Thank You

Hello dear readers, thank you so much for all your sweet wishes for my recovery.  You all rock!  I am having a bad day, nausea, took my meds for it and it made me sick and I threw it up.  Apparently recovery from stomach ulcers takes a long time.  But I'm doing a blog post anyway.  I went out to pick a couple sprigs of white lilac to bring in... I'll show you why in a minute.  When we arrived home from the hospital I was so happy to see the lilacs were still looking lovely.  Their bloom is fleeting.

I was happily surprised to receive a birthday card from my brother Robert and a 2nd from his wife D'Ann... then yesterday we received this bouquet of tulips from them to cheer me from my hospital stay!  I quickly sent them a thank you email.

I received this pretty blue vase from France that I found for Dayle to surprise me with for my birthday.  :-D  It's a Portieux Vallerysthal Hand Vase in Royal Blue French Opaline.  I hope my jadeite will not be jealous.

I actually think the turquoise blue color goes well with the green jadeite, what do you think?

I'll keep this short as I am not feeling well.  I hope to have a better report for Monday.

Do you have any exciting weekend plans?  Do share!

((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

Birthday in the Emergency Room

What a week this has been.  We had reservations at an oceanfront hotel for my birthday.  But I'd been feeling ill for several days so finally we realized we'd have to cancel.  :-(  On Sunday we called the hospital nurse's help line and after describing everything he said we should really go to the Emergency Room.  Which is how I spent my birthday.  Checking in, being assessed, getting a CT scan, donning a lovely backless gown, getting an IV inserted, installed in a room, on and on.  The final result after being there from Sunday to Wednesday at noon is I have two ulcers in my stomach.  I had no idea they were such painful!  I've dealt with a lot of nausea and other things you don't want to know about.  But today Dayle brought me home and I hope to be on the mend.  Apparently my use of Nsaids such as Alleve is what did it.  So, be careful and try not to use them.  This was the view of Mt. Hood on our drive home.  I'm so happy to be in my own home!  One of the effects of all this is I've lost my appetite.   Dayle made me a grilled cheese sandwich and I could only eat 1/4 of it.  Now I have rumblings down there.  I will have to Google foods to eat if you have ulcers.  Thank you to those of you who have expressed concern to me for being missing.  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

Floral Explosion

Greetings, thanks for stopping by!  Our yard is bursting with flowers blooming.. care to join me for a walkabout?  Here is our red Rhododendron in the front yard.

The Bleeding Heart is looking good.

Our pinky-red Azalea is covered with flowers.

The floppy bell shaped white Rhody.

The Elderberry in flower.. it's quite lush this year.

The magnificent magenta Rhody is ready to open.. 

This year the dark purple Lilacs have the biggest and longest flower spires ever.

The Redbud tree is blooming.

This was just delivered!  A Petite Knock Out rose, red from my very thoughtful daughter Amy in Ohio!  What a neat gift, thank you!  It's for Mother's Day.

We got Mocha groomed yesterday so I thought I'd show you how pretty she looks.  :-)

I have some fun things to share with you soon.  I hope you're having a wonderful weekend!!

((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

It's Lilac Time!

The lilacs are finally opening and wow.. the dark purple one has blooms that are bigger and taller than I've ever seen them!  Dayle just cut this bouquet for me using his long-handled pruner for trees.  The best blooms are on the very top, of course.  :-)

The photo on top is backlit so I took this one closer so you could see the true color.

I brought in this one sprig of the white Lilac to put on my little piano stool next to my chair.  I keep picking up the vase to smell the intoxicating perfume of the flower.

I love being able to bring in bouquets from our farmyard!

Before we cut the bouquet.. lol.

This is the white Lilac that we planted under the garden window in the kitchen.. I envisioned having the lilac perfume coming in the open window.  The flowers aren't showing up well as they haven't opened up fully.

This photo shows the dark purple on the left, the white on the right and then beyond is the huge old classic lavender colored one plus another dark purple.

A closer shot of the big old bush.  It's been here for a LONG time!

While I was standing on the deck taking photos the Hummingbirds that use our feeder were buzzing at me.  Do you see the little guy in the lilac bush?  I keep hoping they'll use the nest basket we hung up for them.

A close-up of our Peony, see the sweet nectar that oozes out of the buds?  I can't wait for them to open!

That's where we are at the moment.  What's going on with you in your spot on this spinning globe in the universe?

((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

Spring has Sprung!

This is my favorite time of year, things start emerging on their own accord and it's so life-affirming!  I love the Bleeding Heart, it's really quite amazing.

One of the first Rhododendrons to bloom is this one.  The bud is pink but it opens to a creamy white.

See the pink as they open?

This Hosta is fun to watch emerge.

Star-of-Bethlehem and Forget-me-not bloom on the south end of our house.

I think the colors in this flower are sublime.

Star Magnolia.

This is Mahonia around the world I think but here it's called "Oregon Grape".  :-)

We were able to have our dinner with our middle child, son Shawn and grandson Michael on Saturday.  Our grandson Caleb is staying with us again so he got to enjoy the party.  He'd requested we make a family favorite, teriyaki chicken wings.  You make your own teriyaki sauce and simmer 10 lbs. of wings in it for several hours.  It's delish!

Chef Dayle also made a large pan of fried rice to serve with the wings.  

The weather was warm and perfect for dining alfresco.  We chatted away the afternoon and even got to hug them goodbye now that we are both fully vaccinated.  What a relief that we can be creeping back to a more normal life.

Our little community has been under attack by mail thieves.  Our local Facebook group has shared multiple accounts of broken into mailboxes.  We got a knock on our door on Friday by our mail lady and she told us our "security" box was hit.  Luckily Dayle had collected our mail the day before and my new credit card was in the pile of mail.  ::whew::  Now Dayle is having to find a new one and is doing all kinds of lengthy research on the internet.  Bummer.

I found this image on FB and had to share it with you.  Isn't this beautiful?  Mt. Hood looming behind the Hood River Valley with the fruit orchards in bloom.  Delightful.  This place is just 45 minutes east from our home.

I'm late posting today, I found a movie to watch that we got really into.  I highly recommend this if you can find it.  Very good movie.

Well.. that's it for us today.  I hope you have a great week!  

((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

A Run of Glorious Weather

It's almost like summer here this week.  Actually hot during the day and not a cloud to be seen.  Dayle has leaped into his farmer mode and has been driving his tractor around and mowing the pasture.  He also spent days working on his riding mower and has mown the yard.  Things are looking nice and tidy outside.

I've been spending more time outside.  Feeding the fish and snipping spent leaves and stems off of potted plants and making note of things for Dayle to deal with, manly stuff, you know.  I'm helpful that way.  When we're by the pond for a while we take the screens off the pond and enjoy the fish - all of which are accounted for.  Keiko, Pierre, Tiger and Ashley.  

Our pot of chives we keep near our back door is all lush and filled out and I see some flower buds in there.

The white lilac is nearing bloom.

So is the dark purple one, I imagine by my Monday post I will have a bouquet to share with you.

We have one patch of Bluebells and each year it's fuller. I love it!

There will be enough of them this year for a bouquet, also.  :-)

Dayle got me a replacement Daphne which we need to plant and my sister Denise's gift to me at our luncheon was this beautiful blue ground-cover called Lithodora.  Now to find just the right spot for it.

Shirley's xmas gift to me were these cute little jadeite salt cellars.  :-)

No big weekend plans for us, just enjoying the sunshine and getting our outdoor living areas tidied up.  I need to make a list!  Any exciting plans on your end?  Have a fun one!  ((hugs)), Teresa :-)  

Pacific Rim

Is the name of my last daffodil variety to bloom in our garden.  My last bulb order was for Mt. Hood, a white one and this one.  But then all the white ones bloomed and no Pacific Rim and I thought the bulb company messed up the order.  But then.. poof.. these began appearing in amongst the whites.  I love them!

It really is amazing how many varieties of daffodil there are.

I need to bring a few of these inside to enjoy.

I spent time this weekend weaving in 30 ends on my Meadow blanket.  Not my favorite chore but once done I started crocheting my 4th round of 15 colors and once done, then blanket will be done and I will crochet the border Lucy designed.  :-)

Dayle and I made a key lime pie together, I worked on the graham cracker crust and he mixed up the filling.  

We used Nellie & Joe's Key Lime Juice and followed their recipe.  It's really easy, a can of sweetened condensed milk, 3 egg yolks and a half a cup of the lime juice.  

Here it is out of the oven.  I will serve it with whipped cream and grated lime peel on top.

I am taking this for a post-fully vaccinated luncheon at my sister Denise's home with our friend Shirley.  :-)  I'm home now!  We had to reschedule our Christmas luncheon and gift exchange so I gave Shirley 2 pairs of beeswax candles I rolled and a knitted cotton dishcloth you can see on the left.

Sister Denise made some cheesy polenta, roasted veggies and sauteed mushrooms and chicken.

The key lime pie was a hit, I cut and plated them then added some whipped cream and topped it off with fresh grated lime peel.

OK, that's it for now.  Have a great hump day!

((hugs)), Teresa :-)