Snow Lion

Apple Tasting

We recently visited the incredible Portland Nursery for their Apple Tasting Festival. I know the image above is of pears, but their color was too amazing to keep to ourselves. Our winning apple was Jonagold!

Rempstone Roast

 Whilst in Dorset, Jamie kindly dragged me along to my first duathlon. It was a perfect clear winter's day, and the course ran through beautiful trails, halfway between Studland and Corfe. The race comprised of a 2 mile run + a 10 mile ride + a 2 mile run. As a first timer, I was pleased with bagging 29th out of 74
(Thanks to Jamie's mum for the loan of the bike!)
 

Kimmeridge

 

Here are a few pictures from a fine November's day at Kimmeridge, on the English south coast. James and I caught a few modestly sized waves, followed by van-side soup prepared by the delightful Lucy

 

One Adventure Sunday we drove out to Oxbow Park, just east of Portland, to see salmon spawning. Unfortunately due to rain the water was too cloudy to see them, but we had marshmallows and a fine walk regardless

 

 

 

 

Forest Park Half Marathon

 Lucius and Papa at the start

 

A decent turn-out on a beautiful autumn day

 

 Happy around mile 11

 Lucius sprinting after Papa at the finish line

The Sea & Me

 We took a trip to the coast to visit the Oregon Coast Aquarium in Newport, followed by an afternoon at the beach

 

Salt & Straw

 

 We've been making a weekly pilgrimage to Salt & Straw for ice-cream every Friday afternoon to ring in the weekend

 The goods

 Double-Fold Vanilla

 Alas, these lovely autumn colors will surely bring colder weather, and with it an end to our ice-cream cravings

Short Sands (aka Smugglers Cove)

The trail from the car-park down to the beach carves it's way  through a lovely old forest

Which opens on to the sheltered cove, with mellow, albeit chilly, waves

Battered and blustered

Then on to Camp 18 for a well earned pint

Horsetail Falls

Hummingbird

This hummingbird has been visiting the salvia in front of Anette's house on a daily basis. Long may it last

First day of school!

 Here's Lucius heading out for her first day of school...

...where a nice sign was waiting to greet her

 Home time
(Her amazing teacher Monica is on the left)

Every day ends with a long play in the garden, before we have to drag her away
 

Flying high at Mt Tabor

Mt Tabor is a lovely park nearby. It's a dormant volcano, and full of amazing trails and trees, and this playground.

Forest Park

A swift edit of our first family walk in Forest Park since we moved to Portland Oregon, 2 weeks ago.

(Click here for full size)

Relocation

Dear All

After 4 years in the lovely French campagne, we are now beginning a new adventure. We have loved having the countryside, mountains, and ocean within easy reach. We now want to combine that with all of the action, convenience, and opportunities of the city. Following a year of extensive thought and research, we are excited to have chosen Portland, Oregon, as the 'correct' place for us; Lucius will begin her schooling, and we will continue our design consultancy, Ptarmigan.

We relocated in mid-August and are settling in nicely. We'll continue updating our blog with words and pictures of our new exciting adventures.
 

Elaine, Neil, and Lucius
  

The garden

Before we bade our beloved garden farewell, we took some pictures of the veg in full swing

 

Awesome pumpkins

 Courgettes (eaten daily)

 Butternut Squash

 Grapes

 Beets

Garlic

 Peas

And Pickles