Hulda Klager Lilac Garden

Hulda Klager Lilac Garden
The day after our family gathering we were able to work in a trip to local sites with Bertha, Gary and Anne, Roy and Suzanne. As we were assembling after breakfast Roy noticed a couple of deer at the base of our hill which he kindly pointed out. As you can see by our attire the weather was a bit brisk but luckily sunny.

Our first stop was at the Hulda Klager lilac gardens just a few miles north in Woodand, WA. As a long time resident she had started and perfected many varieties of lilacs. We enjoyed not only the scenery of the gardens but the overpowering smells. We made a quick tour of the tulip gardens before lunch.

Hulda Klager home and Lilac Garden

Tulip fields near Woodland, Washington

.

We then traveled up the Lewis River to a restored grist mill that operated in the late 1800’s. It is opened on weekends to demonstrate the grinding of grain and production of electricity from water power. The two-man volunteer crew shared their knowledge and all who wanted received some fresh ground grain for a donation. Nancy created a wonderful corn bread from our sample. We just might have to go back to get another batch.

Family Gathering

Family Gathering -

Towards the end of April we hosted a family gathering which reminded us that such a large family does impact on space. We were able to pack all 22 who were able to attend into the dining area and as far as we know nobody went away hungry. We will share a few photos and leave the identification up to you. If you are totally stumped you can drop us an email and we will try and help out with identity.

Jan and Tara visit

Jan and Tara visit -

With a cool and rainy spring we were concerned about the planned visit of Jan and Tara (Nancy’s sister and niece) from California. The week before they were to arrive we had unseasonably cold weather which made the skiers happy but would not have been good for traveling over the mountains.


Enjoying Multnomah Falls in Columbia Gorge.

Luckily the weekend they were visiting it warmed up and we were able to enjoy many Rhododendrons, Azaleas and tulips in bloom. The waterfalls were also full which made for a fun trip up the Columbia River Gorge. We enjoyed our local wildlife, but the raccoon we sometimes see from our deck did not cooperate. The squirrels and hummingbirds and other birds did come and received a lot of our attention. Our trip to the coast started out nice, but ended up windy and rainy. During their visit we were able to work in visits with Roy and Suzanne as well as Brett, Kasey and Cecilia and Bertha.
.


Enjoying flowers in Portland's Washington Park

Mount Hood / Eastern Oregon

Mount Hood / Eastern Oregon trip -

One weekend we went with Roy to a time-share condo in the Mt. Hood area. We were disappointed that Suzanne was not able to join us. While Roy was being a ski instructor on Mount Hood we took day drives in Central Oregon to explore areas we hadn’t seen in a long time.

We enjoyed seeing the Warm Springs Indian Reservation and then a drive along the Deschutes River where there are fishing platforms where the Warm Springs Indians still fish for salmon over the falls.

Roy had also mentioned the White River Falls which we hiked down to and thought the 3-level falls were spectacular. The occasional views of snow-covered Mt. Hood were also great. We enjoyed evenings with walks in the area, sitting in the hot tub, watching old movies, with popcorn, and had a nice relaxing time.

Coast Trips

Coast Trips -

It is less than two hours from our place to the Astoria / Cannon Beach area of the Oregon coast so this spring when the weather was predicted to be sunny and warm, with little wind, we headed for the beach. It is nice that we are able to get away in the middle of the week as those conditions do not always happen on the weekend. We hit beautiful days on two of our three trips, but one trip the next storm moved in too quickly and caught us bundling up and spending time inside to keep from being drowned. The Astoria Column sits high on a hill overlooking the town as well as the Columbia River, depicting history of early explorations by Lewis and Clark and early settlers. There is also a Native American ocean going canoe displayed. The Oregon coast is quite rugged and very beautiful. Below are a few pictures to help you visualize our trips...

Wildlife from the Deck

Wildlife from the Deck –

The bird feeder near our deck often gets our attention. There are several squirrels that think it is a squirrel feeder but luckily they share pretty well. We never get tired of watching the sparrows, Towhees, finches, flickers, goldfinches, junkos, jays, sap suckers and others that visit our feeders. We have sighted a few hawks, Osprey, one bald eagle and several turkey vultures flying by our deck.

.

Pileated woodpecker checking a tree

.

A couple of raccoons frequent our area and sometimes sleep in nearby trees, but as they are most active at night they are not as easy to watch. When we visit the nearby wildlife refuge we enjoy larger birds like cranes, herons, tundra swans, hawks, an occasional bald eagle, and many varieties of ducks. We keep looking for the river otters which are in the area but have not yet spotted them. The beavers and muskrats are fun to watch, too.

.

Frequent visitors seen from our sun room

.

Our neighbor’s free-range chickens were often spotted near our sun room but when he started working the soil and planting his organic garden the chickens are usually kept in the barn. It has been a pleasure to spend our first spring in this house and observe all of the different flowers and shrubs spring to life. We have been documenting plants and doing some relocating. The apple tree that had suffered from years of neglect received a major pruning and seems to have survived. We will have to wait and see if we get very many apples.

.

.

Two racoons getting ready to spend the day in the tree...

Bruce & Julia at Ridgefield

After church we met with Bruce and Julia at our place for another fun day in the sun. They arrived with many delicacies for a lunch and as the temperature was a bit brisk for lunch on our deck we ate inside, enjoying the view. Then we explored the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge. There were no rare sightings but we enjoyed exploring the area. We were amazed at the size of some of the huge oak trees in the refuge and could not resist climbing them.

As we did not bring our bird book along we were not able to positively identify the many ducks and birds we observed but that did not stop us from enjoying the sightings. As so much walking, talking and exploring made us hungry we again visited our local Mexican restaurant to bring the day to a close.