Vegetables

We just got back from the Grange Co-op store and made our planting selections. Here are the seeds we bought:

• lettuce
• corn
• bush beans
• cucumber
• sweet basil
• chives
• carrots
• parsley
• scallions

We also bought some plants already started - tomatoes (one cherry and one "early girl"), jalapeño pepper, banana pepper, and yellow squash. What do you all think? Did we pick well? I hope it will all fit. I'm a little concerned about the lettuce because it will not germinate if the soil is too warm. And we forgot to get a soil thermometer.

Music in my CD Player

It's time for another installment of the ever popular Music in My CD Player. Today's music set is a trip down memory lane - groups from the 60's, 70's, and 80's. There is a lot of variety in style, but they all make me dance around my house and get pepped up for chores!

1. The B52's - Cosmic Thing
2. Abba - Gold, Greatest Hits
3. The Best of Simon and Garfunkel
4. Van Morrison - Moondance
5. Edie Brickell and New Bohemians - Ultimate Collection

Do you remember these groups? Any special memories connected with them?

Friends

Well, here is my slide show. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera on Wednesday when we were out being tourists. I wish I had it on the tram - it was a great view.

Frank is my friend from college who lives in Forest Grove and who we stayed with for two nights. Allison and Karen are coworkers from my old job. The sing-along band is a group of dear friends from the church that T and I used to attend years ago (pre-Bolivia - '92-96). The last two pics are the family with the new baby. Tim married us and his wife was my matron of honor.

We're back

We got home on Thursday at 2 PM, unpacked, started the laundry and worked outside in the garden. Denis mowed and I cleaned up the plants that needed dead-heading. Today I worked, paid my traffic ticket fine, paid our waiting bills and balanced the financial accounts. I also downloaded my pictures from the camera.

We had a great time. Visiting lots of friends was one of the main goals of this trip and we did accomplish that. We managed to have a great time exploring some Portland neighborhoods on our last day there as well. We rode the new tram that takes patients, employees and tourists up the hill to the university hospital (a friend informed us there was a dramatic lurch partway up, and he was right!). I will make a slideshow of highlights from our vacation tomorrow. For now, here is a sneak peek.

Portland here we come!

Well, not just quite yet... We leave on Friday just as soon after I get off work as possible. Tonight I will have to pack and clean my house a bit so I probably won't have a chance to write a post.

Our plans are finalized and me thinks it's going to be a lot of fun. The first four nights we are going to be staying in Forest Grove, a small outlying town west of the city. A friend of mine from college, Frank, and his family live there - they have a 4 (I think) year old son. We're going to spend a couple of days doing activities with them. Here's the agenda:

• Sat - go to Portland Saturday Market and possibly other downtown activities, time allowing. Attend church at the church I attended for 7 years.
• Sun - meet T at 11 to drive over the river to GMJ's house to sample her much raved about eats. In the evening go to a party with my former coworkers.
• Mon - some kind of day trip with Frank and family. In the evening, dinner with my former next-door neighbors and friends.
• Tues - We change locations, staying at the Kennedy School (where I have wanted to stay for some time) in Northeast Portland. Afternoon and evening with good friends who just had a baby girl.
• Wed - NO PLANS! We have the last day to ourselves to do anything that we want. We stay at a bed and breakfast in NE Portland.
• Thurs - home... I'm sure it will be good to be home by then.
• Fri - back to work.

Criminal

I got my very first speeding ticket last week. Oh, I have been pulled over before (twice) but never received a ticket. I remember the first time I was pulled over which was about 9 years ago. I was so nervous, I had no idea how to react or respond. But I digress...

I was going the speed limit - 35 - on a 4 lane highway and came to a school zone that I didn't notice. So I should have been doing 20. I actually noticed the high school and that the car in front of me had slowed way down. My brain just didn't process the obvious reason, so I passed said car. And soon saw flashing lights in my rear view mirror.

So basically my pride is hurt, no more perfect driving record. I'm second guessing my driving now and trying to be extra cautious. But the truth of the matter is that I have certainly NOT been a perfect driver. Just not been CAUGHT at it before...

I went to the court clerk today to see if I could pay the fines, but the ticket has not been processed yet. I will have to go back. But I will be able to pay a little extra and take "On line Traffic School" and it won't go on my record. So that's nice. Denis and I go on our trip to Portland this Friday. So I'll have to take care of my ticket when we get back.

Shocked!

I made some granola last night. Denis loves the stuff - it's a sure way to impress him to make granola. So I found a website that lets you build a recipe and find out the nutritional content of it. I found out that one cup of my granola contains 750 calories, half of which is fat! Yikes! I added some raisins to the recipe and recalculated it. It improved it somewhat, but not much.

So I informed Denis of the danger of the delicious granola and suggested he be a bit sparse in his serving sizes... Next time, i think I'll try decreasing the coconut and oil. Maybe I'll try almonds instead of sesame seeds.

It is very yummy, though.

Wendy Talbot

Okay, so I have really been in the mood for listening to old music these days. I dug out my old cassette tape of Wendy Talbot called People of Promise. This is Terry Talbot's wife and John Michael Talbot's sis-in-law, if memory serves. I am really digging this tape for the theological impact of the songs. Here are the lyrics to my favorite song from it. Read them carefully, maybe twice to get the full impact.

A father walked with his only son
The light of his life, his beloved one
On the son's strong back the wood was tied
As they climbed the hill, the son inquired
Where is the lamb?
Where is the lamb?
And Abraham cried, "My son must die! He is the lamb."

And he tied his son and he raised his knife
For the Lord had commanded the sacrifice.
But the angel cried, "Spare the boy."
And the two embraced in tears of joy.
Where is the lamb?
Where is the lamb?
And Abraham cried, "My son arise! There is a lamb."

"Oh blessed are you Abraham, who would give your son at My command.
You have not withheld your best from me. For this I give my best for thee."

A father walked with his only son.
The light of his life, his beloved one.
On the son's strong back the wood was tied
For sin demands a heavy price.
Where is the lamb?
Where is the lamb?
And the Lord God cried, "My Son must die! He is the Lamb."
And the Lord God cried, "My Son arise! He is the Lamb."

Reread the Bible story to see the text she draws from in Genesis 22:1-19. The correlations between Abraham's trial and God's sacrifice of Christ are just amazing to me. It gives me chills to think about it. Oh the wisdom of God, how he foreshadowed all through history who Christ was to be!

What's been blooming

I have been collecting these photos for a while. They are the flowers that have bloomed in the second round of Spring here. If you position your mouse cursor over a picture, the plant name will display. (There are two that I can't remember and the stakes are gone... sorry.) Our weather is warming up now and it's starting to feel a bit like summer. This week it was in the 80's several days. The weekend is supposed to be 70's and partly cloudy. The real summer here is temps in the 100's. It always comes as a bit of a shock. :o)

New Project

Here is Denis' latest project. (Sorry, GMJ, I neglected to get any action shots this time) It is the first of two planned raised beds for us to start a veggie garden in. He constructed them out of cedar wood. They will be surrounded by small "pea" gravel paths. There will be wire mesh for gopher deterrence and ground cloth for weed hindrance. My job is to study what we can still plant this late in the spring. Any ideas? Do you all have gardens? What do you like to grow? I am so totally inexperienced in the gardening dept., but I'm excited about getting to eat the fruit (and veg) of our (his) labors. My only plan so far: only plant one tomato plant...