Girls are on sale this week at the mall

Time to stock up!

Mergansers on Suttle Lake

It’s stupid to have lived in Oregon for almost 10 years without really exploring beyond the Willamette Valley. Before yesterday, I had made only two trips over the Santiam Pass. Over the past few months, I have started to come alive and am rapidly expanding my world, which includes discovering Oregon.

Yesterday, when plans to meet up with a friend for a hike and photo shoot in the Jefferson Wilderness fell through, I grabbed Rachel and we headed east. Lunch was made and the car was ready for a road trip, so why not?

Photo of the Santiam Pass burn area courtesy of A.S. Photography

When we first moved here for the upper midwest, I was dying to go swimming in a lake. Local friends recommended Suttle Lake, and while I knew where it was, I had never gone. Yesterday I pointed the car in that direction and drove… over the pass, through the insanely surreal B & B Complex burn area, and to the lake. Yes, it’s a lake all right, but a Midwesterner (aka me) would be hesitant to swim at the gravel beach and steep grade to the bottom.

Rachel stayed in the car (party pooper) while I walked down the Suttle Lake Smoke Trail, along the north side of the lake. I don’t know why I didn’t take my camera. What was I thinking? Darn, I’ll have to go back. Early. With camera and tripod.

Mpls Misc

After arriving at at the MSP airport, I made a quick trip to the Mall of America (half hour!) and then started to head north through the city. My 200 mile drive would take me up I-35 through Duluth and then east for an hour or so to Washburn, Wisconsin. By the time I hit the road, rush hour was getting into full swing.

Boy, I had forgotten how icky rush hour is in the Twin Cities. I thought Seattle-Tacoma was bad, (and it is) but after being away for so many years, I had underestimated the Twin Cities’ “slow and go” freeway crawl. I was on the south end of town and had to head north across the entire metro. Because of rush hour, and since I had a rental car and was not at the mercy of anyone else’s transportation, I stayed off the freeways as much as possible. My route took some nostalgic turns through old neighborhoods where Frank and I lived.

Here are some miscellaneous pictures of my journey through town:

This is the first apartment that Frank and I rented together.

Ode to Ollie

When we got Ollie from the Animal Shelter, they were having a buy one get one free deal. Two cats are better than one, so we wandered through the place, trying to decide who to adopt. Violet picked us first, and after a lot of searching, Ollie picked Rachel.

You’ve heard the old adage “You always get what you pay for,” and this couldn’t be more true for sweet dumb-dumb Ollie. He was the free one. He is the goofiest, silliest, most loveable dork of a cat we have ever known.

World, meet Ollie.

Can I jump to the house roof?

Maybe I can get on the roof this way?

I’m just gonna wait here.

I can haz tequila?

Gardening makes me pooped out.

Hold me like dis. My back likes the stretch.

Why you wake me up?

Dad’s leg is cuddly for nap time.

Why are you pointing that box at me?

My comfy chair.

Nap time.

Caesar, you watch out for mom while I look for my presents.

This water tastes like dog drool.

Bugs are cuddly for napping.

I see you, Mr. Squirrel.

Halp. My claws are stuck in the rug.

No, I don’t know how that tomato ended up on the floor.

 
I like jalapeno peppers. They are fun to play with.

Go away, he’s my daddy.

So if I fall outta the tree again, you catch this time, ok?
(Ollie has a habit of falling out of this tree and landing on people’s heads.)

I can has dog cookie?

Zzzzzzzz…

The Van Duzer Corridor

Every now and then, Rachel and I need to just get away and relax. Our favorite direction to head is west, toward the Oregon coast, which is only about an hour from home. We usually take the dog, and the plan is to do some beachcombing and just walk in the wet hard-packed sand, breathing in the briny air and watching the seagulls.

Getting there is half the fun. Highways 22 and 18 from Salem to Lincoln City first pass through farmland, wineries and vineyards, logging operations, and a casino. Following the casino is our favorite stretch of road: The Van Duzer Corridor. We love the winding highway, passing lanes, moss covered trees, Salmon Creek, and the summit over Murphy Hill.
Sure, it’s one of the more dangerous stretches of road due to high traffic volume, limited passing, tight curves, sharp drop-offs (guardrails are a luxury item,) and roadbed undermining, but there’s something magical about it.

On one particular trip, we didn’t have time to go all the way to the coast and back, so we stopped at the rest area at the west end of Van Duzer, just before Rose Lodge. All of these pictures were taken at the rest area in October, but the lush moss and vibrant greenery stay this way all winter long.

That’s the beauty of Western Oregon – when winter arrives, everything turns all green and beautiful.
Our winter climate is like a wet refrigerator; cool and damp.

Caesar took a break at the rest area and explored a little. Here he is, King of the Tree Stump. This was either a Douglas Fir or Redwood, with a cut diameter of about 4 feet. It was quite a jump for Caesar to get up onto the stump, too, since it’s about 4 feet high.

I can never get enough of the moss. It comes alive in the fall and coats the trees in its various forms: thick dark moss, minty green lichen, chartreuse velvet… I don’t know any of the moss names, so I refer to them based on how they look. Some moss clings tightly to trees, some looks like a fur coat, other forms drip from the branches.

Either way, it’s breathtaking.
The Van Duzer Corridor may be a dangerous stretch of road, but it’s like a magical fairyland.
We love it.

 

Have a Holly Jolly Christmas

It’s the best time of the year.

I don’t know if there’ll be snow, but have a cup of cheer.

Oh by golly, have a holly jolly Christmas this year!

Frosty Hydrangea

Our summer garden

I love our backyard. It’s small and plain, but there are some elements here that make me so happy that I love to just sit outside and enjoy the space. When it’s nice out, the back deck is my happy place. Here’s what’s growing and blooming right now:

Cherry Tomatoes

Thai peppers 

Lemon balm (it’s growing wild in patches here and there all around the property),
an artichoke, and a tomato plant that is as tall as I am.

Frank is checking out the progress of his red peppers. He says this is the kind used in making chimichurri, a kind of hot sauce/relish. That’s his plan for these peppers. I’m too much of a Scandinavian wimp, though, (Scandinavian hot sauce is butter with a pinch of black pepper) and don’t think I have the guts to try it.

Yes, Frank has long hair. He was growing it to see how long it could grow until chemo made it fall out. The plan sort of backfired though, when he didn’t lose a single hair from the chemo. Now it’s almost like a trophy, and so he continues to let it grow. I don’t care. Could be worse, like him wanting a sports car or a mistress.

Back to the yard…

My all time July favorite is this big vine-y shrub on the left: Jasmine.

Oh, I wish computers had smell-o-vision so you could breathe in the heady perfume of these little white flowers. The fragrance wafts into my open kitchen window and fills up the back of the house.

A little stroll down the alley behind my next door neighbor’s house brings another treat:
Gladiolus and blackberries and more wild lemon balm.
(This neighbor is the crafty lady with the colored pencil fence.)

I asked her what variety she planted and she said, “I don’t know, black ones?”

 

Did you know there are over 1100 varieties of blackberries. We have lots of commercial caneberry (blackberry and raspberry) farms here in the Willamette Valley. Marionberries were developed here in Marion County and are full bodied and sweet, like a cross between raspberries and blackberries. My favorite blackberries for eating out of hand are the hardest to find in the markets: Black Cap. They’re so mellow and sweet and will turn your mouth dark purple in an instant. They’re hard to find for raw consumption because they’re processed into food grade dye and sold to the meat packing industry to be used for marking sides of beef with grades such as “USDA Prime” and the like.

But I digress. With all those tomato plants I can’t wait until late August when we can start picking and eating and drying and canning all the tomatoes. Mmm.

Spring 2011

It has been a long long time since I posted anything here. Did you miss me? Did you wonder what was going on? It’s been a heck of a Fall/Winter, and I just haven’t had the time or energy to do anything but survive for the last few months.

Last October, I shared a bit about Frank’s cancer. He’s still dealing with that and still recovering from all the surgeries last August. This week he finishes up his second to last round of chemo, and the surgical recovery thing has come a long way… just a little bit more to go and he should be done. With that part anyway. He’s getting there.

Last week we finally put the Christmas boxes away. (The tree came down just before Valentine’s Day.) The last of the Christmas cookie tins were washed tonight and maybe I’ll muster up some energy to put them away along with the wreath this coming weekend. Please re-read the last sentence of the first paragraph. I wasn’t kidding.

Anyway, I have some (exciting to me) news to share – I have been trying to come up with ways to earn extra money to help pay the bills. Frank and I miss just enough work each month, and have just enough medical expenses (prescriptions) each month, that our ends don’t quite meet. It bites. It’s depressing. So in January, Rachel and I rented a space at a cute little boutique in town called The Fussy Duck. I wanted a venue to sell my plates, and maybe sell other handmade items as well.

To be honest, it has been slow, but I think I’m still trying to figure out what people want. Risa, the owner, has been a huge source of info and a lot of help. She suggested posting our items on her shop’s page on Facebook, so I have been doing that. Meanwhile, I am dying to show you what we’ve made so far:

The “Sister Rock” was the first item to sell. Here are the other things created in our basement Girl Cave:

Pillow cases -

Duct tape wallets -

Map picture frames – (I’m still on the hunt for tiny cars to glue to the maps, but here’s what they look like right now)

Chip clips – (I love these)

Bottlecap magnets -

Femme Fatale Lunch bags/Gift bags –
(Thank you, E.)

Black & White and pink handbag with a purse organizer insert -

A Black & White and green handbag with inside pockets -

Mustache mugs –

Do you like my mustache?

One note about the handbags: I have been playing it fairly safe with fabrics as I practiced the pattern. (I actually used fabrics that were purchased to make pillow cases. I couldn’t help it; I just had to try the handbag pattern!) So this week I stopped at my favorite thrift store and bought a couple of big plaid flannel shirts. I’m going to cut them up and piece them together for a cross body hobo bag, following this same basic pattern. I’ll post pictures when the bag is done. I think it’s going to look great.

Speaking of the thrift store, I haven’t forgotten about my mentioning wanting to blog about Thrifty Nesting things. The plan is still there. During down time for my brain (there is no such thing, really) the little gears have been grinding away with thoughts and ideas. On weekends I get a chance to dig in a little and sew and research and glue and compile stuff. I can’t wait to get my next batch of ideas up and running.

Once we’re done with Dr. appointments 4x/week or more (some weeks it’s 2 Dr. appts every day after work,) I will take a big breath and dive in head first into Thrifty Nesting. 

So that’s that.

Please be patient as I try to work my way through everything that has piled up since last August. I can’t wait to get my life back. No, actually, that’s not quite true. My life before all of this was boring and ho-hum. The last 11 months have given me perspective, and I no longer want my dull old life back. I want the life I’ve been wanting all along, and right now I’m using the time to figure out what I need to do next.

Stay tuned!