A truly special evening

So Brian took me out to dinner last night at my favorite restaurant in Portland - If you never eaten there don't walk - run!

We Sat down at the bar at first and our dear friends Matt and Angie had called ahead and gifted us some sparkling to start off the evening _ very nice touch : ) then we sat down and started to peruse the menu and Brian looked at me and smiled and said have even "looked" at the menu yet? (see the third line down on the menu)



so this was so sweet of the folks at Pork Kitchen (the chef de cuisine Dave Padberg is a good friend and the owner Scott knows us as well - I had mentioned several weeks ago that I was coming in for my birthday but said nothing when I made the reservation now that's a nice touch! The evening was filled with really amazing food coming from the kitchen Scott was cooking last night and man did he send some BEAUTIFUL food out he has a distinct style of cooking and the food at Park kitchen consistently wow's me - there's something more they do there - it's "bright" there's a snap - each flavor is there at it's best - and there is always something unusual in a dish or a preparation that puts a smile on your face - I can't say enough nice things about our diner last night and Brian brought a bottle of 2003 Marcassin (estate) and that really put hings over the top - so I'm officially spoiled rotten!!

A very nice birthday evening!

Thanks Scott and all the wonderful PK staff keep up the great work

http://www.parkkitchen.com

too many boys around here

I've been putting off - getting a few of my "extra" roosters into the pot as there have just been too many other urgent things to do - well as of 4am this morning the roosters just made them selves more urgent - they've been crowing for a while now but they've been staying up in the barn in a little man herd - but this morning they decided to make a pilgrimage down to the house and all 4 of them sounded like they where IN my bedroom this morning - I hate to see them go as they are quite glam but I won't hate to hear them go - bye boys it's been real - coq au vin anyone?

Thanks again to Sara and Duane for a fun Sunday!

I went over to Duane's Sunday to play Sara was taking photos and I joined her - We did a little clean up and Duane and one of his old buddies drove the manure spreader what a great piece of equipment! so good for the earth in every way - Then when we where done Sara and I took a drive at the end of the day in the forcart with tucker and Sara gave me some great driving lessons - so fun and I learned a ton as usual! Thanks as always guys for teaching me so much!!

Thes photos below are Sara VanDyke's beautiful Shots

thanks to the girls

Well Maia and Myra are in their respective freezers - thanks To Peter for buying Maia - Brian has made (or is in process on) sausage, prosciutto pancetta and Ham and the rest of the cuts are all packed up for enjoying over the next 6 months ! Everyting went perfectly and I'm filled with gratitude.


Maia having a good sratch on my leg she loved to do this and would almost knock me over as she was about 300lbs!

I'm kind of sad tonight...

tomorrow will be Maia and Myra's last day -
I hung out with them this evening and brought them some snacks.. I may take some photos on them in the morning...

these girls are by far my favorite pigs so far they are so personable they come running as fast as thier fat little legs can carry them when ever they here me coming... and rub on me for scratches and grunt happily... sigh.. well as Brian's aunt said a very good life and one bad day.. as usual they will be happily munching eggs tomorrow afternoon and hopefully will feel no pain.

Thank you girls for being part of our farm you have brought me lots of joy and Thank you for feeding us too. We don't partake lightly.

brian's back

Brian got his first day off in well over two months yesterday and he spent all day working around the farm with me it's great to have him back. It's been a super harvest from a winemaking perspective so even though it was long and drawn out the end result is a good one. So the wines are finally sleeping and I get my husband back.

some fun photos from my friends at Coats and Whitney

I have been working with Norma and Jack aka Coats and Whitney on thier lable and marketing materials and we've had a lot of fun and become friends since... they invited us just before harvest to a dinner in thier vineyard just outside Yamhill which was a lot of fun... they also came out the the farm for a dinner this summer. Some day I hope to have our own vineyard dinner - but gotta get the vines in the ground first : )

A shout out for ODHBA

I went to a meeting today of the "Oregon draft horse breeders association" I felt honored and humbled to be in the company of all these "seasoned" horseman and women I'm very excited to be welcomed into this group - note: all you local blog readers I'll be posting all the ODHBA events here they are AWSOME!! it's a great way to come and see these amazing horses plowing, pulling and generally being there big beautiful strong selves : ) - I went to the meeting today with Duane and Sarah who I've talked about on the blog - both of them are accomplished horse people and have tought me a lot but oh there is so much more to learn which makes it fun! I'm giddy with the thought of possibly putting hummer on a plow this spring... and getting Huston hooked up too ! I better get some more miles on the training tire Duane made for me in the mean time : ) - in the mean time a note of thanks to Duane and Sarah for their mentorship and friendship!! here's to many more happy years with horses!! thanks guys!

a new color

I haven't posted much about this but since breaking my arms Brian encouraged me to study a martial art to learn better balance and body awareness as well as learn how to fall with out getting hurt. So it's been a little over a year now that I've been studying the Shaolin Kempo a Martial Art and I'm really enjoying it - just tested for my next rank and now I'm a blue belt - this is my 4th test and is the beginning of study in my 5th rank of blue belt. The Lama better watch out or I'll do a spinning back kick on his ass : ) .. actually I wouldn't do that to Edward and besides I think he's still faster than me : )

the paintings from this weekend -

(copyright 2008 Clare Carver - please do not down load these images)