Moving to Oregon, and Falling

About the farm...

I am from Oregon, Adam is from NY. I have a large extended family, the result of farming ancestors who had 8-14 children each, many of whom live in Oregon, Washington, California, and Montana. He has only 2 sets of three cousins, and no second, third or "shirt-tail" cousins. My grandmother, parents, 2 brothers and their children live in Oregon, Adam has 2 sisters who moved to Seattle as adults. When we started talking 7-8 years ago about where we wanted to move on retirement, northwest Oregon became our first choice.

Our farm is on a hill, looking west to the coastal mountain range on a clear day, and the nearby hills when it's not so clear. Here's a shot of the view from the back door:

The 30+ acres consists of orchards, pastureland, and timber. This was a strange year, as I couldn't do much with any of the fruit until late September, though I did manage to pit a couple of gallons of pie cherries while lying on the sofa, which were then frozen. It's sad to see so many plums, pears, and early apples fall on the ground, but hopefully next year will go a little differently.

Another photo, this time of the house:

I moved the first week of June, the movers delivered everything the second week of June, and I fell, breaking both bones in my leg, one into multiple pieces. It was definately a summer to learn patience, because after the surgery to put in a rod and screws, I had to stay off the leg completely for 2 1/2 months, and only got the cast off in mid-September. I was lucky, because even though Adam didn't get out here until after July 4th, I have nieces and other family that stayed with me to help out. One of my aunts even came and unpacked a lot of boxes, which was good because all I had done before I fell was 2/3 of the kitchen stuff. The girls had been using boxes as tables, which worked but was a little depressing.

I spent time knitting, reading, and sleeping (it's amazing how challenging it can be to stay awake when on pain meds, not to mention knitting from charts). I am now enjoying the freedom of walking, bending, and even kneeling down to get into the bottom shelves. Today I ran for the first time, and even though it sounds silly, it was exciting!

This is the second time I'm attempting this post, which was eaten the first time, so I'll close her, with another photo. This one is a view of the side pasture, with the morning mist in the low section of the field, and the timber behind.