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I headed out to Argyle Winery yesterday to take some photos of the vines and grapes. It’s still pretty early in the growing season, but things are looking pretty nice. Here are a few shots (out of 70+). Most of the photos were of Chardonnay vines.
Codi and I recently visited the Crystal Springs Rhododendron Garden in SE Portland. It’s 9 acres of rhododendrons and other flowers, but the most obvious attraction is the small lake and the hundreds of ducks and geese.
Betwen the two of us, we took about 300 photos. Here are a few samples - flowers to come soon.
Click for larger version (1920×1200, scales down to 1680×1050).
Click for larger version (1920×1200, scales down to 1680×1050).
The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.
Thomas Jefferson
Nothing brings out the lower traits of human nature like office seeking.
Rutherford B. Hayes
May your pockets be heavy and your heart be light, may good luck pursue you each morning and night.
Irish saying
An eye for an eye only ends up making the world blind.
Mahatma Gandhi
It’s only when the tide goes out that you learn who’s been swimming naked.
Warren Buffett
A politician looks forward to the next election. A statesman looks forward to the next generation.
Thomas Jefferson
Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire.
William Butler Yeates
A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them.
P.J. O’Rourke
What we think, we become.
Buddha
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt
The more ignorant you are, the quicker you fight.
Will Rogers
Prejudice is a great time saver. You can form opinions without having to get the facts.
E.B. White
The man who can drive himself farther once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.
Roger Bannister
Personally, I’m always ready to learn, although I do not always like being taught.
Sir Winston Churchill
I have friends in overalls whose friendship I would not swap for the favor of the kings of the world.
Thomas Edison
Whoever gossips to you will gossip about you.
Spanish proverb
The short memories of American voters is what keeps our politicians in office.
Will Rogers
Character is power.
Booker T. Washington
He who considers his work beneath him will be above doing it well.
Alexander Chase
Efficiency is doing the right thing. Effectiveness is doing the thing right.
Peter Drucker.
Art washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.
Pablo Picasso
In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
Voters want a fraud they can believe in.
Will Durst
There is noting so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
Peter Drucker
Rudeness is the weak man’s imitation of strength.
Eric Hoffer
It is easier to fight for principles than it is to live up to them.
Alfred Adler
Avoiding danger is no safer in the long run than outright exposure.
Helen Keller
Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you’re right.
Henry Ford
It is curious that physical courage should be so common in the world, and moral courage so rare.
Mark Twain
They have rights who dare maintain them.
James Russell Lowell
Where there is no desire, there is no industry.
John Locke
There isn’t a person anywhere that isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can.
Henry Ford
The greater the wealth, the thicker the dirt.
John Kenneth Galbraith
The absence of alternatives clears the mind marvelously.
Henry Kissinger
Life is short. Live it up.
Nikita Krushchev
Early to bed, early to rise, work like hell, and advertise.
Gert Boyle
He that always gives way to others will end in having no principles of his own.
Aesop
All speech is vain and empty unless it be accompanied by action.
Demosthenes
Who is rich? He that rejoices in his portion.
Benjamin Franklin
Wine is bottled poetry.
Robert Louis Stevenson
If you ever, ever feel down or frustrated because it seems like you’re having a bad day, just think about this poor woman and realize that you’re probably doing just fine.
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
I was jonesing for a hamburger. Alas, we had hamburger buns but no hamburger - only hotdogs. While some would have given up, I was inspired. I made a hotdog hamburger, a.k.a. the HotDamBurger. With homemade mustard, a little relish and some ketchup, it was pretty damn tasty!
As some people know, I’m a big fan of wine and port. I am close to and work with several Oregon wineries. Having such a close connection, I am used to getting some pre-release and ‘private stash’ wines every once in a while. Over the holidays, I got an awesome treat - one of the first and few Oregon-made port wines. It’s stunning. It easily rivals ports from Portugal and Australia. One of the fun parts of having this port is the fact that it’s very much a pre-release. In fact, it doesn’t even have a label yet! Label or not, it’s amazing.
Once the port is given a label, I’ll post a photo.
Surely a sign that hell has begun freezing over, I voluntarily drank (and didn’t dislike) an entire glass of vanilla soy milk. Not even a week ago, I would have preferred to eat a pound of sala (Russian salt-cured pork fat) rather than take even the slightest sip of soy milk. Lo and behold, people can change and so can tolerance for foods. Besides, maybe migrating from milk to soy will help me get rid of those extra few pounds I can’t seem to shed. It’s one of those 2008 resolutions. =)
Codi and I just got back from a few days in Florida - our annual Christmas Part Deux. We had a good visit, spent time with family and shivered a little in the unexpectedly cold weather. Of course, it’s now 25 degrees out in Portland and snowed earlier in the afternoon, so even a chilly Florida looks pretty toasty right about now!
“I love natural gas”? Too many fart jokes to even begin listing…
Codi and I went to Sleighbells of Sherwood
again to get our Christmas tree. This year, however, we got two trees - one for inside our house and a little one for the front porch. The tree on the porch is pretty cute.
Here are some photos that Codi took while we were at Sleighbells.
Mt. Hood from Sherwood
Nice angle on a pine tree.
Santa, of course!
Pine cones are everywhere.
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An