:: Scuff Productions ::

After two beginning weeks of paradise weather (for May here….) dry sunny warm beautiful, we were seduced into planting a lot of things….luckily they were in soon enough to get “rooted” since the LAST two week of May have ended up putting this month on track as the 3rd wettest Portland May ON record….in fact a few trees ’round town gave out and fell over just yesterday…..leaving Highway 30, for example, closed completely for 22 hours. What a month!

But forecast for June, week one? CLEAR dry warm again…….and all the next week the same! This means the ‘gamble’ always taken planting corn seeds (in a safe place) WILL be transplanted this w/e into their new garden spot:

The ONLY thing looking ragged out there was the basil when I checked this morning…..here’s this year’s garden last night:

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.*In that pic (corn goes in that empty spot)….are: rhubarb, lots-o-potatoes, sunflower starts, carrots up, hot peppers, leeks, shallots, garlic, rosemary, oregano, chives, celery, fennel, lettuce, tomatillos, bay laurel..and hiding behind those pink walled mini-greenhouses are the ‘maters……..what’s ready to eat? leeks, lettuce, herbs.
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Yesterday WAS a big day ANYWAY……I removed one of two ornamental cherry trees that, now in their 30th year, are getting very ragged AND covering up light that all the berm shrubs/trees now need….I am one tired old guy today, but some berm spots are seeing sun for the first time ever:

**Yes, the last of the stump must come out………and one more entire tree…..THAT will wait a couple months.

There’s ONE NW shrub that sure loved this spring month of may, I’m not sure it has EVER bloomed this solidly:

Oh well………I wait June 2013 with some excitement…..and so does Mac:

Trying to get some more pics up showing how the dry warm weather helped us get a lot done 2-3 weeks ahead of time. JUST THIS MORNING, however, Mark Nelson, our weather favorite has forecast a very cold front arriving next week that will bring temps to the 30′s….Whoa! Well. We went ahead anyway during that 6- week warm spell…..so we’ll hope for the best.
Hummers First:

**** The feed volume’s been averaged 1.4 quarts a day from May 3 – 12. The last three days? 2.2 quarts a DAY! Where are those baby birds coming from! Sounds like ALL nesting Moms survived what with this warm/dry month! Yea!

Some parts of our berm plantings are maturing and showing they were planted TOO close. woops. The Keria though & this maple look perfect:

Yes, I gave up looking for takers. I had to trim the Bay Laurel (‘bay leaf’, yep)….and it looks like liposuction was done:

I saved the cuttings for a week, and no one volunteered to take all the bay leaf for cooking:

The rhodies finally seemed to all bloom in ONE day:

IT WAS TIME TO SET UP the GARDEN ’cause the DEER FENCE had to be put up! We went to Ridgefield and got our starter tomatoes n peppers….they sat out to acclimate to our elevation a couple days:

Had to calculate which part is now getting so much morning shade (ah, that last OLD growth huge fir):

Got the plants up by the house….

I set out plants before planting……getting an idea how much space I’d need:

Got them planted, and tried something new for filling the Walls-o-Water….I set them around an inverted small tomato cage…..filled them partway, then carried them to the plant, placed it, and finished filling there….saved some wear on the back:

Finally got 21 walls-o-water placed, filled, set for 11 tomatoes and 10 pepperplants:
****stupice, san marzano, and 3 experiementals…. peppers: serranos, habanero, and Ponzo, Anaheim, 2 Orange Bells***

And this one look shows the shady plants at the edge: lettuce, celery, thyme, oregano, fennel, chives, and the startup volunteers of tomatillos:

So, the 2013 veggie project is beginning to look like a garden:

Missing for the next 3 weeks will be what currently is our “hoped-for” Corn crop that so far are just seeds:

Ah! The potatoes on two edges are coming along….That will be from where that magic American 4th of July home-made Potato Salads come from, eh?
Okay. Now to lunch.

We woke up to a low thick marine layer of clouds. I grabbed the el-cheepo camera thinking the light THIS day would be good for pics, and actually show what kind of rich light the park usually displays in the spring when EVERYTHING is green.

We leave Skyline here….trespassing across Dave’s side road….where the little road ends, Forest Park begins:

Some places are SO full of growth, not much light is there on a cloudy day:

And further down, things just get rich and green:

On this walk, we went along Firelane 10……nice vistas, not sure this cheapo camera shows that:

Still a few trees left waiting for leafing out:

And, Lower Newton Road…..

Newton Road, on the return: **we’re listening here to Pileateds calling from the top of an old growth cedar…that has long seemed to be telegraph central here….SO tall, the top 40′ is dead…and always being used as a calling point…

And finally going homeward bound, leaving Newton, we’re back on the little ‘private’ trail from Arnie’s house to Skyline….. Peter and Jeanne, I’m sure, are discussing Mystical Philosophy:

Oh well……not much said, just what a rain forest looks like in mid-spring…..w/o rain, and before anything dries out……nothing spectacular.

I’ll probably never get back to this little task I used to enjoy……..but since I occasionally “check” past years to confirm some nature activity, or garden dates, or travel…..I better at least put in a few headlines…it only took 2 months to write out the CA trip.

1. First Rufous Hummingbird sighting this year: March 13….

2. Enjoyed 4-5 trips to Sauvie Island specifically for the heron rookeries to share with different friends, and of course, check on bird migration progress…. ***The ASTOUNDING part of this is ….the trees are ALL Leafed out. If I went back there today, there would be NO visible sign of ANY BIRD ANYWHERE near here except for: the steady stream of 1-2-or-3 herons flying in and out for feeding, and in a month, the loud squawking of 100 chicks…….

The surprise of these birding trips is always unknown, but THIS February I got to enjoy something I’ve always loved to see, the power of being a “Mom” in nature outdoes anything I know:
****Just by chance parked SO close to a sandpiper’s nest, out she came, flew 6′, dropped to the ground and was SOON in the imitation “broken wing” dance and cheeping as if she were in pain……SO sorry to have caused the trouble, but SO thrilled to watch a mom bird be SO willing to risk everything for her incubating chicks………..to have been THAT close WAS thrilling.

And lastly, about Sauvie, the OSPREY seemed to have ALL arrived at once….spotting a pair on one of the nesting stands, doing the annual rebuilding, tear-outs of grass, etc. (and later watching them take water baths along the lake shore)……..and I said out loud, wow, they must arrived Saturday or so, I was out on Thursday last…… and the old geezer who’d been watching also says, “they got here Friday afternoon.” Okay.

BUT………BACK at HOME, IN the YARD things are on the rise! AND…since it’s earth day, and I have 200 things to do, in no particular order, here’s a few diary pictures to compare next year APRIL with now:

The APPLE Trees are gonna bloom a bit later (cold weather?)….and good thing the mason bees have had SO many other flowering trees to get off to a good start, but the buds are now counted in dozens….more to follow:

The chinese elm we got for $11.00 on sale a few years ago, is beautiful….it will leaf in a month:

The decoy we placed here a few years ago is now looking more like a true nesting goose:

The GRAPES! Yes, just showing signs of new growth…are ALREADY committed to August pickling duty:

The —peonies….at LEAST are up:

The poor hemlock, now here for 11 years, continues to endure late autumn deer ruts….I had wire around it until this fall, “thinking” it was beyond that tender age. I guess it wasn’t. It is GOING to be a beautiful tree ‘someday” . . . . will I still be here?

The Keria are blooming….at least where that dang survey crew didn’t butcher it….where they did….ALL NE„ THICK branches that will NOT bloom until NEXT spring….I was SO mad that day last summer:

After being bound in a pot for 4-5 years, the wonderfully unique “deciduous” Sequoia is NOW in the ground back on the edge of the slope…..I DO hope it grows enough before I leave here to see what it will become:

The south end of the garden looks dead, but IN here, the perennial things ARE up: French Fennel, Oregano, Thyme, Chives, celery…and the day lilies at this end:

The north end also has a good start…..rosemary’s off n runnin’, first batch of Rhubarb ready to cut, bay leaf shrub will need big pruning before deer fence goes (fresh bay leaf anyone?), potatoes are up all over the edges here, aliums…just for blooms will begin soon, and not seen are the leeks & garlic up:

We’ve gotten ‘some’ of the Oxalys moved outta the sun (now that the big fir is gone)….and it’s REALLY doing well….gots to get the rest moved before too hot:

The several currants / elderberries so kindly given to us as transplants by friend Nancy Grossenbacher about 10 years ago, are REALLY finally looking terrific in Apr / May, and ALL welcoming to Birds when the fruit sets:

The Ornamental Cherry has matured into one mammoth blooming beauty, almost looking like a giant bonsai in April:

Of our 5 blueberry bushes, 2 were put here two years ago, and it looks like THIS is the magic spot judging by ALL the flower buds…. So. 3 more to move near here:

The berm we built with dirt left from Dave’s construction (tks, Dave, again)….is also maturing nicely….NOW we can start “filtering” out so, in “MY” hopes anyway, it looks completely naturally happening:

GOTS to get outta here. It will be SUNNY and WARM today……..and here at 10:04 AM, the temps just past 55….perfect for working….. ROTOTilling the big veggie garden may just happen today!!!! I’m a happy guy in the spring. Come visit!

**It’s obvious I’ll never get back to entering “diary” posts as I used to, but realizing how much I value reviewing some events of past years (birding, gardening, travel)….I’d best get in a tiny review of this spring, 2013:

FEBRUARY: TRIP to No California – Redwoods, Wineries, and good ole’ Ripon.
WHY did we DRIVE down? Lessee,

1) R’s new truck had only enjoyed life in the commute lane so far, and seemed to need a foot on the pedal a little further down to experience “life”….. (did that fool anybody?). And we’d “save money” by not boarding Mac. Baloney. Take your dog and you pay extra at motels, etc…etc…

That being said, the first 3 days of this trip were just plain fabulous in a time by ourselves n dog leisurely driving down the California Coast. As SOON as we were out of Oregon, the weather seemed brighter…MORE sun, and MAC had his first Ocean swim in years, here just south of Crescent City, CA:
**I WAS entirely impressed….that he transferred all his retrievals skills in seconds to a wild SURF….what a POWERFUL swimmer….he NEVER lost sight of those sticks no matter what the surf did to them….. GOOD boy!

*I should mention we had a grand time eating in Crescent City …it was Crabbing Time….and seems the Chart Room Restaurant was the locals hangout. TWICE we ate their… Crab Benedicts in the morning were fabulous.

Then we began the south drive….only wanting to get to Eureka. Once again, this day, we ate at a life favorite little dive right down at the fishermen’s dock edge in Trinidad, CA. Yes, the SEASCAPE is THE place to go for seafood …has been for a mighty LONG time…you’ll like WAIT a while if you right at lunchtime….(I saw some reviewers say, blah blah…not what it used to be, etc…..it’s a DIVE. I don’t know what they were told to expect when coming here). Anyways, we kept moving.

NEXT STOP:
We took off 101 to see Prairie Creek Redwoods State Park since we’d never been there….Talk about peace, quiet, and a sense of wonder. Down to the feel, the smells, stillness, all are powerful feelings these spaces create inside you. The “Big” Tree here, some 1500 years old, among a few other famous ones, numbers among some of the largest in the world. We had to sit and wonder about a tree that could even BE 1500 years old…..and to first time absorb that redwoods used to cover huge parts of this continent and Europe…..yes things have changed, but they get MY reverence for sure:

The “nurse” logs are almost unbelievable. This one was almost as tall as I am, and the tree that has grown out of it 100′ tall…..

Where’s Mark? How can you walk through these forests with a big ego. You cannot:

So, we arrived Arcata, shopped, loved that town……moved on to stay at Eureka….having a great time sightseeing, shopping….and continuing our drive through the Avenue of the Giants (Redwoods) next day. It was SO fun, even though the entire trip to Guerneville for that night was only 215 miles, it took most of the day….YEP, unplugged, just enjoying California’s finest forests.

And yes, MAC found water anywhere he went.
*At one point, we stopped hoping to capture another one of those “moments”….we heard water, saw two big trees just parallel to each other…one burned by lightning long ago…looking closer, the entire inner shell of the other burned out by that same strike HOW many years ago? Wow…… Doggy Mac, however, had other ideas….he KNEW that mini-river was close….we let him go and in this smaller space, he seemed to think he was in his little mud wallow back home and began howling, vocalizing for his life! We finally began walking back to the car, he’d watch, then jump BACK in for a few paddles…..look back, wait, swim, look, swim….then he finally began coming back. He saw were getting close to the truck…..he seemed to make a calculated decision: Lessee, the creek, I can make it if I run…they’ll never notice.” He took off…had his final few minutes….and slept the rest of the day in the back seat, happy and tired.
Here he was, checking ev few minutes to make sure we hadn’t left him:

Note: After every swim, he, of course, could no longer ride in the cab and had to endure a cool wind on his coat until he dried a bit, but he sure was handsome in his coat matching the redwoods colors:

Sunday night: Guerneville for Friday Night and the finale’ of Downton Abbey that would be enjoyed in our little single cabin at Fern Grove Cottages, owned/managed by a proper British Lady…she and I had a delightful 10 minutes debating just “who” was going to have their sad life ended up that night on the Abbey….. We had some fun meeting a local or 5 at what seems now, “historic” Rainbow Cattle Company…..and home in time for the show! How COULD they do that! Now, in Maria Nash’s words, “Mary will probably end up marrying Tom and enjoying life finally….until Tom gets run over by a tractor.”

And finally the next day, we are to begin our 4-5 day stay at the World Mark Resort with cousin Stan and Mary for a series of wine tastings, renewing friendship with Elena & Emilio, and general relaxation time in “Wine Country”…a new experience. It started, however, with MAC being boarded at what seems to be an upscale Olivet Boarding Kennel in Santa Rosa….very close to the resort. We didn’t pay for the “extra option” of the deluxe room where we could watch him on camera if WE were “lonely”……what? Geez.

Stan and Mary arrived shortly after we did:

The next 3 days were a whirl of wine tastings, grand meals (one at the Culinary Institute of America…formerly the old castle called Christian Bros Wineries)……. and we were joined by our good friends….Emilio and Elena.

Emilio and Elena are in this Wine Country loving their new life, and it was time to see them…….Wine Tasting was an experience Mark had never even considered …since he had never really been a wine drinker….. would it work? Could he be turned into a lush?

Well at least ONE of these days WAS one to remember the rest of my life. Castello Di Amorosa is where Emilio sells wine…and we HE the grand host, giving us a private tour of the entire castle, great tasting experience, and all. We joined Elena that evening for a fabulous Italian Dinner at a place owned by one of their friends. I was sorry we didn’t have the camera along.

Next day, Healdsburg where we enjoyed the best pizza we’ve ever eaten at DIAVOLA PIZZERIA . . . .Italian, wood oven, just fabulous…..and great staff to make sure you enjoyed your time. I’m SURE part of the success is that the pizzeria part has evolved from their time running as a butcher shop….good stuff!

The 3-4 days is almost a blur of exotic old wineries, beautiful beautiful country, and the COMPANY of fabulous people. Stan and Mary were patient with us newbies, and their wisdom here was truly appreciated. It was also great to see Elena & Emilio, and…..enjoy our LAST night in town at Franco’s Restaurant Italiano . . . .Their friend Franco made sure our table had as fabulous a time as someone could ….a memorable night, with fabulous fresh pasta & seafood.

Finally, Feb 25, we moved on the heart of Almond Country, out in the valley, near Modesto. Ripon, Almond Capitol of the World has its annual Almond Blossom Festival last w/e in February, where Rodger’s Aunt Paula has hosted a family get-together for what seems a lifetime. The numbers are getting smaller, a generation’s changing, and it seemed right to be here this year.

We always enjoy this time with her….she does a mountain of work getting ready, and we get to help with last minute details, like: Potato Salad prep, etc. The next day’s a whirlwind with the parades, the carnival, shopping, eating, laughing, remembering….and here the family is (One MUST click on the pic to get everyone in):

Our last night, we got to join up with cousins Karen T, Bruce & Kevin in Oakdale, “Cowboy Capitol of the World” . . . .for the Oscar Show….again, fabulous food, an grand times with old friends……….

FINALLY! We HAD to move on, and moved our gear along to Alameda where we once again joined up with David & Serafina who’ve married since our last visit. This was a more relaxing couple of days, and we needed it….. Talk about grand hosts, though, SERAFINA had worked with and has become a friend with the Master Pipe Organist at Stanford University where the Stanford Memorial Church (a cathedral in my opinion)….has 5 organs installed…. Yes, 3 small, 2 large. Robert Huw Morgan said to get us down there and we’d get a private tour of said organs and that turned out to be an unforgettable experience….almost up in the rafters of the cathedral….we learned lots, watched Robert PLAY, and then he let Mark even dabble a few lines, and that was unforgettable:

The Cathedral view from that organ spot:

Those few days will not be forgotten.

Our last night was a big departure, and worthy of big note….. Mark’s oldest sibling, the only girl, and oldest grandchild on both sides of our family, died at 33 from Cancer leaving 3 small girls…… None of us were close to the husband, and the kids grew up in touch with my parents but not me or the brothers. A couple years ago, niece Karen visited us in Portland when she was here on a science conference. So, it was perfect that our last night we got to see her and meet her FABULOUS dog JAVA, a Mastiff, who, at 4 yrs, thinks he’s a puppy:

We had a grand time, talking non-stop……till bedtime and an early start next morning after Karen prepped our five star breakfast for us. GREAT seeing Karen.

We DID have one more night’s stop in Ashland, but fatigue was catching up with us….it was spent laying on a motel bed watching TV. Sad, eh?

A Grand Trip.

I couldn’t let the FROST 2013 event pass without a comment or two and a few of the pics captured…..I’m trying to make this short.

From the last birding trip in November….I ALWAYS love what this big farm does with two old ancient farm trucks all summer long….from season to season, whatever’s at its peak is placed into the beds of these trucks…here was the last one of the year:

Here, from our quick trip to Multnomah Falls with pal Doug Taron visiting from Chicago, we passed fun ice spots in the gorge…..some of the hillsides looked like a movie set:

At a point we stopped to absorb a small stream almost completely frozen from high cliffs to the bottom…I saw a plaque honoring this person who donated the land right here to the Gorge….the MYSTERY about it was the old stone fireplace that adjoined this spot….it made me wish I could have seen the old place when the family as living there:

And here that was….almost lost now in moss, green, and decay….it just called for a story to me:

And here was that iced over little creek…..

And here WAS gorgeous Multnomah Falls getting all seized up in ice:

another view: (the wonder of this place is NO less magnificent in winter than it is in summer)

The pond below the first stream break under the high bridge…almost completely iced over:

And the BASE of the falls: ***The blowing wind had that bridge completely iced ….I was surprised the Forest Svc was letting anyone up here:

Another iced over creek….that ONLY kept flowing because it covered a LOT of ground in a short time:

And friend Doug Taron, shivering in front of the Falls in the icy wind:

And now for a couple fill-er pics from the winter:

Mark’s date at the last Grateful Dead show: (Thanks, Nancy….)

This IS MAC swimming at 30 degrees down at the pier in St Johns….doesn’t care if it’s 20 or 80:

WET and now shivering yet:

When we have these cold periods, I always kind of like just knowing this is out there, dry, covered, and ready to go….it’s the remnants of our big old fir from 2011:

MY FAVORITE VIEW THIS WEEK from our BACK YARD, right BY the woodshed:

The LAST of the Gravenstein apples are NOT going to waste….the wintering-over (from Alaska)Varied Thrushes are devouring them like crazy right now since the ground is too frozen for them to grab some grains:

And other favorite, the limbs of the big FIR out in front by the garden just look magic:

The tree branches right by the garage:

AND NOW……we tried out this area rug in the new dining room……it was returned…..TOO much red:

And our tiny little Christmas tree this year….had to be moved because of the new wood stove, so NO space as we’ve always had for something grand….”downsizing”:

AND ICED NW Skyline Blvd….was solid BLACK ICE this morning…….car wrecks, you name it, it happened….and by 10:30, it was all melted:

For my garden notes next year……………….END of gardening occurred yesterday, Oct 10. **there are still some tomatoes on the kitchen counter, unbelievably: The Carbon and Japanese Moromoto were the surprise beefsteak additions…..but…one MUST remember our DRY weather was at a record length….3 months of dry that won’t end until tomorrow. TOMORROW? ALL forecasts say this IS the beginning of the WET season……NO day on any extended forecast does not show rain.

So. I’ve had time to really prepare the garden for this coming rain. EVERY year for the past 15, it has taken the deer 3-4 days to kinda figure out the deer fence is DOWN and they can eat everything they want that’s left…. BECAUSE of our mini drought, this year, everything was GONE the first night……at least leafy stuff….all the lettuce, tomatoes, peppers, tomatillo plants that had been left…. 2nd night? All remaining anything was gone: carrot tops, branches of all the above plants….and for the first time in 15 yrs, they ate EVERY single remaining tomato (I’m SURE for the moisture inside).

Yes, the deer fence came down on a warm sunny day…..a GOOD day to work outside…..it has always come down later, but in mud/rain…this was nice.

Today’s prep for rain involved: all tomato cages stacked stored, first firewood moved into garage, stacked, and 2 boxes of kindling now ready for the NEW woodstove installation next Tuesday, YEA!. Ran the lawnmower mostly to pick up all leaves dropped from dry weather, then fertilized everything and put down bug stuff on chosen areas where moles attack us in winter.

Cousin Bruce has gone to Oregon City for a few days to spend with lifetime friend Dan and his wife…..we’ll see him back here about Sunday, good, except it will be WET when he’s here…..narrowing our choice of things to do.

MAC, has gotten used to swimming 2-3 times a week since we have no longer hiked much ……… he really is in good shape but does show some wear in that he doesn’t swim for an hour anymore….he’s down to 30-45 minutes…..then he begins dawdling around and not returning stuff like he should….you can TELL when he’s ready to be done……

And no pictures! VERY soon, I should be able to post something interesting with pics……can’t wait for the stove to come, get the place painted, baseboards down, and think about how to live in this new(er) space. Cool.

ah.

How much could possibly happen to keep me from updating this tired diary since Sep 5. Life seems to be full of “little” things that all add up. By now, I can only summarize a few items that stick out in memory:

1) The new Laminate Floors are really nice….they’ve been in a month, hard to believe, and yet the tasks associated with that are still undone. None of the baseboards are in because: a) Been waiting for the artist/painter Mark Golterman to get free from prior obligations…..he’s going to paint the rooms with the new floors, and we’re still trying to choose paint colors. Then, item “b” is described below:

2) Buck’s Stove Palace…. b) We purchased an excellent wood burning stove (Hearthstone – Heritage) from a most amazing museum/business on the East side: Buck’s Stove Palace. First impression was that it would be done and installed by the end of the month. Then little complications show up, of course, and the new stove hasn’t even arrived in town yet. WHEN it does, someone must go “choose” one of the new arrivals since the “soapstone” exteriors vary quite a bit in tone/finish and set up in intall date…… nights are cooling…… we hope to get this done.

Buck’s Stove Palace stand on its own as a treasure of all old things woodstoves…. the owner lives is in his 70′s, lives with his mother who’s 95, and could sell a used car to anyone…. THIS place is worth a visit if you’re in town.

3) We joined the Smiths on the 14th for Karen’s birthday…..The Movie she wanted to see was quite a fabulous documentary clearly showing both the beauty of this planet and what’s happening to its environments as humans overpopulate as fast as people can think about it… Both Awesome and frightening….and I HIGHLY recommend every human see it: SAMSARA .

4) Since Mac’s misadventure down in the park, our walking down past Arnie’s place has almost come to a stop…..not good since I clearly can use that daily regimen up and down the hills….. I still haven’t gotten over that sudden “attack” from the dog we thought we knew so well….. Instead Mac has been getting more regular trips to the River for swimming, so HE is doing fine.

5) Speaking of the Columbia/Willamette Rivers, the 3-month period here in the NW has now reached record levels for DRY AIR…. NO 3-month period since the 1880′s has been this dry. A forest fire could be started by dropping a cigarette butt….yikes. So yes, our lawn’s brown. But I mention it because taking MAC to the river is interesting since the beaches are LONG / DRY, the BOAT dock in Cathedral Park is laying on pavement and almost at an end. I hate to admit it, but we DO NEED rain badly….. I ran the mower yesterday not to cut dry grass but to pick up dry dead leaves that are falling early.

6) Artist Rep Theater began its season with a premiere of Aaron Posner’s play taken from 3 of Vonnegut’s early short stories about lOVE: AND SO IT GOES ! WHAT a winner. This became our immediate favorite of any/all seasons we’ve been going there…. the most sweet production I could imagine in a small black-box local community theater….. It ends THIS weekend, and we’re STILL thinking of going again.

7) The annual Vaux Swifts were busy some 30,000 strong flying into roost at the Chapman School during the month….we didn’t go to that…. Instead, we were invited to join Stephen, Rolfe at the BOY’S FORT “3rd Thursday” event, a VERY nice Gallery block in Kenton neighborhood and walk from there to their friends who have a rooftop garden setting as fabulous as any I’ve seen anywhere…. This garden sits directly across an alley from an old Chimney now being used by about 1000 Swifts…. so we sat there with a wonderful group of people as the sun set on a warm dry clear evening entranced by this bird behavior…. in a group this small, they swirled, up, around everywhere….and in less than a minute right at dusk, ALL entered that chimney in less than a minute. Whew. Some Drama.

8) We saw Lisa Lampinelli (showing off her new thin body) at the Schnitzer Concert Hall….for her new show….it was pretty damn funny……The best parts of this new tour will probably make it to HBO or some venue in a year or so… AFterwards, we showed up late at Matt’s place in St Johns for a fabulous end of the evening listening to some wonderful acoustic music with friends. VERY nice.

9) Cousin Stan and wife Mary were here the week of the 24th…..He has FINALLY began serious recovery to a level that he was administered his new “baby shots” clearly showing the Bone Marrow Transplant done a year ago is working. He only has one more Portland visit in november, and from then on, will hopefully be able to have his checkups done locally in Idaho….A relief for them both.

10) Friend David P flew up from the bay area later that week to stay and go to the “Further Concerts”….(Grateful Dead Afterlife)….at Edgefield. NO, I did not go….I’m NOT the deadhead here.

11) GARDEN LIFE! It continued amazingly well through September: 20 jars of plain ole’ stewed tomatoes canned just to avoid losing the ‘maters, and then the Sauce Tomatoes continued to ripen simply because of the WARM CLEAR DRY weather…Rodger did 3 batches of Ms. Bastianich’s Slow Cooked Tomato Sauce w/Basil and froze the results…. I finally took whatever corn that ripened and made 2 big batches of creamed corn. Yum. JUST yesterday, i cleaned all the corn out…. ALL the slicer tomatoes are out. Basil has been used up. And yet, we’re still eating lettuce out of there….it’s Oct 4! What a year, but in truth, I’m finally happy that work is done.

12) Cousin Bruce arrives this evening for a few days and we’re looking forward to this……There will be lots of talking, laughter, taking it easy…..a guest after my own heart.

But it may be a busy fall: on the 12th, Sweeney Todd at Portland Center Stage, 19th – painting interiors, 19th or so…Wood Stove install, 18th – David Byrne in town, 21st – Artist Rep 2nd Fall play, 24th – baseboards install., 26th – A GRIMM viewing party at cousins J & Bhakti’s home where the episode was filmed, 28th – a Chorus Line…… at Keller.

Whew!

Whoosh! The last 30 days have felt like being stuck on a downhill ski slope that doesn’t end. Whoever decided remodeling some of this house should happen while garden work is at its peak needs to have a talking to! Hah. IT IS the grasshopper vs ant story all over again….when it’s summer in Portland, you’d better make the work get done.

We’ve both fallen in love with the new deck! What a place that breathes relax…… enjoy the woods!

NOW, we’ve moved forward with nice laminate floors being put down and replacing the awful green carpet we’ve lived with for 15 years…. a quick pic shows a hint how they’ll look ….. (in a better pic, hah):

**Scott Seger is the craftsman, and make a note, Portlanders…if you EVER want to do floors this is the guy…. As nice as anyone I’ve ever met and helpful about ANY question, never in a hurry, and a perfectionist. HE IS HERE today and part of tomorrow…today working on the front room and hallway.

What did we do in the meantime? Yesterday was a full day catching up on the garden:

1) Rodg trimmed, pruned his sauce tomatoes (marzanos, romas, etc etc) back to the fruit, hoping to get some ripening happening.

2) Mark watered the garden then picked a small bucket of tomatillos (guess what for):

**There’s most of the ingredients sans lemon juice. This will make the total salsa jar count for this winter up to 76. BUT. 12 of those are EXTREMELY HOT. I WONDER WHO will volunteer to test ‘em out.

3) SO many tomatoes and you can ONLY eat 1 BLT a day and a plate of slicers…..so it was time to ROAST these:

** HOW? slice, tumble just a mite in a bit of olive-oil…..place upright on the roasting pans, a light sprinkle of sugar, salt, pepper and roast at 375 about 2 hours…. and they’re finger lickin’ good right out of the oven:

**yum.

4) The sept nites are cooling…..age showing on BASIL. 2 BIG plants were pulled, cleaned and made ready:

**YES, once the leaves are free, run ‘em through the blender with just a drizzle of olive oil, so they’re coated. then, PLACE into ice trays:

***when they’re frozen, get out of the trays, pack so they’ll be loose, and freeze for the winter. NOTE: THIS IS NOT a real pesto recipe, but almost. WHEN they’re THAWED this winter, I’ll add the garlic, walnuts, and parmesan “FRESH” and it will truly taste LIKE a just made pesto.

Yes, that was a full day…..then, as Scott left after 5:00 pm, we then had to move all the furniture back into the TV room so the front rooms could be done today. So we relaxed, sat down to watch the U.S. Open Tennis matches of the day, and WHAT? RAINED OUT? ARE YOU Kidding? Oh well……

TODAY? Pick MORE tomatoes and maybe make Stach’s Scalloped Tomatoes……it sounds delicious.