The ground is littered with crocus
Looking North back down the Valley d'Ossau. Our house sits at the north of the valley, this is at the southern tip, about 200 yards from Spain. The horses are Pottocks, wild Pyrenéan beasts
Lucius was loving the mountain breezes up there. She seemed somehow awed by her surroundings
Mum and Keith contemplate a place in the sun. They'll have to wrestle a shepherd out of his summer dwellings first though
Landy momentarily gets air con
Oui 3
Lil' L awaits service.
Today I expanded my baking repertoire and baked a spelt loaf. Spelt flour is a traditional grain which makes a coarse flour but if it comes out right the bread can taste great. Things worked out for us today and we've a light, crumbly loaf with a very flavour. Above we're featuring rising, shaping, proving & slashing, the baked article unsliced and finally sliced. Magique
We picked our first harvest of grapes. They taste sweet but with a bit of sharp 'wang'. Unfortunately, we won't have enough for wine, but we'll have a nice supply of jam for a while
I wish we could say our red onions were as successful. This is the extent, although the white ones are doing well. We've a winter of soil improvement ahead of us via green manure, 6 month rotted vache manure, and compost goodness to ensure next seasons crop will be show winners
It tastes better eaten in the sunshine with good cheese
No, this man is not a musician, he's a plastering master. And that is a sander/vacuum in one. If there's one thing we've learned down here, then it's to know when to accept that some things are best done by the pros. I (Neil) tried my hand at the dark art of plastering, with good results, but we've handed the perfecting over to Francis, a traditional platre artisan. Plastering a full wall usually doesn't exist in France; they just plaster the joins between dry wall sheets, which leaves a slight floor to ceiling bump every 60cm. So he's going against the French grain to give us a baby smooth finish.
We've thoroughly enjoyed digging up these little nuggets of goodness.They've been the most satisfying thing we've grown because you have no idea what's going on underground, then you stick the fork in, turn the soil over, and out pop all these lovelies. Buried treasure. This is the last of the earlies (which went in a little late), and still have the main crop to go! More potato beds next year
The pumpkins are huge already and make a satisfying dull thud when you tap on them, and are now working on turning a deep reddish orange. They have been trying to take over the entire garden. Next year we'll plant them behind the barn so they can romp away without covering all in their path
Not sure if we'll have enough for wine, but it's a good start and they are gorgeous. We haven't tried them yet, but our neighbor claims they will be sweet eating
And here's the obligatory rustic, tumbling, cornucopia tater shot
Aunt Nettie welcomed us all in this manner (copying our outfits then tossing us in the air)
Notes being taken on our first of many brunches, this one at the Tin Shed. Go go eggs, go go avocado, go go on a base of hash browns
Lucius getting wild at the Ace hotel lobby (whilst Papa pulls yet another face)
Congratulations Raegen & Morgan! What a handsome couple. What a lovely, intimate, sweet wedding m'dears.
For example: a fine array of cakes from the Bakery Bar.
And a most gorgeous jacket designed by the bride herself
Spot the impostor
Grandpa Lucius meets the Pickle
Grandma Lucius and L jr with her new frock
Well trimmed hydrangea highlights of color at the Japanese Garden (reportedly the best outside Japan)
With Forest Park in the background- the largest city park in the U.S.
Pickle
Stumptown coffee rules
The Pistils Nursery on Mississippi, is well nice
They have fine garden goods and beautiful poultry. This lovely has metallic silver legs!
Papa mastered the art of the picking up a sleeping tiddler and getting her home and into the cot without stirring
An older lady up the street from Anette took a drive with her leg in a cast (to get cat food). Instead, she lost control, hit Todd's (Anette's fiancee) parked car and sent it skidding down the road. Much curtain twitching and neighborhood gossip action ensued
It made a mess of both vehicles, but she escaped with just one more fracture than she had before
We took a drive to Hood River country, an hour east of Portland, finding this art deco gem, the Vista House, along the way
The view from the House
Bridal Veil Falls
Little worlds of moss. Tres popular in Oregonia
More temperate rainforestness
The Gorge is teeming with watersports types
Alex and Neil surfed at Short Sands beach, an hour and a half west of Portland, despite reports of great whites in the area (and a dead seal with a large bite from its neck rolling around on the shoreline). This is the 'Job Done' shot
Pickle was not impressed
Fire, sushi, beer and hot tubbin was had. Thanks for joining us Alex and Alessandra
Apres afore mentioned hot tubbin
GOONIE ROCK!!!!! (Neil was tres excited about this)
More brunch, this time with Keryn & Tom in the garden at Merriweathers
Lucius enjoys her first sauna experience at the McMillan/Klinker residence
A lovely mix of rice and mum milk. After weighing in at a whopping 7.8 kilos (17.2lbs) yesterday we all figured she was ready for it. Not a drop was wasted, unsurprisingly
