Another Labor Day in Ashland, Oregon

We spent another Labor Day weekend in Ashland, Oregon this year (after enjoying it so much last time), and enjoyed some fine Shakespeare Festival delights. I always feel a rush when I first glimpse the Elizabethan stage. We saw "As You Like It" (and we liked it), "Troilus and Cressida" (based on "The Iliad", and I can see why it isn't performed much!), and "Henry V" (perhaps the Bard's most inspirational piece).

We also saw lovely vistas of the Rogue Valley:

And ever so many well-kept gardens, including many vegetable gardens and gorgeous flowers:

Of course, no trip would be complete without me picking out my favorite thing I ate. I loved this Rogue Cheese Sampler from Pasta Piatti, featuring local cheeses from Rogue Cheeses, served with crostini, and paired with roasted garlic and onion, fresh pear, red grapes, caper berries, olives, tomato/basil, and spiced walnuts. Whew! What a mouthful (pun intended)! We hardly needed dinner after polishing off this plate.

Now we have returned, well fed, well rested, and ready to take on the last dog days of summer. My tomatoes are starting to really ripen, but I'm already getting my fall seeds in. I also found this kind of extreme but also really cool book called "Food Not Lawns" in a little indie bookstore in Ashland. It's all about how to rid of useless huge lawn spaces and convert them into food-producing gardens. I'm all ears, sister!