Lovely

This weekend epitomized why we Portlanders put up with the long, grey winter. It was sunny, hot (for us, 80s is hot) and everyone was out.

We started our Saturday with the Art Hop along Alberta Street. There were about 15 blocks of art, craft, music, food, and general silliness.







Then time to get our tomatoes planted (mid-May is the right time here — it's when you can safely assume there won't be any more frost). This year we've added strawberries, purple kale, and rainbow chard to our tomato and raspberry crops in the back yard. Definitely working towards some self-reliance though we've got a ways to go.





We also picked up a lovely birdbath at Garden Fever to keep our feathered friends happy this summer. Does the fairy look like anyone you know? ;-)



Sunday we checked out the new farmers market on NE 7th/Wygant. It was awesome! It's much smaller than the PSU market, but the adjacent playground more than made up for that! And I was able to get great, local milk for my foray into cheese-making later this week! I also got some local feta (goat milk), which is great because we decided to give up the one we love at Trader Joes since it's shipped all the way from Israel (quite the carbon footprint for a little hunk of cheese).









Finally, we capped off the weekend with dinner at the Bye and Bye, Portland's only vegan bar/restaurant. Our friends Ami and Andy brought us (along with Eliot, of course!) and the kids colored while we enjoyed awesome food and killer drinks in a great space.

As my father used to remind me, these are the good old days.