This bunch took me snowshoeing.
This is a neat wind effect viewed from the southeast side of Mt. Hood.
Working in the snow.
A sneak peak at Willamette Falls
This is the crew at Arlington
Ruth was working on the wall...
The female blossom of the wild filbert (or hazelnut), Oregon's state nut, - enlarged.
A carpenter ant queen.
Henbit is a pretty weed in the spring - up close.
Cleaning up winter storm damage at Kamp Kellogg. There was a lot of it this year.
The red osier dogwood and something else....
The goldenrod spider has a wonderful camo for sitting on this head of flowers. I hope you can see it now.
There were lots and lots of showy milkweeds in perfect bloom on my trip from Idaho.
Jason and Twi hosted a mega birthday party in July for Carlton, Ruth, and the two-year old son of a good friend in a park near their home. The toddler enjoyed the playground, and we enjoyed him. The calico cat that adopted us many years ago died, so Crystal and Bryan gave Carlton a kitten for his birthday, perhaps partly so Common, the ginger cat we inherited from Yoshimi, would not be so lazy or lonesome. We picked out a black kitten, and named her Unique. Common welcomed her to his abode a few days later by bringing a live sparrow in the house and presenting it to her. There were feathers everywhere! She is getting along well with all of us, has been hunting the rat that burrows in the duck pen, and is cautiously friendly with the dogs. One day she "helped" Saidy who was barking at a squirrel in our walnut tree by climbing up after it. I held my breath, as she was not much bigger than the squirrel. However, the nervous squirrel bailed out of the tree from on high, and Saidy chased it to the fence. 
Andrew finally conquers the BIG slide.
The tide was out at Haystack rock.
Saw this old truck while out working one day and thought it was picturesque.
Rockaway Beach from a customer's deck.
In September, I rode with Bryan and Crystal to the Lake Tahoe area for a cousin's wedding. All beautiful, the wedding, the scenery, and the trip. With all my roaming, I have continued to build a photo library of Oregon's weeds, and collected a few specimens for the state herbarium.
The bride, with her sister and neice.
The flower girl playing in the lake at the rehearsal BBQ.
The beautiful outdoor wedding
Cabrillo Point Lighthouse
The house next door has been vacant this year, and I have been caring for the yard, and sometimes giving a bit of attention to the house as well. It appears like a deal is finally in process, and we may soon have new neighbors.
Unique is "helping" me put away the Thanksgiving decorations.
The night passed since I started this letter. This morning Unique was sitting by the window at the head of the bed, staring facinated at the snow flakes. The Portland area has pretty much shut down with a little bit of snow - it usually does, and Carlton and Bryan are both sitting by the fire puttering with that computer, Unique is up at the top of the cat tower enjoying the heat wafting her way, Common is snoozing on the bed, and the duck and the dogs are out romping in the inch or two of snow that has accumulated so far.
This is a neat wind effect viewed from the southeast side of Mt. Hood.We have both been busy exterminators this year, Carlton full-time in Portland, Ruth part-time, but very busy filling in for one missing man after another. Ruth enjoyed the traveling around - the various routes cover all of NW Oregon, including the coast. Finally, in October, the full crew is working, and Ruth is catching up around home, and hauling a couple pickup-loads of wood debris a week out of a business complex. It fetches a little money and sometimes a good board or a bit of firewood.
Working in the snow.
Termites!
A sneak peak at Willamette Falls
This is a male spider. See his boxing gloves?
So as not to be overworked, Ruth took several time-offs this year for various adventures. There were a couple 1-week work/mission projects in Oregon, Kamp Kellogg and Arlington Nazarene. I went to Medford for a mission convention, and to Idaho for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work for a week at the National Bible Quiz.
This is the crew at Arlington
Ruth was working on the wall...
UP There! making those spots on the left.
The female blossom of the wild filbert (or hazelnut), Oregon's state nut, - enlarged.
A carpenter ant queen.
Henbit is a pretty weed in the spring - up close.
A couple of the many projects at Kamp Kellogg
Cleaning up winter storm damage at Kamp Kellogg. There was a lot of it this year.
The red osier dogwood and something else....
do you see it?
Look carefully
look very carefully
The goldenrod spider has a wonderful camo for sitting on this head of flowers. I hope you can see it now.
Jason and Twi hosted a mega birthday party in July for Carlton, Ruth, and the two-year old son of a good friend in a park near their home. The toddler enjoyed the playground, and we enjoyed him. The calico cat that adopted us many years ago died, so Crystal and Bryan gave Carlton a kitten for his birthday, perhaps partly so Common, the ginger cat we inherited from Yoshimi, would not be so lazy or lonesome. We picked out a black kitten, and named her Unique. Common welcomed her to his abode a few days later by bringing a live sparrow in the house and presenting it to her. There were feathers everywhere! She is getting along well with all of us, has been hunting the rat that burrows in the duck pen, and is cautiously friendly with the dogs. One day she "helped" Saidy who was barking at a squirrel in our walnut tree by climbing up after it. I held my breath, as she was not much bigger than the squirrel. However, the nervous squirrel bailed out of the tree from on high, and Saidy chased it to the fence.
Andrew finally conquers the BIG slide.
The tide was out at Haystack rock.
Saw this old truck while out working one day and thought it was picturesque.
Rockaway Beach from a customer's deck.
In September, I rode with Bryan and Crystal to the Lake Tahoe area for a cousin's wedding. All beautiful, the wedding, the scenery, and the trip. With all my roaming, I have continued to build a photo library of Oregon's weeds, and collected a few specimens for the state herbarium.
The bride, with her sister and neice.
The flower girl playing in the lake at the rehearsal BBQ.
The beautiful outdoor wedding
The reception dinner
Cabrillo Point Lighthouse
We drove up the California coast - nice and cloudy and cool, and hot everywhere else - and spent the night in the redwoods.
The house next door has been vacant this year, and I have been caring for the yard, and sometimes giving a bit of attention to the house as well. It appears like a deal is finally in process, and we may soon have new neighbors.
Unique is "helping" me put away the Thanksgiving decorations.
The night passed since I started this letter. This morning Unique was sitting by the window at the head of the bed, staring facinated at the snow flakes. The Portland area has pretty much shut down with a little bit of snow - it usually does, and Carlton and Bryan are both sitting by the fire puttering with that computer, Unique is up at the top of the cat tower enjoying the heat wafting her way, Common is snoozing on the bed, and the duck and the dogs are out romping in the inch or two of snow that has accumulated so far.
Unique is inspecting - and removing ornaments, while Common is trying - unsuccessfully - to catnap under the tree.
This is a week after this letter was begun, and it has been delightfully wintry - notice the snow on the deck rail outside. There were 9 1/2 inches of powder in the yard last night, then we got a little freezing rain which put a crust on all of it.
Usually winter weather manages to happen while we are gone to California on vacation, so we are pleased to get to enjoy it this year.
We look forward to hearing your news. Drop us a line, send us an email, hook up with me on Facebook, whatever works for you. Carlton's email is carltons at netzero.net and Ruth's email is hoo_t_owl at juno.com. To use these addresses, replace the word "at" with @ and eliminate the spaces. They are written in here that way to prevent those nasty programs that crawl through web sites picking up email addresses from finding and picking them.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year
Carlton & Ruth Smith
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