Worst Blogger Ever

It has been a very fun, very busy fall. Here are a few photos. A good post is coming. I promise. Maybe in another month . . . . how about if you just keep your expectations really low? The best I can give you today is a little commentary.

Look at this pie. Honestly. It is pretty much perfect. Razzleberry. (Yes, the decoration looks like cherries or mistletoe, but it is pretty much the extent of my free hand dough art) It tasted even better than it looked. My best effort ever. Late August.

The Jedi on their first day of school. Padawan is now in school all day. He is the smallest first grader (maybe the smallest KID) on campus. It is kind of starting to sink into him also and he doesn't always take it all that well. Both of them are brilliant, of course, and I am at the school three days a week volunteering. It is a lot of fun and, for me anyway, less stressful than babies.  The day after Labor Day.


 

A late summer harvest. Isn't it gorgeous? I think so. Yellow peppers, onions, tri-colored carrots, multiple varieties and colors of tomatoes. We pulled out beets this week and I think we'll have shallots until they freeze in the ground. It was a great summer for harvesting.

Stealing from the strawberry patch. The only kind of stealing that is actively encouraged 'round these parts.

Plantboy had a few chances to go fishing in the early morning. He took some amazing sunrise pictures on the Umpqua River. This particular trip he only brought home photos, unfortunately. 

On a whim, we took off after school and work on a Friday afternoon and hit the Coast. It was a lovely, sunny day and cool and breezy as always on the coast. The surf was remarkable that day and we had to leave by eight o'clock to beat both the tide and the darkness. On the left side in this picture, out on the point, you'll see a lighthouse. Our favorite beach is the one just below the lighthouse. 

We did a campfire and foil dinners. By the time we left we were all huddled around it. Weather forecasts are very deceptive concerning the beach in the evening in late September. Still, it was completely awesome. We had the whole place to ourselves and we ran in the edge of the surf until we were properly exhausted.

The mist rolled in. It was both eerie and  beautiful. As night fell we could see the lighthouse beam cutting through the fog and dark, reminding me that sometimes old-fashioned things are the best things.

For our boys, "playing" at the beach always looks more like work. Building, tunneling, damming and digging.  

Some minor triumph no doubt. Though the Youngling looks poised to throw a mudball. His smile tells me that he is always up to something. 

 

 The last wistful look of summer out across the Pacific. Next time we do the beach in the early fall it is jackets and pants and more layers. But it was so awesome that there will definitely be a next time. And I mean awesome in the soul-stirring, wonderment sense of the word.

I helped can the pears, but Plantboy gets full credit for this amazing tomatoes. All organic and from the garden--multicolored tomatoes, basil, garlic and shallot. A pure delight. My favorite discovered recipe this fall is to take a jar of these, a couple of chicken breasts, and a crockpot. Stew it all together until the chicken falls apart, serve over noodles and voila! Delightful chicken cacciatore in a snap.

Okay, two tomato shots. They really are so pretty. I think they would make lovely gifts with a square of checked fabric, a bit of raffia and a card. Plantboy, however, isn't likely to willingly part with any of these lovelies. 

On the second trip he apparently paid less attention to sunrise and more to the fishing. Not so empty handed this time around. I guess we are eating salmon again this year. 

 

The two football games above were also a blast. The one on the right was Jedi Knight and Plantboy two weeks ago at BYU/OSU in Corvallis. They met LaVell Edwards in the will-call line. JK was featured on TV for about four seconds and the Cougs creamed the Beavs. It was a fun, big-boy thing for the almost-ten year old to get to do. His birthday was last Sunday and grandma paid us a surprise visit. I am sure it isn't possible that I have a ten year old, but that is what his birthday is telling me. 

The picture on the right is today's University of Oregon/Washington State Game. The Ducks won by nearly 20, but it is proof that I'm a Ducks follower that I was a bit disappointed that the guys in yellow didn't score above 50! In case you didn't notice, the game was a "yellow-out." Think blackout, but brighter. This is my sweet friend Devery who invited Jeff and I to share tickets with she and her husband today. Front row. Fifty yard line. Those kind of seats make paying the babysitter for all day totally worth it. We don't get a whole day to ourselves very often. Thanks Dev. 

Halloween, Thanksgiving and a bunch of other stuff still to come. How is your fall shaping up?