Da Deck

We finished our platform deck last week. We had a huge overhang/covered area (roof) over the bay window in the front of the house. My dad gave us the idea of building a platform deck. We didn't want a huge deck, but just enough to enjoy. We totally love it...especially in the cool of the summer evenings with a glass of lemonade. The evening views of the valley and mountains are literally breathtaking.

Before

After

This and That

A few days ago Kristina came over and I showed her how to make blueberry pie filling and blueberry syrup. It was really fun and afterwards we went to Treasures of the Heart to do a little shopping.

What a great can tightener =0)
Later that same day we had a family get together, as Ryan (my brother) was home from school. It was so great to see him. The last time he was home was over Christmas. Ryan is at PSU, lives in Gresham, and loves it! He is plugged into a wonderful church family and is doing very well. We all wish we got to see him a little bit more. Here, Jason is grilling some ribs....we ran out of gas as the last part of our meal was being cooked.....but hey, the last time we had to refill the BBQ with gas was last year!!!
Brother and Sister

Blueberries

This morning Tammy, Kristina, Susan, my mom, and I rolled out of bed to pick blueberries at Haven Farms way out in Umpqua. The berries were so ripe that, with a gentle grip, they rolled off the vines and into the buckets. My mom and I picked about 130 lbs in 2 hours. They only charge 80 cents a pound. The farm is beautiful and located right next to the North Umpqua river.

See the river behind us?!?

Each of us is going to freeze the berries for yummy winter snacks, smoothies, make syrups, and dry them in a food dehydrator. Today I found a wonderful recipe for blueberry pie filling (you can water bath it, just like with jam in a canner) thanks to the OSU Extension Service.

A view of some of the berries from the back of the Volvo.

Coolin' off at the Coast

We got to spend today with one of our most favorite people...Katie! Katie is a former student of both Jason and I and she has literally captured our hearts. It's been really hot at home so we headed off to the coast today. 65 degrees felt frigidly cold compared to the 98 degrees at home.

This sand mountain was so hard to climb. Every time you took a step you sunk lower and lower into the sand, and slid down the hillside. We were trying to seek refuge from the wind. The beads of sand banded together and formed strong whips that were painful to any exposed skin! By the time I reached the top of the hill I literally had a load of sand in my pants because I had fallen so many times!

We decided to go to a different beach in hopes of encountering less wind factors. However, it was still VERY windy. We constructed this fort, which took most of the afternoon. We were determined to find a warm place that was less sandy and windy.

Jason and Katie were finishing the last touches before the three of us climbed in with our blankets.

.....still trying to patch up any holes that might let the sandy wind through!

Ahhhhhhh....finally a warm place that shielded us from the sand and wind. We all snuggled inside enjoying the warmth, shelter, and rested for a while! It was REALLY fun. Afterwards we headed to the DQ for a cold blizzard. ...go figure!

The Wall.....Part II

Yesterday we started working on the retaining walls in the back of the house. This is the upper most wall, and each block weighed 73 lbs. They were so stinkin' heavy as we hauled them up the other 2 terraces! Jason and I (and our crew of friends) worked 13 hours yesterday! Here Jason and Jered were back filling the wall with drainage rock.So after hours and hours and hours of work, I got to wondering if the wall on the bottom was too tall. Jered and Jason assured me that it wasn't too tall, especially after all our work. Jered was patting the wall gently as he was talking and like a weird happening in a horror movie, the wall went DOWN. I was sick over it and Jason was SOOOOO upset! Poor Jered...he felt so bad!

I went into town to run some errands and came back and Jered and Jason told me they got the wall built up again (while I was gone ) and it fell again! I thought they were teasing me and I told them to knock it off. They were really telling me the truth! It fell a second time in the same spot. The wall curves a bit here and we had to back fill as we built each course! What a day. So the wall is fixed and still in progress.....stay tuned!

A Chair of Bowlies

Every summer, several of my friends (teachers) and I go berry picking. We pick strawberries, cherries, raspberries, blueberries, marion, boysen and blackberries. On this particular day we all picked a lot! I ended up picking 43 lbs, of cherries! We gave some to our neighbors, ate some, and froze some for smoothies!