MY FAVORITE GIFT

This is my favorite Christmas present.  Ryder gave this to me.  It is something he found at the house his Parents are refurbishing.  It was all rusty and dirty when he found it and he cleaned and scrubbed it all up and then repainted it.  It's really special.  I tried it out this morning and it really works.  This should help straighten out my drives.

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AFTER

This is what's left after the all the gifts have been opened.

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DURING

Our process of gift opening is to take turns starting with the youngest and ending with the oldest.  That makes Casey, first, and me, last.

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BEFORE

This is what it looks like before we open gifts on Christmas.  Casey is all excited and can hardly wait.  The living room is all neat and clean and everything is in it's place.

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CHRISTMAS SUNRISE

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CHRISTMAS MORNING

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

Even the spiders have had a rough time this month.  This morning it was 27 degrees when we got up.  There was freezing fog on everything.  The whole month of December has been like this.  

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SLEEPING GARDEN

It's a good thing I turned off the water a few weeks ago.  Everything would be frozen and the water system cracked and broken if I hadn't.  The beds that are covered in burlap have a 6 inch layer of crushed leaves on them.  The leaves will compost over the winter and the burlap keeps the leaves from blowing away.  It also helps keep the weeds from sprouting.  These beds will be prime for early planting next spring.

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TOO FOGGY TO FLY

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ROLLING THE CHIPS

Now, here's a game you won't find in "ToysRus".  It's a grooved piece of thick plywood, used as a starting gate, resting on a flat piece of thin plywood, used as a ramp, to send nice heavy poker chips rolling across our wood floor and down the hallway.  The object is to see who can get the chip to role the farthest without running into an obstacle like a couch leg or end table.   

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PROGRAMMING THE ROBOT

Ryder built this Lego robot from a plan he found on the internet.  It has a built in sensor that tells it to stop, rotate to aim, and shoot small plastic balls at any object within 20 inches of it's path.  After tolerating my help, he had to show me which pieces and how they went together, he connected to his laptop and programmed in the instructions to make it do what he wanted.  Just think, it was only 60 years ago that I was content to be able to build a hoisting crane out of a metal "Erector Set" when I was his age.  I wonder where all this will lead!

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COFFEE WITH LITTONS

What a surprise the other day when we were Christmas shopping at the Clackamas Town Center and we ran into our old neighbors and dear friends, the Littons.  We lived across the street from them in 1966, went to the same church as they did, had mutual deep personal experiences with them in CIF and have continued to visit occasionally as families.   

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THANKSGIVING ON HOOD'S CANAL

This year, for a change, the whole family got together at a neutral spot.  We rented a house on Hood Canal about half way between where we live in Canby and where Marlene's sister and her family live in the Seattle area.  It worked great!  The only problem was that it rained most of the weekend with only a few sun breaks where we could go on walks like this.

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CARVING PUMPKINS

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A BIRTHDAY CAKE

This is a little late, but last week was my birthday.  It was Casey's turn to have a cooking lesson from "Omy".  So Casey learned how to make a chocolate pudding cake.

He measured all the ingredients and mixed them together.  He learned how to chop using a big, sharp, knife.

He spread the batter in the pan and put the cake in the oven.

Then came the fun part, licking the bowl and cleaning up.  He said this was his favorite part.

The cake was done to perfection and for added pleasure it was served with vanilla yogurt.

PHELAN'S APPLE PIE

Last week, Ryder asked Marlene if he could make a cheese cake in our kitchen.  He had found a recipe in one of the books he was reading.  The cake turned out great.  This week, Marlene suggested that Phelan could learn how to make an apple pie, crust and all.  So he did.  This is the result.  He's pinching the crust just before he slid it into the oven.  It turned out great also.

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SQUEEZING APPLES INTO JUICE

Friends of ours loaned us this nifty apple press and this year we made apple juice out of part of our crop of apples.  All the boys helped in the process.  Phelan and Casey fed the apples into the shredder and when the container below was full of pieces, Ryder would slide it over, align it with the press and turn the handle.  We made 4 and a half gallons of juice in one afternoon.

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THE CLOTHES DRIER WORKS TODAY

It's been raining off and on for the last week, but today the sun is shinning.  Time to string up the clothes line and do some laundry.  Casey always wants to help with whatever we do.

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A GO KART PROJECT

This old John Deere mower has been sitting in our storage yard for a couple of years.  I got it from a neighbor with the idea that the kids could part it out and make a go kart out of the usable pieces.  This week they started the project.  So far it looks like the steering mechanism, the frame, and possibly the transmission will be usable.  I already have an old Briggs and Stratton engine waiting to be bolted on.  We'll keep you posted on the progress.

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PHELAN HARVESTING HIS "BEENS"

Early this summer Marlene asked Phelan what he would like to plant in the garden.  He said his favorite food was beans and rice and he would like to plant them.  Marlene suggested that rice probably wouldn't grow in our garden setting, but that beans would be a good crop.  When he finished planting them, he labeled them "Phelans Beens"  This week just before the rains came, he harvested the finished product.  The "beens" are now drying in the green house and before long Phelan can have his meal of beans and rice (using California rice).

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YOUNG AND OLD

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AIRPLANES AND OLD CARS

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THE TEACHER IS READY

Before the 15 students arrived I set up to talk about my favorite subject, food.  Since it was an outdoor kitchen with no running water or electricity some of the prep was done at home, but the gas stove worked great.  I had great help serving samples of collard greens with rice vinegar, sesame oil and roasted almonds for the first item.  Then we proceeded to cilantro and pumpkin seed pesto served over steamed little red potatoes.That was quite unusual, but well received. Then there was beet greens with beet vinegar, and a sample of raspberry vinaigrette made from our own raspberry vinegar.  We ended with Szechwan green beans which is dramatically seared beans and garlic and red pepper flakes.  These recipes can be found on our website: www.canbycommunitygarden.com 

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SEED TO TABLE

Marlene has been getting prepared to teach this class for the last two weeks.  In the spring, she taught two classes on preparing and planting a garden.  This class is about how to cook the vegetables from the garden, with a focus on what is growing in our gardens right now.  In addition to obtaining a food handler's license, she practiced using the outdoor gas stove.  This site is next to the Baker Prairie Middle School where our community garden is located.  It will be a good opportunity to get a garden tour and see how the vegetables were growing shortly before cooking them.

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ONE HEAD OF LETTUCE

This was just picked this morning from our garden.  Most likely will be consumed by the end of  the day as lunch and dinner.  Our garden is our grocery store.  This morning's smoothie was made from fresh spinach, from the garden, pineapple, oranges, and frozen bananas, not from the garden.  To this we add a few ice cubes to further cool it down and a little soy milk for liquid.  A smoothie with a couple of slices of home made, whole grain bread from our cob oven makes a wonderful, quick, breakfast.

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THE OFFICIATE

I'm finally getting to post these pictures of the wedding.  While waiting for my ride from the Fort Casey Campground to the wedding on the beach, a couple in line for the ferry offered to take my picture.  I was the officiate and performed the wedding ceremony for my niece and her betrothed.

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THE WEDDING FLAG

Marlene made this flag, the double wedding ring to fly over the ceremony.

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BY THE SEA

Our son, Steve, built the benches and ceremony arch from driftwood found at the site.  Diana, his wife helped plan and coordinate the entire affair.

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NIECE, NEPHEW, AND COUSINS

From the left, Casey and Ryder, our grandsons, next is Ben's niece Lauren.  Phelan, our middle grandson is next to her and on the right end is Ben's nephew, Hansi.  They were the junior support group.

  

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THE BRIDE AND GROOM, PLUS ......

This is our niece, Shannon, and her husband, Ben, with the junior support group.  The picture was taken just before the ceremony started.

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MASHED POTATOES HERE WE COME

While Omy was preparing the other vegetables, I showed Casey how to peel the potatoes.  He found out they were kind of slippery, but he got the job done with very little help.  When they were finished boiling, he got to run the mixer to turn them into mashed potatoes which he ate two helpings of for dinner.  He sure is lots of help and a good eater.

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WORKING FOR YOUR DINNER

After a long day of playing, Casey has to work for his dinner tonight by digging and cooking his own potatoes.  First he dug up two hills of Russets.  Then he washed them in the garden sink.

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BEDTIME SOON

After a long day, it's time for a bath and then some stories before heading to bed.  A rubber band motor boat is a nice diversion. 

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CASEY IN THE BARN

Casey is spending the next 4 days with us.  This afternoon we had a ride down the back road in our neighbor's dump truck.  While walking back we stopped and picked some cherries.  Then it started to rain so we ducked into the barn to eat the cherries.  Casey found this hat to keep his head dry.

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NOT ITALY, OREGON

If it weren't for the fact we were 10 minutes from our house, you'd swear we were in Italy.  This small estate is really a nursery operation growing exotic and rare plants for sale all over the world.  Once a year it is open to the public for an entry fee of $10 per person limited to the first 170 people.  

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ON THE TERRACE

After touring the inside, we found a table for two and settled in for an evening of music and people watching.

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A FUN EVENING

Wine and food were available as well as music on the terrace.

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GIVE US THIS DAY OUR DAILY BREAD

Today was bread baking day.  Weather wise, it was clear and warm and the wind was out of the north.  I fired the oven for 4 hours and it was over 650 degrees when we put the first of 10 pita breads in the oven.  By the time we were ready for the big loaves the temperature had fallen to just about 600, a little too warm for bread, but the loaves had risen to a point where they were ready to bake.  I put all 5 loaves in the oven and here are the results.  A couple got a little dark, but they're all edible.  Lately we've been baking bread about once every two weeks.  We've been using the oven for over two years now.

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HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY

This morning I planted our flag in the front yard in recognition of the occasion.  Tonight, as the sun was setting, I happened to glance out the front window and saw the flag ablaze in the sunlight.  I hope your day was as pleasant as ours.

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LUNCH FROM THE GARDEN

Today we picked our first tomatoes.  We added a cucumber from the greenhouse and added it to the salad.  The sandwich is left over from yesterday when we didn't have time to eat.  The flowers on the table are a gift from one of the visitors at the open garden.  Today was a day of rest (after a little clean up work in the garden).  By the way, the tomatoes were delicious!

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THE OPEN GARDEN TOUR

The open garden was a huge success from our perspective.  More than 50 people came to see what we had created.  The first people arrived about 11:30 a.m.  The last couple came at 4:55 p.m.  It was a steady stream of cars and people.  Marlene had made a couple of sandwiches that we planned to eat when there was a break in visitors.  We never had a chance to stop and eat.  We never even had a chance to take a drink of water.  Both of us were horse from talking so much.

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MARLENE REVIEWS HER GARDEN PLANS

Marlene got out all her reference book and reviewed her garden plan so she would be prepared to answer any questions about what she has planted.  Keep in mind that the people coming to the open garden will all be experienced gardeners.

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THE PLANE IS IN POSITION

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GETTING READY FOR THE OPEN GARDEN

Today is the day of the garden tour.  Our garden is highlighted this weekend as the "Clackamas County Master Gardener's" Open Garden.  It was advertised as being on an airport so I thought having the airplane parked near the garden was appropriate.

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HI HO SILVER

We've had this horse swing for about 6 years.  When Ryder was this age, he used it a lot.  We put it in the barn and forgot about it.  Recently we dragged it out  and were going to give it to a fund raising garage sale.  The boys saw it and asked us not to sell it.  So we hung it in a tree behind the barn and now it has a new life.

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DINING IN THE GARDEN

We've added a dining area to our garden.  We found this table and six chairs on Craigs List and put it in place under the grape arbor.  Sunday evening we had our friends Rick and Edie over for wine and salad in the garden.  By the way, the floor is a fresh layer of hazel nut shells. 

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