Hollywood Farmers Market, July 7, 2012

Just a bit of what I saw at the market, clockwise from the top: Rainier cherries, tomatoes, flowers (and a flower-covered bicycle and its owner, wine, triplets along for the ride, cabbages and onions.

Folks among the flowers, No. 6

While I can't be sure of it, I believe it was something he said that led to the joyous smile and throwing back of her head in full-tilt-boogie laughter which you see there on the face of the woman with her hand on the stroller. I mean the man in the bee hat, of course. See the next photo for what I consider a great big ol' clue.
 

The reason I think that is how he's acting here in the second photo which isn't very good, but after all, I did take it on the fly so to speak, from my seat in a shuttle which transported folks from their vehicles and/or around the tulip fields. You do see his bunny ears, the man in the bee hat, right? Do you think he could have said something that made that woman laugh out loud?

 And how about the couple in what I would call Dutch costumes? Cool sight to see, there among the tulips.

Folks among the flowers, No. 5

Finally, my favorite photo of the little girls. When I saw the one in front, holding her nose, I pushed the button on my camera and said a little prayer that I got the photo. I did!

And I could smell every bit of manure that she could smell, from the moment I stepped out of the car. As I walked through the field of tulips, taking in the beautiful colors and shapes, seeing so many people out enjoying the flowers and the sunshine, for the most part I soon didn't notice the smell. Too much.

Folks among the flowers, No. 4

I altered the photo at PicMonkey, hoping to shed some light on her pretty face.
  Hope y'all aren't tired of these two little girls yet.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, Tulip Fest, Woodburn, Oregon, Sunday, April 22, 2012.

Folks among the flowers, No. 3

Sisters? Cousins? Friends? I don't know, but I do know that the one in the back had stood there long enough to make her feet tired and/or hurt. I don't think she realized just how much until she got to move a bit when the other girl joined her. The adult taking the pictures had them move here and there in that narrow furrow between the two rows of tulips. Thank goodness as little girls their feet could fit there.

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, Tulip Fest, Woodburn, Oregon, Sunday, April 22, 2012.

Folks among the flowers, No. 2

I asked one of the grown-ups with her about her native costume and discovered she is Hmong. More photos of her and another lovely girl coming soon. 

Woodburn Tulip Farm, Tulip Fest, Woodburn, Oregon, April 22, 2012

Folks among the flowers, No. 1

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm's Tulip Fest, Woodburn, Oregon, April 22, 2012

A bit about the rest of Saturday and on to Sunday, August 21.

About Saturday after we left Cars in the Park, somewhat tired and definitely thirsty, we walked over to Director Park and Violetta where I had a cold glass of lemonade, Milton had a margarita and Kay had some sangria. From past knowledge, I knew that mine would be good, but Milton and Kay took a chance; turned out their drinks were just wet and cold. Anyway, still tired and somewhat hot due to lots of great sunshine in downtown Portland, I suggested that we ride the MAX out to the end of the line and back, then get sandwiches from Subway and take them on home to eat. Well, we made it about 30 minutes on the MAX out towards Hillsboro, got off and rode back so that after we got our sandwiches at Subway and rode the bus home, we walked into the apartment just in time to catch the Saints' game. Unfortunately, Houston beat them 27-14. Rats. But the evening turned out to be just fine because Leland and Kailey came to visit! It was fun being with the two of them and Milton and Kay. Lots of fun. I am blessed.

Here are the photos I took as we waited in line at the Screen Door for Sunday morning brunch, as I watched the kitchen from our table, and as our food appeared on the table. Mighty good food, I might add. Mighty good Southern food. We knew that would be the case because we also ate brunch there in May, 2007, on Kay and Milton's first visit to Portland. That knowledge, plus people-watching, made the 20-30 minute wait fly right by.


Busy, busy kitchen.


My breakfast of scrambled eggs, grits, biscuits and potatoes. Oh, and you can see what's left of my first-ever Bloody Mary--spicy goodness. That big glass of iced tea helped cool me off. I couldn't finish all of that delicious food, but every bite I did eat was so fine.


Milton's scramble with toast and grits and a side order of bacon. I cannot remember which scramble he got, though, but he enjoyed it.


Kay's fried chicken with biscuit and gravy and potatoes. She ate all she could, then Milton ate some of it.


Speaking of fried chicken, it's also served atop a waffle. Very popular brunch dish at the Screen Door.

Now for a few more photos.
The Screen Door's sign--I like that yellow and blue. And the part of the line of folks already there when we walked up--about 80 ahead of us.



Flowers we saw on our walk home.


These roses are on the sidewalk to my building's front door.


Once back inside the apartment, we settled in for an afternoon of getting the laundry done and watching NASCAR. Kay and I ended up washing and drying four loads between us. We sort of watched the race, not too excited about it though because that dadgum Kyle Busch won. Anyway, I managed to talk Milton and Kay into letting me make some tuna salad for supper, and then we watched "Secretariat" on NetFlix. A nice afternoon and evening.

Delivery Series

A quickly stepping young man caught my eye as I walked back to the apartment Sunday morning after buying the Sunday paper. We both were walking which I suppose is why the photo's out of focus, but I still like it because it made me wonder, is he hurrying to deliver those flowers or is he hurrying because it's so doggone cold? I imagine that he's coming from Trader Joe's--the flowers there are always beautiful, fresh, and affordable. The store is over his left shoulder; he's walking west on NW Glisan.


He turned the corner onto NW 22nd Avenue, heading south towards W. Burnside. Look at what grabbed his attention! I've been noticing this deck/porch ever since we moved into the neighborhood in October, 2006.


Ah, his transportation of choice so that he can deliver the flowers. I'll bet the person who got them loved them and put them into water right away.

P. S. If you've ever wondered about bouldering, watch the video I posted yesterday.

Seen around the corner, spring's bounty

Saturday, June 29, 2008 ... last of the urban meadow, Pioneer Courthouse Square

Monday, June 23, 2008 ... Things are not what they seem, and that's the truth

I know you're wondering why this post says, "Monday, June 23, 2008" in the title and Sunday, June 22, 2008, in the date area that Blogger provides. And there's a good chance you're wondering what someone whose allergies have been kicking her in the boo-tay is doing taking photos of flowers afield. Here's the truth.

Ever since Blogger made a change of some magnitude in early May, I've tried to work with Blogger and the City Daily Photo portal to make my posts show up on the portal after I've published them, with the date that I want on them. It's just not happening for me on a regular basis. I wish they'd go back to the way it was, so that I could do what I used to do: I fixed up my post for tomorrow, tonight, so that I didn't have to stay awake until after midnight or try to post early in the morning because I value my sleep too much to want to get up any earlier. To make sure the date was correct, I'd go to Post Options and put in the next day's date and 12:01 AM. It would then publish with that information on it. Since May 2, if I do that, it doesn't actually publish until then, right after midnight, when I have told Blogger to schedule it for publishing. That's a great big ol' bunch of hooey, to me. At my age, I don't want to fuss with technology that won't do what I want it to do, so I'm going to post the night before most all of the time and type the date that I want the post to pertain to in my title for the post.



Now, for the flowers. I took these photos, and several more, at Portland's Living Room, Pioneer Courthouse Square, right downtown. My allergies let me along except for a few sneezes. In fact, the only real interruption came when I walked up to Broadway to see what the whooping and hollering was about and found myself watching a small, boisterous, happy portion of the Lesbian and Trans-sexual Parade, complete with motorcycle police who had them pause regularly so that the MAX trains could continue their scheduled runs, east and west beside the square. Ah, Portland.

Information from the Pioneer Courthouse Square Calendar of Events:
Festival of Flowers Presented by Hoffman Construction Company
On Display: June 6 – 18, Flower Sale: Begins June 19 at 8am

This June marks the return of one of Portland’s most renowned annual events, Festival of Flowers at Pioneer Courthouse Square. This year Pioneer Courthouse Square has partnered with The American Institute of Architects’ Committee on the Environment and Hoffman Construction to create a sustainable “urban meadow” in the heart of downtown. Over 15,000 plants of vibrant color will blend together on-site to create a stunning display for community members and visitors to enjoy. An estimated 350,000 people gather during this two-week celebration to enjoy the opening of the summer season with flowers and fun!


I only took photos of flowers in the urban meadow and will post more of them soon.

On Thursday and Friday afternoons, as I disembarked from my first bus at the corner of SW 2nd and Main, I saw several people with flat cardboard boxes filled with flowers they'd bought on their lunch hours, I imagine. Ah, Portland.