Portlandia

Here it is, another Saturday night and I’m just starting this newsletter/blog. Generally I prefer getting a head start. You know, let a theme digest for a few days. Get some words down and spend some time editing. For some reason it’s been more difficult. This will be the 2nd time I’m fighting out, where do I start? 

Corn Thang

OK, so maybe it isn’t so difficult to figure out where to start. The Corn Thang. Isn’t that even fun to say? Corn Thang. This week Woody made three dishes of the Corn Thang for different events. Generally the Corn Thang is a Thanksgiving tradition. It took some persuading to convince Woody to make it for a BBQ in June. By the third time, we only had to ask once. There is no denying it: the Corn Thang is a hit.If you can tolerate the sad truth behind its deliciousness, you can see Woody’s Blog and recipe about it here: That Corn Thang.

Save The Caterpillars!

You may recall we had a mini science experience with some monarch caterpillars and butterflies. We captured the process of caterpillar to chrysalis as well as chrysalis to butterfly. Well, we had stuck the butchered, but still green, milkweed plant in the ground by the garage. It bounced back, but one day Carli noticed the plant lost all its leaves, and it seemed to have happened rather suddenly. Upon closer examination she discovered an army of baby caterpillars! Not all were babies, some were bigger. All were desperately looking for food. They eat milkweed exclusively, and our plant was decimated.

We felt responsible to these little critters, and

Milkweed Score!

searched high & low for milkweed. By retracing our steps to the original December Craigslist (not an easy task), we connected with the fellow that gave us the caterpillars. He had milkweed. I know there were some casualties, but I understand Carli and her caterpillars are all adjusting to their new location and diet supply.

Oh, and by the way, a group of butterflies would be called a kaleidoscope of butterflies.

Getting ‘er Done

Keeping up our end of the room-for-helping-hands bargain, we’ve dug in to some chores around the house. Some daily stuff: walking the dog, feeding the dog and, of course pickin’ up poop. The weekly stuff: weeding, mowing, vacuuming, clean-up, garbage/recycling. The big stuff: painting, staining, refinishing.

“refinishing”

“painting”

And, we fielded a couple of those little things that you can put off so long, you forget they even existed. Such as an oven lightbulb and microwave surface lightbulb. Let there be light!

Exploring

We’ve done a lot of walking, including a rainy day climb to Rocky Butte.

View through the Rocky Butte fence line

We’ve gotten into a routine of eating out for lunch. We never were much for eating out, but after our 2 year absence we clearly missed the dining scene. A few we hit this week were Yen Ha (on Sandy Blvd.), Fire on the Mountain, Sushi Chiyo (a new place in Hollywood District), and Pho Corner (also on Sandy Blvd.) For dessert we checked out Pip’s Original Doughnuts. Oh my goodness, I’m hooked, they were SO good.

We discovered a small nature park in the middle of the Madison/Gateway area called Dharma Rain Center. This area was a landfill, then paved, and then stuck in neglected limbo for years. That is, until it was reclaimed by a group of Buddhists. In cooperation with the Parks & Recreation Dept, they have a small portion that is open to the public. A nature oasis in the city.

We saw the Jr Rose Parade from an interesting angle – the 3-way crossroads of Sacramento, 57th and Sandy (I believe this is correct.) This is where the parade begins.

The Best Part

The number one fun has been the reunions and revisiting familiar haunts. Can you believe that ReRun (a consignment shop) had $4.50 on the books for me?! I was thrilled to see Ed at Hollywood Camera, still running his shop over 50 years! I haven’t stepped foot into the old office yet – but I have connected with a couple of my cronies. Oh my, what warm and wonderful people I had the opportunity to work with!

We’ll be here all summer, so I’ll continue to be making the rounds!