Falling For White Oaks


With fall here the need to decorate for the season has struck. It may be I just get tired of last season, but nonetheless I feel the need to break out the pumpkins and fally stuff.

What Is $200.00 Worth

MY STORY
One day I went for a run. While I was running I found this small piece of paper on the ground.
I almost ran right past it but I decided to pick it up. After I opened it up, I was a bit surprised.
I felt lucky, and decided to take it home. On my way home, my mind was racing trying to think of what I would spend my new-found fortune on. Nice dinner? Rent payment? New running shoes?

The Solution
My final decision was simple. I would use the money to help other people. The next week I took the money to the bank which was offering a special $100 bonus for opening a new account. I turned my $100 into $200 overnight. I decided to help 100 different people at $2 each to help make their day and spread the joy that I originally felt.



This began what I call the 101 Happy People Project



Comes A Time In Life

Someone once said,
 
 "There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad, and focus on the good.
 
Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who don't. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living." Being alive is a gift, being happy is by choice...

Chillin' At White Oaks Dead and Breakfast

Fall is an amazing time of year in Oregon, The pumpkins are huge and the colors of the rainbow. We start our fall decorating and toward the end of September I put up our 'White Oaks Dead and Breakfast' sign. We are a bed and breakfast and people get a kick out of all the fall do's we do.

I love fall and all it entails. It's the big last "hurah" before the rains start.

Chillin At White Oaks Graveyard
Guests are finding some peace and quiet at the White Oaks Dead and Breakfast.
Guests Chillin At White Oaks
We go all out in decorating White Oaks and I have such great memories of my childhood at fall. Apple juice time. Canning the last of the seasons harvest. Making and freezing dozens of pies.

Just the simple fall smell is a wonderful pick-me-up.


Spring Babies

Kimberly

I have found a fun artist and enjoy her work.
Thank you Kimberly for sharing.
                      The Beginning.

                        The Finish.       

Thanks Redhead Riter

Oh My Goodness. I needed this laughter. I hope you can smile over the bumps in your road today.


Geography Of A Woman

Between 18 and 22, a woman is like Africa, half discovered, half wild, fertile and naturally beautiful!

Between 23 and 30, a woman is like Europe, well-developed and open to trade, especially for something of real value.

Between 31 and 35, a woman is like Spain, very hot, relaxed, and convinced of her own beauty.

Between 36 and 40, a woman is like Greece, gently aging, but still a warm and desirable place to visit.

Between 41 and 50, a woman is like Great Britain, with a glorious and all-conquering past..

51 and 60, a woman is like Israel, has been through war, doesn't make the same mistakes twice, and takes care of business.

Between 61 and 70, a woman is like Canada, cool, self-preserving, but open to meeting new people.

After 70, she becomes Tibet, wildly beautiful, with a mysterious past and the wisdom of the ages...an adventurous spirit and a thirst for spiritual knowledge.

                                   Geography Of A Man
Between 1 and 80, a man is like Iran, ruled by nuts.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
AP Photo/Mehr News, Sajjad Safari)
I have too many friends that are men, so it is best if I do not comment.

(silently laughing my head off)

Relax! It is just a joke!
The Redhead Riter



How Can We Feel Better

A Buggy Friday

Lady Bug, Lady Bug

Summer and I illustrating  and water coloring a children's book I have written. The problem is reading my own writing...It will be fun to finally put my children's fantasy stories on paper after all these years of making them up on the spur of the moment. And NEVER writing them down.

Father, Thank You For A Bright Spot

May I smile as He Smiles on me. This was taken last night from my front porch swing.

Fall White Oaks Leaves

These natural floral oak leaf formations drop onto my yard every late summer and early fall. I am struck by their form and how naturally beautiful they are. No one could tell me what they were. So I am using them in floral arrangements on my tables and wreaths and such.

I decided I needed to study what they actually were and how they were formed: I mighta, shoulda done this first before I fell in love with them. So here is the story:

Oak Apple Galls

These are large (1- to 2-inch diameter) rounded growths that are filled with a spongy mass. A single wasp larva is located in a hard seed-like cell in the center. Galls are usually found on the petioles or midribs of leaves. They will dry to a brown, paper thin wall. Removing and destroying galls before they dry and wasps emerge from a hole may help to reduce the infestation. While large and spectacular, they cause no measurable harm.
                                    http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef408.asp

So all this time I have been making arrangements and pretty gifts with WasPs in them. Ugh! But they'er so cooool.

I guess this is a gentle reminder that all that glitters is not gold. Check your gold for wasps before bringing them into the house or giving them as gifts. There has to be a deeper lesson here somewhere...My word, you'd think I'd learn after all these years.

I still see them as natures art. And cool. I just check for any stingy thing which  might reside inside before giving it to a friend. A not so good a friend, maybe not...Oh all right. I will AllWays check  for resident creatures if I must. Picky, picky, picky you all are. Love ya anyway.

Still think they're cool.

Dan

Dan is a visitor to White Oaks Bed and Breakfast. Dan has also become a friend. A friend whose wisdom, courage and pain he pretty much keeps to himself.

Tamales,Tamales, Tamales!

After a two day period of mini disasters these tasted amazing...You're amazing Darcy. Thanks and thanks to Summer for making me do it....