Dinner at the Farm

Have you ever had a farm to table dinner?

If not, search it out at your earliest convenience.

Last week Kruger Farms on Sauvie Island was the destination.

Just under that oak treat we joined others on a hot,

sweltery evening for dining and pleasant chatting.

This is the third year my "live-in gardener" and I have

ventured out to Kruger Farms.

The meal is always delicious and this year was no disappointment.

But the best part is meeting others that are looking for dinner under

the oak tree with other food loving people.

Each year we have met people from other parts of the world

or from other states.

I ask how they found this special dinner on their travels

and they tell me they go online, finding it there.

Isn't the internet amazing when it comes to connecting

in positive ways with others?

This year on one side of us was a couple from England

and the other side were four young women from St. Louis, MO.

Just a glimpse because I was too busy visiting

and eating Ahi Tuna, salad, roasted corn, veggies, bread,

panna cotta with fresh fruit.

A Delightful evening under the moon.

Yes, that little dot in the sky is the moon.
 For a hot summer evening, I can highly recommend
dinner on a farm.

Happy weekend, dear friends!

Summertime

Summertime and the liv'n is easy.

Well that is what I always think when we get to summertime.

Why do I think that, when everyone gears up to come visit'n, 

playing, and enjoying the outdoors?

Several pies have been made for visitors.

Tea has been sipped.

Oh! It has all been fun,

but you may have noticed me missing here.

Last weekend there was tea friends visiting,

tea in the garden, then adventures with my grandson.

Tomorrow is the last day of day camp at our church

and I am helping with crafts.

Soon I will return to my regular schedule, 

but first an adventure to California next week.

I will be ready to be home for awhile once the adventures

and summertime is completed.

In the meantime, carry on and enjoy Summertime.

Walk with Me to the Sea

Last week it was 106 degrees in Portland, 

so an escape to the sea was planned.

When our grandson was born I knew one day

I would take him to Gnome Beach.

Wednesday was it.

Our family has called this special place

Gnome Beach since our children were small.

Can you see why?

Gnomes for sure live in those trees.

Then as we reached the sea one more climb took place.

With the hike to the sea we finally arrived.

It was about 90 degrees and still warm;

but splashing in the waves helped our spirits soar.

This is my favorite beach in Oregon.

Welcome to Oswald West State Park and Beach.

It is one place that brings me JOY to walk to and from

and then along the waters edge.

Friendship Tea

Friendship Tea

Either for a lifetime or

Just a little while,

Some people need many friends.

Others need just one or two

Honest souls to walk with them

Along the way.

Whichever I am to you,

Or you are to me,

Let us take tea and

Enjoy our marvelous company.

by Earlene Grey

(Susan Patterson)

Happy weekend, dear friends!

Roses in the Garden

My "live-in gardener" and I have an addiction to

adding roses in the garden.

We particularly go for "old, heirloom" varieties.

There are three climbing roses on the trellis below.

They bloom at different times.

 Then in front of the house there are about 25 roses.

 Bouquets in the house this time of year always include roses.

 The heat we are having right now,

today is expected to reach 106 degrees,

does not make for happy roses.

But they are hanging in there

and for that I am happy.

I was looking for a poem about roses,

but instead found the following.

Enjoy!  Have a happy day!

A Child in a Garden

Once I had just half an hour

To frolic by myself;

Presto! By a lilac bush

I changed into an elf.

I whispered to a ladybird,

"I really am a child!"

But the disbelieving thing

Shrugged its wings and smiled.

A dusty bumblebee and I

Robbed the honey crocks

Of the Canterbury bells

And the hollyhocks.

And beneath a pansy plant--

A place no grown-up knows--

I pirouetted with an ant

On my elfin toes.

Then down the spice-pink-bordered path

Mother came for me;

The elf became a little girl

Ready for her tea.

~by Ethel Romig Fuller, Kitchen Sonnets

Golden Threads

Golden threads tie us together.

Recently I saw those words woven into words

and my heart did sing.

Each thread has a story more golden than gold.

Friendships held together with strong threads,

our stories woven into fine cloth.

Sometimes the way is broken,

but then repaired with golden threads.

We sing a song of sadness and JOY.

We make the effort to dance together.

Our song and dance strengthen the golden threads

and make us who we are to become.

Today join together with song and dance

and let the gold weave a new piece of magic,

a cloth so fine

and strong.

Sending golden threads to you today. 

Gold healed my teapot

and given new life by a friend.

Thank you, friend!

A Room of Their Own

 "Virginia Woolf had said writers needed a room of their own, and maybe artists needed them too.  Maybe everyone needs a room of one's own where there are no expectations, and no compromises, and you can be the person you know yourself to be."  

~from Light of Paris, by Eleanor Brown

When this quote passed my eyes and heart I thought of

the gardenhouse sitting in a corner of our backyard.

This gardenhouse has become that room of our own.

It is used by our son to sit and write.

It is used by myself to take pictures

or to sit over tea with friends.

It is used by the "live-in gardener" husband

to putter, dream, write, and grow bonsai (or may

I say rescued little trees he finds along the way).

It is indeed our room of our own,

but we have to each reserve our own private time there.

It is like a cocoon of peacefulness.

Do you have a room of your own?