A Quiet Respite

Not everything in this room is black and white, but these are the colors I tend toward for a soothing, restful place to sleep.

Like the embroidered vintage pillowcases (from my dear Mama again). And black and white pictures of our babies in place of a headboard.

Curtains instead of doors on the closets (were supposed to be "temporary", but have been up for a few years) a~buzz with regal honeybees.

A little place for writing notes. My sister painted the beautiful rhododendron bloom on the wall above the desk.

I kept the wonderful bouquets of wheat from our wedding, behind a picture of us as bride and groom.

Sweet maidenhair fern.

Isn't this a lovely stained glass? Grapes and vineyards just thrill me!

My Laundry Room

Those of you who know what's going on will understand why I'm hurrying to finish my "virtual tour" of the Greenhouse.

My laundry room is always bright from the sun shining through the south~facing glass door.


A roomy storage cabinet built by Grandpa Tucker and Great Uncle Tom. (They actually put in the wall too, since it was just a few flimsy closet doors hiding the stairwell when we moved in. Now there's a nice door to the basement ~ novel idea, right?

A sweet little clothespin bag, sewn and embroidered by my Mama.

And an old window frame from Gram's house that Mom painted and embellished with dried flowers from her garden. I thought it looked happy next to the little switch plate I found.

Bird houses above the sink.

Lavender

...in my shoppe.

Blueberry Fields

This trip to the Bellevue Blueberry Farm was a couple months ago, but I thought I'd share the pictures anyway since it was such a nice walk.

The Farm is near the Mercer Slough (there's another at Larsen Lake) and was established in the '40s. Both farms sell blueberries (you can pick them yourself, too) as well as veggies and cut flowers. A delightful way to preserve the local gardening heritage.

Some vegetable beds at the head of the trail.


Rows of lovely blueberry bushes.



A view of the pond between the plants.

I just love lily pads. They bring the story of the Frog Prince to my mind.

Maybe I can peer through the shadowed waters and see the golden ball that the spoiled Princess unhappily lost.

This bright bloom could have been an inspiration to the writer of the fairytale. Looks like a golden ball to me.

The historic Winters House.

The porch swing was a big hit!

If you're in the area and would like to visit or pick some berries, you'd better hurry! Blueberry season is usually over in September!

The Greenhouse

...is actually white.

Fruit~Full

I was photographing my latest store addition ~ a black cherry frock, in the fruit tree ~ when I looked up to find a sweet surprise...


...a blessing of juicy, succulent plums.

I know, it's not a cherry tree; but it was as close as I could get.

Sunflower Sun Hat

I finished another goody to put in my shoppe. And Raegan makes her debut as a model.

A New Endeavor

Or at least the beginnings of one. I've been working on a few new things around here ~ working hard! May I show you one of my new projects?

I've been pondering an Etsy store for so long, and I have finally figured out the basics (computer illiterate here). If you'd like to take a peek, click here.

First Love

It's high time I made good on a promise (from months ago!) to show you my heirloom silver from Grandma Dottie.

Isn't this the sweetest pattern?! So elegant, yet unpretentious.

And the name...simply romantic...

By 1847 Rogers Bros. I've been doing some research on silver and it appears that this isn't sterling, but inlaid silver (indicated by the IS) which is silver over another stronger metal. Not as valuable, but then ~ I treasure mine for the fact that it's from family. I am also under the impression that this particular set was manufactured (or at least first introduced) in 1937.

I found some other small forks of a different pattern called Parkway in the silver chest. They are just darling, too, I think.


What have we here!? The poor, unsuspecting soul who is served soup with this utensil will be quite disgusted...till they realize he's only plastic. =)

If you are interested in learning more, visit these links:

Martha Stewart's Language of Silver Marks

First Love

Today's Harvest

One little green egg and a handful of carrots. These are the simple things that just thrill me! This is life!

"I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." John 10:10b

Tip from Gram: keep your homegrown carrots in a glass of water in the fridge (and oh, if you have clear, sweet Skok Valley well water ~ all the better!).

Winners of the Soap Giveaway!

Thank you all, dear friends for entering my first giveaway! I've had so much fun hearing from each of you; and meeting new friends, too! I hope you've enjoyed the contest as much as I have!

It's been two long weeks; are you ready to see the winners?

Shall we plunge into this bowl of "bubbles"?

Oh, goodness! Someone has heard about the soap giveaway and asked if he might help! He LOVES sudsing up!

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"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully. He shall receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation." Psalm 24:3~5

~*~*~*
"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Make me to hear joy and gladness; that the bones which thou hast broken may rejoice. Hide thy face from my sins, and blot out all mine iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me." Psalm 51: 7~10

~*~*~*
"Now ye are clean through the word which I have spoken unto you." John 15:3

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Patience is a virtue... =)

OK, the first winner is...

Tobitha!

And the second winner...

Roo and Wren's Mama!

And lastly, but not least...

Ivory Spring!

Thank you again, dear ones! Winners, please leave me a comment or e-mail to let me know where to send your little parcels. And enjoy a long, soothing soak!

Trail to the Mercer Slough

These are pictures from two trips that we made to the slough. It just amazes me that there are wonderful woodland "playgrounds" hidden away in the midst of the bustling city! It's so quiet and secluded here, you would never know that skyscrapers are just behind those trees.

The sun reflected in the still water. We caught glimpses through the leaves of kayakers as they mysteriously appeared, gliding by almost silently.


A fellow trekker, finding tasty shoots to nibble. He was surprisingly un-shy! Until our tiniest girl attempted to snuggle him.

The sweet local flora, including some gleaming salmon~berries.

Such quiet glades, I expect to see deer.

The lofty over~look from the visitors center. We'll come back to this at the end for a bird's~eye view.

The pathways encourage us to see what's around the bend.

At the end of the loop, we get to see walk out onto the viewing platform to see how the place looks from above.

It's really high!