Yum!

 

Blackberry season is fast approaching.  When Courtney was little, I would send her and a friend up the hill with buckets to pick blackberries.  Then we would make a great Jane Brody recipe for Blackberry Cobbler.  

Beauty -

When I look at the world as if I am going to take a photo, I see things I never saw before.  The minute and special seem to pop out at me and those moments when something huge isn't unfolding can be the most rewarding.

Old Columbia Highway

Whenever I visit my daughter at the University of Idaho, I like to take extra time to drive up through the old Columbia Highway.  Above the Gorge, with hairpin turns, lack of guardrails, orchards and beautiful soaring views of the valley down below this drive is absolutely stunning.

Coeur d'Alene

Coeur d'Alene is gorgeous!  I especially love it on a sunny day but lately, every time I visit it looks like this cloudy and gray.  It's still breathtakingly awesome.

My Life on The Road

I had one crazy, stressful summer.  I started commuting in June an hour 20 minutes twice a day.  To compound the misery, I was not working simple 8 hour days.  My days were at least 10 hours and when I wasn't at work, I was on call 24/7.  The best part of my day was the drive home through the country.  I would pause and snap a shot.  By the time I got home, although exhausted, I was grateful for the beauty at the end of my day.  The sun bounces on the tips of the corn stalks just out of Coburg, Oregon.

Silver Mountain

I visited Courtney in Idaho.  We took a short road trip to Kellogg, ID and while there road the world's longest sky gondola up the side of Silver Mountain, 4,000 feet.

Two Curious Deer

Two deer in our backyard.  They are young, even though they have lost their spots and so curious about our cat Simon.  They are staring directly at him.

Pacific Ocean for the day!

While Courtney's winter break from college was winding to a close, I asked her if there was anything she hadn't done but wanted to do and she answered "go to the coast".   I didn't think we had anymore days together because the weekend before she left was suppose to be spent out of town with her boyfriend and his family.  Plans changed and in the blink of an eye I rearranged my schedule, filled the car with gas and we were off.  It was a fantastic trip for a spur of the moment escape.  This is a photo of Florence which sits right on the Pacific Ocean.  The downtown is fronted by the coastal inlet.

Monterey, California

 

My husband and I went on vacation down the coast of California.  We spent  a wonderful day in Monterey.

Capital of Texas

 

My husband is from Texas.  We were fortunate enough to have this view from our balcony.

In Our Backyard!

I love living where deer are often walking through the yard, nibbling on whatever they find.  These two are still young.  The buck spent well over a couple of hours back there.  I watched him from our living room.  The fawns were in and out.  At one point there was three fawns, a doe and buck.  Yes, that would be 5 deer in the backyard.

Fall in Oregon

I love Oregon!  It seems like over the course of a year, I forget how beautiful the fall is.  I love this time of year!  I hope I remember to read this in the middle of summer next year as I start to mourn the changing of the seasons.

I Miss Spring

I miss spring and it's not winter yet!  How can this be?  It just seems that spring was way too short, the days flew by and now it is cold and wet outside.  Spring to me is like a promise.  A promise of the warm, sweet days ahead.  A season of hope and activity. 

16 Days and Two Miles Later

Late Sunday evening the phone rang.  A man on the other end of the line stated he had a cat matching the description we gave on Craig's List.  I was not optimistic, it had been too long and was certain from where he lived, it was not Simon.  But, it was Simon.  Somehow he had shown up 2 miles from home.  He was so happy to see us.  That night, per usual, Simon slept next to me with his paw on my head.

Missing Simon

Simon has been missing now for over a week. We found him four years ago driving from Oregon to Iowa. We pulled over in remote Idaho and there was a hawk diving in the field. When we got out I could hear a little meow and called to the kitty, with the hawk after him he ran right into my arms and buried his head. He was just a few weeks old, dehydrated and malnourished. We stopped and bought the litter box, cat food etc. When we pulled into Iowa, I immediately took him to the vet and he has been my baby since. Simon sleeps next to me at night. Often with his paw on my head. I miss him so much.

Simon is very clean, particular about himself and surroundings. He is also strict with his routine. In the morning when I get up he goes out. Simon comes right back in before I go to work and then out when I get home, back in for bedtime. Last Friday he went out in the morning and then visited the neighbors until around noon. They let him out and we have not seen him since.

We have walked door to door, posted advertisements etc. with no sign of him.

Backyard Plum

I like plums and how convenient having plum trees in the backyard. The deer must think so also. They usually rest their hooves on the fence and stand on their hind legs to eat the plums. Spitting the pits out on our lawn as they munch. This year they didn't pay a lot of attention to the fruit. I was most pleased!

I grew up in the midwest. Flat with some small hills.... One year when I was small we visited Boulder, CO. I remember the mountains and how beautiful. We began vacationing in the Black Hills and then the Grand Tetons. I was convinced I would some day live in the mountains and here I am. I love this view, the town I live in and the smell of the fresh mountain air in the morning.

Fall is in the air. Most of the days are still in the high 70's low 80's but the nights it cools down and there is definately a change coming. I hate limbo....especially between late summer and fall. The earth is dry and so everything is brown. Once fall is in full swing and the rain starts to fall a bit the trees change color and then I fully appreciate the season.

Fern Ridge Resevoir. Nice blue with puffy clouds - beautiful, warm day.

Perfect Day in the Oregon Country

I love photography and I love Monet oil paintings. If he were still alive, I believe he would have found this setting his muse.