Larch Mountain and more...Columbia River Gorge

A beautiful late summer day and we took a trip to the Columbia River Gorge.
First stop was at Larch Mountain, an extinct volcano outside of Portland, with great views from the top of Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and more.  Unfortunately, the day was hazy for us and the views of the mountains were not so good.

It is a $5 fee for this park. But it is nice that you drive all the way up but the last 3-tenths of a mile, which you then hike to the summit.

The view of Mt. Hood, only 22 miles away.

There is also a very nice picnic area at Larch Mountain, as well as a drinking fountain and vault toilets.








Next stop was Vista House, overlooking the Columbia River Gorge.  Very windy day...and still the haze.  We couldn't remember the last time either of us had been to Vista House, so it was a fun visit.

Another view of Vista House. The person out front was in what looked like a Teddy Roosevelt costume.  I believe he answered questions and gave information, but we didn't see him in action.

View of the gorge from Vista House.

The beautiful ceiling inside Vista House.

Clock, Indian Face, and colored windows inside.

Close up of the ceiling.












Next stop, on our way home, was an overlook called Portland Women's Forum.

View of the sign from the car.  There wasn't much here, not even a bathroom if I recall.  But there were some nice views of the gorge.

Plaque regarding the viewpoint.





The final pictures are showing the view of Vista House and the gorge from this park.  A lovely late summer day out in the sunshine!

C'est Fini!

Brigittine Monastery in Amity, Oregon

Took a visit to the Brigittine Monastery in Amity, Oregon today.

Here is the church outside:

Here is the inside:

The floors and ceiling were beautifully done wood.

The altar:

Wonderful shaft of sunlight coming in.

These are the stained glass windows on the sides of the sanctuary:

The wonderful stained glass section is at the back of the church, near the entrance:

This is the statue to St. Bridget (I think she is called St. Brigitta of Sweden), whom the church is named for.  Currently there are just seven monks living here.  This is the only Brigittine Monastery in the United States.  They make very good fudge and truffles here..!

Behind the monastery are two large ponds.  One nicely covered in lily pads.  We saw about 15 different species of birds today.  We hope to come back in the fall, when hopefully many birds have come to the waters.

Love those lily pads!  A nice visit on a nice summer day.

Garden Update - August 5

The plants are growing fine.  But, as you'll see, the Kong Sunflower continues to have trouble.

The Picklebush cucumbers and the herbs - Sweet Basil and the Triple Curled Parsley.  All growing very nicely.  I just watered before I took the shots so the parsley is a bit bent over, but it is all growing nice and strongly.  About time to use fresh in cooking or to dry them for use this winter.

The slow bolt Cilantro.  Again, bent a smudge from the watering, but looking great.

Catnip, growing like crazy.

The Kong Sunflower, as it looked when I took the picture a couple days or so ago.

The Kong Sunflower as it looks now.  Something is taking regular bites at this plant.  Leaves still get sections chomped off, and now this in the stem.  I will just let the plant try to figure it out for itself, maybe it can repair the damage.  But I just have no clue as to what is harming this plant.  None of the others are being bothered.  Weird.











Lastly, a shot of the pansies.  They are fading now, and looking worn, but still there is some life and color.

Couple other summer visits - 2012

A few pictures from a couple other places we have visited this summer...Pittock Mansion in Portland; and Mary's Peak in Corvallis.

The mansion in the morning.  We were there with an Audubon birding group.  Saw many birds, but didn't get good snaps of them.  Lovely morning to be out in the sun.

A path around the mansion.










Next up, Mary's Peak.  This is the highest peak of the coast range and on a clear day you have a wonderful view of many of the Cascade Mountains.  Unfortunately, although the day was sunny, the view as hazy and our view of other mountains was not so good.  We could make out the Three Sisters and others, but not a good photo opportunity.

One of the trails around the peak.

The rocks and flowers at the top.

And a beautiful butterfly among the flowers. These were both nice places to visit and a great way to get into the wonderful, but brief, Western Oregon summer weather.

Jenkins Estate - Beaverton, OR

We visited Jenkins Estate in Beaverton in May this year.  Finally getting around to posting some of the pictures.  This was a very beautiful place, and the day we were there, a Sunday if I recall, it was nearly deserted. Which made for a nice peaceful walk among the buildings and trees.

This is the main house.

It has this great porch.

And this sign over the front steps.

The Carriage House.

Finishing up with this collage of the benches, ponds plants, Gate House, Tea House, and other beautiful things to see at Jenkins Estate.

The Garden - July 14, 2012

Here are pictures of my "garden".  Everything in pots and planters, all started from seed.  The Pansies are volunteers.

Strawberry.  Must admit I am not sure this is an ornamental or not.  As all the plants right now (except the Pansies) the Strawberry spends the night in the bathroom to avoid bugs and marauding mammals.  We get raccoons on the deck - where all the plants go each day - and a couple years ago, either the raccoons or some other creature totally destroyed a pots of herbs I was growing.  Thus, as long as I can.  I bring them in at night.

There will come a time when they are too big for that, then I'll decide next steps.

Here are the herbs:

This is Sweet Basil (top) and Extra Triple Curled Parsley.  Close ups below.  I re-potted everything on Friday, and so far they are hanging in there, after that shock.

Sweet Basil.

Extra Triple Curled Parsley.

Slow Bolt Cilantro.  All the plants, since started from seed, begin their life in pots in the bathroom, where these still are until a bit bigger for re-potting.

And a treat for our furry friends...Catnip.

Now, the vegetables.  Don't get excited...not much going on here.

Picklebush Cucumber. They wilted a bit after the re-potting, but came back fine.

ECU of the Picklebush Cucumber.  My hope is we get enough off these plants for at least one jar of Doug's homemade pickles.

Kong Hybrid Sunflower. This guy used to go out each day on the deck for sun, but the leaves were getting chomped on...you can see that a bit in the picture.  Not sure who was doing the chomping, but I decided to bring them inside for a bit -- hopefully when they are bigger the "chomper" will leave them alone!

So, that's it for the veggies...like I said, not too exciting, but a start.

We'll finish up with a shot of those nice volunteer Pansies.  I plan on moving some of the plants to the other deck planters later this summer and hopefully they will "volunteer" to grow there too.

Fernhill Wetlands

Here I go again, posting a week late.  

Oh well.

Last week, on one of those super lovely days here in Oregon, we visited Fernhill Wetlands in Forest Grove.

And guess what?? We saw a Black Tern, which ended up being listed on the Portland Audubon's Rare Bird Alert posting.  How about that?  

Not the best picture in the world, I admit.  But this guy was such an acrobatic flier, I'm amazed that any pictures came out!

Another unusual bird for this wetlands that we saw were Yellow-headed Blackbirds.

Doug took this picture of a nice female.

The pond also had this lovely group of Greater White-fronted Geese.

Lovely, aren't they?

We spent a nice amount of time in Dabbler's Marsh...home to many Tree Swallow boxes and thus, lots of Tree Swallows!

Nice one right above the sign.

Hello cutie!

Also saw a good dozen of these little lovely American Goldfinches.

We'll finish up with an overview picture of Dabbler Marsh.  Beautiful place and well worth a visit to Fernhill Wetlands.