in the summertime

Those two giant pillars of books have been returned to the library.  Classes are on hiatus until August 26th.  My unit plan has been submitted and graded.  Summer break is here!

One Friday evening we biked to Cartlandia, a food cart lot that is about a mile from our house.  It was in the lovely evening hours when the sun isn't so intense.

 I had a veggie and bean pupusa and bean-filled banana empanadas.  Both were delicious.  Rachel, Josh and Eury had their favorite carnitas tacos.

 A bit of the trail took us along the Spring Water corridor, which is a 21 mile path that loops around the city.

 We are loving the bicycle adventures.  Eury has a special seat on the front of Josh's bike and really enjoys her perch.

 We've also biked to the Sunday morning Farmers Market in our neighborhood's downtown.  There are 91 neighborhoods in Portland.  Not all of them have main streets but it is fun to be close to one that has a good assortment of shops.

One evening Rachel, Eury and I took the dogs for a walk.  We decided to try out a new route south of our house.  It was not the best route but a fun adventure all the same.

 Eury hasn't been worn on the back much and took to it quite well.  Also, that fried grass is quite common right now.  We have had very little rain and lots of sun.

 We admired this empty lot and plotted returning to snatch some of the apples from its tree.

 Fruit abounds here.  There are so many raspberries growing crazy.  It about time to get the basket out and go picking along the alleys.

 This little house had such lovely flower boxes.  It had to snap a photo.

 In an afternoon of errand running in the Sellwood neighborhood we made a few lovely discoveries.  There is a great coffee shop that stocks vegan baked goods.  This lovely, lovely rose was growing just beautifully along the sidewalk.  Being that there were plenty of other ones we decided it needed to be enjoyed on our windowsill.  It smelled like heaven.  We also popped into Portland Homestead Supply.  It was a great shop and will be on my personal shop map.

I've been enjoying some time nature walking with Eurydice.  She spots the greatest bit of nature and enjoys the walking practice.

 This was just the driveway, thus the bare feet.

 But seriously, so sweet I can barely handle it.

 Speaking of so so sweet, my classmate invited us all to her wedding in Washington.  It was this past weekend and was one of the sweetest I've ever witnessed.  They were so joyful and beaming from ear to ear.

 She even bombed our photobooth session.  It was also nice to visit with a few classmates.  Even though I am enjoying summer break free of coursework, I do miss seeing my classmates.

I've been hanging out with this two lately.  

I made a breakthrough on the knit sewing front the other evening.  It involved switching to ballpoint needles on my serger as well as adjusting the balance on my Bernina, something I didn't know existed.  I've never sustainably managed a straight line on knit material before but after adjusting the balance it was perfect.  I whipped up a dress, a shirt for Eury and few dummy attempts resulting a pattern for stretchy pants for Eury.  I also, in another evening, went through my closet and mended all those items that have been needed a stitch here and there.  There were also a few articles I didn't wear because of fit or style so I modified them to be more suitable.   My mending pile is down to a dog attached pillow.  The other two mauled stuffed animals have been pieced back together.  I also dug into a bit of fiction and read the second Wildwood book.  Now I am hankering for the third so a trip to the bookstore is in order.

In just under three weeks my parents will be here, so I am plotting the sights to see while they are here.  All the fantastic gardens: Japanese, Rhododendron, and Rose Test Gardens are all up there on the list.