spring has sprung

Well maybe it hasn't actually sprung. There are signs that winter, as we've come to know it in the great northwest, may finally be coming to an end. Like our economy, it’s trying to recover. It came as no surprise when the first week of February brought sunshine. February in Oregon brings a few days that give us a sense that spring is near, and this year was no exception. M and I took a few hours off together to go for a long bike ride, then out for a leisurely lunch. The fair weather kicked me into gear to accomplish a few of those gnawing little things, like cleaning out the chicken coop, cutting back perennials that should have been trimmed in the fall, gathering fallen tree branches. The arctic blasts did quite a number on our yard!

If you look very carefully right now. In mid February. You just might see a few small indications of spring in your garden. I had to look at the smallest details to locate any evidence. Equipped with a macro lens, here are some of the tiny signs I discovered...

one lone forsythia flower in bloom...



several hydrangea leaves sprouting...



a cluster of daffodil shoots emerged...



one tiny miniature purple iris budding... I was on my hands and knees before I spotted this little thing (don’t ask)



compact daphne flower clusters ready to open...



The warmer weather was a reminder for me to spend quality time with friends and family, and to embrace all the good things in life. So when our friends K & N ask us to join them on an escape to the beach for the long weekend, we jumped on it. While we were busy packing food, clothing and dog treats into bags, snow was quietly falling outside the windows. Games were packed. Flip flops. Unpacked. Visions of an inside weekend lay ahead. A weekend of snuggling up by the fire for hours on end while sipping hot chocolate and playing endless word games was inevitable. During the hour and a half drive, snow quickly turned to rain and the clouds parted to reveal clear blue skies by the time we arrived. Now where did I put that sunscreen?

one hen, one chick, one barking dog

Yesterday I discovered that two models are much more difficult than one. Especially when one is a rambunctious hen and the other a giggly girl. On the up side, unlike Wynonna, Nelly thoroughly enjoys scratching around inside the house. She never fails to take advantage of an opportunity to let herself in anytime she sees an open door. Yesterday when it was time for her photo session, was no exception. She was waiting at the back door as though she had a scheduled appointment.



This shot was not at all what I was going for. My husband was giving my human model some proper chicken handling instructions. I took the opportunity to snap a few and got this one.

I have a vision of how I want these photos to look, and I'm still in the process of working out some of the details. The process involves a large colored background, positioning several different types of lights just so and set at just the right power, getting the subjects in interesting poses, and capturing their perfect expressions, all within the rather small space I have to work in. I set up a mini studio, this time in the living room, mainly so I would have enough space to shoot two subjects at the same time.





Bailey got wind that one of the girls was out of her environment, cackling with the humans. She was less than thrilled. I had to ban her to the basement for the duration of the shoot, so it was only fair that she get her chance in front of the camera.

living room gets a new coat...

... of paint that is. House projects often take a back seat to all the other things consuming our everyday lives. And sometimes I have a very difficult time making a decision. It's just one of my personality quirks. Narrowing down colors that would go with our current furniture, and look good with the future furniture I'm dreaming of, was challenging. Decision making, compounded with our busy lives, results in many incomplete home projects. A trip to our local Restoration Hardware store resulted in an "ah ha" moment. The store's walls were painted a color called "silver sage," which is blue or green, depending on the light in the room and the time of day. The decision was clear... that was the color I needed. It was about a year ago when I had this epiphany. I posted the paint sample onto my magnetic bulletin board and there it remained, collecting dust, until last week when it magically appeared on the walls of our living room. All we had to do was move all the furniture, art, light fixtures from the room, and let the painter in at 7:30 am. In just three days, he had brocade the ceiling, covered it with a fresh coat of white paint and meticulously painted the walls. He quietly worked in there for three days, closed off from the rest of the house, then carefully cleaned up everything, and swept himself right out the front door leaving us with a beautiful new room. The only sore thumb item that remained was the ten year old rug in the center of the room, which I quickly replaced with a chocolate brown patterned one from Pottery Barn. Voila!

say "cracked corn"...

I spent a few hours today visualizing, planning out, setting up and shooting some unique portraits. Since Wynonna is our most colorful hen, she was tagged as the subject. A big thank you to my husband and daughter for their help with wrangling and chicken bathing. She was very feisty until we released her onto the table and allowed her to be free from hands holding her wings down. The only part of her that moved, during the entire 15 minutes or so, was her head. She didn't even poop on the table. I think she's ready for her modeling career. Here are the results of today's photo session...

coffee cake is required

Cold January mornings require coffee cake. Especially a Sunday morning when it's snowing and the house is quiet until 9. I knew it had snowed even before I opened my eyes or the blinds. There was a silence, a stillness that can only be achieved by a blanket of fresh snow.



I successfully located a recipe for this moist cake layered with brown sugar, pecans and cinnamon in my box of old recipes. The title on the 3x5 index card reads Mrs. Zinman's Coffee Cake. It found its way to me through an old friend who's mother graciously shared it with me many years ago. I've done some modifications to lighten it up a bit, which didn't seem to take anything away from its superb texture or taste.



After dinner my daughter asked, "can you eat coffee cake at night?" It's delicious warmed with a glass of cold milk on the side anytime of day, or night.



Coffee Cake
a slightly lighter version of Mrs Zinman's recipe

Batter:
1/2 cup butter softened
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 3/4 cups flour
1 cup light sour cream
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Cream together butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla. In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients. Alternately mix flour and sour cream into butter mixture and beat until smooth.

Filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1-2 teaspoons cinnamon
In a buttered and floured springform pan with a removable bottom, spread 1/3 of the batter. Sprinkle it with 6 Tablespoons of the filling mixture. Repeat this layering process two more times. Bake it in a preheated 325° oven for about 60 minutes. I baked mine for 55 minutes, but it was slightly gooey in the center. It could have used about 5 minutes more, in my opinion, but my husband talked me out of putting it back in the oven so he could enjoy its gooeyness.

Place it on a rack to cool slightly before springing it free from the pan.

movie night

Fridays have been designated pizza and movie night at our house for several years. This means we will have anywhere from two to six people gathered around the tele, usually sipping suds of one type or another (microbrews for adults, root beer for kids), anticipating whatever is their ideal engaging and entertaining movie. The most difficult part of this night is figuring out what movie to watch. On nights when it's a family movie night, this decision is especially difficult. Finding a good "family movie" is challenging! I use the term "family movie" loosely, since some of our choices may not really fit the bill of being family friendly in everyone's eyes. We don't let our 11-year-old daughter view violent movies, and she doesn't want to see a lot of romance... ewww... but we figure it's often easier to have her close her eyes and sometimes ears, than rule out a movie entirely because of a questionable scene or a few bad words. Some of the movies out there that are so-called "family" movies are impossible for us to suffer through. So with that said, here are just a few of our favorite family movies: Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Shrek, Chicken Run, Cold Comfort Farm, Funny Face, Legally Blonde, The Devil Wears Prada, Raising Helen, Princess Diaries (1 and 2), Little Miss Sunshine (this one's not for young children, it's the only R rated movie we've allowed our young one to see) if you haven't seen it, it's a must, hilarious!

We have one of those Apple TV boxes that allows you to rent movies directly from your TV. The choices have been slowly expanding to include some of the old classics, one of our favorite genres. My husband ran across Night of the Iguana, a film based on a screenplay by Tennessee Williams and directed by John Huston, 1964, starring Ava Gardner, Richard Burton and Deborah Kerr. Since it was just the three of us, and our daughter was working on a school paper, she saw this one only in fragments. Great story, photography, acting, it always left you guessing, not at all predictable. This movie helped put Puerta Vallarta on the map as a destination resort.




Reverend Shannon (Richard Burton) and Maxine (Ava Gardner) in Night of the Iguana












Last night's fare included homemade pizza with a pesto base, topped with caramelized onion, roasted red pepper, roasted garlic, portobello mushroom, mozzarella, and a smidgen of goat cheese (chèvre).

Coop cleaning day

Whew! lots o poop in there! All surfaces were thoroughly scrubbed, the hens received fresh water, food, grit, shell... and last, but not least, fresh straw in the nest boxes. Wait a minute... WHAT'S THAT! Yep that's right, Gidget laid not one... not two... but THREE EGGS! What a nice surprise! and after four months of store bought eggs, it's definitely a welcome surprise. Thank you Gidget!