Peace, Tranquility, Children, and Consumerism

Something was different this weekend when we arrived home. I was no longer afraid to be in the farmhouse alone. I felt instantly at peace as I walked through the door. My heart filled with joy, knowing that this is the place we've been looking for for so long.

There were some fun packages waiting for us from UPS. I know it's not exactly sustainable, but considering we purchased all of our furnishings and dishes second hand, I felt like I needed to do something a little easier. Clicking "buy" on the computer is just so convenient, and the trips to the hardware store were proving to be more time consuming than just buying the dang kit online.

We couldn't figure out the tire swing, and didn't have the energy for it, with all the projects waiting, so we gave ourselves a little leeway on this one. Get the kids some toys, so we can get to work. Call it a setback. Or hypocricy. Falling into that consumer trap. Who doesn't do it? How do you ignore the constant bombardment of advertising?

Wow, it was easy. It can hold up to 600 pounds. And it's fun.

We are starting to feel the effects of the most recent week of camp. It's not really anything the camp did, it was the fact that my sensitive daughter spent a week at camp with eight 6 year old boys. Boys like to talk about scary things, like ghosts, dragons, monsters. Things that now keep my daughter from wanting to go to bed at night or to sleep in her room.

So I had a visitor at 5:30 in the morning in the form of a 6 year old girl standing at my bedside. She got in the bed, I layed there for about 30 minutes, and realized I wasn't going back to sleep.

My luck - I went downstairs, and this is what I found.

A boy and a girl, just like my own. The girl could not stop watching me. I chose this picture, because I was enthralled with the baby antlers on the boy.

As I was finally drifting back to sleep downstairs, I heard the rumble of feet and once again, a little girl was standing by my side. Sleep will come another night.

Plums and a date with my Husband

The plums are ripe and DELICIOUS. We had fun picking them. Mrs. K said that her husband's dad brought the tree over from Wisconsin. I'm not sure what type of plums these are, but they put my little plum tree in Portland to SHAME. Firm, sweet, and the pit just falls from the meat.

While we were harvesting the plums, Jesse was hard at work fighting an old stump on the other side of the house. He has been enjoying his masculinity and brute strength lately. The stump had to go to make the swing safer.

Our favorite babysitter did us the honor of making the trip out to Hood River on Saturday, so we decided to head to Parkdale to check out a newish brewpub and have some time alone. Check out the view from the back patio. Not too bad, huh?





I was going to mention the fact that the odds for the single ladies are extremely good here, but both Jesse and I agreed that even if Shakira walked in the door singing 'Hips don't lie,' it would still not elicit any response from any of these men. 

The beer was delicious, and I had an awesome hummus plate. The menu is pretty small otherwise, because the kitchen is pretty small. It's a straight up brewpub. Cute town, huh? 

We visited the Parkdale hardware store, where Jesse bought a machete...

and I met the two oldest dogs in the world...

and when we got home, this is what we found.

I had left the kids some mail in the mailbox, and they wrote me back. Isn't that sweet?



Our last step before heading back to Portland on Sunday was to Horsefeathers. Horsefeathers had been a pretty regular stop for us the past several years, but with all the new restaurants popping up, we just stopped going.

The back patio was a pretty sweet, and as I was looking at the building, I felt even more inspired to remove the paint from the shingles and let it weather naturally. The waiter extolled his admiration over the owner of the building and what a genius he is at sustainable construction.

We had some hot wings, a salad and beer. I had a dirty martini, because everyone had been posting pictures of martinis on Saturday night on Facebook. Ah, the power of social media. It was pretty good. I'll be back.

I'm pretty much digging this lantern, too.

If you happen to see a lantern like this on Craigslist or the local salvage yard, give me a shout.

Our week in Portland

Monday night, we were back in Portland and ready for a 4 day week. We did a few things to pass the time.

We had a lemonade stand,

we made homemade pesto from the garden,

we indulged in our favorite cupcakes at St. Cupcake, while I visited a vintage couch at Noun that I finally bought,

we went to Kruger's Farm for an outdoor concert, and I was reminded again how small a town Portland is, as we ran into friends and neighbors, new and old,

we watched a baby snail take some of its first "steps"

and finally, we once again rented a Uhaul to further empty our house and garage of belongings no longer necessary in Portland. The only problem I'm finding with renting a Uhaul, is that I rent it for something specific in mind, only to be thwarted by last minute purchases filling the rental instead (like the vintage couch). So I decided to go for the gusto and rent the biggest trailer they have. I went from a 4x8 trailer to a 6x12, hoping to fill it for one last moving trip.

Let me tell you, there is a BIG difference between the two sizes. Not only is it a terrifying experience, but the fact that the rental guy gave me the thumbs up to go and finding out on a very busy road that not only did they not close the back doors, but they didn't hook up the brake lights, didn't give me much confidence. A guy drove by to tell me the back was open, just as the doors swung open and banged against the side of the trailer. thank goodness I didn't hit anything.

When I finally got going, I found myself unable to turn any corners without taking out anything remotely in the way.

We finally made it back, but not without the kindness of strangers and business owners. We filled it, moved it, unloaded it, and returned the trailer in less than four hours.

Bartlett Pear Harvest our style

Before the farmer left for the day, he stopped by, friendly as can be, and pointed to a little tree, kind of like a Charlie Brown Christmas tree. It had a little bow around it, and he told us to wait a couple of weeks to pick the pears. They will be sweet and delicious right off the tree. He put the bow around the tree, because the tree isn't doing so well. They tried to nurse it back to health over the years, and it just doesn't produce much anymore.

"What about all these pears on the ground?"

"We'll be by to clean these up soon, but if you see anything you like, go ahead and have at it."

Well there's an invitation to put the kids to work! So as we were waiting for the washer and dryer delivery (halleluyah chorus), I grabbed a couple of baskets and took the kids into the orchard.

There were quite a number of perfectly good pears. We filled two giant baskets in just a small part of the orchard, enough to fill the entire fridge. Apparently, the ones that are picked at this time need a certain amount of cold storage to reach peak ripeness. We're going to give it a try.

Jesse started to clear out the garden. I'm just about positive I don't want my garden between the shed and barn, and right off the road between orchards, so we're going to clear it out for something else. If we had an unlimited budget, I'd say, extend the barn and build a full on brewery, distillery and tasting room with some room to park a car as well. But that's a bit of a fantasy. It will probably be where our solar panels will go.

For now, we need to clean it up and regrade the land so a river doesn't flow directly to the basement.

I don't like the asphalt. That will come up and be replaced with permeable pavers or gravel. No more runoff.

Canning, Juicing and Granola

There is no such thing as cold storage for pluots or plums. Found that out the hard way. Monday night, I opened the fridge just to take a peek and saw some very soft pluots. So disappointing. 

Instead of throwing out the whole lot, I decided to can it. Not having any experience canning, I dug into whatever cookbook I could find in the kitchen to figure out fast.

Jesse, my sweet husband, put the kids to bed while I ran out for lemons, vinegar and honey, and joined me in the kitchen an hour later to help.

We were up until 11:30 that night, cooking and canning, and I think it turned out pretty well. We heard the pop of the jars, and with each successive batch, the process became easier.

The pluot jam was pretty tart. It was pretty tart because I picked them too early. Also, I really didn't want to put 3 cups of sugar in my jam. Isn't that kind of defeating the purpose of the fresh and healthy harvest? 

I mixed about 5 pluots, with fresh meyer lemon juice, white balsamic vinegar, local honey, and fresh rosemary. 

Second and subsequent batches included some cherries I had in the fridge. Slam dunk!

In case you're wondering how I had the supplies, I keep jars on hand all the time, because they're a low cost way to store food airtight and cleanly. Not only is plastic full of chemicals, but it's not nearly as attractive as storing food in gleaming glass jars. Not only that, but the food in the sealed jars stays fresh forever!!!

BPA? That's one chemical. BPA free jars? There are still chemicals in that plastic, endocrine disrupters identified by some other abbreviation, yet to be determined how they will affect us or the health of our children in the future. No thanks. I'll stick to glass.

That being said, these particular jars were for an upcoming pie recipe that I was planning. They were brand new in the box. I was pretty disappointed after turning over the sealing lid, to find plastic lining it. 

So the next day I went to Portland Homesteading Supply to get a little more of an education on canning and to see what my options are.

Weck jars are all glass with a rubber seal. They weren't cheap, but knowing that they're a long term investment for years ahead of harvesting made the purchase a little easier. I plan to jam the plums this week at the farm. I'll let you know how it goes.

Feeling pretty good about the canning process, I decided to whip up a batch of granola for breakfasts. The kids enjoy the local granola from the bulk section of the grocery store, but the kind they like happens to be extremely expensive. It's peanut butter and chocolate granola, and it's AMAZING.

This batch didn't turn out as sweet as batches in the past, but isn't it pretty? The kids like it. Will have to search for the proper recipe and share it with you here when I find it.

Have you tried shopping the bulk section at the grocery store? The checker will weigh your jar or container empty (called the tare weight), then you can head to the bulk section to filler up. It's a bit of a burden in the beginning, but once you get the hang of it, it's no more time consuming than buying the boxed or bagged food. In fact, when I get home, all the jars go in the pantry, lined up neatly with a clear view of what we have and how much we have left. It feels clean. And no packaging to deal with later. I have some wax pencils that work great for identifying what's in the jar. 

Did you know you can buy dish soap, detergent, coffee, honey, and cereal in bulk too? And some grocers will credit you for bringing your own bag? Sweet.

I also made some more green juice this week. I'm curious how the combination of kale, plums, greek yogurt and carrots is going to affect me. So far, so good. It's delicious.

Saturday Night in Portland

Then we all headed back to Portland in a big caravan. I wasn't quite ready to leave, but there were a couple of flights heading out of Portland the next day, and accommodations not suitable for this many people. Before we left, we headed to Pfriem for an early dinner. I have to say these days that Double Mountain and Pfriem are the preferred places to go these days.

When we got back to Portland, the babysitter arrived and we went out on the town. Our first stop was Noble Rot.

Noble Rot is an upscale wine bar on the eastside with pretty spectacular views of the city from the rooftop bar. The guys had beers and Samantha and I had wine flights. I chose a Tempranillo flight that was quite amazing.

Tempranillo is has been my wine of preference the past few years. I would LOVE to grow tempranillo grapes on the property, but those grapes prefer a dryer climate. We do have some south facing slopes, so I'm tempted to try anyway. My favorite wine is Abacela Tempranillo. I used to buy it pretty regularly at the grocery store, but one day they told me 2009 was no longer available and they would only have 2010. 2009 and 2008 have a little bit of a different taste than 2009, so as soon as I found out, I started buying all the bottles I could find. Most of them were at Made in Oregon stores, but I even had a case shipped in from the East Coast.

If I've learned anything this past couple of years, it's that if you find something (food-wise) you like, hoard. I think we're set for a decade or so. Anyway, I tried to get into their wine club, but last I checked, there was a bit of a waiting list. If you find yourself in Southern Oregon, I think it's worth a tour.

http://www.abacela.com/

After, we headed to Division Street. Division has gone bonkers lately. I'm not sure what the catalyst was, but there are hip restaurants, coffee shops and bars lining the street now, and there is a new construction explosion happening. We went to Whiskey Soda Lounge for some authentic Thai street food. The restaurant is pretty festive, with a patio out back. Our friends Dan and Stephanie introduced us to this place, and I'll be honest - the first time I came here, the authenticity of the menu was a bit intimidating. I was in more of an adventurous mood this time, and dug in. I think the Ike's Vietnamese Fish Sauce Wings is the most popular item on the menu. Get them spicy! 

I also love that when we ordered something in English, the waiter asked us, "You mean the Kai Sam Yang?" Um, yeah, that's the one.

http://www.whiskeysodalounge.com/

You should check out the menu. Looks like the chef has won a James Beard award for best chef in the Northwest. I believe it.

Afterwards, I was pretty much ready to call it a night. It had been a long night and day, and my legs were jelly from the morning SUP.

But the guys weren't ready to go home yet. We stopped by Apex for one last beer.

the next day, after dropping Samantha off at the airport, we all headed to Tasty & Sons for brunch. True to the Portlandia brunch episode, we were told the wait would be over an hour. Undeterred, we went to another place for breakfast while we waited for our brunch spot to open up. Ninety minutes isn't too bad. Their other restaurant, Toro Bravo tells us 2-1/2 hours without so much as blinking. And if I were to show outrage or surprise, it would be confusing to her. of course we would wait half the night for a table!

It's worth it.

http://tastyntasty.com/sons/brunch.html

Yes, that bloody mary has bacon in it.


At around 6pm, Jesse took the cousins to the airport and I ran around the house once again gathering food and clothes. Yes, we were going back to HR. Love it too much and didn't get enough. Something about a new washer and dryer, too.

Bartlett Pear Harvest and the Cousins

7 a.m. and the sound of tractors and shouting in Spanish wakes me up. Luckily, the dirty martini at Brian's Pourhouse didn't do me in. And luckily, everything in Hood River shuts down around 11 p.m., so we weren't too much worse for the wear.

I fly out of bed with excitement to witness my first pear harvest, city girl style (someone else does the work while I watch). Lucky for us, we bought the place with a lease already in effect. Kind of takes the pressure off knowing what to do right away. The farmer is a big name in orcharding in the area, and runs his operation like a well oiled engine.

So I call Jesse on the phone and yell, get yourself and your cousins over here!!

Right about that time, the farmer's wife came around the corner in a big straw hat and a big smile and introduced herself. I love her already. She is so friendly, and I could have spent the entire day talking to her. In the short time she was at the house, she showed me a few things about my flower garden, and some tips on how to propagate the seeds. She also invited me to her flower garden that she started from nothing.

In the meantime, Samantha and I decided to do a little Stand Up Paddling. I was introduced to it about a year ago by a friend in Portland who is very involved in the sport, but hadn't had a chance to try it again.

We headed to the waterfront and rented boards for about an hour. Here we are:

What an insane workout. I was prepared for that jello leg feeling, but not entirely for the gusts of wind that wanted to take us out to the Columbia River. It is a popular wind surfing and kite boarding spot, so it makes sense that it would be a workout. According to the rental guy, mornings are best for stand up paddling (SUP). The wind will usually hit mid day, making it almost impossible.

                           ************


So Jesse, Matt, and Ben finally made it to the farm with the kids. It's funny - the guys are so well educated and refined, I felt like I was suddenly transported to St. Tropez or the south of France, not a pear orchard.

Met the new neighbor. We hit the Jackpot. Her house was the staging area for the pear collection, so when I stopped by to see how many tons of pear we harvested, she was standing outside with her child. How lucky am I to have a new neighbor with kids the same age as ours? I was in a hurry to get back because the paint removal guy was waiting, but not before I took a peek around her property. Oh, so lucky she is. And that machine shop. I like it too much.

Ed Bell & Sons is a paint removal company I have used in the past on a former home in Portland. I was concerned about peeling paint, sure that it was lead, and wanted to have it removed before the birth of our first child. Scott came in with his crew and removed all of the trim paint, which Jesse promptly sanded and stained. 

So when we noticed the failing paint in the farmhouse, I called Scott to see if he would be willing to come out to Hood River. This time, we would have him remove all the exterior paint and the interior paint upstairs. He'll be back for a test patch.

Here are some more pictures from the day. 

Storms in the country are way more scary than storms in the city

I had a nice unexpected weekend visit from a fellow Houstonian who lived in Portland for about three years some 5 years ago. We had also been planning for a cousin visit the same weekend, so there was going to be some shuffling. I felt like I needed a little break from the kids, so Samantha's timing couldn't be more perfect.

Her first night in Portland, we took in some Sushi at Bamboo, then headed to Hood River first thing in the morning. When we got there, we took a quick stop in at Panorama Point.

Afterwards, we made it to the orchard, where fruit bins were laying in wait for the first harvest of the season.

That same night, I experienced my first real thunderstorm on the farm. There was crackling thunder, lightning streaking across the sky, wind gusting, doors banging, and the sounds of creaking gates. This happened about the same time that I decided to show Samantha around.

We were walking up the tall grass to the highest peak on the property, across the edge of the forest where bear and cougar live, and down through the orchard to the derelict red house and charming red barn. As I opened each door, I would hear a sound from within, jump back and scream. Samantha showed no fear. She would hear a sound and charge right for the darkest corner. When we walked into the red house, she went all the way in and climbed the ladder to the sleeping loft (I didn't step foot in that place). 

Freaking Samantha, not so much of a voice of calm. As we are driving up the driveway before the storm even hits, she says, 'Wow, your house is right out of a Steven King movie.' Then, when we're walking back up to the house from the orchard tour, she says something about Children of the Corn. At this point, I'm about to smack her, but instead, I tell her that one more comment like that and we're spooning later. 

The storm made for some spectacular photo opportunities. One one side of the house, the sky was ablaze with red and orange. On the other side, a full double rainbow. I literally spent about an hour running from one side of the house to the other yelling, "wow!"

All's well that ends well. The storm passed just in time for us to hit the town. Wooo!

p.s. I am taking applications for this single lady!