Mason Jar Love Affair

I've been captivated by the Mason jar lately. I've already stored some dried herbs in a few but I have a few jars left and I'm trying to decide what I'll do next. Hmmm.....a votive candle holder? Fill them with scented candle wax? Maybe some sand from the beach or seashells or perhaps some fresh citrus salt scrub? Fresh flowers? I guess we'll have to see. :)

Saturday's Ride

I have to say Saturday's ride was one of the prettiest and so relaxing with blue skies and perfect weather! My girlfriend Deb and I took her boys out for a two hour ride through a beautiful park nearby. These pictures say it all. :)

Ari has his donkey ears going. Lol! Probably because he was frustrated I was making him pose with me. :)

We worked our way down to the river only to discover this beautiful scene.

Gotta give props to Magic here. Ari balked at going down to the river so Magic took the lead! Good boy, Magic! Ari followed when he saw that Magic was making it down fine. :)

A girl and her horse....

Recharging with a little river water. :)

A pair of tired feet. :)

Hitting the Trails Today!

It's supposed to get up to almost 80! Hopefully I'll get some good pictures and will post later. Hope you're all having a great weekend!

A Girls Gotta Have what a Girls Gotta Have!

Hot pink gardening gloves from my best friend! Thanks, Susan!

I decided to take my gardening shears to Quincy's fur (okay, not really.....they were just grooming scissors). He's a little chopped up right now...but I think I'll have to even it out later. I hope he doesn't end up look like a Mexican hairless cat. I get a little carried away sometimes. :)

He looks a little stunned. I have no idea why? Ooh! I just saw a tuft of fur I missed. Here kitty, kitty!

Huckleberry Ice Cream

Summer has FINALLY arrived in Oregon and it better not be a tease because I am fixing to make some huckleberry (or blueberry) ice-cream! I found this recipe from Country Living and I have to admit the pretty coloring got my attention first. I mean, what better way to start out the summer than making homemade ice cream. Time to drag out those ice-cream makers!

Photo courtesy of Country Living

Ingredients:

2 cup(s) half-and-half
4 eggs
1/2 cup(s) sugar
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
1 cup(s) whipping cream
1 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract
2 cup(s) huckleberries, or blueberries, blended with 3/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1 In a medium saucepan, whisk together half-and-half, eggs, sugar, and salt. Place pan over medium- high heat and whisk mixture until bubbly. Strain into a large bowl and cool; then whisk in cream, vanilla, and berries. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until chilled, about 2 hours.

2. Pour mixture into ice-cream maker; process according to manufacturer instructions.

Enjoy!

It's Not So Complicated to Live in this House

If you haven't seen the movie It's Complicated yet, I urge you to sit down with a big bowl of popcorn, some iced tea, maybe some homemade chocolate chip cookies and snuggle up on a couch and watch it! I loved this movie! In fact, I love any movie Nancy Meyers directs and of course any movie Meryl Streep is in. I've read several articles and interviews on Nancy Meyers and, although her movies are geared more towards women, I think any man can appreciate her writing and directing talent as well! What stood out to me in all her movies was the decor. The feel of the decor in each movie seemed to fit her characters to a "T." The decor in It's Complicated was warm, inviting, well lived-in and yet classic.

I wish this were me looking at my lovely home. :)

I dream of a garden like this. *sigh*

A well-used potting table.

My favorite part...the kitchen!

The cozy yet quaint courtyard. I'd have little white lights around every vine.

The bathroom. One day I'll have my claw foot tub like this one.

Until then...I keep visualizing. :)

What to do with herbs....

My herbs have been growing like crazy the last few weeks and I thought I would dry some and put in jars for later use and maybe press some. So.....mint was my first victim. The mint was pressed for almost a month before I put them between glass. :) Add an old frame I roughly painted...a little green paint....

Lookout rosemary and hyssop...here I come.

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

Happy Father's Day to all you wonderful dads and a special happy Father's Day to my step dad and my real dad who is with the angels now. Love you both!

Let the Drying Begin...and an Award!

I've already started drying my herbs. They are growing like wildflower! I have spearmint and Italian parsley so far. I actually just added a bundle of peppermint to the mix last night. Last month I also pressed a few spearmint leaves and am almost done with a little crafty project. I have one finishing touch and then I'll post it. :)

Also! Lovely Maria at Rainy Day Farm awarded me with a blog award some time ago. Thank you, Maria!!! I am so honored that I am still receiving awards even after being an off and on blogger lately. :) Maria has the cutest farm blog! Her children are adorable and all their animals...well you know how I feel about critters. Check her blog out when you get a chance! You will feel right at home.

This is what I have been instructed to do:

1. Accept and thank the person who sent it to you.
2. List 10 things about yourself.
3. List 5 additional things you don't like.
4. Pass the award on to 10 other bloggers.

Ten things about me.

1. I love watching older reruns of The Golden Girls. I have to watch them almost every night before bed.
2. I have a box on the bed next to my pillow, covered in linens for my oldest cat Mocha. She has to sleep with me every night and yes, her linens get changed several times a week. Quincy and Emma sleep elsewhere. :)
3. I am addicted to YouTube. I am subscribed to so many channels it's not funny. I love makeup channels, soap making channels, NANCY TODAY, meditation channels, horse channels...the list goes on.
4. I secretly have a goal of becoming a best selling author. I've started writing again...now if I can just get past the Prologue. Lol. Oh I'm just gonna say it, Dan Brown look out!
5. I can be very stubborn if I want to be. I call it being free spirited but for some reason others don't see it my way. I'm not always sweet, ya know. ;)
6. I truly believe I lived two past lives. One of them in the late 1800's and the other in the 1940's.

7. I am a terrible procrastinator (hence the late post on the award)

8. I suffer from migraine headaches...and regular headaches.

9. I am definitely a right brain sort of person. I am definitely not academic and it might be because I lose interest or don't apply myself. I may sound academic (or not) but don't let that fool you.

10. I used to manage a Crabtree and Evelyn....and to this day will proclaim that it is my most favorite job of all. :)

Five things I don't like:

1. Abusing animals and children.

2. Lying and cheating.
3. Leaving my cats alone. I try to always get a cat sitter if it's more then one night.
4. Not enough sleep.

5. Highly judgmental people

As usual, I will pass this onto anyone who comments on my post today and feel free to play along!

Birthday at the Farm and Thank You!

First of all I want to thank everyone for the wonderful well wishes for my birthday. I'm beginning to wonder if I want to celebrate at all. The only changes I am noticing are MORE gray hairs sprouting out of my head and these days I can't seem to catch up. It's like someone poured fertilizer on my head. Ugh! :) What causes gray hairs anyway? I hear it's stress but I'm not sure if that's true. If anyone knows, let me in on it.

The farm my girlfriend and I visited was Geercrest Farms in Silverton, Oregon. The day was perfect and the drive was breathtaking. Geercrest is a working and educational farm open to the public for volunteering. They have also opened up their farm to educating grade school children...how to grow and pick vegetables and teach them how to make wonderful meals out of the vegetables. When we were there a group of kids were cooking away in the farmhouse kitchen...some standing on stools because they were too short to reach the counter. I wish I would have gotten a picture of that but there was alot going on inside and I didn't want to disturb. :)

The pictures are kind of going backwards but oh well. If you've noticed, in my old age I'm less and less of a perfectionist. These days it's more like, eh, close enough. Here's a wonderful view from an adorable little restaurant we ate at for lunch in Silverton. It sat right on the river. I mean how much more relaxing can one get?

Here's my best friend Susan, checking the coop for eggs.

Isn't this Peony just gorgeous?

Mr. Handsome Rooster and his current girlfriend. :)

I caught the owner chopping some wood in the back.

I love this window. This picture was actually taken from the porch looking in. There's a little kitchen sink outside...isn't that cool? I can easily see myself doing dishes on a hot summer night here.

Susan getting ready to go into the chicken coop! I'm sure farmers don't usually have a big smile on their faces when they have to do this everyday. Lol!

Mr. Handsome Rooster insisted I take a picture of just him. He was a bit conceited.

Befriending some baby goats.

I'm getting ready to steal some eggs too and I'm oh so happy about it! :)

Finding more furry friends.

A lone Oak tree.

They heard us coming and were so hospitable they ran to greet us!

Why hello there!

The old farmhouse. I believe it dates back to mid to late 1800's.

Eggshells the kids just cracked for cooking.

Seven, count them, seven eggs and we only came out with a few scars from the pecking attacks! We were so proud of ourselves.

Now this brings back childhood memories of mine. :)

Another furry friend. :)

Baby goats. Aren't they just adorable?

Egg laying in progress. Do not disturb.

Freshly picked celery. Look at those stalks!

Here are some artsy black and white photos I took. :)

Believe it or not, I still have more but I didn't want the post to get too long. I had such a great time that day. We also ran into a place called the Oregon Gardens. 140 or so (I may be wrong on that number) acres of gardens! We are planning to go back and hike some of those acres so I'll leave that for another post. I'll share some of the rest of my farm pictures in another post. :)