Monday's Musings and a Winner

I promised you a winner for last week's Fun Fact Friday Freebie today, and a winner you shall have:

~ #55 Karrie S. ~

Congratulations, Karrie S.  We've been in contact via email, and I'll be putting your fat quarter in today's mail.

It's been seasonably hot here this past weekend, and the forecast shows warm weather all week, although it will cool down somewhat from the hot weather we had for the weekend.  I'm actually loving the hot weather, but then, we have air-conditioning.  I wouldn't be very happy without it.  Mike and I lived in Phoenix for the first three years of our marriage, and so Portland hot weather never impresses us much.  This weekend was hot enough though.  We actually hit 103 in the valley, which is unusual for this part of the world.  I know many of you have been struggling under oppressive heat for weeks, and I am sympathetic.

This weekend, we decided to head out to Hood River, Oregon, for Van Gogh Days at Rasmussen Farms.  We were promised 70 different kinds of sunflowers.  I absolutely love sunflowers of all kinds, and for some reason, I'm having trouble growing them.  Next year, I think I'll start them in pots.  I have a feeling my nemeses the squirrels have been eating the seeds . . . or at least digging them up and burying them in a place more suitable to their gardening pleasure.

It's beautiful heading out to Hood River, and once there, one can take in splendid views of Mt. Hood.

You may remember hearing about Hood River when John Kerry came out and did some windsurfing in the Columbia River during the election campaign of 2004.

The sunflowers at Rasmussen farms were U-Cut, and we were there late in the game, so the best ones had been snagged.  The rest were looking pretty bedraggled from the heat.  It was quite hot in the bright sunshine, and because they had been watering, it was also rather humid.  Humidity isn't generally a problem in our area.  

I went as fast as I could to get pictures of the best ones.  One is posted on Macro Monday this morning.  Here are a few more:

Today I have a few things to do in town.  For one thing, I have to see a doctor about something that's too embarrassing to mention publicly.  Don't you hate it when you can't talk about your medical problems in polite company?  I mean, really, doesn't everyone want to know about everyone else's medical problems?  I know I always line up to hear about the latest boil lancing.  Even better if there's video!  (Incidentally, it's not that.)  But you can bet that if it turns out to be something serious, my politeness will go all out the window.  Because, after all, whining is highly under-rated.

I'm hopeful that Matthew will be joining us today.  He's been in Portland the past couple of days performing with his band.  We're going to see him this coming Saturday down in Klamath Falls.  He's such a local celebrity these days that it's hard to keep up with him unless you attend one of his performances.  I'm just his mother, and so who cares about me?  Anyway . . . he called us last week to say he was going to be in town, and so we just might get a chance to see him before Saturday.    

Also, I'm making a quick trip to the grocery store today . . . and if there is time, I'm going to bake a cherry pie.  It's my one cherry pie of the season.  See, I have this idea that if I only make my favorite desserts once per season, then it won't be too many calories.  Trouble is, I have enough seasonal desserts now that I'm pretty much making one per week.

Right now I'm recharging the batteries on the cat.  

And let me tell you that these batteries go, and go, and go.