Portland Center Park at American Plaza Towers

This sculpture is located between the three American Plaza Tower buildings and it's a lovely place to sit, relax and enjoy the view.  The main feature of the park is a Cor-Ten steel sculpture with enameled panels, created by sculptor Lee Kelly and his wife, Bonnie Bronson.  It was installed in 1975 and renovated two years ago.

 

This finished photo started as two photos which I melded into one, using Photoshop.  Lincoln Tower is in the background.  Aurora, my tutor, always likes to energize me by showing me how to make unusual photos so here's my new interpretation.............

 

 

Portland's Culinary Workshop

Last night I attended a cooking class at Portland's Culinary Workshop.  This class was "Cuisine and Wine of France" and it was an exciting way to spend an evening and learn new skills.  There were 16 in the class.  Work tables were set up for teams of four with two electric burners, bowls with ingredients and large cutting boards.  Yes.............. we actually shared the prep and cooking. 

www.portlandsculinaryworkshop.com

 

The recipes that we prepared started with an appetizer; Pate a Choux tart with caramelized onions and Boursin, followed with Coq au Vin and Salmon en Papillote.  Crème Brulee was the dessert and we each had a turn with the blowtorch to caramelize the sugar.

 

French wine was served with each course, presented by Chef and Sommelier, Maxine Borcherding. 

 

Another great Portland experience !!

 



A week of good intentions...........

Where does the time go?  There were a couple of hic-ups this past week starting with contaminated water in and about 15 miles around Portland, so we had to boil our water before using it - not much of a problem for personal hygiene but - cooking was a different problem.  Trying to keep counters and hands sanitary plus the food and dishes was more complicated than I imagined.  Fortunately it was only 24 hours.  To complicate things, however, the next day my clothes drier stopped working (7 years old) so I did some research to discover that it was the control panel with an error code of F1 (which I reported to the repair people).  SO, a man comes out to "look" at it and, after one hour, tells me that he's discovered that the control panel needs to be replaced.  ($175 service fee plus $90 per hour).  He's ordered a control panel because their service department didn't have one in stock so now I'm waiting another week to hear from them so we can reschedule a return appointment.  Tomorrow I'll have a heart-to heart with the service manager................

I learned about a lot of stuff in my I-Phone camera workshop and I'd like to share the apps that I am using on my phone camera.  Each has a unique feature that makes your photos really "pop". 

1. PS Express
2. VSCOcam
3. Frametastic
4. Snapseed
5. Overgram
6. Flipagram (for videos)
7. Instagram
8. Postagram
9. CP Pro

I just got my macro/wide angle lens from PhotoJoJo for the camera and I can get within a half inch from a subject to take a photo.  In preparation for my Photoshop lesson Tuesday, I'll get outside tomorrow to take some photos.  Roger and I both have classes at PSU tomorrow and tomorrow night I'm enrolled in a French cooking class so it's a great start to a busy week.............................

Did you know that........................?

• Even if you have the shingles shot, you can get shingles......................  Roger can attest to that, however, the good news is that the event is much milder than you would have without the shot - so, if you're over 60 years of age, you need to get it NOW....
• Vertigo is very common in people over the age of 60 and many just choose to live with it.  I'm not one, so I'm presently taking less medication to raise my blood pressure and I'm taking physical therapy to find a solution.
• Getting a message from a family member to tell me they are coming to visit is priceless.  Our guest facilities are beginning to become popular with the summer season, including Roger's brother who lives in Iran, Roger's daughter in S.F. who will be with us in June and Lori and Pam who are coming over the July 4th period..
• An IPhone camera is one of the most sophisticated instruments available and it's portable and has the capability of multitasking.  If you're curious about the apps that you can use with your camera, let me know because I have a long list of really great choices.
• You can buy lenses for your IPhone that allow for macro, wide angle and telephoto.
• You can order photo reprints from Walgreen, using your phone.  I ordered a few an hour ago and they are ready to pick up.
• Post-a-gram app (Sincerely.com) offers personalized postcards that you can write your personal message and upload a photo from your IPhone camera.  Postage is included and the finished product will be received by your contact in about four days.  I tried it today and included myself in the group to see whether this really works.  If it does, many of you will be the recipients of this great product.
• The next three weeks in Portland are Rose Festival celebrations that include events down at Riverfront (only a few blocks from where we live), a parade, a carnival and dragon boat races. 

Life can sometimes be short - so live today, hug and kiss those that you love - and be thankful.

Mom and Lori (some years earlier)

My special and only granddaughter, Ashley

Roger's son, Brian, and Carolyn, Chris and Rachael

Roger's lovely daughter, Helia

My new grandchildren, Jessica and Ryan

Iraj, a very special man in my new life



Lori and Pam

Gary and me - my first love - 49 years of marriage

Mike and Teresa

May 24th 6 Years Ago............

4 a.m., on a Saturday morning, six years ago.  The years have softened the pain and the memories of happy times are stronger.

Rest in peace, dear one.

Having fun ....

Editing photos on my IPhone ....

This one done with the app, frametastic

Thursday in Portland

We're looking forward to a lovely day.  The swimming pool opens this weekend (heated to 84 degrees) and we've been promised mild and sunny weather for the next week or so.

This morning Allison and I are going to play with our IPhone cameras so I can show her what I learned at last week's camera class.  I still need to practice more and also do an assignment for class.  Here's one that I might use but I also have some beautiful peonies that I'll work with.