Happy New Year 2026! I know we say it every year, but it seems the year slides by faster and faster. I am not sad to see 2025 in the rearview mirror. It was a good year in many ways, but it has also been a difficult year. So we look forward to the New Year of 2026, and whatever it may hold, by faith we know that the Lord will be with us and all is well.
How can it be December already? With just days left until Christmas arrives, I confess that I am not ready for Christmas to be here this soon. Wasn't Fall and Thanksgiving just here "yesterday"? Well, it feels that way at least, and while we now have some snow, and the Christmas songs are playing, and it is beginning to look a lot like Christmas outside, I have not gotten "nary" a piece of Christmas decor up. I am debating whether I want to try to lug all the boxes from our storage for a couple of weeks display before lugging them back again. Anyone else facing the same decor struggle?
December - that month of short days and longer nights
Dark clouds of gray
overshadow the sun's light
This time of year can be
full of drear
But at dawn and dusk God's paintbrush brings cheer!
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| Riley enjoys our walks into the woods so very much, especially when the snow is falling. She and I miss Annie so much. This helps us feel so much closer to her. |
As I am working on this blog post, it is hard to believe the first of December is here, and Thanksgiving 2022 has come and gone. The calendar says it is still Fall, but in our world, Winter is here!
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| The last bouquet out of the garden! |
The month of October was so full of activities that I had no time to post! One big reason that October flew by for me, was that I literally flew away for a visit to Canada! I was gone for about a week, but we packed so much into the days we were there, that it felt like we were gone much longer! Canada opened its borders for travel on October 1st with no restrictions. I had wanted to see my grandmother who had been ill and the time to do it was now. My brother was able to get away as well, and we decided to arrive together. We are so glad we did!
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| Oh my heart! Now when I see the lush beauty here, it is a beautiful reminder of the glorious beauty I got to enjoy all season... gone now... but still, it was an incredible season of bounty in the garden this year! |
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| In late October, just before our freeze... the fog is rising up from the cool air. I knew the days of beauty were numbered here... |
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| Saving tomato seeds! Have you ever saved your tomato seeds? These are heirloom tomatoes and so very easy to collect seeds from. Just take the pulp from your best tomato of each variety, and then place it in a clean glass jar, add some water, and cover. Let sit for 4-5 days, or until the pulp has fermented away from the seeds. Add a bit of fresh cool water, and the seeds will drift to the bottom of the jar, where you can capture them and place them on a paper towel to finish drying out. |
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| I have dehydrated a lot of my zucchini and yellow squash this year - they are yummy to nibble on as a snack or add to soups and stews as desired. |
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| Canning up those tomatoes! |
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| Still enjoying strawberries from the garden! This has set a record, I do believe! Here it is almost November, and my overbearing strawberry variety is still bearing! |
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| I kept my hummingbird feeders out, and had a late visitor! This was taken in mid October! |
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| The sunflowers were outstanding this year... I will leave them standing through the winter for the birds to enjoy. I have also collected seeds for next year. |
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| Glorious sunshine! |
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| A foggy October morning! |
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| Marigolds are the Autumn stars of my garden... how I love these glorious blooming beauties. They serve a dual purpose - both pests and bees love them, and they add such beauty too. I start all my marigolds from seeds I collect each year. |
Below, you can click the link to take you to a video I made in early fall as I walked through my garden, and I share many of my favorite gardening and seed-collecting tips. I hope you will enjoy it!
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| The garden has been producing massive results this summer! I've been picking the harvest in 5-gallon buckets, and things have been lining up on my porch waiting their turn to be processed or given away. |
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| I grew tomatillos this year, and I've been canning enchilada sauce and tomatillo salsa as my tomatillos have been producing a massive amount of produce. |
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I've been experimenting with zucchini pickles... since of course the zucchini and yellow squash also have been mass producing in my garden. These garden pickles turned out amazing!  |
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One evening in July we had a summer thunderstorm come through. Unfortunately, it sparked many wildfires (in the wilderness areas, thankfully none close to us), but the storm left in its wake, this gorgeous rainbow!
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The next morning... it felt like fall had made an early visit, as the storm left cooler temperatures in its wake and fog settled over our world.
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| One weekend in July we rode our quads with a large group of friends. We made our way through beautiful forests and mountain scenery to the top of Schweitzer Mountain. |
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| At the top of Schweitzer Mountain with our son and his wife. We went in and ate at the restaurant at the summit and enjoyed the glorious views as we ate and visited. |
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| Mountain gold - better known as huckleberries - we found a great spot on a mountainside and picked for about an hour. |
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| I had to make an errand run into Sandpoint and stopped by the City Beach there and saw this beautiful scene. |
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| A peek into my garden before we end this post... the pumpkin planted next to my garden sitting area has encroached, and since this picture was taken, you can hardly even see any of these things, as the pumpkins have just taken over! |
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| A little vignette from my garden sitting area... |
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| The king of bloomers in the garden, glorious sunflowers! |
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| These candy cane zinnias have been prolific bloomers also! |
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| Our area has been inundated with smoke for a couple of weeks. One day the winds changed, and the skies cleared of the smoke. I went down to the river and watched this beautiful sunset. Oh, how glorious it is to enjoy beautiful skies that are not filled with smoke. |
When there is so much beauty around me outside, it is hard for me to find time to sit at the computer inside and visit with you, my precious blogging friends. Please rest assured that in the days to come, as the garden will soon get put to bed, that I will have more time to visit. I appreciate each and every one of you, and the comments you share so kindly with me. May the blessings of the Lord be with each one of you in beautiful ways!
Oh the lazy hazy days of summer... they run together warm and humid, oozing delightful memories of outdoor delights, cook-outs, watermelon feasts, and then comes the August moon sunset rising... and as I took this photo, a cool breeze nipped the air, reminding us that the next full moon will no doubt bring a frost with it... so I am determined to enjoy the spice out of every moment available left in summer. Join me as I share some of our exciting summer adventures with you...
The month of June was an exciting month for our family. Our son got married, and we had lots of family and friends visiting, my bible study ladies came to my garden for a tea party, my husband and I found time to explore mountain lakes on our kayaks, and my garden began to produce generous amounts of strawberries! I want to share a few of these wonderful June moments with you.
The day we have been waiting for, working on, and preparing for has finally come. We have reached the first of June with no frosty conditions in the weather forecast, and the garden planting has commenced. I have been very busy the last few weeks preparing the garden - mainly weeding - for planting. We have had a blessed abundance of rain this year which has encouraged every weed known and unknown to man to appear! This will explain my absence from blogging, as getting the garden ready for planting has taken most of my spare time.
This past weekend we had two brilliant days of sunshine with skies so blue I felt I could drown in their depths, with the sun so bright and all the sparkling snow jewels; it was beauty that one's soul just soaks in every drop!
As I was on my way to a neighbor's home, I saw two large animals standing on the side of the road. It was a momma moose and her calf. They turned when they saw my vehicle and ran back to the fence line, where they munched for a few minutes on tree branches as I watched in my vehicle.
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| Did you catch a glimpse of the moon the last few days? Wow! It was shining during the day here with blue skies and sunshine, so amazing! |
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| Blue brilliance! |
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| Truly I can say I've seen the blue moon! |
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| Do you see how bright the moon is in the picture! It was just stunning to see! |
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| I've been able to do some cross-country skiing lately... |
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| My favorite place to be... on skis with brilliant sunshine in the forest :) |
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| Especially when the views open up, and the river comes into view. |
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| I am so blessed to be able to ski out my back door into this paradise! |
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| All things wrong with the world become a far and distant memory in the light of this glorious sunshine view! |
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| A blue moon in the bright blue sky... |
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| Evening shadows begin to fall and I reluctantly leave this beautiful place and turn homeward. |
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| I wanted to stay longer to watch the sunset from this view, but I knew I didn't want to be skiing in the darkness, so it was time to head home. |
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| This unique cloud caught my eye as I neared home. I thought it looked like praying hands? I was praying and praising as I skied... I think the Lord can give us pictures in the skies as part of His blessings on us :) I also think I see a heart... What do you see in this cloud? |
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| Back home from the ski... my little Tinker Belle (she has lots of nicknames) was waiting for me. "Where have you been Mom?" |
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| Our church hosted a lovely Valentine's dinner... |
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| I made Strawberry Shortcake Trifle for the occasion. |
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