Out and About

Instead of the soccer field park this morning, I decided to take the boys to the county park down in the valley.  It was chilly with a strong wind blowing off the river, but I was wonderfully happy with frozen cheeks and a zipped-to-the-chin hoody--such a contrast from sweat rolling down my face in the scorching heat and humidity of just a few weeks ago.  No question which condition I prefer...




After the walk, as I was driving out of the park, I passed the entrance to the gardens maintained by Master Gardeners from the University of Oregon.  It's a very cool place with a Japanese garden, Children's area, experimental section, formal, Victorian, vegetables...oh, just about any kind of garden you can think of.  I stopped in last Spring and thought I would check out how it looked at the end of the season.




To the left of the gate is the kids area...and a big, new addition, suitable for climbing on...

There were other new things, like these beautiful Victorian garden globes...



There were many clouds overhead so the light kept shifting between overcast and sunny, though with or without light, these were my favorite globes--especially this first blue one....

And how sweet are these little faces?

Finished at the gardens, I was heading home when I came to the junction for Kruse's, the local farmers market.  Suddenly the image of one of their homemade pies popped into my head and I found myself turning left down the highway.  Against my will, of course.

Before I could get inside the bakery, I was captivated by the pumpkins and gourds...

After wandering for ages amongst the beautiful produce, I finally made it back to the bakery, then spent many minutes drooling over the pies.  These are like the pies my grandmother used to make: juicy and tart, with a sugary, crunchy crust to die for.

I settled on a Bumbleberry pie filled with apples, cherries, rhubarb, marionberries and blueberries, because hey, fruit is important for a healthy diet.  Really...

Amazing isn't it, how a slight alteration to the routine can lead to unexpected adventures.  To say nothing of a pie that--with each yummy bite--will taste like my childhood.