Mother, Daughter, Sister, Dahlias, Roses

That tiny dahlia is called "Little Scotty".

A few days after the pie social, I flew out to Spokane to see my daughter Gabe and her garden.  And we made big plans to go to Swan Island Dahlias' Open House (in Canby Oregon) as well as a tour of Heirloom Roses (23 miles west in St. Paul OR).  I have ordered from both of these family run businesses for years and I was excited to see the farms up close and personal.  After I arrived in Spokane, Gabe and I immediately set off for Portland OR that very day by car, a six hour journey.  We stayed the night near downtown Portland and spent the next day playing in that fair city until evening.  Then we drove to my sister Dede's, aka Pig Nose's house, where we enjoyed dinner out at a Thai restaurant with her and Brad and then play time with their new Labradoodle puppy, Bourges.

 Salt and Straw Ice Cream - deliriously good!

 Gabe's cute living room.  She knitted that giraffe on the gray chair there.

 We were told we would stand in a long line for a long time but we arrived and there were only three people in the doughnut shop.  Overrated doughnuts - crazy names and flavors (topped with kid's cereal?) but very ordinary tasting - sorry VooDoo!

 Colorful Portland neighborhood

 Now the doughnuts at this shop (Blue Star) across the street from Salt and Straw Ice Cream were phenomenal!  Stuffed with pastry cream - decadent chocolate, tender crumb!

 Salt and Straw.  The Pear Lavender flavor was amazing!

 Portland Rose and Japanese Gardens

 Yep, you can order your dahlia tubers from that website right there.  Every dahlia in my own garden started at Swan Island (oh, except for a few my neighbor down the road gave me - we all have the dark red one of his in our yards in this village it seems).

 Pig Nose, Brad and Bourges

 I painted that flower in blue vase for Dede's birthday last year.  It was nice to see it hanging in her reading corner.

 40 acres of dahlias in full bloom!

 Large rooms were packed with huge bouquets of every dahlia they grow.

 Our passenger buckled in for the ride back to Spokane.

 Lovely farm land near Canby Oregon.  We passed a mint farm and the smell was incredible!!!

 Heirloom Rose farm above and below.

 Gabe teaches a Sunday School class to primary aged children - they were 10-11 year olds I believe.  I sat in too.  She is reading scriptures on her phone - you can't see me or all the kids across from her - it was so fun.

 I slept in that cozy red room in there.

 Sunday dinner - ground turkey burgers topped with mozz, pesto and Gabe's tomatoes.  The burgers cook along with the sweet potatoes we cut up - one sheet pan cooking - so delicious!

 Sunday after church chillin'.

 Gorgeous gardens just a couple blocks from Gabe's house - Manito Park

 I caught Gabe out in her cutting garden early one morning ...

 Pig Nose and Bourges at Swan Island Open House.

 Gabe and Mark threw a Pie Social of their own September 10th - she sent out fancy invites with a wax seal!

 Another view of Gabe's little cutting garden.

Good bye cute cottage in Spokane wherein dwells Gabe, Mark and vases full of zinnias, roses,  and dahlias!  Speaking of dahlias - look at the contrast between the two dahlias below - that's why I love those flowers so much - all shapes, sizes and colors and they keep your garden full of life and color from  early August to frost.

 My Dan Man

Deliciousness From This Past Week

 Freshly harvested tomatoes and basil from our garden.

 Ready to roast and then puree - these became freezer tomato sauce.

 Blackberries ripening over at the Yellow House.

 We have three bins full of our own Rye yard apples - unsprayed, organic, practically perfect!  These will keep for a while and after we get back from our upcoming trip, I will be making a lot of apple sauce and pie filling to put by.

 Peach jamminess.

 This flourless chocolate torte you see in the garbage is the reason you should always lick the spoon after you empty batter into a pan.  I didn't and the dough seemed a bit funky but I baked it anyway and then when I tasted it after it came out of the oven before cutting it I discovered I had forgotten to add sugar!!!  I've only done that twice in my life.  Good thing I sampled!  I immediately made a second torte that you see below.

We had two couples come over for dessert on Sunday.  I made an apple pie from our own apples, a key lime pie, and flourless chocolate torte.  When I throw dessert parties, which is often, I always always make multiple desserts in case one of them isn't that great - dessert insurance.

No, I'm not walking the streets of Paris, but rather downtown Portsmouth - back again at La Maison Navarre for a really really good baguette so we can make chocolate baguette for breakfast again!

From the garden - The colors of nature inspire me so much.  And dahlias!  We are leaving for almost a month for Spain and Italy in a few days and though I am excited, I lament leaving all the dahlias and missing their show.  Our house/yard caretaker will have to enjoy them for me. :(