My trip

Well I am back from my grandsons grad party and a visit with my brother.
What a grand time I had. I saw my grandchildren, my two children and other relatives and close friends. It made my heart soar to be with so many I love and care about.
I never cooked for days but I surely enjoyed wonderful food. At the grad party the fare was grilled seafood. Freshly caught salmon in Alaska furnished by my grandson who made the trip with his father and grandfather. There was lobster and colossal shrimp on the grill as well. The food was bottomless and many traipsed back to the grill for more.
At my daughters home the previous evening I dined on halibut grilled to perfection fixed very simply. It melted in your mouth.

I went to my brothers the day after the graduation party. As I mentioned before in a previous blog my brother lives on property overlooking the Columbia river. The second day spent with him we went to the river to spend part of the day. He has a little four wheel drive truck that we made good use of. We plunged down a steep sandy bank and had the beach to ourselves. It was private and beautiful. It brought to mind tender memories from childhood of hours spent beside that river. My brother tossed his fishing line just in case a fish would bite. I had made super fat veggie sandwiches for our picnic. My brother said to me, now how are we ever going to wrap our mouths around those?
I used black sour rye bread lightly toasted, slathered with mayo and a tad of mustard. I loaded them with long slices of cucumber from our garden, walla walla sweet onion slices, a big juicy tomato slice, I slit jarred yellow wax peppers to release their juice and loaded them on also a big wedge of iceberg lettuce and slices of Tillamook Colby cheese and sprinkled all with salt and pepper. With the help of many paper towels we managed to put those big boys away.
There was a bit of wind at the river which kept it cool as it was a hot day. We set up the beach umbrella and anchored it well to have some shade. I strolled along the beach for a walk searching for driftwood for my yard. I wanted just a few pieces and I found what I needed and they now adorn a sweet little area at the curve of our front walkway.

So back home again to my thoughtful hubby who had the house all tidy for my arrival. He was on a job site and not at home when I arrived so I unloaded my rig and plopped in my chair. I had intentions of catching up on the newspapers, yeah well so much for that. Before I knew it the paper had dropped from my hands and I was snoozing away. Oh it felt so good, the quiet and comfort of my own home. It is always so great to go and see everyone but so nice to come home to your own little nest.
Speaking of nests my brother has been feeding a pair of blue jays for years now. They fly right up to him and take their treats. Not shy at all with him however I made them a little nervous. They have babies every year and as the babies grow they get more aggressive. It looks like the parents have been in a battle zone with all their feathers ruffled and missing. These birds look so exhausted from it all. I assume they will celebrate when their off spring leave the nest and go about their own lives.
I must say I had the sweetest photo of my brothers little bird buddy. I posted it to this blog and it did not post. Where is it???? Why did not come up???? Sometimes I want to pull my hair out!

My hubby at this moment is cooking us a nice size kokanee fish caught yesterday at one of our high lakes on the Willamette Pass.. So we are having it for a snack. Good smells are coming from the kitchen. He does a good job making a crispy crust with juicy fish inside.

I will be making zucchini in many different ways over the next few weeks. Tomorrow night I am fixing crookneck squash, so stay tuned for squash season in Zo's kitchen. I have already made four loaves of zucchini bread and tucked them into the freezer.
Oh, summer I love it!