3/18/12

When I'm Not Sewing

About the only thing that can consistently pull me away from the sewing machine voluntarily is spending time with the people I love most:  my friends and family.  Although it has been raining sideways for several days, the universe smiled on us the past couple of mornings and cleared the skies for my two outdoor adventures.

Friday I walked with Sue.  We usually walk the Fanno Creek Trail.  During late spring, summer, and early fall, the trail remains a trail.  But when it's been raining sideways for days on end, we are reminded that the trail runs through a wetlands.


Resourceful women that we are, we thought we could get around Fanno Creek Lake if we just walked far enough out onto the grass to the left of the trail.  But we soon had our delusions dashed as the ground became boggier and boggier.  You can see the continuation of the trail near the center of this image.  It was a lot of water to wade through.


The geese knew what to do.  And I imagine they filled their gullets with delicious slugs in the process.  We have really fat slugs in Oregon.


Undeterred from our quest not to become fat slugs ourselves, Sue and I walked through the neighborhoods that surround the park.  And we happened upon this, which I knew would delight your crafty souls.


The weather stayed nice long enough for Sue and I to finish our walk, and then it rained the rest of the day.  This worried me because Mae and I were ready to hit the opening day of the 2012 Portland Farmers Market the next day.  That night I listened to the rain hitting the windows as I lay in bed.  Mae and I would not be deterred by the rain, but I still did not relish the idea of it.

I'm happy to say that the universe smiled on us yet again, and we managed to get through our outing without getting wet.

So I imagine you're wondering what kinds of things are fresh this early in the season.  Red radishes.



And these unique black radishes.



Gorgeous greens.




Baskets brimming with Brussels sprouts

and colorful crunchy carrots.


There were lovely leeks,

perfectly purple pansies,


appetizing apples,


dandy daffodils, 


and wonderful wheat.


(Alliteration, don't fail me now.)  How about some charming chives?


And some fancy flowers.


And what could make for a more delightful morning than spending it with the marvelous Mae?


Only one thing.  Mae came up with the idea of taking breakfast to Erik who had to work that day.  This thrilled me because I haven't yet seen Erik at his new job.  The job isn't new, but he was promoted to assistant service manager recently, and in any case, I hadn't ever been to his work place.

So we got breakfast for Erik at our favorite Farmers Market breakfast stand where everything is made fresh while you watch


including the tortillas for your huevos rancheros.


Who wouldn't want to dig into this?  Mmmmmmmmm.  Dee-lish!

Then we headed over to Erik's workplace


where we found him hard at it.


Now, honestly, what kind of a mother would I be if I didn't embarrass him in front of his co-workers by taking a picture of his name beside his office door?


So after fussing over him for a few minutes, we left him to enjoy his breakfast and the rest of his day.


When I dropped Mae off at home, the raindrops were starting to fall.

11 comments:

Dana Gaffney said...

I'm so glad the rain stopped long enough for you to have such a nice morning. The universe must realize how important our children are.

Wendy said...

I enjoyed your post so much. Except it made me miss my boys, Alex in Portland and Erik in Corvallis. :( Anyway, sounds like a wonderful couple of days. It's been quite soggy here in CA too lately.

Dirt Road Quilter said...

After seeing all of that wonderful rain(remember, I live in the desert)and all of those enticing edibles at the market I am wondering why I don't live in regon! And if I move there, will you bring ME breakfast? :)

Teresa in Music City said...

Ah how nice of Mother Nature to decide to be kind and give you all a lovely couple of days together!!! Your son looks like a nice young man, someone to be very proud of!!!

Jackie McGuinness said...

I love shopping at markets but it's funny that I do it more often when we're away than at home. Laziness, I guess.
Just bought some brussel sprouts today for dinner.

Diane Wild said...

What a lovely day of not sewing. The vegies look delish. Can't wait for ours to open which will be July? And what were those garden pinwheels made of. They look like plates with little bowls stuck to them.

Mrs.Pickles said...

what a lovely way to spend time away from the sewing machine :)

Andrea said...

What a beautiful post! I would have loved to spend the day tagging along with ya'll...starting with the walk! Those veggies were beautiful! I have never seen black radishes...were they good? I loved the pic of those brussel sprouts! Now I am hungry! Thanks for taking the time to share your wonderful life with us! Aloha, Andrea

Rosetta said...

Your photographs are fabulous.
Hello good week

aksherry said...

What a nice day! So jealous of your Farmer's Market!

Lee said...

Wow, all the fresh produce looks so, well, just SO fresh!! I just never see it look that great down here! And the dandy daffodils - sweet! And speaking of slugs (yup, I'm one) you get BIG ones up there! Our's are itty bitty, maybe an inch and a half. That breakfast plate made me hungry! Thank you for sharing your great photos and adventure of the day :)