Taking a Trip...

Have you ever been inspired by a book or a magazine?  I have,,, on numerous occasions...

Magazines about  nature, gardening, organic lifestyles, crafts, keeping chickens, bee's, cooking are a constant source of inspiration.   One magazine in particular "Mary Jane's Farm," is one of my favorites because it rolls into one magazine so many of the subjects I care about.  Its the creation of Mary Jane Butters, whom I have the utmost respect for,  as she LIVES the things about which she writes, from her home/farm in the Palouse region of Idaho.

So when we were invited to attend a friends party in Coeur d'Alene Idaho, I suggested that we take a little detour on our way there, to stay over night in Moscow, Idaho and to take a look at the beautiful farming region knows as "The Palouse." Where Mary Jane lives and works...

Many beautiful barns and farmhouses nestle quietly into the landscape...

Miles and miles of rolling green hills, fields of chickpeas, wheat and many other crops grow...

In the charming resort town of Coeur d'Alene, we spotted  one of MaryJanes Farm Shops..

Of course I had to take a look, such fun..., she even makes camping glamourous (AKA "Glamping")

This trailer is so cute and can be pulled behind a car..., ah the possibilities.. a life on the open road... your house going with you wherever you choose... tempting... yes???


P.S  sorry for not writing sooner, I spent 8 days on this vacation mastering the art of doing NOTHING... In fact, I got so good at it, and was so incredibly relaxed and living in the moment, I didn't even blog!!! Hence my absence...


P.P.S  I'm back now and readying myself to move into our new home this coming Thursday.  I will blog when I have the time and energy.., please know I am thinking of you, and miss your comments and funny notes:) xox Neinah

Bowl of Cherries...

Cherries In A Bowl...

I love cherries, they are tart, but not so much they make you pucker, a little sweet but not so sugary you can only eat a few, a little crunchy but not too much.., and a bowl of these little gems is a joy to behold... 

Life is like a bowl of cherries so the song goes..., In my case, I  would have to agree and say that its true, life is mostly sweet, with a few unripe, sour fruits now and again, and a few pits along the way, but mostly... Life is beautiful. Life is good.

Moving was the "pits", and another move is coming in two weeks, yet,  I am thankful for the love and beauty I experience on a daily basis, including the amazing support I receive from you dear Friends and Family by your comments, emails and phone calls.  Doing this blog has enabled me to reach out and share..., something I've not been particularly good at till recently.  So thank you for listening, reading, watching, supporting.

With love,

Neinah

Cowgirl at heart...

Horse and Cowboy Sculpture on the road to "Sisters" Eastern Oregon

I spent the last morning of my trip to Bend on the road with my friend Gioia..., she wanted to take me down the road a ways to get up close and personal with the Three Sisters mountains and see more of the beautiful high desert countryside around Bend... Wow it is just gorgeous - beautiful meadows, clear bluest of blue sky, majestic mountains in ever direction, horses real (and otherwise) grazing in pastures at every turn...  What can I say?  It was so stunning, so spacious, the air clean and pure..., it got me thinking about what it would be like to live in this place, have a horse (I LOVED horses as a young girl and wanted my own so very much...,) as I near my 49th birthday I ask, am I too old to learn to ride and or have my own horse at this stage in my life, too old to have some land to call our own???

I am so very drawn to the desert, and western way of living, maybe I'm just a cowgirl at heart...?

I love the wildness of the desert, the way it smells, the way I feel in the vast open- ness of it all...

Whilst looking for a poem about wild horses, I came upon this one,, hope you like it.. I love it:)))

When I am Old...

I shall wear

turquoise And a 

straw cowboy hat

that doesn't match

and doesn't suit

me.  And I shall 

spend my social 

security on white 

wine and carrots

And sit in the 

alley way of my

barn  And listen to

my horses breathe.

I will sneak out in

the middle of a 

summer night  And

ride the dappled

mare  Across the

moonstruck

meadow,  If my 

old bones will

allow.  And when

people come to

call, I will smile

and nod, As I

walk them past the

gardens to the

barn  And show,

instead, the

flowers growing

there.  In stalls

fresh-lined with

straw I will learn

to shovel and

sweat and wear

hay in my hair as

if it were a jewel.

And I will be an 

embarrassment to

my only

child Who will 

have not yet found

the peace in being

free  To love a 

horse as a friend,

A friend who

waits at midnight

hour With muzzle

and nicker and

patient eyes For

the kind of person

I will be When I

am old.

Patty Barnhart

  

Pumpkins in June?

Velvet Pumpkins

Look at these little beauties..., I adore pumpkins at halloween, and usually cover our porch with them, all shapes and sizes, not to mention colors..  I love photographing them, drawing them, carving them, cooking with them....,so when I saw these little treasures today at a gorgeous Arts and Crafts Bungalow store in Bend, I went into fits of rapture, and was only able to speak in oooohhh's and ahhhh's ..  I just had to hold these plump velvety darlings...

....and squeeze them (ever so gently)...  They're made by a company in Oregon called "Hot Skwash" using the most gorgeous vintage shades of velvet I've ever seen... I wanted to take them all home with me, but realized that wouldn't be possible so I picked just one (ever so hard to do!) Here she is...

What do you think??? Isn't she just so squeezably cute?  Do you love pumpkins?  What is it about them that makes them just so darn appealing????

Time Out In The Desert...

Crooked River, Smith Rock, Eastern Oregon

A last minute idea finds me taking a break from moving, living in between homes, waiting for summer to make an appearance and all manner of nagging "stuff."  I'm here in Bend, Oregon to take a little time out and visit with my girlfriend Gioia and take in the breathtaking scenery.  

When I left, the sky in Seattle was Battleship Grey, low heavy clouds threatened to break loose a torrent at any moment.  Looking out of the taxi window on the way to the airport, I couldn't help but wonder where summer had gone to this year...  My question was answered upon landing at the small airport in Eastern Oregon... It had come here, and forgot to keep going north to Washington!  

Brilliant blue skies, not a cloud anywhere, 75 degrees, and gentle breeze... ahhhh...,,, SUMMER .... 

Have you noticed (in yourself and or others) how the sun changes disposition and body?

I have ached all over for weeks now, due to packing, lifting, sleeping in a different bed, within a couple of hours of being in the sun, all my aches and sore spots melted away in the gentle warmth of this high

desert place.

Taking a walk at Smith Rocks after lunch I was reminded of my love of the high desert of New Mexico and Arizona..., the delicious scent of white sage and pine, gentle breeze on my warm skin, big blue sky that goes forever, lizards heating themselves on ancient rocks and a stillness and quiet that truly feeds my soul.

Looking Northwest to Mount Hood

A lone rock climber scales a vertical rock face

Lizard warming himself on a rock (I know how he feels..)

Lost for words, well, almost, not quite...

Dishes on the dining table, the day before the move...

So, I took a few days to recoup from the intensity of moving.  The packing, boxing, figuring out what to keep, store or go to GoodWill... Lots of little decisions, turning in my mind, I was lost in a world of bubble wrap, and cardboard and once in it, I couldn't turn back.. though  half way through the long day of moving, I realized I'd had enough, and I wanted to turn back, undo everything and go back to everything be "normal" again...  What was I doing? I asked myself, I began to feel very ungrounded and just a tad whimpy!  So....,,,, what does any reasonably sane woman do when faced with the  possibility of becoming a quivering heap of jello at a most impossibly inappropriate time ???  She stops what she's doing and puts the kettle on to boil !!! (well at least this one does!)  I quickly brewed myself a stout cup of Earl Grey, noshed down a gluten free blueberry scone and glugged down the steaming brew in short order... and then....,,, hey presto... my feet were firmly planted back on the ground and I was back to get the job done... Tea has miraculous properties... When ever  there's a crisis back home in England,,, no matter how big or small,  members of my family will ALWAYS say... "I'll just put the kettle on,"and everyone can let out a sigh of relief because, well,,, things are always going to feel a little bit better after a cup of tea...

I was so thrilled the morning of the move to catch a glimpse ( and a few shots) of the dear family of Cedar Waxwings Bombycilla Cedrorum (remember I talked about them a few months ago?) Well, I heard their sweet little trilling through the kitchen window and grabbed my camera... here they are... (they really are beautiful birds, don't you think?)

Its good to be back..., 

                                   Love, 

                                            Neinah

Moving...

A sneak peak at our home to be...

Sorry for my recent absence, a combination of network down, packing and moving has left me with little time for writing.  Having said that, I miss the "finding love" daily, but am aware that even though I'm in the thick of things with the move, I still keep my eyes and heart open for possible future things to feature in the blog.

I'm pretty tired, but relieved that we've moved almost everything out of the house today...

Just one more day (tomorrow,) when I go back, get the last few boxes and clean up.. then we will await our move, (mid July) into our new house, complete with a lovely garden... 

Sorry this is short, sleep is needed...