Tag Archives: PNW Treasures

Moving along

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So this happened yesterday:

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That’s my dad’s truck. Hooked to my in-law’s trailer. Gettin’ ready to haul it back to Nevada for us.

It’s one less thing we’ll have to worry about on the day of the Big Move.

In THREE WEEKS!!!

Ohmygosh! Three weeks from today we’re moving back to Nevada!

I’m not excited or anything. 😉

In the meantime, I’m finishing little projects here and there. The house is pretty much empty, so there’s really not much left to pack. But, we still had a large freezer full of food that we don’t want to cart back to NV with us.

Like blackberries from two summers ago!

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So I made Blackberry Syrup. I think I’ll write a post on that. I only took the one picture above during the process, but it’s a simple enough process that it doesn’t require a lot of explaination.

Other than those little projects like cleaning out the freezer, we’re just soaking in the green beauty around us and biding our time.

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A cool thing happend last week when my man and I went out for date night. We went to a movie theater we’d never been to before and had about a 30 minute wait. So we walked around to this beautiful lake that was right next to the shopping center where the theater was.

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And got to watch a couple Bald Eagles flying around!

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Right there in the middle of town. It was such a cool experience!

So, to re-cap: the trailer is on it’s way to Nevada, the house is nearly empty, and we are eagerly awaiting our move out date in just three weeks.

Yeah.

Not excited at all. 😉

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth.” Psalm 121

Daily Life #8 – Wetlands Field Trip

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My first guest post! The report below is written by Princess Girl, age 10, about our field trip to a wetlands park (photos are mine). It’s really tempting for me to edit her post for grammatical and spelling errors, but I will resist! It’s more entertaining the way it is anyway. 🙂

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February 2nd is world wetlands day . Me and all the family went except daddy. So we went to “Smith and Bybee wetlands” .

The Author

Ready to explore

We went there so we get a good walk and explore the area and have a picnic in the sun.

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Lunch time

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Picnic in the sun

So I saw some cool animals they are ,Bufflehead  ducks ,mallard ducks ,coots ,nutria , chickadee, humming bird, spotted towhee or robin,Hawk, but the best of all a juvenile Bald eagle!

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Watching the coots and bufflehead ducks out on the water

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A nutria (kinda like a beaver)  and coots (a type of duck) seen through the binoculars

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Inspecting (and photographing) an old beaver log

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Woodpecker holes in a dead tree

my favorite was the juvenile Bald eagle , it was so cool my first time knowing that it was a bald eagle [I was seeing]!

So on the way back flower girl fell asleep exhausted from our adventure in the wetlands, I tried to go to sleep but I could not and got motion sick, it was not fun .

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So that was it for this adventure I’m sure the next one will be fun too!

THE END

Meet the Author:

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Princess Girl is 10 year old and lives with her parents, grandparents, and little sister in the Pacific Northwest. She loves horses, watching youtube, playing with her firends , and gymnastics. As well as anything to do with My Little Pony. She has been homeschooled her whole life and likes learning but hates having to write. Though she did enjoy writing this, her first article for publication.

 

 

 

 

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And a few more pictures that I wanted to include by didn’t have much to do with the Girl’s report:

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First signs of spring

Daffodils about to bloom!!! I have seen several plants peaking their heads up here and there, but nothing this far along. February 2nd and blooming flowers! I think it would take me a couple more years living here to get used to how early Spring comes in this part of the world.

 

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“Take time to listen to the chorus of nature; it is the music of life itself.”

I find it ironic that this quote is at the entrance of a park which is right on a very busy trucking route. The sounds of traffic never faded completely, even though we walked 3/4 of a mile to the end of the trail. But I do like the quote. And maybe when we go back again this spring/summer as Princess Girl begged to do, the animals will be more plentiful and loud enough to provide that chorus.

On my walk

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Look what I found on my walk today. “Wild” onions! At the same park I went to earlier in the week. The family and I went on a walk. In the pouring rain. And came home with a whole handful of onions. And there’s more, many, many more, to be had. I’m making quiche tonight with green onions in it. Yum!  And later this week, I’m going back to pick more and preserve them by cutting and freezing them. I’m excited. Can you tell?

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This is perfect because the onions are already there, growing great, and all I have to do is harvest them before they die off or get mowed down. And if you’re worried about me picking someone’s onions, don’t be. This part of the park is all but abandoned. The city comes in once or twice a year and mows it. And the onions are so thick, it looks like grass. I could pick as much as I wanted to, and you’d never be able to tell I had been there. In fact, I would never have guessed the “grass” was actually onions except that with the girls running around today, they were stepping on them and we could smell them and investigated. When I was there earlier in the week, I stayed on the trail. I guess there are times when getting off the trail is a good thing. 🙂

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.” Ps 121:1-2

Spring!

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It’s officially Spring, and here in the Pacific Northwest it’s absolutely beautiful! On my re-entry walk the other day I took the time to stop and smell the roses. Well, the roses aren’t blooming yet, but I did stop to smell all the different flowers. And take lots (lots) of pictures. I’m not a good photographer and I don’t have a great camera, but I wanted to share with you all the beauty which helped me again focus on the good around me, rather than the annoying parts.

I don’t know many of the flowers, but it’s a good thing that you don’t need to know the names to enjoy the beauty.

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20150319_182658Candy Tuft

20150319_183120Almost looks like snow on the ground!

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20150319_183639This flower looks exquisite, even though is only has a faintly sweet smell.

20150319_184027I’ve never seen so many different varieties of daffodils.

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20150319_184617A pretty little watershed in the neighborhood. Unlike some other places, this one has no signs telling you to stay out..

20150319_184727Strangely, these flowers smelled heavenly, though they don’t seem like they would.

20150319_184823Of course hyacinth have a wonderful smell, too, in moderation. Sometimes they can be overpowering.

20150319_184956The tulips are finally starting to blossom.

20150319_185113The tulip trees are ending their bloom, though, But I finally got some pictures.

20150319_185159Gorgeous purple blossoms. I think they are a magnolia.

20150319_185555More tulips.

20150319_185631Maybe a maple tree?

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20150319_185928Love the mosses and lichens here in the PNW!

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20150319_191158I actually love dandelions. Maybe it’s because I know they are edible. Maybe it’s because my girls still give me bouquets of them. Maybe it’s because they are so resilient. Either way, they always make me smile.

20150319_191235Not sure what this tree will end up producing, but it’s in a secluded area of a public park. I know somewhere in there are some fruit trees. Maybe this is one – maybe cherry?

20150319_191333Seclusion in the city.

20150319_193006It’s not very big, but it’s enough to “get away” for a little bit. I want to take the rest of the family there for a picnic on our next warm, sunny day.

20150319_193547Just love these purple blooms!

20150321_180500Our cherry tree is starting to blossom as well.

20150321_180535 The neighbor’s tree. Beautiful.

I hope if you are in a part of the country that is still bogged down in winter, these pictures will remind you that Spring is on it’s way!

Re-entry

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I’ve been out of the world for a while lately. Well, my world at any rate. I headed back to Nevada for a long weekend working with my employers (who also happen to be good friends) and got to see some snow for the first time this winter.

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I did not get to visit the homestead, but will be able to in a couple weeks when we head back for a conference we are attending.

I returned to Oregon for one day and then headed out to a camp to be trained on their ropes challenge course.

20150311_121619Yep, that’s me, climbing to the top of that “Pamper Pole” only to then leap off for no good reason. 🙂

20150312_095408All the new facilitators learning about the climbing wall.

20150312_115849Even Princess Girl got to play around a bit 🙂

Both in Nevada and out at camp was a great time away from regular life for a while and spending quite a bit of time away from the hustle and bustle of the city.

I got back to the Norm this last weekend but I’ve been out of sorts ever since. Today it just about overwhelmed me. I had to get away. So, I went for a walk. A long one. Nearly two hours long. All by myself. I wandered the neighborhood, soaking up the warm spring air, enjoying all the beautiful blossoming trees. I ended up at a secluded park at which I spent quite a bit of time. The time focusing on God’s natural world was a balm to my soul.

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There are not many things I like about living in a big city. But since I have to for the time being, I’m glad I live in a place that has beautiful places which I can visit. And next time, I’ll be sure to get out and ease my re-entry back to city life as soon as possible so I don’t go so stir crazy again.

Can’t wait till we’re back on the homestead for good!

Beauty in the Interlude

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If you’ve been watching the tags on my posts (and I think I’ve mentioned it once or twice,) you’ll see that I’ve christened this time we are living here in Oregon as our Portland Interlude. It’s one way to come to grips with our time here and reminds me that this is temporary and eventually we’ll be back home on the homestead. And it gives me permission to enjoy the beauty around me, something I felt almost guilty about in the beginning. By recognizing that it’s only a break in our plans, just an intermission, or a commercial break, or whatever, helps me learn to let myself enjoy living here while still 100% eager to leave.

So, on today’s walk, Princess Girl and I saw some beautiful and interesting things.

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Beautiful early flowers in my favorite color!

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Stopping to smell the flowers.

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The small wooded park which I wrote about the other day.

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A cool little sidewalk lending library! Now I know exactly where I need to take my books when I’m done reading them!

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I hear that Dutch Bros coffee has made it all the way down into a town in Nevada where some of our relatives live. We also had a new one appear just around the corner here in Oregon. I am not particularly fond of their mochas (which are my guilty pleasure – every once in a while), but I enjoyed this bumper sticker. 🙂

And there you have it, just another beautiful walk in a beautiful suburb. I always said that if I just HAD to live in a big city, I’d choose the Portland area. And here we are. Just hopefully not for too long, Lord!

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.” Ps 121:1-2

On my walk today…

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I’ve been trying to get out and go for walks every day. So far, so good. But it’s only been 4 days :-). Some days, like today, I can go about 2 miles in 40 minutes. Other times I take the girls with me and it’s sigificantly slower than that. In fact, yesterday’s walk was less than half the mileage in a longer amount of time because we were picking up trash in the neighborhood for a service project. (Ah, the joys of living in town.)

My plan when we lived on the homestead was to get out and go for hikes every day. No reason I can’t at least walk around the block here, other than the fact the view is less than inspiring. However, Hubby has been taking afternoon walks every day after work for about a month now and his persistence has inspired me to start doing the same. And what I’ve discovered is that our neighborhood has some fun little surprises. Like the wooded area with trails intersecting all the through it like a spider web. Sure, the sounds of the city were still there, but my feet were on a dirt trail and the birds sang over head. It felt somewhat secluded and peaceful.

And then there are countless pathways like this…

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…just waiting to be explored.

Or there’s the blueberry farm literally just down the street (coincidentally owned by the same people who own a u-pick oyster farm we discovered near Tillamook, OR around Christmas).

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Or, you see into the back yard of some house as you pass by and become instantly jealous.

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Look at all those raised beds! I counted at least 10, and in the far back corner is another raised bed with a small grape vine on it. Oh, if only we had that much land here! But then, if we did, maybe we wouldn’t be as anxious to get home to Nevada as we are.

At any rate, I plan to take pictures of interesting things as I find them to remind myself that there ARE cool things about living here.

Maridy

“I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the maker of heaven and earth.” Ps 121:1-2