Spring in the Columbia River Gorge: Pt 1

The Columbia River Gorge is another magical place for me, especially the part from Hood River to Portland. I love it because of all the green trees and ferns, waterfalls, history...well there are just a LOT of reasons why I love it! Why don't you come along with us and see, if by the end, you love it a bit too?

This is Crown Point--the little building (which is actually not a little building) is the Vista House. The views from up there are breathtaking, literally, which is why I was not up there this day:)

Two highways go through this area--the Columbia River Historic Highway (parts of which are open to vehicles; parts which are open to hikers only and some which are still not open if I recall). The other highway is I-84 which is the lower highway; this one runs along the river and also has great views.
The early morning light was unbelievable--this photo does not give the beauty of the area justice. It was SO beautiful, I kept shooting photo after photo; it was also really cold so some of them, sadly, were shot through my car window:(
Another major tourist attractions is the Multnomah Falls! Visitors from all over the world come to see the falls--some to hike the many trails in the area.

When we were there, we almost had the place to ourselves. Later in the day, when we drove by, the place was crowded. It is very green and shady in the area right by the falls. We could also feel the spray off the falls. I loved it and all the old rock walls and steps. I love the historic lodge there too, but you will have to wait until part 2 for to see that! As I have said, many a time, I would love to know what my Oregon Trail pioneer families thought of this area after being in the drier area of the Gorge. Unlike many other families, mine came the river route instead of the Barlow trail. The river was quite a different place then--no dams--so they would have seen Celilio Falls in the Dalles area and the Cascades (rapids) near Cascade Locks.

The Columbia River here is in a gorge that divides the Cascade mountains of Oregon from those of Washington. Some mountains and higher elevations had a lot of snow on them; some other areas less so--the lowest elevations no snow:) I cannot believe this spring--we just got snow at about the 2,000 foot elevation and Washington state extended their studded tire season till just a little while ago.

This last photo (below) is in the Hood River area. This is a big area for windsurfing! During the summer you can see loads of them and it is very exciting to watch! We didn't see any windsurfers that day-it was pretty calm, we did see a few boaters though.

Looking eastward--the next town would be Mosier. From here the gorge area becomes drier and less green.

See you later for part 2! One of my fav shows just started.

Blessings this day, Aimee

Photos: spring 2011, Columbia River Gorge (westernmost area). Sorry about the formatting--it has been very strange lately.

The WORD on Wednesday

"Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in Thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer."

O God, Creator of the natural world, Creator-Redeemer of me, let the words that come from my mouth and hand, the thoughts that I choose to reflect on, and my deeds, be as beautiful as Thy creation.

And, LORD God, when I become discouraged that they are not; that I have failed again--let me remember that it is You that gives me strength and it is You that has forgiven me.

Blessings this Wednesday morn, Aimee

Photo: The lower section of Multnomah Falls, Columbia River Gorge, Spring 2011. I am still working on perfecting my waterfall photos; should probably have used a tripod :) Will post more photos of this area and others soon. Verse: Psalm 19:14 KJV

Flexibility

Remember I said it was important to have flexibility in making plans/goals? Right now that is being put to the test, as I was told by the ER doctor I must take it easy for several days and schedule follow-up with my physician so they can determine what caused the pain. SO just when I was making real headway in my spring cleaning and organization, it is time to rest and trust for awhile because good stewardship calls me to do that with the great and precious gift of life that I've been given.

"Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding.He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

Teach me Lord to wait.

Blessings this early morn,
Aimee

Photo: white orchid azalea. Not blooming yet--but soon:)

Verse: Isaiah 40:28-31 KJV

Home + Garden Plans 2011

Recently I made some plans for the garden and our home. I must confess that part of me was a bit fearful and hesitant of making goals, as so many things changed the last time I did this...however life goes on and planning/goals are important as long as you remember to leave room for flexibility + to prioritize:)

Garden Plans (in order of importance):

1) Extend planting bed and paths in Japanese-style garden. Redo edging. Add daffodils, more Irish moss by bench, etc. Goal: simplify mowing and solve edging problems; provide a 'drier' path for the wet season, maintenance.

2) Redo edging in transitional (mixed ornamental/edible garden beds). Goal: simplify mowing and solve edging problems --yea, done:)

3) Add 1-2 half barrels near the Gunnera plant for lavender (yum), mint and/or edibles like veggies. Goal: soften the look of that area while adding more color there.

4) Add more wildflowers, lavender or daffodils in second raised bed (we don't use these for edibles as they were built with (yuck) pressure treated wood. The decision to use the first one for wildflowers/perennials was a good one as it seems to have attracted more birds and butterflies:) Also, add a second soaker hose and seating. Goal: add more color, attract more wildlife with limited water use plants.

5) Main Garden: redo compost areas, level, add path under arbor and by caneberries. Possibly add a non pressure treated raised bed or two on south side of garden. Goal: make area more user friendly while still providing wildlife habitat, new edibles area??

6) Deck maintenance, clean, finish east rail + planter box. Possibly add free standing deck -- perhaps with a gazebo off north deck.

Home plans:

1) Each week pick a 'focus' room and thoroughly clean, organize, sort + discard as needed, decorate it. Plan of 'attack': master bathroom (about 1/2 done now), public areas (family, living, dining rooms + kitchen), bedrooms, other. Goal: learned the hard way to divide up the heavy duty stuff due to back and health issues--this way divides up the task more reasonably:) Get rid of unneeded, excess stuff. Simplify cleaning and maintenance tasks.

2) Continue with personal goals in terms of clothing decisions and other items.

Well there they are--I will add photos as goals are accomplished. It kind of goes without saying, but I am trying to be a good steward of our resources in terms of both land and money spent on these projects:) Wish me luck!

Does anyone else have garden + home plans for this spring + summer season?

Blessings, Aimee

Photo: our manmade waterfall/stream (not as big as the ones I saw this last week in God's garden, AKA the Columbia River Gorge. However, I LOVE the one my Farmer Boy made us--it makes me + our koi very, very happy:)

Easter 2011

What more can I say this Easter morn?

I think this says it best:)

Thank you Jesus!

Blessings this Easter, Aimee

Notes: Above clipart from the following website: http://thebiblerevival.com/clipart.htm and is being used according to the 'terms of use' permissions found there. This specific art is from their collection: Public Domain Clipart Collection #44 Color ABC's~Per the above website: "Clipart have all come from sources published in the United States before 1923. They are therefore in the public domain in the United States, but they may be copyrighted in countries outside the United States." Please see the above website for further information, to view their collections of music, clipart, etc. and to comply with the terms of use for using the clipart collections they have there should you be interested.

Good Friday 2011

Amazing love! How can it be, That Thou my God shouldst die for me?

He left His Father's throne above So free, so infinite His grace--

Emptied Himself of all but love, And bled for Adam's helpless race:

'Tis mercy all, immense and free, For O my God, it found out me!

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 KJV

Blessings this Good Friday, Aimee

Lyric Notes: Lyric excerpts from 'And Can It Be?', John Wesley (Psalms + Hymns, 1738). You can read all the beautiful lyrics and hear the musical score that accompanies them here at nethymnal.org

Art Notes: Above clipart from the following website: http://thebiblerevival.com/clipart.htm and is being used according to the 'terms of use' permissions found there. This specific art is from their collection: Public Domain Clipart Collection #36 Bible cards 1904. Per the above website: "Clipart have all come from sources published in the United States before 1923. They are therefore in the public domain in the United States, but they may be copyrighted in countries outside the United States. " Please see the above website for further information, to view their collections of music, clipart, etc. and to comply with the terms of use for using the clipart collections they have there should you be interested.

Palm Sunday 2011

He knew the praises of the people would be short lived;

that within a few days He would be condemned to death.

He knew that even His closest friends would desert Him because of the fear of others-

the fear of man.

He knew how much He would have to suffer

the innocent Son of God,

the Passover Lamb,

the Good Shepherd,

and yet He still headed towards Jerusalem,

according to God's will as written in the Old Testament.

He knew but,

He headed there anyway because of obedience

and because of God's love for us-

rebellious, sinful us.

Today, as I was listening to the Stations of the Cross,

I thought of just how much God loves me

and

just how much He loves

you.

He didn't just say it;

He proved it.

Blessings, Aimee

Notes:

Above clipart from the following website: http://thebiblerevival.com/clipart.htm and is being used according to the 'terms of use' permissions found there. This specific art is from their collection: Public DomainClipart Collection #42 Bible Cards 1910. Per the above website: "Clipart have all come from sources published in the United States before 1923. They are therefore in the public domain in the United States, but they may be copyrighted in countries outside the United States. " Please see the above website for further information, to view their collections of music, clipart, etc. and to comply with the terms of use for using the clipart collections they have there should you be interested.

The Joys of Winter in Spring

Outside it feels more like winter than spring--

rainy, gray, cold!

But--thanks to heat and some flowers gathered from outside,

inside it is spring!

How's your weather?

Blessings,

Aimee

Ooops!

To err is human---

and we all know I am very, very human!

I was setting up posts to publish automatically next week

(Holy Week)

when I won't be doing posts

and I forgot one little, tiny, almost unimportant thing--

yep I forgot to change the date of publication before I pressed publish!

So if you are looking for the Palm Sunday post with the wonderful picture

OR

if you are thinking Aimee must not know when Palm Sunday is--

never fear,

I do

and that post will now publish at 12:01 AM this coming Sunday:)

Aimee

(of the blushed face now)

Scenes of Spring

Sometimes I leave the familiar

and travel to the not so familiar

and there I find beauty too

from halls of marble, wood and glass

to spring flowers under skies of blue

to steeples towering high above the trees.

-

When one's eyes are open to beauty,

one will find it no matter where they go.

Blessings,

Aimee

-

Photos: scenes of Salem

Birds of a Feather...

What do birds of a feather do?

I can tell you they flock together:)

Blessings, Aimee

Every Good Gift

Recently, we took a trip up on the foothills of the coast range where we saw beautiful tree covered hills,

recently fallen white snow, green moss momentarily lit by a ray of light, beautiful pink and white blossom covered trees and two beautiful deer!

I think this verse is perfect to describe the wonderful gifts we were given that day!

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights,

with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Thank you God for all the gifts You give us!

Blessings, Aimee

Photos + Note: Spring in the PNW coast range foothills. Bible verse: James 1:17 KJV

The WORD on Wednesday

I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless Thy name for ever and ever. Every day will I bless thee; and I will praise Thy name for ever and ever.

Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; and His greatness is unsearchable. One generation shall praise Thy works to another, and shall declare Thy mighty acts. I will speak of the glorious honour of Thy majesty, and of Thy wondrous works. And men shall speak of the might of Thy terrible acts: and I will declare Thy greatness. They shall abundantly utter the memory of Thy great goodness, and shall sing of Thy righteousness.

The LORD is gracious, and full of compassion; slow to anger, and of great mercy. The LORD is good to all: and His tender mercies are over all His works. All Thy works shall praise Thee, O LORD; and Thy saints shall bless Thee. They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom, and talk of Thy power; To make known to the sons of men His mighty acts, and the glorious majesty of His kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Thy dominion endureth throughout all generations.

The LORD upholdeth all that fall, and raiseth up all those that be bowed down. The eyes of all wait upon Thee; and Thou givest them their meat in due season. Thou openest Thine hand, and satisfiest the desire of every living thing.

The LORD is righteous in all His ways, and holy in all His works. The LORD is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon Him in truth. He will fulfill the desire of them that fear Him: He also will hear their cry, and will save them. The LORD preserveth all them that love Him: but all the wicked will He destroy.

My mouth shall speak the praise of the LORD: and let all flesh bless His holy name for ever and ever.

Psalm 145 KJV

Blessings, Aimee

Photo: Ft Vancouver, Vancouver, Washington (2010) In that general area today they had a lot of hail, so much so that the freeway looked like it had snowed! Snow, rain, snowy rain, hail, possible funnel cloud--and in my garden a bleeding heart has flowers on it! :)

Of PNW Olive Oil

Today was such an incredibly warm and sunny spring day in the PNW that it brought back good memories of all of the PNW farms I have visited in the last few years! Yes, as I sat on the back deck soaking in the sun and drinking a nice herbal ice tea, I couldn't help but think of how the NW is at its loveliest under blue skies and how fortunate we were to have a real spring after last's year wet, cold, gloom.

And then I woke up...

realized I was freezing; that it was a yucky gray outside, and pouring down rain, and that we were just experiencing a normal/abnormal spring day in the NW. However, and I am holding onto this little bit of hope, as I sit here with a blanket tucked around me, we have had and will have REAL spring days again...this year...maybe:(

Well at least we WILL have summer this year--

after July 4th, of course (it is a PNW joke)--

but actually our summers are really nice once they arrive:)

Alas summer has not arrived yet

and spring is playing games with us so what's a sun starved, cold PNW girl to do?

Make a summer post -- of course! And I just happen to have one:) I particularly dedicate it to all of my fellow winter in spring sufferers--have faith guys! ==

Nothing spells summer like farms...so this post will be at one of course...

do you recall me saying how very excited I was when I found out that one could grow kiwi in the PNW---and then years after we planted some I got to visit a REAL kiwi farm???

Well can you imagine my surprise when I learned that one can also grow OLIVES in the PNW? And that there was actually a nursery that was doing it AND pressing their own olive oil? It's true and I have some of their oil in my pantry to prove it:)

All the photos you've seen in this post were taken at that nursery and it really is a most amazing place! It is located in the hills SW of Portland, overlooking the Willamette Valley in one direction and the rolling hills and vineyards of that area in the other. It is beautiful in the summer and the colors in the autumn are gorgeous (I was fortunate to be able to visit there several times)! They sell and their gardens are filled with herbs, flowers, lavender (yes, I know that is an herb--but I LOVE that herb so think it is worthy of a seperate mention) and olives! Their gardener is awesome and has a flair for great design BTW and you can picnic there overlooking those beautiful hills and gardens (they have some cheese and other food for sale there). They also have a gift shop selling dried lavender and a lot more--oh and they sell plants of course:)

The website for Red Ridge Nursery is here;

I hope to get back there at least one or two times myself this year!

Blessings, Aimee

-

Usual disclaimer: I am in no way associated with this business nor are they with this blog or me, but as usual I love to post places where I have had a memorable time and think that others would too! I sincerely thank the wonderful owner of Red Ridge who happened to be there when we visited the nursery and kindly gave me permission to share some photos with you all!

Spring Serenade

Did you hear it today?

Did you hear the sound of God's spring serenade?

It's the sound of children playing in fountains!

It's the joyful sound of water!

It's the sound of awakening spring blossoms!

It's the sound of couples strolling hand in hand.

It's the sound of light;

it's the sound of life!

And today on our trip, I heard it!

-

Did you?

~

Blessings, Aimee

-

Photos: taken spring 2011 on a trip in the Willamette Valley of Oregon.

The WORD on Wednesdays

Thou art my God, and I will praise Thee: Thou art my God, I will exalt Thee. O give thanks unto the LORD; for He is good: for His mercy endureth forever. Psalms 118:28-29 KJV

Blessings this Wednesday eve, Aimee

Photo: beautiful, sunny Utah

Sometimes You Just Need A Refuge

And if any wildlife or birds are reading this and looking for one...I would heartily recommend William L Finley National Wildlife Refuge in the Willamette Valley :) I heartily suggest it to any humans needing a place to get away and enjoy nature for several hours or more too! And it just so happened that since the refuge isn't too far from the Land of Linn, we continued our anniversary trip among the woodlands, wetlands, hills and historical buildings there.

I'm thinking this is what heaven must look like--or at least part of heaven:) If only the cloud cover was just a little bit thinner that day...sigh. And to think there were once people that did live here--it's nice that we all can enjoy it now!

A little visitor I found while checking out some of the historical places in the refuge. Can you see him? I think of Alice when I see rabbits...and wonderland...and carrots. The big house in the back and to the left of our little friend is the Cabell Lodge, built (approximately) 1912.

Love, love, love carriage houses---love, love, love windows like this with many panes. Ahhh:) This carriage house was built in 1933.

The front of the Fiechter house (1857). I could live here--well actually I can't because it is owned by the government...but I am happy with that because it means these buildings will be preserved!! BTW---the beautiful, big, red barn above---the one where the blog title is...that is across the road a bit from this house. LOVE that barn, love all old barns--this is the Fiechter Barn (early 20th century).

This refuge has so many types of habitat and topography. And did I say you can drive through it? SO nice! The refuge has trails too but during the winter months some areas are off limits because the dusky geese need to rest before they return home to Alaska!

My sibling would love this moss. I know I do!

Ahhh. Peaceful. Serene. Quiet. Beautiful.

A perfect ending to our anniversary trip; a perfect gift from Farmer Boy to his bride:)

Wonder where my path will lead me next? Wonder where your path will lead you?

Blessings, Aimee

Photos taken late winter 2011. Link to the refuge and also source for information on the historical buildings: http://www.fws.gov/willamettevalley/finley/index.html