Not Summer

I was right to work outside yesterday. Today was not summer! It has drizzled all day.




It was a good day to re-set my tile. I lifted up all the loose tiles. It seemed the further towards the front of the pattern I went the looser the tiles were. There were only one or two in the back and only the top 1 & 1/2 rows on the wall had to be re-stuck. Weird! I like the pre-mixed adhesive though. I found it was easier to "butter" the backs of the tiles and set them than to try to spread it on the cement board. Getting the bottom row to stay in place and not slide down behind the floor was a real challenge. As you can see from the photos, kitchen knives came to the rescue. I'm reluctant to remove them now and will probably leave them there a few days! My cat, Mellow, seemed not to be bothered at all by all the pounding of tiles and scraping of adhesive. HE slept through the whole thing!




The wood stove is out of my truck! Bart, my across the street neighbor, asked to borrow my extension ladder to remove Edna's "dish" from her roof. It must be returned for a refund. As he passed my front door to return the ladder he casually remarked "Oh, by the way, I took your wood stove out of your truck. It's in the carport." I have no idea how he did it all alone! I thought sure I'd be driving it to work and back tomorrow in order to bring a furniture dolly home with me. Wow! What great neighbors he and Lori are.




Perhaps we'll have another day or two of summer this coming week! I'm sure looking forward to Kahneeta!

One Day of Summer

We seem to be experiencing Summer one day at a time this year. This was one day. Not knowing if tomorrow would still be Summer, I chose to spend this day outside.

My lettuce, onions and garlic have come and gone, or have come and needed harvesting. I dug garlic and onions today and have enough little onion starts for another crop and for next year as well. I dug enough garlic to make bad breath far into the winter months. My little "toy" Radio Flyer wagon makes a great harvest truck and I nearly filled it!

My flowers are looking great after I weeded. I pulled about three 5 gallon paint buckets of weeds from those beds today, mostly little low-growing stuff that looks like the red oxalis that would grow in lawns in Southern California. Except, that here it is taller and much more vigorous.

I have a new crop of lettuce and some beets growing in my little greenhouse. The area where I pulled out the old lettuce and onions will be great for the second crop of lettuce and some root crops such as beets, carrots and radishes. I really like my mini-greenhouse. It's a pretty little corner of the yard with flowers growing in front and two brick steps leading up to it. My yard is very small but I have been able to create several different areas with totally diverse plants, including my "rose garden" in the center. As the yard matures I think these areas will retain their individual personalities. Jeff and Joy Baird have contributed a composting barrel for one corner and I began putting clippings into that today. I love the idea of recycling and making my own composted soil.

I have re-started the process of having my wood stove installed. I went to Kelso and brought the stove home today. The beast remains in the bed of my truck, as it weighs 250 lbs. Tomorrow will bring the challenge of removing it and also re-applying a new cement to the tile for the wood stove to rest on. I visited the local installer today and will get another estimate next week. Hopefully I can complete this project before the end of summer. I will need to help split more wood for fuel. As my father taught me, "He who chops his own wood is twice warmed." Thrice if you must stack it too.

Almost the End of July

Yesterday we met John & Bonnie at the Oregon Brewer's Festival at Tom McCall Waterfront Park. That is Brewer's as in Beer, just in case you thought it was something else. This event happens the last weekend in July every year. There are dozens of Micro Brewers there with the latest offering in unique Oregon & Washington Micro-brewed beer. There is also live music and many restaurants offering local food. Some of the beers were, hmmm, not so tasty, but others were delicious! We had a great time. The format is, you buy a mug and a bunch of tokens (actually, wooden nickels). For 1 token you get a "taste" (about 1/3 of a mug) and for 4 tokens you get a full mug. So, you "taste" as many beers as you want and then, whatever you really, really like, you buy a mug. After many tastings we finally settled on a mug...mine was one called Prometheus.........and drank up. At this point, about 5pm, we decided to walk up into town and have dinner at The Rock Bottom Brewery. Of course, we had more beer. Yikes!! But we ate enough food to sop up our beer and called it a day.

What fun. There are so many neat things to do here in this area. It's sometimes hard to choose which one to take advantage of.

The next thing is the Hood to Coast Relay Race. That is only 26 days away. I have had to replace two runners this past week. Both have injuries from over-training. This is not an event that can be done with no training at all, but one of things I warn my team of from the onset is "DON'T OVER TRAIN." Of course, some folks always do that anyway. At least this year (so far) it is only two. Last year 6 folks dropped off before race day. I think I have a much more stable team this time........at least I'm hoping so right now!

My last team meeting is this coming Saturday and then the Captain's meeting is also that day at Nike Headquarters in Beaverton at the Tiger Woods room. That is when we receive our start time and our volunteer's assignments. I have three wonderful volunteers, thank goodness. I hope they have as good a time as past volunteers have. I understand that most folks find it is a lot of fun. My first year volunteers had so much fun that they formed a Portland to Coast Walk team and now have to find their own volunteers. But that's great, because now Broadway Medical Clinic supports two teams with T-shirts, banners and money. We are all very appreciative of that support and it creates a great atmosphere of teamwork and cooperation among the staff. Two of my volunteers are Medical Assistants in the clinic.

Anyway, enough of this. I will post photos of the HTC Relay when we are done and I hope Rachel will also post photos of the PTC Walk team as well.

Fireworks, Bees and the Beach

There is some catching up to do here. So, here I go.

The 4th of July being mid-week is a pain. Traveling 100 miles one way for one day is insane, especially with today's gasoline prices, so Mike & I celebrated together separately. My neighbors across the street (Bart & Lori) staked out a spot on the grass in Columbia View Park. That is 3 blocks from here on the waterfront of St. Helens. Our fireworks here are detonated on Sand Island right in front of the town park & over the Columbia River. About 9:45 I walked down to the park, found Bart's & Lori's blanket and sat while we watched the fireworks show. It was great fun,as was the smaller fireworks show on 4th street when we walked back home. By midnight all was quiet and we retired knowing that the next day the street sweepers would clean up all evidence of our celebration. Oh, the joys of living in a small town.

The weekend following brought me to the coast at last. We had a relaxing day mowing lawns and weeding flower beds. And then Mike thought to show me the BEE HIVE. Actually, it's a wasp hive and clearly is the inspiration for the nomenclature of the "beehive" hair-do of the 1960s. I am severely allergic to repeated wasp stings and was totally freaked out by this visage. It made me feel actually sort of sick, but the later I was compelled to photograph it. I have included that photo here. But I must also say that I was there again this weekend and it is even larger than before. Mike is struggling as to what he will do with this thing. It really is quite disturbing to view. Plus, it's inside my glass house! So I can't really do anything in there.

This weekend was really cool, literally. Saturday night we went to a birthday party for Jeremy at Kelsey's and Micah's house. That was fun and delicious with BBQ'd salmon, chicken and oysters. Sunday brought the Seaside Beach Run 5K, which I ran in the rain. I had taken 2nd in my age group (read "old ladies") for the past 2 years. This I year had determined to do better. I did. I now have a 1st place.....but I rather think I had very little competition as well. I feel it is sad that so few women my age continue to run, or even walk fast. I hope the next generation doesn't give up so easily. Or perhaps I just refuse to sit down and be elderly. Whatever, but I'm having great fun and I wish more of my peers would join me.

With the alternating rain and sun this summer all the plants are continuing to bloom over and over again. The result, for some folks, is that the allergy season has been extended and continues to be a problem. Because of this cycle Mike has not been able to walk into the "woods" with Riley...although the "woods" have been clear-cut into something else this year. So, we decided to walk on the beach instead Sunday afternoon. We loaded Riley into the bed of my truck and went to the beach. Riley was so excited he fairly leaped out of the truck at the beach. He is just the perfect dog on the beach. He ignores the other dogs, even if they run up to him, and stays with us. He has the best time! Several folks stopped to admire him and ask of his lineage. He is quite the vain, peacock of a dog. He even poses for photos! But, what a delight to have on a beach walk. We did walk long enough to, I believe, wear him out. But, I'll wager he'd love another walk on the sand.

Saturday's OHSU Tram Run

Well, I said I would update y'all on this run and it almost didn't happen for me. In the wee hours of Friday morning I fell prey to a friendly, but very unpleasant, intestinal virus supplied by some staff members at the clinic. I lounged around the house Friday and decided that, if I couldn't run, at least I could walk the course with Rachel. So, we agreed to meet as planned at Sunset Transit Center at 9:30am today to ride MAX and then the streetcar to the South Waterfront Tram.

We arrived, checked in and boarded the Tram for the top of "Pill Hill." The view is magnificent. We snapped photos of each other and enjoyed the ride. Rachel has vertigo quite badly and even she was transfixed by what we could see. At the start we received our instructions as to how to follow the downhill course by looking for the white chalk arrows. We crossed the electronic start, hearing the small timing pieces tied to our shoelaces emit a beep-beep. I said I would try to run but might just stop and wait to walk with Rachel. But, as I ran down the beautiful and winding road, I seemed to gain strength. Of course, I ran the entire way and enjoyed every moment! I wonder where that came from!!?? I sat for a while at the finish until Rachel came into view. You can see her finish here in the last photo. What a great course. I hope they do this again next year.

The day was sunny and totally beautiful. I sat with Edna on her porch and gabbed, watered my flowers and even took a nap. I had my propane tank for the barbecue filled on the way home this morning so I grilled some chicken for dinner. An altogether great day!!!! Tomorrow I really must mow my lawns.

Catch Up

These photos are not exactly in order. But, where do I begin? I have been remiss in keeping up with my BLOG, as my daughter Cathy informed me the other day. Apparently, my family in Texas actually checks this out for updates. So, for Cathy, Tim, Cassey and Randy here is the latest.

The last three photos are from a bike ride some folks from our clinic did on June 10th. We rode through the Wine Country in Yamhill County near where we live. It rained for the first part of the ride, but that is expected here in Oregon. The total ride was about 25 miles of beautiful flat and rolling farmland and vineyards. We began and ended in a town called Carlton. We then drove to the Anne-Aimee Vineyard for a lunch and wine tasting. My friend and co-worker Karina was our SAG (stands for Support And Gear) and also took photos with my camera. That is what I have included here.

The first several photos are from last weekend at the coast. It seems as if our Oregon weather is conspiring to be beautiful and sunny Monday thru Friday and really bad on Saturday & Sunday. This weekend was no exception. Mike & I actually did get to mow the lawns on Saturday and I ran my 3 miles on Sunday but that was about it. But then clouds do provide awesome sunsets. Mike, Riley & I walked out to the clear cut Sunday evening and snapped some photos of a very beautiful sunset.

The two photos of the hanging lamp are from tonight. Mike has contracted to remodel an incredible 1918 Beach home in Cannon Beach. I was quite overcome walking thru it last Saturday. It looks, sounds, smells and feels exactly like my maternal grandparents home in Idaho. Even the configuration of rooms upstairs was eerily like Grandma & Grandpa Newport's home in Parma, Idaho. Downstairs, in an alcove that was obviously an eating area off the kitchen, was a beautiful hanging lamp. I was immediately taken with the lamp but thought that , of course, it would be saved and put into the remodeled home. I exclaimed about it to Mike and he asked if I would like to have it. But, of course I did!!!! The homeowners had already gone through the home and marked everything they wanted to save (many, many things are being saved) but this lamp was not among those items. Mike quickly removed the lamp from the ceiling and handed it to me. This lamp had been hard-wired into a wall switch. Yesterday I applied a plug to the wires and replaced the base with one that had a pull-chain. This evening I cleaned the brass and the shades and put a swag hook in my kitchen ceiling. I was even so fortunate as to hit a cross-beam and didn't need to insert a molly-bolt. The lamp looks like it has always been a part of my old home. That is exactly the look I have wanted. I don't think I could have found a light I liked better than this if I had looked for years. I just love this lamp!!

So, this is what I have been doing lately. Next weekend perhaps I will have pictures from the tram in Portland to share. On Saturday Rachel & I are doing the OHSU Tram Run (OHSU is Oregon Health & Sciences University-a Medical School) as a training run for the Hood & Portland to Coast Relay Race. I'll update you then.

A Weekend at Home in St. Helens

This past weekend was a "gardening" weekend at home. The grass needed either a lawnmower or a goat........I chose the mower. Everything is growing by leaps and bounds now, and that includes the weeds. After weeding, edging and trying to divest my plants near the back fence of bindweed, I mowed front and back. I know some folks think bindweed is "Wild Morning Glory" because it blooms in pretty, innocuous blossoms. But it wraps itself around virtually everything in the garden and will promptly kill it all. As vigorous as Cosmos are, the bindweed managed to kill most of those that I set out 6 weeks ago, as well as dislodging two mature iris plants. I have replace the Cosmos but what a terrible pest bindweed is. The house behind me is obviously a rental, and while the backyard was once a lovely place complete with a beautiful brick barbecue, it is now just overgrown grass and bindweed. I wish I could go back there a spray "agent orange" or something. Never-the-less, my yard is doing well and flowers are blooming. I pull bindweed daily off of everything.

Last year I installed a rudimentary sprinkling system. Last Saturday I amended my system to include a rain bird, a hose to my deck, a "free" hose and the resident line to the faucet I created in the front. It is a comical conglomeration of some imagination, but it functions quite well. I have included here a photo of what the "control-center" looks like. Don't laugh too hard........it works! That's what happens when one buys an old house with only one faucet on the entire property. One day, when I win the lottery (which I don't play), perhaps I will have someone come and install a "real" system. Until then, this will be just fine.

My next door (to the South) neighbor, Jesse, passed away the Sunday of Memorial Day weekend after a long and brave struggle with many health issues. He and Edna were my favorite neighbors and we spent enjoyable time together. The photo of the old Cadillac here is of the car Jesse and Edna had lovingly restored and then driven all over the Pacific Northwest and Western Canada. Because of all the family and friends visiting this past weekend, the Cadillac lived in the front of my house. It is so pretty that I could not resist a few photos of it. This is just one.

I cut some roses this morning to take to work with me. They were so pretty from my kitchen window, and since I'm not here to enjoy them during the day, I decided to take some with me for my desk. Most of the folks saw me come in with them. However, Debbie Park didn't see me bring them. Sometime during the day she passed by me door and asked "Are those real? They look so pretty." I assured her they were and invited her to enjoy the fragrance. They really are beautiful this year. Even though they bloomed last year, this year they seem more vigorous and mature. I hope they continue to thrive.

Last Weekend

Last weekend at the coast was stormy and gray until Sunday at 5:30pm. So, we did other stuff........like veg and read. I matted one whole photo and printed one other. Not much motivation present. The grass grew even longer and stayed unattended. We admired the colors form the kitchen window and that was the extent of our involvement until Sunday evening.

Riley complained so loudly Sunday afternoon that I took him for a run/walk in the rain. My seriousness at running can be measured by the fact that I brought my camera along. I HATE running with anything in my hands and I actually took two photos on our "run." Midway on the path we usually take the rain became so intense that I called Riley back and we went home. He seemed satisfied with this brief adventure, accepted his treat and retired for the afternoon.

About 5:30pm Sunday the sun came out and so did we. The beautiful maple tree that split in the wind this winter has produced several little baby trees beneath its branches. There was one about 3 ft tall that I'd just love to have in my front yard. Mike dug it and we put it in a 5 gallon yellow pail after drilling holes for drainage. Hopefully it will survive this season and thrive. If so, I will adopt it and plant it in St. Helens. My yard, front and back, had no trees at all when I bought my house in the Fall of 2005. I have planted a Plum tree and a Mountain Ash in the back but no trees in the front as yet. I'd love to have this Maple in my front yard.

The iris in Mike's front garden has bloomed again. We always seem to forget that it is white with blue edges and the beauty is a lovely surprise each year. I caught this photo just after the rain. It's so pretty, as it was last year. But I can't resist another photo of it.

Cracked Crystal

A glass of wine and the Oregonian at the end of a day is one of my favorite things. However, wine has many more calories than I want/need, so I decided to have Perrier with a twist instead. Perrier in a lovely cut-crystal glass is almost (but not quite) as enjoyable as wine. I owned two beautifully etched crystal wine glasses that I rarely use. I decided that the beauty of the glass might make up for the deficiency of the content. I think that is a piece of reasoning that is quite common and often works very well on some level.

In any case, I poured the Perrier, added my twist of lemon, several ice cubes and retired to my favorite chair with the newspaper. I have a cork coaster handy there for just such occasions. The table was my grandfather's library table and will watermark with a sweating glass. As I perused the paper, sipping my "wine" I noticed my glass was sweating profusely. I went to the kitchen for a paper towel and folded it into fourths beneath the glass. It was promptly soaked. The evening was warm and I repeated my trek to the kitchen to fetch another folded towel. That was soon soaked as well and I brought my glass into the kitchen with me to wipe away the "sweat." As I placed the lovely glass on the counter I observed the "wine" oozing from the side of the etching. Could my glass possibly be flawed!!?? I held it to the light. There it was....the imperceptible flaw in the etching. The delicate beauty was fatally flawed and rendered the glass useless. It was only pretty to look at. When put to the test of reality it failed sadly.

In disgust, disappointment and a broken heart I placed the cracked crystal glass in the trash and took another, rather common, wine glass from the cupboard for more Perrier. Note that I did not/could not throw the cracked glass, but gently placed it in the trash. And then I gently retrieved it, went for my camera and phtotgraphed it. The beauty was too great not to record.

In our world there are many "cracked crystals." Leonard Pitts (Miami Hearld Columnist) has written about two lately: Paris Hilton and Jerry Falwell. They are/were both flawed in widely different ways, but flawed never-the-less. Folks admire and seek to emulate them, but when put to the test they fail miserably and publicly.

Closer to home, I hired, and subsequently had to fire, a piece of cracked crystal. She was an attractive and engaging young woman who seemed to have potential and desire to succeed. I seek and enjoy diversity in my staff and she fit that model well. We taught and trained her for over 4 weeks without success. She could not and would not learn and didn't seem to care. With heavy hearts and sadness, after many counseling and coaching sessions, we terminated her. She seemed to accept our decision well. We later learned that, upon reaching our parking area, she became violent and spent several minutes spewing foul language and anger to anyone within earshot. She was cracked crystal and she broke our hearts.

I guess there will always be cracked crystal in our lives. I hope we never grow hardened to that and that they always break our hearts. If not, we have no hope for the future. We should always continue to look for that perfect glass.

I think I will keep that other glass just to look at and never use. It will be my hope for the future.

Amazing

Amazing!!! I only started working on my yard a month ago. I looked around this evening and couldn't believe my eyes. I have lettuce and spinach that needs to be harvested. I have chives (see purple flowers above) that need to be used or put in a bouquet! My crazy Egyptian (or Walking) onions are blooming and looking very strangely at each other.................but then, they are odd anyway!

Last year I transplanted some Bleeding Heart plants from Mike's yard in Cannon Beach. They did well and bloomed. But THIS year they have gone nuts!! Not only have they spread and are blooming, but they are almost five feet tall now. I have had to stake them so they don't fall. They are beautiful and I think they must really like my awful black clay soil. I have brought more plants again from Mike's and planted them this evening. I hope they do as well as the Bleeding Hearts.

I finally was able to wrest an afternoon off from Broadway Medical Clinic today. It was difficult. As Mike predicted, folks pursued me all the way out the door. One fellow even chased me down the sidewalk, calling my name. However, I managed a clean get-away at last and was able to drive to Rainer and purchase my wood stove. This purchase of the wood stove will net me a call from the installer to come and tell me how much it will cost for the actual installation. This also means I really must finish the tile setting project. The floor portion is done, but I need to continue the tile up the wall behind the stove. I really like the Navajo rug pattern I designed and am looking forward to doing the rest. I've always wanted to learn to set tile. Thanks to Mike's instruction, I now feel more confident in doing this. Actually, I could probably get carried away with it and "find" more projects to do.

Oregon is a marvelous place to live. I am slowly but surely learning about the climate, the plants, and the plant "pests" that dwell here and am able to negotiate around my gardening fetish with more success each season. I have also learned that weeds grow with as much vigor as the favorable species. Bark mulch is becoming my best Friend. Safer spray runs a close second as does Deadline slug & snail killer. I can't imagine living anyplace else. I just love it here!!

Setting Tile

My daughter, Cathy,warned me! She said that setting tile would be so easy and so much fun I might get all carried away with tile. She was correct, as was Mike. They had both assured me that it's not that difficult....... and, with Mike's advice, it wasn't. After I got the hang of keeping the notched trowel at more or less 90 degrees to my work, it was easy to spread the thin- set mortar. I numbered the rows on my graph of tile pattern and was able to easily set the tile. What fun to watch the pattern I created take shape!
By Saturday evening the tile on the floor was set and we could admire the work.

On Sunday morning Mike screwed the Wonderboard for the wall portion to my living room wall. We had wondered if that part would require some special products, since we didn't really know what was behind the drywall. And we still don't, but whatever it is holds a long screw really well. We strongly suspect that the original wall is wood of some sort, since the 2" screw Mike put in "bit" into something quite substantial. He put a ledger on the wall for me to set the second row of tile against. I can then set the entire field above that. When that is dry I will remove the ledger and use an adhesive to set the bottom row to continue the pattern from the floor.

Traditionally, Navajo rugs have a flaw in the pattern. When a rug is made perfectally, tradition dictates that it will be the last rug made by that person. Pefection is the final accomplishment. Mike asked me if I was going to insert a flaw. I have thought about that all day. I have found my flaw. I, unintentionally, began the pattern on the floor at the second row of the pattern. There is a center white tile missing. That makes the pattern unfinished. That is my flaw and it will stand as such.