The Tenmile Lakes watershed covers approximately 98 square miles, and includes four large lakes. There’s also many smaller lakes in the area, mostly caught behind the dunes near the ocean. The majority of the watershed feeds into North and South Tenmile Lakes, and from there drains into the Pacific via Tenmile Creek (which drains almost
Our home, while beautiful and still fairly new, had been somewhat neglected in terms of taming the verdant growth that was trying to reclaim it. The Trailing Pacific Blackberry (see the ‘Shrubs and Plants’ tab here) in particular has spread unchecked around the house, and is proving difficult to get under control. The home sits
We went shopping on Friday. We try to go grocery shopping once every two weeks to minimize the back and forth in the boat, so we buy quite a bit of food. It’s a multistage process to get the food to the house – load the truck at the store, drive to the marina, move
With the high humidity and copious winter rain we experience here, dealing with the various non-animal life that grows on man-made structures is a way of life. The things we’ve noticed growing are: When we moved in, we saw that it had been quite some time since any serious measures to battle the encroaching temperate
Yesterday while working outside I heard the distinctive call of an Osprey. Looking up, I saw a pair circling overhead. They’ve been gone for the winter (they migrate south, sometimes all the way to South America, sometimes closer like California or Florida) and yesterday is the first I’ve noticed them back. In the past two
When we finally moved into our lake villa in March 2022, it was a chaotic time. Due to unforeseen complications with our prospective lender, when we left our previous home, we did not own the Oregon property. We had sold our home in Arizona, and stalled leaving that home as long as possible (even paying
This is going to be short today. It’s a gorgeous day outside and since my job involves me sitting in front of a computer for 8-10 hours a day 5 days a week, I want to be outside as much as possible. We have more rain coming midweek. Today I’m working on installing a nestcam
We have two areas of our property where water runs year round, roughly in the areas marked in blue: These are not raging torrents. I’ve attempted to measure their flow at what I judged was the peak time of the year, using a PVC pipe, a 5 gallon bucket, and a stopwatch. By channeling all
On North Tenmile Lake, living surrounded by and interacting with wildlife is a given. In our view, they were here before us and so we try to live with them as harmoniously as possible. However, we have our limits when it comes to how animals and plants encroach upon our living space. Our boathouse is
In June of 2023, I was working outside and noticed some activity on the north side of the house – some Steller’s Jays were making a racket and it didn’t seem to be stopping. Upon investigation, their attention seemed to be directed at the ground in some bushes close to our deck. After searching, I
