times a week and they take it and move on. i think he looks a bit fat maybe?


oh, well-at least he's healthy in appearance. i see no rips or tears in his ears and no ticks either. also his coat looks thick and furry, no patches missing or obvious scratches-all good news.

they remain healthy afraid of people and dogs/cars, etc.-if they find mates this spring i will admit success :)

PEACE is in our hands i'm sure of it

PEACE is in our hands i'm sure of it
Originally uploaded by Hotash

but it seems completely out of reach. . .

a tiny tribute to Brian Steidle

The Devil Came on Horseback watch it. . .

Sick cats

Poor Douina
Originally uploaded by Hotash

little douina became suddenly very painfully ill last thursday.
after a late night call to the vet, 1/2 baby aspirin later and some rescue remedy, she calms down a bit. her left front leg is limp and cold, she can't stand. . .

off to the vet we go late the next day, they do all kinds of tests, the pain is now in her left hind leg and back. . .we still know nothing, but suspect blood clot

we are waiting for the results of a heart worm test.

she seems to be doing much better some 5 days later. . .
she's such a stoic kitty though, never complains or talks much-it was hard to see her yowling in pain and trashing around-poor thing

and
she doesn't like to be held-so you just have to watch
and
wait

so we are

AND


then that damn jester comes in with a swollen eye, the lower lid has been scratched on the inside-i'm assuming by another cat, and more than likely, big kitty

i am vet broke so he will be dealt with at home, by me
at least this is something i'm capable of. . .even if really gross!

4 days after the incident his eye swelling completely went away and his eye is fine - thank god
i, of course, worried the whole time that i'm doing him a disservice by not taking him to the vet. . .

we'll see, it's not over quiet yet

What we did at 4am this morning. . .

What we did at 4am this morning. . .
Originally uploaded by Hotash

with the big storm coming in i was asked of me 'so is it worth living on the river?'

well, here's my answer.
YES!!!

yesterday after getting up and listening to rain bark (at what i figured were the fish in the river) i decided to let cali out and be sure there really was a 'bugger' out there-well sure enough there was (so she said)

i put on my favorite cerublu scart and pulled on my boots and headed to check with rain and cali. what we found was a man in his 30's or so, a younger man in his 20's and a small child. the older of the group was carrying a cross bow and walking along the river edge. the 20ish looking dude was thigh deep in hole with a long gaffing rod- i was FURIOUS!!!

i yelled at them 'you need to leave the river now! this is a closed spawning stream!!!'
they played deaf and dumb for a minute then when they saw me reach for the phone and i told them i was calling the cops :) the whole time rain and cali were just barking my support-the creeps took off up the river and hiked out the nearest little opening they could find-empty handed mind you. worst of all, i think they were neighbors!!!

anyway, after that we didn't see the fish the rest of the afternoon.
i went to work pissed. . .
then ended up even more upset when i walked in to work and found
this had happened

but, alas, i'm sidetracked here-what was the question?
oh yeah, 'is it worth living on the river?'

most of you know that we took a terrible hit in the 2005 storm we only lost trees and land so we consider ourselves lucky but it was pretty tough to take after having only just moved in 6 months earlier.

for me (and chris) the many happy moments we spend on the river, either in it or watching the river float by or the dogs enjoying a swim or tilting back a brew (or more), are moments well spent. in fact, our whole family LOVES the river

anyway back to the answer (story), this morning when i got off of work at 4am the wind was blowing strong and the rain still had not come. i made it all the way home, let the dogs out and the morning had become silently calm and a bit warm even. we were heading out to the field when we heard a terrible crashing sound down at the river. a slight regress here, when we first moved in, that first wet season i got so scared one night when i heard someone walking up the river in the dark. i ran in the house and locked the doors with the dogs- i told chris the next day and he laughed-told me, it's just the fish silly!

well, lucky for me, i just knew it was the fish again this morning so i took the dogs and two flashlights (just in case ;) and we walked down. this time there were the biggest fish i have ever seen in the river-ever! they were beautiful and about 8 of them all together. they were so big they were sticking out of the shallow water by about 3 inches or so. they were thrashing around and then would find a deep enough hole to hang out in for a minute or so, then do it all again.

one pair were pretty beat up and obviously tired, they were just calmly hanging out in one spot. rain and cali both waded out to check on the strange creatures in the water at night. i have never let them be in the river before when this is happening but everything was so calm last night. the tired pair did not care at all that they were being sniffed. cali left after just a few sniffs and rain stayed until one slightly flipped and scared her-it was funny!

the dogs came back and we all just stood there in the night listening to the fish. then another explosion of sound and thrashing around. i turned the flashlight on and there was a huge silver fish laying on its side on the side of the river. the dogs and i are up on the bank well above the river. i stand there and watch and wait for it to get the strength to flop back into the water. . .after a few minutes i realize it's not going back in the water-i can't stand it any more and i say to the dogs 'come on let's go save a fish!' and we all rush down the bank to the river. the fish is just laying there, gasping. i tried to poke it over with my hand-it's too heavy to move so i stepped a bit closer (not wanting to get my Alabama's wet) and tried again. nothing. it was desperate now. i took my shoes off and waded out in my socks into the cold water. i grabbed it by the base of the tail with both of my hands and dragged it back into the river. it hung out in the deeper water for a bit and then took off like a bullet! i can't believe how fast these fish are-it's amazing.

we trotted off to bed, well dripped up the river bank and then i tried to sleep-it didn't come easy but sometime after 6am i fell asleep. i woke up at noon-thirty and here i am again at work for another day:)

so my answer is emphatically "YES!" it's lovely living on the river

Blue Peace

Blue Peace, originally uploaded by Hotash.

please consider joining One Million Peace Signs

visit the official One Million Peace Signs Blog

What (else) will 2008 take. . .

What (else) will 2008 take. . .

Originally uploaded by Hotash

Well, 2005 took all but the tree with the arrow next to it. . .
I wonder what this 2008 storm is going to take?
Current Radar

This afternoon I tied off a new tree we planted (to the left) this summer to this tree in an effort to keep the tree at home if the river washes it out!
Well it was a pretty expensive tree :)

if this storm holds any of the punch the 2005 storm had we are in for another disaster in our county. . .

Russian River - Redwood Valley, CA
Russian River Stages

A look back at 2005
this is a shot of our tore up river & what is left of our backyard... stay tuned, another big storm is heading in tonight...

NEW! See video HERE

Join: California Floods

BUT
we set a record so yay! for us!!!
2005 Record setting rainfall

What we saw at the river today

A pair
Originally uploaded by Hotash

we saw many things at the river today. . .


one of which was a stray cat fight!
the last we saw (hours later) him/her, he/she was still up the tree!

in fact it's this cat fight that woke us all up this afternoon. they must have been fighting all day long. the 'mean' kitty is a tiger stripe big cat. they are on the other side of the rive-i have know idea how they got there or who they belong to. . .



a duck or rather a Common Merganser
CHECK out more Merganser shots - even babies!

&
those spawning fishes again -yay!
what are they? Coho? Chinook? Steelhead? I"m pretty sure it's not Steelhead, but they are the most reasonable to be 'running' right now. I lean heavily toward the Chinook just based on the mouth not having a 'prominent hook' shape.
what do you all think/know?

Rain & Cali watching the action