Saturday, January 29, 2011

Sleepytime Gal

Good morning!  It is strong tea time!

This is a hard morning to focus on anything because I am so sleepy! One morning a week, I rise way, way before dawn to attend Toastmasters International. It is worth every minute; it is fun and very challenging for me. But right now, sitting in my library, I cannot focus on my favorite book or the beautiful sights from my library window.

The warm sunshine is streaming through the black pine tree branches and making bright yellow streaks on the lawn. I see all this beauty and I still want to go back to bed. But from past experience, I know as soon as I lay my head on the pillow, I will start thinking. (My husband says I think too much.)  So instead, I will talk to you and enjoy your company. I see there is not one Steller's jay bird looking for breakfast this morning. I like to watch them hop.  There was one brown tree squirrel, but he, too, has disappeared. Probably going somewhere else to  play.  It is a real quiet world outside my window this morning. At times like this, it is good to remember, “Be still and know that I am God.” Quiet times are good. Visiting with old and new friends is good too. If you are thinking of someone right now, why not make a note and call them today? You will both be glad you did.

Spring is coming!  I see my yellow daffodils are up two inches!

Here's wishing you a quiet weekend.  I'm glad you stopped by for a visit.  See you next weekend!

Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Greatest Flag


     The rain storm has passed once again and this morning there is a pleasant, balmy breeze. We have our American flag flying in the front yard and another one in the back yard. Today, I see it is flying so gracefully – not whipping in the wind and not wrapped around the pole, being soaking wet. I have seen it many times wrapped around the pole as tightly that I was sure it needed professional help and then the next minute it was unfurled and flying once again. I wish the problems of our country could be solved that easy. Lord, please give us a breeze today and blow away our problems.

     A yellow streak just ran by my library window. Dear Daisy Flower (full name) is racing Craig to the pond. Guess who won the race! The fish pond water has warmed up this week (unheard of forJanuary), so Craig is feeding the fish and Daisy is jumping up and down begging for fish food. Too bad she can't send some of that energy my way. When was the last time you jumped rope? Are you inspired to do it once again now?  I have one and I know just where it is hanging, out of sight.

     Last week we trimmed the lower branches off the tall, black pine tree that is directly in my view of the grotto. Now I can see so much more of that private section of my yard. I also see that the mirror needs to be washed. If I can see the 'fog' from here, it must really need to be cleaned. It is a huge, full-length mirror attached to the rock wall. Scott, our neighbor, is a tile installer and he hung it just perfect.  It gives a great illusion of a mysterious doorway to 'Never Never Land'.
             Can you find the mirror?  It has a rope across  it.

     Let your imagination run this week and tell me about it. I'll be back next Saturday.  Thanks for visiting with me today.

If you would like to send me a private comment, you can reach me at folks777@aol.com or just click on 'comment' below for all the world to see.

Juanita

Friday, January 14, 2011

Ducks and Moss

Welcome, my friend!  I'm so excited when you come for a visit. 

There are signs around town that say, “2010 – the Year of the Duck”. We Oregonians are certainly proud of the U of O ducks. Didn't they have a great season? 

But as I look out my library window now, I tend to say, “It is the Year of the Moss once again.” It seems there is moss on almost everything I see. It is on tree branches, dirt, cement, bricks,  bushes and most certainly the lawn. Remember the saying, “a rolling stone gathers no moss”? I bet that is not true in the Willamette Valley.

I wish you could see our long driveway now. It is 1/10 of a mile long and is bright lime green – the beautiful color of moss. The European hornbeam trees down both sides of the driveway are now void of any leaves. The yellow leaves lay on the ground. The naked branches and the green, moss-covered blacktop make a vivid contrast. The neighbor man across the street tells me people stop and take pictures of our driveway in the summer. The trees do make a beautiful scene. They are fifteen years old now and are almost holding hands with each other across the driveway. I wonder if those same people take pictures of our driveway in the winter. I take pictures summer and winter.

Someday I want to paint the seasons of the driveway. I'm not a trained artist, but I still love to paint. Before I start, I ask the Lord to help me create a picture I will enjoy. He is the Great Creator, so who is better to ask for help than Him? I have painted several pictures for my garden. Someday I'll tell you more about them.  Today, my friend Jody gave me an idea for a picture to go with my sun ~ a quarter moon!  I have just the place for it on the barn wall.  Now if spring would just hurry!

Let's talk next week...

Friday, January 7, 2011

Colored Lights


Good evening! Shall we go into the library? The picture above is an actual pen and ink drawing of my library by the famous artist, Roberta Schmidt. I'm blessed that she is my cousin. I'm relaxing in my big red library chair with a cup of Red Rose tea. I just saw the Christmas lights come on in the front yard. Christmas is past, but since I put them up so late this year, I'll keep the lights up for a couple more weeks. In fact, I just decided to keep the clear lights on the rose arbor lit all year. That will make a great entrance to the pond area in the evening, don't you think?

We have many trees, all shapes and sizes, in the front yard; but as they get taller every year, it is harder to decorate them. I can't reach the tops anymore, not even using the rack handle. So they end up looking like a multicolored Christmas bush instead of a Christmas tree.

Automatic timers are a wonderful invention. Now, if the electricians could just discover why one-half of the light strand goes out when there is just one fuse, I would be happy. Maybe they have, but haven't told me. I went against my “natural” instincts and bought one nine-foot and two seven-foot tall artificial Christmas trees for the lawn. They make a fine grouping and they look so pretty as they twinkle in the dark. I ignore the white plastic look in the daytime.

It is almost completely dark now and I can see the lamp post way in the distance. I call it my Narnia lamp post. The three white globes shed light on the big fish pond. I wonder if the koi are aware of the green Christmas lights wound around the post? Probably not, because today when I was visiting the pond, they were quietly hibernating on the bottom. The fish are not hungry now, because as the water temperature gets down to forty-eight degrees, they go into neutral and hardly move.

Walking around the lamp post with the green light string about twenty times can sure make a lady dizzy. I'm a blond too, sort of. Remember being a kid and trying to make yourself dizzy on purpose? We would twirl around and around, then fall down on the lawn and lay there until the sensation went away. Now I get dizzy just looking up while standing on my feet!

I enjoyed your visit! We'll talk again next week.



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Saturday, January 1, 2011

A Personal Invitation

Come in.  Welcome to my world, and welcome to my library. Let's sit awhile and have a cup of hot jasmine tea together. I like to watch the pearls unroll as the tea leaves steep in the hot water. In my opinion, the best jasmine pearl tea is sold at Allann Bros.

We have much to see outside my large library window and many topics to discuss. My lovely garden is a very busy place with birds, squirrels, and Daisy our Lab (yellow, of course).  It has many beautiful trees and flowers except in the winter. The real purpose of my library is to have an inviting and comfortable place to store and read my favorite books. But so often, I find my eyes gazing out the window and enjoying the sights I see and the sounds I hear which causes me to lay my book down in my lap until my mind comes back inside the library.

Everything is dripping this morning. The clouds are dripping, the plants are dripping, but just see what it does to the lawn. The grass is so green in spite of the fact that half of it is crabgrass. Isn't it amazing how just a couple days of rain can fertilize and green up the lawn faster than a whole sack of Scotts?

A streak of yellow just ran pass the library window to the front yard. Daisy is on her morning run, going from tree to tree, sniffing the ground looking for brown tree squirrels. She stops for a drink at our large fish pond. The koi don't bother Daisy and Daisy doesn't bother them especially if she can share their fish food. My husband will sprinkle a handful of pellets in the pea gravel at the edge of the pond and watch Daisy carefully lick them up. I hope this doesn't make you dog lovers or my veterinarian groan. Our dog will eat almost anything including fresh carrots peelings.

I see my husband is raking leaves out of the pond and Daisy is now rolling in the pile. Remember when our kids played in the piles of leaves before they were grown up? Hold that thought! Now we have only a few leaves to rake thanks to the big green John Deere.

Thanks for coming for a visit. You are welcome anytime.  If my thoughts have prompted thoughts of your own, feel free to make a comment in the comment section below.  I'd love to hear from you.   I plan to visit with you once a week.

This is also a new year.  Have a Happy New Year!

"This is the day the LORD has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it."  Psalm 118:24 (NKJ) 

 








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