Marnese: At A Glance: October 2009

Rant, sew, Rant, sew!

Okay- I've got lots of excuses for not posting. Not going to spill them here--- just rant ;-).
How come all the restaurants I've been to lately give Rob all the ice in the water? Is it a conspiracy? Do women in Portland not like ice in their water? What? No one anemics here? When I ask for ice, how come the sneer? Okay- started just switching glasses after waitstaff leaves the table. Only notable exception was the male waiter- who never returned to the table. Grr. NOTICE: Waitstaff, I leave BIGGER tips for ice! (I know it's a compulsion- ice eaters unite!) Bring on the trays!
Now sew...here's my new baby.

Nothing fancy- but wow- what a little work horse! I've been obsessed since I got it. New curtains in the hall, taking pity on the neighbors so they don't have to watch me in the shower or on the toilet, cause lord knows that if I close the bathroom door- I must be escaping and some dog must rescue me! No peeking! Oh and covers for the couch. Shown here - looks like we have a winner- note that's not the covers I made ;-)

Had to throw a few covers on it right after it was delivered, um Rob you'll have to grab a chair. (He's off on his own rant)

Speaking of ranting, ;-) Please, please! If you walk your dogs in the city, have them on leash! You wouldn't let your 2 year old run across the street by themselves would you? Come on, do you really believe in the option of squirrel/kitty dinner that they are going to look for oncoming traffic? And although I feel for the woman who watched her puppy get hit on Burnside, I have a stronger urge to bitch slap her. Pets/children are a responsibility- step up to the plate! You down the street- put that beautiful border collie on a leash! This is the third screech of car brakes I've heard this week. Doesn't this qualify as animal abuse? You can't blame the drivers when your dog runs in and out between park cars. How do you think your kids are going to feel when they see that horrific event? A few bad apples ruins the pie.

Back to sewing, been watching several green sewing podcast videos- so....while Rob was looking for a chic lamp at VV, I bought 20 or so old sweaters (99 cents each) so I can reconstruct into a coat. Washing them and properly tacking them out to dry so I can cut them up and sew them is testing my patience. Whose virtue is that? ;-) So am now covering all the couch pillows with some groovy 70's material while I wait. Dogs dig it man- you know they can't be fully comfortable without a pillow!

Going to be struggle this next month doing NaNoWriMo and trying to balance my sewing cravings, wish me luck and many words!

"What are you mumbling?"
"I'm trying to get all the bad words out of my mouth"
Another Thin Man

Oh I am so spoiled...look what Rob went and got me to cheer me up! Gluten free beer and my very own jug! Isn't he sweet? (note: Yep that's a North Fork Brewery Glass!) won't be feeling anything after this ;-) GO PHILLIES!

Kevin, Mark, James, George and Nallah...Oh My!

We have company! I'm so excited! Chez Robert made Country Style French Stew, Sweet Potato Hashbrowns, Sage Sausage and made from scratch Pumpkin Pudding....yum! It was great to see all you guys again, glad you stopped by on your way back from the concert.

Visitors 10-17-09

Hope y'all had a good time and will come and visit again.
About 11am, the house went dark, and there was a large rumble outside. We went outside to a wall of rain. The neighbors beautiful multi colored maple shed it's leaves in seconds flat. It was an exhilarating few moments. I love downpours, really miss our old metal roof.
Well Mena is landing in Beijing as we speak. Hope that she will take lots of photos and has fun.
I'm really tired today, I am so out of practice on being a hostess. Or at least that sounds like a good excuse for a nap!

Maryjane's Birthday and the Japanese Garden

Monday we celebrated MJ's birthday- she got the big trip to Kelley Point Park- bark, bark, along the way we stopped for her donut (plain cake)- so jealous since I can't have gluten. She said it was scrumptious. Chased ball via Chuck-it till she was dog-tracking, then went down to beach to tell tugboat captains off- bark, bark. Told the parks department workers all about our day- bark, bark and with tails waggin' jumped into the car to get a birthday surprise a mint flavored orebee-tuff bone! Woof bark bark! Not sharing!! I didn't get any pictures of her- because I was carrying all the party favors. But here are a few of her pinups:

MaryJane Poses

After dropping her highness at home-she couldn't wait to show Zero and Grace her new gifts and tell them about her adventure- Wooooof, we headed out to the Japanese Garden. Except that it was Columbus Day- ahhhg the garden didn't open till noon! So we walked around downtown for a while and here is the unusual house for the week:

House of the week - Oct 12

A very valuable lesson- don't visit the garden on days where children are not in school. It is a very meditative peaceful spot- and running screaming children don't fit the mood. Also seemed to be a lot of rude tourist, even though I stood on the edge of paths to take shots and took over 200, only a few came out because people seemed to think I was invisible, bumping me or standing/walking right in front of the shot. One other photographer was so surprised when I moved to let him take his shot that he stared at me a few seconds - concentration broken- then he thanked me and took his photo. Think I will get a membership so that I can come visit on days and hours when the garden is quiet.
Please visit their website for some great member photos too. Here are mine, credit to Portland Japanese Garden, Portland, OR:

Japanese Garden

Well the dogs are looking at my thigh like it would be mighty tasty so am going to go pick up some more puppy treats and dog food.
M

Something Chilly This Way Comes

While sitting at the Hob Nob Grille this morning drinking my $2 dollar mimosa (mmmm good) and eavesdropping on those around me, I remembered that I hadn't posted my photos from my birthday. So here they are:
Birthday09
I had a blast downtown, at the Chinese garden - I took over 200 photos- but thought I would share the highlights including the surprise of a gluten free beer - fresh on tap. Thanks Deshutes ! Note no photos after the beer- just happy I got on the right bus to come home ;-0
It just goes to show that the simple things are the best- a leaf caught up in a whirlpool, the foam on a good beer and public transportation.
Also I made a plan for November (you know NaNoWriMo is here again!). I'm going to hang out at the Hob Nob, drink Journalists (awesome martinis) with my laptop and water pistol and play Hemingway. Sound like fun? WARNING: this might be the mimosas speaking.
I can't think of a better spot than the local bar/restaurant to find story ideas.
Tonight the temperature is dropping, the leaves are rustling and fall is stretching it's cool fingers our way. Here comes my favorite time of year!

Still kickin'!

Whew- what a roller coaster. My legs are still a little trembly and eyes are trying to focus. If I didn't strongly disbelieve in the flu shot I'd tell you all to go out and get one ;-) But the world has turned right side up (I'm allowed out of bed and on the computer- Yea!) Got a few shots to share with you from before the whole retching business. I'm going to put up an album with all the interesting houses that I stumble upon. Here are the first two:
High Living:

did I hear someone shout Tara?

And more HIGH living......

That's what I call moving.....

So while I was delirious in bed (and honey I don't mean the GOOD kind) I had a lot of weird ....daydreams. (which is great in a way since NaNoWriMo is next month--see silver lining ;->) Amongst terrors of fancy, and allot of Hitchcockian delusions this is the first view and sound (baying for my bones) out of bed. Sorry for the blur- remember I hadn't been on my feet very long.

Its the large walnut tree in the backyard- I lost count after 50 crows. A murder of crows.

To shake me out of my paranoia- "My birthday's coming...they must be a sign....garble...barble...foam", Robert took me downtown to clear the head. Ah sarcasm and car fumes. Does the trick every time!

The following are a few shots of Yamhill, looking for a spot to sit down and catch my breath and park my butt- I loved the irony of the no parking sign next to the benches. I sat on the "Edgar Allan Poe" bench- as it fit my mood.

Okay the one from above was for the dogs...they didn't get out much this week.

I really love this city...always have. It's why we kept planning our vacations here- or if we went someplace else we had to come through here for a "quick" stop. Let me just share a few of the other shot I took:

Okay this one is just a few feet back - but I loved this tree line- the benches are park of the central library- 3 stories of bliss!

The juxtaposition of old and the new....love it. Ah yes, the old.... think I'll just skip that ;-) Rob is taking me downtown again today- I'm going to go play like a child. ;-)

Peace

Oh yes... I almost forgot, a few firsts: arcade and movie theater (doesn't sound exciting- try NICKEL arcade- yep have permanent nerve damage in my pistol finger again- oh and it's only a few blocks from our house ;-) the movie admission is $2.50- see I knew that change jar would come in handy) and although we didn't go in because of time constraints a restaurant/bar/movie theater where you order your food and eat it while watching the film (minors not allowed after 4:30pm- civilized!)