Today was a walking day. Brian's awesome cousin Sally spent the night last night and this morning we went for a walk as soon as it started to get light. It was terrific having another morning person to walk with. We did about three miles and would happily have done more, but it was getting to be time to get to the farmers market, then on to Forest Park for our hike. At one point of our walk, Katy big dog spotted a squirrel on top of a 7 foot fence next to the sidewalk. She made a lunge for the squirrel, almost knocking Sally off her feet, jumping to within about 1/2 a foot of the squirrel, then landing painfully on her right hip on the sharp edge of the sidewalk. We were very worried that she had hurt herself because she was holding her paw up high, but after a brief exploration of her leg and paw, and a short massage of her hip and leg muscles, she was fine. The whole time we were checking on Katy, the squirrel was hurling obscenities at our heads from on high. Katy and I questioned his parentage and on that slam, left with our dignity only slightly tattered.
After the walk, we popped over to the Beaverton farmers market. Sally was as amazed with it as we were just a few weeks earlier. That place is spectacular! There are so many vegetable vendors and such a great variety of ripe, raw foods to try. Almost all of the vendors are organic, yet the food is perfect looking. (I read an article once that talked about some apple sellers who took the apples that were storm damaged and sold them as organic because they looked so bad people would think they must be organic.) We didn't buy as much this week, just some lettuce, kale, pecan butter, onion, romanesco, a duck (for later - thanks, Nicole Gustin - yes, I said "duck fat" to myself all day), bell peppers, fresh ginger, fresh tumeric, arugula hazelnut pesto, apple cider and some bread. We spent so much time away from the house last week that we didn't eat at home much and we had plenty of food left over from last week.
Oh, I forgot to mention. Our PB&J sandwich vendor was there again today. We were psyched! Sally was so excited by all of the options, she couldn't choose. Her top two choices were the same as mine, so we split both of them. We had the same one I had from a couple of weeks ago, called "sunrise" (peanut butter, banana, apricot jam, honey and granola) and one called "the joy" (almond butter, coconut spread, chocolate ganache), grilled to a toasty, warm, melty perfection. Some of the chocolate from "the joy" got on our peanut butter from "sunrise" (hey, that sounds like an ad) and made that sandwich even better. Brian had one with walnut butter, caramelized onion, ham, brie, and pear jam. I didn't try it but the report from both Brian and his awesome cousin Sally was a rave review. Brian's awesome cousin Sally was cracking up at how amazingly great the sandwiches were. Who could possibly understand about a $7.00 PB&J sandwich without living through the experience of it??
After the market, we popped back home to drop off the food and pick up the dogs. We were then on our way to Forest Park for a hike! It was just as beautiful as the week before. Brian's awesome cousin Sally was blown away by the lush beauty of the northwest forests (she lives in the Lake Tahoe area and grew up in southern California). She collected giant yellow maple leaves to take home to her awesome mom, Gay. We passed a dad and his two little boys who were also collecting leaves to take home to their awesome mom. It was pretty cute that Brian's awesome cousin Sally and the three year old were doing the exact same thing! The hike was loads of fun, except I had to pull Buckley up the long hill this time, instead of him pulling me. I'm not sure what that was all about, but the others suggested that Buckley did all the work last time so it was only fair for me to pull him this time. I'm still not buying it, but what can a girl do?
Once we finished the hike, we went back home for showers, then it was time to take Brian's awesome cousin Sally back to the airport. That was sad. We had a blast with her and wished she could stay longer. Perhaps next time. We dropped her off around 4:00, then decided we were starving. We went down to the Pearl District (Portand's ultra hip part of town) and had dinner at Rogue Brewery. I had the best halibut fish and chips, and Brian had an American Kobe beef hotdog. That is hilarious, if you know about Kobe beef and how exclusive/expensive it is. I suppose all cow products have random bits of waste, so why not Kobe hotdogs? Still, it makes me snicker. Brian had tater tots with his dog, and they were mighty fine. We broke down and ordered beer cheese soup, which was also mighty fine. We shared a cup between the two of us, which cut down on the dairy consumption. All in all, it was an excellent and entertaining meal. Oh yeah, after the meal, the waitress told me that she'd been trying to figure out who I looked like. She realized it was Annette Benning. Me? Cool!!! I'll take that any day. She got a good tip.
I was completely wiped (again) by the time we got home. I'm pretty sure I walked about 10 miles today. No lie. I spent a few minutes snuggling with the dogs, then Brian and I shared a 3 oz. Theo's ultra dark chocolate bar (cherry/almond) and had a glass of peppermint team. Once again, I think I'll make it to bed by 8:00. I know that is sad on a Saturday night, but my day was really great and very active. I need my beauty rest. Tomorrow we're off to hang out with lovely Margaret and some of her family.
Be happy and healthy!
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