Signs of Spring

I love spring and am inspired at the first signs of it! Looking around me here on our little farm in the Willamette Valley, it appears that spring has sprung and it's only February!

The cheery yellow daffodils are in bloom and in the last few days the willow has been leafing out with its light green spring color and the star magnolia has popped out with beautiful white blossoms...and wait, that's not all! The seeds that were planted in our greenhouse earlier in the week are starting to show their green color above the soil. That is enough to bring me joy! Yet there is even more: this weekend our first mama goat brought cheer and wonder with the birth of two cute little goats and then this morning we witnessed the birth of two more. One of those is a very healthy little doe and the other a little buck who was stillborn, a reminder that there are sometimes disappointments along with the joys of life on the farm and so with life in general. We are looking forward to what the next days will bring as more little goats are born, more seeds sprout, and buds and blossoms burst!!

My Dream

It was my dream for many years to own a bed and breakfast. Since opening almost two years ago now, it has proven to be even better than I imagined! From the remodeling and decorating to now welcoming guests has been and continues to be a delightful experience for Arnie and for me. It has been a lot of fun to share our guests’ stories as well as being able to tell our story about the transformation of the farmhouse to B&B and the history of the home built by pioneer Peter Feller in the 1860’s.

Guests have come from far and near for rest, celebration of special occasions, recuperation from surgery, plane purchases, antique shopping in Aurora’s Historic District, wine tasting in the Willamette Valley, family reunions, and even to stay in the house they were born in!

(Photo: Margaret Feller Meek and her sister Leona)

Amazing Snow

It has been 40 years since we have had snow like this in Oregon! We had over a foot of snow on the valley floor that lasted for about two weeks in December!

Growing up, I remember having three feet of snow where we lived in rural Western Oregon, but I have had a hard time convincing my husband and friends of my true stories! No, I did not walk to school through a snow storm in three feet of snow, but we had alot of fun playing in the snow.

Because our snow in December was such a big deal, there were stories of similar snows in past years and I have finally convinced my husband and friends that this has happened before and I wasn't just telling stories.

What a great way to spend Christmas and think of Christmases past!

Let the parade begin!

My good friend, Sheila, and I tried something new recently. We borrowed this cute little contraption built by a friend and rode it in the Aurora Colony Days parade. We even won first prize for creativity in our category!

Lately, I have been thinking I would do most anything to get the word out about our wonderful place to stay here in Aurora. As you can see, we had great fun and it worked...
at least we got lots of attention (maybe because folks didn't expect two little old ladies to be having SO much fun and being so silly!)

Sheila says "It was a hoot!"
(She's on the left)



Aren't we cute?

Getting Started

Now, you see, we're a grandma and grandpa and we've never blogged before. When our six year old grandson showed us a video that he and his dad made and put on YouTube, we decided we had better get ourselves updated and into this century! He loves to learn how to garden, to build things with grandpa and do lots of other fun projects with us. Then he shows us stuffed Webkinz dog named Curly who he takes care of online, and the games and activities he can do on PBS Kids.org. We were thinking that we could maybe learn some new things as well, so here we are in 2008 and doing our first blog! Just like we got Derric started with gardening, he is getting us started on blogging.