Entrepreneurs

These lovely young ladies were having a great time selling their goods to people walking down the street. They had chosen a very good spot to open there business - directly across the street from Fred Meyer near Hawthorne. Tehy cleaned off the shaded corner, brought in the structure from Ona's house (far left), slapped a sign on the front and opened for business.
They had fresh lemondade and Organic (vegan option) cookies for sale. Both items were priced at 75 cents each. They were boisterous salespeople. Explaining the process for the lemonade and the cookies. Asking if I mind eggs in my cookies. WOW! What planet are these children from. I purchased a cookie and was amazed at the flavor and texture. It was REALLY good. I decided to purchase one for the cow as a treat that evening. But about the time I finished paying for the cookie, taking pictures of the girls and wishing them good luck; a homeless gentleman approached and started chatting with the girls. I decided to buy him a lemonade and give him the cookie instead (sorry cow).
In about ten years - I can see these ladies giving Pix, ALMA or Saint cupcake a run for their money.

Berries - a built in defense

I realized there was no good reason that we were paying for berries as I gazed at the never ending berry bushes along the rail line behind our house. There were literally millions of them dangling from the vines. I pulled on pants and a long sleeve shirt and went on a mission to get enough berries for our salads for two nights.
Little did I know the reason there are so many berries on said bushes is because they have a defense mechanism built in called THORNS. The thorns on berry bushes are deceitful. Some of them are so small you can't see them with an untrained eye. I myself went in to pick berries without gloves. Foolish beginner! As my bowl was beginning to fill - I got a bit greedy. I went in for a few more of the plump, delicate little beings and all of a sudden - THORN. I drew my hands (notice that is plural) back so fast that I dropped all of the berries I had just picked.
Pissed and disgusted, I was not going to allow the berry bush to win. I walked home, grabbed some THICK ASS gardening gloves and went back to show that bush what I was made of.
After all my hard work and looking at the picture the reward was miniscule but worth every moment when I ate my salad that evening.

Fish in the road?

Your eyes are not deceiving you, that is a fish in the middle of the road. It is a pretty large fish too. I would say it is about 9 inches long or more.
As I was trotting out to pick some berries (see above post) I happened upon a fish in the road. I thought, what the hell is a fish doing in the middle of the road? Two blocks from my house and about four blocks from the river.
A couple of nights before, the cow and I were taking our evening stroll down to the riverfront. As we turned the corner we noticed a few of our neighbors chatting. I recall hearing one of them say, "did you see it?" Another replied, "Yes, he dropped it right there." NOt knowing what they were talking about we strolled on thinking nothing of it.
Now- I am trying to put two and two together. I think this is what happened. There is a resident bald eagle that has a huge nest down by the park where I walk and ride my bike. I think the eagle has babies up in that nest because when we have rode by I have heard loud chirping. Anyway - I think the eagle was out for a catch of the day at the river and for some reason lost his tallons (hee hee - that is suppose to be "lost his footing") and dropped dinner in the middle of the road two blocks from my house.

Bloggin sends me over the edge

Good Morning,
I have been trying to upload a picture for 20 minutes. ONE PICTURE! Not five pictures but ONE. I am so infuriated that I am going to put on my Puma's and go for a little walk. Maybe by the time I return, BLOGGER will be back in action and I can take care of serious business.
Check back later. I have some good stuff for you.

Glorious Food

On Sunday evenings the cow usually spends a couple of hours in the kitchen making a glorious meal. This Sunday was NO different. We dined alfresco on my new favorite salad with beautiful blackberries a pizza of pears and a blue cheese (that cheese KNOCKED our socks off) and lastly a fig cakes that was a recipe the cow made up after seeing figs in the market. Food - glorious - food.

Monday Evening Concerts

Every monday night in Sellwood park there is a free concert. On many nights in Portland, you can find a free concert in the wonderful parks. We took a picnic down to the riverfront and enjoyed the wonderful weather, great food and good music.
If your interested in the playlist here you go: Portland Online.

Exhausting Day

A wonderful ride was the plan for Saturday. We popped the road bikes on the car and away we went to Champoeg State Park. We decided on a 30-mile ride along a river road in an agricultural area south of Portland, we found the ride on Blueberry Rides.
The day was great. We started our ride at the Park and quickly realized that agriculture is vast in the area. There were these strange vines that were really tall - almost looked like ivy leaves. They were strapped to wires as high as telephone poles. We still don't know exactly what they were but they were everywhere. We also saw lettuce, flowers, berries, hay, alfalfa, apricots and so much we didn't have a clue of what it was.
The sky was a combination of puffy clouds, blue patches and bright sunshine. The temperature was perfect in the low 70's. We came across a church in St. Louis built in 1846 with the old cemetary directly behind. Once our legs had reached the 33 mile marker, we found our way to a winery about 2 miles from the park entrance and purchased a bottle of wine and sat outside enjoyed the remainder of the afternoon.

*Rest of the evening*
When we got home we both showered and sat around for an hour or so. Then we decided to take the town bikes out to dinner. We rode the trail down to Montage for a drink and made our way up Hawthorne to Aqui for Fish Tacos. We pedaled home along the river and realized we were both a bit tired after about 45 miles of riding.

What to READ?

I have had many great conversations with my hair stylist (Jamie) regarding books. I love the fact that she reads and is part of a book club. Her and I discussed creating a list of titles that we have read and passing them off to the other. Here is my list in NO particular order. Most of them have been read over the last year or so:

Teacher Man - McCourt
The Darling - Banks
FAKE: forgery, lies and ebay - Walton
Finding Manana - Ojito
Lipstick Jihad - Moaveni
Educating Alice - Steinbach
House on Mango Street - Cisneros
Running with Scissors - Burroughs
On Mexican time - Cohan
Caramelo - Cisneros
Dress you family in corduroy and denim - Sedaris
The other Boleyn Girl - Gregory
1000 Days in Venice -De Blasi
1000 Day in Tuscany -De Blasi
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius - Eggers
Kite Runner - Hosseini
Eats, Shoots and leaves - Truss
Reading Lolita in Tehran - Nafisi
Fahrenheit 451 - Bradbury
The Jungle - Sinclair
Fast Food Nation - Schlosser
Pride and Prejudice - Austen
Animal Farm - Orwell
Catcher in the Rye - Salinger
Spanish Lessons - Lambert
Bastard out of Carolina - Allison
Freakonomics - Levitt

*Richard Russo ALL - My favorite is Straight Man

Anniversary Love

The cow and I have been married for 7 years as of July 1, 2006! He gave me this plant that will bloom and say "love" on one side with a "heart" on the other. It actually worked. It is growing like crazy and soon it will be out the roof.

Summer Salad

The cow and I went to the Farm cafe for my birthday last week and we had the most delightful summer salad that he has started making it at home.

Romaine lettuce
Red onions
Slivered toasted almonds
Pecorino cheese (shaved, small amount)
Poppyseed dressing

but this is the best part! Are you ready!

Marionberries on top.

The berries with the onions and dressing are sooooo delicious.
I LOVE this Sweet Summer Salad.

Yee-Ha!

I am getting better at driving and snapping photos at the same time. Trust me I am very cautious while getting the shot.

This sticker made me laugh out loud. But then after much contemplation, I realized that Yee-Ha could be a foreign policy. Hell, Teddy Roosevelt gave the US the "speak softly and carry a big stick" foreign policy otherwise known as the Roosevelt Corollary. Nixon brought the US the great "Ping-Pong" diplomacy with China and Reaganites still banter and relish the idea of outspending the Soviets (that's Russia) with an arms race to end all arms races known as STAR WARS.
So, Why NOT - Yee HAW.

Party anyone?

While having a drink at Gino's we found ourselves being welcomed into a stragers home for live entertainment on Saturday evening. This gives a whole new meaning to the term: House PARTY!


P.S. If you can't read the details - the party is in an vacant/abondoned house.

Who's the cute blonde?

Man - those were the good ole days!

Today's my Birthday

Yes! Today I am 40 years old! As a surprise the cow bought me a new computer. It is an imac. I also got an Ipod Nano! It will hold more music than I could possibly know the words to. We picked them up last night and I have spent the entire morning either talking on the phone....thanks for the calls (mom, chris, she, shan, dad, krista) or playing with my new computer.
So far, I have surfed the net, installed office for mac and I have saved a word document (although I couldn't find where I saved it). I will say that the imac is light and sleek. There is going to be a bit of a learning curve that goes along with have a different operating system, but I read somewhere that learning keeps your mind young - I wish it could keep my body young too.

Zapotec Rug & Black Pottery Vase

I tried to explain my fascination with the zapotec rug weavers but I don't think as many people are impressed as I am. All of the colors are natural. The red is the cochineal bug that grows on cactus, the orange is from marigolds, the green is from a ceertain type of moss, the brown is from nut shells....beautiful.

The vase was found by the cow at a collective of native artisans combing their knowledge of pottery with more modern designs.

Oaxaca, Mexico - Strike, Election & Protest

We had another great trip to Mexico - specifically Oaxaca.
There was a bit of politics going on while we were in the city. The presidential election fell the on the day we arrived. Many people do not have any idea of the situation in the state of Oaxaca and the presidential election of Mexico which continues to be in limbo.

Please read the following for a brief understanding of events leading to our trip.
The blog is then set up day-by-day.
If you find the entry titled : 2 Julio 2006 - that was our first day.
If you would like to view all the pictures just click:
http://picasaweb.google.com/feralcow/Oaxaca2006


On July 2, 2006 Mexico conducted their national election for President and Congress. In one day the politics of the country would be decided for the next six years.
Prior to election day the teachers of Oaxaca state went on strike and marched to the Zocalo in the city of Oaxaca where they have camped sine May 22, 2006. The teachers were asking for better conditions for students, textbooks, chalkboards and an increase in wages based on inflation. The governor, Ulises Ruiz from the PRI party, refused to negotiate with them (his office is on the zocalo).
With the upcoming election drawing near, many groups joined the teachers. Some were also teachers from other states but many groups that showed up were political in nature. On June 14, 2006 Ruiz ordered the local police into the zocalo. Helicopters, police officers, dogs and tear gas were used to try and dismantle the protest. This attempt failed miserably. The protestors had crudely blocked all major roads leading to the zocalo. They fought the police with sticks and rocks and the police got out. Rumors circulated that 7 individuals were killed during the protests.
Election day was the day we arrived into Oaxaca - Sunday July 2, 2006. As we got into the cab to get to the city we asked who won. We were told that the new president was Obrador from the PRD party. Oaxaca state was very happy with this outcome because he campaigned for the people. The next morning we learned that the election was in limbo. It was too close to call. It came down to Calderon (PAN party) and Obrador (PRD). This cast a very different shadow on the zocalo.
I am trying to explain this situation because when you view the pictures and read some of my commentary of the trip you will see encampments, graffitti and many - many people in the zocalo. It was difficult to gather information regarding current situations because everyone had a different agenda.

14 Julio 2006

Travel Day
Oaxaca - Houston - Portland
Continental airlines in flight meal.
I can't wait for a meal prepared with love by the cow.

13 Julio 2006

Our last day in the city was spent shopping and drinking. We went to the market and picked up a couple of cool bags for me. We found this shop called black box where we bought a black pottery vase (tall and chic) we sat and watched the people on the zocalo with a jarra de cerveza and we took in the ambiance of Oaxaca.

12 Julio 2006

Our last few nights in Oaxaca were centered around Casa de la Bugambilas a wonderful little bed & breakfast around the corner from the Santo Domingo church. We tried to relax, shop and take in parts of the city we had not seen. Mexico is a contrast: breathtaking at one minute and overwhelming the next. The sites can be glorious - a botanical garden in a 16th century building. Or a site can frighten - the market with all the dead animals. The smells are intoxicating - chocolate, coffee, mole. Or the smells can repulse - the market and the exhaust. I am always impressed by the people though. They are proud to be who they are!

11 Julio 2006

The cow and the car. I think we blew the clutch out of this little beast due to all the Tope and buses, not to mention the up-and-down and back-and-forth of the road (that means we climbed many of mountains and had too many switchbacks to count). Our favorite part of driving was the Tope. In the second picture you get a glimpse of the beast. Every time you come to a small village there is a tope to make you slow down. In the middle of the village there is another. At the end of the village there is yet another. The best part about the tope is when they are unsigned and unpainted. You hit them at 40-50 miles an hour and you send the chevy flying. We probably crossed 250 topes easily on our beach excursion (actually maybe more than that). The cow drove for seven hours and safely returned us to Oaxaca.