Birthday Fun

Last Saturday, my daughter wanted to take me out to breakfast for an early birthday treat. Chris and her picked Multnomah Falls which is fairly close to your home. We met about 10:30 AM. The day started out foggy but turned out to be a very nice day. The waterfall was just wonderful.

The stone lodge and gift shop is really nice. We always have to make a stop in the gift store. They have a smashed penny machine in there.

The restaurant is upstairs...all warm and cozy with a fireplace.

Otto and his daddy Chris~all decked out in their Christmas sweaters.

Mommy Angie had on her Christmas plaid jacket too.

I love hash and eggs, so here's my yummy breakfast. It was good! The restaurant has used this same china forever.

I walked up a bit so I could take some pictures of the Wirth family. You can see the falls behind them.

I love this one!

We said goodbye and went off to the Open House at the historic Harlow House in Troutdale, our home town. I think the last time we visited the house was when our girls were in grade school!

I went upstairs to take a peek at the bedrooms. The children's room was so cute with toys and dolls.

The master bedroom was very small with lots of vintage items to enjoy.

There was also a sewing room in the corner room.

Our next destination was the Wade Creek House out in Estacada, which is a delightful shoppe with a mix of antiques, collectibles and handmade items. It's always a fun place and we always find a treat to take back home.

Mr Snowman was keeping his eyes on old Jimmy!

O just love how they take everyday items and make simple decorations that look so good.

This is their chicken coop. They only had 4 chickens this time. Love the quilt block on the building. They are going to have a class on how to make them next January.

Not far from the Wade Creek House, we always go past this historic home and have never stopped. They were also having an Open House, so we decided to stop in. It's the Philip Foster House and it was just charming. Some delightful young people were helping to run the place. It was once a major stopping place for those travelers on the Barlow Trail going on to the Willamette Valley after crossing the Oregon Trail.

I loved the inside of the house and don't you love the old quilt on the spool bed?

Jimmy was visiting with the volunteers and Santa while I was snooping around and taking pictures.

I wish I had a pantry....love this one! The kitchen was my favorite part of the house. Can you image all the wonderful meals that were cooked on that woodstove?

There was a big barn and even a small blacksmith's shoppe on the property.

A trip to the store was wonderful. It was really cute inside. I got wrapped up with the clerk and didn't take any pictures. I guess I'll have to return someday.

A little history to read,,,,

We really had a great day. It was fun to go out in the country and visit some historic homes. 

Summer Solstice

Summer Solstice...the longest day of sunshine and the shortest day of darkness...is here today and that means it is now summer! I have heard that this is a very special day for the fairies as can be seen in this delightful work of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite. I had a feeling something was up as some fairy things appeared around my home all day!

My Tasha Tudor friend, LaVonne, has always wanted to have a virtual Summer Solstice event and this was the year! She suggested we have a bonfire and make SMORES to celebrate. She did just that in Montana tonight. I had hoped to join in the fun and even gave Jimmy Father's Day money to buy a fire pit. He decided to go to his gold mine claim and cabin in Idaho, so no smores for me!

I did get to keep Otto overnight and that made the first day of summer very special for me. He was all ready for summer-dressed in his little summer shorts. He is so cute! He's cutting more teeth, so he had a few hard days this week. He needed to come to Grandma's for some special lovin'. I get to have Ava tomorrow night...I'm sure it will be a Barbie event.

To celebrate today, I bought Otto a stroller that I could keep here. I love to walk and thought this would be good for both of us. I put it together this afternoon and was all set. He wasn't too sure he liked it for awhile. He was getting tired.

So, how could Otto and I join in the Tasha Smores party? Well, we could at least have a snack! This is what we had and Otto was pretty excited to have a new cookie. We split one and he fed me half of mine. He laughs when he feeds you which is adorable.

I put my baby down and picked up the house and thought I heard something outside. Hummmm, a fairy wand was sitting on the little table outside and it was glowing.

I checked the fairy garden under the blueberry plants and it looked like a new lantern had been added! Oh, those fairies were up to something, I just knew it.!

I turned all the lights off and noticed a glow from the new lantern! I think there's going to be a party tonight!

Just checked the little guy and I see that the Midsummer Night's fairies had been in there. I'm sure they kissed his sweet little cheeks or sang him a lullaby.

Nighty night! Happy Summer days ahead for you and yours.

Garden Therapy

Last week Jimmy and I headed over to our favorite garden center to get a truck load of plants. Deep Creek Garden Center has a great selection and the staff is really helpful. The plants are healthy and it's a very fun place to go to spend your money! It's close to home too. We took out the twisted and overgrown plant a long the front of our house this spring. I was ready for a clean and updated look. We also lost so many plants with our colder winter. I love to dig in the dirt and call it my garden therapy. Can you relate? Retired Jimmy looks so happy!

Retired Linda looks pretty excited too! We actually made 3 trips to the nursery that week. It's best to do the front and back in stages.

Here I am at home, unloading the truck and getting ready to plant, plant, plant! The weather was really nice, not too hot and no rain.

I had to replant the bed under the front window. You may remember I redid this bed a couple of years ago, but lost all my lavender plants this winter...sigh. Trying something different this spring.

A long shot of the NEW front bed...I love it! It should be easy to keep up. I planted another day lilly. This one is pink and has room to spread to catch up with the orange one.

Most of these plants did survive. I did take out some overgrown plants and cleaned out this garden area too. Looks so much better.

I just caught the pink azalea in full bloom! I think the fairy likes it too.

A few SUNNY shots to enjoy. I get full sun in the afternoons and with the brick front, it can get pretty hot. Full sun plants for sure!

My Italian hubby has gotten into his little veggie garden this year. He found some yellow tomato cages at a sale and then bought some on 1/2 price to finish it up. It looks really nice. He has onions, tomatoes, cukes, summer squash and patty pan squash. Every thing is doing well and we have tiny green tomatoes already. He does a variety of small tomatoes...we just don't have a long season for the big tomatoes here. His dad was the master of tomatoes back in Illinois when he was living. Angelo had a tomato forest...really. He had this metal pipe frame and the tomatoes would grow over it. I have a picture of me somewhere standing inside of it....amazing! We don't get much sun in the back, but I have a pumpkin and some beets back there near my herb garden. We'll see what happens.

This is the back where I put in the herbs last years. It's all really pretty this season.

I replanted my fairy garden...note the tiny tree! I hope I can keep it alive over the winter. It is a container plant. I just couldn't resist. I have put in few more items since I took this picture. It sits under the blueberry trees.

Otto and Angie stopped by one afternoon. Otto was so interested in my little plant that came up in the sidewalk. That little plant just never gives up!  Otto didn't either!

He gave it a good pruning! It has actually bounced back just fine. It's so pretty, I don't have the heart to take it out.