Thanksgiving Fresh Flower Centerpiece

I just returned home with a custom designed centerpiece for our Thanksgiving table.  I joined five other women at the Floral Design Institute where we spent two hours putting our arrangements together.

I learned how to use something called "sticky" which anchors candles into their candle holders (love it!) and floral tape and oasis, soaked in water that is laced with floral preservative.  I've made fresh flower arrangements for most of my life, but tonight I finally learned how to do it using the right components.

Lots of fun........................... and it will look great on the dinner table!

Roger's Lighthouse Painting...........

Roger is taking a computer graphic arts class that features four very difficult programs; Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash and one that makes movies. 

The young man sitting next to him has been very patient and helpful to Roger who can't always follow the fast pace of the class so Roger offered to make him a painting as a thank-you.  He said that he's always wanted a picture of a lighthouse at the ocean so today Roger finished the painting.   I suspect that he will be thrilled because it is spectacular!

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Another Roger Finished Product..............

Roger spends many hours a week in front of his painting easel along with painting in his class at PSU.  This term he has an instructor who is also a mentor and she's taken Roger "under her wing" so she's making it possible for him to study with her during the full school year.  She has taught painting for 35 years and she has trained many students who are renowned artists in the Portland area.  This is her last year before retirement so Roger is extremely fortunate to have met her.

Roger loves eagles because they symbolize freedom to him.  This love has transferred itself to the intricate beauty of his painting of this magnificent bird.  The painting is 30 by 40 inches and he used acrylic paint.

One other assignment in class was to paint water and make it look realistic with shadows and depth.  This is his interpretation of a scene at the Oregon coast near Seaside.

Bella's Winter Look.............

Bella is getting ready for the holidays so yesterday, after going to the beauty parlor, she put on her new red fuzzy coat.  I ordered this from a Canadian company and it's very soft and very warm.

For my dog loving friends, take a look at their catalog at:
TECKELKLUB.COM

Freezing Rain and Snow................

Portland is experiencing very unusual weather.  Here on the valley floor, we're getting freezing rain but anywhere there is elevation, the snow is falling.  The good thing is that Mt Hood will get several feet of snow so skiers will be excited for an early winter ski season.

The weather forecasters are telling us that we may also get snow in the inner city later this afternoon.  Bella has her fleece coat on but she found some warm blankets to sleep on so it's going to be a lazy day...............................

Another Week....................

The wine bottles are labeled and I was the recipient of one of the first.  It was a fun project and now I'm finishing up by making hang tags for the bottles.

It has been another good week -lovely weather - leaves turning color - cool enough for the fireplace in the evenings with the promise of soon enjoying family and friends during the upcoming holidays.

I'm revisiting the Old Testament of the Bible by discovering that it is a marvelous reference to pre-Christ history.  We're now studying the era of 1200 BCE and there are lots of references to happenings during this time in the book of
Exodus.  Joshua is the next chapter that I need to read for this week's classes.

The Arctic Blast will hit us soon but it won't have a great impact on our daily routine except for wearing much warmer clothes.  Rain is forecast for Thursday so the weather people are talking about freezing rain and snow.  Fortunately, I have no plans for that day and Roger has only one two hour class.

We enjoyed an evening with Aaron Hatefi, Roger's grandson, who stayed with us Friday night so he could participate in the Saturday Market down by RiverFront.  He's a talented artist so he and grandpa love to talk about art.  After lunch with Allison and Duffy Saturday, Bella and I walked down to the market to see Aaron's booth.  I should have taken pictures but I'll do it when he comes again in a week or two.

An Interesting Week - So far...............

Ann made a decision about her wine label - It's the first shown in a previous blog entry.  She had a hard time deciding between black and color but the black/white won out.  Tomorrow I'll design a hang tag for the bottles.

Monday I enjoyed lunch at South Park and I watched the new movie "Before I Go To Sleep".  - Good if you like the Hitchcock style of stories.

Both Roger and I continue to enjoy classes at PSU and we're already looking ahead to the winter term.  My current history class is especially interesting to me because the Bible is one of our textbooks.  The upcoming chapters are:

• Exodus, 1-25: Joshua, 1-12; Ruth, 1 Samuel, 2 Kings, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther

It will be good to revisit these chapters since my early education centered around the New Testament.

Today I had the challenge of choosing the turkey for Thanksgiving dinner.  This isn't easy, friends, and it's mostly price driven.  In the "old days" we got a free turkey if we bought $25 worth of groceries.  It was a turkey raised on a farm, eating bugs, grasses and grains and there were no additives to their diets.  Now, it's a scientific issue - no GMOs?, free range?  Organic?  Brined?  Precooked?  Oh.......... I forgot to mention that the prices range from $2.50 to $5.00 a pound.  Is this a problem?  NO, actually any price will be fine in order to perpetuate the yearly tradition of family, food and love (and a free range, non GMO, organic, turkey on the table).  The Mrs. Pam and Lori are joining us for a long Thanksgiving weekend so the menus are being planned along with the shopping trips and visits to their favorite Portland restaurants.

The best thing is that Portland weather continues to be really great with temps in the 60s and sunshine this weekend.