After the Showers

I awoke this morning to a beautiful sight...

a wet deck

(give me a few months and it won't be as beautiful).

It wasn't too long thereafter that the thought of raindrops on roses and leaves

brought me outside to partake of the blessings of the garden.

 

 

A stroll by the Shiro plum again had me thinking--

what can I do with all these???

After all, a girl and her guy can only eat SO much.

Ideas?

 

Another part of the garden brought me by one of my unofficial rain gauges...

I know you won't believe my other 'rain gauge' is a laundry basket I sometimes leave outside

(along with some laundry).

 

I sometimes see things that don't belong on other things...

like hearts in clouds

and this rooster/chicken on an apple.

PLEASE tell me YOU see things like that too...

please:)

Happily it looks like we will have a good apple harvest this year...

Mmm.

Granny Smith, Liberty and other apples.

 

There you go...

raindrops on roses.

And you thought it was just lyrics to a song...

 

 

Just what I LOVE to see...

a rhododendron blooming in late summer.

All us PNW people love our rhodies...

well at least this PNW person does:)

 Other unexpected blessings this summer were ferns and lavender we didn't plant:)

Oh and one, exactly one, sunflower!

 

Well it's time to go and check the, hopefully dry now, laundry

and get it safely inside

before we get another round of 'blessings'.

I leave you with a final photo of our crocosmia...

 

Blessings on this special day,

Aimee

 

Another question:

In addition to how to use lots and lots of Shiro and Satsuma plums

(both Japanese plums), any ideas on what to do with a lot of Asian pears?

:)

 

 

Last Week + Family Introductions: Pt I

You can feel it now, at night especially--autumn is in the air and has even left it's beautiful mark on a few leaves. And as I see the leaves turn red and yellow, and as I feel a bit of chill in the night air, my heart is filled with a happy anticipation for what is to come--because the beauty of autumn overwhelms me (in a very good way)!

 

But, even though signs of fall are growing around me, the calendar says we still have about a month of summer to go...and so there is still time to enjoy summer pastimes

 (while making autumn dreams).

 

Last week we made a trip to Mt Angel and Silverton to get some great German sausage

(photos later)

and then...

 

Last weekend we were blessed by getting to take BOTH of our granddaughters

 on a last minute coast, forest, mountain, farm, valley trip...

 

You've already met our youngest granddaughter...

 

 

but now I have the pleasure,

the very great pleasure,

of introducing you to her totally awesome sister,

our oldest granddaughter!

 

Aren't they beautiful?

They are BOTH such blessings

and so much fun to be with!

Our oldest granddaughter is just THE BEST with her youngest sister too:)

 

 

On our little excursion all of us,

including older sis,

 worked on lesson 2 of teaching little one to swing by herself--

and she is slowly learning how.

Look at the determination in her face!

She WILL master it soon I know.

 

 

In the valley

we passed by this incredible field,

and the golden light was SO beautiful...

can someone please remind me next time to bring lens cleaner

and a wipe?

LOL

Oh and roll down the window...

yep all those little things one forgets in the excitement of the moment!

 

I never tire of seeing the fields of the valley--

watching them being tilled,

crops growing in them,

harvesting

and, yep, after harvest too.

Farming amazes me!

 

 

On our trip we also had the pleasure of stopping by for another pony ride

at the same place as before!

There the two young ladies again helped us

(they are totally AWESOME with young kids)

little one had her second pony/horse ride;

older sis her very FIRST!!!

Afterwards one of the girls took time to show us one of their baby bunnies--

see how cute his (or her) little paw is?

And those little ears?

SO very precious and all of us treated this new life as such.

Thank you ladies!!!

 

 

We always include some forest time if we can...

I am beginning to love the coast more and more,

but I will ALWAYS  love the mountains of the PNW

(and everywhere else)!

 

 

Fun at the lake--

we love the lake and the great park there!

This was shot during the water fight...

Papa (AKA Farmer Boy) loves a good water fight,

especially when the kids aren't expecting it

(oh yes, the girls love it too)

:)

 

 

The beach, of course, is always--

always fun and it's especially fun in the fog

(you know how much I LOVE fog)

it was very magical there this time,

 slightly obscuring the seagulls and kids in the water.

Made for some great, fun photos--

 

LOVED it!

 

Have a great day!

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos:

August 2013--Oregon

at various locations on the central coast, coast range and valley.

 

Notes:

A BIG thank you to the ladies of the pony ride place

who have made our  last 2 trips there wonderful!

Hope to see you again before the riding season ends:)

I apologize for not knowing the name of their place,

but it is past Grande Ronde and just before you make a climb over the coast range--

maybe 10-15 minutes before the rest area on Highway 18??

They are usually opened on weekends-for awhile yet.

 

 

 

 

Just Because

I am posting this just because I LOVE these little fish...

 

 

Doesn't the one fish look like he's smiling? LOL

You got to love a fish that looks happy,

and  makes me smile and happy too!

 

I wonder if God smiled when he created this little fish,

or when He created puppies, baby horses, penguins or alpacas?

I honestly don't know the answer,

 but what I do know is that each time He created something,

"God saw that it was good".

And I know I agree with HIM because our world is so very beautiful even now!

 

And,

when I see something like this oh so wonderful fish,

it makes me wonder

what our world looked like in the beginning--

when it was newly created.

And, it makes me wonder--

what will heaven look like.

 

Well it's time to get busy...

lots of work to do in the garden and maybe,

just maybe,

there will be a fun field trip to go on today.

 

By the way,

does anyone know the name of my adorable, smiling, cutie-pie fish?

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

And even though it is not Wednesday,

here is a WORD for you today...

 

And God said,

Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life...

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth...

and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 1: 20a, 21 (parts of) KJV

You can find all of these verses here at one of my favorite websites--

Bible Gateway.

 

Update (8/26/2013):

My oh so cute wonderful smiling fish now has a name

(thanks to Willow of http://whimsywillowsfarm.blogspot.com/)...

he is a yellow Hawaiian tang fish!!!

I should have known...so many wonderful things can be found in Hawaii:)

Speaking of wonderful things...

I highly recommend Willow's blog--

she lives a farm and has the most adorable collection of animals ever!

Take a peek, you'll see what I mean:)

And for more info on Mr. Smiling, oh so adorable, yellow Hawaiian tang fish....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yellow_tang

 

Photo:

Vacation Photo Collection

Central Oregon coast,

OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center,

August 2013.

 

Of Lefse, Rosemaling + Celtic Harps: Pt II

 With my mind on the wonder and goodness of vaflers this morn,

I thought another post on our trip to the Junction City Scandinavian Festival would be a good thing.

You can find part one here 

and, of course, I have quite a few posts about

Scandinavian festivals, food and celebrations here.

I also follow several Scandinavian blogs as you can see

 if you check out my blog favorites to the right...

 

 

My current favorite troll--

this time a front view.

He had me laughing with all his naughtiness--

reminded me of a 2 year old!

Have I ever told you just how much I LOVE the so called 'terrible 2's'?

I always thought of them as more terrific then terrible

:)

 

 

Speaking of Scandinavian food,

one of my favorite subjects,

I always get one of these from the Frikadeller booth...

in fact it isn't a festival till I have eaten some kind of Scandinavian food! 

I LOVE Scandinavian food and my goal is to one day try at least one bite of lutefisk.

Have you ever had some lutefisk?

How about poi?

Not Scandinavian AT ALL,

but I like to include it in my list of foods I have tried:)

 

The top section of the information windmill--

it is here that you will find AWESOME people to help answer all the questions you might have--

questions like "Where do I find my favorite rosemaler?"

and 

"Am I going the right way to find Noah (Celtic Harpist extraordinaire)?"

and

"Is anyone selling the dried flower headbands I bought years ago here?"

(sadly the answer was 'no' to the last question...)

 

We always enjoy the town's Scandinavian dancers...

all the way from the wee ones

(now that sounds rather Irish)

to young adults.

LOVE their floral crowns,

the music that gets your foot tapping,

their colorful traditional folk costumes

and of course the dancing!!

 

Of course, you will find rosemaling there...

on buildings,

some vendor booths

and on craft items too

(more about that in part III).

I have lots and lots of useable and decorative items with rosemaling (rose painting) on them--

shelves, a wood bucket, a fjord horse and more.

I LOVE rosemaling and we are lucky in the PNW

to have several women who continue this beautiful folk art! 

 

And last but not least,

another of my favorite things to find at Scandinavian festivals

are these....

 

 

flowers,

lots and lots of flowers...

one can never have another flowers in their life

and one can never have enough flowers at a folk festival:)

 

Have a great day!

Our weather has changed and they are having thunderstorms in the southern portion of our state.

So much of the western states are now having wildfires...

and sadly, as you may know, we have had loss of life and property.

Would appreciate prayers for rain--

lots of drenching, healing rain.

Thanks!

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos:

2013 Junction City Scandinavian Festival

 

Indulging Myself

I hope you will allow me permission to indulge myself on this beautiful sunny Monday afternoon.

 

 

You see I am still caught between the land of fantasy,

and the very real world of dirty dishes, piles of icky laundry

and other household tasks.  

 

It's not that I couldn't go back there...

(well maybe not HERE because I can't stand driving across high bridges

and someone else always has to do it),

but maybe south or north of there.

 

Yes, my heart would really like that--

to be in the land of seagulls, ocean and bays again.

But reality is telling me vacation is over and it's time to get back to work,

as my husband already did early this morning.

 

So with a few more photos, I shall stop my dreaming,

and get back to chores.

Sigh...

pout...

BIG frown.

 

 

Or

 

maybe

 

I'll

 

just keep dreaming of that magical place while I do some chores.

Sounds like a win-win scenario.

Smile:)

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos:

Vacation Photo Collection

Central Oregon coast,

OSU Hatfield Marine Science Center,

Tillamook Forestry Center

August 2013.

© 2013 A. Blessings

All rights reserved.

Please do not copy without permission.

 

Summer Blessings

As I read Alicia's most recent post today,

 I knew what she meant.

You see,

I love the blue skies of summer,

the light that fills our home

and my heart.

 

But sometimes it just gets to be too much --

especially

when there is day after day of endless hot

 (and abnormally humid) weather.

And when the landscape seems parched and dry,

and a bit dull,

well my soul just longs for some good old PNW rain to come and refresh the earth,

and maybe my heart too.

 

This week, during our vacation, I got my wish...

 

 

Yes, bright sunny days at the coast are amazing...

but foggy ones,

though they obscure  parts of the landscape,

make the coastline seem like its own magical kingdom!

 

 

And when the raindrops fall,

native plant berries glow like beautiful jewels.

 

 

And though beach fun may be cut short...

 

 

My heart sings as the parched earth and plants drink of this heavenly blessing!

 

 

And it soars as I think how loving our God is to send us just what is so badly needed right now.

 

 

His love is truly, truly incredible...

 

His blessings are without number!

Thank you LORD,

thank you.

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos:

Vacation Photo Collection

Central Oregon coast, August 2013.

© 2013 A. Blessings

All rights reserved.

Please do not copy without permission.

Of Lefse, Rosemaling + Celtic Harps: Pt I

Every summer, at about this time of the year,

Junction City is transformed into a magical, happy place filled with:

 

plants and flowers

 

crafts and pretty tapestries

(pretty sure this was part of Desiree of Sweden's collection--love these rugs)!

 

a BIG dala horse

(every year we 'hunt' the Dala to capture a photo of him).

 

Big Vikings...

 

 

and little dancing Vikings too:)

 

 

Trolls of every kind

(this was a pesky--but oh so funny one)

:) more of him later...

 

 

and Nordic treats of many kinds including this very, very yummy lefse!

 

Mmm, lefse:)

 

More to come...

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos:

Scandinavian Festival, Junction City, Oregon

 

Links:

http://scandinavianfestival.com/

 

Lazy Days of Summer? I Don't Think So!

I've heard it said that summer is filled with lazy days,

and when I was a child it seemed like this season went on and on--

 till one actually became a little bored with it.

 

But things have changed since then--

and this summer the days have been anything

but lazy or boring!

Here are some of the things we've been doing this summer

(and this was just part of one day).

We've been...

 

 

jumping

(well mostly one of us has been).

 

 

And we've been doing some running too

(again mostly one of us).

 

We've been doing some crafts--

molding (dinosaurs of course)

 

and learning to make sand 'casts' too.

 

 

And we've been doing a whole lot of dog watching, dog petting and dog hugging

(because we are all HUGE dog lovers)!

This is for you Sam:)

 

 

We've also been trying some new things...

 

but sometimes not enjoying them very much at all:)

 

But the best thing we've been doing this summer is hugging...

LOTS and LOTS of hugging,

and truly that is making these not so lazy days of summer a most wonderful time!

 

So what are you doing these days?

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Coming soon:

Of Lefse, Rosemaling and Celtic Harps

(Farmer Boy and Aimee go to another Scandinavian Festival)

 

Photos:

North Oregon Coast

(between Garibaldi and Rockaway)

© 2013 A. Blessings. All rights reserved.

Please don't copy.