Back to the garden....

When we planned our garden we did not consider the long hose we were going to need to water. It was an ordeal to hook up, turn on, and actually water the garden. My husband decided to fix the problem by putting in another facet near our large vegetable garden. It took time and work! But it is done and we are now using the new facet. This little bend in the pipe had to be installed and glued in place.
Now to the garden and how it is doing. Our seeds were planted June 14th and that was a late planting. Within four days we had sprouts!! Cabbage, lettuce and tomatoes are planted from starts.

This muddy ground shows a bean sprout after four days. Red Cabbage plants.....
Tomatoes in cages.....weeds are already coming up!! More bean sprouts......
Two weeks later on June 28th the garden is completely up and growing!! We are looking down a row of Sunflowers! They are grown for the birds and color ! Awe.......two rows of pole beans, three rows of corn , two rows of sunflowers and zinnias. Other vegetables in our garden are tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, and pumpkins; several varieties of each.

Home again.....

After four full days with long time friends at the beautiful Oregon Coast it is good to return home! Our time together is always free and easy. We enjoy many of the same pastimes and laugh until we are tired!! Ours is a growing long time friendship between seven women. We have made our sojourns happen for the past nineteen years and we celebrate this reunion each year!

In sharing these pictures you will see what a beautiful coast we have in Oregon. In July of 1969, our governor at the time, Tom McCall, passed a bill to insure that all waterway beaches remain open to the public. No one can own a private beach in Oregon. It has been a priceless gift to the people who live and visit Oregon!! We all enjoyed this view from the living room window while watching as children used the swing and families played together. (The lawn is private).

Rocks formed pools full of sea life until the next tide came in.

Girl time!

For the next five days I will be enjoying this beach in Yachats, Oregon. I am going with my girlfriends with whom I have traveled with each year for the last nineteen years. We have traveled far....Montana...and wide...New York City. Other than those trips we have either headed to the Oregon Coast or to Eastern Oregon. We have a really fun time laughing at each other, ourselves, eating, shopping and hanging out! It's a total girl time! When I return there will more to share and much to catch up on!! See you soon!

One small step to creating less garbage.

Paper napkins are nice..but as we know they create more garbage. We decided to cut back on using paper napkins and purchased some terry cloth bar towels to use in their place. I found these at our grocery store. They are smaller than hand towels and lighter weight than bath towels. This is one small step to creating less garbage and being more thoughtful about the garbage we create. In our house there is just the two of us and we have found that the towels can be used more than once, depending on the meal. It helps to reuse them to cut back on using the washing machine so often.

I've been tagged by Tracy of Pink Purl for the "Mix-up, getting to know you snapshot tag...."

What were you doing ten years ago?

Working as the Foss Science Curriculum Coordinator at our local school district and raising my family.

Five thing on your to-do list:

1. Return library books

2. Recycle old magazines

3. Finish the watercolor painting I'm working on.

4. Mop the floors in the my house

5. Laundry

Five Snacks you enjoy:

1. Potato chips

2. Fruit

3. Good Chocolate

4. Vegetables/fresh

5. Nuts

Things you'd do if you were a millionaire:

1. Build a cabin in the woods, near a creek, with a view of a mountain

2. Have a catered party

3. Get help with the yard

4. Share....

5. Build wells in Africa

Places I've Lived:

1. Irvine, CA

2. Castleford, Idaho

3. Camano Island, Wa

4. Ames Lake, Wa

5. Remond, Wa

I'll pass this along to a few others who might like to play this game: Gracious Goodness, La Vie Est Belle, Happy Wanderer, and Cottage Industries. It is fun to read your answers and learn a little more about each other!

Happy Saturday!! I'm going to a wedding today. What are you doing?

Recipe For A Fun Day!

Take one two year old...preferably a granddaughter but another child will work....... .....Add a playground with a tunnel or slide.......
..... Add some kind of boinking animal to ride.....
...... A swing set with the right kind of seat......
.....a climbing structure...another child watching and playing .....
.....a ball....plus a mom to come along and you have a FUN DAY!!!
This recipe will keep a grandmother coming back for more!!

A sneak peak at the new herb garden.....

The new herb garden is coming along....a path to a cement bench is in place and several herbs have been planted. We have exactly one month until the wedding and there is sunshine in the forecast! The good weather means the plants will settle in and put out some nice growth quickly. Our thought is to cover any ground that is exposed with a dark organic mulch. It will give the garden a more finished appearance and cut down on the upkeep. Once these plants are established they won't require constant watering. Bart has found his new favorite place to lounge away the afternoon. Happy days to you...Bart!!

Finally... there is a vegetable garden!

June 13th marked the day we were able to plant our corn and beans in the garden. We started this process several weeks ago and were constantly bombarded with rain and cold weather. The plowing that was done earlier only created dirt clods the size of soft balls or larger. This was not helpful when seeds need finer soil to sprout in. My husband plowed, plowed and plowed until the soil broke up into earth that was workable. After plowing the ground needs to be raked and then the rows are set. We string a metallic ribbon across each row to (attempt) keep the crows away. Supposedly the ribbon is enough to make them wary of entering the garden. Does it work? Maybe a little! :) Eventually we will put a fence around the garden...a temporary fence made out of field fencing. As we were working I noticed the moon just above the trees, in the sky. If you look closely you can see it. I wonder if the set of the moon will help with our garden success? They say it does.
Beans....pole beans...that means there will be some posts and wire put in place later so they can climb.
Corn...just needs lots and lots of water.
We also planted pumpkins, cucumbers, squash, tomatoes and flowers in this area. It will be 60 plus days before most of the vegetables are ready to harvest!!

Poppies are all gone....staging begins....

The beautiful poppy garden has gone by the way of the rain, wind and us. Every single plant has been torn from the earth in time to stage and prepare for a July 19th wedding. It had to be done! It took us several hours to pull the plants up and that does not include all the trips to the goat pasture before the poppies were really gone! The wedding lawn is in the background and it leads into the woods where the ceremony will take place. What you see in both pictures are two separate piles of poppies. In between the piles of poppies is our electric system which is covered by a white wooden box.

We weren't sure how the goats would handle the all the green stems and poppy flowers. The book we have on farming said it wouldn't hurt them! :) (We need a book to tell us these things)!
I think Professor looks fairly stable..don't you! His eyes are clear and focused! :)

"What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have not yet been discovered."
Ralph Waldo Emerson

This little weed has been coming up through our gravel for several years and we always let it grow for a time because it is so pretty. It has a delicate appearance with a soft orange flower.
I've named it "beauty weed". The weed creeps across the gravel and grows at a rapid rate. The virtue's of this weed are the flower and a root base that is easy to pull out of the ground. When it reaches a vast area of the graveled area...it must go...but it returns each spring and we go through the same process.

Shades of Green....in the garden.

The garden and it's content remind me of fine art.... only better. This is a good example of color, texture and form....all natural and can be seen at anytime just outside our door!
Moss
Marjoram
Shasta Daisies...in bud...
Oregano Wild Daisies and bug...

Fathers Day Tribute...My Dad

This is my dad at age 15 or 16. I like the hat and how he looks pleased with himself. I wonder about the tie and whether he was told to put it on or was it something he wanted to wear? Did he get a haircut for this picture or is that why he's wearing the hat? Knowing my dad, his hair was probably cut on schedule every time! Here he is at about age 26. He was quite handsome. He obviously had some style just by looking at the tie!! And that is consistent with how he dressed all of his life. There was always freshly ironed shirts, with stiff collars, pressed trousers and coat. He was rarely without a tie on. He worked hard, overcame great hardship and was successful. We miss him. Dad passed away in February of 1972. He was 59 years old.

Oregon Grown Strawberries!

It's June 14th and these are the first Oregon grown strawberries I have seen this year! Strawberries are normally ready by the first of June in Oregon, but certainly not this cold wet spring. This was a nice surprise to find today because tomorrow is Father's Day and a good time to prepare something special for my sweet husband. We may gorge on strawberries for breakfast, make a pie, or serve with sour cream and brown sugar. What would you do?

First Rose of Spring

Ever since I can remember this rose has had a place in my mothers garden and now in mine. It is the Peace Rose. It was introduced to the public in 1942. It is said to be the most popular rose of the the 20th Century. I have found the Peace rose to be among the most easy to care for and tolerant of climate change. The Peace rose is graced with lush dark green foliage, and it has a magnificent bloom of delicate ivory-yellow blush with pink at the edge. The scent this rose has is sweet and soft. A true award winner in my garden!

A trip to Bob's Red Mill......

Yesterday was an errand running day for me. I took a quick trip to the mall to get something nice for Father's Day....and then a dash over to Bob's Red Mill to pick up a few grains and legumes. I am accustom to cooking with most of these wonderful ingredients but I did throw in a couple I'm not use to cooking with. From the left is: Quinoa, Wheat Berries, Garbanzo Beans, Flaxseed Meal, Red Lentils, French Green Lentil and Light Bulgur. Quinoa and Light Bulgar are new to me. Bob's Red Mill web site offers recipes as well as all of their products for shipping all over the world. This is an up and coming company.....and one to watch as it grows worldwide!! For those of you who live elsewhere I thought you might like to do a little comparison pricing. If you want to have a shipment sent to your home, wherever you live, you'll have a good idea of the cost vs gas price for driving around looking of these things.
And finally....here is the salad I made using, light bulgur wheat, from Pink Purls "In the Kitchen" recipe...London Memories Salad. Mine doesn't look nearly as nice as hers but it is delicious and worth making. Go to her blog Pink Purl and check out all of her recipes while getting the recipe for this salad.

A View of the Rogue River in Southern Oregon

For several years our family has camped on the Rogue River in Southern Oregon. We found Farewell Bend Campground , at Union Creek, when the kids were young and fell in love with it's beauty from the start. The river water is cold but the air is often warm in late June and the fishing is tremendous. There has always been plenty of Rainbow Trout to fry and sometimes enough to share with fellow campers. Farewell Bend is located on Hwy 62 which is the gateway to Crater Lake. (I will share more on that another day). Favored Swimming Hole.....where the river splits and a pool was formed. Douglas Fir and Pine trees grow side by side in abundance.
The water makes a roaring, memorising noise as it spills and flows down the valley. It is a wonderful place to sit, listen and soak in the language of the river.
The Rogue River is left in it's natural state and protected from huge developments. The water is clear and pristine for all campers to appreciate! There are no showers at this campsite but there are flush toilets....a simple luxury for campers! The campground fills up quickly, the crowd tends to be a quiet lot due to no electric hook-ups and it's more natural means of camping. Waterfalls are present around every corner and the power of the water tears holes in the rocks over time. This river and it's location is a place we will return for years to come. It has been a place where our family has made memories and a place of rest!

A garden made in memory of Donna

Sometimes there comes a person into our lives that just fits. There isn't any big moment along the way when you know they are special. It just happens over time and it happens naturally.
My friend, Donna, was such a person to me. We connected very easily as friends and as sisters at heart. Donna had cancer most of her life....several times and several kinds. She fought hard, took treatments, had surgery, more treatments and she went home to heaven. My husband and I wanted to do something...quietly and naturally to remember her. We built a garden. We chose flowers that Donna liked and colors she liked. There are Azaleas, hydrangeas, begonias, impatiens, hostas, and even a wild daisy. It is a shade garden and a peaceful place to be. The bird bath is the center and there is a little squirrel at it's base.
Donna would have enjoyed this spot made just for her. The picture below was taken of Donna and me in October of 06. Donna passed away in January of 07. This garden is in celebration of a beautiful life and a beautiful person.