Philip Foster Farm

It is just plain nonsense that I have lived 15 minutes from the Philip Foster Farm for the past decade, and that this weekend was my first visit ever!  I guess I thought it didn't look like much from the road, and just never took the time.  After all, there are plenty of fun things to do around here, and admittedly, history is one of my least favorite topics.  But pioneer history has less to do with war, and more to do with daily life, which I find far more interesting.  I was also motivated by a coupon for free admission!  Once we were on the property, I was surprised by how much this out-of-the-way rural attraction had to offer.  When the boy asked what something was, the answer always began with, "Well, before there were engines or motors..."

But most exciting was his first ever pony ride!  He loved it, but not so much that I am worried about the "I want a horse!" phase that I went through.  We played with pulleys, built a miniature log cabin out of giant-sized lincoln logs, used woodworking and blacksmithing tools, and ground corn.  It was high noon and awfully sunny for pictures (never mind attending to a 5-year-old hefting 7-foot logs), so maybe I'll get some better ones when I return for the Haunted Halloween event!

I also found it interesting that my friend on the east coast spent the weekend at a similar attraction set in the 1700s, as opposed to Oregon's 1850s version of 'old'.  Check out her adventure here!

Kaikki saimme jotain

This is in memory of my July flow experience. The cardigan has also appeared in earlier posts (here and here), but I haven't mentioned before that the pattern is from my favorite Finnish knitting site, Ulla. I made the red pants from some really nice linen, they are for a daughter who will never ever no matter what wear a dress to a party. The pink party outfit, from linen and vintage lace, is for another daughter who loves everything princessy and has an enviable wardrobe of dresses. I made the little boy's shorts, well, because he needed them, they were easy, I happened to have the fabric, and time and time again I find it so hard to find anything I like from boys' departments in stores. The last pants are for me, so there, everyone got something. For the smaller clothes I used patterns from my Juju book, and for the bigger pants a book called Joka tyypin kaavakirja. I warmly recommend both to anyone who speaks Finnish and wants to sew, also beginners! (Beginners in sewing that is. However, most of the patterns in the Juju book are so simple that possibly also beginners in Finnish would be able to get by, especially with some experience in sewing.)

And finally I must add that they are all being used, which is the cherry on top of my wonderful flow.

Goodbye, summer!

This summer has truly been the end of an era around here.  For one thing, I have started working part time.  It has been an exciting new adventure, but my summers of leisure are certainly over!  The other big change is that my little one is off to kindergarten this fall.  My mom came out to help with the child-care transition that occurred as the school year began, but we had a few days off to have some fun.  Ecola State Park is the first beach you get to when heading to the coast, so it was pretty busy there, at least as far as Oregon beaches are concerned!

South of the park, the highway climbs up the coast to some spectacular viewpoints!  Over the railing, it's 500 feet (150m) straight down!  Woozy!