Harvest is Nearing

The Twilight of Summer is Upon Us


I love the oh-so short months of summer sun. They are filled with planting, pruning, watering...but nothing compares to harvesting.
except for maybe munching.....

My Dog Ate My Couch

I know dogs are only supposed to be considered part of the canine family but I swear Siberian Huskies must be kissing-cousins to the goat, at least in some genetic respects, because
Sasha might be a pretty girl - especially with those beautiful blue eyes - and I love her BUT. . .

She has dug up so many of my flowers from my garden and eaten tons of vegetable plants and vines, including one fragrant honeysuckle and another wonderfully aromatic jasmine vine,

And I had just sewed some new pillows to match my arbor cushion this weekend

I thought they were looking so nice until I went outside and, saw that while I was in the house, Sasha had eaten the cushion cover
Then she ate my most expensive leather shoes, now known as chew toys, (twice) and my underwear (countless times)

She even eats metal cans (thus the goat reference)

But I didn't really begin to get upset until she decided to eat the couch


Believe me, Marley and Me - has nothing on Sasha and Me.

Neil Gaiman's Graveyard Book on Video

See Neil himself reading his story: The Graveyard Book

Return to Innocence

Enigma - Return to Innocence

Earth-Friendly Friday

My Son, Jake, with Nathan Fillion (both played Captain Hammer)


(Jake in costume for the musical-Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog-he performed in here in town)

I did a post over at ECOwomen.net and I'm hoping you'll hop over there and take a peek. I'm hoping these photos will be a little tease to entice you over there to see Nathan Fillion, who starred as Captain Hammer in Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog, Firefly, Buffy and Castle.

Let me know what you think, if you do.

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Romantic Event - NOT

Okay, so we went to have our first ever “couple’s massage” last night. I was thinking that this would be a romantic splurge since we are still sore from our white-water rafting trip – I know it’s been a month – but hitting those rocks after falling out going over the waterfall is one of those things that I guess just sorta sticks it to with you.

Anyway, I occasionally get massages and usually fall asleep during the session – only to wake up in a puddle of goo because I was so relaxed I was drooling…

Not this time.

This “romantic” session was more like watching a movie with my husband – he talked through the entire session. And not just casual conversation, or “a little higher” or “a little lower”. Nope, and the session went from bad to worse in a hurry when his therapist asked, “Have you considered seeing a chiropractor?”

He, not thinking that this masseuse just might also be a licensed chiropractor, said, “OH NO! I’d never go see one of those quacks.”

I just about fell off the table and, when she gasped in outrage, I had an idea what was coming next.

My masseuse spoke up and said, “You know we share office space with those Quacks?”

He responded, “I just have to be honest.”

His masseuse asked, “How deep did you say you wanted this DEEP tissue massage?” As she must have exerted an inordinate amount of pressure on his aching back because the next thing I heard come out of my 6’4” husband’s mouth was a groan. The masseuse also said something about wanting to crawl up on his back and use her knee on him. For a second I wanted to laugh out loud but thought that wouldn’t make me look too sensitive. I also thought about trying to say something to make him seem more reasonable—but, put on the spot like that, I couldn’t think of a single thing.

At one point, I did ask if he could “keep it down a little” so I could attempt to hear the relaxing ocean simulation and soothing music but he was talking so loud, I don’t think he heard me or, if he did, he didn’t care because he just kept on talking right through our checkout to the point where I had to grab his arm and pull him out of there.

In the end, it wasn’t what I had been expecting: “no romance, no relaxation, and no sweet dreams” – in fact it was more like one of my childhood nightmares – the kind you have where you walk into a class and have to take a test—naked.

THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY

So I'm working on a new project, while revising another manuscript, and researching another one - all at the same time.

Maybe I'm a little ADD - what do you say - any other writers out there that do this too?

I can be reading four books, at the same time. I'll have them spread out in front of me. Read a little of one, pick up another for a bit and move on to the next one, all in the same night.

It's odd because I lose interest if I don't have a lot of variety - yet I've been married for over 27 years.

Like Arte Johnson used to say, "Very Interesting...."

Word for Wednesday - a game for Writers

Okay this word may not be officially in the Webster's Catalog of wordology - YET - but it should be at least in my opinion.

WORD: BRILLIANTSTANTLY

The meaning of this word is not hard to guess so I'll just go ahead and tell you what it is: Someone who becomes brilliant instantly.

The English language is always evolving - I just thought I'd try to give it a little shove forward. Saying two words takes so much time, why not save an extra millisecond and combine words - okay, not like a conjunction more like a grafting of a branch - so I like to garden and make up words - what of it...?

Any words you'd like to help evolve...or invent...?

Going Out

Luke and Kenzie will be heading back to UofO soon - so I figured I could never have enough photos of the "kids".

Luke was obviously having fun - before they even went out.

Book Review - The Bride Collector

I don't usually read books about serial killers but Ted Dekker is an amazing author. I picked up the book in the bookstore and flipped through the pages and couldn't put it down.

It has some psychological aspects that deal with a mental hospital and schizophrenia patients. Since I have a degree in psychology, I found these elements interesting.

I probably won't read another Dekker book for quite a while - since these "true-to-life" crime stories are a little too real for my taste. I prefer my vampire, werewolves and zombies any day to horrible things that can really happen.

But, I have to admit that Dekker can draw a reader in right away and keep them hanging on to the words to the end of the page(s).

How 'bout you reader? Read any good books lately?

HOME AGAIN

That week went by sooooooooooo fast. But here are a few pictures from our time away. This is Lars and me getting ready to descend into Boyd Cave.

It was a great get-away. We had a wonderful time together - caving, swimming, biking, and running. I never made it to the rock wall at The Mavericks to climb (which I really wanted to do) but you can only do so much in one week.

Here are a few photos of our time in Bend, Oregon.

Boyd Cave was a great way to spend a day. We were climbing over rocks and moving around in the dark. I think these pictures came out really well for how little lighting there was in that cave.



Here's my little sis crawling over what looks like a cave-in inside Boyd Cave - and there were quite a few of those inside that cave.

There were eight of us who went together (me, my husband, two of my three kids and Kenzie, plus my sis, her daughter, and her daughter's boyfriend) to spend the week enjoying a little fun in the sun at Sunriver - even though we spent a couple of those days underground.

We went to Skeleton Cave - we've been there before, years ago and went in to explore the cave - but it has been vandalized and is barricaded off now - it's such a shame. So, there was no way we could get in there again. I wanted to go to Arnold Ice Cave but didn't realize you have to rappel down the side of the rock to get inside. I'm a little too out of shape for that right now. Maybe next year.

If you're going spelunking, remember caves are cold about 55 degrees. So you need to wear a sweatshirt, hiking shoes, and carry flashlights or lanterns. If you forget these things, your day won't go so well. But caving can be a lot of fun, as long as you're not claustrophobic.

If you're not into caving, you can visit Eastlake or Paulina Lake - both are beautiful.

Spelunking

I love spelunking - always have. We used to take the kids all the time. Crawling around on our hands and knees with helmets on in case we hit our heads. We used to wear little headlamps

Answer to Word for Wedneday

Badinage means Playful back-and-forth.

Word for Wednesday - a game for Writers

Word: Badinage

Take a guess, what does it mean? Put your guess in the "comments" section then come back around 3:00 to see whether you are "write" or wrong.

Come on, I hope you'll play along.

Vacating

So many things to see in Oregon. A person would never have to go anywhere to be entertained.

In Central Oregon there are caves, lava tubes and obsidian flows to see. So we thought we'd hike around and see them. We went to the Newberry National Volcanic Monument.

Monday Movie Review

Remember Me

with Robert Pattinson, Emlie De Ravin, Chris Cooper, Lena Olin and Pierce Brosnan.

It was supposed to be a love story at least that's what my kids said. The cover says that Robert Pattison gives a raw and gut-wrenching performance and he did. This was a great performance by him and Pierce Brosnan was great too but then, when isn't he?

But this was definitely a drama that drew you in and then slammed you up against a wall. It was very sad.

Not my sort of movie :(

Why Men Should Never Order the Wedding Cake

Simple Word Tips

Control (CTRL) + End Moves the cursor to the end of the document
Ctrl+Home Moves cursor to the beginning of the document
Ctrl+E Centers highlighted text
Ctrl+ J Justifies a paragraph
Ctrl+L Aligns text to the left
Ctrl+R Right aligns text
Ctrl+Shift+W Underlines words but not spaces
Ctrl+Shift+D Double Underlines text
Ctrl+Shift+>Increases blocked text two points
Shift+F3 CHANGES CASE OF TEXT
Ctrl+T Creates a hanging indent
Ctrl+M Indents a paragraph from the left
Shift+Enter Inserts a line break
Ctrl+Delete Deletes one word to the right
Ctrl+backspace Deletes one word to the left


HOPE THESE HELP

Friday the 13th - How to Save a Life

Portland Saturday (and Sunday) Market

Saturday Market

Some cities have farmers markets, yeah, we have those too. But we have something extra special every Saturday (and Sunday) down on the waterfront booths roll out filled with artisan handiworks that they are willing to sale for very little money. Plus there are food booths filled with yumilicious goodness for your tasting pleasure. So, if you are in Portland over the weekend, make sure you make your way down to the waterfront to see some of these great arts and crafts and taste some wonderful food.

I bought this necklace for only $4.00.

Wednesday Wearables - Fingerless Gloves

I'm working on my first ever fingerless gloves and learning how to knit in the round. It's not as EZ as it might sound but I'm enjoying the journey to a new crafting experience.

How bout you? Any new summertime experiences you're enjoying this year?

Pets Are People Too

At least that's the way we feel around our house. Our dog Kit has been in the house for over 17 years. She's not as spunky as she used to be and we're trying to enjoy each and every day we have with her. Here we are sitting around the house with her.

Monday - Yumday

HOMEMADE POTATO CHIPS for about $4.00

I've always wanted to make homemade potato chips but never done it. Well today was that day.

I washed off some inexpensive potatoes - 10 pound bag for $1.79

then (without peeling the healthy skins) I thinly sliced them into paper-thin "chips" and heated up some inexpensive canola oil (one quart of oil for about $2.33) - I usually use olive oil for health reasons but just in case this didn't work out, I didn't want to waste the money.

Then I carefully placed the chips in the hot oil and let them boil away until they were a nice golden brown. (Actually I like mine a little 'extra' crispy so some were more than golden - more like cinnamon)


And what a yummy treat these were. They were like that car show - gone in 60 seconds. Lucky for my blossoming waistline, I wasn't the only one munching away.


Mom used to make homemade French fries when I was growing up but she never made these. Probably because they are weigh too yummy of a treat temptation. My only warning (for the weight-conscious readers) would be DON'T TRY THIS AT HOME because these chips are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than LAY'S and I just winked to the kids as I called them Kimbra FAY'S ;-)

Enjoy the Silence

EcoPalooza in Portland

What is EcoPalooza – find out here: at ECOPALOOZA

Ecopalooza is a free summer concert event, taking place on August 7,
2010, at Fernhill Park in Portland, Oregon with the theme of raising
environmental awareness and conservation while promoting alternative energy sources.

Voodoo

In Portland we have a special place to go get a pastry and I'm sure you'll always remember the unique experience that is the Pacific Northwest. These donuts are so good some people say it's magic or at least that the bakers had to use a little voodoo to create these amazing concoctions.

They say "the magic is in the hole" but I'll leave that up to you. So visit Voodoo Doughnuts whenever you visit Portland.

Here's one picture to show you that Portlanders don't stick to what's "normal" at least when it comes to pastries.

I mean a maple bar and bacon might go well together but ... I don't know about this.

My brother said it tasted pretty good though. Maybe one day I'll be so daring and try this snack.

Luke and Kenzie

This summer is going by so fast. I keep trying to capture it in photos. Here's one of the kids going out to a graduation party.

I'll look back at this blog when they head back off to UofO and remember the fun we had during the summer of 2010.

Looking Back

Last week we all went white water rafting. Here's a shot of us before we took off on our daring adventure.

It was a lot of fun but I'm still recovering from the waterfalls.

A New Bed

Garden Bed :)

I told my husband I wanted an herb garden so he went outside and threw some scraps of wood together and built me two new raised beds out in the front yard. I added some plants (lavender, basil, thyme, dill, fennel, parsley) and now we're going to divide the beds into sections so the plants can't spread too far and take over the little bed.


These are a few photos of the process that's just begun.



How 'bout you - any new additions

Meditate..