Happy Anniversary...

Happy Anniversary, Dad and Sharon! I hope your day is wonderful.

On A Rainy Night...

I titled my blog "On a Rainy Night..." because a little over a year and a half ago, Riff and I moved our family from the high desert of Wyoming to the Oregon coast. We are enjoying our new adventures and have experienced MANY rainy nights. I love to lay in bed at night listening to the sound of the rain on the roof and against the windows. I love the sight and smell of the fog rolling in and creeping around the trees. I love standing on the beach with the wind blowing the salt spray against my face. I love to breathe deeply the distinct smell of the ocean. I love walking the dogs on the beach under a full moon (on the months when the sky is clear enough to actually see the moon!). I love making clam chowder with the clams that we have dug ourselves. I love to throw my crab ring in the water and pull it up full of red, snapping dungeness crabs. I love to watch the fishing boats in the bay. I love to visit our local herd of Sea Lions down at the pier. Please, follow me on our new adventures through the rain. I promise not to get you wet!

Book Meme 2...

Another book challenge from our KansasRose. This is fun!

1. Grab the book closest to you...NO cheating!
2. Open to page 123
3. Scroll down to 5th sentence.
4. Post text of next 3 sentences on blog-and name of book and author
Tag 3 people (that will be the hardest part!)

A Gathering of Finches by Jane Kirkpatrick

"Finish the story." We sat in her room surrounded by Beatrix Potter's books with exquisite colored drawings of gardens and rabbits.
"I'm sorry. Don't know where my mind went," I said, not knowing it would be the first of many lies to myself, to her, and then to others.

Let's see, I tag Jackie, Selena, and hmm, I think that's everybody who stops by from time to time. If any one else out there wants to play, I tag YOU!!

Book Meme...

KansasRose challenged me to this book meme. Here goes...

1. One book that changed my life...This is really a hard one. There are alot of books that have influenced my life a great deal, but actually changed it, hmm. Of course, The Bible needs to be on the top of that list as I have refered to it many times in my life.

2. One book that you have read more than once...Christy by Catherine Marshall.

3. One book that you would like on a deserted island...Something light and "beachy". Maybe something by Luanne Rice.

4. One book that made you laugh...The BFG by Roald Dahl.

5. One book that made you cry...Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.

6. One book that you wish had been written...My Mom always wanted to write. I wish that she would have...

7. One book that you wish had never been written...Anything Evil.

8. The book you are currently reading...The Sunday Wife by Cassandra King.

9. One book that you have been meaning to read...Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

10.books that you don't enjoy...Scary stuff such as Steven King novels and the like.

11.Books you remember as a real page turner... All Jane Kirkpatrick books-Historical Fiction based on real women. Very good.

12.Non-Fiction books you enjoy...Torey Hayden books-Somebody Else's Kids, Ghost Girl Murphy's Boy, etc. - Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. Many more.

13.Childrens books enjoyed by the family...I have always read to my kids, so this list could never end if I got carried away! Let's see, where to begin...
All Shel Silverstein
All of Jan Brett's books
The Winnie-the-Pooh books by A.A. Milne
All the Beatrix Potter stories
The Little House on the Praire Series
All of Roald Dahl's books
The Wrinkle In Time series
The Harry Potter series
The Other Side of the Mountain and My Side of the Mountain,
I'll stop now. I could go on and on and on...

I challenge Selena of Apron Thrift Girl to this book meme...

Astoria

Here are the pictures of Astoria that I promised last post. The first is looking across the Columbia River from Washington into Oregon. That is Astoria on the hill.


Crossing the Astoria Megler Bridge


A view of the bridge from down below


And Home Sweet Home...

Hookey...

Riff and I both had long, frusterating days at work this week, so played hookey from our house projects today to enjoy the sun.

We headed over the bridge to the Washington LongBeach Peninsula. Our first stop was at the Cranberry Museum. I have wanted to visit this spot since we moved here, so can not scratch that one off the list. We took the 1/2 mile, self-guided tour of the cranberry farm and then checked out the museum. Very interesting stuff. Alot I didn't know about cranberries, though they are one of my very favorite flavors.



We then headed into Longbeach, unaware that the annual Kite Festival was in full swing. Ah-ha, another thing to scratch off of my list.




Riff and Dustin discussing the Kettle Corn purchase

Then it's off to the races...




Then it was time to go home. There is a gorgeous view of our town, Astoria, from the Washington side, but blogger has decided that I can not download anymore pictures right now, so I will save those for a later post.

May you all be blessed with days of playing hookey...

Happy Birthday, Susan!!

Elmer says "Happy Birthday. Thanks for noticin' me..."

Today is my big sisters birthday. She is turning...Oh, I can't tell! I'd get in alot of trouble, but lets just say...she's OLD!

We have a fairly large family, six of us, to be exact. All of my sisters and brothers are special to me and I love each and every one of them. Susan and I shared the "single parent" bond over the years. We went through divorce at the same time and were each raising small kids alone. Her KP and my Brittany are the same age, and her Jordan and my Shilo are the same age. I also had Dustin, but she didn't keep up with the kid making that time. Susan was going to college for her teaching degree then and I was working full time. We shared alot of dinners, kid watching and verbal support of one another in those early years. We have piled all 5 of our kids in her van and driven cross country together for one reason or another. We have spent many hours together cooking, crafting, walking, driving, and fixing all of the worlds problems. Our lives have changed alot since those early years. I am remarried to a wonderful man. Susan is still single, but happily so. Her boys are growing into mature, good looking men. She is back in Oregon, where she feels that she belongs, she lives on a small farm and has acquired quite a few critters. She finds time to cook and paint and go for long walks. She has a booth at the local farmers market where she serves homemade biscuits and gravy, cookies and fudge cake every Saturday morning. She has good friends that she can count on and also has family close.
She is mother, sister, daughter, friend, teacher, farmer, cook, vet, artist, designer. I could go on and on.

Happy birthday to my beautiful forever friend. My big sister...


Here she is teaching me an embroidery stitch that I just can't seem to get down. She is the blonde, I am the brunette.

Happy Birthday, DAD!

Happy Birthday to you, you live in a zoo! This is a picture of one of my Dad and Sharon's MANY birds. They started with a couple a few years ago, have hatched quite a few babies and have, I believe at last count, 11 birds. They really enjoy them alot.

My Dad's birthday was yesterday. My mind wanders back to one of my earliest memories. I was 3, I think, looking out of the living room window of our uppper floor apartment in Ketchikan, Alaska. My two older sisters were off to school and I was very upset and crying because I wanted to go with them. My Dad was also leaving for work. He worked for Alaska Airlines as a radio technician. He picked me up, asked if I wanted to go with him for a little while. I nodded yes, wiped my tears with my chubby little hand and we were off. I don't remember all the details of the day, but do remember a pilot named Chuckie who took me for a short ride in one of the "Grumman Goose" airplanes. These are the planes with the pontoons to land on the water. I also came home that day with a little gold pin shaped like wings and an airline coloring book and crayons. Thank you, Daddy, 35 years later, for making your sad little girl very happy that day.

Fog Magic...

Fog had settled in sometime in the night. This is looking down the street from our house. I have loved the fog since I was a little girl. It softens the edges and makes everything seem just a bit magical. My sister had a book when we were small called "Fog Magic". It told the story of a young girl who would walk into the forest on foggy days and into a magical town that was only there when the fog had settled in. She made a new friend in the fog-town and they had some great adventures. I remember, as a kid, going for a walk on foggy days, just hoping to find that magical town. Even now, walking through the fog on a chilly morning, I can still almost imagine that something new and special waits for me just around the corner. I think I need to find that book again...



Tonights reward for blackberry picking just came out of the oven. Blackberry, apricot tart. MMM....smells delicious. I'm going to run and have a taste.

May you all be blessed with a bit of fog magic...

Blackberry Pickin'...

Went blackberry pickin' tonight until it got a little too dark to see. So much fun to squabble about who found the motherlode and who has picked the most. We came away with a few scratches, but plans to go again this week. You CANNOT have to many blackberries, simply impossible. I am making a tart tomorrow night and plan to lay away a few pies in the freezer for those long rainy winter months.
I'm thinking blackberry jam, blackberries on my cereal, blackberries on vanilla ice cream, blackberries by the handful. The possibilities are endless....

S'More Cookies...

The latest issue of Better Homes and Gardens magazine arrived in my mailbox Saturday right before I went grocery shopping. This simple recipe for s'more cookies beckoned me to make them. They turned out very good, especially for using a refrigerated sugar cookie dough. They were fun to put together and that whole stack disappeared in no time. The recipe follows:

1 18oz. package refrigerated sugar cookie dough
1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
6-8 Marshmallows
2 Chocolate bars

Pre-heat your oven to 350. Grease a cookie sheet.
In a medium-sized bowl, kneed the sugar cookie dough together with the graham cracker crumbs. Roll into 1 1/2 inch balls and flatten with the palm of your hand.
Place on cookie sheet 2 inches apart. Make an even amount of cookies. Bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack for 20 minutes.

(This is were your husbad will come in and steal one of the cookies, so you probably should have made an odd amount!)

Turn half of the cookies upside down on the cookie sheet. Place 2 squares of the chocolate bar on each cookie, topping off with a marshmallow. Place back in the hot oven for about 1 minute. When they come out all soft and melty, spread peanut butter on the bottom of the remaining cookies and place on top of each chocolatey, marshmallowey, gooey mess.

Send them all outside to eat them. Make extra, the neighborhood kids will want some, too!

Portland

We took Kevin back to Portland today after he had been home for a week. He had a break from school this week, but they start up again on Monday. On our way there, we stopped at this farm stand on Highway 26. What a great place! We have been there before, but it has been along time. They have a great little store that has almost anything you are looking for that is in season at the time. They also have fields of You-Pick flowers, corn, blackberries, blueberries and I don't know what all. I couldn't resist snapping the shot of the bench with the ripe pumpkin surrounded by flowers. So early for a pumpkin, but makes me long for the smells and flavors of fall...

Portland has some gorgeous architecture. The church below is right across the street from Kevins downtown apartment. It is a Korean Church and just beautiful. Don't you agree?

Garage Sale Finds...

Yeah!! Since I met with success on my first download, I thought I would share our wonderful garage sale finds of the day.



This is a braided rug from the early 19th Century and it came from Maine. Since Riff is from Connecticut and has also lived in Maine, we couldn't resist. It is in beautiful condition and matches all the colors that we have used in much of the house.



Riff has been wanting some type of a small table or stand for this spot for awhile now. We found this sewing table (sewing machine not intact) at a sale today for 5 dollars. Fits right in there rather nicely, if I do say so myself. I also found a vintage table runner at another sale for 1 dollar that is draped across the table. It is embroidered with lilacs and is very pretty. A couple of small stains, but my little vase covered them up quite well!



May you all be blessed with wonderful garage sale finds....

My Kitchen

Okay, here goes...My first attempt at trying to download a picture to blogger. I'm excited to publish and see if it actually shows up on the other end! The picture that I am hoping shows up is of our newly redone kitchen cabinets. Riff and I spent what seems like forever scraping 9 layers of paint of off the 88 year old cabinets. They must have been painted every 10 years, but never stripped. Some of the colors that we unearthed were incredible. Hard to imagine someone actually wanting those horrid colors in their kitchen! As you can see, we have put a glass in the two cabinets that flank the sink. It is a very cool hand-blown bubble glass, but I couldn't get it to show very well in a picture. We still need to replace the light fixture over the sink, and are working on getting our vintage french style door ready to go in. The kitchen will be all buttoned up after that. It will be time to move onto the bathroom project. We have a clawfoot tub waiting in the garage for that one....

My Camera

I just bought my first digital camera. I am so excited!! It takes wonderful pictures, but I haven't had time to learn all it's bells and whistles yet. I can hardly wait to start adding pictures to this blog.
Tune in later...

Happy Birthday, Dustin....

My baby turned 14 today. I think that makes me - drumroll, please - OLD!!!

'Twas the night of his birthday
And all through the house,
Dustin was in a frenzy,
He even annoyed the mouse.
His skateboard was dropped by the front door without a care
In hope's that the mailman had left packages there.

Momma was in the kitchen,
stirring up a birthday cake.
Daddy was in the back yard,
Picking up dog poop with a rake.

When out in the living room,
There began such a chatter,
They ran to the door
To see what was the matter.

Dustin was spinning in circles,
A party hat on his head,
"Whadyagetme?"
"Whadyagetme?"
"Whadyagetme?"
Was all that he said.
He spun faster and faster,
What an irritating lad.

Dad looked at Mom,
Mom looked at Dad,
Something had to be done.
The kid had been overloaded
With too much fun.

A bucket of water soon doused his head,
He was stuffed into his jammies
And put right to bed.

And they heard him exclaim
As they shut out the light,
"Happy Birthday to me
And don't eat all my cake!"

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

All my bags are packed, I'm ready to go
I'm standing here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breaking, it's early morn
The taxi's waiting, he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die...
Kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me,
Hold me like you'll never let me go.
'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again....
-John Denver

Took Miss Shilo to the airport in Portland on Saturday for her first ever flight. She was headed to Cody, Wyoming to see her friends and big sister, Brittany. She was very nervous and afraid that she might get "carsick(?)seasick(?)airsick(?)-what is it?". We gave her some dramamene, which made her kind of sleepy, so she wasn't quite so worried. She slept for the first 45 minutes of the 2 hour flight. Wasn't so bad after all. So far she is having a great time.

Riff and I did some shopping for house stuff after we dropped her off, then went into downtown Portland for dinner at the Daily Grille. We sat at a sidewalk table and had a wonderful dinner topped off with a slice of key lime pie. MMMM......

Sunday we cracked down on our house projects. Kitchen cabinet drawers and doors are back on, new light fixtures are up in the kitchen and on the back porch. Guest room floor is sanded and the trim is painted. We moved the dining room clock and hung a piece of art in its place and finally put up a pair of sconces that we had received for Christmas. So we're a little slow, so what........

May you be blessed with short flights and finished projects...

County Fair

"Been workin' like a dog, slavin' on the fence line,
Stretchin' those wires tight.
Diggin' and tappin' and sweatin' in the sunshine,
But I get off tonight.
I got a date with a girl, a pretty ranchers daughter,
Green as her golden hair.
Gonna pick her up at eight after some soap and water.
And we're headin' to the County Fair.
Well, there's a full moon in the western sky,
and there's magic in the air.
Ain't nothin' I know of, can make you fall in love,
Like a night at the County Fair..."
-Chris Ledoux

Riff and I went to the Clatsop County Fair on Tuesday night. It was the first year that we didn't have any kids pulling on our arms, asking for cotton candy and money to ride the ferris wheel. Kind of a bittersweet moment. I wasn't quite sure how to act. I watch the other families with small kids, listen to the squeals of delight when they spot the lights of the carnival, and miss my babies. They grow up so darn fast. On the other hand, I don't wish to have anymore of my own. It's kind of nice to have a few nights free for just the two of us. We wandered the fair grounds, eating foot long German sausages, curly fries, and elephant ears. We scratched the pigs behind the ears, let the goats chew on our sweatshirts and laughed at the old turkey strutting around in his pen. Bryan White was the entertainment for opening night, so we sat on the green grass at the pavillion and enjoyed the music.
May you be blessed with the magic of the county fair....

Just Putzin'

"Just Putzin'"
This is one of my husbands favorite sayings when asked what he is doing. Brittany, our oldest daughter, informed him recently that she didn't think that "putzin" was an actual word.
It is more than a word at our house. It has become a way of life. With so many projects going on in the restoration of our 1918 cottage, we tend to "just putz" ALOT!! This weekend was a prime example. We had so many things on our to get done list that we didn't seem to know which way to go first and not a whole lot actually got done. We did manage to get the NINE layers of paint scraped off of all of the cabinet doors and the cabinets themselves scraped, sanded and painted. The doors and drawers are still hanging around in the garage waiting for the paint brush to descend upon them. (Some of them are painted and ready to be re-hung.) I had delusions of granduer and really thought that we would get the cabinets done and back together this weekend. I guess I should have painted instead of "putzin'" around down at the Sunday Market for several hours! Ah, well, it will all come together....eventually......