Home from PDX 2010

Our PDX 2010 trip was a great success and we can hardly wait to go back. In fact the more time we spend there the more we wish we could move there.
As always we brought back loads of great stuff.  In fact we actually ended up buying a new suitcase to fit it all.  From the left to right starting at the bottom: a myrtle spurtle from Bob's Red Mill country store, samples from Bob's Red Mill, a free bag clip and measuring scoop from Bob's Red Mill, chia seed purchased at Bob's Red Mill country store, a Bob's Red Mill magnet, books from Powell's, nail polish without formaldehyde, assorted chocolates from Moonstruck Chocolate, candy and a brochure from Ponzi winery, lovely purple sock yarn from Twisted, bright green yarn for a cedar leaf shawlette from Make One, tasty pastries from Two Tarts Bakery,  a DIY cheese kit from Powell's, linzer tart tea set cookie cutters from a pastry supply store, beer from Belmont Station‎, three cones of custom yarn from Yarnia, black and white yarn for a Jollyfish hat, and a sample of yarn soak from Yarnia.
What didn't make it into the picture is an assortment of wine from two wine tasting jaunts.  The wineries we visited included the Ponzi winery which produced a really fantastic bottle of wine we had once at The Tasting Room.  The reason they didn't make it into the picture is because Continental didn't manage to include the box we packed them in on our actual flight. 

PDX 2010 - Day 2

Bob's Red Mill

PDX 2010 - Day 1

This year we got to visit one of our favorite places with some of our very favorite people. We started off with a delicious brunch at Slappy Cakes where you can get anything on a pancake.  We opted for ginger batter and for toppings we chose scallions and lemon curd.  Although those sound like a bizarre combination, both really worked.  

Next we enjoyed a leisurely stroll through Portland's Rose Gardens.  I had no idea there we so many different types of roses is all different colors and smells. 

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This is just one of the many (many) pictures we took on our walk. 

In addition to the hundreds of types of roses, the gardens had sculptures

One of the gardens was the Shakespeare Garden.

And there was an outdoor theater.

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In the afternoon we visited a knitting store and our favorite book store. 

Todd opted for a coffee shop during the first half of the yarn store adventure.  He was nice enough to bring coffees for the yarn addicted admiring yarn and knitted samples at Knit-Purl. 

The yarn store also featured an extremely friendly Cavalier King Charles Spaniel that Todd made friends with.

After our yarn fix we poured over books, stationary, graphic novels and more at our favorite book store, Powell's.

Our first day was also Hannah's birthday so we celebrated with happy hour drinks and food at a local pub with an outdoor garden.

Last but not least we had fantastic birthday desserts at Papa Hayden's where we tried not to over do it. 

Esteban's Graduation

  

This weekend we drove all the way to Buffalo to see Esteban graduate with his bachelors degree from Buffalo State. The ceremony was held in the gymnasium (although the weather held out in the end), but it turned out to be one of the better graduation ceremonies I've attended.  The key note address was given by Judy L. Elliott, Ph.D., Class of 1982, Chief Academic Officer, Los Angeles Unified School District. As commencement speeches go it was good, but the best part was that she read If by Rudyard Kipling. While it is not unusual for commencement speeches to include inspirational quotes and references, this was perfect for Esteban because mom made him memorize If when he was in elementary school and then used it to encourage him thereafter. Almost as good as the coincidence of Rudyard Kipling's poem was a surprise visit from Senator Charles Schumer, to say a few words and congratulate the class.

If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

- Rudyard Kipling

Houses Fall Apart

The kind of call you don't want to get when you are driving down 87 is a call from your town's Fire Chief and the building inspector asking you how soon you will be home.

When you finally get home this is not what you want to find:

Notice the wooden brace at the top of our house.

They'd blocked off the whole street and evacuated the tenants, then constructed a wooden brace to hold the facade onto the house.

Believe it or not the house with the scaffolding is not actually ours. 
Our house is the one two doors down behind the utility pole.

Evidently, during the recent storm, a chunk of the bricks just above the second floor window came away from the front of the house and landed in the driveway, clipping the neighbor's Harley on the way down.

The only good part of this was that everyone from the town (the firemen, the cops) was really nice and professional. And now we can get rid of the unfortunate pink and yellow bricks.

Whitney's Bridal Shower

For Whitney's bridal shower Aubrey and Heather threw a lovely garden tea party at a friend's house. It was a fun time complete with a variety of Harney & Sons teas, finger sandwiches and tasty desserts.

I got to make Whitney a hat out of a paper plate and all the bows and ribbons and I got a real kick out of doing that.

The bridesmaids and maid of honor got to bond over preparing the food.

Then we got to meet many of Whitney's friends and relatives.