Fall is in the Air

The weather is changing here in Portland - the nights are cool the days are crisp and more often then not there is a continuous drizzle of moisture. So I try to take advantage of those dry & sunny days while they last. I'm trying to clear out the weeds that have managed to grow uncontrollably between the flowers & other plants in my yard.

On one such day, I was attempting to pull weeds in between the holly tree and the hedge separating my yard from my neighbors immaculate yard. And I ran across the largest spider I have ever seen. It totally spooked me & I was just positive that this was some sort of deadly tarantula & that I should probably contact animal control. So I very carefully left him undisturbed to grab my camera. I was able to get my picture & then I realized that the spider had not moved in quite some time. So very carefully with a very long stick I moved the branch that the spider was hiding under. What did I find....well my guess is that the neighbors grandchildren had been playing next to the hedge & left one of their toys.

Luckily I had not called the news station yet.

Tiah

End of Summer Birthdays

The end of summer always means birthday parties galore in our family. I have my birthday at the end of August as well as both my parents plus several family friends. So it always feels like there is another party to attend or be shopping for. Which can make for a really fun and laid back summer moving into fall. We have had several barbecue's and picnics to attend this year and for the most part the weather has held out, not being too hot or too chilly.

This week brings the first day of student teaching for KelliJean in Spokane, and at least here in Portland the first signs of fall crisp mornings, rainy afternoons, and the leaves are starting to change. Around the university buildings are being painted, new signs are being installed, and everyone is preparing for the students to come back in full force.

I hope everyone gets to savor the last few days of summer and are looking forward shorter days, falling leaves, and the smell of baking cookies.

Tiah

Softball World Series

Last week was the Little League Softball World Series, here in Portland at the Alpenrose Dairy Field. My friend Kristine & I volunteered for our 5th year has scorekeepers for the East Field. Normally this keeps us quite busy during the week, keeping score for around 10 games. However, this year we had only 4 games, due to a last minute scheduling change because the team from the Philippines was unable to attend. The coaches from the Philippines were not able to get their passports & VISA's approved & through the proper government channels in time.

So even though we had a small number of games we had a fun time and enjoyed meeting the girls & coaches from Poland, Porto Rico, Texas, New Jersey, & Canada. There was a sportscaster from Texas that gave an amazing play by play description of the Texas vs New Jersey game, which made the game more interesting.

Next year we are hoping to get to work with the folks from ESPN more.

Tiah

Blueberry Jam

This weekend I made my second attempt at making jam. This time I tried making freezer jam and it worked out so much better. I also used the food processor to mash the blueberries instead of trying to do it by hand, which I did with the first attempt, it made all difference.

I got a uniform purple color and a pretty jam-like texture. It was a perfect sugar to berry ratio to make a very good tasting jam. I ended up with 10 jars if any one would like some, just let me know. Thanks!

Tiah

Blueberry Picking

Blueberries, blueberries, and more blueberries.

This weekend I went blueberry picking with my friend Marcia & her 15 month old Mayson. Sunday after church we drove up to Mt. Hood to our favorite u-pick blueberry farm. We enjoyed the "ku-plink, ku plank, ku plunk" sound of the blueberries dropping into the tin pail just like Robert McCloskey's "Blueberries for Sal" Our timing was right in the middle of the season, so we had a good variety of large juicy, berries & small dark purple berries. Mayson ate as many berries as he picked and he was a good sport the entire trip.
We ended up with a little under 10 lbs of berries, which we split between us and giving a little to her father who very generously funded our adventure. The next task on our "summer 2010 to do" list is to learn to make jam.

Tiah

Backpacking Day

Saturday morning Meagan & I got up early to catch the first bus out of Aberdeen for our backpacking day. We road out to Balmoral Castle, which is the royal family's summer vacation home. The castle was first bought by Queen Victoria and has been used by the royal family ever since. During the late spring & early summer the grounds are open to the public. The public is only allowed into one room inside the castle which is the ballroom. For a ballroom, it seemed pretty small but they did show a video of a party/ball held in the same ballroom a few years before and it looked like it was big enough for traditional Scottish dancing. The gardens at Balmoral are huge, and grow quite a bit of food used in the kitchens. The castle employees a large number of people from the near by town. Interesting fact, the grounds include one of the last natural pine forest in the UK.

After we were done touring the grounds at Balmoral, we caught the bus & headed out to the town of Banchory. A cute little town in the Royal Deeside area of Scotland. From Banchory we hiked out to the bridge of Feugh to look at the falls and we found a cute little tea house to have lunch at. Lunch was not my favorite, but we did stay for tea & scones which were served with strawberry champagne jam that was just delicious.

We continued on our trip to Crathes Castle. Which is this wonderful old castle that the family actually still lived in up until the 1960's when their was a fire that destroyed the modern part of the castle. Luckily the original castle was left unharmed. The land that the castle is on was given as a gift by King Robert the Bruce to the Burnett family, the castle was built over several decades, being delayed due political problems during the reign of Mary Queen of Scots.
The castle is fairly nice, but the gardens are the amazing part. They were beautiful, you could really spend all day on the grounds, there was several hiking trails and camping areas. Unfortunately we only had a few hours before we had to get back to Aberdeen, but this is one place I would love to return to.

Tiah

Stonehaven & Balmedie

Our first full day here in Scotland, Meagan & I traveled by bus to the small coastal town of Stonehaven. She once lived here for a few months, so she new all the good sites, including an awesome ice cream shop where I tried Banoffee ice cream; very yummy.

It was here in Stonehaven that we hiked up the cliffs to Dunnottar Castle and had our picnic lunch. Very pretty.

The next day, which was very sunny as well, we spent the day in Balmedie walking the sand dunes and exploring the beach. We found a ton of unbroken shells, and we seemed to be the only ones picking them up. My guess is that shell collecting is an American thing.

Stay tuned for Graduation updates & more travels.

Tiah