Some Days

 As I sit in reflection over my tea this morning, I am enjoying the little bouquet I picked at my house in the garden just yesterday. I am reminiscing on the day just yesterday. Some days are just like this, but it wasn't just an ordinary day. It was time of goodbyes.

Yesterday I walked through the house that I had lived in for 22 years. Where did all that stuff come from? Wow! There is a lot waiting for buyers tomorrow to carry away little and not so little treasures. I feel like I moved a lot, but yet there is so much left behind.

I was their care taker for awhile. Now someone else can enjoy them.

 

 

I saw a cookbook waiting for someone to buy and realized there was only one recipe in the book I enjoyed; so I photographed it to still have.

Estate sales are fascinating me now. The company actually brought in some more stuff just to make it look full; though most of it was our stuff. The pricing fascinated me and I could tell the person doing the sale knew his stuff. My antiques were priced appropriately.

Can you believe it, but after walking through all the stuff in my house I took myself off to the antique mall. It is my peaceful place. It's not where I necessarily buy, but love taking pictures. And who did I run into, but the guy doing our estate sale. I knew he had several booths there, but didn't expect to see him.

I love the displays of live plants at the mall.

Isn't it beautiful?

Then I came back to the house for another walk in the garden and to pick a small bouquet to enjoy on my tea table this morning.

In the bouquet is a camellia bud and daphne buds, plus a bit of rosemary and tea to sweeten the deal. To me it is a lovely bouquet of remembrance and love for the garden. I will miss the garden more than the house.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Gravenstein Apples

 

In my last post Jan H. was curious about my mention of Gravenstein apples. She did a little research and found they are an endangered apple. Many people don't know about this beautiful apple.

"Gravs, as fans call them, are delicious and versatile. Depending on the degree of ripeness, they can be perfect for munching or making into apple sauce, apple pies, and other baked goodies. People have long believed that the Gravenstein was brought to Sonoma County (California) sometime around 1812 by Russian fur trappers at Fort Ross."  I always thought they came from Scandanavia, but maybe it was Russia. Some are stripey like the picture above and some have a soft yellow green skin.

The main reason you don't see them in the market is because they don't transport well, they bruise easily. That is probably why they are diminishing.

You might ask how I know so much about this lovely apple. I will tell you. My grandpa was an apple grower in Colorado in the early 1900's. Then because my grandma wanted to move to California, he took up growing in the Sonoma County area about the 1930's. He fell in love with the Gravenstein apple and started growing them. Two of my aunts/uncles then had orchards on each side of my grandpa about the time I was born in the 1940's. The grandchildren came along, there ended up being 27 of us. I was the second grandchild and oldest girl. We all, at times, worked in one way or the other with the apples. It might have been picking them from the ground, sorting them in the packing house, or making boxes.

My sister still lives on 2 acres of what was our grandpa's orchard. There are still Gravenstein apple trees on her property. She makes gallons and gallons of apple juice each year, which she shares with her four sons and their families.  

My uncles orchard is now mostly in grapes. Yes, Sonoma County later became wildly popular for growing wine grapes. My uncle would be so sad to see all the grapes on his property. The new owners did leave the apple trees to border the vineyard, just to honor the history of the Gravenstein.

My aunts each thought they made the best Gravenstein pies. It was a fun family tradition. To this day several of the girl cousins still think they make the best Gravenstein pie. Of course, I think mine is the best. Each August I make sure to get enough Gravenstein's to have 2-4 pie fillings in my freezer. They are indeed getting harder to find and a very short season when I do find some. There are just a few growers here in Oregon that grow them, but they just aren't the Gravenstein's I find in Sonoma County, California. The tradition does carry on.

And thus, the people that shared my pie at the Harvest Festival last Saturday didn't know this story of my apple pie, but they enjoyed it just the same.

One more time with the picture of the Gravenstein apple pie. When I started making these pies I would put a butterfly on the top, that has become my mark for the pies I bake.

Hope you enjoyed the story of the Gravenstein apples. My post is early, as I am leaving town in a couple hours for a little R&R and a bunch of tea at the Northwest (Seattle) Tea Festival. See you here later next week.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Words of Kindness and Joy

 Last night, after four hours of sleep, I woke up. I do this at least two or three times a week. It is frustrating, but I have come to accept it for now. Usually I scroll social media in the middle of the night for awhile before going back to bed. Last night, when I was scrolling, I saw that one of my friends indoor cats escaped and she couldn't find him. Oh, I hope he comes home. Say a little prayer for little black Lewis.

Thinking of Lewis reminded me of a time a few years ago when my Joey walked out of an open door. He was an indoor cat too, plus a big scaredy-cat. I walked all over our yard calling his name. I looked everywhere (I thought). I even walked around the neighborhood calling for him. He was nowhere to be found. I was so sad and angry at the person that left the door open. Sitting on my back steps I was mourning. As I sat there I heard a little bird chirping in distress. I had never heard that sound before, so I followed the sound. When I got near the bird in the bush I looked down under the branches and there was my Joey. He was so terrified, he was afraid to move. I scooped him up with hugs and kisses and he returned to the safety of the indoors. 

In winter Joey loved napping under blankets or pillows. I think he felt safe and warm there.

I can't tell you what that little bird looked like, but the two above were in my file of bird ideas for painting. The top one was on wallpaper in a bathroom I visited this summer. The lower bird I found online.

Now you might say "what does that have to do with kindness and joy"?  It was the kindness of that little bird and the joy in the rescue for both Joey and myself. Notice what you notice, for if I hadn't noticed the birds song I wouldn't have found Joey.

Sending love,

Marilyn

Schreiner's Iris Garden - Oregon

 What does an iris flower symbolize?

"The most common meanings include hope, wisdom, trust and valour, making it a great flower to have around the house. The iris has also been known to mean nobility as it's been long associated with royalty all throughout history - especially in France and Italy."

It may be strange to you, but iris is not a flower I particularly like in my garden. I am not sure if it is the scent or the fact that it doesn't hold up well when picked and brought inside. I do appreciate them in other gardens and they are quite beautiful. So off this week to visit the Scheiner's Iris Gardens near Salem, Oregon. I absolutely love how they have combined the iris with lupines in some of the beds. Lupines bring fond memories to me of walking on a trail on Mt. Cook in New Zealand many years ago. As I walked the trail took me through a large field of lupines in colors I had never seen before. I tucked a few seeds in my pocket and brought them home. For several years they grew in my own garden and I loved remembering that walk.

The iris is one of the more easy to grow perennials. Though I prefer seeing them in other gardens I do have one beauty in my own garden. It surprises me each year that it is still there, as I don't give it any attention.

"In the springtime, the heart regrows hope." Angie Weiland-Crosby

Do you love irises?

Walking this week in the Schreiner's Iris Garden I was truly amazed at all the varieties of color and styles. Some were black or had touches of bright orange, some were soft lavenders and blues, some were full of ruffles like a ballerinas skirt and some were quite simple and said "notice me too".

There were many artists sitting in the garden painting, for they were noticing too.

 

Here's a bit of a photo dump:

 

Even clematis in the garden were beautiful.

Places to sit and enjoy the beauty.

There were a few sprinkles of rain, but the beauty ruled.

I thought this artist fit in with the colors of the rainbow in front of her.

 Surrounded by beauty delights the soul.

Have a beautiful day, dear ones!

 

Sending love,

Marilyn

Words of Kindness and Joy

 

"Kindness has the same meaning in any language and in any land."  

Essay, She'll Never Know by Roger Burlington in book, Short Stories as you like them, edited by William R. Wood and John D. Husband - 1940

 

This Short Stories book has been on my book shelf my whole adult life, but recently I realized I had never read it. So this past week I picked it up to read a few essays. The essays were very dated and nothing particularly enticing; but still I had to read awhile. Will I finish reading this book? Probably not! Will I pass this book along, probably not for awhile. This particular book has sentimental meaning to me.

When I was a senior at Willow Glen High School I took English literature. Now this book was compiled and printed in the US. But what I treasured was that my English teacher gave me this book. I was very quiet in all my classes and in this one I remember sitting in the back row with a most boisterous boy; so I was even more quiet. But there was something about this teacher, Miss Wood. She noticed me and would encourage me to read. She even would make sure to ask my opinion of the assigned reading in each class gathering. She was kind to me. So at the end of the year she signed the book and I have treasured having it on my book shelf ever since.

 

The book must have come from the school library, but she noticed me and gave it to me.

 When I came across the above quote I just thought "of course" kindness would be the same in every language and land.

Yesterday my church was honored with lunch of food from Afghanistan. We had sponsored a family from there two years ago and they wanted to say thank you for all we did for them and celebrate getting permanent visas to stay here. It was the kindness of those in our church that they honored with Afghan food. What a treat!

So again this week I am reminded in many small ways that kindness matters.

Sending love,

Marilyn

An Adventure at Ten

 

 

 

I was about the age of my grandson, 10 years old, when I loved exploring alone in a nearby woods. This week he and I went exploring near his home. We walked by the Frog Pond, stopped to check out the wild flowers, he climbed on a large boulder, and we viewed the big river below. The grass was flattened on the ground like the wild things had visited and rested there. We dreamed a little too and this is what I found:

Magic hidden below petals and mulch

A world I could not see

Yet I knew it was there

Stepping lightly through the trees

The ground springs beneath our feet

We must not disturb

Hidden from our eyes

Do you see it now?

Look closely

Use your senses

Put your ear to the ground

Listen with an open heart

Imagination is there to delight

Breathe deeply

Savor with your eyes

Discoveries are yet to come

Return with a smile on your face

 

 

I would dream of fairies and gnomes hiding just out of view. I am sure they were there peeking out at us. I would always return with a smile on my face and peace in my heart because it was an adventure this girl at a young age could do by herself. A place of discovery. I must admit a bit selfishly, my sister couldn't go there because of the poison oak. I seemed to be immune to it, but if it was just in the air she would break out in a rash. So it was my own secret adventure.

Do you sometimes imagine magic hiding nearby in nature? The magic is there to discover and delight if only we "notice what we notice".

Happy Fourth of July weekend, dear friends!

Have a weekend of discoveries and delights.

Related by Love

 

This is Myrtle. She was my grandfather's second wife and never had any children. I loved Myrtle. She was like a grandmother to me. My grandfather met her at an American Legion dance. He loved dancing. He fell in love with Myrtle and married her when I was going into the 4th grade.

Myrtle would have me come over for tea and a visit where she attempted to teach me how to knit. I have to say attempted because I just never quite got it. My knitting was always so tight I would need to rip it out and keep trying to relax and re-do. It just wasn't my thing; so I smile when I see my daughter knitting away.

When my mother fell and broke her knee Myrtle took my sister and I in for awhile so my mother had some time for recuperation. Myrtle didn't quite know how to get two young girls ready for school, but she did her best. We both had long hair; so though we had never worn braids, Myrtle would braid our hair and wrap it around our heads with ribbons. I am sure it was beautiful, but by the time I got to school I had taken the braids down and just told Myrtle they undid themselves. She would try harder the next day. Oh my, I guess I was a bit of a stinker; but Myrtle loved us. 

Here is Myrtle with a couple of her sisters and then again standing among the flowers.

I always said I was her favorite because I would go visit her and talk to her. The summer before I left for college my grandfather helped me get a job in the apple cannery for the summer and I stayed with Myrtle and my grandpa. When it was time to leave for college Myrtle opened a bank account in her name and mine and would put her dividends from an egg ranch into the account for me to use for college. Wondering what those dividends would be worth today? Hummm? They did help me pay for college for the two years I attended and then I got married.

When I was getting married she asked what I would like for a wedding present. I said I would love my grandfather's china. Her response was that if no one else voiced a desire for the china she would give it to me when she was finished using it. About 6 months before she passed she gave me the china, which I cherish still today. The picture just shows part of the china. It is Haviland and somehow my grandfather acquired it from the Burlington Railroad, as it was their china pattern of Daisies and Violets.

Reminiscing today, thinking of Myrtle. The fur coat inspired me to reminisce, as Myrtle offered to give me her mink coat and I declined it. Later I thought, now why did I decline a beautiful gift of that coat. I was sharing that story with my friend Emily, who sells the vintage clothes, and that was when she said she was giving me a fur coat in memory of Myrtle. So I am sharing this story with you. For one, accept graciously and always acknowledge the love of another even if not related by blood, but by love.

Have a blessed weekend, dear friends!

San Francisco Japanese Tea Garden

Really I am almost done sharing my adventure to California last month and then it will be on to the holidays which are coming quickly. Hold on to your hats and enjoy!

One of the places I dearly wanted to visit was the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. The first time I ever visited there I was a young girl and my grandmother took me there. I remember scampering over the bridge. Did I scamper this time? Nope! But I loved standing there to remember with a smile.

The Japanese Tea Garden was built in 1894 for the World's Fair. It is the oldest Japanese Garden in the United States.

Next week I will share the Japanese Garden in Portland, which I just visited. They each have their own personality and both beautiful in different ways. The San Francisco garden seems to have more concrete pagoda's.

Both garden's have sculptures of herons.

The red pagoda is quite impressive. Because of it's age it is going through renovation right now, but it was still so special to see.

 A real bird posing just for me.

For an "old lady" with over 100 years behind her, she has been kept quite beautiful. The red structures just shined in beauty.

And of course Buddha was there to greet us.

I always love seeing young children enjoying history. They were so cute in their matching tees.

The teahouse where I paused for awhile over a cup of genmaicha (green tea with barley). It has a very unique flavor and if I am going to drink green tea this is most often how it goes.

And yes, once upon a time I had tea here with my grandmother. Then it was tea with an almond cookie and I thought it was quite a treat. 

Of course a Japanese Gardens must have a teahouse with green tea.

Have any of you visited these gardens? If you ever find yourself in San Francisco it is a must for being at the top of the list.

Returning and remembering for me it was a treasure. Memories are made of this.

Now this isn't a Veteran's Day post, but I will send best wishes and a thanks for all those that have served to protect our country.  It has not gone unnoticed. 

Sending love to each and everyone of you today.

Have a blessed weekend, dear friends!