Happy Leon Day (Noel spelled backwards)!

Yes, it's hard to believe with the hot weather we're having, but last Thursday, the 25th of June, we were halfway (6 months) to Christmas!
And to top it off .. days in Oregon are already shorter by roughly 3 to 4 minutes since the summer solstice! 
Yoohoo! I can't wait for cooler days, and nights, and holiday cheer ... it's coming! Only the summer to get through .. yeah, minor detail ...

Although, we are actually very comfortable at the moment!
Last week the temperatures plummeted from 96F on Monday to 76F on Tuesday and the next day these clouds started rolling in:

                          

It rained on and off all day, not very hard but steadily and since then temps have been in the mid-sixties. Perfect!
It looks like it won't get above 70 until Thursday, so far I like this summer!
                      (she said and immediately looked around to go and knock on wood!)

This picture was obviously made before it got 'cold' when we were having coffee outside on the shady-side of the RV ...

My Day-lilies are all flowering ....

                                                                            

As well as the Butternut squash. So far I've see two male flowers and two female, the latter being the ones with the fruit-beginnings ... hopefully the bees did their job of fertilizing them!

This Meadow-sweet is visited by a Western Tiger Swallowtail. A female to be precise, determined by the splash of blue towards her tail:

                                       

The shrub she's sitting on is on the other side of the pond, I can see it from my window, and it's absolutely enormous and fully covered in flowers!

It's been a rather quiet week, not much has happened, other than that I managed to obtain my dutch DigiD number, (Digital Identification) to safely and securely access Dutch government (my pension!), healthcare and educational services online, similar to the American IDme.
It acts as your digital passport, proving your identity to avoid in-person visits or mailing physical documents, which of course comes in handy when you live abroad.
(I actually had to stay up until 12 am to make a video-appointment and than had to get up at 6.30 a week later to actually have it).

Here's a few funny pictures:

This Blackbird chick on the right is almost as big as her mama and is still begging to be fed!
I thought it was so funny how the mom sort of pulls pulls back in disgust. Kids!

And I had to chuckle when I saw this old, dead tree that seemed to be sagging to the left under the weight of a bunch of Turkey vultures ...

                                            

Oh, I almost forgot .. my new dutch passport finally arrived! 
It 'only' took 11 weeks! Geez, Louise!

HAPPY SUMMER SOLSTICE !

Well, there is was again .. the Summer solstice!
I'm not a summer person so I'm not exactly welcoming the coming hot summer days, but I just realized that for a fall/winter person like myself it's actually a day to celebrate as well since it means that now we've crested that longest day we are marching back toward crisp autumn weather and longer nights. I can't wait! 
I just wish it would go a little faster than the few seconds a day at first and only 1 or 2 minutes by the end of the summer ... 

It has been a very warm week but Saturday started a little cooler and overcast so we decided to go on a little road trip and drove to Silverton, about an hour away from us.
I remembered seeing, when we were out that way for an appraisal, signs for the Gordon House, the only house built in the State of Oregon by Frank Lloyd Wright.
So we'd made reservations for the noon-tour and left after coffee.

We arrived a little early and took the time to walk the trail that circumnavigates the home and provides an opportunity to appreciate the home’s exterior from every angle.
One thing that I love about Wright is how his buildings’ profiles take on an entirely different identity when viewed from different vantage points.

                                   

Once inside we listened to a short lecture about the history of the house and it's original owners after which we went for a guided tour ...

The Gordon House is just one of over 50 homes scattered across the country that Wright designed in his 'Usonian' style, a revolutionary architectural concept launched in the 1930s to design affordable, efficient and beautiful homes for the middle-class Americans. 
These homes integrated seamlessly with the landscape and favored open floor plans, natural materials, and passive solar design., providing people an opportunity to be close with nature.
                                                  

Wright liked to incorporate large walls of windows into his designs, but did not like to use curtains and instead favored fretwork like the repeating design that you can see in the living room’s north facing windows (below right).
At the far end of the living room, a built-in sofa creates a cozy seating area where one can enjoy the home’s immense fireplace.  Built-in shelving and cabinetry are the foundation for the wall of windows above that are screened with Wright’s custom fretwork.

                                                        

Wright preferred that the “Work Space”, aka kitchen, be used strictly for meal preparation and not as a family congregation area as it is typically used today.

             

The bedrooms at either end of the hall upstairs were primarily used by the Gordon’s children and grandchildren.
In the eastern bedroom, glass doors surround the room on two sides, and the doors in corner of the room open as well.  The ceilings upstairs are all rather low which is said to inspire a feeling of tranquility and calmness:



I especially liked this little nook at the top of the stairs, where Wright purposefully designed a small nook for the owner's loom where she would spend hours weaving cloth.

                                                                

The house was almost destroyed when it was sold by heirs of the family it was build for in 2000.
Having no interest in the Frank Lloyd Wright aesthetic, the new owners had plans to demolish the house to make way for a new and much larger home to be built on the very spot where The Gordon House sat.
Fortunately, at the bidding of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy organization, the new owners agreed to donate the house – on the condition that it be moved from the property!

 

So starting in early 2001, the house was meticulously deconstructed, cut into pieces, and moved approximately 24 miles south to The Oregon Garden in Silverton where it was re-assembled, restored and opened to the public in the Spring of 2002.  

I'd say we are fortunate they did because it would have been a shame to loose this beautiful house, we liked it a lot!



Since it was after 1pm hen the tour was over we drove into Silverton for a bite to eat. 
This Spanish & Mediterranean restaurant called Oso sounded good to us, so we went in and split a combo plate with Greek meatballs, tsatsiki, pita bread, rice, a marinated vegetable kebab and a Greek salad:

Not bad!

We decide to add another destination to our outing and drove to the town of Mt Angel to visit the Abby, something I had been interested to do since visiting this town in 2021 for it's Octoberfest.

               

Mount Angel Abbey is a working Catholic Benedictine monastery and seminary located on a Hilltop in Saint Benedict, and as of 2021, home to approximately 51 monks.
Founded in 1882 by Swiss monks from Engelberg Abbey, the serene hilltop campus offers a Romanesque church, the by Finish architect Alvar AaltoAlvar Aalto-designed library (which unfortunately is closed on Saturdays), hiking trails, a museum, and public access to the Brewery and Taproom. 

The eight bells of the bell tower, which visible from 10 miles away, comprise the largest free swinging bell set on the West Coast. The heaviest weighs four tons. 
Their tolling the prayer cycle throughout the day is quite moving.
                                       

The expansive campus is surrounded by oak woodlands, peaceful walkways, and sweeping views of the Willamette Valley.
As we walked the inner courtyard under the large beautiful trees, you have a sense of such peace and serenity.
 


The church is beautiful, very bright, with a large organ and many statues ..

                    

     

That's St Benedict on the left and St Scolastica, the twin sister of Saint Benedict and the patron saint of Benedictine nuns, on the right:

         

The Benedictines are noted for their hospitality and their "prayer and work" motto, their mandate is to treat every guest as Jesus.
The monks pray the Liturgy of the Hours five times daily in choir, and devote themselves to reading and silence.  

As the oldest seminary in the western United States, Mount Angel is the only seminary in the West that offers a College of Liberal Arts, a Graduate School of Theology, and a Doctor of Ministry degree program.

The quirky museum features an eccentric collection of artifacts such as taxidermied animals of every sort (even a polar bear), American Civil War memorabilia and the world’s largest porcine hairball.

                                                           



Also on the grounds is this pretty little chapel at the small cemetery:

                                            


Saint Benedict is the name of the post office at the Abbey. 
When it moved from Gervais to the town of Mt. Angel in 1884, the postal service would not allow the abbey to establish its own post office as it was less than a mile from the Mount Angel post office. 
So they named the grounds the town of Saint Benedict which has has its own zip code and is known as Saint Benedict, OR.

                

On the lush south lawn of the Abbey Church, welcoming guests and visitors, stands this iconic angel statue depicting a protective guardian angel, gently guiding and looking over a small child:

                                                 

As I said, the library is closed on the weekend, which was a real bummer since it's apparently a stunning building .. oh well, a good reason to come back.

It's a beautiful, peaceful place and we were glad we made the impromptu decision to go there!

But wait, there was more ... let's not forget the brewery!
Every monastery is traditionally designed to be self-sufficient, a practice that actually dates back to the rule of St Benedict in the 6th century, which states that manual labor is a core part of spiritual life. 
To achieve this independence, monasteries produce a wide variety of goods to sell to the public.

                  

Here in Mt Angel they choose book-binding and beer-brewing.

The monks opened the brewery, Mount Angel Abbey’s Benedictine Brewery and Taproom, in the fall of 2018 on a peaceful hillside overlooking Willamette Valley, hop fields, distant mountains.

It is likely the only beer in the US that receives a priestly blessing at every stage, from raising the hops to pulling the tap. 

                           

Located on the expansive grounds, this brewery operates in the ancient monastic tradition. 

A taproom that goes by the name of St. Michael’s. 
We  decided to sample what the monks had to offer .. good beer. Like they say, “taste and believe.”

 

Seating is available indoors and outdoors so we took our glass of Haustus (a Latin noun meaning a 'drink', 'draught', or 'the act of drawing water') out to the patio. 

How about these names: Dark Night, Haustus (a Belgian Pale Ale) and Mea Culpa (which comes from the traditional Catholic Confiteor prayer, where it is repeated three times (mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa) to signify personal responsibility for one's sin). 
There's also a St Benedict (of course), St. Michael and St. Raphael and their signature beer Black Habit (a dark ale).

                                                             

We actually celebrated the Summer Solstice with a potluck we were invited to by our landlords at their house up the hill from us.

I'd made a platter of deviled egs, as I usually do, and we enjoyed the company and the many delicious dishes they brought.

                                             Not a bad start of the summer!

                                     

This Sunday was the 25th annual Garden Tour and Fair in Mcminnville. 
We didn't get to go there last year since I sprained my ankle on the Friday before, so we were looking forward to go this year.
Again, like last year, the temperatures had been rising steadily throughout the whole of last week and on Sunday the predictions were for a scorching 92F (33C)!!
Not the best temperatures to be out and about but I guess cold and rainy weather would have been a lot worse! 

We went early hoping to beat the heat some and were at the Fair at 9:30 am.
Apparently lots of people had the same idea:

               

We slowly strolled by the more than 70 garden- themed vendors ... traditional and specialty plant growers, amazing garden art, wearable art (clothing and jewelry) and even some garden furniture ..
        
            

                                   

After browsing for an hour we were happy to escape the rising temperatures (already around 86F/30C at 10:30!) for a little with coffee at Union Block coffee on 3d street where they, beside serving good coffee and a vegan coffee-cake (not bad!), had the AC going full blast ... ah, bliss!

          

             

We finally braved the outside again for the tour of the 5 private gardens that were selected this year.

  
    
         

One of the gardens had a very peaceful Asian theme full of beautiful large statues, lots of azaleas, bamboo and hydrangeas.

And this following one, situated on top of Hill Rd, sported a pretty water-fall and even a pool on the south-side, overlooking the vineyards and hazelnut trees down below and Mt Hood and Mt Jefferson in the far distance!



                     


Of course the roses are stunning around this time of the year, especially in this lovely garden which the owner tributes to her mother who was an avid gardener and grower of beautiful, old fashioned plants, especially (sweet smelling!) roses!



Look at this arbor ... I want one just like that in my future garden!

                                                      

  One of the gardens was embellished with beautiful pottery the owner makes herself:                                              

                                  

  There even was some entertainment:      

                                 

We were done at 1:00 pm and when we got home around 1:30 pm the temperature had indeed reached 92F!

   

It had been a beautiful morning but we were glad to stay inside for the rest of the afternoon where our AC worked hard to keep us at a comfortable 76F.

The meadows around us are already being mowed but the berms are still producing new (to me) flowers, like these Meadow Checkerblooms on the left and big yellow Mule Ears on the right.

      

Soon, they will disappear when the summer heat will be too much even for them ... but these daisies will last longer, they'll go on forever:

                           

I haven't seen too much of the deer lately, since the logging trucks have started to bring trees down from the hill, but yesterday I came up these two ...

 

And to end with some more good news: the frogs have stopped their insane, excessive croaking for more than a week now! 
I guess the hierarchy has been established and the mating has ended so it seems that            once again peace and quiet has returned to our little piece of paradise.