Early Morning Blessings

I feel blessed

~

Although I have less marionberries this morning, I feel VERY blessed :)

Blessings to you, Aimee

Photos include: early morning view, one of two visitors, echinacea, cosmos, shiro plums

Another Summer Journey

It all started because of a craving for these

and these!

Yep, a HUGE longing for these wonderful berries of summer led us to a farm

we had visited a couple times before...

A farm where they have 5 varieties of strawberries, 3 varieties of raspberries

and, if we are lucky enough to get there again this summer,

they will have marionberries and boysenberries

(actually. come to think of it, they should be ripe just about now--yum)!

AND, of course, since we were already going that way,

I just HAD to check out some of the historical places in the area near the farm.

A shady path in the historical, waterfront town of Butteville led us down to a river
where we found the remains of what used to be a riverboat landing

in days gone by...

and then, because we were hungry,

we stopped at the nearby historic Butteville store and had a

FANTASTIC lunch there!

We also had a nice talk with the staff there and

learned there was a pioneer cemetery close by!

BTW--the store is considered part of another nearby historical area--

Champoeg State Park and the two are connected by a nice trail which I have walked before!

Since we had berries to keep COOL and HAPPY,

we chose to drive:)

A photo of the covered porch--
doesn't this just say 'peace'

and 'old times' to you?

I SO wish I had listened to my DH years ago and put a roof on our deck

It is something I really regret!

Anyway back to the trip...

we passed this pretty view somewhere in the countryside near the farm

(but please don't ask for directions; a friend who knew the area was driving

and if I tried to describe our route I would only get you lost)!

St Paul's Roman Catholic church in a nearby historic town.

Once, a very, very long time ago I got to go inside of this church

and another historical one in Mt Angel! The interiors of both were incredibly beautiful!

BTW, I LOVE to go inside old churches-

I find that whether they are large or small, fancy or plain,

urban or rural they're all filled with an atmosphere of peace!

I LIKE THAT!

Speaking of which--it won't be long now till I get to go see some of my fav churches

in one of my favorite areas--I AM SO excited:)

Can you tell??

Flowers of the field--I LOVE the yellow and white combination, don't you?

We painted our youngest son's old bedroom yellow and I LOVE it

(of course I will better be able to appreciate it when it stops being used as a storage unit)!

Last, but certainly not least, an amazing rose garden we passed

in the area.

It was a wonderful trip and the berries were beyond scrumptious too!

Now back to work I go...have a great day!

Blessings, Aimee

~

Notes:

A BIG thank you to Koch Family Farm and the Butteville Historic Store for permission to photograph on their property and to post these photos here! TY:)

The rose photo was taken from the road alongside Heirloom Roses--we saw many, many gorgeous roses there! I will try to post more photos from there later (need to check with owners first to get their OK).

Koch Family Farm: 4745 Raybell Road NE, St Paul, OR (503)538-6834

Butteville Historic Store: http://buttevillestore.com/

The Land of Sea + Shore

For over 100 years she has kept sentry here on the spit,

forever longingly looking northwards.

Caught forever in the sand,

she will never sail the cool Pacific again.

So close to making her goal of finding shelter within the calmer waters of the river.

only a few miles beyond this place of wind and warm sand.

Above her fly seabirds who call this place home

I wonder what they think about as they glide above the sand and waves.
on this warm but windy summer's day.

Blessings this early morn,

Aimee

~

Notes: photos taken at Ft Stevens State Park. See wikipedia's article on the Peter Iredale if you would like to learn more about this ship and see a historic photo of her.

A Photographer's Dream

It was a perfect day and THE perfect hour for photography!

~

The PNW sky was THE perfect combination of clouds and blue.

The lighting was perfection-

the mixture of shadow and light outstanding!

The colors, the tones...

~

The subject matter was interesting also-

livestock, historical places, blue rivers, green trees, small towns, a white snow capped mountain--golden hillsides, green corn fields--

truly it WAS

a photographer's dream

(even for a very amateur photographer like me)!

~

I took off the camera cap,

pressed the shutter...

expectantly

and dreamed of the beautiful image that would soon be mine to share with others,

with the world really.

~

And then...

NOTHING happened.

Nothing--

absolutely nada!

No reassuring shutter click, no image--

nothing,

nothing but utter blackness that is.

~

Was my barely 1 year old camera broken?

What could possibly be wrong?

And

then it dawned on me...

I had recharged my camera battery

and

forgot to put it back in the camera.

~

SIGH :(

~

Do you have a camera 'blues' story to tell?

Blessings, Aimee