What was I up to on Sunday?

On Sunday my friend Jen and I decided to make an early start to our day and hit the European Flea Market to benefit the Oregon Spay/Neuter Fund and the Animal Rescue & Care Fund.



Human Blood! This box was fantastic - I mean, wha a great Halloween prop, right?? But priced at $25.00 we were not buying.


I fell in love with a glass bottle collection and envy people who decorate with things from another time. I always enjoyed the cluttered collection look even though I myself am far too OCD to handle that look in my own home.


I also have a special place in my heart for minatures. I always envied friends with doll houses and wished I made one when I was a young girl and had the space and free time for such a venture.


"BOO Tie"!


Jen had a lot of fun in the costuming section with the masks.


I never knew they made porcelain teeth holders, let alone this many types of them! Disturbing...especially buying one that is "used"....ummm ewww...


This was one of my purchases that now lies under my Eucalyptus...a sweet carved stone kitty.


Here is The Chevy store which is where the flea market was - well, the flea market was actually in its parking lot. But I could not resist a photo opportunity with the Camaro RS and vintage cooler collection.


Next on our Sunday afternoon plans was the Out of the Darkness Walk to benefit the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in downtown Portland starting at the Marriott Hotel.



The crowd walking down the waterfront.


Jen's shadow with her Iphone and parasol.


"Make Love"



The crowd walks over the steel bridge to the new section of waterfront.











Ducks!







Hawthorne Bridge


Some folks let their balloons go at the finish line which are to the direct right of the light pole.

October Garden Update

And the leaves are now falling and changing color...but our backyard is still going strong with its roses and borage. I have been busy trying to harvest my herbs and flowers before they are all gone. This time of the year is always intense for that reason. I dry my herbs and give them out as gifts each year for Yule so harvesting everything is very important to me.


The baby chicks are doing great. Here is Edwina, the Rhode Island Red...


And here is Delilah the Dark Brauma. We have been letting them out in the yard lately to graze with Catalina and Bernadette which they thoroughly enjoy. hey are also HUGE tomato fans. So far I think that is their favorite thing.


I was able to get some daffodil and tulip bulbs planted. My bulber was my moms as are several of my most used gardening tools conecting her further to my yard and giving me constant and welcome reminders of me an her gardening together when I was a child. I was excited finding some pretty pink daffodils and the black tulips will make me so happy - here is to hoping the squirrels leave my bulbs alone this year. I have noticed they tend to not mess with things as much since I inherited a squirrel feeder from a friend. I also inherited a large bag of peanuts from another friend so I plan to keep that feeder well stocked!

September Garden Update

It seems almost tragic that the garden is renewing itself with the relief from the extreme heat. We are holding steady at warmer temperatures that really are perfect for plants and with warm rain here and there, everything has been pretty happy thatis not a vegetable, that is. I gave up on harvesting much of anything this year. I did get a pretty good crop of cherry tomatoes this year. Nothing like last year, of course, but I did much better than I expected.

There is one tomato plant which we call the Charlie Brown tomato since it may have three leaves but like the little engine that could it still tries and succeeds in giving us cherry tomatoes. They may be tiny but they are full of flavor!


Our one year wedding anniversary was on September 5th and Patrick's mom sent us money with instructions to get something for the yard with it. We instead chose two things. The first was this gorgeous wrought iron Fleur de Lis to hold up our growing eucalyptis tree and make it feel a bit more regal since it outgrew its previous supports. This stake can probably support the tree for a long time to come.




The second item we chose was a stunning red hibiscus. We have a light purple one already which I planted last year and could not be more pleased with the size and stunning quality in the garden. Here is the new addition being inspected by Bernadette.




Taking a long photo of the newer garden area and you see the new bench addition. My friend Sean has decided to move from a house into an apartment to free him for more world travel in his later years so he offered me this beautiful wood and wrought iron bench which has a gorgeous Iris theme. Eventually I plan to make a stone landing for in front of the bench with some statuaries or such on either side of it. For now I am enjoying how inviting the bench is beconing people to come sit in the garden.


A known treasure... When I was 19 my mother went through this angel and cherub phase where she was buying angel and cherub everything. She bought me this beautiful garden cherub to which I told her I did not have a garden (I was a 19 year old college student who was barely living in an apartment). She told me that I would someday. Oh, if my mother only knew what a gardening monster she created with me! She passed away a year and a half before we bought the house so she has not seen my four years of growth as a person and as a gardener. When we first moved into the house I just set this cherub on a shelf sort of forgetting about it when one day it was nearly glaring at me and I realized my garden cherub has a garden! I add things to my yard all the time with thoughts of my mother but this addition was extra special I think since it was a gift she gave me 15 years ago just knowing that I would grow to have this beautiful outdoor space. Thanks mom, I know part of you is here.




Autumn is coming up fast and the heat of the summer killed off my sweet peas in my front hanging baskets so I replaced them with some stunning pansies and violas which should last well into winter really! With any luck they might even bounce back and reseed themselves for next summer too!


My small sitting area by our shade garden. I cannot thank my friend Heidi enough for the gift of this cute little squirrel feeder. I love how my friends contribute to my yard in so many ways so I have all these beautiful feeders, bells, statues and plants which remind me of those who have gifted them to me.


We had a light we returned at Lowes so Patrick just traded it and used the credit to get me more flagstones and river rock. With it I was able to finish one whole side of the path! Now I just have two more sides to go around the built in boxes completely and also the stone landing for the new park bench in the garden. It really does astound me what a difference these stones make.


The baby chicks are doing great with their adopted mommy Catalina. Both Edwina and Delilah are getting rid of a lot of their down and working up to those thicker feathers for the winter. Catalina continues to grow as a mom and you would never know the chicks are not her by the way she treats them and by the way they follow her around.