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:) :) :)

Journey in the Land of Vineyards: Grapes + Gardens

Today's journey was a trip of definite highs and definite lows;

if is OK I think I'll share just the highs with you:(

I will also skip the first part of today's journey and move to our first major destination;

a beautiful garden nursery located high above the valley floor on a hillside.

BTW--our means a good family friend, my dad (who we borrowed for the day) and I.

Our first view of the nursery was this--
I never get tired of pinks and purples!
And I never get tired of this area's beautiful hillsides!

I LOVE this view--unfortunately this area was not at peak autumn color yet;
I think it is later than usual this year.
Still the view is wonderful
and my dad, who had never been here before liked it very well--
in fact he liked the whole trip,
especially the yummy frozen pumpkin dessert we all enjoyed at the end of our day trip:)
Yum, pumpkin!

I loved this very lush herb + veggie garden --

and this beautiful maple!
~
After the nursery---and a quick drive past their olive trees,
we went even further up the hillside and then to other nearby places!
It was fun being on the hilltops and, unlike, the trip to Mt Rainier I only got a little anxious for just a minute or two when we traveled up a very, very narrow road up one of those hillsides
(fortunately we passed only one car on that road and we had a little room to pull over so he could go by us--believe me the views at the top were well worth it!)
We traveled by many vineyards and saw many grapes--

and some very interesting sights besides the grapes
(we heard some interesting noises too--
apparently the birds also love the view and the grapes)!

Many, many hillsides filled with rows of grapes and beautiful red soil!

And then we bid goodbye to the grapes
and headed towards another vineyard and our second major destination--
a kiwi vineyard

But that will have to wait till part two.

Until then--be blessed,
Aimee
~
Photos:
Red Ridge Nursery
and other areas SW of Portland.
Note:
TY to Red Ridge for being such a great place to visit and for permission to post photos here! We'll be back:)

What is the Right Answer?

I have become increasingly aware that I am spending way too much time on a 'certain' social network, on blogger and surfing the web...

That 'certain' social network is the main way I keep in touch with my out-of-state family and friends; I can't just say give it up completely--it's not like we live in the same city and I can see them in person:(

Regarding blogger--I LOVE sharing the beauty of the Pacific NW with others, meeting other bloggers and my blog serves as a semi personal journal (with the added benefit of photos). I also LOVE reading the blogs of others--sharing their lives, their interests, their thoughts.

Surfing---I know I can cut back some here; my surfing the Internet reminds me a bit of how, when I was a child, I used to spend hours reading encyclopedias--I have never tired of learning new things and there are always NEW things to learn on the Internet:)

So what to do...just thinking out loud (sort of). And now back to my real tasks.

Be blessed, Aimee

Photo: another favorite of blog visitors--enjoy! BTW, I LOVE this one too:)

A Perfect Autumn Day

This day has been perfect--

filled with beautiful music from my favorite radio station,

filled with sunshine and showers...

my favorite grapes and the first lingonberry of the season!

Surrounded by stained glass--courtesy of the Creator above!

Gifts and blessings every place I look...

the changing of the seasons...

saying farewell to the last gifts of summer-

and embracing with my whole heart the gifts of the autumn.

Thank you Lord for the amazing beauty of the earth--

thank you for Your amazing grace!

Sights + Sounds of Washington: pt 4

After we said goodbye to Mt Rainier,

we drove through Ashford again and I saw this...

of course we turned around

(my friend knows me VERY well)!

But how could I resist this bit of history?

I wonder if my grandparents ever stopped here on the way into the National Park?

I wonder how long this was in operation?

So many unanswered questions on trips...

~

And then another good thing happened-

my friend saw a sign and it said

(I) Huckleberry pie!

We stopped, how could we not?

After all - pie, candy, jam, jelly or ANYTHING made from this juicy 'jewel'

of the PNW mountains--

well it is something we who have partaken of huckleberries before CAN NOT resist!

By the way, the restaurant we stopped at -the Wildberry Restaurant-

is owned by the nicest couple originally from Nepal!

Sad thing--

my mind was SO focused on huckleberries that it wasn't till we were gone that I realized they offer Sherpa Himalayan food items on their menu besides the Yak burger listed on their sign outside.

Next time I will have to try some--I love foods from different regions!

AND I will, of course, order some more huckleberry pie because it was SOOOOO good:)

Another view of beautiful Mt Rainier--

in this part of the PNW you can see the mountain a lot!

When I got home, I found another area with a awesome view of Mt Rainier and a lake too;

we will definitely have to make a trip there too:)

Not too long after leaving Ashford we came to the small community of Elbe,

and my friend tells me she is turning around and THEN I see why!

A gorgeous little church;

another church for my growing photo collection of historic churches...

and this one was very, very special for

at least one of my ancestors was Lutheran and from Germany!

She was an amazing woman who survived so many things--I would love to talk to her!

Kind of off the subject here, but my favorite Communion--ever--was at a Lutheran church--

I will never forget it; it was that special!

Anyway, one of my next statements went something like this

(I) See we never would have seen this if we hadn't been pulled over in the park by the officer!

Of course, there was a beautiful lake nearby--

and we didn't have to cross over a bridge this time to see it!

In fact, we both liked this road the Park Ranger suggested--
beautiful mountain views, small towns, windy roads--no cliffs:)

After a few more pleasant side trips

(at one point we were even headed towards the coast to find another historic church)

and

more food

we arrived home--

tired but happy:)

I'll be back soon--I never can stay away long from my second home of Washington!

Be blessed,

Aimee

Note: a BIG thank you to the owners of the Wildberry for allowing me to take photos in their establishment and post them here! Should you be hungry for pie or something more--

they are located at 37718 SR 706 in Ashford. They have a website here: http://www.thewildberry.net

And now...time for me to get to work:)

Sorry if this post is a little rambling--my left eye is really bothering me today.

Note to Visitors

I will be taking a short blogging break in order to devote more time to the last several days of my spiritual retreat and to get some very necessary projects done. I'll be back on Monday with more photos of Washington state, the Oregon zoo and whatever else God brings my way to share with you...Until then I leave you with one of the more popular photos on my blog (by the way it fascinates me what photos bring visitors here and the nations that visitors are from--there is something about seeing the world's different languages that is very exciting!).

For those who are cat lovers--enjoy! For those who are dog lovers--there will be more dog photos later; when you have three dogs there are ALWAYS more photos of woman's (and man's) best friend:)

Be blessed,

Aimee

Note: this is one of my sibling's 3 cats and as I have said before, my favorite:)

Sights + Sounds of Washington: Pt 3

Good afternoon from the PNW!

Time to continue our trip ...

This is the National Park Inn at Longmire.

I just LOVE this place as I do all historic lodges, from the Old Faithful Inn
in Yellowstone to the lodge at Crater Lake in Oregon!

(the sun just broke through the clouds here--time out to drink in the blessings of today).

Ok I'm back...

our family has never stayed here, that I remember;

we generally stay in one of the nearby communities.

However we have eaten here in the dining room--and that was a lot of fun!

This time, though, we bought sandwiches in Morton on the way here and nibbled on them:)

This is SO neat! In addition to historic lodges I LOVE historic vehicles!

We once owned a 1949 Plymouth--I hated it at the time;

now I would LOVE to have one!

After Longmire the road climbs more as you head up to Narada Falls and Paradise.

On the right side of your vehicle there is a drop off---

after a bridge you would have heard me say something like...

(I) I don't like this,

I don't remember it being this bad (another word for high with cliffs),

we need to turn around,

yikes,

I'm sorry!

So at the viewpoint we did--so close to my goal;

but it was not to be for today.

(I) Why don't you take me back to Longmire and I'll stay there while you go see Paradise just like we did in Mosier? I WANT you to see it; I'll be fine at the Inn! You have to see it!

(My friend) No, it's ok.

(I) I just don't understand this...it wasn't like this last time.

(
(I) Snow walls--that's why!

Last time I was here there were walls of snow...

(I) If it hadn't been for that first road we got on I don't think this would have been an issue

(sigh)

On our way down we stopped to see Christine Falls--

the key word being 'stopped'.

(My friend) He's following us. I'm pulling over.

(Outside) Lights, siren.

(The Officer) Do you know why I pulled you over?

But it all ended well,

with a verbal warning and a (kept) promise that we would NOT stop on the park road anymore!

By the way, we did keep that promise--it seems like Christine Falls is the cause of many park visitors momentarily losing their common sense:)

The photo is of the upper part of the falls;

next time we will hike a bit and get a photo of the whole waterfall!

And NEXT time I will conquer my fear of the road to Paradise and Narada Falls--

with God's help-

just as I did this summer of traveling by a certain mountain reservoir!

~

Are there any fears you have conquered?

Be blessed,

Aimee

to be continued....

Sights + Sounds of Washington: Praise

Thou flowing water, pure and clear,
Make music for thy LORD to hear,
O praise Him! Alleluia!...

Let all things their Creator bless,
And worship HIM in humbleness,
O praise Him! Alleluia!
Praise, praise the Father, praise the Son,
And praise the Spirit, Three in One!

Blessed + giving thanks on this feast day of St. Francis!

Aimee

St Francis of Assisi, Cantico di fratre sole, Song of Brother Sun (around 1225)

To see all of the words to this well known hymn "All Creatures of our God and King" and/or to see more of the history of its translation by William H Draper and first publication in 1919

please see this website: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/c/acoogak.htm.

Photo: Mt Rainier National Park, Washington autumn 2011

Sights + Sounds of Washington: Pt 2

After 6 or so hours of travel by and over rivers and a lake,

road work, gorgeous view after gorgeous view and more...

we arrive:)

(I) Yea!
We enter under the Nisqually entrance gate, pay our fee ($15/7 days)
and are on our way to our first main stop...

Longmire---beautiful, wonderful, I LOVE it here Longmire!
After a stop at the gift shop for directions to the trail we're off--
with good wishes for a great hike!
Note to self for ALL future hikes: drink more and carry water!

Longmire was homesteaded by a pioneer by the name of-
well I'm sure you can figure that out.
There are many mineral springs in this area
(not surprising in that Mt Rainier is a volcano).
This is one of the springs--Soda Springs.

And this is the forest on the trail--
I LOVE this place:)
By the way, at different places on the trail you will also see
the meadow, other springs, Mt Rainier, a cabin and more!

In the 'shadowy realm' -- my favorite part! When I was here one time in late May all that could be seen up the hill (right side of the photo) was brown; it felt ancient. I will never forget the colors, the light, the dark, the feelings of that day! Today the feelings were different--the forest was beautiful (some trees are over 250 years old) but there was GREEN amidst the brown and there was dappled sunlight!
(I) but it was brown before...

A photo near the end of the Trail of Shadows--
an amazing, not too long hike through the forests and among the Longmire's homestead.
(I) water, water, water...
(My friend) I thought you were in better shape than I.
Note to self: I love it when your friend anticipates your needs
and brings a sport drink for you:)
~
I leave you with my favorite quote of the day--
"Trees recieve a most beautiful burial.
Nature takes fallen trees gently into her bosom-
at rest from storms".
John Muir
~
Thank you God for the mountains and the forest;
they are just a portion of what you bless me with each and every day.
Blessings,
Aimee

To be continued...

Sights + Sounds of Beautiful Washington: Pt 1

(I) Ugh! The weather forecast was sunny today.
(my friend) We are by the river, it'll clear up.

(I) I think we're on the wrong road here
(said as we crossed a causeway built over the middle of a lake);
this wasn't the road my dad took--I'd remember this!


(both) Beautiful (or some similar adjective)!

(I) This is NOT the right road
(as we drove higher and further into unfamiliar territory).
(My friend) You got your directions from ------!
I should have known--you can't trust -----for directions.)

After we turned around, retracing our route, stopped at two mini marts, talked to local residents, bought one Washington map, picked up a free map of the local area, texted my poor DDIL that we were lost, found the right route and were on our way again--this time with NO cell phone coverage.
(I) I like this route better; it looks more familiar....well maybe not, but I like it better.
(My friend) Some of the trucks on the other road were being blown around; it is less windy on this road in the valley.
(I) Sometimes my fear of heights is a good thing.

(I) Wow!!!!

To be continued---
Blessings,
Aimee