The Gathering of Gardeners

Today was the fifth annual "Gathering of Gardeners" in Cottage Grove, Oregon. This is a small garden fair of food and plant venders along with crafts people selling their wares. It's held on the grounds of the Village Green Resort and Gardens. A couple of years ago we drove past this in our motor home and I remember looking down on the area from the freeway thinking it must be some kind of a re-enactment of a medival country fair. Marlene did some shopping in the craft area, but our main objective was to pick up some plants that we need to supplement our landscapping.








We found what we were looking for, sampled the Indian food and then loaded up the plane and headed for home. It was a gloomy day in the Willamette Valley. We flew through some rain showers and lots of smoke from the field burning, but landed safely just before the heavier rain started.

Ryder's Camp Opah and Omy

Boy, how time can fly. This could have been posted a week ago, but it's been so busy around here that I didn't get it done. Ryder came without his brothers to spend a week with us. He knew ahead of time that this wasn't going to be a week of play, but rather that he would be involved with our regular activities. So, he helped in the garden.

He also went flying with me.

His biggest accomplishment I think was that he began and finished a quilt under Marlene's guidance. This wasn't easy. He started with small squares and did all the piece work. Then he pinned it to the backing and did diagonal quilting by machine. Marlene helped, by getting him started and also holding the material from time to time when it got too heavy for him to move through the machine. The finished product was a gift for his new brother, Casey.

It wasn't all work and no play however. During the week we managed a hike along the Molalla River near Canby. He also found some time to make use of the local skate board park.