Devour 2011

Ruth Brown at Willamette Weekly gave the Townshends Tea House as well as our Brew Dr. Kombucha a nice compliment in the Devour 2011 write up! (below is the copy/pasted review from WW, I've highlighted the best part!)


Townshend’s Alberta Street Teahouse

2223 NE Alberta St., 445-6699, townshendstea.com, 9 am-10 pm daily.

[TEA] This warm Alberta teahouse is cute as a button, full of comfy couches, houseplants and a wonderful aroma of spice. It’s an incredibly restorative environment in which to curl up with a fragrant brew and spend some time poking through apothecary bottles full of loose-leaf teas to take home. Despite the British-sounding name, the range belies the store’s beginnings as a college cafe, with a focus on herbal and Asian teas—there are 11 different types of chai—and a special menu of blends promising “curative” properties. And if you’re into that sort of thing, Townshend’s also makes the city’s best kombucha, a funky fermented tea popular with hippies and health freaks. (RB)

Pretty awesome! And below is a out of focus picture of Gregg, myself and Mo this weekend building our cart for the festivals this summer. We have the foundation and floor boards done. The walls will be next, I will keep you posted on the progress.

Beltane Festival 2011

My friend and co-worker Josh's sister puts together a Beltane Festival every year. This year most of the Townshends crew joined the fun. It was held at Overlook Park by the Eagle Creek Fish Hatchery in the Gorge. Below is the celebration of the May Pole.

Myself, Mo, Jake, Gregg and Josh getting directed from a kind lady who insisted on taking many photos of us.

Just down the road are a few bridges you can get under and really find a close place to the water.

Spring Slacking

I know, your probably thinking...finally something new! It's been quite a busy time for me, which necessarily is not a bad thing. I feel worn pretty thin though which can lead to an anxious mind. So I enjoy when I can find and feel a time for relaxation.

These photos are from about a month ago. Below is a picture of the tree outside my bedroom window. The tree is now thick with green leaves.

The setting sun with giant tree shadows. Such a peaceful part of the day.

Speaking of relaxation...I finally pried my windows open and now have fresh air in my bedroom. It's raining and I have an old book of Richard Brautigan that I am deeply in favor of. Its all about these moments for me right now.

SEE YOU ON THE HILL #5

This is from a month ago. My friends Willie, Erik and Trevor were in a contest at Timberline. This is the last footage of Willie before he broke his upper arm in half. They all did great and Trevor ending up taking first place!

With the passion to film and edit again, I'm now working on some other-than-snowboarding edits. Coming eventually...

From The Archives

Spring is here! Which means I've been doing some material possession inventory. While I was going through some tubs I found the CD with my friend Ethan Confers North Shore trip photos. It was a weekend of exploration, snowboarding and drinking but more importantly a weekend with great friends!

Please check out Ethan's Photography site HERE

(From right to left) You have myself, now residing in Oregon. Jon, who lives in Colorado. Ethan and then Ryan who both live in Montana. These photos make me happy, bottom line. To think that we all lived and bloomed in Minnesota and are now out West, thriving and living where we all knew we once would end up is quite an indescribable feeling!

Tourist in Seattle

Food/Drink Love#3 Eltana

I recently visited Seattle, WA for a work/play trip. I was luckily recommended to visit Eltana |Wood-Fired Bagel Cafe| from a kind elder woman walking her dog (as I was) in Cal Anderson Park.

Wood-Fired Bagels!

The coffee is from a Seattle local, who is friends with the owner. Only sold in a few (3) cafe's in Seattle. Bio Willy's Beans coffee is made in his garage.

Everything Bagel with Honey Almond Cream Cheese $3.75
(add) Crispy Chickpea and Leek Salad for $2

If your ever in Seattle, WA this is a must stop!

A couple of my friends work in a building located at 3rd and Washington, downtown Portland. There's a few covered tables on the roof. So once in a while we will gather. This is where we started celebrating St. Paddy's Day.

Sitting in Seattle

Had to drive to Seattle on Monday for a quick work trip. So I decided to take off on Sunday to enjoy a little road time and explore this beautiful city. We explored the Myrtle Edwards Park yesterday, a gorgeous park along Elliott Bay filled with modern sculptures that fill the foreground and huge tankers slowly swimming to the Puget Sound.
Slept in today, watched a horrible episode of "Law And Order" in the hotel room (TV can be so relaxing). Visited another neat park, Cal Anderson Park. Stopped into a Co-Op to meet the deli Manager to continue the process of getting one of our "kegerators" in. Now I'm sipping locally brewed coffee and just demolished the best fire baked bagel I've ever had! More venturing to be had...!

Kiss me, I'm Irish

Food/Drink Love#2 Produce Row Cafe

Produce Row Cafe, located in the heart of the Southeast Industrial District in Portland. Brunch 10am to 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays, lunch, dinner and a great happy hour Monday through Friday. Tuesday nights, DJ Rev. Shines plays funk to soul while you relax and eat a wonderful meal. Produce Row Cafe is a must go if in Portland!

The Elder St Germain Elderflower, Sapphire Gin, Orange, and Grapefruit juices served up $8

Savory Waffle topped with bacon, two fried eggs, & sausage gravy $8.5

Breakfast Potato Skins scrambled eggs, bacon, cheddar and scallions with salsa & sour cream $8

Saturday bike ride

Last Saturday was a spring like day. The air was warm and the sun was out off and on. I recently purchased a new bike, so Mark (my roommate, pictured below) and I took our new bikes out for a cruise around SE Portland. We stopped at a few cool spots, had a beer and I was able to take one of my new favorite photos, pictured below as train came rushing by us.

This is a neat broken down bridge or old loading station on the Willamette River off the Spring Water Corridor trail. (photo by Mark Oanes)

The rowers were out practicing.

Portland City Grill

A few weeks ago my friends Willie, Amy and myself went to Portland City Grill on Friday for Happy Hour. It's on the 30th floor of the second tallest building in the heart of Portland. We were able to snag a table facing Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helen's and watched the last beams of sunlight hit the peaks. (not pictured)

The Booch

We got some snow last week. When I say "got some snow" I mean an inch. Of course schools shut down and all the buses had the chains attached to the tires. The inch of snow was melted by 10:30am. It was beautiful though and made me think of Minnesota.

A few picture from our bottling plant in McMinnville, OR.

Sidewalk Thugs

Biked around town last Saturday, found these two roaming the sidewalks