Mama Day

Today I spent the day with my Mama.  Some things have become difficult for her so I came to help but that didn't mean we couldn't take a few pleasures in the day.  My first stop was Bauman Farms where I stopped for some fresh produce.  They always have a multitude of plants to look at and their produce is always the best.  Because I joined their rewards program I received a free pansy with the rest of the produce I bought.  A simple pleasure but pansies are always  pretty. I arrived at Mama's and after the produce was put away we set off on errands. Our first stop was Coastal Farm to buy thistle seed for her bird feeders.  It is chick season so they had a row of stock tanks comntaining of a variety of baby chicks. Regardless of how you might feel about chickens a flock of chicks peeping under their heat lamps is just cute.  It is always a fleeting thought to buy a few but I always come to my senses and remember they will be chickens and what on earth do I need chickens for?  The next errand was to get some books from the Tidal Wave bookstore, the outlet for Multnomah County Libraries unneeded books.  If you have never been and you are in Portland, there is no cheaper place to buy books.  The selection is variable but I have never walked in the door without walking out with a sackful or two of books and usually I spent little more than $10.  The fun part of this errand was the meeting of old friends.  Mama used to volunteer at Tidal Wave when she lived in Portland and she had an opportunity to visit with her friends from those days.  I ran around and picked out books and piled them on the table and she caught up with her friends.  By now it was lunchtime and we chose Meriwether's on Vaughn.  They are a really special place to eat and we have been dining there almost since they opened.  They have their own farm so most of what you eat is seasonal and Northwest grown.While we were eating the chef came out into the part of the restaurant where we were and put a suckling pig on a spit in their fireplace and began to cook it.  We asked the waitress how long it would take to cook and the chef came over and told us all about how long and what they did with the meat when it was cooked.  If you are curious 8 to 12 hours depending on the size of the pig.  After that we went back to Hillsboro,  I took care of a few things and then it was time to drive back to Sublimity.  All in all a lovely day.