Again, it's been awhile since I posted. So much has happened, including a big move from Southeast to North Portland, so we were really busy settling in. It's SO NICE to live in an actual house, rather than an apartment. We had forgotten what it's like to sleep through the night, as we'd had horrible upstairs neighbors for the longest time! Now, instead of living around a bunch of self-entitled hipsters, our neighbors are super friendly & down-to-earth. Yay!
Shortly after moving, my siblings & I went on our annual camping trip, this time to Champoeg, one of my favorite camping spots evar!
We took our time at camp, after surviving an indecent rush-hour trek to Champoeg. Sean munches a Tofurky-avocado bagel, in recovery:
Smels was impressed with her mustard skillz, & had to get photographic evidence:
Friday night, we went down to check out the beautiful river.
A confession: my biggest fears in life are drowning, & having big fish touch me in the water(so irrational, I know! I hope to conquer these neuroses before I die!), so I wasn't keen on diving in, but the next day, after we walked a few miles to the Butteville Store, Sean asked if he could swim in the freezing, murky, Willamette. My sister, the voice of reason, said she thought it was okay, so he bravely waded in. This is one of my favorite pictures ever. Such cuteness!
We also walked to an old grave site & found an orchard with pear, apple & hazelnut trees. Smels spotted this picturesque ladybug. Way to strike a pose, gurrlll!
We also found some shelf fungi along the trail, home to behbeh slugs!
I brought a pie, baked from these delish raspberries from Sauvie Island.
We had zero trouble eating it all up. I used a recipe from CHOW as the base, but modified it a little bit, for pure raspberry delight.
Raspberry Pie
- 2 1/2 cups flour (I used half white whole wheat & half white)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup, plus 2 tablespoons cold, salted butter
- 6-8 tablespoons ice water, mixed with 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- 6 cups raspberries
- 1 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1 tablespoons lemon juice
- zest of one lemon
- milk for brushing crust, plus sugar for sanding (optional)
Mix together the flour & salt. Cut the butter into it, until sandy, with small, pea-sized balls of butter. Add the minimum amount of water necessary to get the dough to hold together. Try not to overwork it! Divide dough into two disks, then refrigerate them till chilled.
In a separate large bowl, mix together the berries, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, & zest.
Preheat the oven to 375*F. Roll out the pie crusts to 1/4-inch thickness. Line the bottom of your favorite pie tin with one of the crusts, leaving the extra dough hanging around the edge.
Pour in the filling. Top with the other half of dough. Trim the edges, but leave about an inch extra around the outside. (Save the extra tidbits for turnovers, or cinnamon-sugar munchies!) Turn the dough under, then crimp/decorate in your own way.
Brush the top with milk & sprinkle with sugar, if you like it that way. Cut a few slits in the top, then bake until the crust is golden & the filling is bubbling out the slits. If the crust begins to brown too quickly. cover it lightly with foil. Let cool before cutting, or it'll be soupy!
Here's the jam I made with those same raspberries! It's made with only three ingredients: raspberries, honey & Pomona Pectin.
Fun! Fun! Fun! I also want to recommend the OMSI exhibit, "Game On", to any gamers out there. We took Sean & had a blast. There were SO MANY CONSOLES, from all around the world, most of which were playable. My brother & I even played PONG, which was projected onto a huge wall. I took a bunch of pictures before I saw the "no pictures" signs that were posted in randomly weird areas. It was hard to notice them through the herds of kids & flashing lights, but I stopped once I saw them. Oops! I feel like an asshole, since people who saw me snapping away must have been like, "This lady thinks she's too cool for school..."
Hello there!
I just had to share this amigurumi schlong that I made for Coral's bachelorette party. A bunch of us ladies went on a limo-driven wine tour around 5 or 6 vinyards (I lost track after awhile), which is hilariously unlike me, but it was fun. The peen is from Anticraft, but I used worsted weight Red Heart yarn. I didn't make the taint. It looked weird, so I frogged it out & just sewed the shaft & balls together. He seems happy, even though he's taintless.
Here's the beautiful bride-to-be. Her feather boa kept shedding all over, ha ha.
Hope everyone is having a good summer! I can't wait to share photos from Coral's wedding! See you soon...
Today we got back from our 5th annual UFO FEST in McMinnville (it was actually the 12th year of the festival though). The festival is sponsored by McMenamins, & is the product of so much hard work & planning by many people, especially Tim Hills. <3 <3 <3
The festival is in honor of Evelyn & Paul Trent, local farmers who (reluctantly!) witnessed a UFO on May 11, 1950.
We always camp in Champoeg State Park, then head into McMinnville for the guest speakers & events. So much fun!
And it's beautiful too!
We camped in our tent Friday night, then had to pack up early Saturday morning, since we had different arrangements for Saturday. On the way into McMinnville, we stopped at the Goodwill & I found this Finel mushroom bowl. I'm embarrassed to say that I had a serious shopping high after finding it; I've wanted one for years & they're always WAY overpriced on Etsy!
The guest speaker on Friday night was Robert Salas, a teacher & former air force captain who, while working at Malmstrom Air Force Base in 1967, experienced a systematic shut-down of 10 nuclear missiles. This occurred as guards sighted a UFO outside the gates! This presentation was amazing. Mr. Salas believes the aliens did not intend anything harmful, but were sending us a message about the dangers of nuclear weaponry. This was not the only time missiles were shut down, nor was it an "accident" of engineering. So fascinating! He is a proponent of disclosure, & does a lot of research through FOIA & interviews of military personnel.
The next morning, we heard from Stan Gordon, who shared a wealth of info about UFO incidents around the Pennsylvania area, and specifically the Kecksburg Incident. He also talked about the prevalence of Bigfoot sightings in the area, & how they often go hand in hand with UFO activity. He was a great speaker & had a ton of eyewitness accounts & photographic evidence. I could have listened to him all day!
Saturday afternoon, we staked out a perfect spot to see the UFO Costume Parade down Third Street. We were going to wait in front of Third Street Books, but moved up to another spot where we could get closer to the road.
I love this shot of the Hotel Oregon rooftop.
The turnout was huge! Everyone gets into it---even babies & pets!
Emcee Peter Davenport, from NUFORC, greeted local fans!
Stan Gordon too!
The final speaker was Paola Harris, an amazing teacher, researcher, & journalist, who has worked with pretty much every well-known ufologist out there. She is adamant about young people getting into ufology, as well as interviewing our elders before they pass on. Many of them have witnessed things that they were hesitant to come forward about, especially if their families or employers swore them to secrecy. She believes we need to unite as a species & develop a method of exopolitics, in order to peacefully welcome alien visitors.
I got a shot of Stan Gordon, visiting people after Paola Harris' presentation. All the speakers are down-to-earth (ha ha) & are very approachable. Of course I'm too chicken to do so, but Ethan has!
After listening to Ms. Harris, we headed back to Champoeg & stayed in a cabin for the night. It was our first time renting a cabin there; we usually camp in a tent, but thank goodness we got the cabin for Saturday---it POURED rain all night & morning. :)
My sister checked on Yoda & gave him some snugglin' while we were gone, but he was so thankful & affectionate when we got home. Poor behbeh.
