Updating the Living Room

With much help from my son, Kit, I updated the living room with a fresh coat of paint.  It went from drab to fresh and contemporary in just a few hours.  Though I still need new lamps and some art on the wall, I am already loving the new look.

Before:  Though the loveseat gives the paint a pinkish tone, the color was really more tan or brown.

After:  The new grey color, "Porpoise," looks so fresh with the white trim and our beautiful new front door.

My Addiction

People who have only heard about Pinterest ask “What is it?”  Even some who have seen it, even some who have used it ask, “What is it?” or “I don’t get it!”  

Those unfamiliar with Pinterest are mostly men--according to a February 2012 article on PCmag.com, 97% of Pinterest users are women.

What is Pinterest?  According to the Pinterest website, it is “A virtual pinboard’ that “lets you organize and share all of the beautiful things you find on the web.”

Wikipedia calls Pinterest “a pinboard-style social photo sharing website that allows users to create and manage theme-based image collections such as events, interests, hobbies, and more.”

I consider Pinterest “an addiction.”   I find myself visiting Pinterest several times a day, looking for fun things to pin, a wonderful new salmon recipe that I’m going to serve my lucky husband for dinner,  instructions for homemade bath salts in cute little jars that I’m going to put together for Mother’s Day gifts, and adorable pillows  I am going to make from placemats to decorate my home with.  

Most of these craft projects have yet to be tried, and my hungry husband is still waiting for his salmon.  But that’s okay because I also enjoy following my friends, seeing what they find interesting and worthy of pinning.  And most lately my competitive side has been rearing its little head, and I’m pinning mostly in hopes of getting more followers.  I like seeing in my inbox that someone has pinned one of my pins, but I love seeing that someone new is following me!

At this moment, I have 46 boards and 515 pins.  While I am following just 36 users or boards, I have 57 users following one or more of my boards--three more  the than the number of friends I have on Facebook!  Why do I feel proud of that number when it’s light years away from Jane Wang who is rapidly approaching 5 million followers or even Ellen DeGeneres’ 96,000 followers?  

When someone clicks “Follow”--or better yet--”Follow All” they are saying that person has something worthwhile to share, I like how that person thinks, s/he has good taste, or I like that person and I want to keep up on what they are pinning.  And I think 57 is a pretty good start on my way to millions.  Hundreds?

And besides, Jane Wang’s son is a Pinterest co-founder; she had a head start over everyone else!

A Healthier Breakfast

I love granola, but don't like the amount of fat and sugar, not to mention preservatives and additives, in most store-bought granola. So, I've been looking for a good granola recipe, and I've found one that I really like that calls for no added oil. This granola doesn't have "clusters" like many granolas do, but I think it's quite tasty, especially when topped with a little almond milk.

Dry ingredients:
8 cups old fashioned oats
1 cup unsweetened dried shredded coconut (I used raisins instead)
1 cup raw sliced almonds (I used raw slivered almonds)
3/4 cup raw sunflower seeds
1 tsp salt

Wet ingredients:
1 cup water
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla

1. Mix the dry ingredients and set aside.
2. Put the wet ingredients in blender and blend until creamy.
3. Pour the wet mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well.
4. Spread evenly on a non-stick baking sheet (I used 2 large cookie sheets)
5. Bake at 250-275 degrees from 1 to 2 hours, until golden and crunchy, stirring every 20 minutes.

I baked mine for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, and then it started to get brown fast and I took it out. The only thing I will do differently next time is to not add the raisins until the second half of the cooking time as they seemed to get a little dry and chewy being in the oven for so long.

Eugene

Mark and I went down to Eugene over the weekend. We just celebrated one year since our first date, so we thought it would be fun to go to Eugene for two reasons: one, we spent our first Valentine's Day there and two, we've sampled and enjoyed several microbrews over the past year and one of our favorite brewers (Ninkasi in Eugene) was sponsoring the Sasquatch beer festival in Eugene. We hoped for a smaller, more enjoyable brew fest than the over crowded, hard-to-enjoy ones that we've been to in Portland, and we got what we hoped for. There were quite a few beers to sample, the tastes were extremely generous for $1 each, and we didn't have to wait in line for 20 minutes each time we wanted to try something new. There was room to walk, if not always room to sit, there were plenty of raffle prizes for everyone, and the music was pretty good. After a couple of hours of sampling and enjoying the afternoon, we had a delicious, modest dinner at Steelhead Brewery and then played some darts.

Sunday morning we visited Eugene City Bakery, a favorite we discovered last time we were in Eugene. We got the same things we did last time we were there: a cinnamon roll that was really a cross between a cinnamon roll and a croissant for me, and a raspberry scone for Mark. Well, he had most of the scone anyway. He shared quite a bit of it with the birds that seemed to know that bakery customers were sure to drop and toss plenty of delicious crumbs.

After breakfast, we headed over to Alton Baker Park to work off some of the pastries and beers. We walked for a good two hours along and across the Willamette River. The weather was perfect and we saw ducks, geese, and a beautiful rose garden. From there it was time to go home. A short weekend, but with some very nice memories.

Photos here.

Hiking

Mark and I have hiked the last three weekends. Averaging about 8 miles per hike, we're getting some good exercise and having a lot of fun. The weekend before last we hiked Wygant Trail Loop in the Gorge just west of Hood River. This was probably the most challenging of the three hikes. Though the climb wasn't too difficult as far as elevation gain, there were a lot of trees down which meant lots of scrambling. Thankfully, Mark was very patient and encouraging, holding my hand whenever I needed help or felt a little nervous. We made it about 3/4 of the way around the Chetwoot Loop when we came to Perham Creek--and no bridge. Apparently, it's been out for several years and was never replaced. There used to be a sign at the beginning of the loop indicating that the bridge was out. As the sign was no longer there, we thought they'd finally replaced the brigde. That didn't turn out to be the case, so we turned around and went back the way we came (and did a lot more scrambling).

Yesterday, we hiked a section of the Pacific Crest Trail at Panther Creek, just north of Carson, Washington. This was a bit steeper climb than the week before, but still not too difficult. There were a few trees down, but really only one large tree to climb over. Most of the trail was in the trees with not much more to see than trees, ferns, etc., but we were treated to a beautiful view of Mt. Hood at one point (narrow trail here and I hope to some day get over my nervousness about stopping and looking!) and then a gorgeous view of trees and hills on the north side of the Gorge when we reached our turnaround spot.

Though I haven't worn them on the trail yet, I got some new Merrell hiking shoes on Saturday. They're probably the most comfortable shoes I've ever worn, and I'm looking forward to trying them out. I also got an UnderArmor top to keep me cool and dry while hiking on warm summer days. Now I have to find the right pants to wear...
Photos here.

Star Trek

Mark and I went to see the new Star Trek movie last night (Tuesday evenings are a great time to go to the movies--very few people there!). I was expecting to like the movie well enough, and was looking forward to spending time with Mark, but that was about it, given that I'm not a huge movie fan. Though I could have gone for less violence and more character development, I really enjoyed the film. I laughed, I cried, I cringed. The special effects were great. I think the best part, though, was watching how the new actors portrayed the characters from the original TV series. I think the fact that I remember so much about the characters from the original series--and while watching the movie I realized that I remember more than I thought--was the main reason I liked this movie. The actors did a really good job of recreating the mannerisms and chemistry of the original cast. I think my favorite was Zachary Quinto as Spock. I just like the character of Spock--logical, yet always struggling with the feelings of his human half--plus I'm familiar with Quinto from the TV show, Heroes, and it was fun to see him in this different role. Getting back to my comment about wishing for more character development--a comment that Mark made about the movie as well--it would be great fun to see a new Star Trek TV series starring the cast from this movie.

Ann Coulter

I love books by liberal women authors with a sense of humor. I just started a book called Made from Scratch by Jenna Woginrich. The author talks about how even a person with a full-time office job, living in an apartment can live the handmade, "homesteader" life. Her first step towards this way of life is to be a chicken owner. She happily and excitedly brings home her first three, full-grown chickens, only to wake up the next morning to one of them loudly squawking. Worried that the neighbors are going to call the police, she tries everything to calm and quiet the chicken down. When nothing works, she sets the chicken down in frustration, leaves it to explore on its own, and names her Ann Coulter.