OMG It's 9 years later

I was organizing and deleting old favorites from my computer when I ran across this old blog that I created back in 2010. I was pretty prolific at first but then dropped of when I got signed up with Facebook. Now that I have rediscovered scrapbooking and this blog maybe I will return to posting newly created digital scrapbook pages. Here is the first in a long time.

What The Heck????

It's been almost 2 years since I had anything to share on my blog? How pitiful is that? Well, The Redhead aka Patty and I are still alive and kicking. My diabetes is under control and the beautiful Redhead is even more ravishing than ever since she dropped over 50 lbs through Weight Watchers. Check her out. Wahooo!!!

Last month we attended our annual Winter scrapbooking retreat in Seaside and I created some new digital scrapbook pages. I've included them here for your viewing pleasure. Don't' forget you can click on each page for a closer looksee.





I had forgotten how much I really enjoy digital scrapbooking. I hope to keep with it and will post new pages as they become available.

Wow.... Where did the time go?

Just as the weather began to improve and everyone was getting comfortable with one another the week had passed. It was time to head home.

Monday was the last full day and we took advantage of it by touring the Alberta St. district. This neighborhood is experiencing a revitalization and there are a number of small new shops offering everything from do-it-yourself pottery classes, a plant nursery, boutiques, coffee shops and restaurants.

Jessica found some OK earrings she couldn't live without and the stinker caught me checking my eyelids for pinhole leaks.

Not fair!!!!

We ate dessert first at Petite Provence and followed that with halibut and chips, lobster and sweet potato fries and PBR during Happy Hour at our favorite restaurant, Halibuts II.

Yum, yum.

Tuesday was travel day and after some last minute photos it was time to catch their flights south. Jessica was a treat to meet and very "low maintenance". We hope she will be back again to see more of our beautiful state. That is, if I didn't scare her off with my "road rage" incident at the post office.

J & J's Portland Adventures - Easter Sunday

For us Easter actually started a couple of day early when we decided to dye some eggs. Rather than follow the tried and true method we wanted to use a method we had seen on the Martha Stewart show. Jessica is a very crafty girl and was more than game.

It involves using 100% silk fabric. We scoured the local thrift shops for old silk blouses, ties, vests, robes and even boxers. We got a great selection for about $10.00 and had been storing them for over a year waiting for the right time. Now that time had come.

Jessica and I cut the fabric into squares and Patty joined us in wrapping the squares tightly around the eggs and securing them with twist ties. The next step is to boil them for about 20 minutes. After they cool you unwrap them and go crazy over the abstract designs left from the silk dye.

We had lots of fun as shown by the pictures.

Easter Sunday we slept in some and I began dinner preparation. Jessica and Jamie wanted to go back to Saturday Market but they were disappointed that a lot of the vendors from Saturday decided to skip the market on Easter.

Dinner was good and the special order cake was delicious. It was lemon overload when we added some lemon gelato from Mio Gelato.

J & J's Portland Adventures - Day 4

Saturday - Day 4 was shaping up to be another busy, busy day.

First on the agenda was a ride on our mass transit train nicknamed MAX. We caught the MAX at a local mall and rode it into downtown Portland so the girls could shop at Saturday Market.

The MAX lets you off right in front of Saturday Market. The market is open each weekend from March through Christmas and only allows vendors who hand make their wares. So everything is handmade in some fashion and there is an ever changing assortment of goods. We go about every other year now to see what is new and different.

Jamie has been many times and we have taken Gabriel and Daniel as well.

Jessica was "blown away" by the cool items for sale but because we were on a tight schedule wasn't able to see all the booths before we had to leave. She did manage to find a couple of neat hats and other items she couldn't live without. We had reservations for tea at 2pm so we had to go before seeing everything. It was pretty evident they would be back the next day (Easter) time permitting.

There's a store in Sherwood called Sleighbells. Actually it's on the outskirts of Sherwood and actually it's an old farmhouse. It is a store full of Christmas decorations for sale. They have two stories full of every type and brand of Christmas theme decoration you can imagine. They also have rooms full of decorations for Halloween, Easter, St. Patrick's and 4th of July. If you are looking for something special to complete some collection you will probably find it here.

In the center of the house is another business called Teas Me and they serve what I call a proper English tea. The menu includes finger sandwiches, scones, clotted cream, lemon curds and fancy desserts. Each service includes a pot of tea.

I had been there before and knew that they had a special blend of tea called Happy Hour so I ordered it and after everyone tasted it, they ordered it too. It was a fun and magical time and we had the place pretty much to ourselves. Jamie bought some of the Happy Hour tea to take home.

After a leisurely tea and some more shopping we took pictures of the wildlife and got back on the road.

Next stop was Helen Bernhard's bakery in Portland. We had to get there before they closed to pick up the cake Jamie ordered for Easter dinner. We made it with about half an hour to spare.

It turned out to be another rush, rush day but everyone had fun and got to do some new and different things.

Did you see a dog?

Our neighbor, Steven, was born on the 4th of July. Now he believes every Independence Day celebration is for him.

Just kidding.....

For the past 4 years we have celebrated his birthday with some sort of special activity. It usually ends up after dark with fireworks in the street as we dodge passing cars.

In 2008 we were joined by his mother, Gwen, when we took him to a fancy dinner at Jake's Grill in downtown Portland. The food is fabulous and we had a great time with presents, cards and the sort.

Near the end of the dinner a large group of folks were seated in our area. Not long after they sat down we caught sight of something moving under our table. We looked and were aghast to see a little white poodle-type dog zooming around.

What the????

Turns out one of the 20-something girls from the other table sneaked the dog in her purse and it had escaped. They managed to get it back into the purse but had to remove it from the restaurant when we complained to the manager.

Here is the scrapbook page of the event.

The Japanese Garden - Pt. 2

The Japanese Garden is soooooooooooo beautiful it really was hard to condense the event to just 4 pages. We had a lot of fun and created some great memories.

If you ever visit Portland this is a must see for anyone who appreciates flowers, gardens or anything Asian. Enjoy the pictures, we sure did.