Peace + Forgiveness

Yesterday did not start peacefully;

it started with angry words and untrue accusations.

It started with pain--the kind that only humans inflict on each other.

But then came peace--a walk alone in a forest.

A drive on a quiet rural road.

The blessing of God's creation.

Time by the sea.

Crossings over peaceful rivers on their way to the sea.

The relaxing sound of the surf.

Today I battle my heart to be able to forgive the offender.

To obey the Word of my Creator and not stir up the pain and anger I feel

into the flame of resentment;

the firestorm known as bitterness--

a firestorm not easily quenched.

It is not an easy fight,

for everything within me shouts out against the unfairness of it all,

as tears threaten to break to the surface.

But yet I know so well --

peace cannot be mine again unless I can find the grace to forgive as I have been forgiven.

Blessings + Peace, Aimee

"...Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven. "
Matthew 18:21b-22

"And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors...But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

Matthew 6:12, 15

"Put on therefore, as God's elect, holy and beloved, a heart of compassion, kindness, lowliness, meekness, longsuffering; forbearing one another, and forgiving each other, if any man have a complaint against any; even as the Lord forgave you, so also do ye: and above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfectness."

Col 3:12-14 ASV

~

Photos: Upper Nehalem Valley, Cannon Beach, Nehalem River, Rockaway Beach, Tillamook area

Almost + Just Because

It's almost

time to pick our lingonberries

and our blueberry leaves are a gorgeous red!

My cut artichoke flowers are still gorgeous

and I love to look at them in the autumn light.

~

Sorry I know this is a repeat

but I just LOVE the red of our blueberry leaves this year...

actually I LOVE their color every year!

And this is one of the pears which is now sitting in a glass baking dish waiting for me to

decide if it should become pear sauce, along with the Asian pears

or if my son, a gourmet cook, has a better idea:)

I wonder if he has any exciting ideas on how to use our lingonberries...

Do you?

Temporarily unable to work on my task of the day due to our 'lovely' weather,

Aimee

Note: the lingonberries pictured above are of the Balsgard variety.

Not sure what type of pear this is...possibly a Comice pear.

I am hoping I didn't wait too long to pick it...

Lazy Days of Summer; BUSY days of Fall???

Seems like every pretty well every autumn is the start of my DH's remodeling/building season and so it is this year...fortunately the current project is not stressing me out quite as much as some of our past projects have been known to and come winter I will be very, very happy with it!

Besides the DH project, which in a way is my project too, I am currently harvesting apples, pears and Asian pears (this whole growing season has been very, very strange) -- my neighbor used some of our Asian pears to make a chunky fruit sauce out of and so I am very excited to try her recipe out. Most likely with everything going on it will be done in the crockpot. Additionally the lingonberries will soon be ripe--they will go into the freezer until I decide what to do with them (LOVE lingonberries)!

Time to get working.

Blessings,

Aimee

Photo: a Columbia River Gorge waterfall. Probably the most viewed of all my posted photos--given that it was taken from a moving car, I am glad people seem to like it:)

I will try to have some photos later this week of our garden's bounty and possibly more trip photos--just too busy to do it now.

Journey in the Land of Vineyards: Kiwi

Two years ago, a friend and I made a trip to the land of vineyards to see a real kiwi farm--

it was there I saw, for the first time, how kiwi are grown (the farm has several types) and it was there I had my first baby kiwi!!

Now, I am sure most of you are very familiar with fuzzy kiwi--

the kind you find in supermarkets.

They are delicious, of course

and we grow them at our home...

but baby kiwi are a bit different.

They are small, pop in your mouth, no need to peel

totally delicious fruit-

and once I had tasted them,

I knew I would have to return to get more.

So as part of our visit the other day, we stopped by HB & K Farms,

located in the Dundee Hills.

and picked some of the baby kiwi to take home.

After not too long our two buckets were full--

enough for both of us to share with some other family members!

These are mostly not ripe yet-

but in just a few days of sitting at room temperature on my counter they will be.

Besides our wonderful 'catch of the day' (the kiwi),

we had a great time chatting with the owner and two young people from the Portland area.

And now I am dreaming of all the things I can do with my baby kiwi...

if I have any left over that is:)

Be blessed, Aimee

Photos: taken at HB & K Farms located in Dundee, Oregon (SW of Portland) at 10794 Worden Hill Rd. There are signs in Dundee giving directions. Sorry I forgot to get the phone number...knew I should have picked up a business card:)

A BIG thank you to HB & K Farms for allowing me to take and post photos here! For those who are interested and live within driving distance of the farm, they expect to have baby kiwi available until the first freeze--early to mid November. I am going to try to make it back myself for another 'catch'!

Note: oh how I giggle when I reread my less than perfect grammar and oh how I wonder just what I was doing at the time I was writing:) :) :)