It's finally summer and it has hit us hard here in the NorthWest! All of a sudden, after all those weeks of rain and cold weather, and almost overnight, temperatures are soaring!
Yesterday we hit 90F and the forecast for today is a scorching 97!
Fortunately, it looks like we'll be back in the high seventies after that, but wow, it's rather shocking for the senses!

                                                             
Midsummer, the date that James and I 'hit it off', all those years ago in Japan, has come and gone. He was at the golf course this time so we didn't really celebrate much on the date itself, but we sort of made up for it this weekend.
We dusted of the BBQ, grilled a couple of very tasty (thin) ribs and had dinner outside for the first time this year!

Other sure signs summer has arrived are the ever greener looking grape-vines around town ..

And it is going to be another bumper-crop of (wild) blackberries this year, if the profusion of flowers I see everywhere are any sign of that!

But this month's winner are the roses! A little rough around the edges due to the late rains but they're all blooming in abundance. Most of them smell very nice too .. it's one of the great smells of summer for me ..

Yesterday we took a little drive through our beautiful countryside, and more specifically the Dundee Hills, just down the road from us.
Driving up and down said hills, compliments of the great weather, you get a glimpse of Mt Jefferson every now and than ..

James had noticed signs for a creamery during his driving around for work, and since we love cheese we thought It'd be fun to see what they're about.
                              

Briar Rose Creamery describes itself as "a small, artisan cheese maker, located in the hills above Dundee, surrounded by acres of forest land and Pinot Noir vineyards".
They originally set out to make goat cheese, since they inherited some goats with the land they bought, but in the last couple of years they switched to cow-milk cheese as well as the occasional sheep-cheese.
They have a small shop in front of their cheese-making area, which at the moment is closed due to Covid, but they show  their cheeses at a table in front of a window and let you taste samples ..

They're only open 2 days a week and only have what they have, it can (and will) be different every time, but you can check their Facebook page to see what will be available before driving up.

We decided on a little container of fresh cheese, Fromage Blanc, and a mini 'Butterbloom', reminiscent of Camembert. Of course James couldn't resist the chocolate truffels they had on display, so a couple of those came home with us as well ..
Apparently the wine to pair all this with is the aforementioned local Pinot Noir, but I can tell from last night's experience that a good glass of beer or a glass of Chardonnay work just as well!

We've been busy at the blueberry patch:

First we mowed the knee-high grass in between the bushes ... when did that happen all of a sudden?

                                                             

Than we covered them all up again with bird netting. This year we actually left the last bush of every row for the birds .. if there will be as many berries as we had last year, we will quickly run out of room in the freezer!

                

We've also replaced some of the old soaker-hoses and actually connected all of them to a point were we can attach the garden hose (which in it's turn can be hooked up to a nearby faucet).

It took James hours last year to water, and if this summer is going to be as dry as the last one, this will make his work so much easier!
We pruned them earlier this year and they show a lot of growth and already some nice big berries ..

                                         

Here's something cute to end with .. I'd seen a lonely (well, that's what I thought) doe roam the orchard over the last couple of days, eating grass practically non-stop, like her life dependent on it.
But than one morning I saw something move in the area where we had not mowed for a while and had left the grass to grow real high ..

It was a little fawn! I know, it's hard to see and I couldn't get a better shot for the life of me, but believe me, it's a fawn! So cute!

                                          

One reason I couldn't get a better shot was the high grass of course but also because this little thing didn't stand still for a moment. It was just racing and leaping and frolicking around ..
I only got bits and pieces of it ..   
                                                            

At one time daddy made a surprise visit as well, you can just see his antlers in the picture above at the very top left.
I hope they stick around for a while so I can get a better shot of it but for now, these have to do ..

Can you see me know?