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Archive for the ‘Travels’ Category

The Birthday Fun, cont.

Monday, October 6th, 2008

On Sunday morning, we awoke to some clearing of the skies and this was the view from our bedroom window — Mt. Hood. It only lasted about 10 minutes. The elusive mountain disappeared under a cloud, once again.

Stephanie made Dutch babies for breakfast and we enjoyed celebratory mimosas. She used some of the apples picked on Saturday.

M & M enjoyed a celebratory sparkling apple juice.

Mr C and I took a hike along the nearby irrigation canal. I found some beautiful leaves showing their fall colors.

After lunch we drove up the Columbia river past The Dalles and crossed over into Washington and went to the very eclectic and wonderful Maryhill Museum of Art. It is hard to describe this place. It has something for everyone!! We saw a really cool exhibit of Andy Warhol work. There was also an invitational show of outdoor sculpture, which we really enjoyed along with the resident peacock.

The permanent collections were a treasure trove. There was a very informative and visually pleasing display of Native American artifacts.

Mia brought here journal and took lots of notes.

We were enthralled by the display of chess sets from all over the world.

The best exhibit, and the main reason I had wanted to take Mia, was of the Theatre de la mode:

The fashions of post-World War II France are highlighted in this 1946 exhibit, which shows one-third human size mannequins wearing fashions created by the country’s finest designers. After their premiere in Paris they toured Europe then America. The last stop of the original 1946 international tour of Théâtre de la Mode was San Francisco where the mannequins remained until the early 1950s. At that time they were acquired by Maryhill Museum of Art. They went on a second world tour in the 1990s visiting Paris, New York, Baltimore, Portland and Tokyo.

These were really fabulous. The fabrics, the style, the attention to detail. We were enthralled.

You can see all the great stuff that we enjoyed and more fun photos of our family gathering on my Flickr. It was a wonderful time for me. I enjoyed the attention from my children. They put together a fun slide show — a sort of This is Your Life montage. I cried.

Lisa set up her camera on the deck and set the timer and we were able to get a family photo. Here is one of the outakes (we couldn’t get Miles to stop making faces!!) Be sure to click to see the Miles face.

The final portrait:

We came home today. Mark and Jayme left last night. Lisa flew home tonight. Now, it is back to work, but I still plan to do some celebrating because my birthday isn’t until next Sunday!!

Tuesday This and That

Tuesday, September 16th, 2008

First, the exciting news that I promised. Steph is on a plane to New York City where she and Maria of 3191 will take part in a Martha Stewart show, all about blogging. (Oops, I forgot to say that the show is tomorrow morning, Wednesday.) They will debut their book based on last year’s blog, A Year of Mornings. Every one in the audience will get a free copy. Needless to say, she is excited and very nervous. They will be interviewed from the audience (all bloggers) near the beginning of the show, if you want to catch them doing their shtick.

I am trying to feel better. I think that I was just exhausted, yesterday. According to the Dr, the Azithromiacin stays in your system, doing its work for 12 days. So, I will hang in there for a couple of more days.

Did you know that there is a Sarah Palin baby name generator? Mine is Krinkle Bearcat Palin. If you want to find out what yours is, go to my political blog and read the great article by Anne Lamott, which is where I found the link. I also have a funny article from the New Yorker.

Urban Garden update. Look I have baby greens!!

The garden survived very well while we were away, thanks to Mr C’s irrigation system.

M & M and I planted some catnip for  their cat, Chester, but it looks as if I have a catnip bandit raiding my herb garden.

I forgot to mention in my last post, that there are more Millenium Park, Chicago and Ft. Wayne photos on my Flickr set, like this strange juxtaposition of signs.

It is going to be a hot day in Portland – 96° – so I am going to take a little walk before it gets hotter.

In Seattle, No Quilts, Yet

Friday, August 8th, 2008

We had a lovely train ride from Portland to Seattle and a wild taxi ride from the station to our hotel where we met up with Gale and her sister from Las Vegas. Here are Linda and Terry on the train.

We made our way to the waterfront for dinner. I had a smoked halibut dinner and a Sam Adams. We sat at picnic tables and enjoyed the lovely Seattle evening.

Here are some sights from our evening. You can see them all at my Seattle APNQ Flickr site.

Gale’s sister, Judy, Linda, Terry, Gale

Terry and I are enjoying the Olympic Opening Ceremonies. Tomorrow, there will be quilt content.

A Beachy Good Time

Sunday, November 25th, 2007

We are home, catching up on e-mails, putting stuff away and still looking for ways to use leftover turkey — tonight it was Turkey Enchiladas.

Day One (Wednesday): We arrived at 4 pm, and soon after we hit the beach to witness the first of some glorious sunsets.

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Our beach house was only a couple of blocks from the beach in the quaint and lovely little town of Manzanita which is just south of Canon Beach. We ordered pizza from the nearby pizzeria. After dinner, we played Monopoly. Miles and Mia had played the junior version and really impressed us with how quickly they picked up the regular version. In fact, Miles ended the game with the most money and real estate. We were having so much fun that I almost forgot to make the pumpkin pie!!

Day Two (Thanksgiving Day): I jumped out of bed later than I had planned, but I still got the 20 pound turkey in the oven by 8 am for our early afternoon dinner.

After breakfast and before we needed to cook the res of the meal, the family went back to the beach for a morning walk.

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Here is Mia sitting on this funky bench. Please note that her doll, Melissa, is safe in her arms.

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The weather was sunny and brisk, and we all worked up a hearty appetite. I rushed back to the house to start cooking. The rest of the family showed up a little later with Mia in tears. Melissa was missing. they had backtracked and searched in places where they thought she might have been dropped, to no avail.

We made up some stories about what might have happened to her. She was swimming to Japan and would be adopted by a little Japanese girl. Or, she was the new toy for some happy dog. Mia gamely played along. She made this poster to post in case someone had found her.

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After we had stuffed ourselves on turkey and all the proper accompaniments, we headed back to the beach with the poster, for one last look.

Mia was despairing of ever seeing Melissa, again. I bought the doll for her one day when she and I had a special outing together. She always has the doll with her and so I was quite excited when I looked down and saw her in the sand. I wish I had taken a photo of the pathetic sight!! I started doing a happy dance. So, here she is with her very happy Mia.

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Feeling relieved, Steph, Mr C, Mia, Melissa and I took a walk in the glow of the setting sun. And here is the sunset photo of the day.

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Day 3 (Friday): I love having Mia around because she has so much energy. She is always up for a walk on the beach or an opportunity to go shopping. Steph, Mia and I took a girls walk on the beach in the morning. I took lots of photos of interesting flotsam and other beach stuff. (Clickable to see larger.)

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After lunch at a local restaurant, we drove up to Oswald West park, which is Stephanie’s favorite spot on the Oregon coast and now I know why. We hiked down to the beach. which was sheltered and it was so warm, we were able to shed some of our layers. M & M played in the water and climbed rocks. We stayed until it was getting dark.

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Day 4 (Saturday) The Barnes family left to go home to their new kitty and to meet up with friends today to cut their Christmas tree. It was our only cloudy, drizzly day. Mr C and I drove to Canon Beach for lunch and to walk around town, but it was chilly and rainy so we came back to Manzanita, where we found a nice sale on shoes and each bought a new pair.

Day 5 (Sunday) We awoke to another beautiful day, and we were able to take a last walk on the beach before we left for a beautiful drive back to Portland. You can see all of my photos on my Flickr site.
It was a wonderful way to spend the long week-end. I think we will do it again. I went internetless and survived. I read The Road by American writer Cormac McCarthy. It is a post-apocalyptic tale describing a journey taken by a father and his young son over a period of several months across a landscape blasted years before by an unnamed cataclysm which destroyed civilization and most life on earth. I read the book in a period of 24 hours. I was riveted by the story, and I am begging Mr C to read it so that I can discuss it with him. If you have read this book, let me know what you think of it.

I Heart Orygun!

Sunday, October 28th, 2007

These signs abound in the countryside of Oregon, promoting a yes vote on proposition 49, which will keep developers from running rampant in the rural areas of this state.

As we drove home today and I began to see the signs, it made me realize how much I love my adopted home state. The northern California landscape was so bleak compared to what awaited us in Oregon. I managed to get some drive-by photos. They are all clickable or you can see them all at my Flickr site. Having grown up in upstate New York, I have always missed the colors of fall when I lived in California and North Carolina.

Back to our trip to San Francisco — on Friday morning, we went to the SFMOMA, to see the current exhibits. I enjoyed seeing the assemblages and collages of Joseph Cornell. We were also blown away by the life size photos of Jeff Walls of Vancouver, Canada.

Friday night we had dinner with the SF core family — Mark and Jayme and Lisa. We went to a new restaurant in Mark’s neighborhood with a very eclectic and unusual menu. One of the desserts was chocolate cake with a blue cheese filling. Since I didn’t get back to Lisa’s shop for another photo, I stole this one from her so that you can see the interior. They have been doing great sales since they opened, so we are all very happy. Thank you all, from Lisa, for the best wishes. We are really proud of her. In the midst of all this, she is still working 20 hours a week at her old job (which she is leaving at the end of December) and producing work for a show in Venice, CA, opening next week. What a girl!

Saturday, we had the pleasure of attending our great niece, Viola’s, first birthday party. It had a Halloween theme. Viola was dressed as Princess Leah or Princess Violeah, as I called her. That is her beautiful Mom, Jessie.

Here she is with her dad, blowing out the cupcake candle.

The place was filled with young couples and their babies and toddlers, making the grandparents and the great aunt and uncle feel quite old.

My favorite party attendee was their French Bulldog, Lola.

Here are two more of my favorite people, Mark and Jayme!

OK, that is enough family stuff. We drove as far as Vacaville last night so we could get a head start on our drive home. It was nice to drive in to Portland at the end of October and find sunshine. I went out for a half hour walk after we arrived home. We found some soup in the freezer, and it felt good to eat my own food again. Tomorrow, I have to get back to counting WW points. Oh, one great thing that happened at the party, Steve’s brother looked at me and said, “You’ve lost weight, you look great!” Yeah, somebody noticed.