Weekend Wanderings

It's been a busy couple of days, which is to say that I've done no sewing. I haven't even done much cooking. It's been very warm here...way warmer than we usually see in June in the Northwest. I know some areas of the country are much hotter than we are, but this is where I live, and so this is the heat I'm in right now.

Sue and I had a long and warm walk yesterday. We walked across the top of our mountain here. When I checked my Fitbit app, I realized this is the longest walk that we do.

We were both pooped when we finished.

There was just a little bit of time after our walk before I needed to head down to the Willamette River boat launch in Wilsonville to meet up with Mike and Erik for a planned afternoon on the river. We don't ordinarily run our A/C, but I closed everything up before I left and switched on the A/C to cool the house while we were out on the river. 

This is where the bad news, good news part of the post starts. The good news was that the guys were still getting the boat ready to launch when I arrived a few minutes late. The bad news is that we put the boat in the water only to start the engine and have it die immediately, as if it were out of gas. Mike had filled it up before launching, and so he tried it a couple more times and then had to give up. The boat wasn't going to run. So...that was a quick in and out on the river. We didn't even get our feet wet.

So geez. That was a wasted trip. The guys went to have a beer and talk "man stuff" about what was wrong with the boat. They figured it was either the fuel pump or the fuel filter...both easy enough for Mike to fix once he figures out what the problem is. I headed home because I was plenty tired after my walk. On the way, I noticed the temperature on the dashboard. Yikes.

The good news was that the house was nice and cool when I arrived home. I used the time to feed the birds and water the annuals. The bad news is that when Mike arrived home, the A/C had decided to stop working. Oy. And sigh. Fortunately, the Resident Engineer knows what's wrong with it and he has a part on order via Amazon Prime. We'll get it on Monday...which is just in time for the real heatwave we're expecting next week.

After a warm night in the house and anticipated triple digit temperatures today, I weenied out on my trip to the Farmer's Market with Erik and Mae this morning. We were planning to meet them later in the afternoon anyway. The only thing I wanted were pie cherries, and it seemed a little early for those. Nevertheless, Erik and Mae went to the Farmer's Market without me and bought me enough pie cherries for a pie. They're good kids, yeah.

So, I guess you know what I'm doing tomorrow! It's my annual cherry pie...and this one ain't no dessert for two. This one is the whole, er, banana. 

Interestingly, a cloud cover moved in and kept the day from getting frightfully hot as was forecast. We had a very nice time at the Portland International Beerfest. You pay admission, which includes a 4 ounce glass for tasting and (for our tickets) 30 tokens. Then you use the tokens to pay for the samples of beer you want to try. I pretty much stuck with the hard ciders for my day.

Erik was in his element. He is a beer connoisseur in the way some people are wine connoisseurs. And let me tell you: the Northwest has a beer industry rivaled only by our coffee industry.

It was a very nice venue at Holladay Park in Northeast Portland. It's one of the older areas of the city with big tall trees and lots of shade. The sun came out a little later in the afternoon, raising the humidity. Fortunately, those nice big shade trees kept the beerfest nicely cool and comfortable.

And I was in my element too because a day spent with my kiddos is just about the best kind of day.

That's my dear daughter-in-law, Mae. I just love her to pieces. Oh yes...pay no attention to the position of my fingers. It was strictly accidental.

And then there's my little boy, Erik. He's starting a new job on Monday, a job he's been hoping for, and so it was a nice way to let off some steam before moving into a new phase of his career.

You dog lovers would have enjoyed the puppy kissing tent. For a raffle ticket, you could go inside the fence and hug and kiss a puppy. Mae was petting this little fellow. Mostly they were worn out from handling and heat. An hour after this picture was taken, they were all up romping around again.

And that pretty much brings you up to date on the past couple of days. I'm off to make a crust for my pie, and then I'll get started pitting those cherries tomorrow morning. Cherry pie, coming right up.