Of Alpacas, Lavender, Provence + Tea: Pt I

Happy Monday to you!

On our last visit I left you in the hills of Helveta--

a beautiful rural area located not too far from the hustle and bustle of Metro Portland.

And I believe I left you admiring my favorite hat--a pink one of course--in Helvetia Lavender's outdoor tea pavilion...

so that is where I'll start today.

 

 

Last year my honored guest was my DH--so tea was not an option

(he is a coffee lover through and through)...

this year I brought my best friend so tea in the pavilion was a definite yes:)

 

 

We had a very yummy scone with juicy, sweet Oregon berries and whipped cream.

I had iced tea with stevia; my friend hot tea...

did I say it was sweets with a very sweet view?

 

 

During the Festival the farm has many garden areas...

this water feature has been a favorite of mine for two years now!

LOVE the colors:) 

 

My friend and I spent quite a bit of time here learning about spinning,

touching (and admiring) the beauty and softness of alpaca wool.

Oh and picking out the sweater of my dreams--if I can lose some weight that is:)

 

 

Now I LOVE alpacas and have been wanting to visit a alpaca farm for a long, long time--

so you know I was in heaven getting to meet this little one year old.

Do you know alpacas sing?

Or maybe they hum...anyway this little cutie was vocalizing while I was admiring their beauty.

Ah! I think I'm in love...

 

Back to spinning...

it was really exciting and interesting getting to know more about this age old process.

The spinner (actually this whole farm family) was delightful--

we really enjoyed our time there,

and it made my desire to learn how to knit and crochet even bigger!

I SO need to talk to my SIL about lessons:)

 

Back in the gardens -- I LOVED this plant but have forgotten the name.

*Update (7/22): it's a Gooseneck Loosestrife (Lysimachia clethroides)*

 

Isn't it beautiful?

I love white flowers and always include them at home.

Speaking of gardens,

mine is going to need some TLC this week because it is going to be a warm week.

How's yours?

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Next post...a bit of Provence in Helvetia.  

 

Notes:

Here is the link to Helvetia Lavender Farm

http://www.helvetialavenderfarm.com/index.html

Festival is over for this year (sigh),

but it is my understanding that

their tea pavilion will be open the next 2 Friday and Saturdays for tea

and that profits from tea benefit Good Samaritan Ministries.

I like that:)

 

And here is the link for Oregon Alpaca Farms

http://www.alpacasoforegon.com/

Love that alpaca yarn!

 

 

 

 

Of Alpacas, Lavender, Provence + Tea: Pt II

 

It's Friday Monday and time to return to beautiful Helvetia and the Lavender Festival.

As I mentioned in part I,

there are many different garden areas at this farm--

ranging from smaller ones made in old wheelbarrows to larger ones.

I love garden designs like that-

where there are hidden treasures around a corner,

or up above your head...

 

 

Such gorgeous colors at this time of the year...

so many textures,

so much detail,

so amazing creation is! 

 

Do you like the pastels

or do you prefer the brighter, more dramatic colors?

 

 

They had several birdhouses...

I LOVE these

and I loved the red ones they had on a ladder.

 

So many things to see on a warm sunny summer day...

these things brought a BIG smile to my face!

You see I have been looking for this particular vendor ever since I had seen her featured in another blog quite awhile ago....

 

I loved these little bread baskets?

They are SO cute:)

I wish I had realized what they were while I was there...

but my mind was totally focused on placemats.

 

Don't these colors and designs make you think summer?

Perhaps they make you think of a sunny town in southern France by the beautiful Mediterranean sea?

They do me.... 

 

 

Loved these fabrics and the summery designs!

The fabric is very easy care also...

any guesses to which pattern I chose?

Any guesses as to my second favorite?

 

And so, as I've been wanting to do for quite awhile now,

 I had to bring home a little bit of Provence

to remind me of the feel of the summer sun on my skin,

the fragrance of purple lavender in the air,

and a special time spent in the foothills of Helvetia:)

 

Beautiful, amazing Helvetia--I love you!

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos taken at Helvetia Lavender Farm (and nearby)--

http://www.helvetialavenderfarm.com/tea_pavilion.html

(looks like this Friday and Saturday are the last days for tea in their tea pavilion).

 

Also here is the link for Soleil de Provence (on Etsy):

http://www.etsy.com/shop/SoleildeProvence

 

Disclaimer:

 I am, as always, not associated in any way with either Helvetia Lavender Farm

or Soleil de Provence except as a happy visitor/customer.

The WORD on Wednesday: Wisdom, Trust, Peace + Prayer

I wrote something recently to the effect that I wish God had a hotline in heaven,

or perhaps an Internet connection,

because I surely don't have the wisdom of Solomon,

the faith of Abraham,

the heart of David

or the prophetic gift of Isaiah.

Nope--none of those special gifts seem to reside in this woman's being.

And yet, despite my feelings of weakness right now,

God has not left me without help.

 

 

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally,

and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him.

But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering...

James 1:5, 6a KJV

 

 

Trust in the LORD with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding.

Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take.

Proverbs 3:5,6 NLT

 

 

But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in My Name,

He shall teach you all things,

and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.

Peace I leave you, My peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you,

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

John 14:26-27 KJV

 

 

And He said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee:

for My strength is made perfect in weakness...

II Corinthians 12:9a KJV

 

God-given wisdom and truth for those who lived in Biblical times--

and for those who live in times such as these.

 

Wishing you a blessed Wednesday.

Aimee

 

Photos: 

The northern and central Oregon coast, summer 2013.

 

Sources:

God's Holy Word--

 KJV=King James Version (public domain)

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

 

Of Alpacas, Lavender, Provence + Tea

Today a friend and I headed to the hills of Helvetia to visit another lavender farm...

this was my second visit there; my friend's first.

 

And I'll tell you all about it on Monday:)

Until then...

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

One last day of the Oregon Lavender Festival 

but not the last day to get yourself some lovely lavender:)

More photos to come -- above photo taken at Helvetia Lavender Farm
http://www.helvetialavenderfarm.com/

 

 

 

Colour My World Lavender - And a Bit of White

Every year at this time my thoughts turn to a certain fragrant herb,

and all the different things I want to do with it.

 

Of course it helps that,

as I walk through our garden daily,

 I am greeted by the sight (and sound)

of happy, colorful and very busy bees gathering pollen from our own 10 lavender plants.

~

But still, somehow,

 my summer doesn't feel totally complete without at least one trip to a PNW farm where I can

wander through lovely fields of purple and white...

 

But where to go this year?

One year I went to Hood River,

2012 saw me in the Yamhill area.

And there--of course--have been other farms;

there's just so many to choose from in the beautiful PNW:)

Such a difficult decision...

 

But then, this week, I ran into a little bit of info that was just SO enticing,

SO wonderful,

SO exciting...

I just had to go and check it out:)

 

 

And that's how my best friend and I ended up today

in gorgeous rural Polk county--

home to one of my favorite highways

(the King's Highway),

awesome Baskett Slough NWR,

a beloved covered bridge and waterfall

(the Ritner Covered Bridge and Little Luckiamute Falls),

several historic areas that I love...

and

Lavender Lake Farms.  

 

There we spent some glorious moments under the warm summer sun wandering through

the field gathering fragrant lavender to take home

and enjoying the happy bees there

(really--I love bees and don't mind getting close up to them at all).

 

And some glorious moments in the farm's wonderful gift store where they have an

 incredible amount of mostly lavender products--

for the bath, body, tummy (yea!), house and more!

Lavender is truly an amazing herb!

And, yes, I ended up with some really neat things to bring home

and some ideas for how to use my own lavender:)

 

 

By the way, do you know the OTHER reason this time of year makes my thoughts turn to

wonderful fragrant lavender?

Well it's Lavender Festival time of course!!

That's right--this very weekend--

yea, I LOVE this time of the year:)

 

AND I love, love, love lavender

AND this family owned lavender farm!

 

 

Hum...wonder what I heard about that enticed me into visiting THIS particular lavender farm.

LOL...

yep, now I have my very own 'Aimee' plant to love and nurture --

and to remind me of a summer day spent in beautiful rural Polk county.

 

By the way, do you know how relaxing lavender can be?

Tee hee--my best friend does now:)

 

Lavender Blessings to you,

Aimee

 

Photos:

All taken at Lavender Lake Farms, July 2013.

 

Notes:

A BIG thank you to the people at Lavender Lake Farms for all their friendly assistance today

and for giving me permission to take and post photos on this blog, As is always the case, unless otherwise noted, I am not in any way associated with the farm except as a satisfied (and very happy) visitor! Should you want to pay them a little visit this month (or during Lavender Festival) their website is here: http://www.lavenderlakefarms.com/index.htm.

They have some special events going on also this month:)

 

Morning Garden

This morning overcast skies and cooler weather greeted us--

and it felt SO good after all the hot weather we've had!

I am sure our plants were thankful too for the brief respite-

the roses and some other plants look pretty stressed right now...

of course that might have more to do with me not watering them

as much since my last BIG snake sighting:)

Aimee and snakes DO NOT get along.

Shudder...

 

 

My most recent plant purchase---

not a very good photo I am afraid

(sigh)

but this is one GORGEOUS  plant--

the pretty flowers look just like velvet--

I kid you not!

LOVE it!

 

Found the formerly 'missing' kiwi--

this year's crop will be smaller but we'll still have more than enough:)

 

 

One thing that is doing fabulous this year is our hydrangea--

it loves the extra light it is getting this year since a nearby willow was cut down.

 

 

Sadly, our lavender should have been harvested before this...

but wasn't because of the heat.

Aimee and heat don't get along either:(

 

Oh well...the bees are loving it...

and I even found two dragonflies on it this morn.

Aimee and bees

and

Aimee and dragonflies get along quite well:)

 

We grow mostly culinary lavender

(about 10 or so plants).

Last year I dried it by hanging small bunches of it under our kiwi arbor.

It dried perfectly and smells heavenly!

Hum--I wonder if heaven smells like lavender.

 

Roses...love, love roses!

 

 

Blueberries---

this morning I caught a two-legged creature happily munching away on them;

I joined him :)

 

 

And with that I wish you adieu.

Hope you have a day filled with peace and joy!

 

Blessings,

Aimee

Short + Sweet

 

June 26, 2013 evening

My DH picks me a bowl of yummy, juicy, sweet homegrown marionberries to eat--

which I do:)

 

 

June 27, 2013 morning...

someone needs a healthy snack too.

 

 

No bowl needed.

 

Mmm.

 

 

I am always glad to trade some of our yummy Oregon berries for a few photos:)

 

And now it's time for me to get to watering and other tasks before the heat gets really bad.

Stay cool my friends, stay cool and safe.

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Sad, sad day in Arizona.

May God be with those who have lost family members fighting the wildfires there.

 

Chillin' at the Beach with the DH + Dear Daughter Dog

A too warm Friday led

to a too warm Saturday...

which then called for a just perfect trip to the beach,

 

 

A whole lot of other people it seemed had the same idea...

(totally normal when the temps go up in the valley)

but surprisingly we got 'front row' parking at a favorite stop,

(a rare find whenever the sun shines on a summer weekend at the coast)

we didn't encounter any coastal traffic jams

(a rare happening when the temps go up in the valley

and the sun is shining on a summer weekend at the coast)

AND

(and this is a BIG 'and')

we actually spotted at least one motel with a vacancy sign.

Yep--big shockers I know:)

 

At the beach the temperature was perfection--

and I do mean perfection.

The sky was clear--

except for a very, very few little clouds quite a ways out to sea.

The surf was perfect

and so...

 

was the sand

and these footprints:)

 

The Farmer Boy was happy...

as was DDD.

 

 

In fact, the DDD was VERY happy...

and so was her mom-me!

 

 

And now the question is...

how will we cool down tomorrow?

 How are you staying cool?

 

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Photos: central Oregon coast

 

 

Celebrating Midsummer: Pt 2 (AKA -- At the Beach)

This actually was going to be post 3 of a series,

but since we're now into our heat wave

and since very soon I will feel like a wilted flower.

I am posting it today--

because looking at photos of the beach at least makes me feel cooler--

 

Stay cool my PNW friends...

cool and well hydrated!

 

No trip to the northern Oregon coast would be complete without some time at my favorite beach...

besides it seems like such a Scandinavian thing to do on Midsummer:)

 

 

Yes, the native grasses really are that tall!

 

 

First glimpse of the ocean...

I wonder if Lewis + Clark felt the excitement we still feel today?

 

A photo to the left over the field...

LOVE this area:)

 

Almost there...

hurry up grandma!

 

 

Hang on Papi!

 

 

Grandpas make great playmates....

and they make pretty good sand towers too!

 

 

Midsummer wildflowers at the beach...

SO much beauty!

 

Hope you are enjoying some beauty wherever you are today:)

Blessings,

Aimee

 

Notes:

Photos taken on Oregon's north coast.