We didn't do much... but we didn't really have to! It was just nice to see how they were doing, we don't talk too much during the week so I needed to catch up on what's been happening in their daily lives....
My Dad, who's an avid reader, turned me on to a series of books he'd read that I'm really enjoying! The best part is there's a whole lot to read and he gave me just about every book in the series! Nothing like getting lost in a good book, and this series will keep me going for a long time! The author is Daniel Silva and I started with the one I deemed to be the first in the Gabriel Allon series "The Kill Artist".
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| http://danielsilvabooks.com/about-daniel/faq/ |
Click on the link below the picture to get the info on the complete series. You won't be disappointed with this author, I'm hooked already! So I had a good book to read when I had the time, and we had lots of siestas during my stay, so I got in a good amount of reading! Thanks Dad!
It helped a lot that Oregon is having a stellar year for weather! Oregon is known for it's wet weather, even during the summer months, but this summer we've been treated to a beautiful summer right from the beginning! And you don't know how much we needed it!
So my mom and I would head to the hills for a little hike in the woods, one of our favorite things to do together! It gave us a chance to do more catching up, (she also tried to scare me by throwing things in the brush cause she knows how much I get freaked out by snakes and other such things, one of her favorite things to do on a hike! But don't worry, I got her back good... another story!)
Mom and I have always liked the scent of lavender, so we checked out a local lavender farm to get some sweet smelling treats!
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| My wonderful mom |
It smelled heavenly, and it was so beautiful! Such a lovely way to spend time with my Mom!
During my stay we also ate some of my favorite meals that my Mom has always made throughout my life! She is Hispanic and she makes the best refried beans and tortillas and a dish we call savory meat... mmmmmmm the best comfort food you could ask for! Of course I've tried for a long time to get her recipes down on paper so they don't get lost forever, but she can never give me exact measurements, it's all instinct, dishes that were taught to her by her mother, all done by feel and taste. So me, having no instinct for cooking at all, I watched and jotted down every ingredient, and every stir and how much time it took, and I rolled out dozens of tortillas.... hopefully I will preserve some of these precious recipes that would be lost forever if I didn't take the time to write them down! Thanks Mom for the fun cooking lessons! Here's the recipe for Mom's Savory Meat if you'd like to try it. I haven't tried it since I wrote it down that week so let me know if it works or if it needs tweeking!
The rest of our time we spent watching movies, laughing and joking as we've always done as a family. I went through old photographs... remembering my life as a kid, all good memories. And when the sun went down we took our evening walks, enjoying the warm breezes, the colors in the sky, picking blackberries and sweet plums, watching the airplanes and birds fly by through binoculars...
But really our time that week was spent just enjoying each others company, which is something we don't tend to do as much as we should.... especially with our aging parents. I consider myself very lucky to have my parents, they gave me a good life and brought me up right and I want to spend as much time with them as I can!
My only regret that week is that my brothers weren't there to share it with us, that would've made it complete! Oh and I didn't take more pictures!! I'll leave you with my all time favorite picture of my parents! Newly married, young and happy...... just like they are today... just like they taught me to be! Thanks Mom and Dad!
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