Leaving the nest for a week!

We are taking off for a few days. We have made this trek many times in our car and find ourselves waiting for Spring to take it again. As we leave the plum trees are in full bloom but believe it or not, it snowed on these trees today! It's time for a little more sunshine and warmth that we find in....... Death Valley, California! Most people wonder why would we want to go to a place called "Death Valley?" I guess you'll just have to go there yourself to find out! It is lovely. We stay at the Furnace Creek Ranch and enjoy the beautiful swimming pool, hikes, time to read, time to ponder and time to just be. We shall return soon enough but for now we look forward to the drive and time to be together, away from telephones, technology and work. Nice!!
See you soon!
This is Death Valley .....take a tour!

Going to Africa!

My beautiful ones.........are leaving for a month in Uganda. Adjumani to be exact. There the "boy" will build chicken coups and other kinds of building repair. The "girl" will help with marketing, packaging and baking of gluten free pumpkin muffins. Each will be helpers in whatever way is needed. May God bless you as you go. May He protect you and give you strength. May His power sustain you and may He set your path before you! You are covered with our love and prayers!!
Please feel free to view the blog that opens a window to Adjumani, Uganda, Africa.....a world away but just a click to see for yourself! Adjumani... Life in Transition!

God Bless you my beautiful ones!

Yummy Gluten Free Sugar Cookies!

We have our very own Gluten Free Girl in our family! She is worth the little extra effort it takes to make her specials days filled with goodies! These pink bunnies were a hit on Easter Day. They didn't last long. The flavor was buttery and the texture smooth! Just the way she likes them. It has taken some time to find recipes that resemble the gluten laced delights we are use to. Bob's Red Mill has provided many wonderful options and if you have someone you want to treat and they need the gluten free food, check out Bob's. We highly recommend the chocolate cake mix, scone mix, pie crust and angel food cake mix. You will be very glad to know where to find them.
Loved and Special Girl!!

Here is the recipe for the gluten free sugar cookies. We hope this recipe fills in that needed gap for your special person!!

Gluten Free Sugar Cookie

Blend1 1/2 cups sugar1 cup butter flavor Crisco (I use butter)Add4 egg yolks1 tsp dried orange peel or vanilla Mix1 1/2 cups potato starch flour2/3 cup cornstarch2/3 cup tapioca flour2 tsp baking powder1 tsp saltAdd four mixture to first mixture. work with hands to from balls. Rollout on pastry cloth or tea towel individually cut into shape. transfer to greased cookie sheet. Bake in 375 oven for 8-10 min. makes 6 dozen 2 inch cookies. This dough does not toughen with handling.

Mossy Rock Walk!

My daughter and I decided today would be a good day to hang around the farm and enjoy the sunshine. We opted to go for an early morning walk through the woods. At the very beginning of our walk we came upon many mossy rocks and LA couldn't help but pat them softly. It is thrilling to watch her learn and take in all that the woods has for her! Even the slug we found was beautiful in her eyes. The path through the woods takes us to open areas where the sunshine pours through and warms our souls. It is breathtaking!
We then enter another area where the ferns are so lush and plentiful that we have to watch where we step. In another month most of the trees that are not evergreen will be leafed out and will create a canopy over our heads. In the hot summer months this canopy keeps the air cool.
The woods are thick with wild hazelnut trees and there is an abundance of beautiful green moss. The frogs can be heard as well as the many birds that twitter over our heads.
This was a good way to start the week! We shall return soon!!

The Children Are Coming!!

Easter is here and the children are coming!! Preparations are being made around our house for a big feast in celebration. Easter is a very special time as we celebrate the ressurection of Jesus!
Early on Sunday morning we will attend our home church to partake in worship of Jesus and all that He has done for us. We will then head home to get ready to share a meal with our family.

Along with a special meal we will have an egg hunt. This is part of the fun and tradition of this special day. The little ones will grab a basket and set out to find the colorful eggs that will be hidden under moss, rocks, around trees in our backyard. There will be laughing and merry making of all sorts! It is as much fun for the adults to watch the children scurry around as it is for the kids to find the eggs.

What are some traditions in your home, family or country?

Naturally Colorful Eggs!

We have eggs fresh from our hens almost everyday of the year. The only exception is when it is so cold that they don't feel like laying them, but even then out of our 50+ chickens, one will lay an egg. Right now we only have one chicken who lays white eggs. The other chickens lay brown or our favorite blue eggs. The Araucana chickens are responsible for the blue eggs. This is a view inside the hen house and right in the center is a fine example of an Araucana rooster. His name is "Randy" and all of these hens are under his fine care. You can also see the one white hen among all the other more colorful breeds. We will start selling our eggs when the weather becomes a bit warmer. But, for this week the eggs will be for our family. You know what Sunday is!! Hen houses are not known for their cleanliness. We clean ours out about five times a year. The manure is great for the garden and flowers! It is the best fertilizer we know of. We also add
wood chips on a regular basis just to keep things smelling better than otherwise. Raising chickens is not a lot of work and the end result is worth it the little effort it takes. It is becoming more common for city people to keep a couple of chickens. There are laws that regulate what and how many a person can have. I believe the roosters are banned from most city limits..due to the constant crowing. Yes, they crow whenever they want to!!

Self-portrait drawing, tracing and painting.....

Learning to watercolor paint is a very slow and time consuming process. Learning to paint a portrait is especially slow and difficult. There is a tendency to fix the feature of the face, interpreting what is there and picking out it's particular characteristics. Or, create an idealized image that looks nothing like the person being painted. This must be why our teacher gave us the assignment of painting a self-portrait. It was the kind thing to do!! The first thing that was done was to take a photo of each person in the class and from that we did a value's study. This is to establish relationships between the various parts of the face and creating details.
Next, we traced the outline of our face onto tracing paper and transferred that line drawing onto the watercolor paper. In the end product I decided to remove my glasses from the transfer.
Finally we mixed our paint, French Ultramarine Blue and Burnt Sienna. We made four pools of paint and added different amounts of water to each pool to create a monochromatic mix of colors. The first paint to be put on the paper was very, very light. Then each layer was darkened at each application, which was four times.
Now, this picture is not in anyway perfect but it was a very fulfilling experience and it has helped me understand the process that portrait painters go through to create their masterpieces. My next self-portrait will be done in color. You will have to wait a while to see that!!

Happy Birthday Willow!!

Happy Birthday All Day Long!!

Have a cupcake! There is one for everyone!

Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday to you! Happy Birthday Dear Willow, Happy Birthday to you!!!!

View from the front porch......Majesty!!

On February 16th this was the view from my front porch at about 5:30 pm. It was one of those displays that made me want to run and shout "LOOK!" A few minutes later the sky lightened up and became a vivid pink and purple! And I say, "Thank you God for this show of your majesty!!"

Dream Catcher Watercolor Brushes

There are watercolor color brushes and there are "Dream catcher" brushes! I ordered this set of brushes last December. They were back ordered and I forgot about them. Then the UPS truck drove down my long driveway today and the driver came to the door with a box. It was from Cheap Joe's and I knew immediately what was in that box.


Brushes don't make the artists but they do help. For you knitters, you understand the feel of a fine pair of knitting needles in your hands. Well, that is what I have now in my new brushes! I'm ready to start another painting and see what comes of using great brushes!

A Walk in the Woods Where the White Violets Grow.....

On our farm we have several acres of wild woods. My husband has been working on a path that meanders through these woods and allows us to enjoy the many colors of each season. Today was one of those beautiful (almost Spring) days that drew us out to explore the woodland floor.

What do we see? "A white violet!!" They are easy to miss because they only stay around for a few days and then are gone!

As we look beyond our feet we spot the green and white carpet across the path! We scream, "More white violets!" This is reason to celebrate!!
As we walk further it is apparent their is a whirl of activity that is taking place in the woods. Birds are busy finding their place to build nests and preparing to lay their eggs! We wonder what next week will bring and what we will see changing.


Here is a web link to wildflowers and the "white violets" shown above.

Madeleine L'Engle....a friend for all time.

Madeleine L'Engle passed away on September 6th, 2007. I just found this out today and it makes me sad. On my recent trip to New York City I went by her apartment and wondered how she was. I've thought of her like she was a friend. That is how I felt after reading her Crosswicks Journals, four in all.

Madeleine L'Engle is most known for her book A Wrinkle in Time, a Newbery Medal winner. Children who attend public schools will most likely have read this book by the time they are in sixth grade. It is a rich book full of intrigue and adventure, just the kind that kids finding enthralling! Teachers enjoy the interesting lessons they can pull from the text.

Two Part Invention was the first book of L'Engle I read. It is the touching true story of her life and marriage with Hugh Franklin. I highly recommend this book. You will find that it causes you to ponder the value of a life well lived and appreciate the ones you love. I'll just mention one other book of hers that I have with me constantly, that is Walking on Water. Madeleine writes about the connections between faith and art. Her thinking is not main line at all and that is why I like it. Calvin Miller, author , writes "L'Engle's insight breaks me out of humdrum reality and sets me down in fields of play." She is a master at the art of writing , detailing her thoughts and inspiring others to do the same.

You will find a complete list of Madeleine L'Engle books at this web site: http://www.madeleinelengle.com/

Luci Shaw, another writer, was her very close friend and speaks beautifully of her in an article written for Christianity today. Take a look. http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2007/septemberweb-only/138-52.0.html

Ocean / My Watercolor

Painting with watercolors is something I have been learning for two years. It takes a tremendous amount of hands on experience to get the paint where you want it to go so that it gives the correct impression. While still very much a beginner I am having a great time. My painting class consists of ten ladies. We meet on Friday mornings. The ladies range in age from 50 to 80. Our teacher is an accomplished artist who teaches at Lewis & Clark College. Each week we learn something new, then go home and try out that technique. I especially enjoyed painting this ocean scene below because of the colors and the fun little birds. The objective was to learn how to paint water using as few strokes as possible, without overworking the space. We used a wet into wet wash, then allowed the paint to dry before adding the birds and lines.

The picture is not an original, it is my rendition of Joe Garcia's work. It comes from Joe Garcia's book, "Mastering the Watercolor Wash," page 76-77. Paint colors we used are: Burnt Sienna, Cobalt Blue, French Ultramarine, Permanent Ros, Raw Senna and Viridian. The paper is 140lb. cold pressed Arches.

"Homecoming"

"Homecoming" was created by Heidi Petersen . It is an assemblage. I was privileged to buy it, hang it in my house and now savor it each day! This piece speaks to me of pain, sorrow, restoration and relief. Madeleine L'Engle so beautifully states, "In art, either as creators or as participators, we are helped to remember some the glorious things we have forgotten, and some of the terrible things we are asked to endure, we who are children of God by adoption and grace." I understand this.

Heidi is my niece. Please look at her other works of art. She is an accomplished artist of whom I am very proud!! http://www.heidipetersen.com/ Another favorite piece is "Redeem the Time", notice the butterfly! Enjoy!!

Huckleberry Pie in March!

Have you ever tasted a wild huckleberry pie? Once you do you will understand what a treat it is. Wild huckleberries are not easy to get and it takes quite some time to find enough berries to make a nice big pie.


Last August my sweet daughter took me up to the Mt. Hood National Forest to pick these wonderful berries. The road we traveled off of Hwy 26 was long and very bumpy! After parking the truck we then had to hike four miles into a remote lake where the berries were.We picked for about three hours and barely had enough berries for one pie. However, this did not distract from the experience one bit! As you can see we are enjoying a beautiful huckleberry pie on the second day of March! It was well worth the days' outing!!

Huckleberries grow on low bushes nestled in the forest. There are twelve species of huckleberries growing in the Washington and Oregon forest. The most favored variety is the thin leafed variety, producing beautiful large blue huckleberries.
Walking up the path we could see huckleberry plants here and there. Once we came to an area where the timber had been cut, more plants were present.
This pristine lake was near the end of the four mile hike. We stopped to have a picnic lunch close to the shoreline.