Random

Ok, so I know my blog is boring because I rarely share anything personal, and I'm real slow to post. BUT, since this blog is called "Royal Randomness" here is a random picture for you.


It's from the trip we took to say goodbye to Grandma Jolley. The sky was so beautiful for our whole trip. Maybe I'll just randomly put our sky shots up.

Here's to hoping your Tuesday was great.

Hunting and Gathering

If a tree falls in the Forrest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? I don't know. What I do know is that delicious mushrooms litter the Forrest floor. They make for quite a find if you know where to look.

Last weekend Andrea and I, along with Justin, Kaitlin, and her dad Todd, went mushroom hunting in the near by woods. We got up early Sunday morning and headed out just in time to see the sunrise. It was a brisk 40 degrees when we arrived at our hunting grounds. We were prepared though, with multiple layers we were ready to battle the elements. With Knife and brush in hand we set out down the hill. The prey that day were Chanterelles. Like fleshy orange flowers, they rise up from the soft Forrest floor. The good thing about Chanterelles are that no other fungi really look like them, so you can pick them with confidence. The tricky thing about them is that they like to hide. There camouflage skills were no match for our desire to find them. With in an hour our so our buckets were growing heavy with our finds.

This was the first time Andrea and I had gone mushroom hunting but we're already planning our next hunting trip. There is nothing better than being out in the woods alone with friends enjoying nature. Plus the excitement you feel when you find a big mushroom patch just can't be found any where else.

Here is Andrea showing of her fungi finds.




Isn't she beautiful when she smiles. As you can see Chanterelles are not small mushrooms. Some we found were almost two hands wide.


We found so many that we had to dry them for storage.

You would be surprised at how long it takes to dry mushrooms. This was an all day process.

We have been trying all sorts of new recipes in an attempt to use up
all the fresh mushrooms. Mushrooms gravy, fungi fritters, and mushroom leek soup are the most memorable. However my all time favorite is mushrooms sauteed with butter and onions.

And the final product!

Now history shows us that 90% of you reading this will think that it's a little weird to go pick mushrooms in the Forrest. Some of you may even be worried about poisoning. Well if that's you, all I can say is your missing out. With a little research it's easy to tell the good fungi from the bad.
It's even easier if you go with someone who has been before. Soon you will be on your way enjoying delicous mushrooms. Best of all their free, which is always fine by me.

We hope everyone has a good October and can't wait to see everyone
at Christmas.

Kids Zone at the Corvallis Fall Festival

This year I volunteered on the committee for the Corvallis Fall Festival (September 25-26, 2010). We've been planning since March. I got to be part of the Kids Art Zone. It was a lot of work, but so fun. The Fall Festival is the biggest festival in town and the artists that come are amazing. The Kids Zone helps nurture the young creative spirit. There's even a kids vendor zone, where little budding artists can sell their hand made goods. And then there are the activities kids can do.

We had Spin Art machines (so classic!). Greg fixed them up so kids could spin paint on paper and we had frames there for them. It was only 50¢ for with out a frame, and $1 with a frame. Kids could also miniature golf all day long for 50¢. And then, there were the free activities provided. Journal making out of recycled paper and materials, lantern making (I totally made one), wood block sculptures, card making, materials to just go to town with, pinwheels (promoting wind energy- Blue Sky donated the activity), hair braiding and styling - yes you heard that right- on mannequin heads, names written in different languages, and there was more but you get the idea.

Next year is going to be even better! You know, I have to say that I always wondered how these festivals were put together..and now that I'm a part of it all, I know that it is truly an amazing thing. So many people volunteer, come together, work together without even knowing each other, just to make this amazing event happen where anyone can come out and have a great day.

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure:

Above: Me, Amy, Caron and Sarah- all of my co-chairs on the committee.
They are amazing women!

Above: My pretty lantern I learned to make.
Seriously, I think some of the parents had just as much, if not more, fun making stuff!

Above: Kids Zone under the tent.

Above: The Kids Stage- these little dancers were so dang cute!

Above: The kid vendors selling their goods.

Above: Wood block sculptures!

Above: Some of our volunteers busy at work cutting paper.

Last but not least, me, Greg and Chad.
I'm so glad Chad and my Dad came to see us on Sunday. :)

PS. For those of my readers (most of you) who have children, I would be especially interested to know what you, as parents, like and don't like about activities provided for your kids. Also, any thing that you would especially like to see at such events, would be very helpful in our planning. Thanks!!!

HIPSTER

Greg and I Stumbled upon this....and I laughed so hard...

And here is my best hipster look...

And here are our chickens! Bob and Joy. Yes, they are both female. And yes, they were named before we got them.

Seester!

This last weekend my sister Kristi came to visit.

(Below: Kristi at the Chowder Bowl- the best chowder in Newport!)

Isn't she beautiful?!!!

Here is why having a sister around is so great:

1. They may bring you CLOTHES! Oh-yeah, hand-me-ups galore! Plus, a few gifts. You are the BEST! Thank you so much for my new duds. 2. Bike riding in the rain. 3. They can help you with your make-up and teach you how to do "wings"- cuz they are pretty sexy. 4. Baking- cooking and goodies galore! 5. Girl talk! And straight talk. They'll let you know if you are annoying. 6. Hair tips, and the best hair products. 7. LATE nights. 8. LAUGHTER!

I always liked the number 8, so I'll stop there. But seriously- I had a great time with Kris- we all did. I'm too lazy to plug in my camera and download the few pictures that I took, so here are some photos that are compliments of Kaitlin. She is always great at taking pictures and documenting what we are up to!

(Below: Me and Kristi shopping Downtown Corvallis)

(Below: Kaitlin, Kristi, and me- bike riding in the rain. BTW- I totally biffed it on a wet wooden bridge- watch out! They are slippery!)

(Below: The gang: Kristi, Me, Justin, Kaitlin and Greg all at Calapooia *thanks G!)

(Below: Kristi, Me and Justin- we aren't related at all - are we?!)

Sisters are truly the best. I miss you Kristi. I miss you Jeni! Jeni- you should move back, and Kristi, you should just move here! It would make borrowing clothes and stuff so much easier. :)

Night Glow

Every year, Albany hosts an Art & Air Festival. Last year I posted pictures of the balloon launch early in the morning. This year, we were way more interested in checking out the night glow. These big bright and colorful balloons are so beautiful to look at.

Especially when they are glowing at night.

Getting Caught Up

I was talking to Kristi the other night when she suddenly said, "Dude! When are you going to blog again? It's been like over a month." Well sis, here you go. I have been meaning to, but, you know, I can just be really lazy about it. Here are some pictures that I've been meaning to share....

If it gets too hot here, like towards 100 degrees, we can always escape to one of the many rivers or lakes. Not to mention the coast.
On this particular Saturday we went to the North Santiam River.

It sure was a nice escape from the heat. And extremely beautiful.
Next, we have photos of when McGreggor's family was here. It was so nice to see them. I hope they enjoyed themselves here in the great Pacific Northwest. They sure did do a lot of driving and saw some lovely countryside. I unfortunately had to work the whole time they were here, but did get to hang with them on the Saturday before they left. We took them up to Belknap Hot Springs. We swam and went exploring the gardens. Love you guys!

All righty then. That's all for now. Enjoy the ends of summer everyone! I'll do another post soon.. Promise!

The Sun is shinning. The weather is sweet.

As you probably guessed from the title, Summer is in full swing here in Oregon and we couldn't be happier. To make things even better, we have our new backyard to enjoy it in. Here are some pictures of our new abode.

Andrea is so excited to have a house with a front porch. I picked up a rocking chair for Andrea at a thrift shop so she can sit outside and keep an eye on the neighborhood. I acquired the chair for a bargain price too. Only $4.50, can you believe that. All it needs is just to be recovered. You can Barely see it on the right side of the porch.

It's fantastic having a deck in the back as well. We lay out on it during the day to soak up some rays, and at night it serves as a good platform for star gazing. I also like to use it to work on projects. In fact here are some pictures of me building our cats a feline tower.
I built it out of wood scraps and some extra carpet from the local carpet shop. We wanted to buy one but they are just way to expensive. The one I made was completely free! Here is a picture of Dora's reaction to the finished tower.
As you see she was very excited about it. After she came back to Earth she was much more calm. she even posed for a good picture.
Marco on the other hand, wanted nothing to do with any of it. He was to busy warming up the floor under the bed.
As you know Andrea has talked about how much we love riding our new bikes. I figured I'd show you what they look like so you can have a better idea of how cool we look on them.
Not to brag or anything but I am responsible for the spectacular paint jobs. Pretty sweet Eh?
Last but not least. say hello to our new friends Barry and What's his name.

Well that's all for this post. hope it was as good for you as it was for me.