The garden's pond, tea house, and Steel Bridge in the back
Lotus at fall
Tea time
Rest of the gallery is available here.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Portland Chinese Garden
Last weekend was M's birthday and we had her mom at home for a few days. We took her to the Portland Chinese Garden (not to be mistaken with the Japanese Garden) on Sunday after a brunch downtown. The Garden covers 1 block of downtown, not too far from Steel Bridge. We had a nice fall weather for the visit and the garden was really pretty.
The garden's pond, tea house, and Steel Bridge in the back
Lotus at fall
Tea time
Rest of the gallery is available here.
The garden's pond, tea house, and Steel Bridge in the back
Lotus at fall
Tea time
Rest of the gallery is available here.
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Silver Falls State Park
We spent last Saturday mostly doing chores at home and baking a pumpkin pie from scratch (ie not buying a can of pumpkin and a can of condensed milk but making them from the raw products). It was quite laborious and the result wasn't bad but not great either, probably not worth the 2 hours of work. After that we joined friends at their place and played games until late.
We woke up a bit late on Sunday but still decided to go to Silver Falls State Park. It is the largest park in Oregon and I had seen a few pretty pictures while looking for a place to go to. It is located east of Salem and it took us about 75 min to drive there. The weather was strangely cooperating and once we reached the small roads leading to the park we were enchanted with the rural landscape.
Once in the Park we headed for the mid-sized loop of 5.5 miles that goes around 8 of the 10 waterfalls that the canyon has to show.
We were welcomed by bright colored maple trees everywhere. It was gorgeous.
The first half of the hike was pretty slow as I was stopping every 2 minutes to take pictures in awe, M had planned for it and brought gloves and jacket to not get cold while waiting for me :).
One of the interesting things is that like many other Oregon Falls we have seen until now these have a very similar shape: the top layer is made of very solid basalt, often crystallized in hexagonal shape, then in the middle of the fall there is a soft layer that has been carved and looks like a pathway to go behind the falls (and most of them ended up hosting a trail), and the bottom is made of another layer of basalt. These falls are a good example of it:
The only one not following this pattern was the Drake Falls.
As you can see, we couldn't stop enjoying the pretty maple leaves. The rest of the pictures is available here and you can click the pictures for a larger version :).
We woke up a bit late on Sunday but still decided to go to Silver Falls State Park. It is the largest park in Oregon and I had seen a few pretty pictures while looking for a place to go to. It is located east of Salem and it took us about 75 min to drive there. The weather was strangely cooperating and once we reached the small roads leading to the park we were enchanted with the rural landscape.
Once in the Park we headed for the mid-sized loop of 5.5 miles that goes around 8 of the 10 waterfalls that the canyon has to show.
We were welcomed by bright colored maple trees everywhere. It was gorgeous.
The first half of the hike was pretty slow as I was stopping every 2 minutes to take pictures in awe, M had planned for it and brought gloves and jacket to not get cold while waiting for me :).
One of the interesting things is that like many other Oregon Falls we have seen until now these have a very similar shape: the top layer is made of very solid basalt, often crystallized in hexagonal shape, then in the middle of the fall there is a soft layer that has been carved and looks like a pathway to go behind the falls (and most of them ended up hosting a trail), and the bottom is made of another layer of basalt. These falls are a good example of it:
The only one not following this pattern was the Drake Falls.
As you can see, we couldn't stop enjoying the pretty maple leaves. The rest of the pictures is available here and you can click the pictures for a larger version :).
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Storm coming
This morning started with nice weather which slowly transformed into a storm. The views from our balcony were quite spectacular. Enjoy!
OHSU, just before the storm.
One last ray of light over Marqam Bridge
OHSU, just before the storm.
One last ray of light over Marqam Bridge
It's the weekend !
Friday evening, leaving work I wanted to take a picture of the nice fall colors of the trees in the parking lot when a model just appeared in my frame aside a nice car and started to pose ;).
After that we had cookies and beer at Henry's who happens to have the largest selection of beer on tap I've ever seen (something like 100).The beer was good and I ate 2x my share of cookies. Life is good!
After that we had cookies and beer at Henry's who happens to have the largest selection of beer on tap I've ever seen (something like 100).The beer was good and I ate 2x my share of cookies. Life is good!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
My first Jack-O'-Lantern
So last weekend we came back with 2 small pumpkin and a huge 24 pounds one. Tonight, after work we decided it was time to give life to the big pumpkin. It was the first time I was carving one, so I followed Michelle's expert instructions. We saved the seeds and baked them with curry as suggested in this recipe. We munched on them while drinking a pumpkin-cinnamon-chili-vodka cocktail of my invention and watching 2 days in Paris.
After the movie we lit a candle inside Jack's head and here he is !
After the movie we lit a candle inside Jack's head and here he is !
Monday, October 12, 2009
Fall activities
After the spooky doughnuts day, the fall zombies went for some apple tasting ! Yummolicious and scary !
Well it's the amount of varieties that is scary. Will we be able to try them all ?
If that can comfort you, we had absolutely no trouble going through the entire isle. Once done there was a scarecrow exposition, we had to pick the scariest:
And we didn't have to find the cutest, but this one definitely wins !
So what is fall about ? If you haven't gotten it yet, I'd say that we can definitely feel that Halloween is coming. What is missing on my blog yet ?
Pumpkins !!! We bought some to do pumpkin pie (we did pumpkin jam and soup last week :)), and we wanted some more to carve some Jack-O'-Lanterns so we headed to the Pumpkin Patch, a farm on Sauvie Island, a few miles north. Well the excuse was actually that they have a corn maze and we wanted to get lost a bit with two couples of friends. I was amazed at how popular the place, it felt a little like Disneyland, but all about Halloween.
Don't climb they say, Ah-Ah-Ah :). Anyway it was fun. More pics of the past few days here.
Well it's the amount of varieties that is scary. Will we be able to try them all ?
If that can comfort you, we had absolutely no trouble going through the entire isle. Once done there was a scarecrow exposition, we had to pick the scariest:
And we didn't have to find the cutest, but this one definitely wins !
So what is fall about ? If you haven't gotten it yet, I'd say that we can definitely feel that Halloween is coming. What is missing on my blog yet ?
Pumpkins !!! We bought some to do pumpkin pie (we did pumpkin jam and soup last week :)), and we wanted some more to carve some Jack-O'-Lanterns so we headed to the Pumpkin Patch, a farm on Sauvie Island, a few miles north. Well the excuse was actually that they have a corn maze and we wanted to get lost a bit with two couples of friends. I was amazed at how popular the place, it felt a little like Disneyland, but all about Halloween.
Don't climb they say, Ah-Ah-Ah :). Anyway it was fun. More pics of the past few days here.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Voodoo Doughnuts ?
Last night we went to Union station to wait for Karin arriving by train from Seattle. "Go by Train" they say. Well it's not a TGV that's all I can say ;).
When asked what she wanted to do of her weekend she said she wanted to go to Voodoo Doughnuts for breakfast isn't that weird ?
I guess it's just Portland. But once we arrived there after a 20 minutes walk across downtown, there was a line ! Not any line, a one hour line ! So I was with 2 hungry Zombie Doughnut eaters frowning upon me, in the middle of a line of more of their kind. It was scary. I guess it's the effect the proximity of Halloween has. I was not the only person amazed by this hundred people line waiting to get doughnuts.
Once inside it became clear why everybody came here, they had a rather large selection including some specialties like Maple Bacon Doughnuts, or Peperoni Peanut-Butter, or Voodoo doll shaped doughnuts, actually even dong shaped ones...
Anyways, we filled a large pink box with some of these, as they say "good things come in pink boxes". I have to admit that the voodoo doll coated in chocolate and filled with bloody raspberry was pretty damn good. I was less of a fan of the maple bacon, but it was better than actually expected.
They had racks and racks of doughnuts and apparently we took their last bacon ones of the current batch. That place is so popular that even people in Seattle know about it and want to come here. It is opened from 6AM to 3AM and they even had to open another store...
Honnestly they definitely weren't bad, but it won't replace a good pain au chocolat et aux amandes, a tarte normande, a Paris Brest, a mille feuille, and so many other french pastries that I miss quite a bit.
When asked what she wanted to do of her weekend she said she wanted to go to Voodoo Doughnuts for breakfast isn't that weird ?
I guess it's just Portland. But once we arrived there after a 20 minutes walk across downtown, there was a line ! Not any line, a one hour line ! So I was with 2 hungry Zombie Doughnut eaters frowning upon me, in the middle of a line of more of their kind. It was scary. I guess it's the effect the proximity of Halloween has. I was not the only person amazed by this hundred people line waiting to get doughnuts.
Once inside it became clear why everybody came here, they had a rather large selection including some specialties like Maple Bacon Doughnuts, or Peperoni Peanut-Butter, or Voodoo doll shaped doughnuts, actually even dong shaped ones...
Anyways, we filled a large pink box with some of these, as they say "good things come in pink boxes". I have to admit that the voodoo doll coated in chocolate and filled with bloody raspberry was pretty damn good. I was less of a fan of the maple bacon, but it was better than actually expected.
They had racks and racks of doughnuts and apparently we took their last bacon ones of the current batch. That place is so popular that even people in Seattle know about it and want to come here. It is opened from 6AM to 3AM and they even had to open another store...
Honnestly they definitely weren't bad, but it won't replace a good pain au chocolat et aux amandes, a tarte normande, a Paris Brest, a mille feuille, and so many other french pastries that I miss quite a bit.
Monday, October 05, 2009
Hoyt Arboretum
This afternoon, after going through a large amount of home made crepes and jams for brunch, M offered to go have a walk at the Hoyt Arboretum. It is located up the Hill above South-West Portland, between the Zoo and the Japanese Gardens, a 5 minutes drive from home. It features about 12 miles of trails and hundreds of species of trees spread around, forest style. It was also time to enjoy the beginning of fall colors.
The weather was nice and fresh, the trails were smelling like mushrooms were ready to sprout (found nothing edible unfortunately). We just picked trails randomly and walked for almost 2 hours, just enjoying the forest, from magnolias, to redwoods, willows, juniper and chestnut trees. As usual I mostly recognize the one that produce something edible (spotted some hazelnut trees :).
The weather is still surprisingly nice in Portland :), crossing fingers.
Oh and Last night, after taking Roombie apart and fixing him (cat fur was killing every cog and sprocket he had) we watched the movie Coraline (from Neil Gaiman's book) and it was quite good. Michelle was really scared and I liked how the story went and the visuals (we didn't watch the "3D" version).
The weather was nice and fresh, the trails were smelling like mushrooms were ready to sprout (found nothing edible unfortunately). We just picked trails randomly and walked for almost 2 hours, just enjoying the forest, from magnolias, to redwoods, willows, juniper and chestnut trees. As usual I mostly recognize the one that produce something edible (spotted some hazelnut trees :).
The weather is still surprisingly nice in Portland :), crossing fingers.
Oh and Last night, after taking Roombie apart and fixing him (cat fur was killing every cog and sprocket he had) we watched the movie Coraline (from Neil Gaiman's book) and it was quite good. Michelle was really scared and I liked how the story went and the visuals (we didn't watch the "3D" version).
Saturday, October 03, 2009
Hillsboro Flower Farm
Everyday, on our way to and back from work we take Jackson School road. This is a pretty rural area. During the spring I stopped on the right side of the road to take some pictures: Here on my blog - Spring fields. I regret not stopping on the way back to take pictures of the flower farm with its fields all colorful. I guess I'll do it next year.
Today on the back from work, I stopped on the right side of the road and finally took a few pictures of the flower farm. It is quite cute with its little windmill, the colors were vibrant under the sunset. Here it is (stitch of 3 images and cropped, but this would be my standard field of view the day I upgrade to a M9).
Today on the back from work, I stopped on the right side of the road and finally took a few pictures of the flower farm. It is quite cute with its little windmill, the colors were vibrant under the sunset. Here it is (stitch of 3 images and cropped, but this would be my standard field of view the day I upgrade to a M9).
Thursday, October 01, 2009
More Chicago Pictures
Our trip to Chicago was the first time I actually brought 2 cameras with me :). Yes I am becoming really impossible but I had plenty of room in my luggage ! Well I can look for excuses, but I really don't need any. I am just having a lot of fun going around taking pictures, especially with obsolete cameras. This round of pictures comes from my early 50's Zeiss folder. It takes a bit more time fiddling with it, I have to reload every 12 pictures, and the "fast" speed of 1/500s appears to not be working anymore: I have had so many blank pictures with it that I am just giving up. Welcome f/22 pictures.
The good thing with film is that it takes a while before seeing the pictures so there is a lot of anticipation when the film finally comes back and I take the time to scan it.
This time it was even worse, my usual lab had been switching building and they had not restarted operating their B&W lab, so there was an additional week of waiting after I dropped the 6 rolls of 120 I had taken. At this occasion I also discovered that I should label my films better, and that color film could actually be developed in B&W chemicals and still produce a decent image... Yeah I kind of wasted a roll by not being careful...
Anyways after cutting the film, putting it on the holders (I must be gauche, it takes me forever to get it right each time), blowing of dust and cat fur, I can scan it and finally enjoy the pictures. Damn cat fur it gets e-very-where !
A few samples for you:
Trump building, downtown Chicago
Navy Pier, on the Lake
Arrrrhhh
Looking towards Canada, Lake Michigan
Feeling like jumping over the river in a cop car ? I can't stop myself from thinking about the Blues Brothers in that place ;).
As usual the rest of the selection is here.
The good thing with film is that it takes a while before seeing the pictures so there is a lot of anticipation when the film finally comes back and I take the time to scan it.
This time it was even worse, my usual lab had been switching building and they had not restarted operating their B&W lab, so there was an additional week of waiting after I dropped the 6 rolls of 120 I had taken. At this occasion I also discovered that I should label my films better, and that color film could actually be developed in B&W chemicals and still produce a decent image... Yeah I kind of wasted a roll by not being careful...
Anyways after cutting the film, putting it on the holders (I must be gauche, it takes me forever to get it right each time), blowing of dust and cat fur, I can scan it and finally enjoy the pictures. Damn cat fur it gets e-very-where !
A few samples for you:
Trump building, downtown Chicago
Navy Pier, on the Lake
Arrrrhhh
Looking towards Canada, Lake Michigan
Feeling like jumping over the river in a cop car ? I can't stop myself from thinking about the Blues Brothers in that place ;).
As usual the rest of the selection is here.
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