Fall foraging

I signed My Little Helper up for Nature Preschool through PP&R. He absolutely loves it! I loved the idea of it, it's like Outdoor School for little kids. There are lots of time when he doesn't want to go to regular preschool and says, "I want to go to the preschool with no doors and no windows!" They have been learning about mice, birds, spiders, leaves, and this week was mushrooms.
I like to take him on my own fall foliage or foraging walks. The weather has been nice and dry this week so I took both the boys to a pumpkin patch on Tuesday, spur of the moment because it was so sunny, but no one else was available. And yesterday since it was still nice out I decided we'd go foraging for chestnuts. I have tried this before, but I always seem to make it to the trees too late; others have been there before me and picked them clean. First we walked past the chestnut tree closest to our house, but I think it must just be a bad producer, the nuts are malformed and look more like cloves of garlic than a proper nut. I've discovered another close tree on our walk to preschool and there we struck it rich! So many uncollected nuts and they are nice and fat.
I confess that I have never actually eaten a chestnut that I can recall, but I have heard of chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and I know one of my season Catholic feast day recipes calls for chestnuts. And foraging food just seems like a PNW thing to do. My guess is that I should wash them first? And then score with an X before roasting?
My Little Helper loved filling up his basket with nuts though! He gathered a few pine cones too along the way from a western white pine tree, we like to use them as kindling. We thought it was going to rain on us, but it didn't so we changed courses and walked over to Laurelhurst Park. The boys enjoyed the playground for awhile and then we walked over to the duck pond. Firwood Lake is looking good now, I especially like these little habitats they made for the ducks to forage naturally. My Little Helper decided that we should race the chestnuts down the big, steep hill. We ended up doing that most of the way home. He always claimed that his nut had won and gone farther than mine. It is so nice to know that there are still some toys you can get for free for little children to enjoy!
It is a little bittersweet walking to Laurelhurst knowing that soon we may move and these will be our lasts walks over there as our neighborhood park.

Kitchen Revival Tour

Mr. & Mrs. F's Laurelhurst bungalow kitchen was last remodeled in the 60s. There is no dishwasher so they are going to do a kitchen remodel to update it and add a deck in the back yard which would be accessible from the kitchen. Although they already have a design established with Mr. Z, she and I thought it would be fun to go to this year's Kitchen Revival Tour. The tour is organized by the Architectural Heritage Center which is close to my heart because my father began his stained glass career in Oregon working for Jerry Bosco and Ben Milligan. When I was working for Craftsman Design and Renovation we had clients featured on the tour.
We left the boys with our husbands and headed out in their Smart car. We decided to start with the houses on the other side of the Willamette to a house in Beaverton. It was a 1949 Ranch, but the interior is completely Moderne. This house is so intact; the kitchens and baths are untouched and they are fabulous! The kitchen is paneled walls and ceiling in Marlite and the breakfast nook has the original chrome and glass table and upholstered banquets. A glass curio shelf divides the nook from the kitchen work space. Perfect inlaid linoleum is underfoot. The main bath is destined for savethepinkbathrooms.com, with original pink and blue Marlite paneling, floor tiles, and fixtures. The best part of this house in my opinion was the master bathroom. A fabulous chrome and Marlite dressing table and glass block. I am positively smitten! Who wouldn't want to get ready here? This house was a perfect fit for the homeowner too. Her mid-century collections and wardrobe are destined to live here. I caught another case of basement envy when I saw their basement bar. So fun! I also enjoyed the balustrade and the coved cork on the stairs.The theme this year seemed to be hex tile countertops. House after house had colorful hex tiles in some application. There were two houses on the tour by the architect Kenneth Birkemeier, the first of which was his home. Nestled on Alameda ridge on the North side of Fremont St. this 1951 mid-century brick house had an incredible view made all the more wonderful by the gorgeous overcast weather we had. I was remarking to Mrs. F what a beautiful day it was and another tour goer laughed at my Oregonian-ness. But, hey it was warmish, dry, and cloudy with a bit of sun peeking through. Anyway, while I'm not a Ranch girl, there is something to be said for floor to ceiling windows when the house has a view. The main countertops in this kitchen have been replaced at some point with a fat granite slab, although the cabinets are original. The upper bar and one of the lesser used side countertops retain their original blue hex tiles. It was in this house that I ran into a couple of former clients. Theirs was one of the kitchens we featured on the tour. The wife volunteers for the AHC so it wasn't surprising to meet them on the tour. We chatted about how I now have two sons and am busy but enjoying being a homemaker. They told me that they really missed me on their second project after I retired because things ran so smoothly on my project. I guess my replacement wasn't as organized as they would have liked. I must confess that their complement really made my day! It is so nice to be appreciated!
The second Birkemeier house was a 1949 Cape Cod with more intact kitchens and baths. Powder blue hex tiles on the kitchen counters, curio shelves, and wavy scallop trim along the crown are all original and make for an adorable workspace. I also enjoyed the light filled, adjacent breakfast nook. Another awesome pale pink and powder blue tiled bathroom has escaped destruction. The next house in Laurelhurst was my favorite. The 1913 Arts & Crafts house was under restoration by the new owners and is full of wonderful stained woodwork. The bi-swing door from the dining room leads into the most awesome depression era butler's pantry. Oh how I would love a house like this! The interior of the cabinets and the walls are paneled in Marlite. A pantry which used to house the refrigerator has been thoughtfully converted into a half bath. In the kitchen they solved the dilemma of cabinets too shallow to accommodate modern appliances by installing dishwasher drawers instead. A perfect solution because it would be a shame to lose these aqua and white tile countertops.There was one house from Sunnyside in which a back porch was converted into a breakfast nook in a very similar way to what I would do in our bungalow kitchen... the only difference is we don't have a back porch so we'd need an addition to the original footprint. The following house on the tour was a 1905 bungalow in Richmond. The house had a bizarre addition n the 1970s resulting in a very mismatched kitchen with Depression era tiled countertops with diagonal knotty pine paneled walls. The most recent remodel replicated the 1920s cabinetry, refurbished the hex tile countertops, and refinished the sink. There were some parts of the kitchen that I liked, but the whole space was still very odd; there is a view into the loft above. I do adore these swinging doors under the sink though.The last house we visited was a 1909 bungalow with Marmoleum Click flooring. I have a low opinion of DIY floating floor systems because they always sound so hollow and look so fake to me. But I was impressed with the Click, the seams were very tight and not noticeable. I was planning on a really involved design for Marmoleum in our kitchen, but would not invest in that now since we will probably move. However the DIY vinyl tiles are falling apart and must be replaced before we sell. I think the Click would be a good solution for us.
I always enjoy these glimpses into other vintage houses. I'm still not sure what the future will hold for us. If we stay I need a breakfast nook and mud room addition, if we move I need a butler's pantry. If it were plumbed I think I'd be in 7th heaven.

Dredging Firwood Lake

Now that Baby Boy is a little bit bigger and we have settled into nursing and such, I'm trying to be more adventurous on my own with the two boys. We had a dry, sunny day so I thought I'd take the boys for a walk to Laurelhurst Park. It has been a while since I've seen the progress on Firwood Lake. They have drained it and dredged most of it now. There is still some water in the deeper parts.It seems they are building up some little islands. I am assuming these are intended for the ducks to rest and feed.My Little Helper enjoyed this winter walk. He LOVES sticks these days. Everywhere we go he is gathering sticks to carry around and take home with him. Our front yard is filled with so many sticks that we look like we are firewood peddlers.I love this witch hazel in bloom, as sign that spring is soon on it's way.A view of the dredged pond from the east.The entire pond is surrounded by fencing to keep people out.
After we pass the pond we head back up hill, which Our Little Helper has dubbed Gordon's Hill after Thomas the Tank Engine. He really is helpful and decided he needed to push his brother's stroller up Gordon's Hill.

Just ducky

This year was motivated to make a Hallowe'en costume. The littlest W's favorite tv show is Word World and his favorite character is Duck. And when I say favorite tv show I mean he only wants to watch this show and nothing else. I'll admit that I've become a bad mommy during pregnancy and let him watch more tv than he should because I am so tired and uncomfortable. So thank goodness for Tivo because we can save up dozens and dozens of Word World episodes that I can play as requested. I thought a duck costume for Hallowe'en would be perfect since his current favorite color is yellow.
It turns out duck costumes for 3 year olds are nearly impossible to find. Ducks for babies, no problem, but for a toddler I was unsuccessful in my search. Which brings me to another complaint. Why do little boys have to grow up so fast? Boy clothes are cute, covered in teddy bears and baby blue, up until size 24 months, then suddenly everything becomes skulls and crossbones. I'm not interested in promoting piracy for children. Pirates weren't nice people. People would frown upon dressing up children like mobsters or gang bangers, so why are pirates cute?
I decided I'd fashion a duck costume myself. I figured I could do a puffy costume that just goes on the top half, similar to the Nemo costume I had seen the year before. I could do that out of some yellow felt, add a couple wing flaps over the arms, and put him in orange leggings. Pretty simple. Since I am a procrastinator I decided I'd better start early. I found some vibrant yellow and orange felt at Fabric Depot. I thought adding some yellow feathers for texture to the wings would be cute and was happy to discover bright yellow boas to match. That would save me a lot of hand stitching! I created and laid out a pattern at my mom's house, I like to talk things through with her to make sure that my ideas make sense and can be executed as easily as I think they can.
Then I just had to assemble it. As I expected I procrastinated some, but it seemed to go together pretty easily. I did double layers of felt for the wings and mom gave me some circa 1980s shoulder pads she still had in her sewing box. This saved me having to do clean stitching because I could just turn the wings inside out, and the pads gave some extra shape. Then I basted the feather boa along the perimeter of each wing. I had just enough boa left over that I added a little tuft at the rear for some tail feathers. I was turning out super cute.
But I had a problem. The littlest W was getting scared of Hallowe'en. He loves to read Curious George and in Curious George goes to a Costume Party George gets scared of a ghost. So naturally he is scared of ghosts now. But he wants to read this story over and over again, especially the part with the ghost. And there were some 'scary' Hallowe'en episodes of his cartoons featuring ghosts. Terrific! He started telling me that he didn't want to go to N's costume party because he was afraid of ghosts. To make matters worse, N was going to BE a ghost! So all the while I was sewing his duck costume I had to prepare myself that he might not even wear it. We might have to skip Hallowe'en this year if he was going to be too scared. I'm not sure why everywhere we turned there were scary stories being marketed to pre-schoolers.
As I was assembling the costume I'd have him try it on to check that it fit and functioned. At first he would balk, claiming he didn't want to go to a costume party. But gradually he liked wearing the costume and didn't want to take it off so I could keep sewing. I began to have hope. I wasn't sure how I was going to fashion the head part and decided not to make a hood that would drive him nuts. I just needed to find an elastic beak. I searched high and low with no luck until a couple people suggested I check out the U of O store. They didn't have exactly what I was thinking of, but they did have yellow duck bill shaped whistles. While it would be very obnoxious, I figured it would be fun enough for him that I could get at least one or two photos of him in the costume.
The night of Ms. Mc's costume party arrived and the littlest W wanted to go. He did get scared though as N, A, and Mr. B, her husband, were all wearing scary ghost or clown costumes. Every time I went to the bathroom he would freak out, even though he was having so much fun that he wasn't paying any attention to me while I was in the room with him.
The next night he decided that he did want to go trick or treating. The F's had invited us over since their new house is in Laurelhurst. They had also invited Mr. & Mrs. N and their daughter Ladybug. First the dads did a round of trick or treating and later on the moms did a circuit. Some of the houses were a little scary for the children, but on the whole they seemed to really enjoy themselves. I had taught the Littlest W to say, "Happy Hallowe'en!" after he received candy. It was pretty cute. And even though Ladybug is the youngest by 3 months of the children, she is exceptionally tall so she would reach all the doorbells for the boys.Something I'd never seen before, but was popular in Laurelhust was the honor system candy bowl. Maybe I ought to do this when we spend Halowe'en somewhere else. I don't know if I want to be fashioning costumes every year, but I enjoyed doing it this time.

Father's Day brunch

My friend Mrs. F had the idea to send our husbands out for an early round of golf while we prepare them a Father's Day brunch. She offered up her house so I wouldn't have to do any clean up, so very nice of her! Also they just recently moved into a bungalow in Laurelhurst so I'm sure it is nice to be able to christen all the rooms with each passing holiday.
She offered to make a meat platter and bloody Marys, I decided I'd do a bagel spread and a fruit salad. Since Kettleman's is the current hot place to get bagels these days, I drove over there to pick up a half dozen. They do have a really nice selection plus they have min bagels which the boys love. It was crazy crowded in there though!A few days before Father's Day I saw that Saint Cupcake would be making moustache cupcakes in honor of the day and knew that I had to have them based on Mr. W's penchant for moustaches. I made sure that I was at the shop right at 10 AM in case they ran out. I don't know why I thought that mustache cupcakes would be as popular as say, the Ipad, and would creates a mad rush on the store with a line around the block. Anyway we walked over there and we were fine, only behind a few other people in the shop and the moustaches were being made to order. They were so, so cute.Mrs. F had set a lovely table and when the dads finally made it back from golfing they were very appreciative of our brunch.

Firwood Lake

In April of 2008 a representative from Portland Parks and Recreation came to a SNA meeting to inform us of their plan to combat the toxic algae bloom at Firwood Lake, the pond in Laurelhurst Park. The pond was developed in the teens when the neighborhood was being constructed. It was originally ~20 feet deep. So much sediment has grown during the last 8+ decades that the pond is as shallow as 18" in some areas. The Parks plan was to use microbes to eat up the organic matter in the hopes that they could avoid dredging the pond which would disrupt the eco- system, in addition to being costly. While that sounds like an ideal approach, my initial reaction was that since the pond had never been dredged since its inception, it wasn't unreasonable to have the pond dredged once in 80 years. It still seems like low maintenance considering we have nearly a century of moldy white bread and duck droppings creating such a thick layer of sediment. They estimated that there would be about 2000 cubic yards that would need to be removed.
PP&R went the microbe route of treatment for around a year and while there was some progress made, the color seemed to improve, they weren't able to see the progress they were hoping to see. The decision has been made to "mechanically remove the sediment" with work projected to begin in April.
We went for a walk on a crisp, sunny January day and took some photos of the algae bloom in Firwood Lake.When the sun is shining you can see how neon green the waters are.
The boys don't seem to mind though, any opportunity to go duck watching is exciting for them.
We NEVER take human food to feed to the ducks. While Franz bread may be good for us, it is a horrible diet for water fowl; I beleive there is an analogy of it being similar to feeding them cake. Human food being throw into the pond to feed the birds contributes to our toxic algae problem. It is my hope that once the pond has been restored, Portlanders heed the warning signs requesting that people refrain from feeding the ducks.
I saw my first camellia of the season on our walk that day.