Over The Mountains & Far Away ~ Family Time

 My husband has worked so hard for so many years it is good to see him enjoying time away with our sons and their families .

We journeyed over the mountains and far away to be with our sons and their families. We have a home there where we will re-locate within the next 2 years, but until then we visit when we're able. This past week we were there visiting and we also went fishing. This is a picture of Diamond Lake where we went fishing. We LOVE to fish....

...especially when we're catching fish ! Look at this stringer full of Rainbow trout my husband and youngest son are holding ( it was heavy ).We all limited out and later on the same day we had a fish fry. Enough fried fish for everyone to have a whole fish. So delicious.

Our sons' families ( including 7 of our grandchildren ) enjoyed the fried fish and all the goodies that went along with the meal. We enjoyed the company of our sons and their families.

Yes, over the mountains & far away holds our hearts and God willing, will soon be the place we live until we die. This pic is of a few of our grandchildren watching one of their cousins ride our youngest son's ( their uncle ) horse. So many good times, so many good memories, so many hopes and dreams over the mountains and far away.

Snippets

 Look at this flower blooming in an old bucket I hung over a chicken pen ! I planted bulbs in it 2 years ago and this is the first year it has bloomed. I can't remember the name of the vine but love the brilliant pink . There are even more blooms on it now and the blooms are lasting a long time.

 I also planted sedums and Kenilworth ivy in the bucket. Easy keepers and the bucket of green and blooms adds splashes of color that make me happy as I tend and watch my chickens.

 We have a pair of bullfrogs residing at pond's edge. They sun themselves in the same spots every day. When I go down to the pond the female ( shown here ) and the male leap into the pond , swim a few feet, then pop up to watch me. If I sit down and stay quiet both of them climb back to their original spots in the sun. This bullfrog is at least 12 inches from nose to back toes. I should give her a name, what do you think ?

 I have an African Violet that has been with me for years. I don't seem to be able to kill my African Violets and I attribute this to neglect. This AV is huge and doesn't look real because it is so huge. The picture doesn't do it justice for scale , but that is a large clay pot it is planted in. After many years the violet began moving itself out of the pot it came in and I relented and bought potting soil and a new pot just for this plant. Looks like I've been rewarded for my good deed.

 Our oldest granddaughter , daughter of our oldest son , was in Seattle singing with her high school choir at the Emerald City Choral Festival at St. Lukes Cathedral. Seattle is only about an hour or so away from Cedar Pond so we were able to see her there.What a treat to hear her sing with her high school choir and also hear amazing vocals from many other high school choirs , plus a few famous performers too. We only had minutes to visit with her as her choir hopped back in the bus and headed back home ( 5 hours away ) shortly after the performance. We loaded her down with chocolate chip cookies, flowers, hugs and kisses, before she got into the bus for home. I love this picture ( above ) of our granddaughter with my husband.

Mother's Day was so much fun for me. I got to go fishing , one of my favorite things to do , with our daughter. I only caught one fish but it was a big one. My husband caught his limit, but my fish was the biggest , so we all had a good time and I had freshly caught Rainbow trout cooked by my husband for dinner that night.

It's been a busy few weeks and any spare time is spent watering and tending our gardens. We also try to spend as much time as possible with our family and quickly growing up grandchildren. Seems lately when I sit down to read & write blogs I usually feel like my time would be better spent getting a good night's sleep ( really, when I find I have fallen asleep while blogging I know it is past bed time ! ). How about you ? Is this a busy time of the year for you ?

Remember

 Memorial Day, a time to remember and honor the many men and women who lost their lives in military service to our country over the years. I come from a military family and have many family members who've served in the military. Some still do. We are fortunate to have not lost any of them to death in warfare even though so many have fought in wars. My heart hurts for those families who have. It is a tragedy when a serviceman or woman loses his /her life, but the family left behind has suffered a great loss too. Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers, wives & children will live the rest of their lives without someone they love. There really aren't words adequate to express their loss. Remember, just remember them, and pray for the families left behind.

 "Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand , the spines of others are often stiffened." Billy Graham

 " As we express our gratitude we must never forget the highest appreciation is not to utter words , but to live by them. " Joseph Campbell

" The bravest are surely those who have the clearest vision of what is before them , glory and danger alike , and yet notwithstanding , go out to meet it. " Thocydides

Thursday Tea In The Garden

 Thursday tea in the herb garden is a time of sitting quietly, sipping the herb tea I brewed in my pink teapot, eating the crackers smothered in cream cheese blended with chopped chives and chive blossoms from this very garden while soaking up the sights, sounds and scents of spring in full bloom.

 "Tea is quiet and our thirst for tea is never far from our craving for beauty ." James Norwood Pratt

 "Doing nothing is respectable at tea. " Sasaki Sanmi

 After a generous tea time I walked around Cedar Pond checking out the gardens as I watered them. The garden shown above is the vegetable garden my husband plants and tends. The garlic, onions, strawberries , and peas are coming along quite nicely. The slugs have been giving him a hard time with the beans and lettuces. He has to re-plant them, dang those slugs.

 Our rhododendrons are amazing to see from a distance. These bushes are taller than me !

 "Tea is a divine herb." Xu Guangqi

"Perhaps it is while drinking tea that I most of all enjoy the sense of leisure. " George Gissing

Tea in my gardens is a blessing and a pleasure I don't take for granted. All I need do is brew a pot of my favorite tea , choose a pretty teacup, take them to the garden ,forget the weeding and garden chores for a short while , sit down and enjoy !

Gardens Thrive With Sweat & Rain & Sun

 Rhododendrons thrive here on Cedar Pond.

 They grow wild in our forests, but the blooms are not as colorful there as the typical rhododendron found in landscaping in city & town.

 Snapdragons are doing well in our gardens and our flowerboxes.

 Pots of hostas, hens & chicks, phlox, snapdragons ,  and Campion are sitting next to our garage awaiting planting in other parts of the gardens.  

 Columbine sprouts, grows, and thrives everywhere here. We have several colors of Columbine , white, pink, purple. We did not deliberately plant it, but somehow this lovely wildflower found it's way into our gardens and we've grown to appreciate it.

 The kiwi arbor my husband built in front of our dovecote has finally been accepted by the kiwi. We actually have shade from the kiwi vines this year and the kiwi grows so quickly I know we'll enjoy shade from the hot summer sun here this summer.

 Fuzzy Harwood kiwi. We have a thriving male and female growing here . Each has it's own side of the arbor but they seem intent on meeting. Ah, romance ! We hope the romance of the male & female kiwi will produce fruit for us , but for now their joining producing shade is a good thing too.

 The grape arbor my husband built is greening with the grapes he planted  and I know we'll have a bountiful grape harvest if I beat the birds to it. Last year I made grape juice from these grapes and boy oh boy, my home made grape juice was so good ! I need to quadruple my grape juice canning this year because it  is so good we ran out of it quickly. Beats any commercial grape juice in taste for sure.

Flower box under the kiwi arbor between the chairs. Snapdragons, lobelia, and a red geranium.

 

All of the gardens on Cedar Pond thrive because my husband has worked hard to prepare the soil they are planted in. He has used the manure of many generations of our chickens, goats, & sheep composted and tended to produce rich soil . Rich soil that was hard clay in places and in other places  rocky & barren when we first moved here years ago. Rich soil produced with the sweat of hard work . Hard work that reaps it's harvest after the abundant rains we enjoy give way to sunny summer days . Yes, gardens thrive with the sweat of hard work , abundant rain, and glorious sunshine.

Rainy Day Flowers

 After a busy few weeks tending the gardens , poultry, & livestock during the very ( unseasonably )warm sunny days the rain I love has finally returned ! Now instead of endless watering and weeding outdoors I am cultivating indoor flowers . Fanciful flowers I needle-felt onto wool balls I've made using the wool fleece from my sheep.

 I added a few fanciful bees too. None of the flowers or bees are crafted to be realistic, but they are meant to be fun. Some of the balls have jingles inside. My cats love the jingle balls. So do my grandchildren.

I enjoyed spinning up quite a bit of yarn on the porch during the warm days. I can watch my sheep and the birds at our feeder from the porch. I watch my ducks waddle by on their way from the pond to scavenge any birdseed the wild birds scatter under the feeders. Two of my dogs are always at my feet as I spin wool into yarn. Contentment and thankfulness are my constant companions during these times.

Whether cultivating indoor flowers or working hard outdoors , I am always mindful of the blessing it is to be able to do this work in and around a home provided by God through the love and hard work of my husband and family. Thank-you Jim !

There Be Little Folk Here

 Look, a little door leading to ... ?

I think there must be little folk here !