Weekends in Dundee

Join us as we explore Willamette Valley Wine Country one weekend at a time!

Archives for March 2015

Celebrating Family at The Painted Lady

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Some of our “chosen family” was in town at the end of February, and yes I know it’s almost the end of March, but I had to share. They’re huge foodies from the East Coast, and so we decided it was time to finally try out The Painted Lady. The Renaissance Man and I have been hearing about The Painted Lady since we moved to Dundee and I can tell you that the rave reviews were well earned!

We had an eight o’clock dinner reservation and the whole upstairs room of the house to ourselves. What’s neat about the location is the charm of the old Victorian house. The house is part of the “painted lady movement” thus the restaurant’s name, The Painted Lady.

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#WineWednesday ~ Valley Wine Merchants

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Last Friday night, The Renaissance Man and I both got off work late…it was a loooonnnggg week.

By the time we had dinner, it was already after 7pm, but I really wanted to go into Newberg and explore First Friday! Despite wanting to stay home and hunker down, I managed to successfully convince The Renaissance Man to join me. When we arrived downtown, we popped in and out of a few shops and then wandered into Valley Wine Merchants.

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Hiking Harvey Creek Trail to Purple Hands Winery

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Last Sunday we went on an adventure! The weather was beautiful with temperatures in the mid to low sixties and not a cloud in the sky. We were trying to figure how we wanted to fill our day, when I simultaneously got a phone call from my Mom and a text message from our Neighbor. Everyone wanted to get outside and do something!

Our neighbors wanted to do some wine tasting, and they also just rescued a little dog named Ginger, so we decided to take Ginger and my parent’s dog Cooper on hike together over to Purple Hands Winery via the Harvey Creek Trail.

Dundee_Views

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The Slowest Growing Lettuce

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So you may or may not remember…but back in November, I was working on a little garden project. We had enjoyed fresh lettuce from our garden all summer and it took very little effort. I figured we’d plant a winter crop of lettuce and save ourselves some money at the grocery.

After looking at all sorts of complicated greenhouse projects on Pinterest, I decided to keep it simple and make a makeshift greenhouse out of some clear plastic tubs. I was so smitten with my fantastic idea, I could just envision our abundant supply of lettuce!

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Buzzing with Excitement ~ Second Year Beekeeping

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Things sure have changed since my last visit to Ruhl Bee Supply. Last year around this time I was nervously following The Renaissance Man into this huge warehouse building full of honeybee supplies. I had no idea what I was doing and was convinced we were getting in way over our heads with this whole “Beekeeping Thing.”

I’m happy to report that this year I felt like a seasoned pro! We must have spent two hours perusing the store and slowly filling our carts with new honeybee equipment. Just look at all of those supplies.

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The Pears are Budding!

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It sure is hard to believe that we’ve had such a mild winter. I just kept thinking that we’d get a hard freeze or some snow…

But to be honest, I’m ok with sunshine. The warm sun feels like a happy hug on my skin, and even our pear trees are starting to feel the love! The espaliers that we planted last summer are beginning to bud, and I’m sure we’ll have full on blooms within the week!

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