Making friends....

Nalah and I got out for a bit on Friday morning and went to visit our duck friends at the Rhododendron Garden. It was a nice little Valentine's day date with my smallest buddy.

We are kindred spirits in our love for animals so we both enjoy getting out in nature to visit our animal friends. Duck, goose, squirrel, any animal will do.

Misty Morning....

I was so inspired by the gorgeous dewy spiderwebs on the walk to my son's school this morning that I got a little distracted from my obligations. I just love foggy mornings.

Deep in the heart of summer....

We have been really enjoying the fountains and water features in Portland parks this summer. I think we hit up five different places during one of the hottest week.

 

 We enjoyed a parade just blocks from our house...

and visited a small town art festival...

The town is filled with gorgeous murals like this ...

 and this

And we got lost in a little oasis of nature in the heart of the City ...

 

 

July was full of camps and classes for the kids and a lot of running around and schedules.

We are hoping to have a more relaxing free flowing August, with a visit from Nana and hopefully a little vacation of our own.

I hope you are enjoying your summer!

Another Spring Weekend in Portland...

We have been walking around a lot lately. Through the neighborhood on into other less familiar neighborhoods. That is one really fun thing about the city of Portland, each neighborhood is like a smaller town of it's own. I don't own a home, so I like to walk around and look at houses and yards and get ideas for the future, for the someday when hopefully we can have a home of our own, where we can sink roots and feel grounded. 

We have several really hard years financially with several lay offs and lack of work, I wonder if we will ever catch up enough to make a comfortable living here, yet I don't want to have to start over again either. Here is to hoping for good things in the future and for a rainbow after the storm.

We were able to do a little hiking this weekend. Too little for my taste, anyone need a hiking buddy out there?

We also got out to the park. The kids have been kind of sick the past few weeks and it was nice to see them get their energy back. Funny how as parents we get annoyed with our kids when they are hyper and bouncing off the walls,but as soon as they are ill an are lacking in energy we want nothing more than for them to be able to run around like wild animals again.

 

And we did some urban fishing too...

 

The Street Fair..

We look forward every year to having a little fun in September at the Belmont Street Fair. This year it was super hot and I wasn't feeling well most of the day so we headed to the fair during the late afternoon, unfortunately the hottest part of the day.



The year the beloved red trolly and banjo player that usually drive up and down the street were replaced by an air conditioned eco-bus. Not the same, but hey, a free air conditioned ride to the fair?
This sick pregnant mama will take it!



Ah, now that feels good!




Don't be fooled that was mama's shaved ice, but it was big enough to share.

I am pretty sure they had fun.

Booby prize and a peacock....

A few months ago a local Portland yarn store called Twisted had a little contest to name their Blue Footed Booby that was knit from a pattern called "Feathers" By Knitting at Knoon. I wrote in with the name suggestion of "Indigo Montoya" inspired by Inigo Montoya from the movie Princess Bride. I got an e-mail a few weeks ago that they voted and my name won by a landslide. I won a copy of the pattern "Feathers" along with a cute crocheted cake key chain by Lantern Moon.

One of the patterns in "feathers" was a peacock. When we first moved to Portland back in 2003 I was talking to my Dad on the phone telling him all about the city and how we had roses in our yard in January when a giant bird head peeked into the window of our upstairs apartment where I was sitting and nearly gave me a heart attack. My next words were "Dad, there is a peacock on my roof!" I think he thought I moved to some tropical paradise which it kind of was compared to near Buffalo New York where Ben,Sophie and I were moving from and Wisconsin where I grew up as a child. The Peacock lived on our roof for about a week. I have no idea where he came from or who he belonged to. I thought since so many Portland people had chickens running around in their yards that Peacocks were just part of the norm too. Keep Portland Weird!
So I just had to knit one. The pattern was a bit finicky and I ripped the body out completely twice due to funkiness in the neck. Third times a charm or, well , good enough at least.

My dragon tails hit Portland...finally

For the past several years I have had the grand idea of selling my handmade costumes in Portland. Between Art School and a new baby it never manifested itself until now. Yay! I have the tails out now in a cute children's boutique, and have several more appointments in the next few days. Going around selling my goods is so NOT MY THING. I wish I could just hide out in my sewing closet making stuff and leave the marketing to someone else. I guess I am just shy, but once I have the hang of it I am sure it will be great fun. Having to bring my little tornado along with me will make things even more exciting. At least kids are the main focus of the businesses I will be going around too. Hey, maybe it will even help, add to the charm.
I have totally burned through my corduroy stash, but I can't wait to get sewing again soon (hides the credit card). I added polka dots to the new smaller tails and I think they look even better that way, more whimsical.
I decided to try and sell locally for a while rather then on my Etsy shop. I just feel like I am drowning in a sea of creative people on there and I don't know how anyone could possible find me. I have had heard such wonderful things from the folks here in Portland that It just makes more sense to focus locally for the moment. Plus with Halloween right around the corner this is my time of year baby.I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch as they say,so I will have to wait a few days to let you know where you can find my tails .
Wish me luck, I will get back to you soon.