Musings on.....Summer (so far)

Oops...I haven't been posting.

How do you folks do this everyday?

Here is what we have been doing....so far

More walks to the river and swimming in the rapids.
Taking Bosco to the dog park.
Finally getting down to planting the pots and enjoying the back yard before we need to move.
Attending a golf clinic.
Finally getting our passports.
hanging at the pool
Yoga
Camping at Rock Creek.

Our campsite

Camping was wonderful.  We were going to go back to the same spot as last year, but the sites were full.  We drove a little farther and ended up at a place called Rock Creek.  Sweet spot with a view of the lake.  The lake did not look the best for swimming because of the lake weeds.  There was one spot on the dock that was good for jumping.  We did most of our swimming at Cultas Lake.

Morning mist

Girls on the dock

Late night swim!

The best thing about camping is making the meals that we used to make on our canoe trips at camp when I was a girl.  I love passing these traditions to my girls.
We made Pocket Stew and Egg in an Orange.  Everything tastes better when you are camping!

Pocket stew

Pocket Stew
tin foil
butter
vegetables - potatoes, carrots, broccoli, onions
ground beef
salt and pepper

Layer everything in the the tin foil.  Potatoes on the bottom, meat, and the veggies.  Seal it.  Put it in the coals and let it cook.  There are many variations...use your imagination.
Take it out and enjoy a warm meal!

Egg in an Orange

Egg in an Orange 

Slice off top half of an orange
Scoop out and eat the inside of the orange as you first course
drop an egg into the empty orange skin
salt and pepper
put the lid back on
wrap in tin foil and put in the coals and let it cook
take out and enjoy!

My girls wondered about this one. They were curious, and had to try it.

Musings on....dancing

Last night we went to The Sagebrush Classic Feast.

We enjoyed an evening of wonderful food, drink and great music.  All to help provide financial assistance to area non profits serving families and children.

It is rare when I can get my husband on the dance floor!  I don't think I've been dancing in maybe 5 years!  When I lived in Colorado, my girlfriends and I would all go out and dance on Friday nights.  It was so much fun, but even then, I was the oldest in the group. It was reassuring that I was not the oldest one dancing last night!

Having fun on the dance floor!

My platform wedge sandals did give me some problems.  I was definitely wearing the right footwear, but my track record of falling off  my shoes has not been great.  I tripped on them on the way to the event and then did another classic "turning while walking and talking" move at the end of the evening. I don't think my husband will allow me to wear them in public again!

The cursed Tory Burch sandals!

 It was a fun...but late night.

Musings on ....a sunflower house....part three

Today went down to water our little plot of land and were prepared for the worse.  We were pleasantly surprised to find that the seeds we planted were indeed coming up!  The seedlings from the bird feeder were not looking great, but much healthier plants look like they are coming through!  Yea!

I met up with the neighbor next door and she told us that we could use her hose to fill our water buckets.  That will be quite nice.  We have been lugging everything down and back to the house with our wheel barrel.  I am happy to know that it will be a lot easier to give our plants water!

The other lovely thing is that she gave us a dozen fresh eggs from her chickens! 

Musings on...strawberries

Strawberry Blast!

We have some strawberries growing in our tiny garden.  My daughter picked some yesterday.
Looks like she got a tart one!

Musings on ....a sunflower house...part two

Planting a sunflower house may prove to be a challenge.  The deer have decided to eat the seedlings.  I think if this project was done in a controlled environment, we would have more success.

We will continue to water and tend to our house...despite the harsh high desert conditions and nibbling deer!

I was reassured to receive a comment from Sharon Lovejoy.  She is the author of Sunflower Houses and most certainly an inspiration to me.

Musings on....a sunflower house

This year I was part of a wonderful group of women and a discussion course through the Northwest Earth Institute.  The course was called Healthy Children Healthy Planet and it addressed how the pervasive effects of advertising, media, and our consumer culture can influence a child's view of the world.

One article we read was about growing a sunflower house.  I decided that was something that we were going to try.  We decided to pick an empty lot next to a neighbor's house.Unfortunately I picked the hottest week in the summer to start this project.

Armed with shovels , a weed whacker and a bag of seeds, we walked down to the lot and started our project.  I also had a bunch of sunflower seedlings that had sprouted beneath our bird feeder.

Now we just need to keep watering and hope that the deer don't eat everything!

Musings on ....The Fourth of July

 Happy Fourth of July!  Time to break out my patriotic Birkenstocks!  Once a year a get to wear them!

 My daughter decided to send a note attached to a couple of  balloons.  Will anyone find it?  The suspense is killing her!  I can remember doing the same thing as a child!

 The Bend Pet Parade.  A little different from the Ticonderoga parade, but still tons of fun.  Hundreds of pets and their owners marching down Wall and Bond.  Fun costumes!  There were big dogs...little dogs....horses...and even floating dogs!

Always a nice walk down to the river!


We also rode our bikes to Drake Park.  There we played some water balloon toss, sampled some local food, listened to some live music and looked at some arts & crafts.

When darkness fell, the sky was lit up with the most recreational fireworks I had ever seen!  The fireworks on Pilot Butte we quite spectacular.  We had a perfect vantage point!

Happy 4th of July!

Musings on....Cats

Cats have gone missing in the neighborhood. 

On the same day, two cats were discovered dead and one is still missing.  It looks like the work of a coyote.  My neighbor has blogged about this and can add more details.

We have a cat that likes to spend a lot of time outdoors.  The girls are extremely concerned about his safety.  We will try to keep him indoors, but it's hard.  He wants to hunt.

The other dilemma is.... do we contact Fish and Wildlife?  Babies are involved, and I would hate to see anything bad happen.  The girls have lost cats before when we lived in Vermont.  The elusive Fisher Cat was known to be the predator in those rural parts. 

I understand that a mother has to feed her children, but something feels wrong about it being right in our neighborhood. 

I checked out You Tube and have found several videos of cats being attacked by coyote...all in city like settings.