IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK ALOT LIKE CHRISTMAS...

PRE-THANKSGIVING CHRISTMAS SPIRIT...

I know it isn't Thanksgiving yet, but I just had to decorate one tiny corner and start the Christmas music...even though the house is for sale we may have one last Christmas here in this great house! I love my little cream and gold village.  I try to add something new to it each year...found two new trees today...the big one to the right behind the "JOY" and the sparkly tinsel one. 

THE BEAUTIFUL COLORS OF FALL...

Our maple tree is so pretty right now!  Wish the leaves could stay on the branches a while longer!

FEELING A BIT NOSTALGIC...SOME OF THE THINGS I WILL MISS ABOUT YAKIMA...

 The beautiful trees and fall colors...

 Franklin Park behind the house a few blocks away...

 Chestnut and Yakima Avenues in the fall...

The wonderful historic houses...

I LOVE THE FALL...

I hate to see the summer go by and all my flowers die off, but I love the fall! We tried a square foot garden this year...here is a little display of our harvest.

THE TREK WAS AWESOME!

I wanted to post some pictures from our Stake Trek. It was such a great experience. We had an "awesome family"! I wore sunglasses the entire time so when we arrived at "Zion" I took them off for a family picture and voila! Racoon eyes! Check out Mike's beard! That went off about 1/2 hour after we got home! It was really hard, but such a neat experience! We pushed our handcart 21 miles in four days in thistle that was as high as our thighs and through dirt six or seven inches deep and as dry as talcom powder. We were able to portray the "Moulton" family thanks to the history given to us by mom. The Moultons were our ancestors on our dad's side. They traveled by handcart with the Willie company. Thomas Moulton was my great-great grandfather. The history tells of some extraordinary hardships they endured. I am really grateful for their sacrifices. It sure made me appreciate my heritage alot more after having this experience! They had seven children and everyone made it to Zion. They had a very fragile baby that rode in a handcart the entire way. Thus, we were noted to have the only "baby" on board. We tried to make it fun taking a baby with us! It was pretty funny carrying "Charles" around. By the time we reached "Zion" the kids had named him "Chucky"! We had a great rap...my favorite line...yo...our cart is our crib, with baby an' bib!" We got some good laughs!
Brandt did an excellent job with all the pictures! He put together a DVD to music for the upcoming Stake Standards Night.

HAPPY MONDAY...

It was a little cooler today...if you call 90 degrees "cooler". Aphids were destroying my flowers...Mike sprayed Malathion on everything...after we sprayed we looked at the fine print and it said..."do not spray on petunias...it killed every single solitary blossom that was blooming a week ago, but it must have killed the aphids because the petunias and verbena came back as full as ever! Go figure... we couldn't get the lawn mower started and had to rent one, but it was nice to clean things up today...I love the fall and can't wait for some cooler weather!

CRICUT CARDS...

I decided I needed to use my Cricut machine more and get busy making some cards...made two of these to give away with gift cards.

SWEEEEET PEAS...

So we had a nice thunderstorm the other day and a beautiful rainbow followed...wish I could have captured it in the bright colors it truly was!

I love sweet peas! They are so fun to grow and smell so great! You just have to make sure they have something to climb on. Mine are in bloom right now and they make great little bouquets. Today was a great day! Getting ready for our trek...my dress looks like "Little House on the Prairie", but it turned out pretty sweet. Just need to make the bonnet now. I didn't spend a dime on anything! I had the pattern, used vintage Laura Ashley fabric I purchased at an estate sale several years ago, and used some vintage lace. Went to a fabulous sale today...picked up a beautiful lace tablecloth from Italy, and eight hand-blown tankards (mugs) from Simon Pearce, which retail for $65.00 to $80.00 a piece, but I got a steal and made out like a bandit! They are awesome! Can't wait to make some lemonade and use them!

HAPPY SUNDAY...

MY LOVE OF THINGS OLD...

Vintage Vera Neumann sheet set with pillowcases...if you look closely you can see the "Vera"...never been used! Love them! The entire set was only $4.00!

I found these black flower containers at an antique store...They make a nice addition to the back fence.

This one is slightly different...found it at the Clayson Farms booth at the Flower and Antique Festival...it is much heavier and is authentically old. Just planted the flowers a week ago so they need time to grow.Awesome vintage tucked eyelet two paneled curtains... $1.00!

I love, love, love old things and found this awesome wooden Portland Seed Company seed box! Need to find a fun use for it!

BEFORE I CUT THEM BACK...

My flowers have loved this spring and summer weather...but they will need to be cut back soon...and I have a hard time doing that...
They love their place on the front steps...

My new find...a really nice oak barrel in great shape...my neighbor helped me find a really cool barrel liner to put over the top at BiMart...it has a lip on it and is about a foot deep. That way, you never need to fill the barrel with dirt and it won't rot. I am going to love this when the flowers really take off. I just planted this about a week ago and the flowers are blooming already. They are by the back door and they love the warm spot.

REMLINGER FARMS...

What a beautiful day in Seattle yesterday! We picked up Brandt and Crystal and headed up to Carnation, Washington...met up with Sheena, Blake, and Candy at Remlinger Farms...U-pick strawberries...Crystal picking strawberries...Mike and Brandt...that beard is coming off after the pioneer trek!!!

Sheena and her mom...

Blake...

Brandt...we were all sweating bullets, but having a great time and we picked about 100 pounds of strawberries between us all! I can't believe I didn't take a picture of our wonderful bounty...maybe I can steal a pic from Brandt!

THERE BETTER BE FLOWERS IN HEAVEN...

Our first try at square foot gardening...carrots, basil, rosemary, walla walla sweet onions, peas, and dill...do ya think I need to thin the carrots?!Of course after everyone left it warmed up and everything started to bloom!

My poppies...

The back yard...

Queen Anne's lace...

A basket of baby double petunias and verbena...

The east side of the house...

Martha Washington geraniums....

Front yard...

The front porch...

More porch...

And more...

My birthday gift from mom...

A new rose bush...I lost about 6 roses bushes this year.

Front yard...

A huge hosta...

My wheelbarrow... hope you enjoyed the flowers!