Durant Cellars

Yesterday turned out to be the sort of beautiful Oregon spring day that needs to be taken advantage of, because you never know when the rain shows up again. We could have stayed at the house and done yard work, but the yard work will be there. Because it was a spectacular day, Ann wanted to go up into the Dundee Hills and gaze out at Mt. Hood while drinking some Chardonnay.

Fifteen minutes later, we were in the tasting room at Durant Vineyards. I hadn't been there before and I hadn't tasted their wine under their label. They sell fruit to a lot of people and I have had a lot wine made from their grapes.

Mt. Hood Over Annie's Shoulder

Ewes and Tiny Lambs in the Vineyard

At one point, a four-wheeler came up beside the vineyard and one of the baby lambs started to run for it baaing all the while, like it was expecting a particularly good lamb treat from the driver. Then mom started bellowing at the baby, which after several particularly pointed bleats from mom, decided to return to her side. I know she was using that lamb's first and middle names as she was calling it. Kids!

Lots of Tiny Lambs Frolicking

Delicious 2015 "Lark" Chardonnay

I was surprised to see their vines budding up in the hills. Down on the valley floor in Amity, ours were still super tight when I left work on Tuesday.

Venerable Moss-Covered Vine with Buds

Miller Woods

We've been holed up this winter trying to get ourselves back outdoors, but it has been a struggle with life just seeming to get in the way. We still don't have the dog situation figured out to let us hike further afield, so we're having to make do locally, hence our return trip to Miller Woods which is 10 minutes or so from the house.

We made the 4.5-mile loop on a day that was overcast, about 42 degrees, with a nippy wind in the exposed areas. It hasn't been all that wet this winter, so for the most part, the paths were passable with minimal mud.

Distinctive Form of Oregon White Oak, Quercus garryana

Serenaded by a California Scrub Jay, Aphelocoma californica

Willows Blooming by Creek

Much Hiking Through Planted Trees

There are no leaves on most plants now, giving us much better sight lines that when we were last here in October. Despite the lack of leaves, spring is starting to spring with a few flowers here and there, a lot of buds, and an overall greening. I'm on a steep learning curve about western flora and fauna now. Everything looks similar, but at the same time, very different. We're no longer in Virginia.

Slender Toothwort, Cardamine nuttallii

Methuselah's Beard, Usnea longissima

Striking Indian Plum Blooms, Oemleria cerasiformis

Deer. There must be deer everywhere here if the vast quantities of tracks are to be believed. Annie, who always walks ahead of me, scared two small does back in my direction. I barely had time to get the camera around on them as they came pogoing by, like some big jack rabbits. I am guessing that these are blacktail deer, an offshoot of mule deer, not so much from the not-so-diagnostic black tails without the bounding white flag of the whitetail, but more so from the way that they tried to escape us, bouncing and shifting course with each bounce just like a scared mulie.

Blacktail Deer Starting to Bound

Blacktail Deer in Full Bound

Pretty Good Deer Habitat, Tracks Everywhere

Didn't Know Hills Had Official Summits

Lovely Dwarf Oregon Grape Foliage, Mahonia nervosa

Drifts of Naturalized Daffodils

Spring!

The Little Pond Near the Parking Area

Here's a case in point in the whole feeling like an alien on the west coast thing. It's very early spring and in boggy ground, I expect to find skunk cabbage. What I don't expect is bright yellow blooms. On the east coast, the local skunk cabbage has a mottled cranberry pitcher plant-like bloom.

Skunk Cabbage in Bloom, Lysochiton americanus