Tuesday images

Today was not as eventful but I did go to the dog park with Lavi and Sophie. Still have dinner at Morgan's house tonight. I am sure to get some pictures of the "big boys".

Mon cont.

Here are a few more pictures from Monday and agility class. The first is her treat container with her nickname on it - Lavinator! The vizsla is named Fenway and the great dane is Vegas.

Week of me...Monday

I am excited to be participating in the "Week of me" project on Ali Edwards blog. Here is the project.
This week we are to take pictures and jot down notes of a week in my life. Next week we will put the book together. It is still the first day but I am already having fun taking note of all the little details that make up my day. Today was easy with a trip to the zoo to see the baby elephant plus the daily antics of the dog, cat and bird that keep me entertained.
Here are a few of my pictures (and it is only 4:45 pm)...we still have agility class tonight.

Scrap for the cure

I recently attended a 12-hour Scrap for the Cure event at the beach. Part of the proceeds of the event went to the Susan G Koman foundation. Peregrine and I left Portland bright and early to get to Lincoln City by 8:30. We rolled in just before 9am, not bad considering it was a 2 hour ride. Here we are with all our stuff...

Another one of our scrappin' buddies, Shanna won the paper piecing contest. Here she is with the bear she made out of mulberry paper. Very cool.

It was a great event and I can't wait for the next one!

Some of Matt's photos from the coast

A few images of the coastline...
From Cape Perpetua

From Yaquina Head


Haceta Head lighthouse


Me and Lavi in front of Grey whale sculpture at Cape Perpetua Interpretive Center


Steller sea lions on the rocks

A trip to Yachats and the central Oregon coast

This was our first time visiting the Oregon coast together since we moved here. We stayed in Yachats, a little town on the central coast a world away from the gaudy touristy areas found in other parts of the coast. And yes as you will see in the photos, we brought Lavi with us. It is interesting to see how many hotels allow dogs in the rooms. Plus most of the parks allow dogs in at least on leash.

When we first arrived in the afternoon is was fogged over, as you will come to expect a good part of the time at the coast. Here is Matt and Lavi outside our room by the cliffs and walking along the path back to our hotel



We woke up to a clear sunny sky the next day. Here we are with our coffee.


We then took a ride down the coast to Florence, stopping along the way to see Haceta Head lighthouse (will upload Matt's photos later) and to see the sea lion caves. Unfortunately the sea lions were not in the cave at the time so we did not spend the $20 to go down there but we did see some Stellers sea lions on the rocks at another point. On the way back we stopped at Cape Perpetua (the highest point along the Oregon Coast, 803 ft). Here is Matt with the south coast behind him, you can see how nice the weather was.


We also went to visit the giant spruce in the Cape Perpetua Scenic Area. It has a diameter of over 10 feet!!

Here is our "fox dog" on the giant spruce. She loves jumping on things now that we have started agility class again.

Yachats trip cont.

After lunch we took Lavi to the beach to hunt for agates. We found a few things but decided we will make a trip at the end of February to get some real booty. Since we had to keep Lavi on leash (it was a state park) she was not thrilled to have to walk on the water's edge. She was much happier on the dry sand.


Later in the afternoon, I got a massage at the spa in the Overleaf hotel right next to our hotel. It was my anniversary present (3 years!!). The spa is on the 3rd floor and is really new with 2 whirlpools overlooking the coast. It was glorious watching the fog roll in. Here's the view from the spa.


The next day we woke to fog but by the time we packed up it has cleared up. We headed north and stopped at Yaquina Head lighthouse in Newport. This headland extends a mile into the ocean. It was beatuiful.


I will upload some of Matt's great shots...keep posted.

Sleeping beauties

Lavi all wrapped around her daddy :)

Snarly Girl

Riverfest

We took Lavi to the Riverfest celebration this past Sat. There were tons of dogs, including a human dressed as a dog with a big head. Lavi was not a fan and barked her little head off at him...it was hilarious. poor thing. We enjoyed the great weather and the good music. Here's Lavi soaking in some Jazz.

...and us enjoying the sun before it disappears for several months

NY/NJ Minibook

I recently bought a Bind-it-all and wanted to try it out. Initially I was making a book but I accidentally put the holes on the wrong side of one of the pages so...Viola...I turned it into an accordian album. Actually I think it is better this way and it was a lot of fun weaving the ribbon throughout.

Lulu the dolphin...

Lulu, the dolphin, wants to know, "Where's Domo?"

Matt's Monkey Birthday Shuffleboard Tournament

For Matt's birthday we held a table shuffleboard tournament at a local brewpub. We had a great time playing table shuffleboard and suprisingly Matt's team didn't even win a game :(
Amber and I made a good run at it but were beat in the finals by Don and Lenna. Here they are with their 1st place trophies - MONKEYS!!


The monkeys had a lot of fun...


...maybe too much fun!

Blackberry Fool

What do you do when you have a refridgerator full of blackberries? (That was by choice of course after I made one last run to Sauvie Island). I didn't have to think long since the Tuesday Foodday section of the Oregonian had a simple recipe for "Blackberry Fool". How can you not love the name? Well this mousse-like dessert is even better. Here's the recipe.

BLACKBERRY FOOL

2 cups blackberries + some for garnish
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a blender, combine berries, sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Pour mixture through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing with a rubber spatula to push through. Discard seeds. Reserve 1/2 cup of puree for topping. Refridgerate.

In a large bowl, whip cream and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Gently fold remaining berry puree into cream. Spoon mixture into custard cups. Cover loosely and refridgerate for 1 hour (or up to overnight). To serve, drizzle with reserved berry puree and garnish with fresh blackberries.

Delicious.