Meet Steinbeck

It's been a bit busy around the Cleaver household for the past week, because on July the 2nd, this guy joined our lives.

Meet Steinbeck (formerly know as Drake). He's a 3-year old shepherd terrier mix, we adopted via Lucky Pup Rescue. This handsome fella came all the way from Texas to live with us.

They say it takes a few weeks to a month for the dogs true personality to come out, but thus far we've discovered that Steinbeck is a 60-pound cuddle muffin, who wants nothing more than to sit on the sofa and be in your lap. Which is just fine with me.

IN just a week, we've pretty much fallen in love with this guy, as for what he thinks of us??

Time will tell. :)

Thanksgiving 2010

John and I got back home late Sunday evening after a wonderful week with the family in Southern California. It was nice to have so much time to spend with everyone. We could relax and enjoy the beautiful to us (cold to them) weather.

I am especially grateful for the stories I learned about various family members, like how my great aunt and uncle met at a roller skating rink he was running, and how when my grandfather was born they had to light the stove in the farmhouse with walnuts, because all the wood had already been taken to the new farm his family was moving to.

Mr. Cleaver and I stayed with my Grandfather, who requested a turkey dinner for Tuesday night, so my brother and I spent the majority of the day cooking Thanksgiving dinner #1, which included turkey, stuffing, pumpkin cake and whoopie pies. Mr. Cleaver took on dish duty. We were joined by my sister-in-law after work, and Grandpa invited his friend Patricia from church to join us for supper. Patricia has encouraged my Grandpa to take up yoga at the age of nearly 83!

On Wednesday we explored San Dimas and joined my Aunt, Uncle and cousins for some ten pin bowling followed by In-N-Out. Mr. Cleaver was excited to bowl over 100 for the first time ever.

Thanksgiving day was spent at my Aunt and Uncle's, playing games (like Clankers( like horseshoes, but with washers), Corn Hole, and Skittles), chatting round the fire, eating delicious food, and gathering in the rec room for slideshows.

Friday we visited the Rancho Santa Ana Botantical Garden, goofed around in Claremont, and had dinner with my Great Aunt.

Saturday we spent with my Aunt and Uncle, looking through photo albums, walking in Bonelli Park,  and catching Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

A big thanks to all my Southern California relatives, who made our visit so wonderful!!

3 Years

Happy Anniversary Mr. Cleaver.

I love you, very very much.

Birthdays (of the Spousal and National Persuasion)

What a wonderfully busy weekend! Between Mr. Cleaver and the country - we spent our whole weekend in celebration. Not that I'm complaining :)

After a leisurely morning on the 3rd, involving the farmer's market and the bakery and a new fishing pole for Mr. Cleaver, we lazed away the afternoon ( I finished my dress) and headed out to eat around 4. We grabbed a meal and some bird watching at The Good Table (our favorite) and then drove down Highway 77 to Prout's Neck for a trek around the Cliff Walk.

The cliff walk is one of those hidden gems that I'm sure everyone knows about, but I didn't until about two weeks ago and Mr. Cleaver didn't know about it until I took him there this weekend, so maybe it is secret. In any case, to take the cliff walk find the house above, right next to the Black Point Inn,  and find the small stone path that cuts across the grass. This will take you out to the Cliff Walk.

The Cliff Walk is stunning.  There are rocky crags, pink sand beaches, and a beach entirely of smooth round rocks that rattle when the waves recede.

The walk takes between 45 minutes to an hour. Afterward we stopped at the Black Point Inn for cocktails. The bar was busy so they sent us down to the Adirondack chairs on the front lawn (too bad, right? :) ), where we sat and sipped and watched the sun set.

Mr. Cleaver declared the birthday a success. On the way back to town we stopped by the side of the road to snap a few more shots of the sunset.

For the Fourth, I spent the morning baking a belated birthday cake for the Mister, which we had delayed because we knew it would take a while to make this much cake! Though it did mean I had our tiny oven running for a few hours on the hottest day of year thus far!

After all the baking I finally got to put on my new dress!

[Dress: Vogue 8184; Modifications: made band from contrasting color, skipped boning, added in-seam pockets, added horsehair band to hem]

All snazzed up, we headed our to my Mother-In-Law's for a cookout with the family. Mr. Cleaver's older brother offered some hints and tackle for the new pole.

Once we were stuffed to the gills, Mr. Cleaver and I joined half of Portland for the Portland Symphony Orchestra pops concert/fireworks show. The addition of PSO to the festivities was a great touch!

I hope every one else had an enjoyable weekend too!

Happy Birthday Mr. Cleaver!

A big happy birthday to my greatest catch!

Christmas in California...

...or you really can't go home again.

Mr. Cleaver and I just returned from an almost week spent at my Mother's in Napa, California. Our flight out was delayed (canceled and re-booked, really) by two days due to a huge snowstorm on the east coast, but our actual travel was fairly uneventful.

It'd been two and half years since I'd last been back and it was the first time I was truly hit by the fact that I didn't live there anymore. Though in general Napa has gotten more touristy, with large hotels and tourist-aimed shopping centers being the most noticeable changes, not all that much was different (the Uptown Theatre is still closed, the flood abatement project still isn't completed, the Cinedome still stands tall, my mother's favorite restaurant is still the Red Hen, and Butter Cream still makes the best doughnuts in town).

But it wasn't home - I didn't remember my way around the roads, my childhood bedroom was filled with boxes of things that weren't mine, all the art seemed lower on the walls, I couldn't recall where the pots went in the kitchen, the bakery I once worked in was now a hair salon. I not longer had any ownership of the place as it is, only as it was and it was a sobering feeling.

That said, the weather was beautiful and it was nice to see family (Mr. Cleaver got to meet a lot of my mother's side of the family for the first time) and friends (shout out to Angie & Steve, Sean, Heatherly & Angelina!). I love that there will always be people in my life that no matter how long it's been since we've talked or seen each other (which is regrettably often too long), we can always pick back up right where we left off - and that's a comforting feeling.

I didn't take many photos while on the trip, but I did take a series of shots on Christmas morning when Mr. Cleaver and I visited my neighborhood park (which is, yes, also a city drainage basin). I'd like to point out that Mr. Cleaver is wearing my Christmas gift to him, a Woven Bands Pullover re-imagined as an Elizabeth Zimmerman shirt-yoke seamless sweater knit in Cascade Eco-Wool.  Mr. Cleaver loves it, which makes me so happy  - you have no idea.

Giving Thanks: Family, Food, and Fun

This Thanksgiving, Mr. Cleaver and I had the pleasure of hosting my big brother Luke and his lovely wife Jen for a few days. I think we crammed two days worth of activities into each one, showed the family some Portland-area highlights and had an all-around good time.

Photos 1, 3, 4, 5, 7 by Luke and Jen

Anniversaries

2008

2009

As part of our anniversary celebrations, Mr. Cleaver and I once again went to Mt. Bradbury, the site of our first date. We're creatures of habit, what can I say?

Other than my having more hair, I'd say we look about the same.

And early October is a great time to go the mountain, because the color is peaking and the view are lovely. As you'll see below, we weren't the only ones with the idea.

And speaking of anniversaries - it's my 2-year blogaversary! I want to say a big thank you to all of my readers - thanks for hanging in there with me!

Two Years Today

Happy Anniversary Mr. Cleaver!

Leota

Between my last post and this one my world stopped. After church on August 16th, while washing her hands to make lunch, my Grandmother collapsed and never got up again.

Though she was 81, she was in excellent health and her death shocked us all.

I felt the same way I did when my father passed away five years ago - that the world has lost one of it's greatest members and most people didn't even know what they missed, and what I am missing so very very much.

This blog was the home page on my Grandmother's computer. We always talked about it when we spoke on the phone or when she wrote. I only feel it appropriate to put down some of my memories of her in this space.

Leota was a wife of 58 years, mother of two, grandmother to five, great grandmother to one, with another on the way.

She was a home economics teacher, a part-time bookkeeper, a bridge player, a quilter, a needleworker, a cook, a collector of sterling silver napkins rings, and the consummate hostess.

She was always stylish and had her hair done every Thursday. I though I got my red hair from her, until my mother told me she got it from a bottle.

She was born in Missouri, but called it Missoura in a town named Isadora she called Isadori -

that she took each grandchild to visit when they were twelve.

She started life on a farm, but traveled the country

and the world

She had a succession of somewhat sad-looking Southern California Christmas trees

and made fantastic feasts.

She quilted each of us a blanket and stitched each of us a specifically chosen Christmas stocking.

Mr. Cleaver's was the last stocking she completed and our wedding quilt was the last quilt she finished. Her round robin quilting group was working on a biography quilt, when she passed away - the squares she made for her own quilt depicted the farm she lived on after she first got married and of the balloon ride she took over the African safari.  That's my grandmother in a nutshell.

Oftentimes when someone dies, everyone scrambles to find a photos or an object to remind them of the one we lost, none of us had to scramble pieces of her handiwork were already there.

I can't believe she's no longer with us, but at the same time, every time I pick up needles, or press a seam, she'll be there.

I love you and I miss you very much - and if there's internet in heaven, I know you're still reading this blog.

(Thanks to Jen for the scans)