Popster Heads South

Dad came to visit for the weekend and we had a great time. We twisted his arm into buying a salmon tag so we could take him out fishing on what was supposed to be a really good day, but instead ended up being the slowest fishing of the week in the worst weather. Oops!

Dad got in around 11:30pm Friday night - so we said "no problem - please be at our house to leave for fishing at 4:15am" Who needs sleep, right?

Anchored up with the sky just beginning to lighten. 

We had a brief window of clear skies with a beautiful view of Mt. Hood as we headed upstream to our fishing spot. 

Thor- always on the lookout for other boats catching fish!

Dan - huddled and chilly in Thors camo coat - I don't think he understood what we meant when we said to dress warm for the boat. it's a different kind of cold just sitting there!

Dad - putting on a brave face despite the chilly temps (40's), pouring rain, and downstream winds. 

Overall it was a fun day though - and we hooked up with William afterwards to get some phó for lunch. Tasty!

Sunday William and I got up and went for a run - and then we all headed out to brunch at Tabor Tavern. The afternoon brought beers on the Apex patio - it was a leisurely and very relaxed day!

Can't say no to good times: fun, fun and a little tiling

The weekend is almost upon us which means it must be time for me to post my belated pictures from last weekend!

The theme was consistent: fishing and biking with some kitchen work squished in for good measure. 

Saturday - fishing with mom! Gorgeous sunny skies - but no fish in the boat at the end of the day. 

It was fairly windy out which made fishing tricky, but the sail boat watching was excellent! Everyone had their beautiful spinnakers up. Very festive. 

Isn't this a lovely picture I got of Mom? I can only hope to have such lovely skin and coloring when I am her age!

We thought we'd head back at a reasonable hour, but then I saw another boat pull in a fish and begged to stay out for one more pass. Well- it was a royal mess! We (I) managed to tangle my line horribly - and then mom and thors line got all snagged up.

   I think the river gods we're trying to send us a message to go home!

Worse than untangling yarn because your hands smell like herring!

Sunday brought biking! We headed out to ride - and mom did a long hike. we ran  into each other midway - and decided to get food together afterwards. 

Gorgeous and clear!

I think I've said this before, but I never get tired of this view. 

Celebrating a successful day of sunny recreation by grabbing a pint and nachos (canceled out by our sensible salad, of course) on Everybody's Brewing's outside porch. Perfect!

Aaaaand - I know you've already seen this - but we also managed to squeeze in wrapping up all the grouting. Success!

Kitchen Pre & Post

Still a work in progress - but here's a quick before and after:

2008 when we moved in.

2014 after updating tile and appliances. 

Remarkably the clutter is still the same! Hmmm - I will have to work on that. 

Final push with the kitchen tile: Grouting

This weekend was all about grouting (mostly - we did play too. those pictures later!)

We decided to grout in natural grey instead of white - and we're so glad we did! It's looking really good!

At the start of grouting. no going back now!

messy, messy. 

After wiping it down. 

After buffing the tile and sliding the new stove in. Thor is very pleased. 

Look! With the new hood back in as well - looking very sharp. 

First cooking on the new stove - yum!

Full Speed Till Monday: How to Pack it All In

Another jam-packed weekend at Casa Tingey documented in photos:

It's a miracle! First test of the newly installed sink and what do you know? it works! (and on the first try too)

Sink installation was such a victory we went out to celebrate with ice cream from Salt and Straw - their flavors are so creative! (sea salt with caramel ribbons for Thor, Olive Oil for me)

Saturday morning we were up at the crack of dawn to go salmon fishing on the Columbia with mom. Actually it was more like the pre-crack of dawn - I think our alarm went off at 4:15 and we were on the water by 5:40. 

We trolled until 1pm and fortunately weren't skunked: mom caught a steelhead!

Mom also brought the snacks! Scotch Eggs and her new gluten-free recipe for 'Happy Jack' cookies. These are amazing!!! she needs to dial in the recipe and sell them - they are the best cookie I have ever had!

Did we stop to relax upon getting home? oh no! straight to tiling the kitchen! Here's Thor applying thinset to the first wall

While Thor messed around with trivial tasks (such as measuring where the outlets would fall and precisely cutting tile) I tackled much more important things like decorating the supporting ledge for the tile behind the stove. Good idea, right? it's like a little time capsule for whoever pulls the stove out in 20 years. 

Thor looking happy despite the fact that I've started to 'talk' (or pester) about taking a break for dinner since we skipped lunch. 

I tried to stave off a case of the hangrys with my new favorite treat of macadamia nuts and dates...

But it was to no avail. By 7pm I was in full melt down mode and my stomach had dictated a royal pout on the couch. 

Fortunately at this point Thor realized I was in dire straights, went into high gear, and hustled me out the door to Tabor Tavern. One burger and two ginger ciders later I was ready to hit the tiling hard and we powered through most of the second wall before collapsing into bed around 11pm. 

Sunday was full play day - and boy did we have a great time! We headed to syncline with a group we've never ridden with and made some new friends. Then off to our good friend Stacy's for a delicious birthday celebration - and then finally home for the first episode of Game of Thrones Season 4. Excellent!

Even better - Thor rode the whole day and worked hard on Saturday and still felt good at the end of the weekend! His head is really beginning to feel better and we both feel incredibly fortunate about that. 

Hidden Gorge Treasure

William came to stay with us for the last weekend of spring break, and we had a GREAT visit! We puttered around and ate a bunch of good food. 

On Sunday we went out to breakfast at SweeDeeDee - pretty tasty - and then we went our separate ways: Thor headed out fishing, and W and I went to the gorge to do a hike I'd never done before. What a treat! We had beautiful views - it was a great day. 

Thor - eagerly awaiting his breakfast platter and morning tea (have I mentioned T has stopped drinking coffee? Pigs are apparently flying somewhere).

Some beautiful nature on the way up. 

Sookie was not a fan of this steep ridge. She did not want to take a picture with William and kept running away. 

We got her poised eventually. 

Snuggling with Sookie. 

I loved the colors up on top of the hike. 

It was like we were in South America - all rocky and mossy. 

Rainbow pup!

W is a great hiking buddy - he goes the perfect pace!

Veeeery steep in places. 

It was so beautiful - like a little hobbit/gnome trail in Middle Earth

Thor and his beautiful coastal steelhead!