Looking back Sunday -

Happy Easter -

We went to church today - much to everyone's delight - The Shepherd is very active in our church - he is the Choir Director, The Grounds Keeper, on the Board of Directors and has been involved in many committees important to the church, like the last two Ministerial Search committees - so people there were feeling, I think, a little vulnerable perhaps? I think any time someone you are close to give you a worry of "what if this were to happen to me" -   But, things went well and some of the choir members had even "modified" a version of an old Methodist hymn, "Low in the Grave he Lay" - with some significant changes in the words - gave everyone a chuckle - especially The Shepherd.    

Since we don't have any lambs yet (but there are some pretty good baby bumps on Donna & Vanessa out there)  I thought I'd bring you memories of years past -

I don't know who this little cutie is. Born March 27, 2009.  Generally these ones with the dark bodies and white heads turn grey. 

Here it is a couple of months later - that grass is always greener on the other side of the fence. 

This fine fellow was Wicket - he was born in March of 2010.  

 Some of our "Farm Fresh Eggs" -

A couple at church brought a dozen of their farm eggs to church this morning.  Our Sunday School kids put together gift bags that go up to the hospital for the nurses to give to children who are visiting and need something to do, - the bags have crayons, stickers, other fun things in them.  The idea of the eggs was to "auction" them off to raise money for the Hospital Gift Bag project - Lets just say that someone is going to be eating a pretty expensive omelet tomorrow morning and they raised enough to fill 10 more gift bags.




It's time to get all of his bonsai plants out of the greenhouse!  One of his friends is coming over to help him on Tuesday. Yeah Kurt! 

 This picture always reminds me of "home" - ie, where I grew up over in Eastern Washington.  We had literally thousands of these plants, "Grape Hyacinths" lining the garden paths.  My little clump grows every year, but it's going to be a while before they line our garden paths. They are, however, one of my favorite spring flowers. 

I hope you enjoyed this look back with me.  Can you believe April is only 4 days away?  I could say, "what happened to March"  but I know that 3 weeks of it was spent with The Shepherd being sick - with 10 of those days in the hospital.  Whew - I hope that doesn't happen again. 

Happy Spring to you all! 

Looking back Sunday & some Random Thoughts...

03-01-2007

No snow for us in the far north corner of the Pacific Northwest in February 2013 - but not so in 2007.  That was the year that The Shepherd hurt his back at work and was bedridden for several weeks.  I took this picture one morning as I went out to feed the flock.  It was beautiful and peaceful out.

03-04-2007

And four days later - all gone and the crocus was up and blooming like nothing had ever happened. 

03-01-2008

It didn't snow the last week in February 2008 and the Shepherd went to a church meeting in Tacoma,  I stayed home to farm-sit.  This was my "reward" - a beautiful bowl of spring flowers for the back porch. 










 But I had other things to do that weekend here at home - I was just learning how to spin.  Sinda is wondering what this fuzzy stuff is - it is the first bump of roving that I ever spun - Blue faced Leicester

Oddly enough, the yarn that I made from this roving ended up being part of the crocheted shroud I wrapped around her body when we buried her in Feb 2011.   

 

02-26-2009

A heavy late night snowfall on Feb 26, 2009 blanketed everything in several inches of the white stuff - are you beginning to see the common thread here? 

02-25-2010

 
Feb 25, 2010 was shearing day.  Remarkably it didn't snow, but it got real cold right after - of course all the sheep were nekked.

Since we aren't having any lambs this year, he hasn't sheared yet, but the sheep are starting to roo (a genetic thing with Shetland Sheep where their wool comes off naturally - probably from all those hundreds of years of living out on the wild coasts of Scotland.)  I just found out today that the shearer we've been trying to get hold of is not an appropriate shearer for a handspinners flock.  We won't continue to try to reach him.

02-26-2010

It was, however,  nice enough in the greenhouse in 2010 that his little bonsai forsythia was blooming

02-25-2011

For some reason I can't find any pictures that I might have taken in Feb. 2011 - Sinda, (my 21 year old kitty) died on Feb. 5.  I think that I just didn't see much beauty in the world that month.

The Shepherd took this picture up at one of his customer's job sites though - notice the date - our end of February snow struck again. 

02-26-2012

The 2012 snow didn't stay long, but it sure looked fierce coming down. 














While somekitty had found a warm place to sleep.  Jeepers creepers he has grown a lot this year.  He doesn't sleep up here much any more because he "flows over the edge" and it's not really very comfortable.  His new happy warm spot is the heater vent in the bathroom. 





And there is nothing better on a cold snowy weekend (or even one that isn't cold and snowy) than to snuggle down with a good book.  Nora Roberts' publisher is raking in the bucks re-releasing some of her older (and far less "racy") novels.  And even though I've read them before - - can't put them down -

I got Maeve Binchy's last novel "A Week In Winter" last week - I stayed up WAY too late several nights in a week - "just one more chapter" - I will really miss her writing.

February 2013

So this is what it has looked like for much of February 2013 - Grey and soggy.  But at least it didn't SNOW!  Sorry Boston...

Looking back & Random thoughts -

 It's been a busy time here - trying to catch up on everything I let slide before the Artisan Faire, and getting my church newsletter done.  And unlike "someone I know" , I'm not good at all about stashing my camera in my pocket to get interesting shots of the Mreowws & Bella & the sheepies - so you get a re--hash of some of my favorite pictures from our vacation SEVEN years ago when we went to see the Sequoias in California,  and some Random Thoughts I've had recently.  

Resurrection lilies - I've never been able to get them to grow in our yard - but they are so pretty.  They come up in the spring with all kinds of foliage, that dies down and then in the fall, up pops these beautiful flowers.

A friend of mine's mom passed away a couple of weeks ago and the service was last Saturday.  I learned a long time ago, that even though I may not want to go to a funeral/memorial service, I'm not going for the deceased, but to show my respect to the living. And that has never failed me.

This service, heavily Christian, didn't do much for me - but after giving it MUCH thought over the past week, I realized it was exactly what her family needed to hear.

Random Thought -   In the wake of Hurricane Issac, I was stunned to find out, that over 200,000 people are still living in tent cities from the aftermath of the January 12 2010 earthquake in Haiti. That's over two and a half years ago!!! 

What are we thinking?  In an era of millionaire ball players and TV programs featuring toddlers in tiaras it just seems wrong. 





The Stardust Motel - No, we didn't stay there, but it was on the street where we stopped to get fuel - I don't even remember the town (although, now, I could probably google it and do street view to find what city).  Every once in a while, I just think about how life used to be so simple, and how staying at The Stardust Motel would have been the Cat's Pajamas -


"Sometimes I wonder why I spend

The lonely nights

Dreaming of a song.

The melody haunts my reverie

And I am once again with you.

When our love was new, and each kiss an inspiration.

But that was long ago, and now my consolation

Is in the stardust of a song.

Beside the garden wall, when stars are bright
You are in my arms
The nightingale tells his fairy tale
Of paradise where roses grew.
Though I dream in vain, in my heart you will remain
My stardust melody
The memory of loves refrain".

From “Stardust” by Hubbel, Golden & Carmichael

 

 It deeply saddened me to hear that the Washington State Dept. of Wildlife decided to kill the Wedge wolf pack

I imagine if the wolves were killing our sheep, I would feel differently, but it didn't seem to me like they (the  DoW or the rancher) tried very hard to secure those cows, or to retrain the wolves. 

A similar thing is happening down in the rural areas around Seattle.  People are sure that mountain lions are killing their dogs and other pets.  Well, don't let the darn things run loose - keep them inside at night. At lease in this case, since there hasn't been an actual sighting, the DoW is holding judgement - 

A friend once told me that this picture looked like we had this tree loaded up onto the back of the pick-up - ready to take it home.

Let me assure you, that if he could have, he would have...

Next week is the Mrreow's "assigned" birthday - 10-10-10.  As barn cats no one "registered" their date of birth - and when we got them, I was just told that they were "born in October"  - so, I decided that 10-10-10 was a very lucky day, don't you think?  .

Their feral beginnings still show heavily from time to time.   Unlike other kitties I've been owned by, loud sounds (pans clanking in the kitchen, etc.) or unexpected movements from The Shepherd seem to throw them into a tizzy & zip, out the cat door.  But pretty soon they come sheepishly back into the house - with an aire about them of "Do de doot doot do - I didn't see nuthin, did you?"  Funny kitties.

Hope you have a great week! 

Looking back Sunday -

It's been a while since I did a Looking Back Sunday

Even though I'm "looking back" - these pictures were taken in 2009, these incredibly fragrant flowers are also blooming right now in this year's garden.   







The perfume from these beautiful lilies floats in through the kitchen window night and day.

The only difference this year is that the bloom stalks are about two feet shorter!  The Shepherd says it is because the bulbs are too crowded - he is going to dig them out in the fall and replant.

I would like to take a stalk to work, but I think we have some people who are sensitive to strong fragrances. 

I can't remember the name of this one - but it is related to the Stargazer lily - the one that started it all.  It's also very beautiful and very fragrant! 

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend. 

PS - I'm getting really close to my 800th post!  Any guesses when that will be?

Looking back Sunday

Well, there really wasn't much for a Caturday
report, so I'll go right into my Looking back Sunday post, to 2007 -

It SNOWED on the first of December - Brrr - and if I remember it was quite a storm.





For my newer readers, this is Mr. Neelix, and this was one of his most endearing and most enduring poses - you could tell he was a happy cat - he would sleep flat out on his back right in the middle of the living room floor. Neelix went to the Rainbow Bridge in the summer of 2008. He still leads in the number of posts I have labeled. The Mrreows have taken a bit of the sting out of his passing, but there is still a big hole in our hearts.





The bad thing when we have an "early" snow is that the girls are still in with the ram and they just have two little bitty barns to go in. As you can see by the look on her face, she is none too happy.









This was some yarn that I made in December of 2008 - I decided that everyone got homespun, hand made hats for Christmas that year. Unfortunately, I guessed wrong at sizes and most of the things I made did not fit the recipient. Bummer.

We've got snacks for church tomorrow, so I'd better hit the sack. A lot of people will be gone - traveling, etc., so I'm not baking anything special - just taking ham & cheese for sammies, vegies & dip and some fruit for dessert. That should keep 'em happy.

Oh, and I'm doing a PartyLite Catalog party - leave me a comment if you want to order anything and I'll get you the link to my party!

Looking back Sunday

Looking back into my October pictures found LOTS of pictures of pumpkins - pumpkins on the vine, pumpkins waiting to be made into pumpkin puree, pumpkins, pumpkins, pumpkins.

Last year we put about 25 or 30 1# packages of pumpkin in the freezer. I didn't bake as much this year so...There is still a LOT of pumpkin left - we have some friends who really like it though, so they will probably take a bunch - We've got snacks tomorrow at church, & I'm making pumpkin bars and pumpkin muffins - two more packages gone...








In October 2006 I went to San Antonio (all expenses paid) with our local Building Industry Association Membership committee -

It was a fun trip and San Antonio is a very interesting city. Doesn't hold much draw that I'd go back anytime soon though







The Grand Canyon in 2007 - probably one of the best vacations that we've taken - except maybe to Sequoia National Park -

Even though I'd seen it in pictures, they don't do the area justice - and there is just something about walking up to the edge of the canyon and looking over to the other edge - WOW is all you can say.





We also got down to The Shepherd's old home town of Tucson.

Mission San Xavier is one of his favorite places. It is so serene there. I always look forward to the visit.










In 2009 I got my Ashford Traveler wheel. I sure have enjoyed using it and creating some pretty nice yarns.

Our trip in '09 was over to Eastern Washington - the pictures were very much like the ones I had on my post last Sunday - things don't change very quickly over there.












Things are changing quickly here though - this year it seems like the reds are redder - the yellows are bright sunny yellow - and I just realized that we are less than 10 days away from November - Only two months until Christmas ! EEeekk! - BUT, I have my main Christmas presents for my sisters already - so I'm a step ahead of where I usually am this time of the year.




And it's only 2 1/2 months until my birthday! Another EEEeekkk! I will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of my 40th birthday this year. That's when The Shepherd and I started going out.

Why does looking back make everything seem like yesterday?

Looking back Sunday

Ah, October -


Looking back at brilliantly colored leaves -

Let's take a stroll down memory lane...
















A trip to Hawaii in 2004 - We figured October would be past the hottest part of the summer - we were wrong - but the flowers were beautiful











Pumpkin bars made from some of the wonderful pumpkins that The Shepherd grows in our garden.











A trip to Sequoia National Park in 2005 - do you get a sense that October is our vacation time?











More beautiful color from our yard - we lost the Sumac a couple of years ago - fall hasn't been the same since....











2007 found us gazing across the Grand Canyon and visiting our shepherd friends Kathy & Ralph in Arizona -









October 2009 - I got my Ashford Traveler -

....Memories, light the corners of my mind...

Oops sorry -

Looking back Sunday

Looking WAY back - probably 1905 or so...
This is my dad's parents - "Pete & Dot" (her name was actually Henrietta - she would never tell us where the "Dot" came from)

Grandpa Pete was born Sept. 1, 1885. (originally I thought it was the 5th - cousin Janet says his obituary said Sept 1- We always had big parties for his birthday - celebrating the end of summer, harvest, and Grandpa's birthday - my cousin Janet will hopefully email me the correct date if I'm wrong...she did - see above)

I'm pretty sure this was their wedding picture.









He died when I was 11 - so I don't really remember much about him - He played a mean harmonica and he and my dad would get together and play music sometimes - my dad on the guitar - and we would all sing.






Now, back to the future...

I took this picture a couple of years ago from the harbor in Blaine - the little town where we go to church -

We have this beautiful view of Mt. Baker from many places in our county - we could even see the top of it from our deck until the neighbor's trees got too tall...

I often wonder what the first settlers thought when they came "around the corner" and this beautiful vista was in sight?








2009 - These are yellow mangle beets. They were very tasty and we ate LOTS of them - in fact, I think there are still some in the freezer - I was going to try making "white" borscht. Never got around to it.

The Shepherd was going to plant some again this year, but he lost the seeds and by the time he found them again, it was too late, and he was too busy. There's always next year, I guess.




2006 - That was the year of the big sunflower patch. This year he planted broccoli and cauliflower - just doesn't look the same an a vase.













2009 - Wow - I can't believe that it's been two years since the Labor Day that we bought the Fusion and go rid of the Jelly Bean - I miss it sometimes - I had a lot of good times in that little car.







2008 -

Red sky at night, sailor's delight,
Red sky at morning, sailors take warning.

We're supposed to have sunny weather with temps in the upper 70's all week long. Oh, how I envy my retired friends -

Have a great week everyone.