Appointment at OHSU Kohler Pavillion

OHSU Kohler Pavilion

I have my doctor's appointments in this building. It's a pretty nice place and parking is free.

I took my camera with me today because it was so sunny and I thought I might have a good view of Mt. Hood. However, it was a bit hazy over the river so no luck.

The aerial tram AKA "Pill on the Hill"

The tram leaves from this building and is kind of fun to watch. I haven't ridden it myself because it's going east and I'm always going west (back home to Beaverton).

The tram as it heads to South Waterfront

Sculpture on the terrace of the Center for Women's Health

Just outside the waiting area there are nice terraces with benches and fountains and things. I had to wait about 15 minutes for my appointment, but on such a beautiful day I didn't mind waiting at all.

Oh, and everything went well at the Doctor. So far so good.

Flowers Around Campus

Black Eyed Susan Vine - Thunbergia alata

Fuchsia - Fuchsia sp.

Hibiscus - Hibiscus sp

Hibiscus

Hibiscus

Hollyhock - Alcea rosea

Rose & Japanese Blood Grass - Imperata cylindrica

After the Rain

Urban Gardening

This past week and weekend we had really hot weather in the triple digits. Yesterday and today have been rainy with thunderstorms at night (very unusual here).

On my walk into work today, I noticed these tomato plants in old recycling bins at the nearby apartment complex. It looks like they've been pretty successful considering the weather.

Loads of Little Mushrooms.

They just popped up overnight all over the bark mulch in the landscaping around the library.

Ducks at Bethany Pond

Female Mallard - Anas platyryhnchos

Here's another photo of her with her wings down.

Halfway through my drive to work today, I realized I was an entire hour early. I decided to stop at the Bethany Pond powerline park and go for a walk.

Although summer is not typically a good time to see ducks, I did find a few. I also picked about a pound of blackberries.

Female wood ducks?

Still working on IDing these.

They were kind of shy and didn't come too close.

Pied-Billed Grebe - Podilymbus podiceps

I see these little ducks frequently, but they are hard to get a picture of.

Here you can see my other posts about the pied-billed grebe.

Surprise Baby Shower!

Sarah's Awesome Baby Block Cake.

My coworkers at the help desk and the library threw me a surprise baby shower and the "other Sarah" made this amazing cake.

Actually I suspected something was up when Shawna asked me if I was certain I'd be at work on Thursday and what kind of cake did I like...

But I certainly didn't expect anything on this scale. Everyone was there... even my boss Andy who had to come over from the other campus.

Sara opening baby presents.

It was pretty weird feeling like I was on stage and everyone was watching me open presents. We got lots of clothing, several gift cards, a stuffed penguin, and a few other odds and ends.

Thank You to Everyone!

A few more pictures of the shower are here, unfortunately I don't have photos of everyone... I didn't even have my camera since this was a surprise.

It's Blackberry Season!

Himalayan Blackberry - Rubus discolor

Unfortunately these blackberries are not our native species (Pacific Blackberry - Rubus ursinus).

The Oregon Department of Agriculture considers these Himalayan blackberries to be "the most widespread and economically disruptive of all the noxious weeds in western Oregon."

It's true, they're very invasive and you have to work hard to keep them out of your own yard. But they are quite tasty and easily available. So, there's a good chance we'll do some berry picking this weekend.

Sami Made Lasagna

Two beautiful lasagnas.

Sami made them and decided they were blog-worthy.

The recipe he uses is a Finnish one though, so it won't be very useful to most of you.

If you haven't had enough flowers yet...

Roses

Oriental Lily

Begonias

Begonia sp.

A Bit Tropical

Zinnia sp.

Four More Flowers

Marigold - Tagetes sp.

What a hot afternoon!

97F is about as hot as it gets here in Oregon.

I took a slow walk back to my car after work and stopped to admire some of the more often ignored flowers along my path.

Gazania sp.

Even this heat and drought tolerant Gazania was starting to get faded by the hot sun.

Here's another less faded one.

Ice Plant - Carpobrotus edulis

I love the way these flowers look almost metallic in the sun.

They also do well during cool wet weather like we had last October.

Lily of the Nile - Agapanthus sp.

These flowers are really pretty, but they have tall thin stalks with big bunches of flowers on top... which usually leads to some awkwardly composed pictures.

Luckily, the light was shining just so and I managed to get this very nice close up - my favorite pic of the day!

I Have Logos

It's official now.

I can put the initials CSBA after my name.

I just received the confirmation email and the CSBA logos in case I want to put them on my business cards, letterhead or website.

They will send me the Certificate in 6-8 weeks and after that can be included in the official registry online.

Quick Trip to Commonwealth Park

Sami and I spent most of Sunday indoors, reading and resting and doing things like that.

Late in the afternoon we decided to take a quick trip to Commonwealth Park to enjoy the beautiful weather. It's been a while since we last visited the ducks.

Baby Mallard

Most of the wild ducks were gone for the summer. (We see a lot more species in the winter.) But there were still a bunch of female mallards and a few late-season ducklings.

Sami finds a cat.

Sami claims that he is not a cat person, but I have proof!

He was very worried about this cat and thought we should call the number on the tag. I said I was sure this was a neighborhood cat just having fun chasing the ducks.

Mama duck is concerned by the approaching cat.

She called another female duck over to help her protect the babies.

Sami, the duck whisperer.

Sami's very good at getting close to the ducks without scaring them off. Sometimes he doesn't even have to try - they just come to him.

The family rests peacefully.

There weren't any male mallards left on the lake. Sami felt bad for all the single mamas.

Duckling close-up

We leave the cat to continue its stalking

Nutria

Finally More Fotos & Finials too

Shadows on the Wall

Between starting my new job and taking the SBA exam, this past week has been incredibly busy.

I was so happy to finally get a chance to get out and take some pictures that I couldn't even wait until I'd gotten out of the shopping center parking lot.

Morning Dew on Maple Leaf

(ok, actually it's from the automatic sprinkler, but that just doesn't so so poetic.)

Red Gladiola

This is from the same yard where I took the pictures of the Pink Gladiola. It's the only red one in the bunch.

Pink Cosmos - Cosmos bipinnatus

Bee on a Sunflower

Across the street from the library where I work there is a big field. Close to the road there is a "Learning Garden" tended to by the students on campus. Most of the food from the garden goes to the local food bank.

The sunflowers are growing along the fence between the garden and the road.

Sun Catching Sunflower

I'd been looking at these sunflowers for a week... but today the light was just right!

These next sculptures were made by Jim Johnstone's ceramics class. Jim actually works in the library, but he makes some amazing pottery and teaches a class or two.

Anyway, he came up with the idea of having his class make finials for the fence in front of the learning garden. There are some really fun and creative ones. Unfortunately there aren't any tags to indicate the names of the sculptures or the artists.

Jim's Pea

I was showing these photos to Jim in the library and said this pea was my favorite. He said it's his! Impressive.