chicken feathers

a few more blueberry pictures

Picking blueberries is one of my most favorite traditions that we've started since moving here.  This year we came away with 23 pounds.  We picked 13 and traded 10 for some canned fruit - I just love that!  Our freezer is full of berries now.  One of my favorite breakfasts is fresh granola, milk, and frozen blueberries with icy milk gathered around their equators.

I can't wait to introduce our new family member to the joys of Nelson's Blueberries!  I love that we drive into the hills above Hood River and then settle in to fondling deliciously blue berries with Mt. Hood overseeing the process.  It just makes me so happy.  I'm glad the kids enjoy it as well.  We were there for about 2 hours and they did great...even when Grant learned about electric fences.  !!

While we were picking Anna kept bringing me dandelions she would find.  Here's the progression.

Isn't life sweet?

food, food, food

I don't mean to obsess, but it's like an obsession.  I'm hungry all the time.  Finishing one meal signals that it's time to start fantasizing about the next.  I don't eat all the time, mind you.  I just wish that I were.  Or is it was?  That's a tricky one.  Anyway, back to eating.  The other night Russell brought home a pint of Ben and Jerry's for me.  Magic Brownie - raspberry and vanilla ice creams with huge hunks of fudgey brownies.  It was magical, in a very legal sort of way.  Anyway, I was happily checking my list of blogs, browsing on Etsy, and enjoying my ice cream when there was simply no more to be had.  I HAD EATEN THE ENTIRE PINT...IN ABOUT A HALF AN HOUR.  I was shocked, and slightly ill.  I paid my penance later that night when heartburn hit and I couldn't get back to sleep for several hours.  It's not all bad-for-you gluttony around here, though.  We've been really enjoying the summer bounty.  Here are some pictures of some gorgeous chiogga beets from a friend's garden and the roasted veggie smorgasbord they went into.  This is good gluttony.  And don't tell me that's an oxymoron. 

Here's the recipe in case you're tempted...

roasted new potatoes - from What's for Dinner by Maryana Vollstedt
(this is the base recipe - i just change the veggies to fit the season.  the medley above included beets, potatoes, carrots, zucchini and green beans - those went in halfway through the cooking time.)

2-3 Tbsp olive
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled (or 1 1/2 tsp fresh)
6 red new potatoes, unpeeled, quartered (or any other root veggie, peeled or not, depending on what it is)

Preheat oven to 400.  In a large bowl combine oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and rosemary.  add potatoes and toss well.  transfer to a metal baking sheet and bake until golden brown and crisp, stirring once, 30-40 minutes.

7-ish months

Or is it 8?  I am so confused with how to calculate gestation.  40 weeks don't line up with 9 months - so are you 9 months pregnant for an entire month or do you reach your ninth month when you deliver?  If it's the former, I'm 7 1/2 months pregnant.  If the latter, I'm 8 1/2.  Whatever.  I've got about 6 weeks to go - give or take a few.  I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow that I'm looking forward to.  I would like to be checked for dilation/effacement...just to put my mind at ease.  I've been having quite a few contractions, especially in the evenings.  Nothing too painful but the baby has dropped (ahhhh - deep breaths again!) so the contractions feel like they are squeezing the kid right on out.  I am also experiencing some serious nesting instincts.  I am very driven to get all the loose ends tied up.  We got home from our trip to the coast on Sunday and on Monday I was clearing out some bedroom furniture and re-organizing the closet so we'll have room for the crib.  We've decided to use cloth diapers so yesterday I was getting fabric for those.  Today I'm trying to finish some dresses for Anna.  It's like I'm racing against my body that keeps trying to deliver this kid in the living room.  I'll probably go past my due date but I can't help these impulses!

Last night was my last time teaching yoga until January.  It was definitely time to be done.  It's getting harder and harder to do the poses which isn't a problem for a personal practice - there are all kinds of modifications I can do - but when I'm the instructor, especially for a beginner's class, and the students are watching me for proper form...well it's been kind of ugly lately.  I have to laugh when we're doing a forward fold, let's say, and I will talk it through with legs together but there is no physical way I can do it without my legs spread so I just modify for myself, then I'll look up and everyone has their legs apart.  Multiply this for nearly every other pose and, well, it's time to turn in the teacher's mat. 

On a different note, Grant and I were in bed this morning looking at an animal magazine he gets every month (thanks Grandma Jody!).  There was a picture of a snail in the front that he was intrigued by.  Later that morning Grant got out the playdough and made this...

I feel like a braggy parent but, come on!  This is pretty awesome!

a quarter of a century

I don't know how it happened, but my little baby sister turned 25 last week.  I remember holding her when mom brought her home from the hospital.  And now she's 25.  And she's the best little sis a girl could want.  AND we got to have her here at our place for the big day.  Because all events (at least in my mind) center around the food being served, here's what we had on Kates' birthday. 

Lunch (she worked in the morning so we didn't get her until early afternoon):
    Grandma sandwiches, potato chips, cookies and brownies.  In our family, nothing says love like a big plate of grandma sandwiches.  Our Grandma Tutu slices bread super thin (like cuts a standard slice of bread right through the middle) and then puts lettuce on one side and spreads her special concoction of shredded meat (leftover roast beef or pork is my favorite), mayo and sunflower seeds on the other.  She puts both sides together and then piles a plate full of these little treasures.  They are ALWAYS served with potato chips.  Sometimes there are additional sides but the potato chips are always present.

Dinner:
    Pot roast, roasted potatoes, artichokes with ranch dip made with sour cream and the POWDERED Hidden Valley Ranch mix, home-steamed grape juice (a heidi specialty), chocolate cake (again provided by Heidi, who rocks), and homemade vanilla ice cream with chunks of brownie and chocolate chip cookie dough (sans chocolate chips). 

I have to say that as a participant, Katherine's birthday was awesome.  I don't know how she felt about it, but I was pretty stoked about all the great food (well, except for the pot roast.  it needed another...ohhhh, let's say three hours in the crockpot).

Here are some pictures from our time with the birthday girl.

getting some help with the candles.

we went for a little hike above the dalles.  it was a bit windy as demonstrated by anna's pigtails.

i LOVE this shot!  thanks to kates for the excellent jumping idea!  and thanks for spending your birthday with us!

goodness!

So...things didn't go so well with Anna's potty training.  We tried for three days and she seemed to understand what she needed to do but when she'd get on the toilet she just couldn't figure it out.  I was pretty hopeful on the second day - she had a couple successful potty trips but on the third day she refused to go into the bathroom and was starting to cry when she'd pee in her undies.  Rather than scar her for life we just stopped and went back to diapers.  We'll wait a few months and try it again.  I was a little disappointed at first but I'm okay now and know that she'll figure it out when she's ready.  In the meantime, Grant keeps trying to convince us that he needs a jellybean when he pees in the the toilet.  Nice try.

Canning season has arrived.  Today was the first day of canning.  A rough start but Russell is pretty sure things will go a bit more smoothly tomorrow.  It's so exciting seeing everything running again.   I love seeing the steam coming out of the stacks - it just looks busy!   Being that today was the first day, the days prior have been a bit crazy.  I've hardly seen Russell.  Last night was the worst.  He got home at 4am and left again at 5:30am.  He also got a new calling at church which entails a lot of meetings so if he hasn't been at the cannery, he's been at church.  I was feeling sorry for myself so I did some retail therapy - Jenny style.  3 1/2 flats of raspberries and strawberries later I felt much better.  I've been drying and freezing and making syrup and loving it.  Summer's awesome.  Even if it means I'm a widow.

cheaper than prozac.

while in hood river getting berries we went to a lavender farm.  divine! 



my good friend heidi came with us - it's SO MUCH FUN having a buddy to do things with.  the kids adore her and so do i!  it's perfect!

canon 85mm f1.8

I'm in love, baby!  I just got this lens and it is AMAZING!  It's fuh-fast and sharp!  It is incredible to see the image in your head -click- and then see it on the screen.  It's like this lens can READ MY MIND!