Monday, May 18, 2015

Birds, a Surprise, DAR Ladies & Flowers

Hello friends!  I'm glad you stopped by.  Our bird feeder has been busy lately which makes me so happy.  My daughter-in-law Kristi is a real outdoors girl and has taken to enjoying the different birds.  She snapped this photo and we tried to find it in our bird books.. I actually found it, but sent the image to my "birder" friend Shirley and she confirmed that it is a Lazuli Bunting!  She said it's very scarce to see one here.  Isn't it pretty?


She also got another neat shot of a Goldfinch.  I love the pine needles and the tree branch with all the lichen in this shot.  Pretty!!


Dayle brought in the mail the other day and there was an envelope from my blog friend Kathy from Running With Rocket blog - what could this be?  I admired the lace bag and cute tape on it.. 


When we were visiting with Kathy after she dug some Irises for us - in her lovely home where the walls were adorned with many wonderful art images of airplanes.. and I saw this print on the wall of some jets flying over Vista House and the gorge.. and I ooohed and ahhhed over it.  WELL.. she found a small print she'd had matted of the painting and sent it to us!  Isn't that generous and sweet of her?  I love it!  Thanks, Kathy!


On Saturday I got dressed up and donned my pins and headed to the Oregon State Society Daughters of the American Revolution State Conference - it was held in Wilsonville, just south of Portland, OR.  Every other year the President General attends - which is a big deal.  In this photo our Regent-Elect of Portland Chapter, Diane (far left) is giving our chapter report - the President General, Lynn Fornay Young is the lovely lady on the dais with the big ribbon across her chest.  She is the leader of the entire DAR - the entire USA plus chapters located in many other countries, called Units Overseas.  Click HERE to learn more about DAR.  Encompassing an entire city block, DAR Headquarters is one of the worlds's largest buildings of it's kind owned and maintained exclusively by women. :-)  Please click HERE and scroll down and watch the amazing video about our Memorial Continental Hall.



During the luncheon and dinner meetings we heard reports from all the chapters in Oregon, plus saw awards given to children and adults and my favorite part - hearing our President General tell her inspirational report.


There is my sister Roberta in the center in the aqua jacket.



They have a professional photographer taking group photos during the afternoon - I asked a fellow DAR friend to use my camera to sneak in a photo of us and this is the best one.  This is the Portland Chapter plus our Associate Members - front and center is our President General and our State Regent, Cynthia Parnell.



The Associate Members stepped aside while we got a shot of the members of our chapter.  We have 85 members, but these are the group who were there at the time of the photo.  :-)  


I'm not fond of seeing myself in photos, but this is my special chapter friend Susan F. who actually lives in Rome, Italy, and flew all the way to Oregon to attend our State Conference.  I've attended two Continental Congress (the huge national conference) held in WA DC each year - and was happy to get to know Susan there. 


I was the editor of a cookbook for the online DAR group called the "DARlings - and Susan did all the chapter illustrations for the book!  I drew the cover illustration.


I saw the PG nearby and asked if I could have a photo with her and she kindly agreed.  :-)  She's so sweet!


Yesterday I rested up from the busy day - it was a sunny and lovely day on the farm and the boys were having a fun time outside.  They sure do enjoy the play structure we bought and put together for them.


Kristi has been working away at cutting the blackberries that are getting out of hand behind the shed and woodshed.  Thanks, Kristi!


I looked out on the deck and saw that the boys had taken the blankets we bought them and had made a "fort" using the deck chairs.  :-)



Here they are in their hideout.  LOL!


Isn't this a cute flower?  I can't remember what it is though.


My "4th of July" rose is covered with blooms!


My Lantana continues to be one of my favorite flowers.. but I do have quite a list, don't I? :-)


Kristi found this "volunteer" plant near our barn a few years ago and I asked her to dig the plant and we planted it in an empty pot and it's given us a lot of joy - it's a Bellflower.


I was happy to find a new pot of "Cape Primrose" aka streptocarpus at a little plant nursery that Gracie showed me last year.  I've been trimming off the spent flower stems.  I went looking for a Maidenhair Fern which she did not have, but she had this - and it's where I got this plant last year.


Also a volunteer is a pot full of Forget-Me-Not is pleasing.



I planted a pot of these Sweet William years ago and every single year they come back and fill the pot with these gorgeous red/magenta flowers.


My mixed hanging pot grows more lush by the day.


The koi and pond fish continue to grow.  :-)



How are you spending your day?  I hope you are finding lovely things in your life to enjoy.  All you need to do is look!  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

19 comments:

  1. That Oregon DAR meeting might be the only place in Oregon where evening gowns come out....
    My grandmother was very involved with Eastern Star and I can remember all her ensembles.
    Love seeing all your flowers.

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  2. Lovely to see such a big streptocarpus. Here they just tend to be small indoor pot plants. I really like them, we had one or two when I was growing up. Your DAR meeting looks wonderful, quite inspirational. It must be lovely to be involved with something like that. CJ xx

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  3. How wonderful to see you in all your finery at the DAR meeting, such fun. Your garden is outstanding, the flowers are certainly beautiful. Your Grandsons have made a fine den, great to see.

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  4. Oh my goodness Teresa, so much goodness in this post!!! Loved seeing the meeting and all the ladies, so many lovely pins! Great print of your Vista house and gorge, so nice of her! My favorite photos are of the birds, they are so pretty. Hope you have a great week. I'm off to MV tomorrow to take some things down for the renovation.
    xoRobin

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  5. Your DIL obviously loves living with you Teresa...what lucky boys they are too with all that open space. Great photos from your meeting. Enjoy your rest day x

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  6. I commend Kristi for taking on such a hard job as clearing blackberry bushes.
    Oh what a pain they can be - in more ways than just one!

    What a beautiful gathering of lovely DAR ladies. What fun you all must have had that day.

    The boys sure look like they're having fun. And the farm grounds are just bursting at the seams with beautiful posies everywhere.

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  7. My school year is just about finished and my son is graduating, so life is moving by fast! Warm weather and busy schedules are on the books here. Kristi sounds like a GEM!

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  8. Teresa, I don' t think I have ever met anyone that enjoys life as much as you do!

    My mother in law was very involved in DAR..a wonderful organization! She is 93 now, and and unable to see very well due to severe cataracts, so sad, as she loved to write and read......but I remember her relating her enjoyment and being the secretary of her chapter, as she was a very detailed lady....

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  9. I love your flowers! The boys look like they are having a great time. The DAR meeting looks interesting. You have such a happy family and it really shows in all the pictures!

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  10. I love your cheerful posts. Your involvement with DAR is so interesting to me.
    I had breakfast with a nurse/pal that is still working on my old unit. She is fun and honest and a hard working person. Fun to have french toast and chicken links for breakfast.
    Our flowers are coming along too and IM enjoying every single blossom. Hoping for rose blooms soon

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  11. Great pics, as always, Teresa! Love the illustration you drew. You are very talented, indeed! Gorgeous bird pics. I've never seen a Lazuli bunting, so this is quite a treat for me. I'm all about birds and flowers. :) Love how the boys made a fort! :)

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  12. Love the print from Kathy. The Vista House has such a commanding view of the Gorge and the jets flying over...goodness it is a special print for you. The DAR meeting looks like it was a lovely event. All of the ladies dressed so nicely and Teresa, you take wonderful pictures. You're way too hard on yourself. Us girls never like our own photos. :-) I liked the boys fort. It sure took me back years to when our boys were doing the same thing. With all of the new toys, some things never change. As usual, the farm is gorgeous in it's spring finery. Thanks for sharing with us.
    Blessings,
    Betsy

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  13. The Lazuli bunting is spectacular. I'd love to see one of those in my yard.
    I think you should use your watercolor app on that goldfinch photo. It would make a lovely greeting card or a picture to hang on your wall!

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  14. I've never seen a Lazuli Bunting before--beautiful! How blessed you are to see one in person:) Sometimes I miss being in DAR. Looking back, I wish I had waited till I "retired" before joining, but maybe sometime in the future I'll renew my membership. BTW, you have a very lovely smile!
    Blessings, Aimee
    PS: Nothing much happening here except for garden work and -- alas -- more snake sightings :(

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  15. That little bird is stunning. We were treated to a hunting display by a kestrel while out walking on the moor yesterday. It was wonderful, and no one saw that little bird working to feed its family but us.

    Life looks to be good and full Teresa, and long may it continue that way x

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  16. What an exciting event for your DAR group. Looks like everyone was having a grand old time. Those birds at the top of your post are so very pretty - love the colours in the first one. I think your little grandsons are so lucky to have such loving grandparents. Their play structure is amazing. xox

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  17. I think you look beautiful and am so glad you had a wonderful time at the event.
    Your flowers are so beautiful.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  18. Wow, Kristi's photos are really stunning. She got some beautiful shots. I'm glad you had such a nice time at the DAR conference. It looks like a large group, it's great to see such an active participation. Your farm is just looking better and better, everything looks gorgeous! Hope you're having a good week, Teresa.

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  19. Kristi is getting some wonderful photos of the birds....has she thought of submitting them to the magazine Birds and Blooms....you both have so many great photos that could go in that magazine! I'm glad you got to celebrate the birth and growth of our nation with the DAR. You did a good job creating the cover for the cookbook, too! The photo that Kathy gave you is really special. I love seeing our grandkids in such healthy creative playing...we are blessed. We have a snowball bush, a red rhododendron and other flowers in bloom around here, and our Joseph's coat rose bush has some buds ready to burst open. It's exciting to watch all the beauty bloom forth in Spring, isn't it? xx

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