Redemption

Sandi and I were at her parent's house for Easter.  Their neighbors had a pile of wood with a 'free' sign.  I rifled through it and saw some used exotic hardwood lumber.  I was determined to highlight this wood and we've been wanting an end table for the family room so it didn't take long to draw up plans.  A friend allowed me to consume his entire Saturday and his plainer and joiner.  After the rough wood was planed and joined I brought it back to my woodshop.  It took awhile, but I am pleased with the result.

Note: I just found out the wood is ipe - a Brasilian hardwood.

 

I wanted to feature the beautiful grain and let the wood speak for itself. 

 

Simplicity

 

Beauty

 

Redemption

Central Oregon Vacaton: Black Butte

 

The interesting thing about Black Butte trail is the combination of incredible views of the Cascades and birds-eye views of the scenery below.

Black Butte Ranch below

 Three of seven mountains we saw (probably the Sisters, but could have been Washington, Adams, or Jefferson).

It was little too cloudy to see Mt. Hood.

It's WINDY at the top, so we stayed long enough to snap our pictures.

A fully operational fire watch tower.

Central Oregon Vacaton: Best part of camping

Clearly the best part of camping is the food.  Rather than go for the usual Sun Chips, bratwurst and smores, we took it up a notch.  In fact, we probably ate more gourmet at the campsite than we usually do at home.

We started off with chicken in a creamy white-wine sauce, topped with our own kale.

Don't forget the Parmesan.

For breakfast: fresh fruit and a variety of bagels.

We grilled pork chops on the fire on our second night

Dinner complete with a salad, black bean side and a bottle of Dad's finest red.

Central Oregon Vacaton: Metolius River (Sisters OR)

Sandi and I took advantage of 3 nights off and headed to Sisters, OR for a quick vacation.  We camped along the Metolius River.  It's a fly-fishing meca, so we came armed with books and food.

Spring Planting

Our planter boxes were a bit shallow last year - might explain why our carrots stopped growing after 4 inches.  This year we decided to go bigger.

 

I built these two boxes out of cedar fence posts.  I'm hoping the rough-cut finish will add to the homestead look instead of indicting me of lazyness.  We want them to last so I covered the outside with a good water treatment. 

It was a long day that invovled getting a yard of soil, filling the boxes and buying the seedlings.  By the end of the day, we have the new vegitable garden. 

Bush beans and green onions

 

3 varieties of leaf lettice, more green onions and 3 varieties of kale.

 

We had enough soil left over to plant our peppers, and tomatoes.  I can't wait for the salsa!

Spring Unveiling

Cannon Beach hosts a spring unveiling in their art galleries.  Basically, artists who display their work are invited to create a work specifically to unveil during one weekend.  You get a schedule and then wander through the galleries every half-hour to see the new work.  The best part of it is the reception at 5:00 where you go back to eat savory hors d'oeuvres - we stuffed ourselves!  Sandi and I made a day-trip out of it a couple Saturdays ago. 

Apparently, Sandi and I have a gift for picking the best days to visit the beach.

Cannon Beach: a gallery hub on the coast.

Lousy picture, but it's our favorite gallery.  Jeffry Hull paints primary water color (but some oils) featuring the beach.  He is by far the most successful artist in Cannon Beach based on the the shear size of his gallery.  If you ever have a chance, stop by and enjoy.

We were the youngest couple looking at art. 

Just 'cause it's Cannon Beach we saw a row of bright red Fararies.

 

A perfect end to a fun day...

Making butter

 

Sandi and I had cream that wasn't doing anything so we decided to try our hand at butter.

 

Isn't she cute!

 

A handmixer really doesn't work all that well - it splatters cream all over and it takes a long time.  we couldn't imagine doing it the old-fashioned way with a butter churn.

 

A Kitchen Aid is much better.

 

It worked!

 

 

We put our homemade butter next to store-bought butter and were impressed with the similarities.  The only difference we could tell was ours was a little harder to spread.  Next time, we'll add salt and see if that helps it spread easier.