Teacup Thursday #63 and Cornflowers

We had a lovely summer day today after yet another week of rain and heavy showers. So much of the west is experiencing terrible forest fires, so I guess we should be thankful that our Oregon has been spared. My heart just goes out to those families who have lost their homes. I am thankful I can share my teacup for Miss Spencer's Teacup Thursday from my little home in Troutdale.

I love cornflowers or bachelor buttons. Mine haven't grown too big yet but I have hopes that they will soon be as pretty as this picture.

My cup and saucer is by Hammersley and is English made bone china. It so sweet and I love the color. The saucer has a lovely embossed raised design in the china as you can see in this photo.

Cornflowers once grew wild in the fields in the UK. They are easy to grow and fun to work into summer bouquets. They look wonderful with daisies. They are annuals but will often seed down themselves. Mine last way into the fall. You can find white and pink cornflowers but I favor the blue ones!

I looked up the meaning of this flower in my Language of Flowers book. It means delicacy, single blessedness and celibacy. You know you might find a fairy or two romping around in the summer flowers.....

We have a fun tea shoppe that's fairly new in Portland~The Jasmine Pearl. We picked up some tea to enjoy. I think the grapefruit should be fun for summer. I hope you have a delightful week ahead.

A Surprise From a Friend....

A knock on the door and oh what a pleasant surprise! Our friend Len Otto stopped by with these wonderful fresh local strawberries! When he visiting earlier in the week, he told us about a local grower close to his home who sells lovely strawberries! Yes indeed. Too bad Jim is off in Idaho and they are all mine!

Thanks so much Len. I cleaned them up and have been enjoying them. Good mixed with yogurt for breakfast after an evening treat last night with some Grand Marnier drizzled over them.

We met Len years ago when he was our daughter Angie's kindergarten teacher. A few years later, he taught our other daughter Gina in the second grade. I was a mom helper and down the road, Jim and Len became fishing buddies. They are both retired now and get a bit more fishing in these days.

Troutdale Elementary School..home of the Tigers and lots of very fond memories. Thanks Len for all your hard work.

This is the sweet friend who came and sat with me at the hospital when Jim had his surgery. This is the friend who attends weddings and family functions. This is the friend who delivers strawberries. This is a treasured friend!

Len married his Gloria last June and it was a lovely wedding. I didn't get the best of pictures but you can see their love for each other. Happy "First" Anniversary to you both.

Len has a very interesting retirement business called Honor Your Past. Check out his website...www.honoryourpast.com.

I'd love him to preserve my dad's history. Better take care of it soon. Len is quite the local historian and he knows how to do this right.

Teacup Thursday #62

Summer Solstice! Wow...I can't believe it's time for the days to begin to get shorter once again. I'm glad today is long as I sure needed it to get everything done on my TO DO list. It was a lovely day here in Oregon to welcome summer. Jim and I ate outside and then I decided how I would display my teacups for Miss Spenser's Teacup Thursday. I haven't been very good about blogging lately and never even got to read most of my tea friends posts last week, so promise to do better this week.

I have been posting new items on my Etsy site and put some cup and saucer in my Tea Time section. Jim found quite a few at an Estate sale for me and I decided to part with some too. I still had the teacups sitting on the table on in my house, so I thought I would pick five and one on each stepping stone. This is next to my herb garden that I just planted. I just thought it would be fun.

If you want to look at them closer or see the company names, you can pop over to my Etsy site. The button for my Lady Linda Lou shoppe is on the right hand side of my blog.

I purchased some herb spoon markers from a fellow Oregon Etsy seller in Eugene Oregon. Her name is Aemi and her Etsy shoppe name is AEMIAMORE. She's very sweet and will let you pick your herb names. I just love them. You can get a little peek at them here. The day was slipping away when I took these pictures, so it's a bit dark. I was trying to take advantage of the longest day of the years!

I see that my squirrel buddy has left a peanut in my herb garden! We were watching the squirrel and the
Blue Jays tonight. The poor squirrel does all the work and then the Jays dig them up and have a feast.
I hope the weather holds for awhile now...it's been wet and a bit chilly this past week. I'll close with some photos of some of my plants in the front yard. I love flowers! Enjoy....

Well, it's now dark outside and I find my thoughts drifting to Shakespeare's play.... our daughter Angie had a leading part in it long ago so I always think of her on this night.

Don't you wish you had a bed like this to fall sleep in, especially on a night as tonight? Sweet dreams!

Happy Father's Day My Jimmy!

A light breakfast on the Deschutes for my Jimmy earlier this week as we celebrated Father's Day a bit early for him. The weather was warm and perfect and we spent most of our time outside! This is what he asked to do for his special Father's Day gift from me.  My husband is a very giving person who always puts his "girls" first. I have been blessed to be loved and cared for by this man for many years. He has done so many things for me and is always willing to listen and support me in my next adventure. He is a most wonderful father and has been right from the very beginning of their lives.
Gina is down from Seattle to join us on Sunday for a Day With Dad including big sister Angie. I'll have to share the activities of the day later.

Jim spent so many years as a pharmacist in the back of some store. Now that he's retired, he is really enjoying the great outdoors. Can you see how happy this guy is! He took some time to sort his flies out on the deck before he took off for his passion...fly fishing!

You have to have lots of flies for your hobby! Pretty cool, heh? Hope he has enough-LOL!

Let me share some views of the property. We really enjoyed our stay at La Casa.

Even in the desert area of central Oregon you can find some gardening. The bird life is abundant here so close to the river. Lots of song birds to enjoy!

So my Jimmy....Happy Father's Day. I love you and thank you for all your many years of being a loving and giving father and husband. Have some fun and start dreaming about another trip to the river!