Oh, This "Winter" Weather!

Greetings from the sunny state of.....Oregon???? In February???  While we hear of the terrible snows they are having in the East, we, here in NW Oregon, and SW Washington, are having some beautiful weather.  A few weeks ago, days of torential downpours, probably like a lot of non-Oregonians think is always the case (but it isn't THAT extreme). Potential flood watches, etc.  So, I guess we can figure, we got our rain all at once, and now? An early spring? Well, we can hope!  I have managed to till my garden, which NEVER happens this early!  We've been having some beautiful sunsets to end our days, too.  This photo is looking to the west, towards Astoria, down the Columbia,  and the Pacific Ocean, not far from us.
It was a very busy winter for me, baking, doing bazaars, and a vintage sale (that I forgot to mention earlier). By the time Christmas came, I was quite ready for a break from baking Cardamom Bread!
I'm looking forward to spring, to gardening, being outdoors all day, to enjoying family times around the outdoor fire, and to GARAGE SALE season!  It's starting up, and as every vintage addict knows, it's a race to find that awesome item.
I know I've mentioned I love gardening, and if I can't be outside, I'm often reading and searching for ways to make my garden better, easier, more productive.  I have been You-Tubing worm beds! I've never had a worm bed, although I can remember my dad having a night crawler bed (for fishing) when I was young.  Well, yesterday, with one of my boy's help, I got a worm bed built out of totes!  I'm anxious to get the worms, their house is all ready, and I'm so excited to give this a try.  Sometimes Youtube can be addictive, and make everything look so easy, when it isn't.  But it's always fun to learn!
What else have we been doing?  We have been celebrating births of our two newest grandchildren, and we got one of each!!!  How cool is that!
We've had our share of heartaches, and friends who we've struggled along with, with their own hard-life situations, but I don't think any of us would give up a day of our lives, the hard days or the easy days.  The Lord has been faithful in it all!

Autumn Rest from Summer Work

After a beautiful long, sunny summer, we are heading into a beautiful autumn here in Oregon! I think I enjoyed the outdoors, the garden, and the projects we were working on, more than any other time. I've always liked having a garden, but THIS year I took better care of it, even put a chair and some flowers out there! Must be getting old :-)
What I have to look forward to each fall, is a huge maple tree dropping leaves all over my lawn, raking many times, then starting all over again. It brings back memories of other years I've done this, but having huge piles and letting the kids jump in them. The good thing about this many leaves, my garden loves them!
So now that it's turning cooler at night, it's getting to be that time to sit around an outdoor fire, sit on the tree swing, and just be blessed of all that's gotten done, plan what else I'd like to get done, and relax a little. Happy Fall!
My little Etsy shop has not had the attention it usually gets, so now is the time to spend listing more treasures I've found, and also getting ready to bake Finnish bread fir bazaars! Can't believe my first bazaar is actually the day after Halloween! Crazy how it flies by!

And before I close, thought I'd show this little clip of an adventure I took with my niece and my sis, to New Orleans. I never thought I'd get that close to an aligator :-)  Her video went viral this summer!


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