There was farming in preparation for this weekend.  Interestingly, Wally continues to act like a farm dog.  She even has been hanging out in the dog house.

We are continuing to bottle feed Jameson.  His grandmother is curious about it.  Because of the bottle feeding, Tom wasn’t able to join us this weekend.

I was preparing by gathering lilac blossoms.  I encountered a really small baby snail in the process.  I thought it was cute.

I made a Lilac cordial from the Drink Your Garden book I bought.  It has lilac blossoms, blueberries, lemon and sugar.  You simmer it and then let it steep for 2 days.

I noticed one of our rhodies is looking mighty pretty.

I took some lilac flowers down to Acacia Memorial Park to honor my grandmother and great grandmother. I thought they looked pretty.

That was on Wednesday when we also joined my mother and Al to honor her birthday with a nice dinner.  It was lively evening.

Then on Friday Ryeleigh and I hit the road.

And we arrived at my mother’s family cabin.  Ryeleigh was excited to be out of the car after a long journey.  The river was beautiful.

We were joined by my mother, Al, brother and Sue.  Mom made a great dinner, and there was an after dinner dog walk with the late sunlight on the volcanic cliffs.  Unfortunately a lot of the fir tree there are dying.

On Saturday morning we all clamored into Al’s truck (which was tight) and went to find William O. Douglas cabin in Goose Prairie.  We think we found it. He is a true hero from Yakima, and his environmental influences are still evident today.

We also found the Susan Summit Cyr cabin where Mr. Douglas had stayed as well.  I have a copy of her book Tanum which I will be reading.  I would also like to read Mr. Douglas’ autobiography too.

We checked out Bumping Lake and the boat launch.  It was just gorgeous.

There were more dog walks at the cabin.

And then I started a cooking extravaganza.  I used vintage equipment including old mixers for this.  I first made Pineapple Upside-Down Cake.  Then I put a leg of Lamb in the oven.  My brother had to Sawzall the end to get it to fit in the oven.  I used this Roast Lamb recipe.  I then prepared the dough for Salted Butterflake Rolls.  That is what is being shown here.

Here are the rolls baked.  I prepare dough for Homemade Cinnamon Rolls and Cornmeal Mush for the next day.  And I tried to make the Best Crispy Roast Potatoes Ever.  But I ended up just putting the boiled peeled potatoes in the lamb drippings and baking them, calling it good enough.

I also made peas with pearl onions and steamed local purple asparagus (thanks to The Little Red School house, my favorite fruit stand).  Here is the dinner on the table, covered to stay warm.  I chose these foods as they reminded me of what my maternal grandmother would cook back in her day.  Per my mother, I did a good job.

Here is my plate.  I thought it all was amazing.  The lamb was yummy (even though I forgot to baste it and cooked it too long).  Mint jelly is a must.

Then there was the pineapple upside-down cake for dessert.  I had always wanted to make one, and I do remember my grandmother making them when I was a kid.  This one wasn’t  as pretty as hers, but it tasted good.

We did the Mother’s Day dinner a day early as I wanted my brother to participate as I know he is a big fan of lamb.  But then I made the Mother’s Day brunch actually on Mother’s Day.  I finished the cinnamon rolls, fried the mush, scrambled our eggs, and fried our bacon.  I did make drinks using the Lilac Cordial as well.

Here is my plate.  I managed to try to burn the rolls when I accidentally had the oven temperature too high.  I didn’t think the fried mush was as crispy as my grandfather used to make it but closer than my previous attempts.  I didn’t have a loaf pan for the mush which would have been an improvement and more consistent with his version.  I will keep trying.  But I received good reviews for my brunch.

My brother and Sue had been working to fix up our old outhouse which a tree had fallen on last year.  It is looking much better now.  There are lots of memories of using this when I was a kid.

I had purchased a fuchsia for my mother.  I thought it looked good at the cabin.

There were more dog walks after brunch, and Greg and Sue left.

We visited the neighbor’s cabin that had been recently condemned and removed due to the flooding over the winter,  It was sad to see it gone.  You could even see jigsaw puzzle pieces and marbles in the debris, reminding you of the fun that had once happened there.

My niece Loki and great nephew Zephyr came as well.  Al was able to help get his measurement on the wall where all of the measurements are noted since 1958.

Mom made a nice dinner (which is kind-of unfair as it was Mother’s day), but it was really good.  It was nice to hangout and catch up.  This morning there were more dog walks.  There are white flowers on the other side of the river that almost look like snow.  They are quite pretty.

There was also a sliver of a moon above Edgar Rock which I also thought was pretty.

So it was a great weekend with good company and food.  The weather was also perfect.  So we might make this a tradition but unlikely the weather will be as nice in the future.

P.S. I finished this book, Brave Hearted: The Women of the American West. It is an amazing book about women in the frontier using their own words.  Immigration is covered including the Oregon, California and Mormon trails as well as the California gold rush. There are stories of African-American and Chinese slaves and the Native American experience from a number of tribes.  There were military wives too.  I learned a lot and have a whole new appreciation for how tough women can be.