Cooking Class

I took an outdoor cooking class

At the Farmington Gardens  

where they have From the Garden to the Table classes

It was a sunny, warm day and it was fun to sit outside and watch the ladies cook and smell the aromas floating around the air, and they even fed us what they cooked. So it was a yummilicious time.

And on August 9th they'll be having another class on peaches. Wouldn't you like to learn how to make chilled peach soup?

I think it sounds interesting.

DEMON'S INK

I'm excited to announce I've SOLD my first young adult novel: Demon's Ink!

The story is set here, in Portland, Oregon. And Mt. Tabor will feature prominently in the storyline. The main characters attend the local high school and street names and locations will be obvious to any Portlandian.

I'll post more, as I get more news. But for now, I just wanted to share my happy news with all my friends.

BIG News Coming here tomorrow

Just want you to come back and read all about it!

:D

Hope you're having as good a weekend as I am

Taking a Class

Have you ever wanted to take a class? I'm not talking about school. I'm talking about learning something you can really use in life...like cooking.

Well, I have.

And this weekend I'm signed up for my very first cooking class. Now, I've taken decorating classes, like cake decorating and knitting and sewing classes before...but cooking is something we can all use.

So Monday, I'll tell you all about it but right now I'm pretty excited about learning something new and useful.

How 'bout you? Doing anything fun this weekend?

Recycled Boots

We used to have horses. My daughter had a paint and I had a quarter horse. We used to muck out stalls and ride with our boots on and let me tell you . . . it never occurred to me to make a purse out of my old boots. But these are pretty purses and they are made from fine leather. I love people that come up with ideas and ways to reuse things and I think this is pretty creative.

The Great Critique

It was another busy Saturday morning for me. The day was filled with donuts from VooDoo and coffee brought in from Starbucks. But on top of that there were awe...mazing mentors sitting at each table to help show writers how to critique other works and how to share suggestions in a positive, inspiring way.

This event had a record breaking 57 attendees show up. And The Great Critique went from 9:30 a.m. to after noon. And some people didn't want to leave even after we started turning out the lights. It was just so much fun no one wanted to have it end.

So if you get a chance any time soon to attend one of the SCBWI events like this, don't miss it. You'll find that your time will be well spent and you won't just learn a thing or two, you might even make more than a few friends.

The Columbia River Gorge

 When you're driving up I84 from Portland toward The Dalles you will pass a bevy of waterfalls. Some you can even see right from the road. But if you pull off to the side of the road and hike for a little ways, you will find some more unbelievable falls and some breathtakingly beautiful views.

And if you want to walk just a little ways at Multnomah Falls, (yes that's a Native American word) you can see the falls drop from one level to the next.

This was how we spent Saturday afternoon, hiking the falls and taking in the views.

What did you do?

Dinner with the Danes

It was a busy weekend, filled with feasting, waterfalls, hiking and even a Great Critique.

We were lucky enough to have a couple in town from Denmark. They came to celebrate Jesper's birthday and their first wedding anniversary. So, we started the evening on Friday at Papa Haydn's in S.W. Portland.

The food was good but it was the dessert that got me going. Of course that's usually the way it is with me. Anyway, it was wonderful to share a special day with a special couple who traveled nearly around the world to share their celebration with us.

Tempting Tuesday

Do you love cake...or is your fav dessert pie...?

My hubby loves pie, while I'm a cake lady and my favorite part of pie is the crust, while my husband would rather simply eat the filling. So, it seems that we are always on opposite sides of the . . . platter.

But, if I had to choose a piece...of pie, mine would be lemon or banana cream or maybe chocolate cream of coconut cream so still not one of those berry things.

While my husband loves pumpkin (and I can't even stomach that stuff) or apple (another NOT for me).

And, when it comes to cake...I love all sorts of them, from carrot to chocolate and beyond. I can't think of a cake I don't like. And it's even better if its ala mode.

Now, why did I think about cake tonight...? It was a blog post I saw on a friend's blog. If you want to read more about cake, you can check out this blog here.

The Color Run is Coming

If you want a discount ticket, check out Living Social and this Funtastic run will take place at the Portland International Raceway.

The Color Run presents - The 2014 Kaleidoscope Tour! Amazing new participant gear, fresh music, and color crazy race attractions. This 5K Magic is coming to Portland on Saturday, September 6 at 9:00 a.m.

So, even if your not a super sprinter, you can still have fun at this run.

Hope to see you there.

Remodeling Project Making Final Progress...

This has been one looooooong remodeling project. But we are finally approaching the finish line. Of course my husband pulled off the roof and walls a couple years ago and has been rebuilding the bedroom ever since. But now he is finishing up the siding outside.

He had focused so much time inside that he forgot to finish the siding outside...or maybe he just didn't have the time. So now he's working on finishing it up too.

Here are a few pictures from the project. The ceiling upstairs in this bedroom was so low - only about 7' (Luke is 6'5") and he was hitting his knuckles on the ceiling.

So Lars started to rip it out but he wanted to see what was up there first.

Then he completely tore off the top.

But he didn't stop there. He had to tear off the wall and part of the roof...in November.

And he had to work late into the night to get the wall and roof rebuilt....because, like I said, it was November.

And Luke helped too.

Then there was insulation to put in

And walls to rebuild.

And French doors, and a balcony...

Oh, but before he built the balcony, he had to rebuild the floors

And patch a few holes.

But now that the room is nearly done, he needed to refinish the siding outside, which meant putting up scaffolding.

You can see it here at the side of the house (it's the yellow looking ladder-like apparatus).

Then Lars climbed up on it, and out on the roof.

And then he was just hanging around on the roof for a few days. And then it was finally finished out there and the boys had to take all the scaffolding down.

Now there are only a few finishing touches to complete and then the clean up...maybe this weekend.

The Diviners

Last night was book club night and it was time for the book I recommended to be discussed.

I had recommended The Diviners by Libba Bray

I enjoyed the story but my other book club members weren't so impressed with it. They either didn't like the Demon, the occult aspects or the roaring 20's. Some thought it was too long and others thought the main character seemed too grown up for a 17 year-old or too versed in slang to be a girl who just moved to the Big Apple from Ohio.

I loved little Evil, as Theta called her and Jerico and Sam...well, I guess I loved a lot of the characters and that's what makes a story good...right...or is that write ;D

New Additions to the Family

We heard there was an over abundance of kitties at the Humane Society so we went to check it out and yep, there were cages and cages filled with cute little kittens. And when I saw these two playful little guys, I couldn't get just one.

I called my hubby and said, "Can I get two?"

And I thought this picture was so funny. It looks like one is riding the other one...only backwards :D

These guys will provide years and years of fun.

DIY Cushion Cover

It's easy to make a cushion cover.

All you have to do is go to a craft store and have them cut you a piece of foam that will fit your seat, bench or chair.

Then you take the fabric you want and spread it out on the floor. Lay the foam on the fabric and cut the fabric to fit the foam.

Then you can sew the straight lines to piece the fabric together.

And to make sure the seams are straight, you can iron them into place.

And when you're all done, it will be a perfect fit for your seat cushion.

Braclets made from old belts

Camp Hollyhock makes old belts into wonderful jewelry. Look at these beautiful cuffs made from old belts.

I love how this shop uses old things and makes them into new wonderful pieces to wear and enjoy for many more years.

A dress made from an old sheet

I found this dress over the weekend at Camp Hollyhock and had to buy it. The wonderful women at Camp Hollyhock repurpose old clothes and fabric into new creative clothes.

I love how they turn old clothing into lacy, feminine pieces.

If you get a chance to stop by Sellwood to do some shopping, you have to stop by Camp Hollyhock.

Alcohol Ink Art Glass

I wanted to make an art glass piece to put into a new little window up above a door leading into a bedroom upstairs so the skylight could let light into the room but I'm not great at stained glass artwork. So, a friend told me about alcohol ink art that she had done a week or so before. She even brought over all her supplies so we could work on the window together.

It was a fun way to spend an afternoon, working on art--whether it is paper, glass or ceramic tiles.

I decided to just let little droplets fall from the bottles onto the glass. Then I let it dry overnight and finally sealed it with a glass sealant. Now, my husband is going to frame it and put it into place.

Happy 4th of July!

Just wanted to pop in to wish you and yours a happy and healthy holiday weekend. I hope it will be filled with feasting and festivities.

And that you manage to get some rest and relaxation too.

It was a Wonderful Week

It started out by gathering the family at Sunriver

We went fishing

and boating

And just floating around the lake.

We also went golfing

And then we did some running (which has become a family tradition) at the Pacific Crest sports weekend

And when we were finished with our run, we celebrated with . . . .

And then we watched others finish their races and cheered them on

All-in-all it was a wonderful week

How to Make Alcohol Ink

You can make alcohol ink with cool aid and rubbing alcohol. If you want to find out how to do it, check out this website here.

I'm going to make some of this alcohol ink and try my hand at a few crafting projects. After I finish the projects I'll post them.

But, if you've ever done any crafts with alcohol ink, please post your tips in the comments.

How to Train Your Dragon 2 - REVIEW

So, my family all went to see How To Train Your Dragon 2 and there were a couple things I didn't like, like the fact that all the Vikings had Scottish accents...okay I know there might have been some Celtic Vikings but, when you think of a Viking, you should be thinking Norsemen and women from Scandinavia not Scotland!

And I didn't like how the Mom got off so easily...I mean come on! They could have thought of a better reason for her not to return home...like she couldn't find her way, she was lost, she had amnesia...something for crying out loud!

And then I was totally surprised (maybe even a little shocked) when the Dad didn't get back up, even as the boat sailed out and the arrow soared up into the air...I kept expecting him to recover.

So, I wanted to see what a couple of kids would think of the show and I had a friend ask her kids: Everett and Emma (pictured up above) and here are my questions and their answers.

1) What did you think of How To Train Your Dragon2:

EVERETT: It was AWESOME!

EMMA: I loved it.

2) What was your favorite dragon:

EVERETT: Toothless

EMMA: Stormfly

3) What did you think about when the Dad died?

EVERETT: I thought it was so sad. He also cried.

EMMA: He didn’t die, he got up later.

EVERETT: No he didn’t, he died.

EMMA: Does that mean he’s in Heaven

4) What was the favorite part of the movie:

EVERETT: When the two Alphas fought.

EMMA: When when Hiccup got to meet his mommy!

So, there you have it...How to Train Your Dragon2 from an adult's perspective and a couple of kids' perspectives.

Now, go watch the movie and let me know what you thought of it. 

Can You See Me Now by Estela Bernal

Can You See Me Now by Estela Bernal is on the shelves now at Powell's and she will have a book opening on June 30th at the Cedar Hills at 7:00 p.m.

Published by Arte Publico, Can You See Me Now is an emotional story of a young girl's loss and her ways of coping with tragedy.

The cover was designed by Gigi and you can read about her creative process here.

If you're going to be in the Portland area on June 30th, go to Powell's and listen to Estela tell you all about the story.

4th of July Fingernails

I love to decorate for every holiday and the 4th of July is no exception. So, today I went to get my nails done and thought why not have something playful?

Now, with my pillows on my benches and the flowers out in the yard, I even have my fingers done for the occasion.

How bout you? Any 4th of July decorations?

Willamette Writers Meeting July 1st

On Tuesday, July 1st, at the Old Church in downtown Portland, Willamette Writers Stevan Allred, will talk about his collection of linked stories, A Simplified Map of the Real World.

 Meetings start at 7:00 pm, and the doors open at 6:30.

  

Thirty-Onederful years ago today

Yes it's our anniversary. Last year we had a renewing of our vows celebration.

It's kind of hard to top that kind of a party - but just wait until we hit 60!

We're on our way now...only 29 more years to go. ;D