Reflections of Daddy's Pond

This is a picture of Dad's pond.  He built it for my Mother.  I remember hearing about the dream when we were small--Mom and Dad would talk about what they wanted to do--it was a little pond which collected water in winter, dried up in summertime.

It is so lovely.  Before he flew away to heaven, Dad loved to sit beside the pond with Mumsie. 

I miss you, Daddy. 

                                                                                                                                    

Grimm was Here!

It is fun to watch the episode of Grimm featured in this building.  My parents lived right across the street.  It was a great shock to turn into the driveway and note two of the stars of that show standing at the end of my uncle's driveway a few yards away.

It was raining the evening the series was filming in the Abandon's Common.  There were flashes of light, a huge boom shining a great light on to the area from several stories high.  One could hear gunshots, yelling and howling!

It was great fun to watch from the driveway.  Nostalgic.

Daddy was in the VA Hospital.  He smiled over our stories of Grimm's film shoot.  A few weeks later, Dad flew away to heaven.

This weekend my family and I will be going to visit him at the Willamette National Cemetery in Portland, Oregon. We all miss him very much.

Blessings and peace to all those who fought for freedom.  We honor them this Memorial Day Weekend.

Mom's Whimsical Forest

I love to visit Mumsie--Not only do I walk where I once played as a child, but there's a magical quality about that little bit of land. 

After the new owners logged the forests of my childhood, Mom's place became an oasis for animals, especially the birds.  It is a microcosm of what once was.  And it is beautiful to my eyes.

Have a lovely day, dear Friends.  Keep watching for the sparkles God has placed in the world.

Garden Mailbox

This old mailbox perches atop the trunk of the little old cherry tree.  It's fragrant blossoms graced my childhood.  In my mind's eye, I often saw fairies there--and would play games and dream of their life in Mumsie's Garden.

I think this is a wonderful use of that old tree.  I fancy if I open that mail box I would find those lovely childhood memories waiting there...

Mysterious Tunnels of The Abandoned

Before it was demolished, one could find several entrances to various tunnels running beneath The Abandoned.  Sometimes I wonder if there are still vestiges of them left below the swanky new homes which now occupy that same land.

What a find it would be, to discover such a place beneath one's home!  One can always dream this might be so. 

Happy Holidays, sweet Friends.

Mama's Garden

Now that the chill of winter is here, I've chosen to share a picture of Mumsie's beautiful garden.  She is like Mother Nature--the flowers and plants love her and grow for her.

I love Mom's Garden--I hope you like it too!

The Great Fire Pit

I have been gone from this blog for quite some time.  The area where this grand old fireplace once stood is filled with fancy houses, sidewalks and street lamps.

I know it is progress and what's happening now is a good thing.  However, I still feel nostalgic for the mystery of The Abandoned.  Sometimes, when I look across the street at all the new houses--I wonder if the past doesn't sometimes waver into the present.

Happy Thanksgiving, sweet Friends.

Whimsical Homeplace

I love Mumsie's yard.  It is such a beautiful place.  One can almost imagine fairies tiptoing through the Whimsical Garden where Mumsie loves to work.

Mum's little patch of land is all that is left of the Abandoned and of the Forests of my childhood.  The birds love it there--they throng in from everywhere--they seem to know it is all that is left for them.  What a beautiful beautiful place. 

Have a lovely week--it is Springtime!

Lotus Flowers in the fields near Home

I love these flowers.  It took a bit of research, but I discovered their formal name is lotus corniculatus. Though they're actually native to the temperate grasslands of Eurasia and North Africa, they were introduced to the Willamette Valley in Oregon in the mid 1940's.

Seeds were offered to local farmers like my Grandparents and were said to be good for the cattle--and indeed, from what Mumsie says, the flowers grew everywhere and the cattle loved to eat them. 

Last summer I came across this beautiful little flower--and oh, the memories which flooded into my mind...  As a little girl, I believed they were fairy's dresses.  I would like to find some seeds for these--and scatter them around my flower garden!  They do not grow profusely as they did when I was small. 

Have a lovely weekend--take time to smell the flowers--that is, if the snow has melted!

Heart from another time

This place no longer exists...  And in some way, this photo represents the lost love of my life...  It is my third Valentine's Day without my Beloved.

For some reason it hits me a bit harder today.  I am realizing he really truly isn't coming back.  Though I KNOW I will see him again, I know it won't be in this world.

So sweet love to you, my Beloved, my heart.  You are deeply missed. 

Memories and it is a New Year!

Where once stood an endless parade of contradiction of beauty and destruction, are rows of huge homes where soft lighting and sidewalks reign.

Though I understand the need to rebuild, I miss those days of prowling through the huge abandoned buildings.  I remember the extraordinary architecture and the beauty of overgrown gardens, ponds and trees.  All of that is gone now.

I am happy for the people who live there.  They will likely never know of the adventures we once had.

I am grateful for the memories!  Happy New Year.

Fairy Home in the Forest

This was taken last Fall, I believe.  I am grateful for the trails which trace through the ancient forests--all that are left of the forests I roamed as a child.

This is a little fairy house I saw in an ancient stump there. 

Merry Christmas dear Friends.

Enchanted Forest -Outdoor Wednesday

Just a little over a year ago, an out-of-towner purchased the forests of my childhood.  He clear cut the entire thing, destroying the habitat of many endangered species.  Why that was allowed is still baffling to me.

It was an enchanted place, where mystery and beauty held hands.

The creek in the canyon was spared--with 50 feet of forest to be left on each side as green space.  However some of the woodlands where I played as a child have been saved.  I am thankful to the City of Wilsonville for its preservation of some of that area as a park protecting the old growth trees there.

I still miss walking the forests--but I have these pictures and all those wonderful memories.  My childhood was wonderful.  We spent hours and days playing in that enchanted forest.  It makes me smile to remember.  

Have a great rest of the week and happy Outdoor Wednesday.

Dirt Clod Heart

This is one of the last hearts I found at The Abandoned before they began to build houses.  A sort of bittersweet tribute to the magic which once was.

Sidewalks and Streetlights

Next to the snazzy homes being built along the street, where sidewalks and streetlights abound, the forest stands silent.  When the wind blows--I am sure the history of this once beautiful place whispers through man's progress.  Huge homes stand so close together, one could shake hands across the small divide between them.

Sissy says these are California houses.  The very kind of neighborhood which, if it somehow caught fire, would leap from house to house.  I hope that never happens here.

The New Abandoned

When I visited Mumsie, I was taken aback by these houses.  They hadn't been there a month or so before.  They are like mushrooms, springing up everywhere.  What once was abandoned, is now a swanky neighborhood.  Still--the houses are so close together, one could nearly shake hands with one's neighbor through the windows!

Above you see what it looked like after demolition.

Above you see what the inside of the huge main building that once stood where all these houses have sprouted.  I miss its mystery.  

I call these new homes Mushroom Houses.  You would not believe how quickly these hones go up.  It is just extraordinary. I question whether or not they are built well.  I've seen the construction, and I really wonder about that.  I have a feeling this neighborhood would not do well in a storm. 

Tree Sap Drip

Here  you see the sap of the tall fir.  This is how the tree heals its injured spots.  We call it pitch, others call it tree sap.  It is sticky, fragrant and beautiful in the sunshine. 

Have a lovely day and if you get the chance, take a walk in the forest.  There are all kinds of wonderful surprises to be found.

Skylights

This amazing building is now leveled.  Where it once stood one can see rows of houses set close together.  They are high-end homes, each selling for around $400,000.  I can't even imagine that much money.

What a shame.  And now, just across the street a large area of the old forest along the canyon where Oregon's endangered native frog and native salamanders once lived, has also been leveled.  Their habitat has been destroyed.

The folks who bought the land are building a mansion and are putting in a filbert orchard.  It is a crying shame--I was sure the land they bought was a green way which could not be touched.  Mom says the frogs are gone.  All gone.

They were abandoned.

I will post pictures when I can get them.

Old Growth Beauty

This is one of the incredibly beautiful Cedar trees which grow in the canyons and woodlands surrounding what once was The Abandoned.  It is beautiful.  The trees grow big and graceful.  If I were to stand next to the cedar tree you see here, I would be dwarfed by it's sheer size.

I love this place--these forests.  There is such incredible hidden beauty there. 

Forest Pond

This is the pond Daddy built.  It was a dream which came true.  It is still there, near my childhood home across from where the Abandoned once flourished.  It has a new name now--El Grande Point. 

I love the forests which still grow undisturbed in the canyons and hills which surround what used to be The Abandoned.  I hope this progress of building houses will not destroy the pristine beauty of the existing woodlands and wetlands.

Have a sweet weekend, dear Friends.