Of Wildflowers + Mountainside Gardens: part 2

I am still not home-by that I mean my body is; but my heart isn't.

It is still there-listening to the sounds of nature,

feeling the warmth of the sun on my face and arms,

and embracing the peace I felt there.

It feels good!

How about a few more photos of our peaceful trip?

At one point we crossed this bridge-

it was fun watching the planks move as we crossed:)

In some areas we went through woodlands like this;

in other places we were in a forest--complete with moss, ferns and wildflowers!

Look at all that wonderful moss on the trees--

in the PNW we are experts at growing moss:)

And the native bleeding hearts were beautiful--

I SO want to find a native plant nursery!

A creek we crossed over.

I wonder if there are fish in these waters and if so,

what kind they are?

I wonder if there are any cougars around here?

In Colorado they have signs to warn you that you're in THEIR home!

More bleeding hearts--

And more native vegetation--

I can't remember what my friend called these.

Sorry:)

~

Well it is time for a snack --

I am feeling the need for some good protein after eating so many fresh strawberries!

BTW--has anyone made strawberry bread before?

I've never tried it but it sounds interesting.

Blessings,

Aimee

Of Wildflowers + Mountainside Gardens

My day started in our wildflower/perennial garden.

But the sky was so blue and it was so warm-

it called for a field trip and

I knew exactly where I wanted to go...

It was a place I had found on the Internet that had most of my fav things

mountain views

and trees

creeks

and a waterfall

(I SO should have brought a tripod)

some historical places--one being the very road we were on

(but the rest will have to wait for another post because we never found

one of the places we were looking for)

YEA! Another road trip:)

and color--lots of color!

The amazing, beautiful, wonderful, totally awesome

color of the PNW in spring:)

the yellow of scotchbroom which was all over--

once we found the right road that is

(I, of course, had left my map and carefully written directions--

you guessed it--at home)!

Actually the wrong road was quite beautiful too:)

the purple of native irises

(I am NOT even going to mention the green of the trees, ferns and other vegetation--

this is the western PNW after all and we have had MONTHS of rain!

I will say this is our payoff after suffering through all

those gray, wet, cold days though:)

white blossoms--absolutely gorgeous in person I must say!

This is either a wild astilbe or spirae.

(BTW--please feel free to correct me if I am wrong!)

and...

~

the rest will have to wait till later because I've got to get some sleep :)

Blessings, Aimee

~

Photos: late spring, coastal foothills + mountains

Thank You!

It makes my heart SO very happy when I come to my blog

and see the visitors I have had!

And my one wish for you will always be the same

that you leave here feeling more blessed then when you arrived,

because your very presence here --

whether for a minute

or

for longer

has blessed my day more than I can ever say!

~

And

one thing more...

I just want to say
THANK YOU for visiting!!

Blessings,

Aimee

A special thank you to all my followers too--

appreciate you all very much:)

~

Photos:

Deepwood Estate in springtime, Salem.

Amazing mansion and gardens!

camellia

garden by gazebo

more camellias

(can you tell I LOVE them?)

view from the main gate--mansion and carriage house

the room I love the most!

For more info: http://www.historicdeepwoodestate.org/

Enjoy!

Dolls

I knew my mom had a collection of Josef Original dolls--

both she and grandma kept them on a window sill.

And I knew she had a Raggedy Ann + Andy--

they sat for years on a wooden shelf in their home.

and mom had some other little dolls/figurines too --

but I never knew that she had these!

Here they are taking a nap on the floor while they have their photo taken.

See how peaceful they look...

They must be resting because I hear they have travel plans soon!

~

Life is an adventure--

lately I have been living one at my mom's place:)

Blessings,

Aimee

Early June Garden

I LOVE PNW natives and I try to use them often. Here you can see the salal and kinnikinnick we planted last year--apparently they are very happy here as they have grown quite a bit! You can also see that we use soaker hoses--actually we use a combination of watering methods depending on what we have planted, but soaker hoses do work quite well and in time they will be more camouflaged by the growing vegetation. This is our newest garden--for my mom; it needs LOTS of work:)

One of our newest and last to bloom rhododendrons. This is not the best photo of it, but it is SO pretty! I really wish the blooms of spring would last longer--love this season!

Our blue Japanese irises--by our lower pond. Love this shade of blue:) Speaking of ponds---keep reading and soon you will see something flowering IN our pond:)

Roses, roses everywhere---this is a miniature kind. I love my minis but this year I may have to break down and treat them with a non organic blackspot treatment and that is NOT making me happy at all!

Another view of the Japanese irises. One of this year's projects was to extend the path and bed here; we have now laid the landscape fabric (we use one marked contractor grade) and added garden mulch. We still have to add the flagstones and do finish work. Seems like garden tasks are never done!

And here (drum beating and trumpets sounding)...

our first water lily of the 2011 season:)

Love these guys (or gals) :)

Have a great Tuesday!

Blessings,

Aimee

More From Mom + Dad's

Another day of sorting at my parent's home--

I love these!!

Do you know what they are? I do:)

I think they are really cute and remind me a lot of Port Townsend and Port Gamble, Washington--although I think they predate our time up there by a whole lot of years!

I haven't decided if I should use them at the Tea Party--what do you think?

I could go with a Victorian theme...

of course then it would be tempting to wear some Victorian type clothing:)

I found more tea cups, saucers and these pretty pink bowls/plates over there.

They would work for the party--I love pink!

The four tea cup/saucers hanging (in the picture of the post below) were only the beginning.

I found a lot more in the hutch--more than enough to use for the party...

I was thinking, I don't remember mom using them much--

I intend to display and use them.

Another thing I found today was my baby clothes---that really made me smile!

Most of the little dresses had a little card attached to them (with a diaper pin) explaining a bit about the outfit: where it was first worn, a friend who made it, etc. SO COOL!!

I am totally in LOVE with these shoes BTW--totally!

Another find was cloth napkins (light purple),

crocheted and knitted items,

nice dishtowels, etc.

I particularly loved this apron that was with those things--

it is small (child size),

looks handmade

and unfortunately I don't know anything more about it

except I LOVE it:)

Now I am wondering--

who made it?

who was it made for?

when was it made?

I may never know...

Blessings,

Aimee

A Tea for Mom

My mom loved to have afternoon tea whenever we were at The Harrison or elsewhere in Canada! She also, as you can see, liked to collect and display teacups and saucers (this pic shows a few of them). I will soon be taking some of these home but before I do that, I would like to have a tea in mom's honor there--kind of a celebration of her life!

I have a bit of an idea of what I want to do, having planned several celebrations for a large group of people before at my last job, but (and this is where I hope you will help out) do you have any ideas to make this tea extra special? Decorations? Color themes? Recipes for tea sandwiches you are willing to share? Scones and other desserts? Teas to try? Salads/soups? Other tips? I would LOVE to have your input so feel free to comment--anonymously if you prefer:) Thanks!

I am excited:) Already have never-used special flatware (Kristin, a rosemaling design-from Norway) that I will bring to the tea--very feminine and I am hoping that somewhere in all of mom's stuff I can find pretty napkins, a tablecloth and ???

Blessings,
Aimee

The WORD on Wednesday

"Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." John 14:27 KJV

Blessings, Aimee

Here Ye, Here Ye! News From the Garden

Despite the cold and rain,

we have marionberry plants full of white blossoms

(makes me hungry for a berry pie or berry crisp

or berry smoothie or just fresh berries)!

Two varieties of Japanese irises blooming by the upper pond

(the other variety is bluish).

Every year it seems like we have more:)

Some of our roses are in bloom now--

our rose season tends to run from mid/late May through October.

We have one climbing rose, a bed of miniature roses

and some other roses.

I don't tend to buy flowers at the grocery store

because we tend to have something in bloom most of the year:)

More color in the wildflower/perennial beds

(today I spied a newly blooming orange/red Oriental poppy from across the yard--

you just cannot miss their vibrant color!

(I haven't transferred them yet but will later this week)

Raspberry blossoms--

the plants seem to be doing quite well still in their wine barrel home!

And unless there is a new variety of columbine (not!),

this edition of Our Garden sadly reports

that someone has been eating one of my columbines

:(

Blessings on this first day of June, Aimee

A Witness Now

Among the trees, flowering shrubs and manicured lawn they lay,

side by side,

each with their resting place marked

by a grave marker and American flag.

For this is a National Cemetery --

one of many and it is the final resting place for
Veterans of World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam and more recent conflicts.

Comrades in arms;

both those who have passed on full of years

and those who died while in the prime of their life.

The flags -- small and large --

wave in the breeze on the hillsides here;

so many lives--so many stories told and untold.

We come here-

children and other descendants, schoolmates, friends

and parents too.

Veterans and civilians,

some who have not forgotten the ferocity and cost of battle;

others who just feel the need to remember, to witness

this day-

the service and the sacrifice

of the precious souls at rest in this hallowed ground

above the city.

"You're his witness now.

Without a witness, they just disappear."

Blessings to the families of our fallen Veterans today.

May you find peace in the midst of your loss

and may you know we will remember.

Aimee

~

Note: above quote taken from 'Taking Chance', HBO films, 2009. USA.

Photos taken spring 2011, Willamette National Cemetery.

Things I Learned This Week

This week I learned that one should

always expect the unexpected
because

an injury to the eye is very, very painful

and

I learned that

some medications are really, really expensive

even when they are generic prescriptions

but

keeping your eyesight is priceless.

~

Time for more eyedrops...

Ouch-ing-ly yours,

Aimee

Another Memory

My sons attended a Christian school for many years when they were younger.
One of the special events that the school would have is a Grandparent's Day!
On that day each student could have their grandparents join them for awhile at school
(I had forgotten about this event but my son reminded me of it when I sent him a copy of his artwork by phone)
According to my son, this was made for that day which fell near Thanksgiving.

My mom kept this for all those years--her grandchildren were well loved by her and she prayed consistently for them all. I hope that as long as God gives me life, I will do the same.
Thank you mom for all the prayers over the years + blessings to all you praying grandparents out there!

Aimee

A Piece of My Past Comes Home

The Baby Book mom made for me talked about it--

I had received it as a gift on my second Christmas

and I remembered seeing it too off and on over the years...

but it wasn't at our home, so where was it?

Last weekend I made a trip to my parents' home to help my sibling.

As we sorted stuff in our parents' garage--

we found lots of things, but most importantly we found it!!
A little worse for the wear (just like me),

but still very capable of bringing a BIG smile

to this grown up girl with a child's heart-
who long ago left her parents' home to become a wife,

then a mother, and finally a grandmother.

And meanwhile, my beloved rocker stayed behind all those years waiting patiently,

for just the right time to become a gift to that child (me) again...

Thanks mom!

~

Do you have something from your childhood that makes you smile?

Blessings, Aimee

Photos: me at about age 3 sitting on the rocker

yea! we find the rocker tucked away in the garage

the rocker comes home from the trip--soon to have a bit of restorative surgery to treat its 'fracture' (LOL) and a bit of a spa treatment too to make it as good as new :)

Did I say it is a musical rocker?