Earlier this week, after morning meetings, I met up with my sister-in-law, my niece and two grandnieces to make strawberry jam and pretty much chat and giggle the time away. Well, I say “making” like I was in the thick of things sweating over a hot stove stirring sugar-laden bubbling strawberries; when in reality, I was merely lending support, standing on the sidelines sipping a refreshing herbal iced tea! I think not doing all the work might be one of the benefits of growing older and having granny status. It's time to step back and let the kids do the cooking while the elders stand back and give sage advice on both the making of jam and the living of life, right? Although, to be fair, my sister-in-law was making pie crusts for the two strawberry pies that were also in the works. Fun fact – she was using my mom’s pie crust recipe – a recipe that I have never used!
On my way back home, I was thrilled to see that Jone’s Farm Stand was open and happier still when I saw that local cherries and apricots were ready for the picking! And, again, I must explain. I don’t mean picking like going out, battling honey bees and plucking the gorgeous fruit from the trees – I mean picking up the cardboard boxes overflowing with ripe fruit that are lined up on the well-worn wooden farm tables in the place! Although, choosing from the table can be a bit risky for someone like me with a honey bee venom allergy as those honey bees and wasps can be buzzing around those boxes! But, hey, I like to live life on the edge…right?
I love Jone’s – while it is much smaller than other farm stands in the area; it is where I usually find the yummiest apricots that are as tasty as those that grew on the huge apricot tree in our yard in SoCal. And, Jone's Farm always has the best peaches later in the summer months. As usual, I came home with way too many cherries, apricots, a few heirloom tomatoes and a backup jar of the best honey in the world – Hanna’s Lavender Blossom Honey – made locally. I managed to pass on an Umpqua ice cream treat even though it was screaming my name! I think the fact that I don’t like to eat in the car helped; and sitting under one of the many umbrellas outside to enjoy the ice cream is not an option for me when bees are involved! Bummer, I know. (Do people even use the word “bummer” anymore or is that just so 60s?)
Thursday, after wrapping and shipping your orders, I took to the road again, this time to the east heading off to Fessler Nursery to get all the plants I need for the pots on my patio. I picked my favorite Martha Washington geraniums, brown-eyed Susans, zonal geraniums in all of the colors I love. I’ll plant them this weekend and the patio will immediately be transformed from the drab dry winter mess it is now into a glorious summer respite worthy of a good book and lots of refreshing iced tea.
Before I drove off I tried to capture an image of a distant Mt. Hood which was majestically positioned on the edge of the Willamette Valley. When I got back to the studio and imported the pix to my computer for editing, I had a fabulous surprise – two different images of a giant hawk searching for lunch. One perched on the wire overhead and the other diving for his prey. I love when something springs up in the photo that I didn't notice with the camera. While these aren’t the best pix I still want to share the hawk and you can get a glimpse of Mt. Hood through the dust and haze of the day.
I know you may have come here to see jewelry and such; but as I said earlier, my life involves a bit more than just that. So I hope you enjoy these little glimpses. Personally I love to see how people live in other parts of the world. Do you? How do you document your journey? Pix, diary, blog, vlog or maybe keep notes in a planner of some type? I’d love to know. You can leave a comment below and I would love it if you shared by blog with your friends.
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