Err Where Did August Go?

Hard to say really...
It went swimming quite a bit.
It took a trip to the Oregon Coast.
It took an awful lot of naps and walks in the park.
It read some good books and watched some movies.
It went to the State Fair!
It didn't really make much in the way of art, but September is here now and I've got big plans. BIG PLANS I SAY!

Smoothies all week!

Friday we went berry picking at Kruger's Farm on Sauvie Island. At first we were a bit hesitant to pick a lot because we're not really jam makers and I'm not sure how many blueberry pancakes and boysenberry crisps I can eat. I can drink a smoothie however. In fact, I can drink one every day. So, we picked with the goal of having smoothies every day for a week. I may need to work on my food photography. I don't think the yellow table helps... but this morning's boysenberry, raspberry yogurt smoothie is delicious!

Goodbye June

I can't believe today is the last day of June. It's been busy with relatives and a new dog. I also painted our living room twice and we held a mildly successful garage sale. Those professional RV- garage sale folks are a little intense in their quest for guns, ammo and antique military memorabilia.... Sadly we couldn't accommodate any of their initial requests, but did send them away with a cast iron dutch oven. Which reminds me, I've got to order these for camping this summer!

And the picture? That's Mt. St. Helens. I grew up in Oregon, but only went there for the 2nd time last week. It's spectacular. I still recall sweeping up our driveway on the coast, collecting ash from the explosion to save in tiny jars. I don't know what became of my jar. I wish I had it now. I would use it to launch a curiosity collection. Burnt toast in the likeness of deities and such...

Rhodies

Yesterday we took a break from house work and visited the Rhododendron Garden. Growing up with rhodies everywhere I thought they were run of the mill and kind of ordinary. Cover an entire park with them howver, and let them grow to mammoth proportions, and they're extraordinary. Oh and its free after 6pm, which is how things ought to be.

Acid green is the new black

I'm completely smitten with my new digital camera. It's a Canon PowerShot SD750. I haven't figured out all the features yet, but can't get enough of the color accent feature. It picks up a predominant color in the scene and turns everything else black and white.

Today was really hot. We went to a swimming spot on the Washougal River. There's been a lot of news hype about people dying from shock after jumping into the freezing rivers. I only took one dunk and it was absolutely what the day called for. Perfect.