Fall Sunday

All The chores were done, Martin and I decided to kick back and enjoy a fall Sunday afternoon at home. We have a basket full of apples in our garage,so I decided to make an apple pie using at least one apple each of the many varieties that we purchased. We haven't tasted it yet, so I hope it turned out to be as tasty as it looks. Picture was taken right after it came out of the oven. The other is a picture of me crocheting an afgan I started last winter in the midst of the blizzards that hit during the holidays. I briefing considered tearing the whole thing apart as I don't like the pattern that well, but I decided to continue as it was., so we will see how it turns out.

A Trip to Bend

I've had two quick business trips during the last couple weeks. Last week it was a one day trip to Phoenix Arizona. I didn't see anything at all except the airport, the inside of a taxi, and the hotel that the conference was in. The only reason I knew I was in Phoenix was that it was 93 degrees! Nothing to see on that trip so no pictures.

Early this week I took another quick trip, this time to Bend Oregon. A much more pleasant journey, and a beautiful fall day while I was there, however quite brisk in the AM. The conference was at Mt. Bachelor Village, over looking the Dechutes River. I managed to work in one short walk down to the River. The pictures, above were taken on that walk.

Hood River Harvest Festival

Today we hit the road and headed to Hood River to their annual Harvest Festival with Molly, Rob, Brandon and Anna. We drove up the Washington side and it was beautiful with all the leaves turning colors. The view from Cape Horn was even more beautiful with all the fall colors surrounding the Columbia River. Unfortunately, it was really too crowded for us to stop and take a picture. The festival was great, not as crowded as last year. We were able to shop for the apples, pears and cider, as well have an opportunity to go through the arts and craft tents. The quality of the things for sale was excellant. I regret that I didn't come prepared to Christmas shop! We did buy some more apples. The tasting we did last weekend enabled us to buy some more of our favorite varieties for as low as .59 a pound. We also found some unpastuerized cider, which is basically fresh liquid apples, so GOOD. Back at the house, we bored Molly and Rob with DVD of our vacation while the kids enjoyed their new color books and crayons we keep at the house for them to play with when they visit. Pictures are of Molly, Rob and Brandon shopping and Anna getting ready to munch on some elephant ear.

Heartman Gets a Bath

Yesterday, Martin had a furlough day for the State of Oregon, so he put his time to good use. Heartman desperately needed a good scrubbing and Martin gave him one. Luckily we have hot water in our garage so he was able to have a good warm bath. After the bath, Heartman had a treat and got to come to my work for a visit. He couldn't come into the office but was able to visit with me and my team on a patio outside of our office. Today, it is Sailor's turn!

Portland Nursery

On Sunday, we were invited to go with our friends Jim and Shawn to the Portland Nursery for their annual apple tasting and sale. They had about 60 varieties, though some of them were already sold out by the time we arrived on Sunday. It was a wonderful opportunity to taste apples that we wouldn't ordinarily find in the store. The apples were cheap only about 89cents a pound. I haven't found them that cheap for a long time. They were rated according to their sweetness or tartness, they also had pears to sample and sell. We bought some incredible apple cider there as well. They had free cider and popcorn for the crowd. There were a few other vendors selling candy and honey. There were also activities for the kids. The picture is of Shawn, Jim and Martin trying out the hard cider. We found that we didn't like it, much preferring the fresh crush cider available for sale. Afterwards we went to a local pub for lunch, great fall afternoon.