Crochet Flowers & Fun on the Farm

When I started my blog I thought of what to call it.. I was inspired by other bloggers to start my own and many of them had crochet as a central feature, so I named it "Teresa Kasner's Crochet".  Then as I went along blogging away I realized that the title wasn't really "true" as I post more about life as usual and crochet is just one facet of my life.  So, I deleted "crochet" from the title.  Now I add crochet things from time to time, but it's definitely not in all of them.  But I finished some booties and showed a baby blanket recently.. and yesterday while our middle child and his family were visiting I got a few more flowers done on my shawl.  I'll take it today and work on it while I volunteer at Multnomah Falls.  I'm using Drops Alpaca - it's so yummy!

Then I went out to join the boys out on the farm.. my son Shawn had fired up his Polaris, a fun vehicle, and he invited me for a ride around the farm.. of course I had my camera.. do you see Gabriel on his quad in the bottom right of the photo?  

We're now up on the hillside behind the house and Gabriel is zooming down the hill.

Coming up through our lower pasture.. the grass is SO green and lush!

Then we went back down and my son asked his Dad if he wanted to drive around on it, so we went back up the hill and I spied the neighbor's horses and got this shot of them.. there is nothing prettier than a horse, is there?

And then I took a photo of the bane of our existence.. BLACKBERRIES!  I have to smile when I read blogs and they tell about actually planting "those things" in their gardens.. here in Oregon there is a saying that if we all left the state for a few years, the blackberries would cover the entire state.  Hubby has been battling the blackberries for years on his tractor.. but this is the fence line and our neighbors are not doing their part.

I spied amongst the blackberries something else evil.. but pretty.. "Deadly Nightshade"!  Egads!
Atropa belladonna or Atropa bella-donna, commonly known as Belladonna, Devil's Berries, Death Cherries or Deadly Nightshade, is a perennial herbaceous plant in the family Solanaceae, native to Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia. The foliage and berries are extremely toxic, containing tropane alkaloids. These toxins include scopolamine and hyoscyamine which cause a bizarre delirium and hallucinations,^[1] and are also used as pharmaceutical anticholinergics. The drug atropine is derived from the plant.

A shot from up on the hill down upon our cozy humble abode, our cozy cottage, plus the woodshed and chicken house.

Our second rose to bloom on the farm.. this is a Double Delight.  This rose has been said - that if you could have only ONE rose, this should be the one.  It's beautiful and deeply fragrant.  And an interesting story is that my sister Denise's mother-in-law tested this rose for Jackson & Perkins and was given the gift of naming it.  She named it Double Delight because of it's beauty and aroma.   My son bought a house with 5 giant and robust roses in front of the house, all selected for beauty and fragrance.  His wife did not like rose bushes and so last summer dug them all up, so our son brought them to the farm while we were away on our trip and planted them all for us to enjoy here.  And this one just bloomed and 3 others have buds, one is barely making it with one tiny shoot showing.  So, these roses are survivors, too!

Below is my honeysuckle and I'm *SO* happy that it's doing well!  All the years since I planted it when it budded out, the next thing was the flowers were covered in black something and all the flowers died.  So, I was fully expecting that this year would be the same.. but look! Healthy happy flowers! YAY!

Purrrrrrrrty, yes!?

And this.. our last Rhododendron to bloom, each and every year.  It's a beauty, isn't it?  After this bloom, it will be trimmed down.. it's covering the front porch and I have plans for Christmas lights across this.  :-)

Closer.........

And closer... :-)

As I came back out of the front yard, I see Grandpa is driving Gabriel and Buddy around in the Polaris.

And as I walked back up on the back deck I saw this.. a pot of Dianthus or Pinks that came back from last year.  Don't you love "volunteers"?

Speaking of volunteers, I got this blog post done just in time to get ready to go volunteer at Multnomah Falls for the afternoon.. with my sister Denise.. and of course we have to have lunch together in the beautiful historic Lodge before we volunteer.  :-)

Thanks for stopping in for a visit.. you know I love your comments!  Oh.. and *T*H*A*N*K* * *Y*O*U*!*!*!* to Kate at Garden Bell for pulling out my name out of the hat to win her giveaway.. I'm so excited!!

((hugs)), Teresa :-)