A Visit To Farmland

Recently, Lime (see her link in my bloglist) posted gorgeous photos of a Norwegian farm and it got me in the mood to make a trip to see some farm country. Sure enough, this week I had to run some errands in one of Oregon's farming areas....I was excited!!

It has been a tough year for farmers in the PNW. Our winter was very, very wet. Our spring was more like winter and, well, summer just arrived recently. Farmers are very busy right now harvesting some of the crops that are finally ready.

Speaking of busy farmers...on one country road we found the longest stack of straw bales I 've ever seen.

On another road, we found one field where no one was busy. This corn should be much taller by now--I hope next season will be a better one for our farmers and I hope our autumn is dry and warm enough for all the crops to ripen.

Of course, in farm country one sees a lot of animals and I LOVE farm animals:) BTW, I am still working on my hubby to get some goats...

but I would be OK with a horse too! Perhaps a beautiful Norwegian fjord horse or an Arabian like my sibling had for many years or??? Of course, we would need an arena and barn for that...it is not fun to ride in the rain.

Besides all the beautiful natural art, we passed some manmade artwork too! I LOVE the quilt blocks on this rural barn--so pretty! I also love the red of the barn!

Speaking of quilts-the countryside looks like one at this time of year! And look, look at the color of the dahlias! LOVE it:)

Such a pretty area--orchards, field crops, vineyards, trees, hills, mountain views, animals! I LOVE the countryside! Do you?

Wishing you a blessed Saturday~ Blessings, Aimee

Only a few more days to go!

The WORD on Wednesday: I'm thirsty

O God, thou art my God; early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is...
Psalms 63:1 KJV

Routinely I neglect to drink sufficient water and end up feeling faint, exhausted and just 'not quite right'. Lately, I've felt that I haven't been drinking enough of the "Living Water" with similar spiritual results. One cannot truly live fully that way I have found out.
So, in less then a week, I will again walk the path I first walked a few years ago ---there I will kneel before God, follow Him besides the 'still waters' and humbly and expectantly allow Him to refresh my dry soul. I am excited!

Blessings,
Aimee

John 4:9-12
Psalms 23

PNW Peaches

Today a large box of these beauties arrived here thanks to a good friend who agreed to pick them up for me! These are wonderful PNW Red Haven peaches and they, along with Elberta peaches, are my favorite peach varieties!

Tomorrow I will be freezing a good portion of these--the last of the crop for this year. I've decided to try a method I found on the Internet that uses orange juice and sugar; we will see how it goes. And the remainder? Ahh! Those are for snacking on and maybe, just maybe, making a cobbler similar to one my friend made for me and others earlier this week with blueberries. Peaches in summer=yum:)

Are you freezing, drying or canning any peaches this year?

Blessings,
Aimee

Of Mountains, Deer + Covered Bridges

In the Pacific NW there is a little traveled highway that runs between Dallas and Wren.

It is known as the King's Valley Highway

and I must confess,

I have fallen in love with it.

The first time we met it was in winter and we were just making a quick trip to see the Rittner Covered Bridge located a bit south of Pedee, a small community on the highway.

But now, some 7 months later--I was back with the goal of driving the entire highway.

After all--how could I resist beautiful views like this?

And charming inhabitants like this?

And these?

And this

(hint--he is very hard to see since I didn't have my zoom lens on,

but he is on the right side of the photo)

And the much beloved cattails of late summer

(oh how I love thee)!

And the beautiful white of Queen's Anne lace?

(I love lace, even when it isn't something you can sew onto clothes)!

And then near the end

or the beginning, depending on which direction you are traveling...

the very quiet, very beautiful home of the Harris Covered Bridge.

I only wish you could hear the stillness of the area

and feel

the peace.

Ahh!

I just have to go back--after all there are still some places I haven't seen yet:)

Maybe soon.

Blessings + peace,

Aimee

~

Links:

My earlier post on the Rittner Covered Bridge and Kings Valley Highway

area can be found here: Polk County

And, if you like covered bridges as much as I do,

you can check out my earlier posts on some of the bridges

located in Linn County here and here. Enjoy!

So my question of the day is--

what is your favorite kind of historical place?

A Visit to Scandinavia (Sort of)

Our day at the Scandinavian festival started beautifully

and very deliciously

with aebleskivers and Norse jam

(Note: it was worth the wait in line)! :)

It also began with flowers--

lots of cheerful, sunny flowers!

It included a lot of toe tapping folk dancing from all the Scandinavian countries.

My DH and I always enjoy the folk dancing;

I also love the embroidery and gorgeous hair styles!

A lot of people--adults and kids dance.

There are a lot of booths there too--

with rosemaling, wood working, Swedish weaving, wheat weaving and more crafts!

And, of course, what would any festival be without food?

This year I was very good and didn't buy anything but food

(although the crafts were so beautiful I was sorely tempted)!

Oh yes, I have told you about the beautiful hairstyles--

I love, love, love braided hair!

Wonder if my DH would be willing to help me do this with my hair?

And after the aebleskivers, sausage, dancing, admiring of all the beautiful costumes,

flower watching, photo taking, heavenly Celtic harp playing, lovely folk music

and more, it was time to leave...

but that couldn't happen without fulfilling my traditional eating of two lefse.

Two lefse with melted butter and cinnamon sugar.

YUM!

~

How was your weekend?

Blessings,

Aimee

The WORD on Wednesday: In His Steps

Be ye therefore followers of God, as dear children: And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us as an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.
Eph 5:1,2 KJV

He that saith he abideth in Him ought also to walk, even as He walked.
I John 2:6 KJV

It's pages are brown and brittle with age; no wonder, it is over a hundred years old.

But its message "What would Jesus do?" is as relevant today as it has always been.
The other day I felt I should pick it up and

read it; so I did.

And as I read it,

I was thinking to myself--

what would my home be like if I treated each day as a gift from God

and asked,

what would He want me to do with it

and then did it?

And what would my home be like

if I truly, truly sought to do His will

and

not mine.

I wonder.

~

Blessings this Wednesday morn,

Aimee

~

Notes: this is one of the old books I was given by my dad; it is most probably from the 1890's and as soon as I finish it I will need to find an archival, acid free 'home' for it and the other old books I got. Should you be interested in reading In His Steps, it is widely available online...

be blessed:)

Early Morning Blessings

I feel blessed

~

Although I have less marionberries this morning, I feel VERY blessed :)

Blessings to you, Aimee

Photos include: early morning view, one of two visitors, echinacea, cosmos, shiro plums

Another Summer Journey

It all started because of a craving for these

and these!

Yep, a HUGE longing for these wonderful berries of summer led us to a farm

we had visited a couple times before...

A farm where they have 5 varieties of strawberries, 3 varieties of raspberries

and, if we are lucky enough to get there again this summer,

they will have marionberries and boysenberries

(actually. come to think of it, they should be ripe just about now--yum)!

AND, of course, since we were already going that way,

I just HAD to check out some of the historical places in the area near the farm.

A shady path in the historical, waterfront town of Butteville led us down to a river
where we found the remains of what used to be a riverboat landing

in days gone by...

and then, because we were hungry,

we stopped at the nearby historic Butteville store and had a

FANTASTIC lunch there!

We also had a nice talk with the staff there and

learned there was a pioneer cemetery close by!

BTW--the store is considered part of another nearby historical area--

Champoeg State Park and the two are connected by a nice trail which I have walked before!

Since we had berries to keep COOL and HAPPY,

we chose to drive:)

A photo of the covered porch--
doesn't this just say 'peace'

and 'old times' to you?

I SO wish I had listened to my DH years ago and put a roof on our deck

It is something I really regret!

Anyway back to the trip...

we passed this pretty view somewhere in the countryside near the farm

(but please don't ask for directions; a friend who knew the area was driving

and if I tried to describe our route I would only get you lost)!

St Paul's Roman Catholic church in a nearby historic town.

Once, a very, very long time ago I got to go inside of this church

and another historical one in Mt Angel! The interiors of both were incredibly beautiful!

BTW, I LOVE to go inside old churches-

I find that whether they are large or small, fancy or plain,

urban or rural they're all filled with an atmosphere of peace!

I LIKE THAT!

Speaking of which--it won't be long now till I get to go see some of my fav churches

in one of my favorite areas--I AM SO excited:)

Can you tell??

Flowers of the field--I LOVE the yellow and white combination, don't you?

We painted our youngest son's old bedroom yellow and I LOVE it

(of course I will better be able to appreciate it when it stops being used as a storage unit)!

Last, but certainly not least, an amazing rose garden we passed

in the area.

It was a wonderful trip and the berries were beyond scrumptious too!

Now back to work I go...have a great day!

Blessings, Aimee

~

Notes:

A BIG thank you to Koch Family Farm and the Butteville Historic Store for permission to photograph on their property and to post these photos here! TY:)

The rose photo was taken from the road alongside Heirloom Roses--we saw many, many gorgeous roses there! I will try to post more photos from there later (need to check with owners first to get their OK).

Koch Family Farm: 4745 Raybell Road NE, St Paul, OR (503)538-6834

Butteville Historic Store: http://buttevillestore.com/

The Land of Sea + Shore

For over 100 years she has kept sentry here on the spit,

forever longingly looking northwards.

Caught forever in the sand,

she will never sail the cool Pacific again.

So close to making her goal of finding shelter within the calmer waters of the river.

only a few miles beyond this place of wind and warm sand.

Above her fly seabirds who call this place home

I wonder what they think about as they glide above the sand and waves.
on this warm but windy summer's day.

Blessings this early morn,

Aimee

~

Notes: photos taken at Ft Stevens State Park. See wikipedia's article on the Peter Iredale if you would like to learn more about this ship and see a historic photo of her.