This may be the very spot my son and I chose to picnic at. Oh how beautiful. Mike emailed this photo this to me this morning. I think it is one of places he frequents while fishing.
As I mentioned I lived a good deal of my life in this country and it is always so nice to go back for a visit.
Wow it is a scorcher. The flowers are cowering in their pots. and the tall parsley is shrouding the thyme and rosemary like a mother.
I have been busy in my kitchen all day preparing food for our getaway. My back was starting to nag me to sit down so that is why I am sitting here posting. I really have no time to be doing this as it is a super busy day for me. But ah the chair feels so good to me I could sit all afternoon. But not to be.
Tonight for dinner as I have been preparing all day we are having frozen pizza. What a rip for dinner but oh well it will work as I have no patience left to cook dinner. The Titino's pizzas are not bad a good crispy crust and decent sauce. I will add more mozzarella and some fresh basil before serving.
This will be my last post for a while now.
Have a nice 4th of July and stay safe. That is the most important thing.
Later.
So it will not be long and we will be in this country. I have missed it I suppose. I must state I do not want to live in central Oregon again but do enjoy being there from time to time.
I am busy today loading things into the trailer. The trailer as you know is tiny so I must make sure I think simple and small
It is really heating up today, into the eighties and tomorrow into the nineties. Then it cools which makes me so happy. Sunny and mid to high seventies is fine by me.
We had a lovely meal last night. Cast iron seared sockeye salmon with salad and orzo with Italian parsley and scallions cooked in chicken broth. A very tasty bright meal and not too filling.
Tonight it is country style steaks with red potatoes and fresh green beans. An country style meal.
I am going to say good-bye for the day as there is much to do.
Adios.
This was our meal last night. Yummy and juicy tender chops done up in a iron skillet. This is what I did.
I set the oven for 400 degrees. Salt and peppered the steaks and let them stand at room temp for about a half hour. Heated the iron skillet on high to HOT. Added a drizzle of canola oil and dropped the two chops in. Let them sizzle and fry fast when browned on the underside I flipped them over and put the skillet into the oven to finish the chops. When your instant read or roasting thermometer or reaches 140-145 degrees the chops are perfectly done. That is it.
Well of course you can get more creative by making a rub of your choice of spices and herbs, but these were so scrumptious just plain and simple like this. All I served them with was a large romaine salad with radishes, tomatoes, onions and carrots with my homemade honey mustard dressing which was such a good accompaniment for the pork. I dipped my chop in the salad dressing as I served it all up on one plate.
So today being Sunday I usually do not do much but with our trip looming I am going to get our clothes squared away for our camp out. I will take a walk and make out my grocery list for tomorrows shopping. I thought I would go this morning but feel a little tired as I had an allergy attack during the night so my sleep was interrupted. That happens to me occasionally in the spring and early summer. My head will fill and I start sneezing and blowing and well you get the idea. Not fun. My head is still full at the moment.
I have not heard from my daughter in Vegas. She usually calls me and tells me what fun she is having, laugh. So that leads me to believe she is having too much fun to find time to call. They are back home this afternoon.
I will be going to see her and my brother sometime later in July. July is a busy month for us. As well as a lot of work for my husband, there is the 4th, then his birthday is the 5th and our wedding anniversary is the 9th. We have forgotten our anniversary a few times as we get so wrapped in the 4th and 5th we forget. But this year I have remembered. Hubby will be working however but that is OK I will fix us a nice meal and we will still celebrate with dinner out when we have time.
It is a nice day here, warmer with big clouds floating in the blue.
Enjoy your Sunday.
That's all folks!
So here is my husband kicking back and enjoying life on our cabin cruiser. Ah the life huh? Well it was a great time over several years that we had the boat. We traded it for our first motor home in 2000. I guess it still makes me sad not to have it. But we could not afford or did we have room for a 23 1/2 ft boat and a 30 ft. motor home. So choices had to be made. But I will say the best times of my life were spent on that boat. And that is saying something as we have had some great times. So as summer descends on us each year I remember all the summer days spent upon the "Crescent Star" our boat.
So today I am starting to pack for our trip. I like to start early so I do not need to rush.
The older I get the slower I become. Just fact. Getting the fresh linens in and restocking our supplies and packing dry goods are on the agenda for today.
We had a lot of showers yesterday so many in fact that I hesitated to take a walk and get caught. It would be nice for a while and then the showers and wind would hit and all hell would broke loose as they say. So today I must walk and as soon as I finish this post I shall head out. It is cloudy and no wind at the moment so that is nice.
We may grill this evening I have some plump looking bone in pork chops. I could french them and put them on the grill they look so pretty that way. If so I will make a potato and pepper packet to go along with. This evening is to be warmer and hopefully no showers if I plan this. But I guess all could go in the oven as a last resort.
Well I really have no news just chattering as usual and I am anxious to get my walk over and start hauling things out to the munchkin trailer.
Have a nice weekend.
Yes this was us a few years ago camped in a river spot at Belknap hot springs. Belknap up on the McKenzie pass is a favorite place of ours. We have been going for our entire life together which will be 32 years the 3rd of July. Bend and Eugene are about equal distances to the hot springs. So we have driven there from the east side of the mountains as we now do from the west side. We have not went this year and will not go until school is in session again. We love to go in the spring or in the fall. It is one of the few places you can camp along the McKenzie river and have access to the hot pools at the resort. There are hiking trails in the resort area but also we like to hike or mountain bike the McKenzie river trail. As that trail is a bit of a bike ride for me now I will go on foot for the remainder of my life.
So what is it doing here in Eugene today? It is windy. What is going on today is stronger than a breeze. It is also sunny, cloudy and showery. It is more like a March or April day rather than a summer day.
My husband will be home early today and he called to inform me we are having company. There is a contractor he was done work for several times and now my husband has steered him to a job just across our street. So Dennis whom I have never met will be coming over to meet me and visit for a while. My husband says he is a very interesting person and he is a spiritual fellow and is of the Buddha faith. So I find that interesting in it's self.
My daughter is now hanging out in the heat and sun of Las Vegas as her husband is in business meetings today at a seafood convention there. After this evening the business part of the trip will be completed and Gina and Doug can enjoy what Las Vegas has to offer until Sunday afternoon when they fly back home. I wish I was there with her today. What fun we would have.
I have no idea what to have for dinner. I bought a mound of burger at the market that I need to break down into smaller portions, seal and freeze. So I will probably use burger tonight in some way. Come on Zo be creative.
I will finish this up now and get on to my house chores. As we are having a guest I must attend to the kitchen and family room floors. Seems I have been neglectful of the floors again.
The weekend is upon us. Have a good one.
These are my parents Arthur and Marta Nesbitt. Such a cute couple in my opinion. Of course it goes without saying how lovely my mother was inside and out. With her beautiful smile and sweet demeanor everyone fell in love with her.
My father with his good looks and dark hair and olive skin and light gray/green eyes was a charmer. He had devilish way about him. Being a Gemini you never who he would be from one day to the next. Gemini being the twins you know.
My parents were both avid readers. Sometimes the evenings were so quiet with us all reading the only noise was the turning of a page. My father was no game player but my mother and I loved to play games. My parents loved adventure, travel especially but even a Sunday drive with a picnic lunch or a camp out put a smile on their faces.
It is fun for me to remember them with such pleasure in their younger years.
I am looking at my fathers suspenders. He most always wore them. And he always wore button down shirts the only tee shirts I recall him wearing where undershirts. He loved to dress up and wear a suit or sports jacket and white shirt. A lot of times he would just wear casual pants or jeans and wear a white shirt with the sleeves turned up.
It looks as if my mother has a pair of wedge sandals on. They are the trend again. In fact those shoes could be in a store right now. My mother fancied dresses and wore them the majority of the time. But occasionally she would wear her loose slacks or a pair of jeans. It was cute when she was in her seventies and eighties she wore jeans a lot and for her shoes she donned white leather athletic shoes. She was so cute for her age and always appeared so young.
Well I have had a day. I went grocery shopping at three different places this morning. Then also went and bought a armload of books. Oh that always makes the day exciting for me. I bring them home and stack them on my chair side table in the living room. I will then look through them read the backs and select which order I will read them in. I know I am odd, but I have always had a close relationship with books.
The mist was dense when I was out and about and though I did not notice it at the time I got quite wet. My hair that I worked at to get straight is now crazy. Wavy, limp, straight, curly. I have all of that going on. Good grief, believe me it looks very peculiar. But it smells good there's a lingering of Herbal Essence and a hint of fresh misty rain.
I have been taking a break while typing this. My counter top is filled with tote bags full of groceries. Here in Eugene we have to supply our own bags or pay for paper bags, there are no more plastic bags. We are quite a green city. I do not mind I have been using my bags for years before the city made it law.
So now the groceries must be put away so I best get to it.
You all have a nice day. It is throw back Thursday today on FB that is why I posted the photo of my parents as I did so on FB. But I have so enjoyed writing about them.
Later.
Taco's and black beans tonight. This is actually a photo of pork verde tacos. Tonight we are making carne asada tacos. I have a piece of sirloin steak that I will use. I will make a warm spicy rub with the likes of cumin, coriander, allspice, paprika, brown sugar and salt and pepper. Let the steak hang out in the fridge and grill it to med-rare. Then let it cool down and chop it up and turn it in to a cast iron skillet to put a final char on the edges. We will add cilantro, onion and cheese, nothing more is needed. We will then drizzle our fave hot sauces over. I have black beans to go along side. I love black beans in lieu of pintos sometimes. They are so hardy and I just love their earthy dense texture.
Well a cloudy day here and it is to remain so throughout the day with a shower or two. I could care less it is nice for a change. I am rather worn down from the mugginess we have had this past week. It was so hot and muggy last night I had a hard time sleeping. We had the windows open and the breeze through the screen doors and all of our four ceiling fans whirring away which helped some. This cooler weather is just fine for me now.
I am starting today to prepare for our trip to central Oregon. Between our neighbors both sides and hubby's sis who lives a couple houses down the street our home is always well taken of. It is like a neighborhood watch really. We always have someone to take care of the garden and flowers and garbage. This is a very safe neighborhood as so many folks are aware of anything out of the ordinary. I know we always keep tabs on Dee and Bills place when they are away.
I have a lot to get ready for this trip as my husband has a job in Sunriver which will take a few days the rest of the time we will be enjoying my son's company and hanging out at his place in the country. The weather is to be HOT. In the high eighties. Good thing as the weather now over there is not good. Cold in fact. Central Oregon can be a bear sometimes this time of year.
Today is making out the grocery list and menu for this week. My pantry is looking a little deprived right now and the freezer is sorely lacking so I will have a full cart for sure. I also have laundry to do. Seems there is always laundry doesn't it? Even though we try to be conservative with our clothing the hamper still manages to get full.
I hope to take a long walk today. As it is cooler that will make it better for me. I must go however before the showers come in. So that leads me to believe I should sign off this post and get those walking shoes on and head out.
Ciao.
