I'd kept my eyes on the u-pick farms around us and it seemed to be about the right time to go out and pick some of our favorite fruits to stock up the freezer so we drove to Dallas for a visit to Perryhill Farm.
We'd gone there last years as well and were happy with the quality, ease of picking and their prices. 

          

The raspberries were a little disappointing, they had obviously already been picked over, and we had to work a little bit harder than last time to find the best ones. 
It took us 2 hours to do so, but we ended up with a decent haul.

The peaches were absolutely gorgeous and the trees were loaded so we had to restrain ourselves after 20 minutes to not end up with more than we could handle (like we did last year!).

Last year we'd brought buckets but the peaches ended up rather bruised by their own weight by the time we got home, so this time we took some (cookie) sheets with us so we could transport them in a single layer, which worked much better!

We ended up with 13 pounds of raspberries, almost twice the amount we got last year, which was exactly what we wanted since we'd ran out a little too early!

The peaches came in at 29 pounds, a little over half of last year, which was perfect as well since we still have quite a few bags left in the freezer!

It took me the whole weekend to get everything peeled, sliced, frozen and bagged but they're done! 
Next up are blueberries, which we're going to pick at a farm close by and blackberries, which grow everywhere around us in the wild, so those we'll get for free.
Since we've started to make smoothies for breakfast three times a week we go through a lot more fruit than we used to so it's nice to get them a lot cheaper this way and, most important, free of pesticides!

                                 

This little cutey is a Red Robin. 
He's looking kind of lonesome there which is because his sibling decided to take the plunge and leave the nest ... and ended up at our pick-nick table!

 

       

I stepped out the front door and there he was .. he stayed absolutely still while I observed him for a while and took some pictures.
I finally decided to go back inside and watch him through the window. 
He started to move around a bit and when a few minutes later one of his parents showed up with a beak full of worms he fluttered to the ground and followed him/her around to be fed and be guided to safety.
I hope he learned to fly a little better quickly!

 

Another youngster showed up on my walk this week. I hadn't seen this white mare for a while but this time she showed up with this pretty foal: 

 

          

 

I also hadn't been to the river for a while. Not since a cop had stopped me and told me I wasn't allowed to walk alongside the railroad to get there.
I've been using the road instead but its really too dangerous to do so. 
There's no sidewalk, the speed limit is 55 m/h and with two saw-mills nearby the logging trucks are quite scary to encounter!

So I too the risk of getting stopped, and possibly be fined this time around, and walked beside the railroad again.
It was a Saturday, on which there a NO trains at all (this is the train-track from the mills) so there is no risk at all, but I guess its private property .
Oh well, I was fine of course, or lucky .. no cops!

                                                 

                                                 

   
The river, and the little waterfall, was beautiful as ever, still with quite a lot of water running and I came across a pretty doe, who was just as surprised to see me as I was to see her.
 

She just suddenly appeared .. and wasn't very scared at all. 

  

This large native Thistle I decided not to mow down this Spring, just to see what it what do, is starting to flower and it looks like the butterflies appreciate it!

                                                                                                             

I've seen bees upside down in the flowers as well, covered with pollen and I even saw a Hummingbird drinking from it!
Apparently they have a high sugar content and they are also drawn to the plants to collect soft thistle seed fuzz, which they use as a safe, natural material to line their nests.

I'm glad I saved it, I think it's a nice feature-plant as well.

Let's see, what else did I do than peeling and slicing peaches for hours ..  o yes, I baked a Clafoutis!
Huh .. ?
A Clafoutis is a french pastry/desert, often made with cherries, but peaches (or any fruit) are fine as well.                                       
 

                

It's basically a simple batter of milk, eggs, sugar and flour (and maybe some almond extract, cinnamon or vanilla). The fruit goes in first and than you pour the batter over it.
The batter will rise and immediately fall when you take it out of the oven and what you get is a sort of cross between a flan and a dutch-baby.

Deliciously light and not overly sweet and just perfect with a nice cup of coffee on a beautiful sunny morning in the shade of the RV.

                                           

Temperatures have been holding around 70 for almost a week now but the last couple of days we've been creeping slowly towards the 80s and it looks like we're going over that in a couple of days. 

       Oh well, I knew it was coming ... 'only' 2 more months of summer (if we're lucky)!

Yesterday, the 4th of July, America celebrated 250 years of independence!

We thought about maybe attending the celebrations in the town of Independence, which is about 45 minutes to the south from us, which would probably have been fun but in the end we decided against it .
They anticipated a lot more than the already 20.000 people they normally get, it being the 250th, and traffic and parking most likely was going to be a zoo, so we stayed here in Willamina for some good old, small-town-America, festivities.



James went golfing, as he does almost every year, and I walked into town for the little 'fair' or 'vendor row' as they called it.
The weather was gorgeous and there were a lot of people strolling around the colorful booths ... Tie-dye anyone?

                          

                        

Quite a lot of people were decked out in red-white and blue. I totally forgot to make an effort ... shame on me ..

                                            

The hamburger chef at Coyote Joe's showed off his patriotic colors ...


  
I wasn't interested in the car-show and we'd seen the lumber-jack activities last year so I went back home and spent a lazy day reading and relaxing. 

When James got home later that afternoon we threw a nice rib-eyed steak on the BBQ:

                                


He at least had golfed with a red-white and blue golf ball which by some miracle he managed not to loose! Must have been a great round!

                                      

Father cuts the meat ...

              

Together with some sweet potato fries and James' mom's overnight salad it was a meal fit for a king ... and a fine one as well for a 250 year celebration!

(Which reminds me : on Monday I'll celebrate my 4th year of being an American. 
  Not quite 250 years but I can hardly believe it's my fourth already!)

                        

At dusk we drove into town to attend the traditional fireworks the city of Willamina puts up every year. 
People come from all around to see them because for such a small town their fireworks are famously 'out of this world'!

They sure didn't disappoint this year and were even better than last. They probably put in some extra effort it being the 250th celebration and such ...

                                         

                                   

It's been another quiet week otherwise. We're having great weather, temperatures around 72F are about perfect for summer, at least in my eyes!
I wish/hope it would/could stay like this ....

I put some 'new' (leftovers from when we lived in Newberg) outside carpet down at our pond-side patio. 
It had started to look a little ragged:

         

It took some mickey-mousing to make it work, it's a true patchwork, but it looks much better than before ..

           

Walking into town on Saturday the berms were pink with wild Sweet Peas:

                   

And on one of my morning walks I found these bright red Bane-berries:

                                      

They are a shiny, cherry red and look appetizing, but are highly toxic and can be mistaken for edible berries.
The name “bane” actually means 'something that causes death or a deadly poison'.

I've not spotted too much wildlife lately. 
There's a few Quail showing up almost every evening at the feeders to pick up the spills ...

                                                

... and the chipmunks are getting friskier by the day ... one of these days they might come close enough to eat from my hand!

                               
                                                                                                 

We've also seen a Tanager for just a minute or so but unfortunately I didn't have any oranges out so he quickly disappeared. Too quick for a picture!
I actually have a special feeder for them with little bowls for grape-jelly and pins for oranges but they come by so seldom that it all dries up and shrivels so had to take it away.

I think that was about all. So far I don't hate this summer but I'm crossing my fingers and toes since I don't think it will stay this 'cool' for much longer ...

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!