Cherry Pickin'

Turns out there is a great place to pick cherries just a few minutes from our house-who knew? Matt LOVES cherries so we went a pickin'. Neither of us had gone cherry picking before. It was fun but warm. The orchard had a great view of Mt Hood although I didn't capture it very well. We picked over 7lbs of cherries(did I mention that matt loves cherries?) and one week later we have very few left. I did make my first cherry cobbler. I'm not a fan of canned cherries or cherry pie filling but made with fresh cherries it was delicious!

Guests of the Ladyfern

We had Erin and Karrie again for the 4th. This is turning into quite a tradition. Although many of our plans didn't quite work out we still had a fun time. It's not what you do, it's who you do it with that matters:-) It was great to reminisce about old times and the silly things we did back in college. We went to depoe bay (no whales were seen), Mt. St Helens (it was cloudy), berry picking (berries were abundant) and Hood River (wind-surfers and kite-boarders were out in full force). Can't wait until next year's visit.

Dinner Tonight

Tonight we made a yummy Southwestern Salsa (recipe from this month's Cooking Light). They don't have the recipe online yet but it was similar to this one (minus the avocado). We used the limes we received from our Fruit of the Month club. It was delicious with homemade tortilla chips.
We bought a watermelon that was way too big for the 2 of us so I tried this Watermelon Salad recipe. I was intrigued by the mixture of ingredients. It was tasty. I might try it with cilantro instead of mint next time. Served it over a bed of lettuce.
I love not having to cook (except for baking the tortilla chips).

Together they made a very refreshing, summery meal. They are both great recipes to bring along to a summer cook out.

Both of the recipes came from an article about a restaurant in Denver where you pay what you can for a meal and if you can't afford to pay then you trade in work at the restaurant for food. Isn't that a great idea? It's called Same Cafe.

Our first venture in sourdough bread(Matt's favorite) proved successful. We had been working on a starter Matt's dad gave us a few weeks back. We kind of pieced together a couple different recipes in order to use the bread maker for most of the kneading and rising so we weren't quite sure what to expect but it was delicious.

In other bread making news...we have also been making some Amish Friendship Bread creations thanks to the Happel's giving us a starter. So far we have made a lemon poppy seed version and a chocolate butterscotch chip-yum. I'm not sure if that's what the Amish intended us to do with their bread but it was good. If you're interested on getting some starter let us know. We are running out of friends to give it to.

A long day on the trail

In our efforts to get out on more hikes this summer and to condition ourselves for maybe some more ambitious climbing efforts, we decided to do the Table Mountain hike. I (Matt I am) had read about Table Mountain but never managed to get to it, partly because it has such a long hike in before the climbing starts. According to our guide book, the round trip to the summit is 15 miles.

Some advice for the male species...if you are trying to lovingly encourage your spouse to become more enthused about backpacking and climbing, going on a hike that nearly doubles the longest hike you've done in the recent past is not the best way to start. Yes, by the time we made our way to the top and were just beginning on our way back, my beautiful, gentle and demure wife exclaimed, "This sucks! I am done with hiking!" Each exclamation was perfectly synchronized with a savage blow of her walking stick to the ground. Now, it must be said that this came about because we just finished a somewhat long and treacherous stretch of 'controlled falling' down a loose rock slope. Kristi does not easily come to this state of mind.

Oh, and tip#2-make sure you bring plenty of water. I know most of you are smart enough to think of this on your own, but there it is. If you blow tips #1 and #2 like I did, you can always fall back on tip #3 - take your now annoyed and wiped out spouse for a tasty ice cream or TCBY treat. If you are really in a jam, tell her about the treat while you are still hiking. For best results, however follow all 3 tips, you'll have more fun.

Actually, the hike is spectacular if you've done a 10 plus mile hike recently (or you were born after 1985 and are not familiar with the concept of aches and pains). The views of Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood are tremendous and the south side of Table Mountain literally drops straight down from the summit giving you a temporary case of vertigo. The vertical walls are a result of the Boneville landslide which fell away to the south towards the Columbia River, leaving a severe scarp. I am sure we will do this again for another epic adventure.

Olive Update

We got good news today from Olive's lab results from her appointment on Saturday. Her kidney levels have actually now gone into the normal range. The vet was very pleased. She said we can lower the dose of fluids we give Olive for her home treatment. We are very thankful for the good diagnosis.

This weekend...

This weekend we stuck around the house and did some yard work. Our neighbors were in shock. The next store neighbor actually took my picture as I was weeding because he couldn't believe it. What can I say? We're not really "yard work people". I am excited about this lavender that I planted in the pot by our front door. Sadly, the plant I had in the pot last year did not survive. I blame it on the amount of sun it got (I'm sure it wasn't my lack of watering). Hopefully, lavender is more forgiving. Any words of wisdom from the green thumbs out there?

Matt attempted to tame the jungle that is our back yard. We also broke out the patio furniture and swept off the deck. It wasn't long before the yellow jackets came by though. We had a very bad experience last year. Anybody have advice for getting rid of them or at least keeping them away from our deck? After last year, I tend to get angry whenever they are near and I want to be able to enjoy dinner on the deck and reading in my hammock in the sun. I am so excited for summer in the beautiful Northwest!