Friday morning walkabout

Well, Friday morning dawned sunny and bright, but rather cold and windy after yesterday's rain showers that pretty much continued through the night.  Everything is soaked and everything is green.  I woke up early this morning, got showered, dressed and ready for work a little early, so I thought I'd take a walkabout the farm and see what there was to see.  

This is the flower bed along the back of our house that we built last summer.  Out of all the plants I put in last year, only one lonely carnation survived the winter.  And it's not blooming yet.  But my peony and the carnations should be blooming before long, if it warms up a bit.  These are old-fashioned stock flowers...one of my favorites, and their scent is reminiscent of carnations.  Spicy and sweet.

A close-up of the fragrant stock flowers...love them!!

Behind this pink stock is a day lily that will bloom later on this season.  A perennial favorite among gardeners who may have something other than "green thumbs".  An easy-growing flower that tolerates less than perfect soil and heat tolerant as well.  Sounds perfect for me!

The cheery little pansy.  Another one of my favorites.  My mom used to love pansies, and she often said they reminded her of little monkey faces.  Funny how I can remember so many little things that my mom always said...guess that's one way to keep her with me in my heart.  I'll always think of momma when I look upon a pretty little pansy.  For me, that makes this the perfect Memorial Day flower!

And even though this looks very much like a pansy, it's actually a Viola.  A smaller, but very similar flower related to the pansy.  They will spread like the dickens if protected from hard freezing.  They also do well for gardeners who might be a bit challenged, or who are just too darn busy to remember to water regularly.

This is a corner planter we added just this year.  It's actually just to the side of our back door, but since we never use our front (street-side) door, I consider this to be the front of the house.  Hopefully this year I'll be able to find that perfect replacement door for this side of the house.  I have the perfect door in my mind's eye, I just need to find it.  I had such a hard time deciding what to plant here.  This planter is westerly facing, and gets only mid to late afternoon sun when it's scorching hot.  Many plants couldn't tolerate that kind of extreme heat, but hopefully I've picked sun-loving flowers that will do alright providing I don't forget to water them regularly.  *fingers crossed*  Lavender, nasturtium,  petunia, dianthus (often referred to as Sweet William), and geraniums.  On warm days, the scent is just lovely when you approach the door.  Oh, see that odd looking rock in the bottom?  That's actually a piece of petrified drift wood that I found on the beach years and years ago...my sweet hubby carried that heavy thing several miles back to our car, in the sand, for me.  Bless his pea-pickin' little heart...I'll bet it weighs in at about 70 lbs or so.  He loves me.  :)

And this little beauty is one of several trees I planted a few years back.  My brother-in-law gave it to me as a tiny little seedling and it's grown into this.  See all that light green new growth?  Each year it sprouts anew and shoots up anywhere from 6-10 inches.  I'm not sure what exact type of pine tree it is; but it's a pine tree nonetheless.

See the old snowball tree in the back?  I hacked the beejeebers out of that poor thing several years in a row before realizing just what it was.  A survivor to be sure!  And this tree I decorate with hanging flower pots, hummingbird feeders and bird feeders every year.  I save the pots and refill them with new flowers each spring.  And my iris just blossomed this morning.  So pretty!! This is our main shade tree in the back, and without it, the yard would be sweltering in the summer.  We all tend to hang out here in the shade of a hot, summer afternoon.

There's so much green it's hard to distinguish the hanging pots.  More of my favorites; stock and petunias in the baskets.

This is our Bartlett pear tree with another basket of flowers.  Sheltered in the shade of the protective tree are my Hydrangea plants.  They love morning sun, but cannot tolerate the heat of the afternoon light, so this provides the perfect spot.

I love the beautiful "bearded iris", and they have such a lovely scent.  My mom used to say that they reminded her of funerals...

 
One of our raised garden beds with a stick tee-pee for the green beans to climb...if they're still alive that is. I may be replacing most of the plants here because a late frost pretty much wiped them out.  It's been another late, wet and fairly cool spring here in the northern valley.

 
I tried to get a herd shot, but Eagle was way off by himself this morning...must be feeling anti-social.  I can relate, I feel anti-social at times myself.  Last night I gave all the horses a good, thorough brushing while the rain came down in buckets.  That's one of my favorite times to be in the barn, with the rain thundering down on the metal roof...very cozy and soothing to me.  We had ourselves a nice, relaxing evening together.

This is "Mommasonn".  She's our most friendly, resident Kildeere, and has a nest nearby.  They are one of my most favorite birds.  I think they're beautiful, and their bravery astounds me.  And, it's bunches of fun to watch them lead Ruby on a merry chase back and forth across the pasture!!  Ruby comes back tuckered out and her tongue dragging when they're finished with her.  And their theatrics are unmatched!!  You can't help but admire such drama!!

The neighboring wheat field.  It's so beautiful when it's tender and green...

In a couple of months time, this wheat will be turning golden under the heat of the summer's sun.  The glorious uniqueness of each season amazes me...such beauty!

We're hoping to go on a day ride somewhere with Ladde and a borrowed friend's horse this weekend.  It will be the first trail ride for me in almost 2 years.  That's the longest span of time in my entire life of not riding a horse in the woods.  That is unacceptable and must be remedied as soon as possible!!!  I would just as soon stop living as I would stop riding horses...for me, life must be shared with horses.  I'm hoping that our weather dries out and cooperates so that we can relax and ride!!!

Wishing you all a wonderful Memorial Day weekend.
Blessings to you all, and may we all remember those we have loved, and miss so dearly...

Lorie @ Cingspots

All the pretty posies

When the sun is shining, all the world's a much happier place. At least this is true of me and my little world. My sweet Annie and I returned to a favorite pasttime today; and I gotta tell ya, it felt grand.


On the springtime breeze is the delightful scent of flowers, and there's abundant birdsong in the air. Fresh air, sunshine and a wonderful friend. A truly wonderful way to wile away an hour.
The time does fly by, but it does a body and the mind, not to mention one's frame of mind - a world of good.

Yes, our rain has disappeared for a while and we're supposed to have sunny skies and warm temperatures for the next several days. A recipe for delighting the senses...and accomplishing projects, hopefully. I talked to my neighbor with the tractor this morning. He will definitely work up the riding area this weekend. I am so excited! My friend Shannon and I are going to ride the boys, Ladde and Harley tonight when I get home. This will be the first time I've been on my horse since last fall. Shame on me!! It's hard to believe that it's been that long. Used to be, I could hardly manage to get through a single day without riding my horse. Times sure have changed; and in more ways than one. In my opinion, I would like that to change that. Beginning tonight. Wish me luck.

I realize that today's pictures have absolutely nothing to do with my topic here, but the flowers are so beautiful and so colorful that I just couldn't help myself. Hope you all approve. Spring in Oregon really is beautiful and I just wanted to share what Annie and I experienced today on our little outing. This picture above is an especially lovely and large, Pink Dogwood.

I have no idea what this is, but the lady whose yard I was photographing said that it was some kind of a bulb which she thinks starts with an "S". Hmmm, anyone know what this flower is called. It's quite unusual, but so pretty. See the little pods before the flower opens up? Mother Nature sure can produce some interesting specimens.

This is quite possibly the most pansies I've ever seen in one location other than a park. This is just a small section. Happy little faces!

So, back to riding my horses. Obviously, I need to work on conditioning - both the horses and me. I plan on wrapping Ladde's lower legs just as a precautionary measure. If you remember, last November he had a torn suspensory in his left front. He's been sound for months but I just want to be cautious. We will work on lots of walking and maybe a little trotting. I just want him to be relaxed, soft and supple. Speaking for both of us of course. That will be a good place to start. I probably won't wrap Harley's legs, but will adhere to the same level of work for him as well. And since I'll be riding with my good friend, we'll get to visit as well. Sounds like a very nice way to spend an evening.

This is a rhododendron. Not sure if I spelled that quite right, but you know what I mean. Rhodies grow wild in the forests around here, and there are literally hundreds of different species and colors. They can grow to be huge, tree-like bushes if left on their own.

I realize this is the second time that I've posted this particular picture, but I just loved this little garden spot with the bamboo fencing in the background. It's so serene. I can imagine having a comfy little chair and reading a book here.

These tulips were quite tall, probably nearing 4 feet or so. Not sure what variety of tulip this is, but it's a fairly late bloomer. Most are already gone until next spring.

These are violas. I love violas even more than I love pansies. They're tiny and adorable.

Again, I have no idea what this particular flower is, but I think it's beautiful the way it's trailing over this fence. I would love to have something like this in my yard. Looks all English countryside to me.

Well, that's about all I have today. For once, I'm pretty much at a loss for something to say. Enjoy it, for that doesn't happen very often. I've been told all my life that I need to talk less and listen more. *sigh*

I try, really I do.

Until tomorrow then,

Blessings to all, cingspots

Simple Pleasures

All you have to do is take a quick look around and you'll find so many reasons to be thankful.

I know that I do. I can become grumbly and dissatisfied so easily in this life. But, if I just slow down for a moment and take a breath, have a look around, I see that there are so many blessings in my life that I am very thankful for.



Harley is a huge blessing in my life. I love this guy. He loves me too. In fact, he carries me all over the mountainous trails every summer. Gotta be thankful for that.
And you see that white flowered tree in the background there - those will become this summer's sweet, succulent pears...a very sweet blessing. We just have to be quicker to get to them than the horses. They love them every bit as much as we do.


I'm thankful for how the light shines softly through these leaves here. And for how these trees provide a cooling blanket of shade for the horses and us in the summer's heat.

There's our little home. It's certainly nothing fancy, but it's where my hubby and I call home. It's warm in the winter and cool in the summer. See that deck off the back there...we've spent many relaxing evenings sitting there watching our horses graze in this little pasture. It never ceases to amaze me, just how much pleasure we derive from watching our herd. They are an endless source of amusement. We are thankful every single day for them. We are also thankful that we are fortunate enough to have a small piece of acreage in the country where our horses can live. And look, there's another pear tree. Sweet, juicy bartlett pears - scrumptuous!! The horses eat them until the juice squirts out from between their lips and runs out of their mouths in a sticky river of goo!

Harley is most thankful for the gift of sweet, delicious springtime grass - yummy!! Oh, and for horsey sunglasses too!!

We built our horse barn several years after we moved here. But before that, we relied on several old barns and outbuildings to house our horses and to store the winter's hay. We still use the old barns today for hay storage, bedding and our farm implements. They may be old and not so pretty, but we are still thankful to have them. They provide shelter for the barn cats too, along with a lot of barn swallows.

I have no idea what kind of flowering bush this is, but every spring it bursts forth with abundant color and much appreciated beauty.

Pansies and violas are one of my most favorite spring flowers. I think they are just beautiful. My mom used to think that they looked like little monkey's faces.

And here's our beloved Annie. I am very, very thankful for her. She's one of my nearest and dearest friends. Every single day she's at my side, wherever I may go. She's the best walking buddy a gal could ever wish for too!! I just can't imagine life without dogs. Annie's 5th birthday is coming up this week, on April 30th. Guess I should surprise her with a little something special for the occasion. Everybody loves surprises!

The ponies waiting for suppertime. It looks like Ladde enjoys his meals huh? He's getting a little round with all this lush spring grass. We'll take care of that before long. I have plans for their conditioning coming up real soon...

And here's Sally and her kittens...what would a farm be like without springtime kittens?

Our life is a simple one by many peoples' standards. And that's okay, generally we like to keep things pretty simple. Life and its' bountiful blessings are not to be found in a shopping mall, or in fancy pocessions. But instead, in the beauty of our surroundings and in the laughter of good friends and family. And, time spent with our animals and the people we love.

Life is good. Be thankful, and take the time to count your blessings...

Cingspots

Hello again to bloggers and to spring

This is not one of my pictures, but I love lilacs and they always remind me of spring. They were my momma's most favorite flower.

Hello again. It has been a while since I've posted anything and I have been accused of being a "slacker blogger" by at least one of my fellow blogosphere pals. Well, I guess I have been. But it's nice to know that someone out there cares and has possibly even missed my ramblings and/or photos. So, thank you Miss Molly!!

I have been having some technical difficulties of late with my computer. But this morning, I thought they had passed. I have not been able to view many of my favorite blogs for the past week or so, and then occasionally I could view, but could not leave a comment. So, alas readers and friends, I am here...just experiencing some technical difficulties. I even had trouble logging on to my own blog today. I might possibly have a virus of some sort, but who knows.

Not a whole lot has been happening in my little world lately. Life has been steadily continuing on allbeit without much excitement. We have had a few more late winter snowfalls and some below freezing temperatures, but thankfully nothing is sticking around. Predictions for later this week are for more cold weather, but drier conditions. I'm always happy to hear that!

From my count on the calendar, spring begins in 10 more days, and visually it has already begun happening. I have daffodils blooming in my yard. My roses are shooting up and are steadily producing new leaves. My fruit trees are all budded out. I missed the dormant spraying and hope that my year old peach and cherry trees will not succumb to the dreaded curly leaf this year. I have no experience whatsoever in growing fruit trees, but this is my second attempt after having killed off my first trial plantings. So, if any of you readers have any experience in this department - I am always interested in hearing of your trials and errors, and would appreciate any advice you could lend in this department.

Another sure sign of spring is the annual shedding festival of the horses. Yep, it has begun in earnest. Siri especially. I can pull the hair out by the handfuls, and in a few minutes time have a ground cover of the most beautiful white - and I'm not talking about snow here. The horses are all quite itchy, and there are several spots out in the pasture where the ground is covered with their deposited hair after having had a good roll. I need to get out there in the barn and spend some quality time with my ponies grooming and helping them shed out their old winter coats. They would love it, and I probably would too. Maybe I'll try to fit that in tonight. It would do us all a world of good.

Wishing a fond farewell to winter real soon, and hoping the same for all of you.

May you all experience rebirth in a kinder and gentler season.

Blessings, cingspots.