The WORD on Wednesday

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...

Song of Solomon 2:11-12a KJV

~

Even though the rain is certainly not over here in the PNW,

new blossoms ARE appearing daily!

Again my world is filled with their colors-

the colors of new life!
And in the trees, little birds eagerly sing their spring melodies

causing me to look up towards the sky

as my heart fills with joy at the sights and sounds of the new season!

I am SO thankful for spring!
Are you thankful for anything today?

Something small

but still miraculous?

Something that makes you look up towards the heavens above with thankfulness in your heart?

~

Blessings, Aimee

-

Photos:

Taken in Independence and Monmouth, Oregon, spring 2011.

More about them later:)

Wanted!

Fields filled with sunny daffodils and tulips of many colors

and time to wander about

and gather a bouquet or two of them.

An orchard filled with the white and pink blossoms of fruit trees

and time to sit under their spreading branches

and just admire their beauty.

A field of wildflowers

and the time to lay down in it on a quilt

and watch them sway gently in the slight breeze

and reflect on the goodness of the Creator

and the beauty of the creation.

~

I have the time,

all I need is spring to start

(I heard a 'rumor' that will be tomorrow )

-

What do you want this spring?

~

-Blessings, Aimee

-

Photos:

Tete a tete daffodils--from our garden

(I still want the field of daffodils and tulips to walk in though!)

Plum blossom--from our garden

(soon our mini orchard will be filled with blooms and I will take time to sit and reflect)

A field of wild mustard seen on one of our day trips

Aimee's Ants

Aimee's place has ants.

Aimee's place has lots of ants.

Aimee HATES the ants that have taken over Aimee's place!!

-

Ants that:

crawl on her counters,

hide in her dishwasher,

have been known to inhabit her microwave,

and

ants that have community meetings at her sink.

-

Ants that crawl on her.

Ants that smell really, really bad

and

ants that bite.

Aimee REALLY hates ants that bite!

-

Ants that get under the cap on her mouthwash--

Aimee hates those too!

-

Ants that keep on coming

and coming

and coming.

~

But the worst thing,

the very worst thing

that Aimee hates...

-

ants

that got into her refrigerator,

then somehow squeezed,

their small smelly bodies,

under the cap of Aimee's whipped cream

that went onto her freshly sliced, juicy, lightly sweetened

(with raw sugar)

bowl of strawberries that she was craving!

-

Ants have absolutely NO conscience!

-

Aimee

The Wonder of Spring in the Midst of Winter

Ever since Aimee at momzoo (see my bloglist for a link there) wrote a post on how to force forsythia branches quite awhile back, I've wanted to do the same thing...

but every year nature beat me to it :(

not this year :)

And

I forced plum branches too!!

If you've never tried it,

just follow Aimee's great directions then

be prepared to enjoy days of lemony wonder inside your nice warm home!

Thank you Aimee for your great post!

Blessings...

Note: I will try to post a direct link later if I get some time but if you go to Aimee's blog - momzoo -- you should be able to find this particular post with little problem.

Of Winter Waterfowl

They take my breath away.

They make me feel like a child seeing something wonderful for the very first time.

I can't get enough of them this winter!

And they seem to be obliging me:)

For I am seeing them in all the usual places--ponds, wetlands, refuges...AND a hotel parking lot??? Love it:)

Lord, I LOVE the handiwork of Your hands!

Blessings, Aimee

Photos taken at various locations in NW Oregon including Tualatin River NWR, a man made pond and the Grande Ronde area. Just to let you know I have fallen totally in love with our national wildlife refuges in the PNW; if you have never been to one (they are all over the USA) you should go! The ones in the NW I have visited are:

1. Siletz Bay in the Lincoln City area (note: you can view this area from the road; entry is very limited),

2. Baskett Slough in the Dallas area (a beautiful area --especially near sunset)

3. Tualatin NWR south of Portland (very nice visitor center with a viewing scope--great on freezing cold windy winter days, also has a small interesting museum of the history of the area, view of foothills-mountains in distance)

4. William L FInley NWR, south of Corvallis (great driving route with many different types of environment and my other great love---several historical barns and homes. They also have a visitor area but I didn't go in as the day we were there was warm!)

BTW--I will have photos from #4 soon--right now I am learning how to use new software:)

Blessings, Aimee

Out & About

With all the lovely snow and rain which followed the lovely snow...

we have been seeing a lot of wetlands that are really wet:)

However, this photo is not from one of those--

this was a beautiful man made pond we stopped to walk around awhile back

during a trip we made.

This particular pond had two huge fountains that were just beautiful!

It also had ducks and geese which you could get fairly close to

in the path that went around the pond;

a little bit of serenity in an urban area.

One of the ducks we passed.

My sibling used to own ducks when we were children and I have always been fond of them.

Not at the pond above but in another area I visited with family.

Beautiful.

I love these days of late winter/early spring!

Blessings,

Aimee

Responsibility...

I long to stay on blogger and to play-

but unforunately my household tasks can't be put off one more day.

So to work I must go--

though it pains me so, so, so

(ok it only pains me a bit)

:)

Coming soon: photos of geese, a refuge, mountains, historical church and more.

~

Blessings,

Aimee

Before and After

Not long ago a certain woman walked around her garden

looking for signs of spring, and she found a lot of them: beautiful white pieris blossom clusters, cheerful yellow tete-a-tete daffodils, buds swelling on plum trees and other plants....

oh and flowers on the rosemary and one of the azaleas (I kid you not)--

see?

yea I could not believe it either!

And all of this spring in winter stuff made her very, very happy

and she was grateful for them but...

~~~BEFORE~~~

deep, deep down she harbored a not-so-secret desire for the blessing of

beautiful and delicate frozen ice crystals-

and so did a lot of other PNW'ers.

~

And then one day,

well past the 'normal' time for such blessings...

the heavens opened,

and instead of the usual rain,

they brought the gift of snow to the PNW and to Aimee's garden.

~~~AFTER~~~

And Aimee smiled as she strolled around her yard

dressed in her flannel PJ bottoms, a sweatshirt and her favorite boots.

~

And she kept saying 'ooh' and 'ah'

as the silent song of the snowflakes filled her heart

with happiness and gratitude for this wondrous gift from above!

~~~BEFORE~~~

and the song continued as she found gift after gift

~~~AFTER~~~

See?

A beautiful white blanket to hide the very ugly,
but very wonderful,

landscape fabric that keeps my plants very happy all year long!

BEFORE:

a kiss from heaven in the form of a sunshiny tete-a-tete bloom

and now...

AFTER:

lemony goodness and an upside down snow cone:).

~~~BEFORE~~~

And throughout the gardens

the magic of the snow's song continued

making what was beautiful before

into something even more wonderful!

~~~AFTER~~~

And the magical melody still continues,

though darkness has long since fallen,

for we still have snow outside!
~

From the winter wonderland of the PNW,

I bid you peace on earth and blessings from heaven,

Aimee

The WORD on Wednesday: Love III

Master,

which is the great commandment in the law?

-

Jesus said unto him,

Thou shalt love the Lord

-

thy God

-

with

all thy heart,
and with

all thy soul,

and with

all thy mind.

~

This is the first and great commandment.

And the second is like unto it,

-

Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

=

On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
Matthew 22:36-40 KJV

-

How often I have failed at these two commandments;

how thankful I am for the love, mercy and grace of God even when I fail.

--

Blessings this Wednesday eve,

Aimee

A Look Back at 2010: A Little Bit of Christmas

Now that we are past New Year's Day and Valentine's Day.

it must be time to post some Christmas photos:)

Our yummy smelling Christmas wreath--

I just took it down this week and it still looked good except for a few areas in the back;

yea for our humid winters!

(I know, you thought I would never say that)

-

My best friend always makes my wreaths-

we work together on the design I want each year;

this time I was into a semi-natural look.

Lefse--store bought this time but a necessary part of my smorgasbord!
This year I got my DH to take a teeny tiny bite of the lefse-

I was very happy he at least tried them!

-

We also had pickled herring (love, love),

pickled beets (yum)

and Swedish meatballs (big time yum)!

Mini Christmas stockings--
I bought several different kinds to use as napkin & eating utensil holders

(an idea I got from Bed, Bath & Beyond)...

but that didn't happen due to some circumstances,

so next year?

More food:

Christmas eggs: the 'tree' is a piece of dill--I think I saw that somewhere on the web;

the 'berry' is a piece of dried tomato rolled up. My DH & I liked them very much,

but next year I will use a pastry bag for the filling.

Pressgurka: peeled, scored, thinly sliced cucumber in a mixture of vinegar, sugar, salt. These are always good no matter the season and I have made them for a long, long time.

Pickled beets--store bought but oh so good!

I also bought an assortment of cheeses and goodies,

but we didn't eat them this night because it was so late in the day.

I love cheese from Scandinavia and have a weakness for Danish cookies:)

-

Blessings,

Aimee

Life in the Garden: Early & Late February

One of the reasons I post photos of my garden on here is to keep track of the changes from year to year; it is much easier for me to check garden pictures on here then browse through a zillion photos on my hard drive.

I know that one of these days I am going to delete all the ones I really don't need;
one of these days:)

Since there are so many of them I'm going to keep writing to a minimum--

at least that's the plan.

Here goes--will you join me?

Not the clearest photo,

but I love the color.

This is one of the newest pieris.

This is our (or should I say God's 'forest on a tree' garden).

I love it!

Look at all the kinds of lichen and moss.

Amazing and really beautiful in the morning light,

per my best friend.

who was over here this week helping me.

See--I've already broken my own 'rule' of keeping words to a minimum.

You should meet me---

it is really frightening how much I talk.

Plum buds and another 'forest in a tree' garden.

I hope you notice that I am including a lot of the romantic colors...

after all we are SO close to that special day now.

More plum buds--two of ours are at this stage now.

The Shiro and Satsuma Blood.

Two of our earliest blueberries are looking like this as of late.

They are the earliblues--and I am very partial to them.

Irish Moss and camellia sasanqua petals.

I can't show you the whole path

or it will make me think very bad thoughts about the skunk whose life we spared.

Mister Tap-Toes at Night was NOT a good guest.

(of course we might be wrong--

it might have been a gopher--

but I'm thinking skunk from the shape of the many, many holes

that are all over the Japanese-style garden.

Our viburnum--Spring Bouquet.

These clusters will open to white flowers in spring,

hence the name -- :)

I belive this is one of the evergreen huckleberries--

just like last year it is confused and so are the lingonberries.

I am hoping the confusion is short lived because I really, really want loads of berries from all of these this year.

This was really hard to post---

I'm sure you can see why...

but behind the ugly but very wonderful landscape fabric--

which my plants adore--

are daffodils.

This type is a fancy kind.

Another photo of my beloved evergreen huckleberry--

Pacific NW native and friend to all berry loving Aimees.

Not shown but with buds opening or other changes--

daphne (heavenly smell)

praecox rhodo (I am hoping the flowers will hide all the 'burn' it has from our low temps.

I'm thinking next year we might try to give it some kind of cold/wind protection.

an unidentified plant with white flowers

(and a heavenly smell--not that I know what heaven smells like--but I am thinking really, really wonderful!)

Pussy willows are emerging--yea

and more...

Happy Valentine's Day soon!

Blessings,

AImee

The WORD on Wednesday: Love II

A new commandment I give unto you,
That ye love one another;
as I have loved you,
that ye also love one another.
John 13: 34 KJV

Jesus spoke these words,
just after He took on the role of a servant

and

washed His Disciples dusty feet.

-
All 12 Disciples-
the 11 who would follow Him all their lives

and
the 1 who Jesus knew would betray Him shortly.

-~
…love one another;
as I have loved you--

-
Perfect,
selfless,
patient,
never-ending,
I Corinthians 13
type of love.
AGAPE
love.

-

Lord,

help me to love others the way You love them.

Amen.

~~

Blessings,

Aimee　

~

Photo: nandina in winter

The WORD on Wednesday: Love

Love is patient and kind.

Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude.

Love does not demand its own way.

Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged.

It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out.

Love never gives up,

never loses faith,

is always hopeful,

and endures through every circumstance.

Love will last forever.

~
I Corinthians 13: 4-8a KJV

-

Blessings,

Aimee

-

Photo:

My baby granddaughter and her mom--a beautiful picture of love.

Four Things That Smell Better Then One Annoyed Skunk

1. Quinoa-

red quinoa to be exact.

Red quinoa smells a lot better then a skunk

and it tastes good too.

(if you haven't tried some you should)

-

2. Paperwhites-

paperwhites smell a whole lot BETTER than an annoyed skunk.

And they are much better houseguests.

-

3. Lavender--

freshly picked, dried, still in the fields or in products--

lavender smells much, much, much better then a stinky skunk.

-

4. A winter bouquet. Actually I don't remember if the roses had much of a fragrance to them... but almost anything smells better then one angry, annoyed, scared skunk.

And that is a blessing.

Aimee

Life With A Skunk (My Growing List of Skunk 'Facts')

1.

Sometimes skunks find their way under people's houses and other places. When they do you will find they are very rude guests and no matter how long they stay, it will be too long.

-
2.

When they do find their way under your house, you are in for nights of listening to the skunk shuffle which will drive all your little, super cute, white fluffy puppies crazy (and you too). You will start to worry over important things like wiring, insulation and other stuff you know are down there. You will find yourself wondering just how BIG this thing is that lives down there; you will find yourself wondering if there is anyway possible he can eat or claw through the flooring between you -- and his new home. You will think about the possible disgusting diseases it may have. You will wish he had--at the least-

picked a better place than under your kitchen to bed down in.

-
3.

Skunks under the house will make your home smell rather strongly at times. In fact, if they are only moderately annoyed it will smell like something is too hot or on fire--you may even find yourself checking on things. I know, I did. If they are greatly annoyed, the results will be -- something you will never forget and you won't be checking on anything because you will know, for sure, where the odor originated from.

-

4.

Speaking for 'our' skunk...he
(yes, it was a he; males are larger than females I am told by an expert)

preferred junk food to nutritious food like apples.

His favorite food?

Marshmallows-the cheapest, most disgusting ones available.

--
5.

A humane "box" trap is one of the greatest inventions ever--but it doesn't discriminate and is capable of catching anything or nothing at all--for days and weeks even.

6.

Taking a photo of said trapped skunk, without perfuming everything, including yourself, requires great stealth but can be done--not that I am recommending you try it. A blind (or something that works like a blind) serves well--most, but not all, of the time. Needless to say I didn't use my best camera--I had no idea how I would clean it if THAT happened

(besides no camera shop is going to want to work on something that smells that bad)

-
Hints:

If the skunk lifts its tail---you will know it is not happy at all.

Never be downwind of (or anywhere near) a skunk that is not happy at all.

You'll know if you are ever downwind of a skunk that is not happy at all;

you won't have to ask.

You will find yourself very thankful if this happens outdoors because gradually THAT smell will dissipate--gradually being the key word here.

On the other hand,

this odor may serve to deter unwanted solicitors from visiting.

-
7.

Seeing the skunk in person 'creeped' me out BIG TIME-

maybe it was because I knew what he had the power to do to me?

-

8.

There are some people that you just want to hug,

even if you have never met them before.

--
9.

Being skunk-less is a happy state of being and that is a FACT.

-

Thank God for my new skunk-less state:)

~

Blessings,

Aimee

-

Disclosure:

as you have probably guessed, Aimee is no wildlife expert,

so please check with one if you do have a skunk problem.