We've been enjoying the warming weather. We put up a canopy and built a little outdoor living room of sorts. It's waterproof as well which actually ends up being handy since it is still raining quite a bit here.
The second week of May marked the beginning of the Farmer's Market Season here in Portland. This is always exciting for me as I would prefer to shop at markets all year round. I prefer to meet the actual farmers and know that my money is going directly to their business. Perhaps it was growing up around agriculture, perhaps it's knowing that my food is organic and ethically harvested. Perhaps it's the amazing cookies they sell at the market. Whichever it is I am hooked. Now every Saturday I can be found riding the train down to the market and hauling back my booty. This week I am trying a saute with Thai flowering greens. I had never heard of these and am excited to give it a try. I also purchased a beautiful batch of local made honey harvested from bees who pollinated blackberry/strawberry/and blueberry plants. Yum!
Here's a small example of the booty! Here we've got locally grown Kale, Collard Greens, Strawberries, Lettuce Mix, Carrots, and Sun Flowers. Each week the harvest changes and I can not wait for blueberries and blackberries to arrive! This year I will be making some jams with these local beauties.
Aside from the Farmer's Market I have been hard at work with our little garden. I tasted my first ripe strawberry of the season yesterday and it was amazing. Nothing beats the tast of home grown produce. However, most plants in the garden are still just small versions of what they will grow to be. It's hard to imagine that in a few short weeks I won't be able to walk through the garden without stepping on plants. If anything it's challenging when planting the starts to space them out enough. I never believe they will get as big as they do, and of course every year they prove me wrong.
This morning I woke to find a new friend living outside of our front door. She is so big I thought maybe she'd start talking. After the initial shock and creepy crawly skin I had to laugh at the fact that we need her help. Every summer flies tend to congregate right in front of our door. We installed a screen door but still they manage to sneak into the apartment. We have tried a bug zapper and the flies show absolutely no interest in this piece of technology. Perhaps our new neighbor here will keep the fly population down so we can spend less time swatting this summer.
The flowers continue to bloom as the weather slowly warms. We have had our run of Lilac already. The roses are beginning to flush out, and with them the Irises and Peony. And with all this beauty comes the lawn work:)
Here is our lovely neighbor Deanna displaying our old fashioned push mower that we use to clip the grass. We bought this mower used for $10 and it's been a great investment. We have an abnormally large yard for city living, but it's still not that big. We save on gas and get a little exercise this way, and of course cut down on the noise. And of course lawn work wouldn't be the same without a little help from Tommy. He's usually busy keeping the squirrels terrified and the birds at bay.
Hope you are all doing well and enjoying the beginning of summer. We are excited that our two year wedding anniversary is around the corner (July 23rd). It doesn't seem possible that it was two summers ago that we were all in Montana together making merry and taking pictures of the staples Jeff got put in his head:) We are hoping to escape to the coast for a night or two with the dogs. We've just been tipped of to a series of lovely hotels on the ocean that are dog friendly. So, away we will go and take pictures for another blog.
Some parting photos of the Rhododendron trees.
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