Spring has Sprung…

 

A Prayer in Spring

by Robert Frost

Oh, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.

Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.

And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.

For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.

Hope you have a wonderful Spring weekend everyone!

FFF~ The Birthday Weekend…

…that didn’t end!

Visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to join in the fun!

My five favorites for this Friday are all about Family, Food, Fun, Flowers, and Flying Geese!

 

Our weekend and week was filled with so much flavor and wonderful experiences. So here are some stand outs.

1. Our weekend away in La Conner, Washington where we saw so much beauty. I was blown away with the experience of seeing thousands of Snow Geese in flight.

2. All of our indoor experiences from the lovely Inn we stayed in with a tasty 2 course breakfast and the restaurants we ate at for lunch and dinner. We were not disappointed in anything we ordered and ate.

3. The birthday dinner my son and his wife prepared for us on Sunday night and our meal together on St. Patrick’s Day.

4. Cleaning and organizing the basement. I feel so good about that task being complete that I’ve been offering tours of the basement! :0)

5. Going to our favorite Mexican restaurant and being greeted by the owner. He asked us if we were just visiting from California. When we told him we were back in Washington state to stay he brought us a round of drinks on the house to celebrate!

 

And now that my birthday week is drawing to a close it’s time for E.L.E.M. (Eat Less, Exercise More!) That’s my plan and I hope to stick to it. Hope to get around to see all the FFF’s this week. As soon as the frost burns off I’ll be mowing the lawn…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

We Highly Recommend…

The Wild Iris Inn in La Conner, Washington for a great getaway.

 

Dear and I had an overnight there for my birthday last weekend.

 

First we had lunch at Seeds-A Bistro & Bar. They have a great menu. After lunch and a little walk about town I checked in for my 90 minute massage at Salon Rouge while Dear checked into our Bed and Breakfast Inn. Later we would have dinner at the restaurant in the bottom right photo.

Before dinner we strolled through the La Conner Quilt and Textile Museum which is housed in the National Historical Victorian Gaches Mansion. It’s the white house on the left…

 

All of the food we ate was wonderful. Top left is my lunch at Seeds, Borsch and a 1/2 meatloaf sandwich. That amazing appetizer of fried polenta smothered in a fabulous sauce and the lamb shank was my meal at Nell Thorn Pub and Restaurant. It was an exceptional place to eat with a great staff and ambiance. Our two course breakfast at the Wild Iris was very tasty and filling.  Good thing it was a lovely weekend to walk around town and burn a few of the calories we ate.

 

Some of the shops about town. In 1869 John S. Conner purchased the trading post on the Swinomish Channel and named the area in honor of his wife Louisa Ann Conner and that’s how La Conner got its name.

 

The waterfront and the Rainbow Bridge crossing the Swinomish Channel. The Swinomish Indians are La Conner’s First Nation.

 

It was fun to come upon the wild turkeys that made La Conner their home in 2005 and that the city has declared the official town mascot.

 

Some sites just outside of the city center. The acres of fertile farmland around La Conner were first planted mostly with oats. The Tulip industry emerged in the Skagit Valley in the 1920’s when there were restrictions on importing Dutch Tulip bulbs. After WWII, Dutch immigrants began farming tulip bulbs. Since 1982, the annual Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is held the month of April and has been attracting visitors from around the world to view between 400 and 500 acres of tulips in bloom. I’m going to try to get back up to this area when the tulips bloom…

On the way home on my birthday we also saw the Snow Geese which I posted about earlier in the week. La Conner was a delightful overnight getaway for Dear and ellen b.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Tablescape Thursday ~ Birthday Dinner…

It’s time to visit Susan at Between Naps on the Porch to see some wonderful tables set for you. This is the first table I’ve set since returning to my home in the Northwest. It was my birthday this past Sunday and my son and his wife came over and made us all dinner.

There were only 4 of us since our daughter was in Florida and our middle son is in Arizona.

The chargers were a Christmas gift from Josh and Laura. The blue goblets are from Goodwill.

I bought the Johnson Bros. Chippendale dishes back in the 80’s at a model home sale in our neighborhood in Ventura, California. Service for 4 for $25.00. The silverplate was another Goodwill purchase for $29.00. The plate is even engraved with the letter B!

The coffee/tea pot and platter are both from the thrift store also. My sweet daffodils were purchased in Skagit county on my birthday weekend away and didn’t open up till the day after my wonderful birthday dinner.

I’ve had a busy week doing some Spring cleaning around the homestead. Hope you’re week is going well. Thank you for stopping by…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Yard Art ~ Oink!

We were in La Conner, Washington last weekend. It’s an eclectic little town with lots of artsy flavor. As we drove around all I had to do was yell “YARD ART” and Dear would slam on the brakes and position the car so I could get a good shot. What a guy!

This was some yard art in major proportions…

 

Now go on over and visit Mary at Work of the Poet and see what junk fine art people are putting their yards.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

A St. Patrick’s Day Birthday!

Happy Birthday Willow!

Hope you have time for some tea and

knitting!

Willow is the only person I know who has a birthday on St. Patrick’s Day (I think). May God bless you richly my friend.

Willow’s Cottage

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How Can I Share…

what an incredible experience this was with only photographs…

 

Bear with me because this post is going to have lots of photos! We found out that Snow Geese like to congregate at Snowgoose Produce in Conway, Washington. We were in La Conner and Conway was on our way back home. We decided to try to find this spot. As we drove on Fir Island Road I spotted a sea of white to our right. Dear turned down the country lane and stopped in front of these Snow Geese grazing in this field.

 

I watched them hoping maybe some would get tired of sitting and would fly. I had been told it’s amazing to see large groups of them in flight.

 

A few of them got excited and started to fly…

 

Then I heard a loud indistinct noise coming from the distance. I looked to my right and exclaimed “Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, Dear here they come, they’re coming” He jumped out of the car to stand with me as we observed this amazing sight!

 

Geese that at first appeared like locusts were swarming to this little spot where we were standing.

 

We started to hear the distinct honking fill the air. Very loud coming from the thousands of birds approaching.

 

Our excitement mounted as they got closer and closer.

 

 

 

 

They were flying over our heads and I was praising the Lord for this special birthday gift to me! Thank you Lord!

 

I wish I could share the audio of what this sounded like. It was so much more amazing in person.

 

This truly was one of the coolest outdoor experiences I’ve had!

 

Snow geese are harbingers of the changing seasons. They fly south for the winter in huge, honking flocks that may appear as a “U” formation or simply as a large “snowstorm” of white birds. They spend the colder seasons in southern coastal marshes, bays, wet grasslands, and fields. Their diet is entirely vegetarian, consisting of grasses and grains, grazed from damp soils or even shallow water

You can hear what we heard here http://vimeo.com/3856735

I’ll be linking up with Outdoor Wednesday. So visit Susan at A Southern Daydreamer on Wednesday to join in…

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day ~ Got Green?

Cuisine Kathleen is having a sharing of the green party. If you’ve never visited her blog you should because she always has such yummy goodies to share and pretty tables to show. She knows what to put on a plate!

This little Belleek bowl is about the only thing I have that is Irish and worthy of St. Patrick’s Day. I found it at a thrift store for under $5.00 and thought it was a steal!

The Dear Little Shamrock

by Andrew Cherry

There’s a dear little plant that grows in Ireland.
‘Twas Saint Patrick himself sure that set it.
And the sun on his labor with pleasure did smile.
And a tear from his eyes oft-times wet it.
It grows thro’ the bog, thro’ the brake, and the mireland,
And it’s called the dear little Shamrock of Ireland.

That dear little plant still grows in our land,
Fresh and fair as the daughters of Erin,
Whose smiles can bewitch, and whose eyes can command,
In each climate they ever appear in:
For they shine thro’ the bog, thro’ the brake, and the mireland,
Just like their own dear little Shamrock of Ireland.

That dear little plant that springs from our soil,
When its three little leaves are extended,
Denotes from the stalk we together should toil,
And ourselves by ourselves be befriended.
And still thro’ the bog, thro’ the brake, and the mireland,
From one root should branch, like the Shamrock of Ireland.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

 

Ruby Tuesday ~ Gobble Gobble!

Welcome to Ruby Tuesday now go visit  Mary at the Work of the Poet to check it out before a house falls on you!

Dear and I enjoyed an overnight in La Conner, Washington and we saw so many interesting things. Wail till I show you some of the yard art. For now enjoy this…

 

In 2005, a small flock of wild Turkeys made La Conner their home and have been declared the official town mascot. Dear and I were thrilled when we spotted them. The way this guy strutted about makes me think he’s the King of the Roost! Just a little ruby for you and if you look closely you’ll see ruby on the tree trunks besides the wattle and the snood on the turkey.

Thank you for stopping by. Hope you have a wonderful week.

Photobucket is holding all my photos that I stored on their site from 2007-2015 hostage replacing them with ugly grey and black boxes and asking for a large ransom to retrieve them. It is a slow process to go through all my posts deleting the ugly boxes.

Irish Blessing ~

May your blessings outnumber
The shamrocks that grow,
And may trouble avoid you
Wherever you go.

Hope you feel a little Irish this week and have blessings to share. My birthday weekend was filled with lots of wonderful things and I’ll be posting about it after I rest up a bit. Top of the mornin to ye. Remember to pray for Smiling Sally today as she is having another surgical procedure.