Welcome to Fall

We returned from a very quick, last minute, one-night trip to Portland yesterday. It was the perfect chance to get away in the Jeepster and get a bit of a break from normal responsibilities. I like it that my job allows for a bit of spontenaity. We actually packed lots of good stuff into a trip that ended up being only about 32 hours away from home. I'll try to get around to sharing bits and pieces in the next few days.

Until then, I thought that because it is now officially fall (even though it's more of an unusual sunny than a typical fall rainy here), I'd share what I put into the slow-cooker for dinner tonight.We have an overabundance of tomatoes and other random garden yumminess that has needed to be used before it's too late. So this morning, I chopped and chopped vegetables galore, ground in some pepper, threw in some course kosher salt (my favorite), half a bottle of Syrah that I didn't finish last week, a couple of all-natural free range chicken breasts, fresh basil and rosemary, and set the cooker to 10 hours. As I type, the delicious aroma of fresh vegetable chicken catetori is filling the air, even all the way upstairs at the other end of the house, the effect giving my senses the cozy and crisp feeling of fall.

Now I've got to get back to work...things have picked up considerably in the last few days. I'm stoked to be getting into the rhythm of this job.

A Weekend Away In Review

On our getaway this past weekend we...

Had a weird situation where part of the dash by the cigarette lighter on my current car popped out when I was trying to take the unit that charges our iPod out as we were heading into a restaurant for lunch. We ended up stopping by the service department at a nearby dealer and they fixed it for free, but the delay made us miss our chance to check our another vehicle at a dealership on the way to the concert by 25 minutes. Random strange things like this have happened several times over the last week as we've been going through a vehicle transition, at this point, we both feel like there's some kind of reason that we haven't been able to find the right next car yet. It's been frustrating, but it's one of those times where you have to believe that there is more than coincidence going on.

Visited my favorite place to buy fruit. They had 25 lb. boxes of nectarines for $7.50, so we bought two along with a box of peaches and a box of pears. None of the fruit is quite ready for canning yet, a few more days are needed for ripening. It is more than I'd planned on, but it was all a fantastic deal. A hundred pounds of fruit for about $35. I also bought my first hubbard squash, a beautiful specimen in the most gorgeous shade of blue, I will definately share pictures sometime soon.

Went to the DMB concert, with more of an intent to see G-Love and Special Sauce. It was raining pretty hard at first, though eventually the clouds did part some and we had a beautiful rainbow and a fantastic sunset to enjoy. I also bought my first pair of TOMS shoes at the concert, a little souvenier. They are a very comfortable pair of red canvas shoes, the design on them came from the creative mind of Dave Matthews himself, kind of cool! I love wearing them and I'm convinced that they will be my first but not my last pair of TOMS. By the way, TOMS is a very cool company, check it out if you've never heard of them!

Visited the farmer's market in Yakima on Sunday morning, there was an abundance of beautiful produce, we picked up a few things there to make dinners this week. It was also nice to be on the other side and be a "shopper" at the market. I've enjoyed being a vendor, but I'm glad that I decided to wind down my season early. I've appreciated my time to myself on the weekends much more.

Went to four wineries along the "Rattlesnake Trail"...it was my first time there and I enjoyed it. The wine country reminded me a little of the wine country in Livermore Valley near where I used to live. For about two years I worked part-time there in the tasting room of Murrieta's Well. I miss the atmosphere of wineries and the fun of being around other people that enjoy wine. Even though it's not really the husband's interest, he does make a point of suggesting we take a wine tasting trip about two or three times a year. So the wineries were beautiful, the wines we tasted were mostly really good. Most of the wineries specialize in late harvest sweet wines, I'm assuming because of the temperature there in the late fall and early winter. It was fun be able to try several sweet wines in a flight, I'm used to there typically being just one. It makes it easier to compare and decide what you like best when you can have them one after another or side by side.

So I'm back to the grind now. In the last day I've finished up 5 more nursing covers which fills 3 more orders. I have two more to make later in the week. That will bring my total since I started making them to 10. They get easier and easier to put together. They are not the most exciting thing to make, but because I've been making them for friends, it has felt special. I've found that when I know who it is that I am making something for, I end up thinking of that person as I do the sewing. A little bit of my heart goes into it every time I make something for a particular person...

One last thought, I wanted to thank those who have posted ideas and advice about my chicken situation...I read every comment, learn new things, and appreciate the feedback very much. It is all very new stuff to me, I've been learning as I go and gleaning information from folks who've had chickens longer than me...the waiting is frustrating, but I do like being able to share what is going on here.