Christmas Cheer

 I recently went on a fun Christmas shopping trip with some girlfriends to two nurseries and a farmhouse shop. 

Bauman's Farm Store has acres of nursery plants and produce. This time of year there's live Christmas trees, poinsettias and other hardy winter plants. The gift shop inside is loaded with Christmas decorations and gifts.

Glen gave me some Bauman's sparkling peach cider for my birthday. It was yummy! 

We had lattes and warm, freshly-made cider doughnuts while looking at all the Christmas baubles and gift packs.

Next stop was Al's nursery in Woodburn. The greenhouses of poinsettias were amazing! 

The last stop was Garden Gallery Iron Works in Hubbard for farmhouse inspired gifts and decorations.

It gave me the push to get my decorations up as soon as I got home.

Our dining room

Kitchen Window

Sunroom Tree

Candy and Cookie Buffet

And now, with  the Christmas Cookies baked, the house lit by hundreds of twinkling white lights and the fire glowing, we wait for the snow to arrive late tomorrow (so they are forecasting!)

I hope you are enjoying some festive days this season. 

Green Friday

 In Oregon, "Black Friday" is "Green Friday." All state parks, fishing, clamming and crabbing is free the day after Thanksgiving, hoping to get people out into the beautiful Oregon countryside and forest instead of shopping malls.

We headed to Champoeg State Park which is 10 miles from our home. It was a gorgeous, fresh fall day after rain all night. It felt great to hike the trails with Cotton, our yellow lab, and work off a little of the Thanksgiving feast.

Old growth firs, Oregon oaks and a wild prairie cover the 678 acre park.

Some of the trails follow the Willamette River and there's a dock for easy canoe and kayak access.

Champoeg is a ghost town that was an important settlement in the early 1840's. It is the site of the first provisional government of the Oregon Country.

The park includes Butteville General Store, which was founded by a French Canadian that helped form the government in 1843. 

The store sells various Italian sodas and other drinks and rents bikes. In the summer, there's a pioneer garden and pioneer re-enactments. Bluebirds arrive in the spring to take up residence in the many bluebird houses set along fence posts.

Thank you, Oregon, for turning the day after Thanksgiving into something so fun . . .and all free!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Yay! It's Thanksgiving! 

My favorite holiday! I love the non-commercial aspect of gathering friends and family over a big meal to give thanks. But, not only the gathering makes this time special; it's the beautiful season, too.

Evergreens and wisps of smoke from the fireplace scent the crisp air as we walk along paths in our woodland covered in autumn leaves. 

Without notice, the mind and body relaxes as birds sing sweetly about the beauty of this day. 

Our northwest coastal Oregon is receiving plentiful rain, with just enough days of sunshine mixed in to get outside to do a little garden cleanup.

As I finish some artwork to prepare for a nice, long holiday with family and friends, my heart grows larger re-counting the blessings God has so lovingly given. Many may not see little (or even big) blessings as they hustle to prepare the dinner in order to then scurry from store to store to find that special buy. 

But, I will savor this peaceful thanksgiving with pumpkins and dahlias on windowsills, a roaring fire, the table overflowing with the garden's bounty and not a piece of Christmas in site until the end of Thanksgiving weekend. 

Oregon Coast Trip

 We're fortunate to live a little over an hour from the north Oregon coast; one of the most beautiful places in the world according to National Geographic. Sometimes after work we'll head to our favorite restaurant on the beach for a delicious seafood dinner and be back home in plenty of time to enjoy dessert. 

Let's head to the beach!

Going thru the large Doug Fir forest 
to the beach

Our favorite seafood restaurant.

Sunset on the beach

Oregon beaches are pristine.

Oregon beaches cannot be privately owned. If anyone builds near the beach, they must provide public access. After living a couple of decades in California, it is nice to now have free, clean, non-commercial beaches to enjoy. 

Our beaches give a lot of happy inspiration
for many of my paintings.

Let There be Color

Glorious! God has given us such a pretty gift of color. We had the perfect mixture of rain, sun and chilly nights here in the Pacific Northwest to make for a perfect autumn.

The maples and oaks are in full color at the moment. Walking on our paths around this little farmstead feels like walking through a rosy camera filter.

The pumpkins have been harvested. Some are set aside to "harden off" before placing in the garden house for storage over the winter, others tucked in and around the house. 

 

 

Time to Paint

 The first fire of the season is crackling in the fireplace, stew is in the cooker and the music is on! Fall is such a fun time to paint.

Sometimes I'm lucky enough to get to paint the season we're actually in. Most the time, though, I am painting for products 6 months out of season; yes, I am painting spring and summer in the fall and winter. This week, I'm painting summer garden scenes.

I hope that all of you are enjoying a cozy autumn day, too.

A Good Year for the Garden

We have two large vegetable gardens. 

South garden mid-summer. 

The south garden is about 2,000 sf with 5 large raised beds. It's planted with summer vegetables; corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, summer squash, artichokes, garlic and onions. I plant cutting flowers around the garden and tuck a few between vegetables. Sometimes it's hard to find the vegetables from the flowers toward the end of garden season.

Sunflower soldiers surround the south garden.

Spring planting in the north garden

North garden mid-summer

The north garden is fenced, about 5,000 sf, and planted with winter "keepers;" potatoes, winter squash and pumpkins.

August, September and October are
super busy with preserving the harvest.

Tomato and Onion
Everything seems to grow twice the normal size around here!

All of our vegetables are organic heirlooms. With exception of the corn, I collect the seeds each year around this time, then start propagating them around the first of February in my small greenhouse.

Vegetable starts

I never tire of watching a tiny seed perform its miracle from February to harvest. Some, such as the San Marzano tomato seeds from Italy that we bought on my husband's 60th birthday, have fun memories that make me smile with each seed that I plant and each tomato I pick. 

Our little farmstead is an inspiration for some of my paintings, and each year the vegetable gardens spur new ideas; whether the cute rabbit gnawing on some of the plants before I shoo him away (and spray rabbit deterrent,) the flocks of chickadees enjoying the sunflower seeds or the pretty bean blossoms on the plants climbing the fence.