Decoration Day

I remember, throughout my childhood, the serious task of preparing for "Decoration Day". My great grandmother, grandmother and great aunt would gather the containers, ribbons and finally the flowers and greens that would go into loving remembrances.

The car was loaded up with all of the thoughtful bouquets on the "real" date of May 30th (they never approved of the changes of name or date of this solemn day) and off they went to visit the many cemeteries. All friends and loved ones that had passed on  received a special arrangement, not just ones that served our country. The entire event would take up a good part of the day

Today I will go with our son, daughter and some of the grandchildren, to Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, pictured above and visit my fathers grave who served in WW II.

 Wishing you a happy Memorial Day in what ever way you are celebrating.

 Much love and hugs to you all.

Our I-5 Skagit Bridge Collapse

I can't even believe this....The bridge that we use all of the time collapsed. This is the bridge the we use to do shopping. Costco and then over the bridge to Lowes and Walmart. It is Interstate 5, you have to take this bridge when you come from Seattle to go up North to Vancouver B.C. Also to get to the Little House in Anacortes.

This is shocking..How can something like this happen? So far they are saying that 3 people were rescued..no word of any deaths, thankfully.

 I just heard on the news that someone saw a big truck hit part of the bridge when going over and made it to the other side before the collapse...wow.

There iarea tremendous amount of vehicles that use this bridge and only one small two lane bridge to use as an alternative. I just had to share with you...I'm in kind of a state of shock still. xo

Tomato Ladders

Hello friends, I hope your week has gone well and you have big holiday weekend plans.

I am getting ready to leave but wanted to show you the new plans for the tomatoes in our garden this year.

My sweetie built several of these tomato ladders this last weekend on hopes of improving our yield.

As they grow we will tie them and control their behavior instead of having their own way, even escaping the cages we normally use.

I will share the progress through the growing season and maybe pronounce 'a win' in the garden.



Must be off now, have a great day.  xo

How to Help Oklahoma

Of course our thoughts and prayers are with those in Moore, Oklahoma, the sights and stories are heart wrenching.

*Photo - Routers/Richard Rowe


I wanted to offer a link to use if you have a desire and are able to help.      Go here for more info.

Tragedies like this have a way of bringing everything in to proper perspective.  I so appreciate all of the special people in my life and count you all in that group. 

Thank you all for stopping by and reading my blog and leaving sweet comments and being there when I need your support, I am richly blessed to have you in my life.

Have a happy Tuesday.   xo  

Becoming Weary

 ** UPDATE - Sister just called and the Doctor said once he got in there and got a good look, he believes it is NOT the rare form that he has never seen but the condition that is much more common.  So I will not need to go until Thursday and Friday she will have another scope for a biopsy to identify for sure what condition it is.

Please refer to Update...Once again I am turning to you for prayer.  I am hastily off to Portland, my mother has developed difficulty in swallowing as in not being able to swallow liquids now..only bits of water.  My sister is at hospital and they are saying she has something so rare in her throat that they have never seen it before.  She is having and endoscopy right this minute but they are fearful of tearing the strange tissue.

Please pray for our family to have the strength to go into this uncharted territory.

Much love to you all.  Thank you for being here.

Sherri

Dirt Under The Nails

Hello my friends, so sorry that I have been missing for a few days. Things have been busy, busy around here lately. I laugh at myself every Spring for being caught off guard at how much work there is to do...silly me.

Every day brings more accomplishments and I am always pleased when the window boxes are done and look forward to everything filling in nicely.

The raised beds in the garden are all waiting for all of these little gems to take up residence today.  I worked on it until dark last night to make for a proper welcome.

I found a few 'new to me' kinds of tomatoes that I will tell you about later, it should be fun to see how they work out.

On a sad and upsetting note..Sunday, sometime in the middle of the night the Mr.'s Company truck was prowled right in the Little House driveway.  Some company property was taken but the worse thing is my honey had left his hearing aids in there and they were taken. 

We were very angry to find, right on the drivers seat, among the items left behind, a cigarette butt, with a chewed filter....just like our yard man leaves behind on our drive when mowing.  Also, keys were taken, thank the Lord they were work keys and not our house keys, but you know that he thought they were our house keys to be used later to rob our home.

Moral of this story, even if you think that you live in the country on a nice, sweet rural road, don't be fooled by..."It won't happen here".

Well, enough of that, there is work to do in the garden and lawns to mow and life to live.

Enjoy the rest of your week.  xo

Happy Mother's Day

I believe that if you are a woman you are a mother to someone or something. It may have two legs and perhaps feathers or four feet with fur.

So with that said, I wish you all a very Happy Mother's Day, my dear friends.

Much love always,

Sherri


** Image from Vintage Holiday Crafts

Progress

Wow, what a weekend! It was summer here in the Pacific Northwest, actually, this weekend would qualify as summer 'anywhere' in the U.S. It was in the 80's in Seattle and will be today also. The Mister and I took full advantage and worked like mad around the yard and garden.

I finally conquered the garden mess (see before here) it was a lot of work putting the ground fabric all down and then the straw over that.  Can anyone tell me how straw can creep into a bra and underwear?

 Friday, I asked hubby if he could make a gate for me out of all found things...nothing purchased.  He rose to the occasion and came up with this, even adding the extra 'chicken' protection at the bottom.  Thanks honey!

I did take a bit of time away from the garden and straw to plant up this pot with the Gerbera daisy that Miss E., my neighbor from across the road, gave me for my birthday.  It will please her to see it center stage in the pot.

All in all, it was one of the most productive weekends that we have had in a long time.  Even the 'girls' approve of the progress.

How was your weekend, did you have projects or perhaps some much needed R&R?

I am packing up once again and will be spending the week at City House.  It will be a Mother's Day Week, spending time with my kids, grand kids and a special day with my Mom.

I might take a bit of a blogging break this week but will visit you all as I can.

Have a wonderful week, my friends.  xo

Picked By My Honey

Last evening, when my hubby and I were walking with Jack the dog along the lane, I mentioned to him that I needed to find some flowers for Fresh Cut Friday. I went back into the house to start dinner and when he and the dog came back, he had these sweet wild narcissus that were out right in the middle of the field.  Every year they come back in the same place with nothing but field all around them.

 The fragrance is intoxicating, I so wish you could smell them too.

 

Another nice surprise, lilacs...he found them on his way back along the edge of the field. We have never noticed them before, but will now be enjoying them every Spring too.

I am joining up with Liz at her blog Rose Vignettes where she hosts Fresh Cut Friday. It's not too late for you to join in too.

I am wishing you all a very happy weekend.  xo

Wordless Wednesday

xo