Off to Portland!!

This Sunday I'll be taking to the sunny skies and going cross county to Portland, Oregon for the annual Association of Specialty Cut Flower Growers conference (ASCFG). Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! Stuart will be glad to be rid of me for a week as I've become not much better than a bump on a log around the farm. Even worse, a bump that whines and complains. It's as if some Norse god has cursed me and my spirit now dwells in the log, in the bump, unable to express itself except by utterances of doom and despair. I suppose my spirit is waiting to be freed by the shiny happy flower people of the Willamette valley. Seriously, I'm extremely excited about the conference and I'm taking the camera along with an extra memory card so we'll have loads of pictures to post. I scheduled a whole day and a half for myself to tour Portland and all of it's loveliness....I've been told I need to visit the gorge, the classical chinese garden, the rose garden, Fernando's hideaway, and several other eateries including Voodoo doughnuts. I dreamed of New Zealand last night; that was the last place I went by myself. Trip anxiety kicks in. I have high hopes of returning with a brain spewing flower knowledge and creative juices, with a rekindled love for the blooms, and with a nice totebag for Stuart. Just kidding about the latter; I think I'll dart away from the classrooms on Wed for a tour of the local farmers' market and get him a treat there! It looks like bing cherries are in!!!
We picked the last of the figs from our bush outside the house. No more fig and white chocolate pancakes. A farmer friend told me an easy way to propagate figs is to put a weight on a branch so that it is lying on the ground; it'll send out roots and start it's own tree from there. Just dig it up after it has rooted. We're going to try this because the figs from this bush were like straight ambrosia. Maybe if I offer some to the bump on the log......
Another delicious treat we had of late was some freshly made ginger soda/brew that a friend, Ghassan, gave us. Damn! I've never had a ginger brew this good. I wish we could all have such tasty treats to make us feel special. The world might just be a better place.