Monday, August 31, 2015

Share Your World - 2015 Week #35

This is my blog hop post to Cee's Share Your World - 2015 Week #35.  If you find this sort of blogging fun, please write your own responses and link up each week.

This week's questions/statements

1. What made you feel good this week?

2.  For potlucks or parties do you cook it yourself, buy from a grocery store, or pay for catering?

3.  What is your favorite part of the town/city you live in?  And what country do you live in?

4.  Complete this sentence:  My favorite place in the whole world. . .

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week and what are looking forward to in the week coming up?

My answers

1.  This past week, without a doubt, the thing that made me feel good was being able to visit with several members of our family when they came to see us.

2.  For potlucks or parties, I usually cook something myself. If I am in a pinch for time, or something unexpected comes up, I have on occasion bought something from the deli or bakery at a grocery store to take to the event.  Click here to see an earlier post showing a salad that we thought was very tasty an I would feel comfortable in taking to a potluck.

3.  I don't have a specific favorite place in my city.  I love to see older historic homes and places.  The Bush's Pasture Park with the Bush House Museum and Municipal Rose Garden is a great place to see. I live in the United States of America.

4.  My favorite place in the whole world is wherever I am with my family.

For the bonus question, I like to share my Ten Things of Thankful blog hop post from this past weekend.  One of the things I was looking forward to doing this week was starting to use the Blog Hop Tracker form I created.  Since I like to link up to a number of different blog hops, I discovered if I was going to keep everything somewhat straight in my mind, I needed a form instead of little scraps of paper.

TJ's Household Haiku Challenge - Cobweb

For this haiku blog hop post I am linking up to TJ's Household Haiku Challenge - Cobweb.




A work of beauty,
the lace-like cobweb waited
for innocent prey.


Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry #Challenge #60 Bridge & Move

This is another attempt at writing haiku poetry and linking up to a blog hop at Ronovan Writes #Weekly #Haiku #Poetry #Challenge #60 Bridge & Move.



Bridge in Waldport, Oregon

Beautifully arched
the bridge spans azure waters
that move underneath.

Saturday, August 29, 2015

Finish the Sentence Friday: What I'll miss about summer

This post will link up to a blog hop at Finish the Sentence Friday:  What I'll miss about summer.

The thing that came immediately to mind was being able to enjoy so much fresh produce which was grown locally.  In another month, the little stand I usually go to will be closed.

I thought that this slice of red cabbage had such a beautiful design.

I will miss the beautiful flowers that bloom during the summer.

Some pretty blossoms on my neighbor's crape myrtle tree.
I'll miss the beautiful skies of summer.

I just never get enough of the fluffy cumulus clouds.
And lastly, I will miss the visits we have had from family, but as I am getting so much stronger, I'm hopeful we will be able to go visit them at some point during this coming year.

Ten Things of Thankful 115

This past week has been a good one.  I'll be linking my post to Ten Things of Thankful where a lot of other people share the their Ten Things of Thankful 115.  Each Friday the link is open so people can link their post.  The link is open all weekend.

Ten Things of Thankful

1.  Measurable rain and cooler weather for the weekend!

2.  With the rain and cooler weather came wind.  Fortunately we didn't have any power outage or downed trees like some people in the valley did.

3.  No need to go to PT twice a week anymore.  For the rest of the month, I'll just be going once a week.

4.  Getting to have 1:1 time with one of our grown granddaughters for several days.

5.  Getting to visit with another grown granddaughter for a couple of days before she headed north to begin law school.

6.  Being able to be of help to our daughter and her husband, so they could have a mini-vacation.

7.  Eating out with my husband and being able to eat the wonderful Oriental Chicken Salad at Applebee's.  I would love to be able to duplicate the dressing.

8.  Going to the theater with my husband to see Testament of Youth.  I loved this movie based on a book by Vera Brittain.  The movie depicts her life during WWI.  Great movie!

9.  Being able to figure out a form I can make for keeping track of the blog hop prompts for the different blog hops I am participating in and following.  I think using the form is going to make my blogging life easier.

10.  My husband's hard work this week to try to "overhaul" our garden area.  He is going to do something different in that area which will make it a lot easier for us to garden in the future.

Friday, August 28, 2015

Six Word Fridays - Precious

This post is being linked to blog hop Six Word Fridays - Precious. Others' posts for this blog hop can been seen by clicking the link.  The rules are pretty simple.  Each line must be six words.  A post can be one line or many lines, but only six words per line.


Precious are the lives of babies
who are born free from sin,
who rely upon mothers and fathers
to care, love, and teach them
the things they need to know
as they find their own way
through their earthly existence and trials,
and help them through their years.
Image from LDS Media Library Infants and Toddlers

Precious are the lives of people
who by good example teach children
and listen to them and care.
Precious are His children to Him.




Follow Friday Four Fill-in Fun - Week 228

This is another blog hop post to Follow Friday Four Fill-in Fun - Week 228.  As you read my responses, maybe you will think of ways you might fill-in the blanks.  If you have a blog, consider linking up to Hilary's Follow Friday Four Fill-in Fun blog hop.

The statements

1.  I would rather have ______________________ for dessert instead of ______________________.

2.  I admire ________________________ and __________________________________ in a person.

3.  I used to wear ___________________________________________________  when I was young.

4.  I want to ___________________________________ for ________________________________ .


My answers

1.  I would rather have marion berry ala mode for dessert instead of chocolate cake.

Peach Ice Cream Shortcake at EZ Orchards Farm Market (not Marion Berry Pie, but very yummy,  on a very hot summer day.)
2.  I admire honesty and humility in a person.

3.  I used to wear high heels, but no more than 3" heels, when I was young.  (Link shows reasons why I stopped.)

4.  I want to keep working on becoming stronger through PT and healthy eating for my own wellbeing, happiness, and being able to better serve my family.


Thursday, August 27, 2015

Six Sentence Stories: Project

This is a post to the blog hop Six Sentence Stories: Project.

But I Don't Have a Hobby!

For most it was an easy assignment. . .bring something to display to the grammar school hobby show.  This turned into a difficult assignment and project since I didn't have any hobbies at age nine, and most of my spare time was taken up with doing farm chores.  Thanks to my mother coming to my rescue by buying some liquid embroidery pens and a doily printed with an easy design to embroider, and also buying an oil paint-by-number set of parrot pictures, I was able to discover if these might turn into my hobbies.  I completed the things she bought and displayed them alongside the hobbies shown by my classmates.

Some of the typical hobbies for kids during that time period were the following:  lots of collections (comic books, storybook dolls, paper dolls, marbles, stamps, agates, rocks, shells, model cars, model airplanes, baseball cards, coins, picture postcards, and matchbook covers), and displays of items that had been whittled, knitted, crocheted, embroidered, sewed or made built out of wood.

As for my projects becoming an ongoing hobby. . .I decided to develop some sewing skills the next year and that would turn out to be kind of a necessary hobby in my life.

 A simple dress I sewed for a granddaughter a few years ago.

TJ's Household Haiku Challenge - windows

This is another post to link up to TJ's Household Haiku Challenge - windows.

The Glare of the Windows

Blinded by the glare,
the bird flew toward the windows,
dazed by the impact.

Injured lesser goldfinch



Ronovan Writes Weekly Haiku Prompt Challenge # 59 - Bird & Red

This is another post to the blog hop at Ronovan Writes Weekly Haiku Prompt Challenge #59 - Bird & Red.

Beautiful Tom Turkey Struts His Stuff

Majestic feathers
Displayed, with his puffed red wattles
Bird will call his mate


Turkey at Hovander Homestead Park in Washington

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Sunday Stills, the next challenge: The letter T

This is the first time for me to link up to the blog hop Sunday Stills, the next challenge:  The letter T.
The post can include anything that begins with or includes the letter T.  Click the link to see what others are posting.  Enjoy.

T Stands for Tower

Top part of a 50 foot viewing tower at Tennant Lake Park, Washington

Lookout tower at Hovander Homestead Park in Washington

Water tower in field by the E.Z. Orchards Farm Market, Salem, Oregon


Photo blogging challenge August 2015 theme: Rule of thirds

This is the first time for me to link up to this blog hop Photo blogging challenge August 2015 theme:  Rule of thirds.  The challenge found at hoohaablog.com is a month-long challenge.  The new challenge is posted at the beginning of each month.

I am still trying to improve on the photography "rule of thirds," but here are some of my attempts.

Frog surfacing at Talking Waters Garden in Albany, Oregon

Home of unknown inhabitant. . . skunk or fox?  Taken  at Willamette Mission State Park

Flowers from a friend


Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Cee's Share Your World - 2015 #34

This week I am linking up again to a blog hop at Cee's Share Your World - 2015 #34.  This week we are asked to answer some questions and to make a list.  See if you can come up with your own answers to the questions and link up to also.  While you are there, take a look to see how others have responded.

This week's questions

1.  Was school easy or difficult for you?  How so?

2.  What is your favorite animal?

3.  If you had to have your vision corrected, should you rather:  glasses or contacts?

4.  List:  Name at least five television shows (past or present) you enjoyed?

Bonus question:  What are you grateful for from last week, and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?

My answers

1.  Compared to some, I guess school was easy for me since I received good grades.  When I saw that I was not good at algebra, I dropped the class midway and took something else.  That was unfortunate, I learned later on, since taking any other math classes in high school depended on whether I'd completed algebra.  Also some science classes required a certain level of math classes.  In college, certain majors required certain math and science prerequisites.  So my major was determined by a much earlier decision I made when things got hard.  Due to the circumstances in my life at that earlier time, I still, in looking back, do not know what I could have done any differently.  I knew where the extra help for me was, but being able to avail myself of that help was out of my hands.  Although I received good grades, it wasn't without a lot of time spent on homework.  I knew that many of my classmates didn't have to spend the same amount of time doing some of the homework assignments.  Part of my problem was and still is that when I read, I read every word and often find myself rereading  lines more than once.  There is probably a name for that now, but at that time I don't think teachers were aware of it.

2.  My favorite farm animal probably is a goat, because they are so cute and entertaining.  Some of our children were in a 4-H club and had goats.  With the goats we experienced laughter, frustration and a few tears when one died due to a congenital disease.

3.  I wear glasses and have never had any desire to wear contacts.  I really don't like the idea of putting something in my eyes.

4.  Five past television shows I have enjoyed
I Love Lucy
The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet
Father Knows Best
The Lone Ranger
The Twilight Zone

To respond to the bonus questions, I'd like to share my Ten Things of Thankful #114 post about last week.  What I have most looked forward to this week, has been being able to have one of our granddaughters spend a few days with us so her parents could tend to some important matters for a few days.





Sunday, August 23, 2015

Ten Things of Thankful #114

I'm linking up a bit late to the Ten Things of Thankful #114 this week.  I hope everyone has had a good week.  There is value in writing those good things down some place and then returning to read your own comments, whether written in a journal or on a blog.

Here are my Ten Things of Thankful for this past week.

1. The week began with having some friends bring me a bouquet of fresh flowers when they came to visit me.



2.  Being able to figure out how to make some revisions on my blog.  (Still lots more to learn and to do, but it is good to be able to feel I am progressing.)

3.  With the help of my daughter and Google, being able to learn how to alphabetize my blog bookmarks on my Mac.

4.  Seeing two osprey fledge from their nest atop a cell tower near the building where I go  for PT.

5.  Being saved by a cat.  I feel this demands some kind of an explanation.  One late afternoon, as I was on the verge of rounding a sharp corner as I returned home, I had to come to a complete stop to see what direction a yellow cat was going to take.  It was already in the other lane heading the direction of my lane.  As it began to go back to the side from which it came, I notice a spike standing in the grass along side the road.  It was standing so still, it looked like a statue.  If it had not been for the cat, I would not have noticed it.  If it had bounded into the road, there would have been a good chance I could have hit it.  Thanks to the cat, all those "ifs" didn't happen.

6.  Thanks to video streaming, we were able to watch our son attended a special ceremony in Washington DC.

7.  Making real progress in getting stronger as I continue to do physical therapy.

8.  For all the firefighters who have been fighting the fires in the NW and elsewhere for that matter.

9.  Being able to read signs that tell a little bit history.

Sign in Turner, Oregon post office

10.  Being able to enjoy a Scrabble Game with some of my family.  I didn't win, but I tied with a team.  The youngest playing the game came up with some great words, and also got the most points.  Good for her!

And here is something that just made me kind of laugh.  We have been inundated with the worst smoke ever in our state.  The normal blue skies and scenic views of the mountains that we see in the summer were just nonexistent yesterday due to the smoke from all the fires in our state and the neighboring state.  I found it ironic that we would receive a piece of mail from the following charity.  What perfect timing to be considering this.



Jet stream backdropped by very hazy smoky Oregon sky.

Friday, August 21, 2015

Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun - Week 227

This is a blog hop post for Follow Friday Four Fill-In Fun - Week 227.  Each week there are four fill-in questions/statements to consider and fill in.  Hilary at feelingbeachie.com is the host.  The questions this week are provided by Elizabeth from Silver's Book Reviews and is the co-host.

Questions/statements

1.  Do you ever _______________________________________________________________?

2.  Why would I ______________________________________________________________ ?

3.  Creating ________________________ is________________________________________

4.  I think that more people ______________________________________________________


My answers

1.  Do you ever eat leftover cold pizza for breakfast?

Pizza (public domain image)

2.  Why would I think worse of you for what some would perceive as a weakness when I have my own weaknesses?

3.  Creating tiny embroidery stitches is extremely difficult for me to do.

Embroidery done by my Mom done probably between 1935-1943

4.  I think that more people could experience happiness if they would be willing to freely forgive, with no expectations from the offending person.

How would you fill in the blanks?

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Six Word Fridays - Rock

This post is to blog hop Six Word Fridays - Rock. Others posts for this blog hop can been seen by clicking the link.  The rules are pretty simple.  Each line must be six words.  A post can be one line or many lines, but only six words per line.

Desert in Southeastern Oregon

The Rock Left a Fatal Impression

The rock was one of many.
We were carefully lifting each one.
We hoped to find a snake.
Soon the census would be done.
Others in the group were experienced.
They could easily identify the snake.
I was invited to go along.
I wish my hands didn't shake.
Then I saw the ringed snake.
I promptly dropped the desert rock.
It broke the rare serpent's spine.
The census included one snake, deceased.
I proclaimed, "the fault is mine."

Six Word Fridays - Nut

This post links up to the blog hop Six Word Fridays - Nut.  Go to the link to see what others have shared for their post.  Each line of the post must have exactly six words.  It doesn't matter how many lines you have or how many syllables, just exactly six words in each line.

Acorns

Squirrel

A massive oak dropped an acorn.
A squirrel saw where it lay.
He nimbly ran to get it.
He saved it for another day.
A jay saw it be buried.
The squirrel used his little feet.
For now, the nut is hidden.
Thanks, to this agile squirrel athlete.
The nut sprouted and started growing.
It couldn't wait to be found.
It was to become an oak.
Its height and girth would astound.



Wednesday, August 19, 2015

Cee's Odd Ball Photo Challenge 2015 Week #33

Check out Cee's Odd Ball Photo Challenge 2015 Week #33 to find others who have linked up to this blog hop and then add your old odd ball photo.  You are bound to have something that fits in for this photo blog hop.

We had a good laugh about this little tree frog who appeared to need to be up close and personal to read the sign.  It was nice for the swallow to oblige.




Cee's Which Way Photo Challenge 2015 Week #33

Please take time to view some of the other posts to Cee's Which Way Photo Challenge 2015 Week #33.

These are the photos from my library I've chosen to share this week.

California Quail



These two seem to have differing views of which way they want to go. 



Does anyone else see a bit of humor in this all inclusive sign?


This squirrel seems to have some doubts as to whether to go down or to go across.




I'm not sure what this creature is, but it is definitely taking a bit of a tipsy path.

Six Sentence Stories: Grave

Be sure to go to Six Sentence Stories:  Grave to read the stories of others who have joined in with this blog hop this week.

The road, if you could call it that, was a steady climb and followed the edge of the pasture along the property line and then across the hill at the tree line where the land hadn't been cleared.  Then the road took a curve and began another ascent, this time through the forest, toward a higher cleared field beyond the firs and the oaks.  She appreciated the coolness of the shade offered by the trees as she and brother herded the sheep toward the pasture, but there was always one spot beside the road, that caused her imagination to run amok.  It was just around the next curve in the road where the land was a little flatter.  It was such an immense boulder almost shoulder high---pretty high when you are eight.  In her young mind, she thought the massive rock was a tombstone placed over a grave, but who died, and why?

Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Cee's Share Your World - 2015 Week #33

Check out this blog hop for other posts to Cee's Share Your World - 2015 Week #33.

This blog hop has some different questions to respond to each week that are kind of fun to contemplate and answer.

This weeks questions followed by my answers:

1.  What are some words that just make you smile? hug, fudge, tickle, surprise, fiddlesticks

2.  You're given $500,000 dollars tax free (any currency), what do you spend it on? Some of it would probably be used for some home and property improvements and some for doing some traveling.

3.  What subject would you like to study in depth, if given the time to do so?  Neuroscience.  Now whether I could grasp everything I would study, is entirely another matter.

4.  Would you rather be stuck in a small plane with bad turbulence for 2 hours or be a passenger in a car racing the Daytona 500?  A small plane with bad turbulence for 2 hours (I actually kind of experienced this once, so I guess I could go through that again.)

Bonus question:  What are your grateful for from last week and what are you looking forward to in the week coming up?  See my link to Ten Things of Thankful that I posted last Saturday.  That post answers the first part of the question.  This week I'm looking forward to seeing some of my family who will visiting.  It is always fun to be with them!

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Burgundy or Maroon

This is a link up to a blog hop:  Cee's Fun Foto Challenge:  Burgundy or Maroon


Hen and chickens

Oregon Grape

Taken at Bloedel Reserve

Prompt 79 - Phrase Phase #12 - If only

This post will be linking up to Prompt 79 - Phrase Phase 12 - If only. . .

If only past hesitancies could be replaced with the assured replies and/or behaviors gained through the knowledge imparted to one's future self through a life of living.  However that would take away one of the purposes of this life here on earth.

Ronovan Writes Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge #58 - Rise and Save

This blog hop post is being linked to Ronovan Writes Haiku Poetry Prompt Challenge #58 - Rise and Save.



Rays of sunshine rise
upward above earth's shoulders
save nature's forces.

Saturday, August 15, 2015

Ten Things of Thankful

It's time to link up to the Ten Things of Thankful blog hop again.

I like the fact that this blog hop comes on the weekend.  It is good timing for me, because I think it is a great prelude to for me attending church.  It is good to be thankful all the time, but nice to wrap up the week with those thankful moments I've enjoyed throughout the week.  It is a reminder of how many times someone is watching over me.

Ten Things of Thankful

1.  Being able to have lived a whole other year!  (Click here to read more about the day of celebration.)

2.  Parks.  We visited and explored a city park, a county park, and a state park this week!  I'm thankful for those who take care of the parks.  The parks we visited each had a bit of history which was interesting to learn.

Sign at Willamette Mission State Park

3.  Employment opportunities and volunteer opportunities for youth and young adults.  It is such a great way to develop worth ethics which make it possible to get better jobs in the future.  I'm thankful for my grandchildren who have pursued jobs in the summer to help with their school expenses and for those who have served their families during the summer vacation.

4.  Educational opportunities for all ages.  I'm thankful for my grandchildren having a desire to further their education.

5.  Thrift stores.  I stopped by a small one this week to look for a particular item which as it turned out wasn't there.  Instead I found two dresses that are just my size and style.  Of course the price was right because this thrift store always has lower prices than most of the other stores of the same type.
It has been quite a while since I've bought a new dress (well new to me, but looks like new).  I'm thankful for the little thought that came to me to stop at the thrift store for a few minutes on my way home.

6. Rain!  We had enough rain Friday that the ground actually got wet, instead of just evaporating as it landed.  There was even a little thunder and lightning in some areas here in the valley.  The temperatures are starting to be somewhat cooler in the evenings too.  I'm thankful for this nice change.

7.  Taking more steps in a day than I have previously done since my surgery in May.  Yeah!  For those who have been following my knee progress, that means that the knee is doing considerably better!

8.  Fresh produce from the farm stands, and from our neighbors garden.  Our diet consists of lots of fruits and vegetables, so I am thankful for the plenty of others and the variety and availability of things we can purchase at the stands.  Hopefully next year we will be up to growing a "little" garden again, and be able to share our garden abundance again.

9.  Beautiful sunsets.  One evening when I was busy in the kitchen, my husband came in from outside to tell me that it looked like we were going to have a great sunset.  I grabbed my camera and took a few photos.  I'm thankful he came in to let me know, so I could enjoy the beauty of the moment too.

The beginning of the end of a wonderful day!
10.  Prayers being answered in the very little things as well as the big things.  One day this week, I was headed to a PT appointment.  I'd left on time to arrive for PT at the designated hour, but was delayed by a double-trailered truck with a heavy load and driving very slowly.  There wasn't anyway to pass for a while.  I thought I would probably be late because of not being able to drive the normal speed limit, so I said a little prayer that some how or other, the many traffic lights would all be green if possible so I could get to my appointment on time.  To some it might seem incredible that all the 17 traffic lights could be green as I approached, but that is exactly what happened.  I gave thanks for each "green light" as I drove through the intersection too.  Because of the little miracles and the big ones, I know God listens and watches over me.  Not all prayers are answered so quickly when I pray, but when they aren't, I just have to remember the title of my blog, "A season and a time."


Ten Things of Thankful

Friday, August 14, 2015

100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups - Week 162: Memories of a childhood story/song

The blog hop this post will be linked to is 100 Word Challenge for Grown Ups - Week 162.  The prompt for this post is "Memories of a childhood story or song."

The song Mairzy Doats is a peppy, cute little song written by Milton Drake in 1943 and which became popular in 1944.  I remember my Mom singing this when I was young.  Of course I didn't know the real words until much later.  This ditty like so many others resurfaced from time to time.  Some people may not realize its early origin nor that it was based on an old English nursery rhyme.  Does anyone else remember singing "Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey, A kiddley divey too, wouldn't you?"  It is a funny, musical tongue twister.

Thursday, August 13, 2015

Finish the Sentence Friday: When I think of birthdays. . .

This post to the blog hop Finish the Sentence Friday:  When I think of birthdays. . . was an easy one this time.

When I think of birthdays, I think of my most recent one, because it is very ingrained in my memory, although I have had some very spectacular one in the past with wonderful eventful surprises.

My Forever Long Birthday Celebration

Since we had kind of done some pre-birthday fun, i.e. movie and dinner out a few days before my birthday, the actual birthday was going to be kind of laid back, or so I thought.  We stopped at one of our favorite places for a peach shortcake and ate it at the  great little picnicking area by the stand.  These shortcakes are huge, and so delicious.




The next stop on our drive was at the nursing home to visit my Mom.  I wanted to remind her that she was the one who gave me life, and so we were celebrating her and my birthday.  We talked about the very hot day I was born, back in the day when the hospitals didn't have air conditioning.  Of course it was mostly me talking and trying to help her bring back a memory, even if it was just momentarily.  She is always glad to see me, for which I am thankful.

We decided to drive up the road a ways and stop at a park, but on the way, we saw a directional road sign to a place that sounded so funny, we just had to go see where this place was.    The sign said Crooked Finger.  The next sign with those two words, said Crooked Finger Road, so we turned on it thinking that the road would take us to the town.  After driving for miles that seemed like forever (remember this word), the road was becoming narrower.   We finally gave up and turned around so we could get back on track and go toward our initial destination.  (It wasn't until checking some books when we got home that we discovered that Crooked Finger is just a road, but one that eventually we leads people to Camp Dakota, a campground used frequently by the Boys Scouts.)

Now once again I was driving toward the town with the park I wanted to see.  In the past, I'd only driven through this town and had not explored any of the area. The park where we stopped is adjacent to the Molalla rodeo site.  There are many old oak trees in the park and more acorn woodpeckers than we had ever seen at once.  The birds are just everywhere in this park, and my husband didn't have the camera with him that he would have needed to get the amazing photos is takes.  (He went up there again the very next day to take photos.)  I chuckled just a little thinking back on his comment when I drove him to the park.  He'd questioned why I thought this would be a good park to visit. I didn't really have a very good answer other than I just wanted to see some of the parks there.  Discovering the abundance of the woodpeckers was a huge "yes" in my mind.  We have gone to another area to see them in the past, but the bird habitation there is like a drop in the bucket compared to this park.)


A glimpse of just some of the massive oak trees in the E. Clark  Park on the left

After leaving there to head toward home, I decided not to head toward the freeway, but instead to meander the backroads going toward our designation.  Well another road sign pointed the way to a place named Wilhoit  Springs.  I thought that might be a pretty place to see, so here we went on another traveling spree.  After driving quite a ways longer than I was expecting, we came to the Wilhoit Springs.  (It would me nice if there were some kind of heads up as to distance on these signs, or maybe there was and I didn't think it would be that far.)  What an interesting place this turned out to be.  After reading the literature on the sign board, and doing some more research when we returned home, I was grateful to learn this little bit of history about bottled drinking water in the old days.  The links show lots of pictures of Wilhoit Springs in its golden years.


Steps leading down to the now capped springs
We were beginning to have a few laughs about our adventuresome day, but there was more to come.  After leaving Wilhoit Springs, I turned on a road named Sawtell Road.  Little did we know that this road, although seemingly taking us at least in the right direction in the beginning, would meandering up and up and up into the heavily forested areas.  Occasionally we'd get a glimpse of the valley down below and it seemed quite far away.  Not one used to getting lost, (not really lost) until this day,  I kept driving thinking the road would connect with another road that would take us home and it wouldn't just go on forever.  (Did you remember the word?)  Silly me.  Only when we reached the point where the pavement ended and the road split into two roads which were both gravel, did I really wonder about my sanity.  The wider of the roads had two vehicles parked in front of it.  Some people were standing there talking. One was carrying a side arm.  The unblocked gravel/dirt road was quite narrow.  Now my husband calmly said, "Let me drive."  I was more than ready.  He had suggested that I drive at the beginning of the day, which is fine with me usually, but after my fiascos this day, it was his turn.  I must say he is the world's most patient husband, a lot more patient with me than I am with myself sometimes.

I am happy to report that we did make it safely home, and quickly looked at the maps to see where in the world we had travelled that day.  From now on we will be using a GPS Navigator (especially if I decide to drive on unfamiliar country roads in mountainous areas).




Cee's Odd Ball Photo Challenge: 2015 Week 32

For those who have some peculiar photos that you would like to share, you can link up at Cee's Odd Ball Photo Challenge:  2015 Week 32.

My entry is of a tennis ball lodge very firmly in place high up in the branches of a pine tree.  Our dog had to call for help if he was going to be able to bring this ball back to the person holding the wand!

The catcher

Six Sentence Story: Wind

This is a post for the blog hop Six Sentence Story:  Wind.  The challenge is to write a story using the prompt word (wind) and to use only six sentences to tell it.

This prompt inspired a memory and some thoughtful reflection.


How could it be that something so stable could be struck down?  It was a pillar of stability, even a directional point.  I had walked over the bridge shaded by its limbs, and peered into the deep pool of water near its feet.

Part of my past fell with it that day.  Pieces of my memory, as though shattered too from the lightning strike, and the little cotton tuffs dispelled through the air all around me as if each was a singular thought.  

The towering cottonwood, ever present, now lay on the ground with roots exposed to all, barring entrance to the bridge, succumbed by the power of the wind.

Beneath Your Feet Photo Challenge

This post will link up to the Daily Post Beneath Your Feet Photo Challenge.

Please Watch Your Step

Butterfly at the Wings of Wonder Butterfly Exhibit in Independence, Oregon a few years ago.  (The exhibit is no longer is in operation.)

Wednesday, August 12, 2015

Cee's Fun Foto Challenge: Cream to Light Brown

It is great fun to link up to Cee's Fun Foto Challenge:  Cream to Light Brown.  Going back through my photos to see what might work for these different color challenges brings back great memories.
Enjoy.
I loved how he slept with his paws over his hind feet.  Maybe he had cold feet.

White pampas grass

A very old building in the Frenchglen, Oregon area.

I  took this photo on a very cold morning.  The webs of spiders are amazing!

I've always been fascinated with the different kinds of fungi that grow on trees.

This assortment of driftwood on the Oregon beach caught my attention.

Photographed on the Oregon beach.

This coyote was within six feet of our car as we were driving slowly through the Ridgefield National Wildlife Reserve in Ridgefield Washington.