A Perfect Holiday..........

Memorial Day we took a BBQ

picnic to Suttle Lake.......

A wonderful time with

family and friends!!

My Lazy Afternoon.....

Last Saturday a friend and I went to Lark Gardens......

it was the Grand Opening of their little store!

There chef (who, by the way, had a very ENGLISH accent:)...

was tossing things around in the kitchen and

giving us samples in order to taste

the vinegars made at Lark Gardens.

I bought one small bottle to try. He had it on kale with shallots

and garlic (also available in the store).

We tried it the other night and it was GOOD!! You just splash some

vinegar in a couple times during sauteing....

YUMMY!!
They had different vinegars on plums, potatoes, strawberries.....

WONDERFUL!!

They also have little starts in there greenhouses and in the

winter will have fresh greens for sale in the store.

And speaking of greenhouses!!! One of them had citrus

trees!! There was a lemon just about the size of a football!!

We all decided we needed a greenhouse like that attached to our

house that we could just leisurely wander in to, but with glass

ceilings in order to see the sky......maybe your hottub could be in

there or just a spot for tea and reading!!

I also brought home Organic lollipops for those who

stayed home that day. :D

A Rather Quiet Day........

Just a peek......

OK, I am back......I made it through the week, but today will

be a very "hardly do anything at all day"!!!!

e

The Tea went well. I ended up having 27. I am always happy

that Iam back in the kitchen and that the ladies have NO

idea what is going on back there, so many things were going

wrong, but on their sideit remained calm and enjoyable.

Praise God for that!!

e

When I do teas at the Hall, I bring most of the dishes home

dirty :( so have to spend the next couple of days cleaning

up at home. We werehome about 10:30 or 11:00 last night,

and sat up even later, AND I was up until 1 a.m. two

nights before Tea........so I for one

am very tired today, and doing Tea just does

me in for a couple days anyway. I am not

as young as I once was. :(

e

For today, I am still relaxing with my cup of coffee

and later this afternoon a friend will pick me up and

we are going to Lark Gardens new store Grand Opening.

It is a Lavender farm!! In the summer they

do Tea outside and in the winter you can arrange a

Tea inside and they have had their store inside their

home. They just built a new store!! The actually

sell Lavender Jelly!?!?! I must

experiment with that some day. :)

I am anxious to see this place....this is sooooo much

what I want to do!! Have a store and Tea

at home on my own property!! Maybe

some day........I will keep dreaming!!

e

I must go......thank you for all your wonderful,

encouraging comments lately.....

see you soon with wonderful pictures of Tea!!

Finding Joy!!!

Working on my Garden Tea today......setting up, finding centerpieces, decisions....long table, small tables??.....by the garden or in the yard?? Gathering teapots, teacups, dishes.....All the fun details to make it a very pleasant experience for all who attend............

Praying, step by step that God will keep me going and bless the works of my hands so that these women can relax, find a moments peace and enter into a couple hours of JOY in simple beauty.
I realized, I do not do this on my own, I so totally rely on God and His strength moment by moment....asking Him to hold me up, make all the food come out ok, for there to be enough....
Mostly, starting each day knowing and reminding myself again.....
"The JOY of the Lord is my Strength!"
Neh. 8:10

Next post..........Garden Tea!! Cannot wait, see you then. :)
The girls and I decided last night that the new Pride and Prejudice soundtrack would make WONDERFUL Garden Tea background music! :)

Tasha Tudor Day!

Many of you know that today is Tasha Tudor Day! In honor of her birthday....

After just doing Prairie Camp and having an upcoming Tea in a couple weeks, I said to my friends, "You should have a Tasha Tudor tea party and invite me!" And they did!!

This lovely row of lavender and a line of fruit trees are what greet you as you drive into their property.....
Then as you arrive at the

front door........

You are greeted by many lovely flowers........


The mother's sat around in the shade enjoying a tea party that the girls prepared....Scones, gingerbread made with honey :), watermelon......all very delightful! After tea, we went inside and watched a Tasha Tudor video.....
The girls present were adorned in their historic dress and enjoyed tea on the lawn with their dolls. Having dolls to tea is VERY Tasha Tudor indeed!

Look at what they did!! These are very "mini" scones, there is
really cream in that "thimble" size
creamer and very small cut watermelon.......


Their table is a cake stand!! How lovely!

The girls browsing through the garden.........
Close up, can you see that the
doll's dress matches her dress!!


Beautiful surroundings, quiet, restful.......
My friend who lives here, is allowing me to have a "Garden Tea" in her yard in a couple weeks. We are praying the weather holds out that long and that her garden will be as beautiful as it is today!!
I cannot wait to do the tea and
share that with you. :)

Refreshment on the Desert...........

Nothing more refreshing in the middle of hot summer days than a cooling, wet thunderstorm....
bringing with it the cooling rain,

fresh cool breezes,

refreshing all that it touches......
More soap in the shop later today!!

Quiet Places.........

Do you have a quiet place of rest, a place where you or your family enjoys putting their feet up and savoring a quiet moment. I have always tried to make inviting spots around my home for my whole family. This is a porch swing that is shaded in the afternoon.....this is the kind of place that would encourage my children to grab a book and do some reading alone or perhaps all of us aloud....on a hot summer afternoon. Or it draws my husband and I to it's coolness on a hot evening for a little conversation. Or even just a place for me to grab a cup of tea and slow down for a bit......savor these moments, have places around your home that draw you and your family in for quiet times together.........they will make memories not soon forgotten.

I plan on spending some time there later today, to wind down, gather thoughts in a day that is rapidly becoming overwhelmed by sign ups for Prairie Camp....someone coming to see our house this Sunday, that is for sale, so has to be beyond clean.....wedding gift to make.......and needing to take one step, one moment at a time and allow for a moments rest.

A Very Nice Weekend...........

You drive down a quiet country lane and soon you come upon a sign and you know you are there

......awwwww......Firpoint!!
You park your car and report to the registration office to get signed in and appointed a cabin.
This is where we gather, usually for bonfires, but this time no fires, fire risk was high, but we gathered here just the same, for fellowship...................

for a great time of singing....................
and for awesome encouragement from God's word!!


This is the dining hall where they feed us.
This is the lodge, we actually got to have a room in there since we had no children with us!

Friends that live not far away came to camp so we could see each other.......

Becka here and her mom came

with us from Bend.......

This is Rose, this is not Rose's baby.... :) Rose was a cabin leader at the same time my oldest daughter Aimee was a cabin leader at Firpoint a few years ago. She is smiling a big "Hello" to Aimee!!

My friend Sue from Roseburg.....

Lights out at 11:00, so we used every minute we could til we had to be quiet!! :) Here we are playing Apples to Apples.....that is a pretty fun game.
Another restful, relaxing weekend with friends and my dear husband....enjoying God's wonderful creation all around us and then it was time to go home.


Our friends we took with us had never seen the Umpqua River....this is the North Umpqua....

Then we had a stop at Fall Creek Falls..........beautiful wayside stop...........

Then on home, and back to life as usual........but a bit rested.