Birthday Bliss! :)

Now that I'm in my 50's, birthdays don't hold the same excitement they did when I was a child. Not only was I excited about celebrating my birthday, in those days, but I was also excited about turning another year older! :)
These days, the ideah of adding another year to my age, comes as a disappointment! :)
But all that said, I have to say that this birthday was joyful for me! :) Rud came home from work with a gorgeous boquet of hot-rose, roses for me! Then he and Cal took me out to my favorite restaurant, (Red Lobster), for dinner! I felt spoiled by all the birthday wishes I recieved from friends and family by way of Facebook, phone calls, a card, and even being treated to a birthday lunch twice, previous to my birthday, (once by my friend, Vicki, and once by my sister, Diane)! :)
All that made me special! I'm so satisfied as I feel celebrated and loved, and that is what a birthday is truely about! :)
There is one more gift that will come later, ... my requested deer fence around our veg' garden!! I've wanted one for years and we have decided to put other attempts (to keep deer out) aside and just build it!! :) It's actually a good thing we didn't put it in before, as I discovered the plot we had just wasn't big enough! So we will be expanding our garden area when we fence it! :)
Thanks to everyone who made this ol' gal again feel the pleasures of "birthday bliss"!! :)

Magic Morning! :)

I'm an early riser who enjoys watching the sun rise! There's something soothing about watching night turn to day and knowing it brings endless opportunities! :)
This morning felt especially magical as an owl's voice "hoo-hoooo-hoo-hoooo" broke the silence!
As I stepped outside to snap a photo I heard the whir-whir sound of the ducks flying overhead! (I wish I'd had my new cam' in hand as it snaps photo after photo! By the time my sure shot was ready to take another picture they had passed by!) :)
I love the calm stillness when the only sounds are those of nature waking up or, in the owl's case, prepairing for sleep! :)
Sweet dreams, little owl, and I shall dream dreams too, now that I'm awake! :)

Making Room For Stewartia! :)

When my friend, Vicki, and I were "nursery hopping" she introduced me to Stewartia! Vicki and I worked at All Season Nursery together, but for some reason I had never been introduced before! :)

When I saw the grace of this tree and listened to Vicki telling me about her white camelia-like blossoms in the spring/summer; it's red, purple, and gold fall color; and it's mottled, peeling orange, gray, and tan bark as the tree matures, for winter interrest - I knew I had to make room for Stewartia! Her full name is Japanese Stewartia! :)

Since there was no room in the existing flower beds I went home and pondered where she could go! I determined that by expanding one of the flower beds I could make room for her! The next day I drove back to the nursery, bought her, and brought her home with me! :)

The next step was to position the plants I'd chosen to accompany her! :)

Once I was satisfied I used the edger to cut out the shape of the extended bed; removed the grass sod; and proceeded to dig the hole for Stewartia! I was disappointed to hit riverbed rock at the base of the hole (it's probably the only place on the property that has river-rock down in the soil) and Rud helped me finish digging out enough of the rock to atleast have a foot of soil beneath her roots! I hope it's enough and that she will be able to thrive in this new location. I keep reminding myself that this spot is much improved over the pot she's been in! :)

Today I finished planting the rest of the plants and put down beauty bark! So now I've done my best to make her comfortable and I hope she makes herself right at home! :)

Tillamook Time! :)

Family, from WY, called to let us know they had arrived in OR, and invited us to join them for a day of fun-in-the-sun in Tillamook! We jumped at the chance to see them and to enjoy a couple of the neat things Tillamook has to offfer! We met at Tillamook Cheese Factory, a place I had never been to but had always wanted to see! :)

We enjoyed the self-guided tour of the cheese factory with cheese being assembled on one side, and ice-cream being made on the other! :) Tillamook cheese and ice-cream have long been my favorite, so it was a treat to be where they are both made! :)

It was fun to see our nephew, Timber, who's resently started to walk, taking steps! It was my first time seeing Timber in person, and he's every bit as sweet and cheerful as everyone has said! :)

It was equally fun to see Rud and his brother, Eric, enjoying being together again! :)

They were enjoying cheese curds that are sold at the factory! :)

They tried to settle down when they saw I had my camera going! :)

Timber was feeling playful too, enjoying a ride on his mommy, April's, shoulders, in the warm sun! :)

Next we headed to the Tillamook Air Museum! April's dad, and his sweet wife, were with us too, and it was enjoyable getting aquainted with them! :)

April's dad flew aircraft and knew alot about them! He ended up being a great tour guide! :)

This building was incredible in both size and design! Rud had Timber laughing as he kept sneeking up behind him and tickling him! :)

It was great to see them, and it felt sad when we had to part.

To give ourselves something to still look forward to - we took the scenic drive home, enjoying the sights of the beautiful Pacific Ocean! :) It was a great day, - one we will need to repeat again! :)

Bees, Bugs, and Blooms! :)

Lately we're enjoying spring weather, and since I was working in the yard, I couldn't help noticing that I wasn't the only one drawn out by the warmth of the sun! :) Try clicking on this photo for a better look at this honey bee covered in pollen from head to toe! :)

Look in the petal to see the bee dusted in pollen and packing it on it's hard working legs! :)

They even started collecting pollen from potted heather plants the minute I positioned them on the lawn! (I was planning an extension to an exsisting flower bed!) :)

I had no worries taking photos of the honey bees, or this bumble bee, as they were more concerned about collecting pollen than they were about me or my camera! :)

I thought the soft purple color of this bug (or is it a butterfly with it's wings closed?) complemented the purple crocus! :)

I'm familiar with, but don't know the name of, this bee-like bug resting on the crocus! It, too, was enjoying the pleasant spring-like day! :)

I hope these photos enlarge when you click on them for better enjoyment! (For those not sure how to get back to the blog once you've clicked on the photo and it enlarges, just click on the blue "back" arrow at the top left corner of your screen!) :)

The morning sun is shining brite on last night's white frost, and we've got nothing but blue sky again!! I love these sunny days and, as you can see, so do our pollenating friends!! :)

Hope you're enjoying sunshine where you are! :)

Brennan's Valentine! :)

You know you're a grandparent when you find a loving, handmade valentine in the mailbox and can't get it displayed on the 'fridge fast enough! :) When seeing the little outlined hand of that cherished one just melts your heart on the spot!

The little car magnet, at the bottom, says "Loving you is aut-omatic"! That's certainly how we feel about our little Brennan! :)

Thanks Brennan for the wonderful Valentine, and thanks to Brennan's Mommie and Daddy for their love too, in making this cherished valentine possible!! Our heart-felt love goes out to them!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! :)

Sensational Seeds! :)

Now's the time of year for pouring over garden seed catalogs and planning out this year's garden! I usually mail atleast one catalog order every year, because it allows you to have seeds you can't find in the local stores! :)
Fortuantely, this year, I've been able to find most of the seeds I want locally, so I won't need to buy them all through the catalog, which can be expensive!
These are some of the flower seeds I'd displayed by height on a tv tray, so I could study them and try to visualize the best way to arrange them in the garden! Visualizing the lay out is one of the most time consuming, but benneficial, steps of gardening! :)
Every year the crops need to be rotated for healthy plants, so every year a new layout needs to be planned! By planning it all out now, I will be ready to begin planting at planting time! :)
This year I'm planning to add more flowers than I ever have before, as I noticed how many bees, butterflies, hummingbirds, and helpful insects were attracted to the garden by the flowers I'd planted in with the veggies, last year! :)
I'm toying with the ideah of planting these flower seeds in one long strip, running the length of the garden, with the tallest flowers ( sunflowers ) in the middle, sizing down to the shortest flowers running along the sides of the strip! I've got time to change my mind, but right now I'm thinking this plan may be fun and attractive! :)
One never knows for sure how these ideahs are going to pan out but it looks good in my head, so it's worth a try! :) If it works well, I'll do it again next year! Time will tell! :)
I welcome any ideahs any of you may have on how you'd lay out the flowers in the veggie garden, or even in pots!? :)
Some of these sensational seeds are going to be planted in my garden for the first time ever, which adds to the mystery of how they will look if planted all together! I've got to say that it's an exciting venture!! :)