Olivia's first birthday party was Saturday in Oregon City at her grandma Patty's house. Her birthday is tomorrow the 30th.
I so wish I could have attended her little party especially looking at how adorable she was in all of the photo's. My daughter Gina Olivia's great auntie said she wanted her! She just loves her. I told her she could be Olivia's favorite great aunt as Olivia is in Oregon city frequently and Gina lives there also. I am jealous!
Just look how she loves that sample of cake she was given. She is a eater, loves food and all kinds of food her mommy and daddy have introduced to many different foods. Just think back in the olden days(60's)laugh, when I had my kids they were barely eating solid food at a year and baby food at that. Not this little gal.
The theme of the party was Alice in Wonderland.
The little car was given to her from her nana Cindy and Brian her grampy. She loves it as you can tell. Only a year old and already she is a car owner. Way to go Olivia!
I am so looking forward to when Olivia and her parents come for a visit. I will give her gifts to her then, fun!
Well today I am a busy woman but I wanted to post these pictures and say a little about Olivia.
It is quite a nice day, started out cloudy but now there is sun and it truly feels like early fall. It will be wonderful at the coast, blue skies which make for a blue, blue ocean. The wind will not be much bother only about nine miles per hour. All days except for one are going to be sunny. Yeah!!!!!!!makes me smile!
I luckily snagged reservations to our favorite restaurant it is very hard to get in. The place has limited seating and only has three window tables overlooking the river and we got one. If you are interested it is called the Waterfront Depot in old town Florence. Amazing food it has been mentioned in quite a few magazine and newspaper articles.
I have no time to spare and I am in the midst of making a pasta salad, the pasta has probably cooled by now so I best get at it.
I will write when we return with pictures.
Ciao
Well the Oregon coast awaits us. The weather coming up seems perfect for a fall trip. We are more than ready for this outing.
This week we seem to have been mired in vehicle maintenance. As I type our pickup is at Joe's garage having a new water pump installed and the work van is at Schwabs getting a set of new tires as well as a brake job. All I can see is dollar signs! Good grief and the work van still needs to go to Joe's Garage as it is running rough. It just had a tune-up last year so hopefully it is something simple and cheap. I so dislike spending on things like this. It is always lots of money and I cannot tell we bought anything.....nothing exciting like new furniture, or window coverings, even new appliances is better than auto maintenance.
Hubby is not working today so he is able to have a little break which is so good as he has been working for days on end. So we have cleaned the big grill today and took the van for repairs and tires and we will need to fetch it later it today. I have grocery shopped and picked up six more books for my reading pleasure.
Tonight we are grilling a rib eye steak to split I have a rub on it while it hangs out in the fridge. I have two luscious ears of bodacious corn to with and I will make a salad with mixed greens and garden veggies and homemade dressing.
Our day today is gray however at the moment I am seeing some sun breaks. We have a little breeze but all seems so fresh and clean since our recent rain. The old farm dust has been washed away I am very happy for that. As our days unfold each one will get nicer now until we are back in the mid to high seventies. Indian summer I love it! We still have many tomatoes hanging on the vines that need to finish ripening so that sweet sunshine will accomplish that.
My great granddaughter Olivia is having her first birthday party today. Has it really been a year since this little one was born? Time just races away it seems. I was invited to Oregon City for the birthday girls celebration today but sadly could not go. As we needed my rig for the shuffling of our other vehicles to their perspective shops. Also I am in the midst of getting us ready for our trip. Hopefully it will not be to long before I see her and her daddy and mommy and she can celebrate her birthday with me.
I am going to sign off now and load a few items into the trailer.
Ciao.
I love this soup and I make it often in the fall and winter. It is my take on the Toscana soup they make at the Olive Garden. I like my version very much and I have posted this recipe before on my blog.
So tonight we will have this creamy sausage spinach soup. I am going to make my cheesy biscuits to go with. Now I am worried about making those cheesy yummy biscuits. I can easily stay out of so many food items I like but those biscuits they are going to test me. You want to bet I can't eat just one?
I had a really fun time with my gal friend from Bend. We went to lunch at PF Chang's I love the food there. We had the lettuce chicken wraps for an appetizer and then I had the Chang's fried rice and my friend had the Chinese dumplings. We brought food home so I have been eating on that tasty rice. We spent the rest of the time on the deck even though the sky was grim and grey. We sat at the table with the big umbrella and stayed out until eleven that first night. About eight or so in the evening the rain started to fall very softly but it was still warm out and the big umbrella keep us dry. I lit candle jars and tea lights on the table and turned on the chili lights around the window and when the solar lights put our their soft light along the backyard walkway is was super cozy.
I actually wrote this post several days ago and I am just now posting. I have been busy!
I like this photo with two of my favorite people. My daughter Gina and grandson Seth.
How did one Gramma get so fortunate to have two grandsons that are absolutely amazing?
Seth has always been mature for his years. When he was a young child he was always thoughtful, centered, neat, kind and good. He is still the same. He always tries to draw you into a conversation, he is always considerate and such a good man. I am so proud of both Tyson and Seth. They are such grand human beings. Of course my granddaughters are also amazing. Each one different in their special ways. Both beautiful young women and they both adore their grammy. I am blessed.
It sounds as if my brother may not be making a road trip here in his new van. He has had plumbing problems at his home in Kalama. Of course though he is almost 85 years old that event is happening the 17th of October, he still continues to do all the house repairs himself. So this waterline problem has taken a while to repair. If he feels he does not want to make the drive here I understand as anytime now we could start having hard rains and driving that freeway is no picnic in thrashing rain. My husband I will go to his place early November if work is slow here and spend two nights. I have not seen my brother since a year ago June that is just too long but both our lives are full and busy so it is hard to make the time. I do wish we lived closer.
I have started adding fall decor in my home. At the farm I picked up colorful Indian corn, tiny tot pumpkins, and a couple small gourds. I gathered them together in a large basket in the shape of a scoop. Put it on my dining room with fall candles to each side. I decorated my kitchen window sill with a small piece of driftwood that my hubby varnished for me. Beside the driftwood is a tin pot filled with faux fall leaves and snuggled in the foliage is a little glass green frog. It is a pleasing array of colors and I adore frogs so I like it. I will do a few more things as we get more into the fall mode. I did hang my fall harvest wreath on the front door. I do not have much room on my front stoop but I can squeeze in my little iron plant stand and plop a jack-0-lantern on it and then grace the steps with various size pumpkins. When I had homes with porches I must say I so loved this time of year and whimsically and colorfully decorated my porches to the hilt.
My daughter is like me. We love to decorate our homes and switch things up with our accessories from time to time. Gina has a gift as she never has had design training. But she instinctively knows what to do. She does not over do and clutter the spaces of her home. She uses the just the right amount of accent pieces, art work and accessories with class. I on the other hand did have training, two years of classes on the basics of design and then practical experience with on the job training as well as going to workshops and traveling to North Carolina the hub of the furniture markets as well as the San Francisco and Seattle markets. I have had the opportunity to work with some of the best folks in the northwest learning many skills including display work and setting up model homes. I loved doing store display. Coming up with an idea, gathering a crew to move the furniture, setting the theme, adding the accessories. It was a fun time for me. I did this at Wall St. Interiors in Bend as well as Jacobs fine furniture in Bend. Then when I worked for the Parker family I also helped with the display work at there large stores in Eugene and Portland. It was a very rewarding job. I am thankful for those years that I worked in the design field. But now all that is available to me is to dabble in my own home.
I have chatted on now for so long on subjects other than food, but I have no food talk today.
Well off to do my daily chores my gal pal is coming this morning so I had better get myself around.
Have a nice day, it is showery here.
I finally got this pie made. And we had a piece last night and it taste as good as it looks. There is just something about the taste of gravenstein apples in a pie that is so comforting and yummy. As I have said many times it reminds me of the farm where I grew up with a huge gravenstein apple tree that my mother totally made use of by making pies, cobblers and apple fritters as well as many quarts of applesauce each year.
Our dinner last night was reminiscent of Thanksgiving. I roasted a turkey breast and it served it with mashed potatoes with turkey gravy and cranberry sauce and tomatoes, cukes and sweet onions marinated in apple cider vinegar, sugar and salt and pepper. And then topped off with a slice apple pie and home style vanilla ice cream........well what more can I say except we never said a word while eating our dinner we just hummed and totally cleaned our plates. Then I took care of the kitchen and we sprawled contentedly on our individual sofa's and watched one of our fave series, "Hell on Wheels". After that program my husband went out like a light and I watched a PBS program as he snored(had to turn up the volume) and then we hit the sack and sleep like babies.
It was such a beautiful day yesterday. My hubby got home early. He worked in the garage tidying and working on some of his flooring equipment. I cleaned and scrubbed the deck and all the patio furniture. The pie was already made and cooling. After the deck was sparkling clean we both sat and relaxed out there with a glass of white wine, loaded with ice and mixed berries and grapes. It was hot for a late September day. A little later the sky was loaded with crumbled clouds. It was so gorgeous as if someone had tossed handfuls of small cotton balls up in the air. We sat at the patio table and played a couple of games and sipped more wine while the jays were going crazy in the tree above our heads. What they had to chatter about so loudly I do not know. After they quieted the frogs began in earnest. A croak here and a croak there and another croak from another location. They had quite a orchestra going. But we did not hear a peep from any human and that was lovely just us and nature in our small backyard area.
My gal friend from across the mountains will be here tomorrow. I am concerned about the weather now.
It shows showers for tomorrow. We were wanting to spend the afternoon on the deck, snacking and sipping good Oregon wine and relaxing in the warmth with much chatter and friendship. Well it will be warm eighty degree's, but sun? That is questionable. So we may need to spend the day indoors.......darn.
I have a laundry list of things to do today. First thing is office, making out a few billing statements and making out some bills, then a run to the farm for some veggies, and then some cleaning in my kitchen.
At least I need not be concerned about dinner. It will be a repeat of last nights meal.
My husband is making fresh salsa with some of our tomatoes after he gets home today. He uses diced fresh tomatoes, chopped sweet onions, lots of jalapeno's, cilantro, salt and a good amount of lime juice. It is so very fresh tasting.
Well with what I must accomplish today I had better get out these sweats, get dressed and get with it!
See you tomorrow.
This little one is very open to trying anything that is presented to her. I feel it is because her parents encourage that. Especially her daddy Tyson. Tyson loves to cook and is gleaning many skills. He is always trying new things and therefore Olivia gets offered bites. I do not what her decision was on the crab omelette she looks a little perplexed in the last shot. However she liked the calamari the other day.
I have so much I want to accomplish today and here I sit......not good. I ran to the market today and picked up a fresh turkey breast to put in the oven tomorrow. I am going to make cranberry sauce and make smashed tators and turkey gravy and have marinated cukes, tomatoes and onions. Desert is apple pie with Bryer's home style vanilla ice cream. Sounds like a good old fashioned Sunday supper to me.
So I have my OREGON gear on today. And guess what? I got ten percent off my groceries today. Laugh....only in Eugene as they say. OK no more procrastination. Back to work.
GO DUCKS!
I am cleaning my living room today so of course I am switching out some accessories. Each time I do this I try to remove more clutter. So I have a little collage here with my sideboard front and center, my wine rack looking depleted, umbrella plant and my dining room table top right. My dining room and living room are all part of one large room. It feels good to have everything all shiny, waxed and clean. I needed to rest my back so I am taking a small break then I will clean the hardwood floors in there. Then onto the family which this time of year is more like a sports room with our OREGON DUCK decor. Tomorrow I will get at the kitchen. There is much to do in there. I am cleaning because I am having company the first part of next week. That always spurs me on. A good thing folks come now and then.
I am back for another break. The floors are wonderfully clean walking with my bare feet on them is lovely. My family slash football room is gleaming. Oh how I love clean rooms.
I have a pan of tomatoes roasting in the oven. I am caught up on processing tomatoes now for a couple of days. I think the remainder of the tomatoes this season I will add peppers, garlic and seasonings and put into pint jars, making pasta sauce for our camping trips. I have had to organize the freezer in our garage fridge to accommodate all of our frozen meat. I needed to free space for more sauce in our house fridge. We will so be enjoying that yummy red fresh tasting tomato sauce this winter.
Our chicken soup was so delicious last night. I was good and just had a medium size bowl of soup, no toast. Tonight we will have the soup again. After soup sits for a day it gets even better as the flavors have a chance to meld even more. Tonight I will make hubby a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich to go with his soup. He works so hard and is so hungry when dinner time rolls around.
I have another busy day tomorrow. There is the OREGON game tomorrow evening but my hubby is working all day and I will get my kitchen cleaned, run to the meat market as I want to do a roast for Sunday dinner. I am going to make my apple pie Sunday also to go with our old fashioned dinner.
It is a warm one today once again. A beautiful day really. Big blue sky, a very slight breeze there is no music from the wind chimes today. This sort of day makes my heart yearn for a camp out. I want to be camping somewhere in our little trailer, the chill of the night air, the warmth from the campfire, the trees starting to turn from green to bronze and the geese flying over loudly honking all sounds so incredibly wonderful right now. I am certainly a fall person.
Well now I am not done for the day. I must unload the dishwasher, and process the tomatoes after they have cooled, and then tidy myself up for my husband at the moment I surely look like a tired housewife.
So so long for today.
Ciao.
.jpg)
