79 Today.......................

Still feeling..................

y o u n g

MORE Portland Fun...................

Saturday, Lori and Pam hit the road and drove from Sacramento to Portland, all in one day.  They recently purchased a new Audi so they said the ride was wonderful.  We've been enjoying warm weather so Sunday, after a leisurely breakfast. we went to Multnomah Village to do some shopping.  Our favorite places were a small book store and a clothing store, "Switch" that features designer clothes from Israel.  This place has unique and beautiful clothing so Lori went a little "crazy" and bought several new outfits.  They look fabulous on her!




Sunday night we celebrated Roger's upcoming birthday with a dinner at Iorio.  The girls all had homemade pasta dishes and Roger enjoyed fresh caught fish.  We never tire of eating there!











This morning Roger had a painting class so we girls hopped onto the streetcar and went to "Tasty and Alder" for breakfast.  It was our first time there (but not last).  Their menu is different from any others and the place was jumping, even on a Monday morning.

www.tastynalder.com

Check out the menu - it's eclectic and the food is delicious.


Our next stop was "Blue Star Donuts" where we bought a bacon/maple - lemon Meyer key lime -  dark chocolate with custard filling and blueberry with basil and bourbon.  This is more of an "upper crust" donut shop - very different from VooDoo Doughnuts.................

www.bluestardonuts.com/








Now the girls are on their way to Seattle where they will spend two nights before returning to Portland for the remainder of the week.   We already have a list of places to go and things to see - The Portland Art Museum - "Imperial" for lunch - Powell's - and Living Room Theater.

That's all for now...................... time for a donut...........................

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

Today we enjoyed a short drive to Woodburn to see the Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm.  Because of the unusually warm winter, bulbs started blooming almost two weeks early so the farm opened earlier than usual.  We caught it at a perfect time with the bulbs just opened recently and still unharmed by rain or wind.  We took a trolley ride into the field where we learned that the farm consists of about 160 acres but, only 40 acres are planted with bulbs each year and then bulbs are rotated to the other areas in a four year cycle.  The other sections are planted with things like alfalfa so the land can rest and be revitalized.

Here we're riding on a hay wagon from the parking lot to the field of flowers.  The farm is very child friendly and the children were having a wonderful time taking rides on their little "cow trains" and eating lots of "fair food".  Dogs were everywhere so Bella got to play, too.

Celebrating Life............

Roger's last winter term class was last week Wednesday so now he has a little over one week to take care of business.  Unfortunately, the business turned out to be a CT scan, a two hour dental appointment and today, a chemo session.  The GOOD news is that he got three "A's" in his PSU classes, the CT scan came out clean and now the chemo is over for another three months.  He'll likely have a day or two of "down" time but we're looking forward to 70 degree weather and sunshine for the next couple of days so if he's up to it, we'll be able to enjoy the Woodburn Tulip Festival.  Lori and Pam are driving to Portland on Saturday so we'll make sure to have hot food, cold drinks and a soft bed waiting. 

This week I went to see "Gett" at the Living Room Theater.  "Gett" is the Hebrew word for "divorce" and it was an interesting, but disturbing movie about an Israeli couple.  The woman wants a divorce but she must get her husband's permission................

Now, I'm reading the book "Serena" before I go to see the movie that opens in Portland this weekend.

First Day of Spring Celebration....................

This is the first sunset of Spring while we continue to celebrate Nowruz.  Last night we went to a party in the West Hills and this is the view from Mike and Mina's balcony.  They hosted a large party with huge amounts of Persian food, lots of great wine and Persian dancing.  We were the oldest guests so we were the first to leave at midnight.  It was a perfect way to celebrate the beginning of spring and all the beauty of nature.

In Iran, this is a holiday time so families travel to visit relatives and celebrate for two weeks.  Thirteen days after the first day of spring, all Iranians go outside to have picnics.  In Portland the picnic is scheduled on a Sunday, so here it will be on April 5th which is also Easter Sunday.  Persians gather at Oaks Park in Portland and it's like a huge potluck because everyone brings their favorite Persian food and shares it.

Heathman for dinner & "Jewtopia" at Triangle Theater

Allison and I always enjoy our evenings at Triangle Theater but tonight was the best of all starting with a three course dinner at the Heathman Hotel.  In March, many of the better Portland restaurants run a three-course special dinner for $29.  This year at the Heathman, we started with a seafood salad comprised of steamed mussels, sauteed scallops, and cured steel head with caviar creme.  The second course was stuffed rabbit with mushrooms and the dessert, shown here, was a Meyer lemon tart with a tiny basket of citrus on the side.

After leaving the restaurant we had a short drive to the theater where we saw the play "Jewtopia".  It's a comedy about the interaction of a Jewish family and their son who is determined to meet and marry a "gentile".  Meanwhile, his gentile friend is trying to find a Jewish woman.  Another great Portland experience..........................

Persian New Year - Nowruz..............

At 3:45 p.m. in Oregon, Nowruz - the Persian New Year begins.  It's a celebration that gives thanks to the beauty of nature and the love of family.

Roger is on spring break now so we're starting the morning with breakfast at "Gravy".  Even Bella gets to join us wearing her pink coat with lace flowers.

The tulips in the photo are blooming at American Plaza.

Time To Catch Up..............

I haven't been to a movie theater for quite awhile so during the past week or so I've watched:

1. The Maps to the Stars - a crazy (literally) stupid film that I finally left after watching for an hour.
2. "Wild" - what's all the hype?  It's about a (sort of crazy) woman who decides to walk the Pacific Coast Trail starting at the Mexican Border and ending at the Canadian border (however she only made it as far as Washington State).  If you enjoy watching a woman slowly walk up and down hills, eating cold food and "hooking up" with strange men, you may just like it.  For me?  Absolutely no............
3. The 2nd Best Marigold Hotel.  I finally got smart and started reading reviews - the most amusing for this movie was a reviewer who stated that "the movie's name pretty much is the review".  Figuring that "3 is a charm", I took a chance and went to see it. Even though it was very corny, it stared Richard Gere and what woman doesn't like this gorgeous man?

SO, this week I'll try it again - this time maybe looking for something with a little more substance.  I'm thinking of seeing  "Timbuktu" which is a very heavy drama but it has an "A" rating.

Friday afternoon, Roger's cousin, Ahmad and his two teen daughters came to visit for the weekend from Vancouver BC so it has been a busy and enjoyable weekend.  The only disappointment was that Saturday and Sunday, it rained heavily the entire time.  Fortunately, when they left this morning, the sun was shining again so we're looking ahead to another nice dry and warm week.  It was fun spending time with Dena who is 13 and Ariele who is 17.  Saturday was movie and lunch day and Sunday their father took them to the mall for a shopping outing.

Roger is studying for one more "final" test on Wednesday for his Art History class so Bella and I are going to get outside and see if we can find some mischief.............................

PSU Student Gallery Opening..............

Last night we attended the opening of the spring PSU art show that features some of the student's paintings from the past two terms.  Roger was proud to have two of his pieces accepted for the show; the first of his eagle flying towards the cliff and the cave where he walks into freedom.

The paintings will be on display and for sale until the end of the month.

The evening was a celebration of ethnic foods that were provided by the students.  Each was asked to bring a family specialty so there was a wide arrangement of delicious things to eat.  Roger made his Iranian Potato Salad which consists of boiled potatoes, roasted chicken, cooked carrots, baby peas, dill pickles and boiled eggs.  Each of these ingredients are diced, all about the same size, and then mixed with mayonnaise and seasoning (Roger uses Veginaise for a more healthier version)

It was an opportunity for me to meet many of Roger's art teachers and also the art students that he shares many classes with.  It was also interesting to see the wide range of the student's ages - anywhere from 20 to seniors almost as old as Roger - certainly evidence that education can be a lifelong pursuit. 

This is Roger with his current painting instructor, Susan Harlan.

The nine paintings at the left are a series that one of the students developed by using an alternative method of painting.  None of them are done with a brush. 

The work shown at the right is huge.  Each canvas measures about 24 inches square.  The artist is a man probably in his 60s who has been working on this for almost six months.  Each piece contains individual themes that all blend together.

Yes............ I'm still doing needlepoint..........

I tell people that I do needlepoint because my mother told me that "idle hands are the devil's workshop" but that's actually not true............... I just love working with my hands so needlepoint keeps me busy while watching TV.  These are my latest:

The one on the top left is for my friend, Lulu, who graciously hosted our visit in Montreal when we finished our New England cruise.  The one with rabbits is for my soon to be here great granddaughter, Zoey.  The others are for myself because they look really well on our new sleeper sofa.  My latest project is a very large one with the motif of the hare and the rabbit.  I've been working on it for almost six months - about six more months to go.

Loving the Sunshine...............

When those of us who live in Portland see sun, we put on walking shoes and hit the streets.  Sunday it was in the 60s so the day started with brunch at Brasserie Montmartre and then a visit to the Portland Art Museum where they are currently featuring an exhibit of vintage Italian fashion plus beautiful Italian art.  The featured painting is "Holy Family with Saint Mary Magdalen" by El Greco and it's amazingly beautiful.  I found it interesting that there were several paintings from the 1300s.  They are all painted on wood and they either feature the Madonna and Christ Child or Jesus on the cross.  One had gold leaf with tiny engravings and the work was surprisingly intricate.

Today was school day so on my way home, I found some new flowers to photograph.  Tomorrow I'm looking forward to going to Living Room Theater to see "Maps to the Stars" and since Powell's Book Store is only a block away.............................

portlandartmuseum.org