Happy Thanksgiving Week!

 As we get ready to celebrate Thanksgiving on Thursday...

 Jason and Mary posted this birth announcement photo of themselves with Sarah on facebook!  We are so thankful that Sarah has safely arrived and has already been decked out with a crocheted hat that G'ma Bev lovingly crocheted with a pretty pink flower on it :)

 We are in the midst of our first big cold snap of the Fall, so I took a photo of the last blossoms on one of the hanging fuchsia plants and brought in most of the geranium plants from the window box to winter inside.

 When I looked at this photo on the computer I laughed when I saw my plastic snowman on the windowsill :)  Rosie had dunked him in my indoor fountain and Mary and I rescued him.  He had been hanging out in a bowl and then one day I perched him on the windowsill to supervise our activities.  Down to the right of the flower pot you can see the last of the sun gold cherry tomatoes I picked to ripen inside...the plant has since been thoroughly frost bitten.

 Last Friday was clear and bright and I got this photo after swimming with Teresa in the pool at the gym off of Burnside and Civic Drive at around 3:30PM.  It still amazes me to see Mt. Hood...from any angle!

 By the time I was almost home after shopping the light had changed so much when I stopped at the corner of Waybill and Orient Drive to take this photo.  You photographer bloggers continue to bring my attention to the difference that light makes in our photos...and I am thinking of your observations more frequently as I point and shoot :)

 Sunday morning at the corner of 212 and 232nd I stopped to get this view of Mt. Hood at about 11:00AM...in a different light setting.

 Then look what I saw as I drove by our pond!  Not only is the pond full of water, but we have some visiting wood ducks!

 As usual they hear me and my zoom lens and swim away leaving me with some interesting views of their tail feathers.

 Last year I started knitting this pumpkin with Taci and I finished knitting it the other day, but still have not felted it.  It will be the first project that I have intentionally felted and I will post the results...eventually. Taci has started a new project for her Etsy shop.  She is selling kits for, and finished, kitchen towels to seasonally decorate our kitchens.  I have bought a kit...I love her designs.

So the pumpkin I have yet to felt is nestled in a basket with the pumpkins and squash I crocheted a few years ago...

and I am nestled with my family and full of thanks as I look at Molly holding her baby doll and Hayley holding her new little sister, Sarah, and my oldest daughter in her Mama Bear T-shirt supervising and Joy taking it all in.  They are protected in the shadows in this photo as they learn more about loving each other.  I loved seeing them and the light coming through our ironed leaves hanging in the window. Sweet and precious times.... I'm wishing you sweet and precious times. Will you tell me some of your stories of happy thanksgiving?

xx
Gracie

Wild Life!

These gorgeous lilacs are from Teresa and Dayle's wonderful *wild* farm near the Columbia River, in Corbett, Oregon.
The lilac's heavenly scent has been lovely ~ ~ ~

Teresa kindly gave lilacs to Taci and me when we got together for lunch on Friday, then my youngest daughter, Elisabeth bought some more terrific tulips at the grocery store...maybe our last for the season, and we are treasuring them.

On Monday, I think, my youngest son, Tim reported there were ducks out on the front pond so I grabbed my camera and tried to quietly step outside to take some photos.  Before I could raise my camera I saw a coyote dash across the road at the edge of our driveway and head off into the tall brambles around the front pond!  But using my zoom lens I got some photos of four Mr. Mallards.  The Mrs. Mallards are sitting on eggs in their nests, we hope.

Also by using my camera zoom lens I was able to get some photos of the wood ducks, but they are very shy and swam to the other side of the pond as soon as they sensed my quiet-to-me-but-not- to-them presence.

Teresa keeps telling me how lucky we are to have wood ducks visit us and I do feel blessed to be able to get glimpses of them with their amazing, uniquely patterned plumage.

I think this is Mrs. Wood Duck, but my son, Tim, thinks it is Baby Wood Duck.  At any rate, I decided to walk closer to the pond to try to get better views  and look what I saw three feet away from me on the right side of the path...

real wild life that I have a hard time admiring!

But I was soon pleasantly distracted from the snake by a brilliant blue Steller's Jay who was flitting around the back pond.  I had been typing to Jennifer about our Steller's Jays and I managed to get a bit of a photo of one before he flew off.

and I enjoyed seeing a Robin hopping around as well.

Then on Tuesday afternoon, following a lot of April showers most of us in our household dashed out to try to get photos of a rainbow that was double at times...but this was the not-so-clear-but clearest photo I got.

In the midst of all this *wild life* I  knitted a calming aqua dishcloth and started another beige one....a practical peaceful pattern I have knit again and again and again and somehow never find boring :)

Do you have a practical, peaceful, go to pattern in your wild life?


xx
Gracie

Around Oregon

My lifelong friend and his youngest son drove from the Midwest to explore the Wild West, including Mt. Hood near Portland, OR.  The views of the area from near the top of Mt. Hood, WOWed us :)

Crater Lake is a nearly 4000 foot deep lake formed when Mt. Mazama erupted and the volcano collapsed in on itself.  There are no streams that feed it, just 50 feet of snow a year!  It is among the purest lakes in the world and on a good day observers have been able to see to the depth of 140 feet!

In order to see the lake we had to walk ? up a small ? snowbank that was not hard packed after 20 inches of snow fell two days before we arrived.  I stepped out of my right shoe twice, and was grateful for the steadying hands of my friend and his son!!

Mt. St. Helens observation park is near where we went to St. Nicholas Eastern Orthodox Church Sunday.  We thought we might get a closer view of Mt. St. Helens, but it was shrouded in clouds so we had to settle for watching a film about the eruption.  I lived on the East Coast of the USA when the mountain erupted years ago, and was amazed that the ash traveled thousands of miles and effected us in NY state, too!

I've dashed in and out of Chariteas for tea several times in the last three weeks, and also enjoyed her flowers...

lavender and iris,

more lavender and new growth on some pines,

and rhododendrons !

One of the many gorgeous nurseries near our home...

My two oldest granddaughters in balance :)

This llama lives near our home.

I enjoy seeing the alpaca on nearby farms.  Have you heard alpaca hum?

The wood ducks are so beautiful, and somewhere nearby are about 8 little ducklings hiding...they may belong to Mr. and Mrs. Mallard.

Still trying to get an unobstructed closeup view of the wood ducks on the front pond :)

I made four more knit bunnies for the little girls.

Daisies Molly gathered for me at the park.
For those of you who celebrate it, Happy Mother's Day Sunday!  I hope your weekend is a joyous one!


Gracie xx