Birthday 23 Weekend

Things have been going well here the last two days. Thursday was my 23rd birthday and we celebrated it by going with Kevin, Kelley and Kendra to the river to go swimming. Joel and I were planning on a picnic and bike ride then Kelley texted me in the morning of my birthday and asked if we wanted to go swimming up at the river and as a fish I can hardly say no to such an offer. So we went to Sauvie Island where there are some beaches on the Willamette and enjoyed ourselves immensely.





It was fun because the water was cold but not so cold that you couldn't get in. And then after swimming for a while we'd hop out and sun bathe and get warm again then go back in the water and so on and so forth. It was really splendid. And we were at the mouth of the Willamette and Columbia Rivers so there was a fair amount of ship traffic that would make big waves with their wakes.




When we got home we were thoroughly exhausted but Kevin, Joel and I went to Lompoc Brewery for dinner and I must say, if you're ever in Portland, that is a really great place to go -- it's very unassuming but extremely delicious. Not to mention they have ample patio space and delicious brews. Yum! I highly recommend it.

Then yesterday (friday) we hosted a birthday barbecue at our house which turned out really well. I was a little nervous about everyone getting along and the whole thing going poorly but it was great. People missed the memo on bringing side dishes so I was afraid we wouldn't have enough food for everyone but we had enough. Yay! We had pollo asado, burgers, hot dogs, roasted corn and grilled pineapple. Kelley and Nick were the grill masters and did an excellent job at keeping the grill and smoker hot.





I don't have any pictures of the whole barbecue at full speed but we had somewhere around 20 people come. Five of our friends from trivia came and doubled our population at the party at one point. And people just kept showing up, it was great! I've never had such a successful party before.

This is the aftermath of an evening well spent and a testament to the amount of folks who were here.




And with some of my birthday money I bought plants! I got a pack of brussels sprouts and cabbage which I planted in the backyard.





I also got a rhubarb, a sweet pepper and a hot pepper, and a packet of basil seeds, and a lavender. And salal which is a native shrub that I find to be particularly lovely. I didn't photograph any of these so just imagine them and hopefully that'll be sufficient until I get around to photographing them.

This upcoming week I am heading down to California to see friends and family. Unfortunately Joel isn't able to come because of work which is a shame. This will be the longest amount of time we'll have been apart since we got married a year and a half ago. I'm nervous, but luckily I'll have family around so it won't be all bad. :0) I'm very much looking forward to this trip!

Goat Song by Brad Kessler

I have been reading a lot since I've gotten out of school and I just finished Brad Kessler's book entitled, Goat Song. In short, it is one of the most beautiful books I have ever read. It is a memoir about Kessler's journey to becoming a goatherder and cheesemaker. He isn't willfully ignorant like that of the author of the $64 Tomato which I would not recommend. Goat Song, however, is poetic and thoughtful, a meditation on the importance of the goat in Western Judeo-Christian life and culture. It was both historically educational and a recollection of Kessler's own experience in learning about goatherding and the impact of the goat in all aspects of life (language, religion, myth). I would encourage anyone to read this, even if you're not interested in farming. It lends a beautiful pastoral look on what is perceived as paradise, how the idea of a pastoral paradise (the land of milk and honey, the garden of Eden) has played a part in Judeo-Christian belief. My words cannot do the book justice but if any of you are looking for something gentle and thoughtful to read during the summer months I would highly recommend this book.

Cherries at New Era Farms

Carli and I went to the farm co-op again to put in our day of work for the month. I didn't think I would be getting any vegetables, fruit -- or for that matter, bread. We went to the farm and got there at 7a (I got up at 5.30a, wow!) and weeded the potatoes, tomatoes and lettuce. It was a nice, non-stressful work day. Last time we did a lot of shoveling and wheel barrowing, which takes a lot more arm strength (which I have very little of) than weeding. I got to use the stirrup hoe which is my friend in the garden and makes everything go quickly.

Then we picked loganberries. I had never had them before but let me say -- holy Moses they are tart! So they're great for pies (which I literally just took out of the oven) that are not too sweet, not too tart, just right. I prefer pies that are not very sweet so they sound like a good filling to me.

So after the loganberries it was about time to wrap up the work day and C (the lady farmer) said we should go and pick some cherries because the trees were bursting. And she really wasn't kidding.




So we set out to pick cherries and they were delicious.






The cherry trees were right next to the cow pasture. They are a Mexican breed of bull but I'm not sure what specifically.




We are hoping to be part of the butchering of one of these cows in the fall. It will be my first time butchering an animal and I'm very interested to find out what my reaction will be. I am very happy to be able to see the cows as they grow up and that they are able to roam free in a large pasture. They are fed well both with grass and an additional grain feed. I will be sad if we aren't able to be part of the meat co-op because I would love to have the experience (whether I feel faint or not).

This is Chap in the lettuce patch. We will not be eating him because he serves other purposes around the farm. And also because Americans don't eat dog.



We picked some more lettuce and it has been a delight enjoying the lettuce. Its very good and not too bitter as is very easy to do to greens. Apparently the trick is to water the greens after you pick them.



Bounty!




Then later that we went on an Unimproved Road Bike Ride which was part of Pedalpalooza (earlier this week we went on the Epic Pizza Ride and previous to that was the WNBR). It was much shorter and tamer than we all would have liked but who's to know? We all thought it sounded great but it turned out slightly disappointing. Joel and I were aware of 75% of the roads we went on (and regularly traverse them) and were hoping to find new trails/roads, but alas, to no avail.

After that we went with three other riders, who were equally disappointed, up to St. John's after a very abrupt ride end. We found a bar called Plews which carried all local brews and was decidedly very pro-marijuana. Reggae posters lined the walls and a newsletter pile at the front of the store called Rolling Stoned sat by the door. Posters for Hempstalk lined the back wall and the whole bar had a feeling of a stoner kid's basement with used couches in unflattering floral patterns and thrift store lamps. The whole bar was dark except for two shaded windows at the front and the dim lamps. It was an altogether fine experience but a very stylized bar that seemed to want to draw a particular kind of crowd.

After we went to the Marley-infused bar we rode our bikes in the vicinity of our friends' new house. They were having a housewarming party but had left our directions at home (along with our water) so we rode around until I got the address from another friend attending the party and we finally found the right street, the right house and our friends. On the way there we rode along Willamette Boulevard/the Willamette Bluffs which has an amazing view of both the City and Mt. Hood.




I pulled over on the opposite side of the street from Joel and traffic was bad, so I took a photo of Joel while I waited.



It has been a really lovely weekend thus far with Joel having both saturday *and* sunday off which is a rarity at our house. We have also made the move of asking one of our roommates to leave. We will hopefully be having a good friend of ours move in with us which is very exciting indeed. Things are on the up and up.

Summer Has Come!

I hesitate to make such a bold statement as a title (after all, its only three days officially into summer), however the last four days have been beautiful, hot and summery. Today my friend Carli and I went out to the co-op farm that we both belong to (New Era Farms in Canby, OR) and picked lettuce, peas, strawberries and raspberries -- yum!




We didn't pick any of the currants for ourselves but I tried them and they were delicious. They tasted reminiscent of pomegranates and were just as beautiful.



Then I came home and made this.



I was going to go to Carli's house to watch a Woody Allen movie and share my pie but decided to stay home and enjoy it with Kevin and Joel instead. We all sat out in the backyard together and enjoyed the evening and the delicious berry pie (strawberry, raspberry and blackberry [frozen from last summer]).

So, some of you may have heard but for those who haven't, last saturday was Portland's World Naked Bike Ride (or WNBR for short). Clara, Kevin, Joel and I all participated in riding with an approximated 13,000 others. Yup, that's right, 13,000 naked people riding their bikes through the streets of Portland. Luckily it was a police sanctioned event so they were actually nice, they blocked traffic from interfering and looked out the vulnerable (unclothed) folks, way to go PPD!




It was hard to get any good photos since it was dark but I guess that is better since it adds more anonymity. It was a really cool event because it wasn't as much pressure as I was anticipating. It wasn't a big deal to be naked with so many other people (or almost naked in my case, I'm still a bit of a prude) it was just the same as having clothes on -- except you didn't. That was the biggest difference. People weren't checking each other out, there was no groping or orgy, it was just exhilarating. One of the spectators tried to spank a girl as she rode by but she and a guy next to her turned around and went back to yell at the guy. It was that kind of vibe, people watching out for each other and drunken grabbiness was not tolerated.

In other news, my garden is growing well. Or at least the potatoes are. Everything else is a bit stunted by our late start into Summer. Our apples are also doing really well. I've done two thinnings cause I didn't take enough apples the first time around. This time they're more substantial and have kept them in a bag for our chickens to eat, they love the green apples!












Chickens! In the near future we will be getting two more chickens from Carli's house. Joel and I put up a short-term run for the new chickens so that ours can see them before we introduce them. There will probably be pecking just to organize the order but I'll be prepared for it when it happens.



And here is Joel's handiwork. He's been working hard to get a good workspace figured out in the garage. He's done a really nice job organizing everything and made two work benches.




I've been working on my thesis very slowly this summer. This is the only piece I've made so far. Clara tested it out and it is a perfect fit! I'm ever so slightly too big to fit into it.




And that is about all for right now. Some changes will be happening in our house in the near future and I will let you all know how those go when they are secured. It's looking like things are on the up and up.