Twins?

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned the doe and her fawn that showed up in our yard and that I hoped she would be back so I could get some better pictures .. well, she's baaaack!
And not only that but she came with a big surprise .. a second fawn!

The first two days we saw only the one but than all of a sudden, on the third morning, this tiny little cuty appeared!
I still can't figure out if we just didn't see it previously, or if she had it hidden away longer because it was so small or, rare but it does happen, maybe she adopted an orphan?

  

I've seen siblings of different sizes before, but this really seems more like an age-gap than just a male/female or runt of the litter?
They do act as a family though and it seems healthy and lively enough. They play and chase each other through the orchard .. here's some blurry pics, they're always on the move!

I tried to make a little video but what with the trees and having to stay somewhat hidden it wasn't easy!
Also, for the life of me, I can't get it embedded in this blog, so here's a link to my Facebook post:

https://www.facebook.com/1054723558/videos/615892196397369/

I was sitting on our covered 'porch' while filming this, hence the white sail you see halfway through their run. When the sun turns later in the day, I close the gap in the middle. It makes a big difference when it's warm).

See that red geranium there in the front? It had about 5 beautiful orbs of red flowers :

 
Well .. apparently deer like them and it looks like the pic on the right now! Like James said: 'how about venison for dinner?' &^%$#@!

                                                                                                                                                                             

Talking about flowers, we went to the Willamette Lavender Festival in Newberg last week:



It's a fun, festive event which 'brings local lavender growers and the community together'.
The climate in the Pacific Northwest is great for growing all kinds of flowers, apparently including lavender…some say the region is on par with France’s famous lavender growing region Provence!

There were lots of craft-boots, selling lavender products, fresh-cut lavender and lavender plants from local farms. The overall smell of the fair was intoxicating!
Food trucks provided their full menus as well as specialty lavender-infused food and beverage options.
We shared a huge burrito, lavender lemonade and lavender/lemon scones!

After lunch we went inside the Cultural center and took a look at the paintings created by one hundred and fifty artists “en plein air” (outdoors) during the Oregon Lavender Paint Out. The Paint Out takes place in the lavender fields of Oregon in the weeks prior to the Show and attracts amateur and professional artists from around the Northwest and beyond.

             

                                                     

We than proceeded to drive part of the Newberg Lavender Trail which leads you through the hills around town, passing the beautiful lavender fields and many farms open for u-pick flowers, as well as  businesses throughout town that sell anything 'lavender' you can think of.
We got out at Wayward Winds Lavender farm:

                                      

This farm is one of the largest in the area and besides having a lavender-a-maze, and U-pick fields sells award-winning essential oils, plants, products and refreshments in their open-air gift shop.
They also have a test-garden in the back which shows about a hundred different lavender varieties!

Of course we dove into the fields for some pics:

Alright, I think I've covered about everything of this very summery week. Temperatures are soaring into the high 80s and the occasional 90 at the moment.
                                                 We're definitely in the lazy days of summer!

Oh, I forgot! Doug and Brenda took me (and James of course) out for dinner to celebrate my citizenship. We went to Bistro Maison in downtown McMinnville.



It's a cozy and authentic french restaurant with a real french chef, Jean-Jacques, and it boasts a delicious french menu.

On a nice day, you’ll have a choice of dining inside or out and since it was one of those beautiful summer evenings, we opted for outside ..
We enjoyed a wonderful time together and had a truly outstanding dinner. Just the perfect celebration for a very special occasion!
(In hind-side Doug was questioning himself if he should have taken me to an 'American diner' instead, which would have been more appropriate to the occasion? Or maybe McDonalds? I don't think so! This was perfect!)

This was desert, oh la la!

Ta-daa! Surprise!

Well, there you have it! My surprise! What I've been studying and worrying and agonizing over for the last few months: I finally got my American citizenship!
(And since I've been married to an American I can keep my Dutch citizenship, so I now have dual citizenship)

I'm so happy!!

Of course, in hindsight, I had nothing to worry about. The whole interview didn't last 15 minutes, if that, and was so easy, even I could do it ... ha, ha.

Nevertheless, although I had studied the 100 questions for the (oral) civics test (which most Americans I talked too, including my husband, admitted they'd never pass) and prepared to be interrogated about my marriage, taxes, connections with terrorist organizations, smuggling things into the country, drug addictions and mental health problems as well as why I wanted to become an American, I was still crazy nervous for the interview!



We had to be at the field office of the USCIS in downtown Portland at 8.55 so we left Newberg early, only to completely miss any morning rush-hour traffic whatsoever and rolled into town by 7.45!
Time enough for some coffee and pastries at the Three Sisters coffee company, a few blocks away.

I think it was a nice pastry and the coffee was rather good but I truly can't remember, it could have been horrible, I wouldn't have known in the state of mind I was in ..
(By the way, as you can see in that last pic, masks are worn in most public places again around here. Covid numbers are at a summer-high once again!)


OK, once inside, after being checked for weapons and signed in and fingerprinted at a little cubicle the waiting started ... waiting .. waiting and .. waiting!
It was almost 10am before I was called and it truly felt like hours!

'My' immigration officer was the friendliest guy ever, told me right up front that since I've been in the states already so long and married to an American and all my paperwork was in order that the interview was 'just a formality' and I had nothing to worry about.
(Pffft, if I only had known that for sure up front ... oh well)
He started with my civic questions right from the bat, to get them out of the way, shall we?
From the 100 questions they will ask you up to 10, of which you have to answer 6 correctly. They'll actually stop once you reach 6. Which was what happened because I aced them all!
He than went through my application and some of the information I had filled out, but never asked for any clarification whatsoever, just making sure that everything was correct.
Than he asked me if I was ready to take the oath .. huh .. yeaah, suuure? (Apparently due to Covid the big ceremonies are not done at the moment)

So there I stood, hand raised, pledging allegiance to the United States of America!
Congratulations, well done and you're done!

After almost another hour wait for my certificate (but who cared, I would have waited for 3 days at that time and wouldn't have minded) I pretty much skipped outside (I might actually have somersaulted), waiving my little flag!
James of course was there and had never had any doubts I would pass .. yeah, well, he didn't have to do it, did he now?

Since we were in Portland, and although I still wasn't very hungry, we celebrated with a nice lunch at the riverfront marina walkway:

Another coffee (as if I wasn't jittery enough still), a turkey cranberry sandwich and the best red pepper and Parmesan soup I have ever eaten!
The rest of the day I tried to relax, basked in my happiness and took a nap when I finally came down from that Adrenaline-rush.
We went for pizza that evening at a little rustic place here in town that we hadn't been before, the Honey-pie (so called because they put a little honey in their crusts):

The weather was great so we could sit in their courtyard:



Funny enough we met the owners of the winery we visited last weekend there, who recognized us and remembered I had to go for my interview.
They'd brought a bottle of wine and immediately poured us a glass as well to toast my newly-minted citizenship!

(That was an excellent pizza by the way, a 'Fungus-among-us', with several different mushrooms and truffels!)

Phew, what a day! Certainly one I'll probably always remember!

O, and look, I got a letter from the White House! And boy, am I happy that I waited for a bit longer than planned so it's President Biden who signed it ...

Happy 4th Y'all!

As you can see, we celebrated Indepence Day in style this year! We'd made an appointment for a wine-tasting at the newely renamed Compris (formerly Vidon) winery.

They're  what they call a small 'boutique winery' located in the rolling hills of the Chehalem Mountains, just outside Newberg.

The vineyard is a little out of the way, but the drive out there is a beautiful one and the views from their terrace rather breathtaking!

A boutique wine is typically one of a small-run or limited-production, one that is personalized, from start to finish.
That days flight included a nice Chardonay, a sparkling Rose, several Pinots and two rather unusual Tempranillos.
We'd ordered a small charcuttery plate in advance which was a delicious complement (and keeps us from getting a little too tipsy ... (we're such lightweights!)



The weather was just right, sunny but not too warm and although we weren't that thrilled about the wines, they were certainly drinkable.

            

Dru and Erin are the new owners of this winery, and are amazingly gracious, enthusiastic and really nice people.
All in all, not a bad way to celebrate our independence and precious freedom, I'd say!

 
Since the weather was very nice all weekend we enjoyed some of that traditional 4th of July fare ... hamburgers and steaks (from the BBQ of course), fries, corn on the cob, an overnight salad and triple-berry-bars, made from our own rasp-black- and blue-berries!

 

       

Earlier this week, we'd experienced a little heat wave for a couple of days, with temperatures reaching the 90s! Yikes!

                                                                            

Fortunately it only lasted a few days and we're back into the very comfortable low 70s again, but I sure hope that was it for this summer ... yeah, wishful thinking .. I know.

The warmer weather at least has coaxed some crops to get a little further along, like these Queen Ann cherries (which I was already picking by the dozens of this tree last year) ..

                               

The wild Sweet Peas are finally in full flower (also about 2 to 3 weeks late):  
                                            

The deer had eaten most of my Snow Peas but I managed to save a few and I have a few tiny strawberries ripening every other day or so ..

As for the rest, most of my time is eaten up by something else at the moment, I won't say what yet, it'll be a surprise, but let me just say that I'll be happy when it's over ....

I'll end with a shot of this odd looking Spotted Towhee that's visiting my feeders lately. Now, to compare, this is a how a 'normal' Spotted Towhee looks like:

And this is the one that I see at the feeder:

                          

A little googling learned that this is a Leucistic Towhee.
Leucism is caused by a defect in the pigment cells and results in loss/reduction of all types of pigment (unlike albinism which is just a loss of melanin). Like albinism this usually results in white plumage.
On this bird the affected areas are mostly on the head.

And there you have it, learned something new today!
See you next weekend.