A Different Kind of Exercise...

I haven't been getting enough exercise lately

(lately being the last few years)...

In fact, I've been way too deficient about getting

the ole heart a pumpin' up in that target range...

So today I decided to do something about that...

and, of course, I talked my dear ole' Farmer Boy into doing it with me

(because that's just the kind of thoughtful person I am).

~

What I had in mind was to do a bit of climbing...

that would work, don't you think?

OK, OK our car did most almost all of the climbing,

but believe me,

 on some of the roads we drove today,

my heart did a WHOLE lot of pumping.

 You see there's nothing like meeting NON compact type vehicles

on one lane roads, located on the side of mountains,

 where there are no pullouts when you need them

(we did avoid meeting any logging trucks though).

And then there was that little drive on

a certain narrow, graveled, somewhat twisty, really gnarly forest road

that went UP

and UP;

was NEXT to at least one horrific drop off

with a beautiful

views of waterfalls and other things,

 but (gasp) no guardrails and

few places to get turned around to really give this heart a workout

(let's just say Aimee got OUT of the car while her sweet cliff loving hubby

got the car turned around)...

Aimee handles drop offs and cliffs MUCH better on foot than in vehicles.

 

Yep,

little Aimee's heart got quite the workout...

 

By the way, we saw snow...

laying on the side of the road, in a pile, in shade snow...

but REAL SNOW

(and shockingly we weren't in the Cascade Mountain range when we saw it),

Oh...I should say there were a few other things that got my heart a pumpin'...

like the gunshots we heard really, really close by

(gulp),

clambering down a steep slope to the river...

(yep, it looked pretty funny I'm sure but I did make it)...

you know the little things that make a d Saturday drive 

not just a drive but an adventure:)

Have I said how much I LOVE the PNW in springtime?

Have I said, that even with the handful of heart stopping moments

Aimee LOVED her Saturday adventure...

well except for that one gnarly forest service road:)

 

What are you doing for 'exercise' these days?

Blessings,

Aimee

 

PS: Don't you think cute, white dog needs a new leash?

Something a little (lot) less ratty?

(blush)

It was strong enough to prevent not afraid of water cute, white dog from being

carried away by the swift river current today

(thank God),

but still I think she is quite embarrassed about it.

 

Photos:

Oregon's Coast Range (highest point on drive/walk approx. 3,000 ft)

 

 

April Showers?

No April showers here,

but lots of April

--almost May--

flowers

(and foliage too).

 

 

Daily I have been hanging out laundry to dry and enjoying the sound and sight of birds

and toads...

Yesterday I brought out the remainder of our adirondack chairs and placed them by the wildflower garden, the lower pond and bamboo grove...

and I placed a lace tablecloth (vinyl) on one of our patio tables--

inspired by the beautiful settings of Patty on her blog

(see below for her blog url...she has some amazing photos on today's post BTW)! 

 

 

My best friend and I transplanted Japanese irises earlier this week

(because we had no other choice NOT because it is the correct time of the year to do so),

planted a new red azalea my dear SIL bought me last year

(have I said in the last few minutes how incredibly blessed I am to have SO

many great brother and sister-in-laws?)  and other new plants.

 

 

I am feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the things that need to be done outside--

mostly because our weeds and bamboo are thriving as much as all the flowers:(

I definitely need to remind myself to breathe and take one thing at a time...

and maybe take a little time out by the pond. 
 

 

Well it's time to eat and get busy before I waste more time online

and miss out on all the beauty outside!

 

 

Wishing you a peaceful weekend...

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos, links, notes:

Cinnamon fern

(LOVE these--want more!)

Strawberries

Columbine

(thinking of you mom)

Water lily

(hardy type, flowers soon.

Also parrots feather and another water plant)

Armeria Maritima 'Rubrifolia'

(love, love, love)

 

Favorite Links today:

http://morningramble.blogspot.com/2013/04/the-simple-life.html

(for Patty's amazing photos today)

 

Sunshine in the Garden

What a difference a sunny day makes...

residents of the Pacific NW rush to their local garden nursery

and

families play at nearby parks.

And at Aimee's place...

koi eagerly swim towards yours truly

(thinking she has come bearing a gift of food),

light shines through ready to eat lettuce leaves,

new fern fronds uncurl,

and a new plant settles in happily with its neighbors.

 

What an amazing day today was--

in our travels we saw a snow covered Mt Hood,

bought some new plants for the pond garden,

discussed all the work needing to be done this growing season,

discovered the irises and some of the minature roses have developed buds

and are not far from opening,

ate yummy Japanese food

(always a favorite with me)

and just enjoyed the beauty of the day.

And...

I hear we have a few more just like this one coming:)

 

How was your day?

Blessings,

Aimee

Rainy Day Thoughts

Outside it's stormy--

Raindrops are falling from the heavens above.

Leaves, branches and newly opened blossoms are swaying in the wind.

Yesterday's sunshine has been replaced by gray, overcast skies.

And yet, even today, there are a few moments of light...

as the gray clouds part momentarily and sunbeams light up the landscape. 

Such has this week been.

More frequently now we hear news from all over the world which

cause our hearts to grieve...

storms hitting our land and those far away.

Lives cut short,

life journeys changed forever,

 dreams brought to an abrupt end.

And these news 'clouds' of sadness and pain

increasingly bring darkness to the moments of our days.

It is not how things were meant to be from the beginning;

it is not how most of us want them to be as we live out our lives on this earth.

So many blessings we've all been given.

So fragile some of them are.

 

Blessings from our household to yours this Friday,

Aimee

 

 

Lord,

I ask You today to

 bring comfort and healing to those who have lost so very much this week;

not just those in Boston and Texas,

but to all those in our nation and worldwide

 who have suffered pain of unspeakable depth in recent times.

Grant them true peace Father God,

and may they again know joy and love in the years to come.

In Jesus' Name,

Amen

 

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Galations 6:2 KJV

~

Photos:

Cherry blossoms

 (thinking of you today M.)

Lilac

Apple tree blossom "Liberty"

Azalea "Ria Hardijzer"

Flowering crabapple tree "Prairifire"

Canadian Geese flying to their summer homes

Flowering dogwood "Cherokee Chief"

 

The WORD on Wednesday: Springtime, Gardens + More

For, lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone;

The flowers appear on the earth;

the time of the singing of birds is come,

and the voice of the turtle is heard in our land....

Song of Songs 2:11-12 KJV

~

As I write this today a blue sky is overhead

and  sunlight will soon stream through the family room windows.


 

Outside our entire yard looks like it is in bloom--

indeed the whole countryside is beautiful!
 

 

Our resident toads have appeared again, jumping into the pond at the most inopportune times,

always surprising whomever happens to be walking by:)
 

~

~

~

 

The mixed lettuce seedlings I planted just over a month ago are pretty well

ready to eat now and

one of our strawberry plants even has a blossom bud just about ready to appear!

 Rhodos, azaleas, camellia, columbine, bleeding hearts and more delight my eyes daily...

putting a smile on my lips.

 

 I am SO incredibly grateful for this beautiful season of spring;

 I wish it would last forever!

 

My favorite season is early fall but a close second is spring--

especially a spring that brings us many days of sunny (or partly sunny) skies.

What is your favorite season and why?

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos:

Taken at Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm--

unsure of name of this plant but it is beautiful and did you notice...it's pink:)

Bleeding heart 'spring magic'

Brunnera Macrophylla 'Jack Frost'

(our forget-me-not plants are blooming too)

Camellia Japonica 'kumasaka' -- I think:)

Bleeding Heart 'alba'--

I absolutely LOVE both of my bleeding hearts!

Blueberry 'Earliblue'

Lettuce--looseleaf mixed varieties

(some of these photos were taken about 2 weeks ago, this being one.

The lettuce is much bigger now)

 

Container (wine barrel) Planting:

Even though we have a regular space for growing veggies and such,

we haven't used it for years--mostly because I HATE snakes and because it is more difficult to maintain. Instead I grow many things in wine barrel halves on and near our decks.

Among the things I have grown are:

culinary lavender, strawberries, herbs, raspberries, small veggies...

 

If you are interested in how I do it see this link:

http://aimeeonthemountainside.blogspot.com/2009/05/container-barrel-gardening.html

 

Since I planted ours back in 2009,

I've come to the conclusion that the wine barrel halves work very well for our needs

and I am actually thinking of buying more in the future just because I like them so much

and they are readily available here.

I should say that I have made one change since we first planted these about 4 years ago...

and that was to place supports under the three wine barrels that were on our back deck.

This was to allow the wood of the deck to be able to fully dry out underneath the barrels.

We used some leftover pressure treated wood blocks under the barrel to elevate ours;

but there are other options available.  

 Of course it goes without saying that the barrels must be completely stable however you choose to elevate them and that wherever you locate them, other than the ground, must be able to support their filled weight. Be safe:)

 

Missing You...

Our magical time with you was all too short.

Each moment together everything seemed brighter and more fun...

from eating sushi, mochi ice cream and pizza, 

to our time at the beach

and at the Enchanted Forest.

Soon

I found myself becoming more like you...
sliding down a big yellow SHOE slide
and walking through a crooked house!
You made me feel like a child again--
I miss feeling that way because it is a whole lot of fun!

I am very grateful that you both are part of our lives
and hope that we can spend more time together soon:)

 

Thank God for the sweet blessing of grandchildren--

in the autumn of your life these blessings
 are far better than anything money can buy!

 

Blessings always,

Aimee

 

Notes:
a BIG thank you to the incredible staff at Enchanted Forest.
From the first phone call to the last goodbye, you were awesome!
Thank you too for permission to post photos on my blog...
we made some magical memories there:)

As per usual, I am not associated with EF but have loved every visit there.
Here is their website should you be interested in learning more:
http://enchantedforest.com/

 

A New Sign For My (Online) Sign Collection...

Back in the autumn of 2009 I started an (online) collection of warning signs.

Finally, I have a new one to add to my collection:)

I LIKE it!

I think--now that my family lives all over the USA,

I need to enlist their help in 'growing' my collection.

My friend tells me she has seen a turtle one....

and I know in the Scandinavian countries there are reindeer ones.

Have you seen any unusual ones?

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Notes:

Other sign posts

http://aimeeonthemountainside.blogspot.com/2009/11/signs.html

http://aimeeonthemountainside.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-sign.html

More Tulips

Today's plans have changed a bit...

but I am EXCITED because Farmer Boy repaired our lawn tractor and I am looking forward

 to again zipping across our yard on it this spring, summer and early fall.

Today's weather isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be from the forecast I heard on Friday

 so maybe later we'll go to one of my favorite places...

hopefully:)

Until then Blogger has graciously agreed (and cooperated) with the upload of more tulip photos...

 

The famous pink John Deere tractor from another angle...

Aren't those dark tulips amazing?

I believe they're called Queen of the Night.

But still I DO love my pinks...

Glorious, wonderful, beautiful pink...

I am SO thankful that God created pink...

(and secretly hoping for lots of it in heaven along with horses).

I am SO thankful that blogger is semi-cooperating with me today.

I am SO thankful that Farmer Boy got the tractor up and running.

I am SO thankful for the weather not being too bad today.

I am SO thankful to have heard incredible news from my daughter today.

Anything you're thankful for today?

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Notes:

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

(first post has more information)

 

A Stroll Through the Tulips: Pt 2

I am beginning to think blogger is pulling an April Fool's Day joke on me...

but the joke is on it because I am one very persistent lady:)

More tulips for you (and me).

My love affair with pink continues...

with NO sign of it ever ending.

I want a bench like this for our place...

and a garden of tulips

(or at least a planter box full of them due to our ongoing battles

with the evil gophers who want to redesign our gardens.

They can't dig in our planter boxes..LOL).

Where are my grandkiddos when I need them?

But the cutout shape does say a lot about how I feel about tulips

and this beautiful farm:)

 

Do you have a favorite bulb?

 

More later

(the way this is going you might be seeing tulips daily for awhile...)

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Notes:

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm

(see prior post for their contact and festival info)

And now...time to check the laundry load drying outside...

feels much colder today-brrr!

 

A Stroll Through the Tulips

Springtime in the Pacific NW means many things...

hanging laundry outside to dry (love),

usually better weather (love),

more hours of daylight (definitely love),

bbq season soon (can you tell what's on my mind?)

and blossoms,

lots and lots of blossoms!

And, if I get tired of seeing the blossoms in our yard,

I can just go strolling through other peoples' gardens.

One of the places I love to go is Wooden Shoe Farm located in the Woodburn area...

It's been a few years since I was last here...

and I found some changes--

like this PINK John Deere tractor

(and you KNOW I LOVE pink)!

 And then there are always the tulips,

beautiful,

incredible,

wonderful

tulips!

And I will have more tulip pictures for you later...

depending on Blogger's mood that is:)

 

What are you doing this lovely Friday?

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Notes:

Right now the tulips are in full bloom

AND

it isn't raining either

(woohoo!) 

It's Tulip Festival time:)

Wooden Shoe Tulip Farm, Woodburn, Oregon

http://www.woodenshoe.com/

 

As always (unless otherwise noted),

I am not associated with the farm in anyway...

but I am a repeat visitor and customer

*and I LOVE it there amidst the many colored tulips*

 

A RIDE to Remember

 (note: there's a pretty short ad first--sorry)

 

Once upon a time there was a crazy grandma.

And once upon a time she took her three wonderful, thrill loving grandsons and daughter

for a day of fun at an amusement park.

 

Now this grandma's idea of an adventure at an amusement park includes rides on

carousels, trains,

 and a long, long time ago, ferris wheels.

But never, ever roller coasters.

 

 That is till that fateful day...

the day she decided she just had to ride a roller coaster once before she died.

 

So she gathered information relevant to the goal she had in mind:

she talked to the kids there---

who all lied to her and told her it wasn't bad at all

and

was, in fact,  a LOT of fun.

 

(She should have known better...)

 

And she counted the exact time it took to complete each ride cycle--

from the beginning to the end she knew exactly how long it would take in seconds,

Really!

 

And after several minutes of information gathering

she convinced herself it couldn't be THAT bad,

could it?

 

And so,

she boarded a car

and quickly

 learned the shocking truth...

even grandmas CAN be wrong:)

 

For from the very beginning to the very end,

this grandma was truly terrified and convinced she was going to fly out of the coaster car

at any moment.

In fact, so convinced was she of this,

that her arms were covered with bruises for days after

and her whole body oh so sore

from holding on for dear life.

 

But she had done it...

 

So,

I ask you,

is your idea of a good time at amusement parks the carousel?

The ferris wheel?

Or is it...like ALL the rest of my thrill loving family,

the roller coaster?

 

And what items on your 'bucket list' if you have one...

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Notes:

This was the famous Ripper roller coaster

(yep that name alone should have been enough to convince me not to ride it)at the now closed

 Thrill-Ville USA south of Salem. 

 

If At First You Don't Succeed....Sharing Today (Part 2)

Spring break in Oregon brought sunshine and blue skies to the coast.

April brought...well it brought normal spring weather to the PNW:)

But we don't let little things like wind, cold and a few showers stop us...

so it was off to Tillamook and Garibaldi for a day trip.

At Bar View County Park we are always met by busy seagulls doing their seagull thing.

And there is often nice wave action on the jetty...

my husband has spent many hours fishing off these rocks when he was younger.

He is part mountain goat...

he can jump from rock to rock.

I, being of sound mind and horrible balance, leave such things to him.

Aren't they great?

I absolutely LOVE these guys!

And now to break the 'gray' theme I have going here...

a little pretty pink by the bay!

I truly, truly LOVE spring blossoms...

at home so many of our fruit trees are filled with blossoms of white and pink.

Inland, at the Tillamook Forest Center, the Wilson River was running high...

and it looked completely different from this summer when we visited here and walked along it.

The turbulent water was everwhere it seemed and along highway 6 I spotted around a dozen waterfalls and cataracts...so amazingly beautiful!

 I SO wanted to stop and take photos of everyone of them...

but once you are in well moving traffic on that road,

you just don't want to stop because you are sure to get stuck behind

someone moving well below the speed limit as we did on the way back

 

Maybe next time...

 LOVE these mountains!

 

Blessings this Monday evening,

Aimee

 

Notes:

NO! The driver of the Tillamook Transit Bus

was not one of the slow moving vehicles...

they were driving quite appropriately for the road and weather.