Eagle Creek

Started this post before our trip back East, but didn't get a chance to post it until now.  I was right about the weather; the NW greeted us with a downpour as we made our way home from the airport on Tuesday.


Summer is almost over.  We've seen the first rain that we've had in weeks the past few days, which is nice as I haven't had to water our garden all week.  Things will probably have taken an even more decisive turn by the time we return from the East coast at the end of September, so we're really trying to pack it in while we can.  Last week Seth and I went on a three day trip just East of Portland in the Columbia River Gorge.  It was nice and mellow climbing up into the hills from the river, and we passed so many waterfalls that I began to find them dull.

Yes, that is a tunnel behind a waterfall that I'm about to walk through.

Our campsite the first night

 

Wahtum Lake, our night number two camp destination.  It was a little brisk but we went for a swim here anyway.

There were forest fires burning about 40 miles up river (along the Columbia) from where we were, but the smoke made it all the way to us.  Definitely made hiking a little less pleasant and a little more strenuous, and contributed to our decision to hike the whole way out on the third day instead of camping a third night.  The last day we went through some cool landscapes: lots of rocky outcroppings in the woods and some beautiful exposed sections of trail where we got good sun, and then rain.

Sarah's (kinda blurry) Face

Just before Kat's visit Sarah and Andy came through town for a night, and we had such a nice spread when they arrived that we snapped a few pictures.  Thought you might like to see the visage of your other daughter/granddaughter/etc.  Also pictured (with the wine) our roommate Greg.

Life After Kat

It's been two weeks since Kat headed back East, and I finally feel like I'm getting back on top of my various projects again.  We had an absolute blast while she was here; too much fun to remember to take photos most of the time.  A couple of weeks before her visit, she dropped on me the very new information that she's come around on nature, and is now "into that stuff."  I had thought we would spend her visit in Portland sewing and going to the arcade/second run theatre, and suddenly there was a lot more to try to fit in.  Luckily we got to a little of everything:  Kat sewed her first garment (a gathered, high waisted skirt with an elastic waistband and some very impressive looking pockets); we made a bunch of bread together, including pitas, pizza, and a rustic-type loaf, worked in the garden, spent an afternoon at Powell's, the giant bookstore; Gordon took her to her first concert to see Say Anything and Eisley; she and Sarah went kayaking two days in a row, once out to an island that they explored on a long hike; Kat even tried a bit of surfing one day with Seth and I, borrowing my board to catch waves on her stomach and knees (next year she'll be on her feet for sure!).

We're beginning to reap the rewards of our garden, so far mostly in the form of snap peas and salad greens.

  

Seth put together this garden box with some old windows we found.  We left them down during the beginning of the season to make a mini greeenhouse while it was still cold and we were starting the lettuce, but now its sweltering most days so it stays open.

We also harvested our garlic while Kat was here, and have somewhere around 30 bulbs of 6 different varities, still drying in our pantry.

Kat munching on some peas.  You can see we also have a pear tree and blackberries growing out back.

Planted some corn the other day, a tiny bit late but we'll still get some, just late and maybe not quite in abundance.  We have zucchini and tomatoes that are starting to produce now too; I made a loaf of zucchini bread the other day and think we'll have a few more throughout the summer.  Tomatoes seem... difficult.  Maybe they'll surprise me with a late comeback, but so far they've required more tlc than their production seems worth.  I had hopes to grow a bunch and can our own sauces this summer.  It's kinda early still, but I'm thinking in years to come I might focus more on other things.    Less finicky things.

We've been trying to balance taking advantage of the summer, now that it's finally here in full force, and working on our projects.  Seth has two new boards in the works, which I have remembered to photograph from the very beginning this time (coming soon) and together we've been developing pair of shoes (also more to come soon).  But with mountains and ocean both just a couple of hours away, it's tough!

Robe Parisienne

Just finished another dress for a friend of mine, and luckily got to take a few pictures  before she takes it out of town.  I'm really excited to have completed this project, as this is the first dress that I've completely drafted from scratch.  Not only that, but this lovely print that Raph picked out for her dress is an old school style map of Paris, where her mother lives and where she will be wearing it next week.  There's something wonderfully silly and romantic in thinking about a dress that I made on the streets of Paris.

And I'm extra pleased with myself because this is also the first time that I've followed through on the tedious of task of both writing down and photographing every step of the construction process for a project.  I'm using blogger to organize these notes for myself, and you can check them out here if you're interested.  As of yet they're somewhat jargon/abbreviation heavy and without a glossary, as they're just for me.  Down the line, I'd like to add more information so that my notes might be a better resource for others (I'm going to the trouble of putting them on the web anyway, right?)

Anyhow, without further ado...