Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Eating on my mind

As usual.

So here's the annual peach shortcake.
I tried to cook it in a solar oven but I've got some refining of the process to do.
Actually, I think I need a different pan.
Go here for the recipe, if you feel inclined towards yumminess.


Remember the tomato cages I proudly built?
They're paying off in spades.
It took me a couple of weeks to figure out that these were supposed to be yellow!
Hillbillies.
Jeff says they're very sweet and juicy.
I wouldn't know.
I don't eat tomatoes.


The first red tomatoes harvested a couple of weeks ago.


And now I'm slow-roasting about a pan a day for the freezer.
Actually, I put it in the oven before I go to bed and wake up to the smell of pasta sauce in the morning.


Which goes very nicely with some home-made bread, full of flax seed and other goodies.


And the obligatory chocolate for dessert.
I found this gorgeous bar at Grocery Outlet, my source of all things delicious.


Are you hungry yet?

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Ten years


Oh, thus be it ever, when free men shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation!
Blest with vict'ry and peace, may the heav'n-rescued land
Praise the Pow'r that hath made and preserved us a nation!
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust!"
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Hummingbirds, flagpoles, and bumblebees

Go back with me, if you will, to the summer of 1980.

I know, most of you were barely alive, but humour an old lady, will ya?

Jeff and I were newly married and living in a non-air-conditioned, upstairs apartment in Orange County, California. Bethany was born nine months and six days past our wedding day, so yes, I was pregnant. 
And miserable. 
Nauseous, tired, and hot
I got a little job sewing drill team uniforms for a high school team and, on the days I managed to crawl out of bed, I sewed and listened to the radio. Ironically, this song was very popular that year. It played over and over until I imagined its only purpose was to drive me irrevocably mad.


Even now, when I hear the song, it causes faint waves of nausea to wash over my body.

And what does that have to do with the price of vanilla pods in Madagascar, you may ask?
Well, it has been in the upper 90's all week and it just doesn't seem to be worth the bother of putting in the A/C. 
It is, after all, the middle of September. 
We manage quite nicely most of the day. We close the windows mid-morning and start the fans. It gets a bit steamy around dinnertime and then cools down in the evening, so we open all the windows and listen to the crickets chirping as we fall asleep. But I have taken to wandering around in my dreaded muumuu and sporting a minimal amount of supportive clothing, if you get my drift. Which has nothing to do with the steaminess at dinnertime, so hush your mouth! 
It kinda reminds of those blissfully miserable days of our first years together. 

Josh came over to spend the night last night. We spent most of the the evening watering our new cypress hedge and all of the flowerpots and vegetables. Joshie loves to water things. By the time we finished it was cooling down so we sat on the deck and I said to Josh, If we sit quietly maybe we'll see some bees and butterflies and even a hummingbird.
He thought that sounded pretty neat, so we sat and watched the bees and butterflies and it wasn't two minutes later that a hummingbird darted into view. 
We were pleased.
Josh thought I was awesome.
I think.

I took this photo this morning when I heard the distinctive "click click" of the hummingbird. I didn't really have time to do anything but grab my camera and zoom, so the focus is terrible, but it's proof positive of the visit.


I've purposefully planted my flowerbeds with perennials and annuals that attract hummingbirds and I've been tickled with how often they visit. Almost any time I sit on the deck for a few minutes I am enchanted by a visit from one of the endearing little birds. The last verse of this poem  sums up my feelings.

Diminutive, defiant darter -
tiny heart in pounding pace;
we savor every fleeting glance
- a streak of heaven's fragile grace.

After Josh had bathed and eaten his bedtime snack and read his books for "22 minutes" (a compromise he wheedled out of me when I told him he had twenty minutes) I tucked him in and said, Josh, do you hear the crickets? His window at home is always closed tightly at night so I knew it would be unusual for him to be able to hear them.
He listened for a few seconds and said, Nana, how do you know about crickets?

Ah, glasshoppah, I am all-knowing!

+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+

I've been playing with my new camera. I love the natural light photos I've been taking but I haven't quite figured out the inside settings.
Witness these of my lovely Josh.


There's nothing as sweet as a sleeping child.
For breakfast, he ate a whole juicy peach, a large bowl of cinnamon oatmeal and two maple-flavoured sausages.


+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+

In other breaking news, Jeff installed our new flagpole this week. 
Made in the USA.
Guaranteed to never bend in the wind.
Just like us.
It will fly at half mast tomorrow and we will be thinking of those who died ten years ago.
And of our Charlie.


+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+|+

I tried out the close-up mode on the camera this afternoon. That is what gave me the most grief on the old camera so I was thrilled with the results.
The flowers were blowing in the light breeze and I was my usually jumpy self, so I'm way impressed by the clarity of these shots. They are only lightly edited.


Cropped.


Another gratifying feature is the accuracy of the red end of the colour spectrum. My Hot Cocoa rose has always defied the camera lens, but it only took a little brightness and shadow tuning to get this picture, which is very true to the actual dusky-red shade.


Then I had some fun with the bumble bees.




Thanks for reading.
Did I ever mention how happy you make me?

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Martha Stewart, how I have missed thee!

My first free issue arrived today. 
I earned a bunch of theoretical points at Recycle Bank, the website that theoretically encourages you to recycle more. Considering that they encouraged me to get this magazine for which I would never pay, the fossil fuels for transporting the magazine to my door and the amount of glossy paper to be recycled, I'm not sure how well they're actually doing. 
My excuse is that I'm getting the magazine as a gift for Bethany. I had it mailed to me so that I could peruse its wonders before I pass it on.

Martha has a very cunning tip for stacking teacups. Instead of stacking the saucers together in one pile and then stacking the cups in several precarious piles, she stacks them as sets. 

Teacup
Saucer
Teacup
Saucer
Teacup
Saucer

Get my drift?
I thought that was pretty clever, should I ever have teacups and saucers to stack.
Which I don't.
And then I saw the list of prices.

http://www.ampersandshops.com/browse.cfm/jl-couquet-hemisphere-gold-stripe-tea-cup/4,5783.html

Hemisphere Gold Striped teacups: $118 each.
Saucers: $102 each.
Yes, that is real gold.
They're probably not even dishwasher safe.

Only Martha would think that those prices are anything but hilarious!

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Come on in, the water's fine!

Well, okay, so I lied.

I adore the Oregon coast, but the water is usually too frigid to dip one's toes.
And the sneaker waves can kill.
Not to mention the logs that sometimes roll in the surf.
And kill.
And it's usually windy and/or foggy and cold.
But sometimes, ah, sometimes, the sun rules the sky and then it is bliss.


Truth be told, the best thing to do on Oregon beaches is not go in the water.
Which leaves walking, running, building sandcastles, collecting rocks and shells and driftwood, clamming, and photography.
Something for everyone.


On Friday, friend Karen and I went to spend the weekend at her beach house. Our husbands were running in the Hood to Coast relay, a huge annual event of which we steer clear. We visited the local art co-op and spent the rest of the night ensconced with our laptops, watching movies on Netflix.

I am newly addicted to Doc Martin, a BritCom set in Cornwall. I watched about dozen of them on Friday and Sunday and finished the series since I've been home.

Note to Karen: I've repented and have hereby quit pirating your Netflix account.
But not, I am ashamed to say, before I finished!

I've been thinking in a broad Cornish brogue since Friday.

On Saturday we started driving up the coast to pick up our spouses in Seaside.
We stopped in Bay City, just north of Tillamook, of Tillamook cheese fame, in my eternal search for the best clam chowder.

It was here....


...that I found Nirvana.


I was going to buy some of that fresh tuna, but it had all been pre-ordered.
Curse those pre-ordering people!

Karen enjoyed her boring salad. The lettuce was crisp with a nice poppyseed dressing and fresh shrimp.


We licked the platters clean.


But the chowder ruled the day, as we all agreed on the way back home when we treated our hubbies to dinner at the same restaurant.
Three hours later.


We waited for the van just south of Seaside and waved to all the vans that were heading home full of sweaty, tired runners. This is typical of the warped sense of humour of the teams.


There was a pirate van, flying the skull and crossbones from the back and "Free candy for boobies" written on the window, but I missed the shot.
Sorry, Pirate!

Finally, our boys showed up.


We drove back to the beach house.
The scenery en route was so-so.


This is the view from the house.
Meh.


I'm so lucky to have generous friends that even act as if they like me.

In other news:
I bought a new camera. I think I love it. Nikon Coolpix S9100 with an 18X zoom and HD movie recording.
We leave for England in less than three weeks. Help! So much to do.
I think we had summer last week. Hope no one missed it!
My tomatoes are starting to ripen.
Jon and Jenny are buying a house. So excited for them.
Annie survived Hurricane Irene.

I'm sure there is more to tell, but I'm tired and must go to bed.
'Nighty night.

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

A memorial. Or, things that keep Nana awake at night

A little over a year ago, my Canadian friend, Mark, and I went on a trip to Vernal, Utah. Our primary purpose was to visit our mutual high school friend, Debbie, but it turned into a reunion with several old friends.

Last Thursday, Debbie passed away suddenly of a heart attack, leaving her beloved husband, four children, and several adored grandchildren. I cannot describe how bereft I feel. 

Two years ago, Debbie was just a distant memory. Then I got a message from her on an Old Friends website. To be honest, I was a little reluctant to respond, because our friendship as teenagers was, to put it nicely, volatile. We went through the usual stupid cliquey behaviour which is exhibited by most young girls. For a while, we were best of friends, but then loyalties shifted and we ended up on opposite sides of a rivalry. I remember being unkind to Debbie, although it might have been that I was only unkind in my head, because in our many subsequent conversations she only had good memories to share.

Ask me if I regret my infantile adolescent behaviour.

Oh yes, indeed I do.

The thing I have most enjoyed about getting to know Debbie again is her good, generous heart. 
The same heart that betrayed her last Thursday night.
She was so thrilled that Mark and I made the effort to visit her. I felt guilty all over again for my feelings of superiority towards her all those years ago. 
I loved watching Debbie and her sister, Becky, interact. They were best friends and, as Becky has told me, were always plotting and planning together. 
We have had many conversations online about our fears (her boy just completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan) and joys. She adored her grandbabies and, like me, loved to plan outings with her friends and extended family. She kept promising that she and Wade would come to Oregon for a visit. 
This was supposed to be the year. 

Some things you should know about Debbie. She was an avid Utah Jazz fan and relished attending their games. She loved the Oakridge Boys. She was a woman of faith and intelligence and conservative politics. She was a patriot and a thinker. The week before her death she wrote this letter to the editor in the Vernal Express. She loved to garden.
Debbie was an avid reader of this blog, although she rarely managed to navigate Google sufficiently well to actually leave a comment. Many times she sent me a message on facebook with her thoughts about a post.

Which reminds me. Deb and I have very similar thoughts on death and dying. She left a comment as "anonymous" on this post. If you haven't read that post about death, I recommend it as one of my better ones. 
Becky informed me that Debbie wrote out instructions for her funeral several years ago. 
Kindred spirits.

I will miss Debbie's honest communication and her generous spirit. I wish we had been able to have more years of being friends. True friends of the mind, after all this time.


I've had trouble getting to sleep this week, thinking about her and her family.
And about Sam and Charlie. 
Charlie is off to Afghanistan this weekend and this mother's heart will know not a moment of peace until he is safely home again.
I can only imagine how Sam is feeling.
Prayers are appreciated.



Saturday, August 20, 2011

They Grew'pon me

Sorry, that's probably my worst post title ever.

On Tuesday, I took the local grandkids and their mothers on a Social Coupon Day Out.
It's my new invention.
For the uninitiated, social coupons are purchased from sites such as Groupon and Living Social. You sign up for their daily emails and they bombard you with good deals. 
What's not to like?
There are a few drawbacks. 
Por exemplo, I am signed up with four different companies and have coupons waiting to be used on three of them. They do have expiration dates, so if you don't have nerves of steel, this lifestyle may not be for you!
On the other hand, if you're willing to put the effort into keeping track of it all, you can have a whole lot of fun on not much money.
The outing to Masterpiece Art Studio  was a Groupon adventure. I saved half the cost of the projects, so the afternoon cost me a little over $30. 

Now, back to Tuesday.

We began the day with a visit to Pump It Up in Beaverton. I bought two Groupons for $10 each, which got six kids into the bounce house and two free passes back for another visit. 
The Osborne progeny totally ruled the gigantic slides.


Oh, and, um, the black skirted person sitting at the top of the slide with her heart in her mouth?
That would be moi.
In Kenzie's sweaty pink socks.
And yes, I did go down.
And gave myself an elbow burn.
Some day, I will learn.


After about an hour, the troops declared themselves to be hungry, so we traipsed outside to look for a suitable lunch venue.
Behold! Right across the parking lot was a stream and a waterfall and lush green grass and benches to sit upon. We thought it was made just for us!
Why do little boys always have to sit as close to the water as they possibly can?


We ate quickly and ran back inside the bounce house, where we stayed until we were about to get ousted in favour of a couple of busloads of kids from Kindercare.


Next on the menu, a short drive to the mall and Maggie Moo's.
I had purchased four Living Social coupons at $5 each. Each one was good for $10 worth of ice cream. We used three of them, so $15 for ice cream for nine people.
And it was yum!
Natalie, with her electric-blue-cotton-candy-waffle-cone-with-rainbow-sprinkles.


Josh and his dairy-free vanilla with rainbow sprinkles.
What, you thought I was going to do the multi-coloured thing again?
He relished every bite.


My Udderly Cream and Chocolate with Heath bits mixed in.
Mmmm.


Next up was another visit to our friends with the miniature horses. Go here to read about their mission.
I love crazy horse portraits.


Daniel decided to be brave and walk one of the horses.


Marv hitched up the wagon and Michael drove the kidlets around the arena.


I have an unreasonable love for this photo.


I donated a little money to their feed bill, but other than that, this part of the day was free.
Total cost for about six hours of fun for nine people: $50.

And then, On Friday night, Jeff and I had a Groupon date.
Lucky for you, I forgot my camera!
First, two Quizno's regular sandwiches: $6.
I adore their chicken carbonara. If I was on death row, I would choose it for my last meal.
Next, the last Maggie Moo's coupon: $5.
Memo to self: $10 is too much ice cream for two people.
Last of all, Cowboys and Aliens with a Living Social Fandango code: $9.
Memo to self: next time we go to the movies it will be to one of my choice. I'm tired of gruesome, intense cowboy movies.

Total cost for our big date: $20.

Here are links to my favourite social coupon sites.

And here are a couple that have been recommended to me but I haven't tried them yet.

So go!
Have some fun.