A little more timely this time.

I found a treasure in the Hollywood District in an antique/junk/what-not store. Actually, it was on the sidewalk in front of the store. I've been wanting some sort of small table and chairs to put on my deck for eating. But, since I have plants, trees, barbecue and a fire pit, I don't have a lot of room. This little wrought iron set is just perfect. I had one similar to this many years ago. Somewhere along my travels I lost it or left it behind. I actually like this one better because the pattern is roses. Anyway, the price was right and I adopted it. I originally thought I would spray it white or red but, as I look at it, I think I will leave it the verdigris that it is.

Sunday was the Ringo Starr concert at Edgefield. We met John & Bonnie there and Linda & Bob Pinkston joined us inside. We sat in the line from 3:25 to 5:00 (people watching and drinking beer) when they "compressed" the line and then let us in. No camera are allowed but John slipped mine into his cargo pocket and in we went. The concert was great and I did manage one photo before it was dark enough to require a flash.

I am totally spoiled by the outdoor concerts here in Portland. It's much more fun than being confined to a chair and darkened room. Tuesday night (tomorrow) we go to the Zoo to see Emmie Lou Harris. That should be fun too.

Finally (OK Patrick?)

Admittedly I have been remiss (again) in posting to this BLOG. I don't usually have anyone actually "nagging" at me but this time I guess I deserve the nag. Patrick dutifully sent me his photos while I procrastinated with this. But anyway, here I am.

The 5th & 6th of July was family weekend at Capper Mountain. Mike & I watched fireworks in St. Helens...........a lukewarm affair this year................then came home on Saturday morning to find Stephanie and Molly had already arrived. They managed to slip into the house through the basement door while Riley guarded the front. Before the afternoon was over Patrick, Anna, Jeremy and Rachel had also arrived. A totally unplanned gathering of all the kids at dad's!! We duly recorded the event with photos. We walked on the beach, Molly and Patrick caught salamanders in the pond, the dogs chased each other until Luca, Patrick's and Anna's puppy was exhausted and a beach party was planned for the evening to celebrate Rachel's 30th birthday. I vaguely remember that age.

A great weekend, and great to see everyone. Scott and Rita came from Missoula to join the beach party at Arcadia Beach. Jeremy scored some fireworks that totally outshone the St. Helens show the night before and made lots of noise as well. Good job Jeremy!

That's all for now. I'll have some new photos after this weekend. We're going to some concerts, one with John & Bonnie at Edgefield and one at the Zoo.

A Few Days Off??!!

I took three days off from work (read: BMC Clinic) and worked my backside off at home!

My little house had peeling paint on the front porch and I couldn't stand to look at it much longer. I had actually wanted to paint it last summer but never got to it. By this year the remaining paint needed to come off. After some excellent advice from Mike as to what kind of paint/stain to apply I mapped out my plan. Day one (Wednesday) was spent pressure washing, wire brushing and sanding paint. Also, time was spent removing the "lovely" roofing shingles my predecessor had nailed, glued and stapled to the front steps as a non-slip device. As I waited for the wood to dry I visited ACE Hardware, collected stain in white & red, paint pads, etc, etc, and left behind $100 plus. Ouch!! But thank heavens for tax refunds.

Day two was "white" day. Everything that needed white paint was scheduled for Thursday. After flinging the paint pad off of the pole extension into my flowers for the 4th or 5th time (hear many *&##@**! words) I brought out my tall ladder to reach under the overhang and angles so I didn't hit the release levers for the pad. What a frustrating but efficient device! I did actually manage to get all the white done in one day. It was a 10 hour day with no lunch break, but it was done! I slept really well that night.

Day three (Friday) was red day. Piece of cake actually, since I only had to paint the surface of the porch deck and the stairs. I was able to apply two coats and even touch up some of the white I had missed the day before. I even painted (stained) the front side of my gate into the back yard. I couldn't paint both sides at once since that was the only way into the house and I needed to be able to open & close it. Back side next. Instead of the shingles on my steps for non-skid, the sales person at ACE recommended a sand-like substance called Tred-Tex to mix with my paint and apply to the stairs. It's just great!! I think I will use it with a clear stain on my back deck stairs as well. It looks a whole lot better than shingles and wont peel up like the non-skid tread strips that you can buy.

On Friday afternoon, after reassembling my now-dry porch, I left for a weekend with Mike in Cannon Beach and a great Zoo Concert on Sunday. More about that later.

My Yard (again), How boring is that?!!

A little sunshine, some warmth and I'm outside! I love gardening and have missed being able to comfortably do much in my yard. So, this weekend was the perfect opportunity.

Saturday morning started with a Hood to Coast team meeting at the clinic, then a trip to the Hollywood District Saturday Farmer's Market. What a great Farmer's Market that is!!! It makes me wish I were closer to that on weekends. I purchased three yummy looking home-grown tomatoes and a loaf of garlic Ciabiatta bread that made my mouth water all the way home.

When I bought my little home I had a vision for the back yard. It was a square of sod, save for one small side and an old tree rose. In my mind's eye I created a plan and I have been working towards that ever since. This is my 3rd Spring in working in my little yard and I decided to create another piece of the "master plan" this weekend. I attacked the sod next to the south fence to create a planting area. I already have two hydrangeas and an azalea growing there but they were surrounded by grass. I removed sod and edged with used brick. However I neglected to stand back and observe.....until the end of the day when I thought I was "done." When I observed my work......a nice straight line of bricks........I realized that a straight line was totally not what should be there. So, Sunday morning brought out the pick again. I removed all the brick, drew a more graceful and eye-pleasing set of curves, removed more sod and re-did my planter. It looks far better. Especially after I filled some areas with plants that I have been growing in my little greenhouse.

My other area of pleasure this weekend have been my bird feeders. I have two feeders with wild bird seeds in the back yard as well as two hummingbird feeders. The hummingbirds visit often for the nectar and also to many of my flowers. They are fearless little creatures and I love seeing them.

On my front porch I have hung a "finch-sock" with thistle seed. The Goldfinches just love this sock and I love them. They are the prettiest and most colorful little birds ever. If I am very, very still I can sit with my camera on the far end of my front porch and take pictures of them. If I move all but one fly away. There is one little finch, perhaps a baby, that stays no matter what. I spent quite a bit of time reading out there with my camera in my lap this evening.

I am off work Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week for the purpose of painting my front porch. I will paint the railings and roof white and the floor red. I will also paint the trim around the windows red and, hopefully, my front door as well. It really needs the paint and I am looking foreword to the project. I'll post photos when I'm done so I can bore you some more.

OHSU Tram Run/Walk

Today was the 2nd Annual OHSU Tram Run. It is a measured 5K that is mostly downhill. That is, of course, my kind of run! Rachel and I did it last year and it was a blast. This year Karina and Lynette joined us along with Lexie in her "jogger."

Rachel and I met, as usual, at
Sunset Transit Center to ride the MAX into town and then to the Streetcar. We were to meet up with the other two at the Tram.
However, while we waited for the Streetcar, Lynette & Karina walked up with their usual Starbucks coffee in hand. We all boarded the streetcar and made for the waterfront.
After a brief "potty stop" we walked the 1/2 mile down to pick up our race numbers and prepared to board the dreaded TRAM! Lynette was very apprehensive, to say the least, about riding the Tram. She has a severe fear of falling from heights. We stowed her in the middle of the tram near the operator and arose. She was laughing all the way up and actually had a great time. It was lightly raining for almost all the run. It wasn't bad and certainly was better than 80-90 degrees. I only drank 1/2 of my bottle of water on the course. I decided to put it in my pocket but eventually realized that the bottle was causing my pants to almost fall off. Thank heavens no one was too close to me. I carried the water in my hands the reast of the race. I finished before the others since I ran and they walked. I visited all the booths and talked to the folks displaying their wares. As I have been able to do, I predicted the walker's finish within 2 minutes and met them all as they came through the finish line. I had been checking the posted times and was in 1st place in my age category for a long time. As it ended up, someone beat me by 39 seconds. Darn!! I could have easily made up that time.




Lexie wanted her face painted and we did that. She became a Doggie all the way home. She is very cute and fun to have on these events. She collected her second medal in two weeks. Next thing we know, she'll be beating us all.

Iris and Pansies Blooming

At long last, a day with at least some sunshine that was not a work day!!

The morning was spent finally using my new power washer to remove the winter moss from the North side of my house, mowing both lawns, weeding and edging, spraying Round Up on weeds in the drive and helping Barbara Jenkins (next door's owner) weed. Everything looked much better by afternoon and I actually transplanted some flowers and did some grooming. I even planted a lovely new rose I bought at Ace. It's a Pink Peace and was so handsome and healthy that I couldn't resist it.

Towards evening, as I enjoyed a beer on my back deck, the sun emerged from the clouds and shone on my flower beds. The yellow and white Iris blooming are very unusual to me. I can't recall where I got them, though I'm thinking maybe from Lynette. They begged a picture and I obliged. As the sun moved lower it caught the Pansies blooming in my little mound of rock garden. They looked so bright in the sun that I thought they deserved a photo as well. The picture here is now my wallpaper on my desktop computer!

Last week a trip to Pro Photo Supply (always financially dangerous for me!) included the purchase of a photo printing paper I had never tried. It's by a company called Hahnemuhle, a German company that claims to have been manufacturing paper since 1584! I printed the photos included here on that paper and was totally astonished as the first one emerged from my printer. I have never seen such fine paper before! I've never used cheap paper.....I value my work too much and archival ink is too expensive for that. But, WOW!!! This stuff is amazing. I think I'm hooked and, of course, it isn't cheap. So, I guess I'll need to make another trip to Pro Photo. Yikes!!!

Rose and Iris Tie

On this evening of watching election race results (the Oregon Primaries were today) I thought I would report on a winning race in my garden.

When I bought my house there was, besides the sodded lawn, only one plant in my back yard..........a very old and stately red tree rose. She always has the very first bloom of any of my roses in the Spring.
The first Spring I lived here I brought several Iris plants from Mike's yard in Cannon Beach. Iris tend to clump and emerge above the ground as the age and multiply. I brought those "clumps" here and planted them. They have thrived but never bloomed. This year I was so very pleased to see that they were forming flowers. Today they, and Rose, bloomed together. So, in the contest for this evening in my yard, there were no losers, only winners. They are both beautiful and Rose now has a group of pals beneath her to produce blooms all summer.

Many other flowers are already blooming and growing profusely. I have had to install a little bamboo "fence" around my Coral Bells, Bleeding Hearts and Forget-Me-Nots so I can even mow the lawn. They are quite a riot of flowers but I love them. Rather like an English Garden, don't you think? The Maple tree has grown at least another 8" since I re-potted her. I guess she was in need of space.

I have a great deal of pleasure from my yard and love to walk around it or just look at it. Of course, my new back door has a window!! So now I can stand in my kitchen and see my flowers. Last evening I watched thru the back door window as a pair of very tiny hummingbirds drank from my feeder. That's a first as well. I hope they bring all their friends. I love to watch them.

A Red Door Day

You've heard of a Red Letter Day? Well, this was a Red Door Weekend.

Sometime in February Mike ordered and received a new back door for my house. The one present when I bought my house was very ugly. Remember the green bathroom painted red last year??? Well, the kitchen door matched that awful green in my bathroom. Undoubtedly inspired by either a Model-T Ford or a John Deere Tractor. But I wanted my back door to be red.
For the past 6 weeks or so Mike and I have taken turns putting coats of red paint on my door. For some reason the paint didn't dry well or quickly. But finally, on Saturday evening the door arrived in St. Helens. Mike set about installing it almost immediately lest there be a problem. Since my house is not level and has no straight walls or door ways, a problem was not out of the question. But the only thing that had to be done was to plane off a portion of the jamb. And, behold, a new (RED!!) door with a window (The old door had no window) that lets in so much wonderful light for the kitchen.

When we got up this morning there was so much light that it was as if the door was open. I just love it!!!! Plus, it's not green or metal. Perhaps, I will be inspired to paint the rest of my kitchen and woodwork. Now I just have to figure out how to make my front door not green. I don't think I am up to using the red paint again. But maybe a dark adobe like my livingroom wall.

The Painted Hills Trip

Sunday evening, May 4th, found me on my way to Bonnie and John's to spend the night before our long anticipated Photo Safari to Eastern Oregon's Painted Hills. Jen had emailed us photos of the Painted Hills taken by a member of the Vancouver Astronomy Club for over a year. They were so spectacular that when she proposed a road trip for "the girls" we jumped at the chance. The "girls" were Jen and her mom Terry, Bonnie and me. On Monday morning (not so very early) we piled our stuff and ourselves into Bonnie's new Prius and made our way via 205 to 84 past The Dalles to Biggs. We turned south at Biggs on 197 to 206 and drove through grass farms, cattle farms, wind farms and many rolling hills to the lovely town of Mitchell, Oregon.

Mitchell, while charming, is about half-way to being a ghost town. Apparently the major owner of commercial property in Mitchell, a Mr. Charles Schnee, recently died. Since he owned much of Mitchell, much of Mitchell is now abandoned and for sale. Even the stock on the shelves of the stores remain on the shelves. Very sad. The town does have a very nice and well attended school. All grades in one modern facility with a boarding home attached. There are a number of far-flung and affluent ranches in the area. The children of these ranches can board during the week, under supervision, and eat, study and live in a very nice home attached to the school grounds. They seem to have an active sports and academic program. Everyone in town was very pleasant to us and seemed quite nice.

Monday afternoon, after we unpacked in our motel-(very clean and oh-so-cute)-called The Sky Hook, we drove out to the Painted Hills section of the John Day National Monument. There are several areas and we visited them all. As the light changed throughout the afternoon towards evening, the colors of the "Paint" changed as well. The later the day became the more orange and red the colors were. Quite a fascinating area and very beautiful.

We returned to Mitchell hungry. But, no restaurants!! One closed at 3:00pm and one was closed on Mondays. Never fear, Bonnie's and my room had a kitchen. So, into the ?grocery? store we went. Plumbing, hunting supplies, fishing tackle, oh, and hot dogs, cans of chili, Bonnie bought some 3-day old (turned out to be moldy) hot dog buns..............I opted for peanut butter and jelly and some (fresh) bread. Back to the room to cook (concoct) dinner. A little wine, Mike's Hard Lemonade and beer masks a multitude of inferior food. I rather enjoyed my PB&J however.

Next morning everyone was up early (ugh) showering and making coffee. Bonnie made the mistake of saying good morning and then leaving me in the room. I, of course, went soundly back to sleep while the others (in another room) conjectured how long I might sleep. Fortunately something woke me and I was up & showered by the time Bonnie came back to check.

We packed up, toured our little host (or is that ghost) town and drove towards the John Day Fossil Fields. There was a Pacific Pride card lock gas station in Mitchell (to which I have Mike's card) but we figured we could get gas in any of the several towns we would go through. This proved to be a nearly disastrous decision. But first we explored the fossil fields. Or, at least I did. There was a 1/4 mile walk and then about an 800 yard circle that climbed. I was the sole explorer of that circle, but it was really interesting. The large boulders that have fallen from the walls contain impressions of leaves, ferns and branches of the forest floor that once was there. Even petrified logs remain within the rocks.

We continued on, now in search of gasoline. Each town we passed through had nothing but boarded up gas stations. Finally we came to a seemingly larger town where we could actually see a Texaco sign. Whew! We made it! But, no, the entire town was "closed".....boarded up as if in the middle of life. Freshly painted and just closed. One Mercantile on the edge of town reamined with a large sign on the door that said "We have no Gas!!! 28 miles North." Since the road forked three ways there, I went inside to ask the name of the town 28 miles North. A woman, older than God, her hair dyed shoe-polish black and lips pursed in a menacing straight line, told me "Grass Valley!" Yikes!! I left quickly and we went north 28 miles, thankfully, and bought gas in Grass VAlley. We were one gallon shy of empty in a Prius!!!!

The trip was fun, the countryside beautiful and we are still wondering how folks with those huge, gas-guzzling, 8 MPG beasts can even navigate the land in which they live. Jen said she imagined that her FourRunner would have not even made it from station to station. We had a great adventure and I would certainly do it again..................but only in a Prius!

So, Where is Spring Anyway?

I thought I saw Spring a couple Saturdays ago but I

must have been mistaken. Then, on my way home last evening, I spotted a little bit of her again. It had rained, hailed and then the sun sun came out. As I drove along Highway 30 I seemed to be staying parallel with the north end of a rainbow. It was between me and the railroad tracks and foliage a the side of the road. It turned the flowers and trees beautiful colors as it kept pace with me. When I turned off on Old Portland Road I stopped and snapped some photos of my favorite Oak tree and it's accompanying cattle. There were also hundreds of geese, each with a black & white head, white rump and a personal shadow. The light was beautiful!

This morning brought Winter back again. The snow level will again descend to 500', although Mike had snow at home this morning and that's a lot lower than 500'. Of course, the extreme and all-knowing wisdom of the Oregon DMV dictated that we remove our studded tires on April 1st. Never mind that we have gotten snow in the surrounding hills and mountains almost every day or night since. The folks are still skiing and driving unsafely in "winter" weather.

Obviously, I cannot see Mike this weekend and cannot work in my garden either. So I decided to go into the office this morning to meet Lynette and get a few more of the old windows we are replacing. Driving back I drove into a snow and ice storm that lasted from the Industrial area on Yeon to Rocky Point in Scappoose! While reading the paper in the afternoon I heard a rather odd sound outside. Even Cuddles looked up to see what it was. It was a hail storm! It lasted about 30 minutes and I feared it would flatten the tulips that are trying to bloom around my rose garden. They seemed to have survived but ceratinly haven't opened any further.

The one thing (besides laundry) that I did accomplish today was to repot my lovely little maple tree. It is a baby of the beautiful, and now damaged, Japanese Maple at Mike's. It had outgrown it's original pot at the end of last Fall. Our gigantic new Ace Hardware opend today and I found a large pot on sale. So my little (and growing) maple has a new home on the deck and is beginning to put out leaves. I guess the maple is hoping for Spring as well.

Shamrock Run

Today was the 30th anniversary of the Shamrock Run in Portland. Today was Rachel's and my first time in the run. I signed up for the 5K Run and Rachel for the 5K Stride.

We had agreed to meet, as we did for our last race, at the Sunset Transit Center and ride the MAX to the race start. When I arrived at Sunset (10 minutes late at 6:55am) Rachel had already purchased our tickets. Good thing too, since there was a huge line and one broken ticket machine! 7:05 found us Eastbound on the train and sitting by a heater. We were spared the rain but not the cold.

Since I had picked up my race packet and T-shirt the day before at Lincoln High School, all I needed to do was find the Port-a-potty line and wait for the start. Rachel stopped by will-call and got her bib. The 5K started at 8:05 and the Stride at 8:20, but on different courses. We
snapped photos of each other and shivered while we waited for my start. I have never run this particular course in Portland before and soon realized that it was basically the reverse of the Race for the Cure. In other words, the course goes UP Broadway..................all the way up to Harrison! WOW! Then is when I realized why there were very few other "gray-hairs" on the course. This was truly a younger person's race.

I finished significantly before Rachel was due to complete her walk and went to claim my bowl of clam chowder included in the price of the run. Something hot felt very good in the cold, misty air and my soaking wet running shirt. The beer looked good too, but I was way too cold to imbibe. You know I was cold to turn down a free beer!

I anticipated that Rachel would finish between 9:25 and 9:30am. I made my way to her finish line and immediately spotted her 20' from me. My watch said 9:27am. Good guess! I snapped her photo and we made our way back to the MAX stop, boarded the train and were back a Sunset Transit before 10:00am. What a way to travel in the city!

Our next race/walk is April 6th: The Race for the Roses. More photos then.