Wednesday Wisdom 🌞
Our Wish Tree is blooming with dreams! 🌳💫
This past week, countless heartfelt wishes have been tied to our branches. Have you added yours? 🤗
To every wish maker who courageously shares their deepest desires, we send love and peace. ❤️ May your hopes and dreams unfold beautifully. 🌈
Visit us, jot your wish onto a tag, tie it to the tree, and make your wish known! 🎀
#WishTree #DreamBig #WednesdayWisdom #PositiveVibes #WishesDoComeTrue #HeartfeltWishes #PeaceAndLove #RhoneStreetRetreat #Portland #CommunityLove #wishingtree #rhonestreetwishingtree #rhonestreetretreatwishingtree
Whoa Nelly, that’s a LOTTA RAIN!!!
Anyone else feeling like they’re swimming through the streets? Stay dry out there, friends!
#RainyDays #WeatherUpdate #Portland #fallinthepnw
Here’s to the WEEKEND!
Here’s wishing you a restful and enjoyable weekend
Especially a weekend out of the 90°’s!!! Oh ya!
Make the most of it!!
☀️😎☀️😎☀️
#rhonestreetretreat #thatssoportland #livelikeaportlander #exploreportland #portlandoregon #portlandor #youcaninportland #pdxnow #portlandpdx #pdxlove #travelportland #keepportlandweird #makeportland #portlandiswhatwemakeit #thisisportland #hiddenportland #rosecity #fosterpowell #fosterpowellneighborhood #fosterareapdx #sidewalkjoypdx #pdxsidewalkjoy #sidewalkjoy #sidewalkjoyportand
#rhonestreetwishingtree #rhonestreetretreatwishingtree
The antics of coop life can be so intriguing and funny…
In the summer we always get 1-3 gals who want to sleep out on top of their hen house. Of course we come and put them away before we go to bed as they are more secure in their hen house and while it may be warm in there, it isn’t hot (we have a thermostat 😉).
It’s usually the same gals each night until one night it isn’t and then suddenly, it’s a different girl. 💨
For the last several weeks it has been Cardamom up top. Occasionally she would be joined by Clove or Cinnamon or Nutmeg…or some combination of 2-3 of these gals.
But in the last 2 weeks it changed from Cardamom every night to just Clove for 2-3 nights and now it is Cinnamon.
And I swear, when we come in to put them away, it’s like they suddenly realize they have been spotted and we hear this cooing, like they’re whining “awe crap, here they come. I’ve been spotted!”
Always entertaining are these chickens 🤣
Here’s Cinnamon’s turn to wish you a Goodnight and sweet dreams 🛌 💤
#merrillhomestead #backyardchickensofinstagram
#backyardchickens #backyardchickenkeeping
#chickenkeeping #chickenmama
#spoiledchickens #chickensmakemechuckle
#chickencoopsofinstagram #chickencoop
#backyardchickencoops #chickenmom #petchickens #chickensaspets #chickensofinstagram #happychickens #chickenkeeping #backyardflock #ilovechickens #mypetchicken #chickensofinsta#spicegirlchickens #crazychickenlady #rhonestreetretreat #portlandchickens #fosterpowell #fosterpowellneighborhood
Wowza!
That was some seriously BIG Thunder we just had. Scared the crap out of me and the poor puppy.
The birdies were are happy chirping up a frenzy. Then the BIG thunder struck and those birdies haven’t been heard since
#rhonestreetretreat #portlandoregon #portlandor #summerstorms #pnwweather #portlandpdx #thunderstorms
#fosterpowell #fosterpowellneighborhood #fosterareapdx #zone9a #backyardgarden #thunder
One of my favorite evening activities this summer…picking blueberries at dusk
We have 10 bushes. Several are new this year and not bearing much fruit. A few are late season bloomers so the berries aren’t yet ripe
On about 3 of the bushes, there are few berries every couple of days ripe for the picking. But on this one bush that is now 3yrs old, it is just blowing up with blueberries.
There are so many, the kiddos I nanny get fresh picked berries every day for lunch, there are some to freeze for smoothies and homemade popsicles, and even to eat a few while picking, cause I just can’t resist!
Blueberries are amazing!
🫐💙🫐💙
What’s your favorite summer fruit???
#rhonestreetretreat #summerberries #summerfruit #berrypicking #blueberries #blueberries #zone9a #pnwgardening #pdxgardening #backyardgarden #naturalgardening #berrygarden #blueberrybush #summeryum #urbanfarming
Okay y’all….this is really SO cool!
Our very own FoPo neighborhood gem, Bar Carlo and its all-star founder Mel, are featured in this 3-part documentary series, Culture Capital.
It’s streaming now and we are watching in Peacock
Be sure to check this show out and of course support the deliciousness of our small neighborhood cafe @barcarlopdx
because IYKYK it’s entirely satisfying and amazing!
And if you don’t know, then you should 😉
#rhonestreetretreat #livelikealocal #thatssoportland #livelikeaportlander #exploreportland #portlandoregon #portlandor #youcaninportland #pdxnow #portlandpdx #pdxlove #travelportland #keepportlandweird #makeportland #portlandiswhatwemakeit #thisisportland #hiddenportland #rosecity #fosterpowell #fosterpowellneighborhood #fosterareapdx #supportsmallbusiness #supportlocal #shoplocal #eatlocal
Back in 2011 when my son was just 2 years old, I decided to do something about the ridiculous slope in my front yard that made mowing a lot of unnecessary extra work.
I basically had two choices for change…put in an expensive retaining wall, leveling the front yard or naturescape the slope.
The leveling off and adding a retaining wall would have given me about 4 extra feet of front yard space…to be honest, I do wonder what that would have looked like BUT the cost was WAY more than I could afford at the time.
So I went with the naturescaped route and connected with the @backyardhabitatcertification program. I got a consultation filled with incredibly insightful info about native plants to our area and ideas on what I could do to benefit my family, the birds, bees, bugs, etc.
Ultimately I got to design what I wanted to plant and where. I bought new plants, put things in the ground from potted plants I already had, and just kept growing from there.
In August 2011 we got our first certification for a Silver Backyard Habitat.
The best thing about this program, aside from no longer having a ridiculous slope to mow, is that we started to see more and more native birds.
When I first moved into our home all we saw were crows, European starlings, robins and sparrows.
But after a few years of native plant gardening, we suddenly had chickadees (who have now been returning residents for over 8years), dark-eyed juncos, northern flickers, downy woodpeckers, American goldfinches, hummingbirds, finches, nuthatches, bushtits, the bewicks wren, spotted towhees, western tanagers, cedar waxwings and even a Cooper’s Hawk (which is a bit terrifying as a chicken keeper)
All in all, 26 varieties have been spotted in my yard AND photographed then identified over these last 13 years!!!
This post was inspired by a photo memory from 10years ago today, where I was able to catch a photo of the American Goldfinch pair.
It really has been fun to get to know these birds usi
