Making and Mending

Hello from my mellow farmhouse in the Oregon countryside.  I am taking a day off - to not think of anything whatsoever that I need to do.  And do what I want.  No worrying about appointments that need to be made, reports and agendas to write.. I'm just going to watch HGTV (Home and Garden TV) with one eye and crochet with my other eye.  LOL!  Hubby is happily sitting beside me checking his Facebook account and Kristi is feeding the boys lunch and doing laundry.  It's cloudy outside which is fine by me.  Bring it on.  I'm thinking it's time to bring out the fall wreath for the back door and put some crocheted pumpkins on the table.  But that can wait until tomorrow when it's officially September.  

This is the pattern that my blog friend Meredith suggested to me.  I didn't feel like working on it during the summer.. but now that tomorrow is Fall.. :-).. I worked on it while volunteering at Multnomah Falls and it's the perfect thing to work on this nice low-key cloudy day.  

This is Blue Sky "Alpaca Silk" - 50% of each.  It's a dream to work with - it's darker than in this photo.. a rich red.  This is going to be quite something to wear near the holidays.. I might need to make a hat to match!

When the boy's girl cousins visited for 2 weeks, Caleb's Lemur that they won at the State Fair last year was a casualty.  The head, body and tail were all torn apart.  So, grandma did some re-stuffing and sewing...

I was happy to show Caleb his Lemur - but he proceeded to tell me that I stuffed it too much and it wasn't right.  Hmmm... well, deal with it. LOL!

OK, back to crocheting.. when hubby and I get hungry for lunch we have Chinese leftovers.  And life is good.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

The County Poor Farm

Hello, thanks for stopping by.  Yesterday I met my friend Shirley at McMenamin's Edgefield so we could have lunch together before headed to Multnomah Falls to volunteer for the afternoon.  I love the history of this place, it was built as the County Poor Farm in 1911.  For more history, click HERE.

We dined in the Black Rabbit in the main building.  This place is really quite amazing.. it was slated to be torn down several years ago and the local historical society rose in arms against the plan and saved it.. but for what future?  Enter the McMenamin brothers who bought it and restored it and have turned it into a world class destination resort.  They have gardeners who have made the place like a garden of Eden, plus there is a vineyard out front dripping in grapes.  They have an outdoor stage for concerts, a brewery and winery, it's amazing.

We had a bit of a wait for our lunch to arrive and while we chatted, Shirley gave me this set of brushes that she found at her friend's garage sale.  Wasn't that sweet?

The pub is called the Power Station, I guess the power to run the poor farm building was generated here.  

This pretty succulent was HUGE and on long stalks.  Just one of the interesting plants in the gardens.  They even grow their own vegetables that they serve in the restaurants on the property.

As I walked back to my car I passed the glass blower's shop where I like to buy a glass pumpkin or 2 each year.  I was in a hurry so could not buy one today, but I will go back soon.

I'm not sure how the glass blowers work in there in the summer, it was *HOT*.

We had a wonderful afternoon visiting with visitors to Multnomah Falls coming from far and wide around the world.  I didn't take a photo of the Falls this day, but on our way home I pulled over at my favorite spot to appreciate the Columbia River and we got this shot.

It's a swimming day.. then a nice unplanned weekend ahead.  I hope it stays dry because I want to do a little project.. more on that later if it comes to fruition.  I hope you have a wonderful, happy weekend ahead!  
((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

After School Snack and Red Bird Ta-Dah

Hello!  How are you doing this week?  We're doing good.  I had wanted to make the boys a surprise after school snack on their first day, but I had swimming, so I made something for them their second day.  :-)  I got this recipe a long time ago and just ran across it in my recipe file box not long ago.  It was from a neighbor across the street when our kids were small.  They're called "Peanut Butter Squares".  They were a big hit with the boys!

First you bring some sugar and light corn syrup to a boil, then stir in peanut butter and vanilla, stir until melted, then pour over Special K cereal, blend and spread into a 9x13 pan.  

When I was googling for similar recipes, many had a topping of melted chocolate and butterscotch chips, which I did.  BUT - I actually think they are better without the extra richness of the topping.  Next time it will just be the bars.

PEANUT BUTTER SQUARES

1 Cup Sugar
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup light corn syrup -- Stir and bring to a boil, take off heat and add
2 tsp Vanilla
1/8 tsp salt
1 1/2 Cups Peanut Butter -- Stir until melted, pour over 6 cups of Special K cereal in a bowl, stir until coated well, spread into 9x13 cake pan that has been coated with butter.  Cut in squares to serve.

I finally got to use my jadeite pedestal cake stand!  LOL!

Boys are home!

Grandma gets a photo first.. :-)  They loved their snack.  

And I *finally* finished the Angry Bird Cardinal for Caleb!  I'm really happy with how it turned out.  I followed a pattern, but I printed up a photo of a "real" angry bird and it was very different from the pattern so I had a do a LOT of changing and customizing it to have it look more like the real thing.  So, I can't really recommend the pattern, although it gave me the basics, for which I am thankful.  It was a free pattern I found by "googling".

What do you think?  :-)

The "real" red bird.

Angry Bird Pig and Cardinal.. the boys love them.. even though I couldn't coax a smile out of Caleb.  :-)

While I was out photographing the bird in the tree, I snapped some of some of my flowers that are still doing well.  The Lantana again.. I can't help it, I find them fascinating and beautiful.

The more brilliant variety.

My poor little miniature rose has hardly any leaves and just a few flowers.. but they're adorable.  This is about the diameter of a silver dollar.

The begonias are flowering.. so pretty and exotic.  This is the light pink edged variety.

And the darker coral pink edged one.

The 2 koi grew quite big this summer!  The pond goldfish grow much slower and are little compared to the koi.

All of the geraniums that Dayle have wintered over for years performed beautifully in this extra sunny summer.  

Another sunny day here - I'm heading off to swim and then to open a new bank account for Portland Women's Forum as I'm the new Treasurer.  I hope that goes well.  I hope you have a great week and weekend.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

First Day of School and Late Summer

Hello there.. how is your summer winding down for you?  Kristi brought these sunflowers home the other day and I've enjoyed them on the table immensely. 

Today was the first day of school for Hayden, 1st Grade and Caleb, Kindergarten.  They are in brand new clothes and shoes and were very excited to start school.  I look forward to hearing all about it!

Dayle and I celebrated their last day before school yesterday by taking them out to lunch at Red Robin.  Caleb declared the hamburger the best ever and told us we didn't need to go to McDonald's ever again.  :-)

Hayden took a bite with enthusiasm.

The countryside is drying and browning - it's been a hot summer.  I walked out on the front porch to see if I could get a shot of the Dahlias growing in the garden across the street.  Several Laotian families grow flowers and put them together in lovely bouquets for the farmer's markets in the Portland area.

I will keep an eye out to see when they are there and try to buy a bouquet from them.

The million bell petunias are still pretty.. 

I've been very happy with this basket of Streptocarpella flowers, it just keeps blooming away!

The pastel shade of Lantana is doing the best of the 3 varieties.

The deck is still looking good, but to be honest, it's been too hot for me to enjoy it a lot.  I am looking forward to a more temperate warmth that should be coming our way - but it's going to be near 90 deg. for the next 3 days, so the AC units will keep the house cool until it cools at the end of the week.

The fish are hiding.. :-)

The new owners of our sailboat Stargazer (we owned her for over 20 years) spent a lot of time fixing her up and re-doing her teak and are happily sailing her on Flathead Lake in Montana.  I even got an email from someone on the lake who googled the boat name and found my Ranger 26 website and told me she's making a big hit on the lake with how pretty she is.  :-)

Well, time to get my swim bag packed and head to the pool.. Gracie is meeting me there for our swim workout.  I hope you have a good week ahead.  

((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

Oregon State Fair 2014

Hello there!  We rested up this week from our camping trip.. and then yesterday we headed to the Oregon State Fair with my sister Denise, DIL Kristi and 2 grandsons.  We asked Caleb what he wanted to do at the fair and he said "Ride a horse and do WHATEVER I want."  OK.  You got it.  This image was of the ferris wheel while we rode on the "Fair Lift".  We went on the opening day and I was afraid it would be way over-crowded, but it wasn't at all and the weather was perfection.  A fabulous day was had by all!

We spied the pony rides first thing and were able to tick this off Caleb's dream list.  :-)  Everything was fresh and new, we may have been the first riders!  The ponies look healthy, well-taken care of and shiny.

Hayden looks right at home in the saddle.

Next up was the animals in the 4-H barn.  I was particularly taken with these baby Angora bunnies.  They both got 1st Place Blue Ribbons by the judge!

All the animals were clean and groomed and healthy looking.  These are either Charolais or British White.  Do you know which or something other?

I tried to get the pigs to smile and say cheese.. but they were more interested in drinking water than playing along with me.  :-)

Is there anything more majestic than a Clydesdale draft horse?  They are BIG!

On to the Poultry Barn - A pretty Polish chicken with an impressive hairdo.

A pretty rooster.

Have you ever seen a white Pheasant?  Now you have!

Then it was time for lunch.. oh fair food.. I had a corn dog, everyone else had a hot dog.. the boys had curly fries.. and swirl soft ice cream for dessert.  Dayle, Denise and I shared a cinnamon roll.. then Caleb finished it off for us.  :-)  There was a huge group of kids practicing for a rally squad competition, all age groups.  I asked these girls' moms if I could snap a photo and they gave me the okay.

How often can you say that you saw Elvis on a tall unicycle juggling?  :-)  See the Fair Lift above.. we would be riding on that at the end of our visit to the fair later in the day.  Denise and I headed to the huge building where all the handmade things such as quilts, crochet and knitting, spinners, wood craft, cakes, collections, etc. are located.  Dayle and Kristi took the boys to the rides and midway.

I loved seeing all these flags flapping in the wind.

The first thing we saw in the building was a large collection of orchids.  I was drawn to the orange and red ones.

LOVE this yellow, orange and purple one!

I was amazed at this gigantic hand crocheted bedspread and pillow covers to match!  

In the quilt area, this was my favorite out of the 50 or so quilts on display.  Does anyone know the name of this design?

We enjoyed chatting with these women who were hand quilting this blanket.  In days long ago, neighbor women would help each other stitch and they called it a "quilting bee".  Often the frames were raised to the ceiling in between the times they worked on them.

There were also some quilters sewing blocks together to donate to charity.  I was pleased to see a Singer Featherweight machine like mine whirring away.  My sister Denise is a quilter and she invited me to bring my machine to her house and she will teach me how to make a quilted item.  Yay!

Next up were the spinners!  After looking at their wheels, I may sell my big fancy Kromski Symphony wheel and get a simpler one.  My big one is very difficult to tune and is not easy to transport.. at all.

There was a display of hand made wooden Indian flutes and this man played a song for me.  His Indian name is Ko-Na and his English name is Foster J. Kalama of the Warm Springs, Oregon tribe.  I hope you listen to this.  He was good!!

While we were enjoying the quiet arts.. Dayle and Kristi were putting the boys on this vintage ride.. Hayden is in the middle.

Wheeeeeee!  Caleb is the 2nd from the top down left and Hayden is 2nd from the top right.  What a thrill for them!

It's a beautifully decorated ride.  Can you spot the boys?

Airplane ride.. seems a bit tame after the swings!

Next up.. Hayden in a fire truck. :-)

Caleb picked a race car.

Then.. they put them in big plastic balls in "Walk on Water" and they looked like a pair of hamsters.  They had a blast!

We met up with the gang and walked down the midway to get to the Fair Lift -- I loved the Ferris Wheel!

Then we got on the Fair Lift - which I will tell you is quite a feat - you have to hop on the bench seat while it's MOVING.. Dayle and Hayden were in front of Caleb and me.  I was a nervous wreck as Caleb kept leaning over the rail in front of us.. I kept saying.. sit back honey.  :-)  We park at one end of the fair, walk all around and end up at the other end.. then take the lift back to where we parked.  A good plan, yes?

When we landed.. and yes you have to get off the moving lift.. we decided we needed an ice cream to fortify us and right in front of us was "J Gelati" - Caleb had blueberry gelato, Hayden had green apple, I had orange "dreamsicle", Denise had chocolate frozen custard.  We also walked around the Artisan Village and I was drawn to the yarn display.  The woman does all the dying of these skeins!

Alexandra's Crafts is her business name.  

I had to show you the photo of my two granddaughters, Jenna and Paige in Ohio.. we got to Skype with them as Paige opened up her birthday presents. She just turned SIX!  

So, unfortunately we were in traffic jams a lot of the way home.. we did like going on opening day but we won't head home during rush hour again.  :-)  But it was a great time at the fair.  Do you go to your county and state fairs?  If you're in another country, do you have anything like this?  
((hugs)), Teresa :-)