The promise of the broken lily! A true story.

One day there was a little boy named Silas who went to visit his Great auntie and Great uncle while his mom and dad drove to the hospital to have a baby. Silas loved being with Auntie and Uncle very much. Great Auntie liked to share nature with Silas so she walked him over to the special place where a Oregon Fawn Lily grew. And, much to her surprise, the lily bloom had been bitten off by a deer. Great Auntie was very sad but held the bloom over the remaining plant and took a picture, so that it looked like it was not damaged. Silas said, "I'm sorry the bloom is broken!" Later that day Great Uncle took Silas into the woods to have an adventure. While tromping around the woods, Silas said, "Let's go this way. It's a new way and I'd like to see what is over in that part of the woods." So they began to walk.
Soon Silas spotted several white blooms through the limbs and ferns. When he reached the area to see the blooms closer, he noticed that they were the lovely Oregon Fawn Lilies and there were lots of them. Silas exclaimed, "Look Uncle Jim, more flowers! We have to show Auntie!" Right at that time, back at the house, the phone rang and it was Silas's daddy calling to say, "Claire Christine is born!" God said to Auntie through this story, "Do not despair for I have more lilies for you, and a beautiful new baby to love!" The end.

Ah, that Oregon sunshine....and rain!

If you look closely you will see the rain coming down ever so softly while the sun is brilliant at the same time. This is common occurrence in Oregon and it's quite endearing.....over time! Our rainbows are beautiful also but this time it was sitting behind the house and not in my view. Notice the shadow cast by the sun. More lovely rain! I have begun planting pots and getting ready for all the blooms to come. It's too wet to plow up the garden but that will come shortly....after the rain!

Today was spent with a special little boy....

There is great satisfaction in taking a young child into the woods, walking along deer trails, finding bones, nests, unusual mushrooms, fungus, rocks and wildflowers. There is almost always a stick in his hand and something else that is the days find! Standing still does not happen often but he's very patient with his auntie and the moment is caught! Great Uncle is in the background burning and clearing out the fallen limbs from winter past. I wonder if he has something for us to eat?
O, look, the tee pee made it another season. It was built with filbert branches and has been a snack stop for years! This boy knows that this tee pee was built just for him!
Ahhhh! A marshmallow roast break in April. What more could a little boy ask for!!
And, look!! A crows nest high up in the fir tree!! We think we can hear the squawking but it's so high we can't be sure.

To be continued.......it was a day full of good photo opportunities!

Tea is served simply....

In my lifetime I don't remember a time when tea wasn't apart of our everyday. This tea pot and china belonged to my mother. It was used often and I find great comfort in getting it out today. The pattern of the china is easily recognized, Petit Point by Royal Albert. Mom was known for her love of china and generously passed much of it on to me.
The recipe I bring to you was given to me by, once again, my mom. She brought it home from a trip to Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. We have enjoyed this cookie quite a bit and they don't last long. Grab a cookie and a cup of Constant Comment with me!! We add cream and sugar to make it perfect!!

Oatcakes

2 1/2 C. oats

2/3 C. brown sugar

1/2 t salt

1/4 t baking soda

1/4 C. cold water

3/4 C. butter

Mix first five ingredients well by hand. Cut in shortening. Add water sparingly. Mix forming into a ball. Place on a bed of crushed bran flakes (or flour). Roll less that 1/4 " thick. Cut in diamond shapes. Bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

More from Africa!

This is a bit of a surprise to our family! Our dear Grandpa Trigg left several pairs of very strong subscription glasses with us when he passed away. We wanted them to be put to good use...somewhere. When Derin and Andra told us they were going to Uganda and would like to take as many old pairs of glasses as they could, we knew this was where Dad's glasses should go.
Before leaving we wanted to take a couple of pictures and Jim said, "lets put Dad's glasses on!" We did and here they are...a day away from Africa! (...for you Willow...xx) This is another picture we took of Derin and Andra that same night. We prayed with them and off they went to Uganda, Africa! In just another week they will be home and there will plenty of stories to hear. Please check in on them at The Beauty of Africa and hear more about the bird story below...plus more! It is a very heartening side of life!

Five feet of bird!

Here's a real cutie! Do you know what it is?It is a Shoebill Stork, common name for a large (up to 54 in./122 cm) tall, storklike bird, Balaeniceps rex. Also known as the whalehead, it is noted for its large head and unusually long and wide, many-colored bill, which ends in a hooked tip. It has broad wings and long, strong legs with large, unwebbed feet. A solitary, silent bird, the shoebill stork is native to the marshy banks of the papyrus swamps of the East African White Nile and its tributaries, where it feeds on a diet of frogs, small crocodiles, and especially lungfish and other mud puddle fish. It obtains this diet by probing the mud with its bootlike bill. Partially nocturnal, it tends to be sluggish but is nonetheless a strong flyer and soarer. In several respects, shoebills are similar to herons, e.g., they fly with their heads and necks folded back. A ground nester, the shoebill deposits its one or two chalky white eggs in a nest of grasses on a high, dry spot, where its downy young remain, helpless for some time after hatching. Shoebills are classified in the phylum Chordata , subphylum Vertebrata, class Aves, order Ciconiiformes, family Balaenicipitidae. If you think I wrote all that, I didn't. I found the information at http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-shoebill.html This Shoebill is special because my son took the picture last weekend while floating down the Nile in a boat with his wife, Andra, and several other friends. This particular guy was 5ft. tall.
It made a big impression on everyone who saw him. Look here for the pictures of their entire boat trip. http://picasaweb.google.com/richardmmeyer/TheBeautyOfAfrica
Let me just say, there was a storm during this trip and everyone got wet!!! It was a fine African rain!!

Library Day!

In any given week there is at least one trip to the library for me. At present I have over 30 books checked out and I owe $4.10 in overdue fines! I'm doing my part to help support the library! In our county the local libraries are given funds based on how many books are checked out throughout a year. It is my job to keep checking out books and keep reading. I want to insure jobs for the wonderful people who work in our library. The hours and days the library is open have been cut back drastically and it's really a shame to our community. Is it a reflection on our society? Is it a reflection on education? Is it politics? What do you think? How is your library system funded?

A time to celebrate!

This precious face belongs to our granddaughter! Friday night we celebrated two years of her life with us! It was a big time, full of laughter, dancing, bubbles and ice-cream! When the bubbles came out, she lifted up her heals and danced with glee! No one was untouched by her smiles and laughter!
Her life is being molded and made to reflect the JOY she creates! When God gave us LilliAnne He gave us the sun, moon and stars!
We are forever humbled and grateful! Grammy and Papa

It's time to clean out the junk drawer!

The day finally arrived. I had to clean out the junk drawer because it was driving me nuts!
The first thing I did was take the drawer out and emptied it into a cardboard box. I then started to separate out everything into neat little piles. The things that have no business in the drawer were put where they belonged and everything that didn't have a use or sentimental value was tossed. As you can see I had some interesting things in the drawer....incense, paint palette, floral tape as well as other types of tape, the all important 3x5 index cards, old greeting cards, old hand cream, used light bulb, old phone, hair clips, lids, toothbrush, clippers, pens that don't work, pencils that do, rubber bands, recipe card, Altoid box full of nails, and string. Actually, this drawer wasn't so bad...there have been worse messes in my house. But, that's another story. The "after" picture would not upload. Now isn't that interesting! I tried three times, too!
Needless to say, I feel so much better knowing my junk drawer is cleaned up and less messy.
Do you have a messy drawer that needs to be cleaned up? Tell me about it!

Three little chicks sitting in a bag and one curious cat!

Usually I hear my husband come home by the door to the laundry room opening, but tonight the noise I heard was very loud chirping....then the door to the house closed. Our cat, Simon, looked at me with his wide eyes, his ears bent back and he jumped off the couch to see what that noise was! Chirping is a noise that will draw any cat off its warm favored spot. This was no exception! Simon peered into the bag to see what was up. Another look was shot at me from Simon and from me to him. He knew these little birds were not to be his from the look on my face! They were quickly carried out to the barn and moved in with the older chicks.
They quickly adjusted to the larger chick family and all is well!

Chicks arrived and the skunk got skunked!

Ten little chicks arrived this week at the farm. We buy several chicks each year to add to the ongoing menagerie. There are more than 50 chickens in our hen house and people wonder what we do with so many? We sell the eggs. Our breed of chickens have the capacity to lay approximately 120 eggs(depending on the breed) in their life. When a chicken is through laying eggs they are welcome to stay in our hen house and live out their pecking life. And, that is why we have so many chickens. The lifetime of a chicken is close to five years. The chickens add up! For the first several weeks the chicks are in a wire coupe and have a heat lamp over them at all times. They get fed plenty of water and special chick food. If the chicks don't get the proper nutrition they won't live. It is a fine balance between life and death during the first few days. I sadly report that two of ours didn't make it this time. We have no idea why.
In a very short time the chicks will grow into a gangly, not so cute stage which passes quickly and they become beautiful full grown chickens.
Now, for the skunk who got skunked or better put, got himself stuck and died! This skunk tried to climb into a fence that wasn't large enough and he couldn't wriggle through. He died a short time before we found him. My husband came to remove the skunk from the fence and I must say that after the removal......a very strong odor settled in the air and we had to get back quickly!! The skunk is now bagged and the odor has subsided.....for the most part!!
Say goodbye to the skunk. He had a good life until it ended in tragedy. Poor little thing.
Slow Boy catches up with Fast Girl!!

Wedding season is about to begin!

Today was spent preparing for an upcoming wedding that I will be designing for and to take place in May. I've consulted with the bride, she gave me her dreams and wishes. From the time I spent with her I will determine which flowers to order and how many. The flowers will come from the Portland Florist Growers Market. At this market comes the freshest, most beautiful flowers anyone could ever dream of. The roses are especially beautiful as Portland is known for its perfect climate to grow these spectacular flowers. I often ask the brides if I can make last minute decision about exact flowers based on what is available that week. It really is to a brides advantage to let a designer do this because we can't always know ahead of time what might show up at the market.
Below is a wedding I put together last season. These arrangements include four different rose breeds, Lisianthus, Freesia, Star of Bethlehem, Stargazer Lily, and Stalk. It was a very fragrant wedding, as ordered!
The bride carried this hand tied clutch bouquet. She wore an ivory colored dress that had layer upon layer of organdy and these flowers were a stunning addition to the "frosting!!" Six bridesmaids carried smaller versions of the brides bouquet, with just roses, down the isles. Candelabra arrangement...
And, the Altar arrangement.

The Magnificiant Sierra's

While on vacation last week we were able to spend the time we so needed to be quiet, talk, read, hike, paint, dream, and gaze at the sky. The beauty of this earth is so amazing and we took the opportunity to take it all in. The lack of technology added to the quality of our time together and moving through the long warm days. This is what we saw when we came around a bend in the road just above June Lake. The clouds were billowing and soft. It almost looks like it would rain (according to Oregonians) but it was just being beautiful!
This is also June Lake but further over in our view. It was a sight of heavenly proportions! After a wonderful lunch at the Schat's Bakery in Bishop we headed on toward the entrance of Death Valley. The Sierra Mountains were towering and snow covered all the way. Another stunning view of some incredible territory!


Just a quick word about Schat's Bakery....O my!! If you ever go through Bishop by all means stop and have a bite at this huge bakery. The bread is out of this world and there are so many different varieties it's unbelievable! While I was standing in line to place my sandwich order I met a young man from France. He told me that he had only seen bakeries like Schat's in France. So....go skiing at Mammoth Lakes and stop for lunch!! Mammoth Lakes sits just above the town of Bishop, California.