Life at a "Swell's" pace

It's Sunday, which means it's the day to relax and do absolutely nothing. Well, actually we are going to go for a hike after lunch and enjoy McDowell Creek Falls. We always seem to go for a bike ride on Sundays, so today we decided to mix it up a bit and take a hike. I have a lot of photos to share next week of our recent excursions, including our recent golf trip. But first, here are the things that made this week awesome!

1. This skyline

The pink skies here in Oregon never get old.

2. This night shot

Moons like this always remind me of the Cheshire Cat smile on Alice in Wonderland.

3. This little doggie

Happy sixth birthday, little PITA.

4. This charcoal stick

The city water here is so hard on our stomachs that we literally avoid drinking it most of the time. We've tried tap filters, pitcher filters, and even water delivery and nothing seems to help cleanse the water enough to where we can drink it, and the costs of those really add up over time, too. We have heard about charcoal filters in the past, but never took the time to try it out on our city water, until now. It has helped cleanse a bit of the taste in small glasses of tap water, but in large pitchers it needs a week to sit and really work. The city water here just doesn't taste refreshing enough to us to drink on a daily basis. We use the water to cook with after it's sat in the charcoal filter, but as far as drinking it, it tastes too contaminated for us. We have ventured out to boxed waters though and found that this brand is great! It comes from our local coop and we always stock up when we go for our weekly shopping trips there.

5. This wide eyes

For the last two weeks we've had some visitors in the tree behind out house. PITA goes nuts over them, but are happy to have a bit of wildlife activity in the city. They've been back a few times over the last two weeks, but this week we got a good view of them.

Extras:

Summer bucket list: Take a class at the Brit+Co Shop.
Portland Apothecary.
3 Days of Peace, Music and a Concierge.
Water coloring.
Preserving food.
Zombie training for soldiers?
Clothing organizing.
Frozen bubble. Frozen experiment with a water bottle.
Cleaning a cutting board.
July's reading selection from South North South. Check it out here!

Have a great week!

What happened this time last year?

With the warmer weather here in the Valley we decided to get out and about and take advantage of it. The dogs really like going to the river and dipping their paws in and we like to take a small hike near the river on a well travel path. The trail leads right to the edge of the South Santiam River and it's always a fun spot to see a full view of the Willamette Valley.

We all couldn't believe that PITA jumped into the water like he did. He doesn't normally dive off the edge into the water, but he does like to chase things. We are thinking the little fish swimming around the bank was too tempting to resist. The water wasn't too cold, but I think once he was in it he decided it wasn't a good idea and came promptly back to us.

The wildflowers were on full display.

Baz loves to walk with us, but he prefers going without a leash so he feels free. He turns 16 this year, but he is full of life still and we take him whenever we can. PITA has sort of become his "service dog" in a way. Baz can't see or hear well, but PITA helps him a lot more than he realizes.