Weekending on the Farm

Hello my friends!  How was your weekend?  Ours was spent right here, enjoying our own space and watching nature prancing down the runway in it's best finery.  Would you like to see what I found as I walked around our farmyard looking to see what was in bloom?  You do?  Well, come on then!  Let's begin with my white Lilac.. in bloom.. in March.. aMAYzing!  I planted this by my garden window and the edge of the deck, next to my white azalea.  I actually took this photo from the deck.

This special tulip bloomed in our big pot.. isn't it pretty?

I put this big chunk of rose quartz in the moss in Dayle's Bonsai tree pot.. I was hoping to capture the glow of the sun through the pink stone.. can you see it?  We got this stone at a rock shop near Mt. Rushmore when we visited there 5 years ago on our big RV/Caravan trip of 5,125 mile round trip to Oklahoma.  

Kristi gave me this wonderful white Hosta last year for my birthday - it sprouted up all full and pretty recently.  

We have a big pot of Rosemary on the deck and I was happy to see all the blue flowers on the stems.

I do so love my pond fish.. the 2 koi have gotten HUGE.  Thankfully they have managed to elude the raccoons and blue herons that have taken many of our fish over the years.  ::knock on wood::

I didn't think you'd mind another photo of the Bleeding Hearts.. I mean.. who doesn't love these adorable flowers?

Pretty pretty pink hearts.. love love.

The Creeping Myrtle is poufing up around the pond.. oh how I love the sunshine bouncing off the water.

There is a big bud on one of the Iris plants!

The little survivors who have eluded Dayle's mowing.. purple Ajuga and Star of Bethlehem.  :-)

The delicate little flower of the Star of Bethlehem.

And look.. the purple Lilac.. ready to cut for a bouquet!  Have you ever smelled these?  Simply divine!  Do they grow where you live?

Our first Rhododendron to bloom.  Unfortunately, we're having a leaf blight - of the lace bug.. we may lose all of them.  Very upsetting.  

I hiked down into the pasture to get a photo of the pear flowers.. we have a booming crop of dandelion.. I found out that you should leave them as they are the first meal of the honey bees.  :-)

I had never noticed the red stamens on the pear flowers!

Our trees are wild and un-pruned and un-sprayed.. and I love them.  We have 3 pear trees, several plum trees, one big old apple tree and lots of wild cherries and 3 walnuts.  

Heading back towards the farmhouse I pass our tallest magenta rhodie which is infiltrated with the yellow Japanese Rose.

I only cut two little lilac flowers as they aren't quite open enough... 

I have my little basket of crocheted eggs and the yellow crocheted chick sent to me by Lucy in England who used to blog at "Lucy in the Sky".. isn't it cute?

On Saturday I indulged myself with watching "Under the Tuscan Sun" and started my next project - a bag designed by Lucy at Attic24 - the pattern is on her sidebar.  I made the base using taupe before beginning the rainbow stripes.  Have you seen this movie?  It really is one of my all-time favorites and if you haven't seen it, you really need to find it and watch, even Dayle likes it!

I had to show you my amazing orchid that is blooming in my garden window.  Isn't this something?

I had to show you my new shoes for walking around New Orleans in a few weeks.  Keen sandals.  Raspberry color.  I love them!

Yesterday our older son Shawn and his boys came to visit and to wash up their fifth wheel "toy hauler" trailer and to take it home.. the boys also rode their dirt bikes while here.. this is Gabe on his and you can see the trailer half cleaned up.. a lot of scrubbing was done!  A "toy hauler" is like a regular living space in the front but the back opens where you can take your bikes and quads - our son and his friends camp on the beach and all ride in the sand.

And here it is all scrubbed up - and our 4 grandsons - Michael, Gabriel, Hayden and Caleb - who so enjoy each other's company.

I just had to show you the trailer in it's home.. when Shawn and his wife had their home designed and built, they had this huge RV garage made - it's got a huge commercial 16' door - and not to stop there - there is another 16' door at the back and an extended parking drive for his 2nd trailer that is just for quads/bikes.  Boys and their toys.  Note:  This mother is happy that he took his trailer HOME as we've had it parked here on the farm for 4-5 years.  I'm liking the extra space now that it's gone.  :-)

Well, time to pack my swim bag and head to the pool.  Poor Gracie has come down with a cold and won't be joining me.  I hope your week ahead is a great one.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

Visiting Rowena Crest

Hello my friends, thanks for stopping in for a visit.  After several rainy days the sun shone yesterday and my dear husband and I set out for an adventure.  I'd heard that the wildflowers were beginning to bloom at Rowena Crest so we set out to see for ourselves and enjoy the warm sunny day.  We headed east alongside the Columbia River and had lunch in Cascade Locks then resumed our drive - we exited the freeway at Rowena, the sign then pointed to the left for Rowena.. we drove along and it didn't look right at all.. we were not gaining elevation.. we ended up in The Dalles!  A stop at a gas station to get advice and we headed back west and eventually wound up where we'd planned to go! :-)  Can you see the difference in the terrain?  No tall forests, drier and more desert-y.  

Here we are at Rowena Crest looking upriver, east.  Rowena is rather like a "sister" of Vista House at Crown Point in that it's high on a bluff over the Columbia River with expansive views.  See the train in Washington State on the left and the cars on the I-84 freeway in Oregon on the right?

And indeed the Balsamroot was in bloom!  Aren't these neat flowers - like ground level sunflowers!

So, here I stand in the center of a rather wild area at Rowena Crest and we're in Oregon.. what you see across the way is Washington.. and just a peek of the river between us.  Unfortunately the Lupine is just budded and not in bloom - see it to the left of the Balsamroot?  It's REALLY neat when both are in bloom and you get the yellow and purple together.  Maybe we'll go back when that is happening...

Such a wild and windy place.

I snapped a photo of Dayle and our car as I stood amongst the flowers.. the river is there also.

We then drove along heading west and Mosier and Hood River.  Now, this area is usually very dry and golden.. so it was neat to see it in the Spring when it's nice and green.. and I loved seeing this old barn in the meadow below.

I love seeing a barn that is being taken care of, don't you?

The landscape on this end of the river is so different than what it is where we live!  Again, you're seeing Oregon and then Washington across the river.  See Mt. Adams peeking over the horizon?

Another old barn, there are lots of little farm places along the way.

Dayle spied this poor little old abandoned log cabin.. so I turned the car around and we pulled into the driveway to get this shot.  I would have loved exploring around it but didn't want to trespass on the property.  I love to think of the hardy folks that built this cabin so long ago and the family that lived in this small place.

We took a turn onto a country road and it rose and rose in elevation and then we saw Mt. Hood loom in the distance!

And then, on our descent on this road we saw Mt. Adams in Washington.. oh my dear Lumix camera... thank you for your lovely zoom.

We ended up in the historic little town of Mosier, where we rejoined civilization by getting on Interstate 84 and drove West and through Hood River.. we exited the freeway at Cascade Locks so we could get a snapshot from our "place" - and I saw this huge Rhododendron in full bloom.. ::screech:: turn around.. *snap*.. wow.. 

Zoom.. wow.. 

Then we pulled in at our little view park under the Bridge of the Gods - I snapped a few photos and got out of the car and walked and stretched before we headed on home.  

Oregon on the left, Washington on the right.  But you know that already, right?

I made a doubled hot pad with my stash of Premier Home cotton yarn.  These aren't the prettiest of hot-pads, but are the workhorses of hot-pads.  

Crocheted Cotton Hot Pad/Pot Holder - Diagonal Design

2 ounce ball worsted weight crochet cotton
size G crochet hook

Begin by working 37 chain stitches.
Work 3 single crochet (sc) in 2nd chain from hook.'

Sc in every chain until one chain remains.
3 sc in last chain.

Work 1 sc into the other side of each chain stitch.

Work 1 sc into first sc and continue working 1 sc into each stitch for 18 or 19 rounds, until the two ends of the top round meet when folded towards each other.

Stop crocheting at a point half way between two ends. Work 15 chain stitches for loop and join with slip stitch into same sc as last stitched worked. Cut yarn, leaving a tail about 1 yard long, and draw tail through loop. Using the long tail, whip stitch both sides of single crochet to each other forming a flat square. Secure end, weave into the inside of the hot pad, clip tail and enjoy!

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My Hibiscus is doing so well, I put a stake in the pot using my black bamboo and tied all the droopy branches up with green garden twine and it's looking lovely.  I do hope you don't get tired of seeing my red hibiscus flowers.  :-)

One more.. :-)

OK.. Dayle and I are going to run some errands and you know that will involve lunch out.. right?  Gracie is not swimming today so that gives me the excuse to skip it too.. but I need to get some new shoes for my trip to New Orleans is 2.5 weeks!  So.. today is the day.  Plus, we need chicken food.  Busy, busy.  I hope you have a fun weekend planned!  ((hugs)), Teresa :-) 

Trilliums and Ripples

I spied some Trilliums in our woods the other day.. I'd been keeping an eye out for them for days.  So, in the afternoon I donned my old shoes and headed off for a hike to get a photo of these little beauties.  The first ones I came across had been chewed on a bit and so I kept on walking through the woods to find a pretty one.  Aha.. there it is.. stoop down.. hold still.. stop breathing.. *SNAP*  Isn't this a beauty?  Do you have trilliums where you live?  Here, they are one of the harbingers of Spring.

On my way into the woods I stopped at the top of our stream to enjoy seeing it from a different vantage point.  We have 3 garden sculptures, the top one is a Chinese soldier, the second one is a little Buddha that Dayle actually got while he was in Texas and in the Army learning to fly helicopters before they sent him to Vietnam.. and the third is my art nouveau lady.   

My red Japanese Maple has newborn leaves unfurling.. sweet.

The Trilliums are shy and don't look like much if you see them on the forest floor, you have to get closer to see them well.

Cutie pies.

We live in a 100 year old farmhouse and the woods next to our house were probably used for their wood stoves and fireplaces and they also serve as a windbreak for the house - this area is notorious for it's "East Wind" - sometimes we get heavy wind for weeks on end and months and months during the Fall and Winter.

I'm happy to see my Bleeding Hearts are already up and open!

Is there anything more amazing than a Bleeding Heart?  *love*

I am happy to show you something that I'd wanted to do for a LONG time.  I had 4 little pots of Christmas Cactus aka Zygotes.  They mean a LOT to me.  My first one was a cutting that my Aunt Helyn gave me from her HUGE plant in her home in Annapolis, Maryland when my sister Roberta and I visited her 10 years ago.  She put the cuttings in a ziploc bag with a damp paper towel.  Funny story is I was so busy when I returned that a few weeks later when I finished unpacking I found the bag with some rotten vegetable matter in it.. but one part of it was still "alive" so I took it out and stuck it in a pot outside and forgot about it.  Lo and behold sometime later I saw that it had taken root and was growing.  I am amazed at the fortitude of plant-life.  My 2nd one I rescued from my dying mother's room.. she always had a green thumb and had adopted this plant from someone else.. and it was dried up from lack of water.. and so I brought it home.  I also knew then that my mother was no longer herself if she'd let a plant die.  ::sigh::  ANYWAY... all of my plants needed repotted so I thought.. why not put them all together in one pot?  There are 3 different colors of them.  So, here they are in fresh soil in a big pot in a sunny spot.  Now to see how they do here.

I put the 3 vases of flowers that were given to us at the tulip farm in a place of honor on the table between our easy chairs.  

Now to show you the lap blanket that I finished.  I used KnitPicks Billow cotton yarn.  I also used Lucy at Attic24 blog's "neat ripple" pattern with the interlocking color motif.  The colors of the yarn line dictated the colors I used - they are muted, dusty colors and I like them a lot.

I laid this out on our king-size bed to get photos.. I think I need a "selfie stick" so I can get a flat out photo.  :-)  As I look at this, in retrospect, I should have put the two light colors on either end to balance it.  But.. it's okay, it will warm a child or a lap even if the colors don't balance.  :-)

This is our bedroom.. I love the skylights over the bed.. you know immediately upon waking what the weather is.  And I love that Dayle hung our old chandelier up over the bed not that long ago.  We got that light fixture for our first home in Louisiana.  Um.. in 1970.  :-)

And I had to share this close-up of the red tulips -- is there anything more amazing than this?  Well, I guess there is.. lots of things.. but tulip centers are cool.

Yesterday I met up with my two sisters, Denise and Roberta, and my BFF Shirley and we had lunch at the Cadillac Cafe.  I had the Cadillac Steak and Mac.  Oh my goodness.. it's so good.  If you're ever in Portland you need to go there and have that.  Then we went to Trade Roots - a clever name for an import shop - and I got a string of chickens.  Want to see?  I guess they're supposed to bring prosperity?  Bring it on!

Then we went to Sarah Bernhard's Bakery and I got the boys these Easter cookies and some apple fritters for our breakfast.  Nummers.

Now I'm off to swim soon.  I guess it's good to keep busy.. huh?  :-)

((hugs)), Teresa :-)