Raindrops On Roses

 Summer has begun.

There are raindrops on roses this morning. That makes me happy. It has been a long time since we had any rain and how can we be the Evergreen State without rain?

Yesterday evening, Friday, Summer Solstice, after a busy day, we spent a few minutes over at Seahurst Park watching the clouds gather and then part for the late setting sun. These photos were taken at 8:00 pm. Daylight will linger a few more hours. 

It began to rain about 4:00 am and has now slacked off by 11:00 this morning. It was enough to get everything wet. 

We have rain gauges, but we know if we have significant rain when the patio gets wet under the big umbrella of the cedar tree. It takes about a quarter of an inch. 

Tom's fancy leaf geraniums, in front of the golden hop vine and beside one of several wood piles, are moisturizing.

Delphiniums are drooping

and there are raindrops on roses. 

And I can be lazy. :-)

Summer Solstice

 

A pagan Midsummer's Blessing

As summer begins here in the northern hemisphere, may you fine joy and a lightness of heart and spirit. 

Happy Summer!

We Celebrated, We Rallied, We Cooked and Hosted

 

By the time I worked through all of my PT exercises on Saturday morning, I needed to rest before getting ready to go to our local small town No Kings Rally.

We were there on the main street of Des Moines, WA before start time at 1:00, but the crowd was already gathering. I made our signs the day before. Mr. Trump makes us rude. 

We left at 2:00 because we had a family high school grad party to attend an hour away in Olympia. There we did not talk about what we had been doing earlier. We had a good visit with family and celebrated the graduate, who will soon be headed for school in New Zealand!

We missed all of the Saturday news reports on TV but caught up enough on line on our phones on the way home. 70,000 people marched in downtown Seattle, and there were smaller rallies all over. News reporter seemed surprised that there was no violence. Dah. That's not who we democracy supporters are. 

On Sunday we had a slow start and then we geared up to feed our kids for Father's Day. I got the fudge brownies made, and the Marion Berry sauce for berry sundaes. Tom got the grill set up. We did a bit of cleaning up inside and out. We both rested.

We slow cooked the spare ribs in the oven before finishing them up on the grill. Tom grilled asparagus and corn on the cob. I had the fruit compote ready. At 5:00 our kids, Jill and Jake, and our grandson Isaac arrived. We enjoyed yummy food and good conversation around the dining room table. 

After clean up, we watched the first half of the Sounders playing a Brazillian team in the first group stage of the FIFA Club World Cup. The kids left at halftime and we settled in for a quiet evening of soccer and PBS TV. 

Today is mild, calm, and mostly sunny. The laundry and house work are done. There will be some left overs for dinner. Later we'll see what Rachel Maddow has to report. 

The Brugmansia - Angels Trumpets - are blooming. Summer begins this week. We are looking forward to some slower days. 

Another Job Done

Wednesday and Thursday were cooler with cloudy mornings. 

On Wednesday Tom moved the boxwoods out from their places in front of the garage and I used the electric hedge trimmer to shear them back into shape.

I also trimmed the seed heads off of the evergreen candytuft that tops the broken concrete wall that runs the whole length of the property, 300 ft. 

I did the back yard on Wednesday along with the boxwoods, and got start on the front wall along the driveway. Tom was my cord and tarp setup man and did other jobs here and there.

On Thursday we worked on the long driveway stretch. Again, Tom was the setup guy, and then while I ran the hedge trimmer, he went after the weeds growing on the wall, helped move the tarp, and raked up fir cones on the driveway.

Now it's all nice and trim.

Today we were tired. We did our usual Friday morning stuff, breakfast out and grocery shopping. We rested, and I made my poster for tomorrow's No Kings Rally. 

While Mr. Trump is basking in the glow of his dictator style military parade, the rest of the country will be turning out by the tens of thousands to let him know we don't do kings in America, or dictators, or authoritarian regimes. 

Wilted

 

I bought this little Sun Impatiens at one of the nurseries we visited last week, potted it up and put it on one of our patio tables. 

It has been hot and I was going to be sure to give it water today. Well this moring the poor little thing was all wilted. I soaked it good, and it has revived. 

That was how I felt at lunch time today, and after working outside, the last two days. We have been having 90 degree weather, which for us here in the PNW is hot!

Today is cooler, about 80, and much better. Tom and I both worked outside this morning. Our lunch hour is at 1:00, since we are not early risers. Now this afternoon we have both been lazy, just sitting, mostly here.

I have the mosquito spray out since we do have those nasty bugs here and they especially like me. Oh, the itch! No bites today so far, thank goodness. 

Tomorrow will be cooler and we'll start working on trimming the wall plants, the candy tuft and basket of gold, plus weeding, on the broken concrete wall that runs most the length or our yard, and clipping the boxwoods on each side of the garage. Last big job!

Now it's time to move to my recliner and work my puzzles, Wordle and Connections, before starting dinner. We'll be back outside for a little while after dinner. 

Soon it will officially be summer, but weather wise, it is already. 

Feeling Old, But Still Going

 

With summer like weather we have been spending lots of time in our garden, sometimes working, sometimes just enjoying. 

I got all of the lawn edges clipped this week, and then Tom picked up. I tried doing a little work on my knees this week, but it was painful, so Tom got most of those jobs. We are just about caught up with Spring time garden chores, just one more big one to do next week when it gets cooler again. 

On Wednesday we took the day off to visit some of our favorite nurseries. All of the roses on this post are from that visit. These are local, independent business and we try to support them, even if we don't really need any more plants.

We bought another Agave to add to our Danger Garden. 

Tom added two more drarf hostas to his collection.

I have been enjoying the crow couple that is a constant in our garden now. I think it might be the same pair that has lived here year after year. They have adopted a special bird bath on our patio. The bird bath was purchased with  gift certificate that a friend gave us when my sister died about four years ago. This friend loves the crows that visit her yard. It's a fitting tribute to our friend as well as my sister. 

One of our neighbors apparently feeds them bread, and the crows like to soak it in the bird bath before eating it. You can see the bread crumbs in the water. I have to clean it out frequently. 

Each day I take time to walk around my garden to see what's blooming or growing or needs attention. Our two Korean dogwoods have been magnificent. 

Foxgloves and columbines are blooming. 

And each day I try to find some time to sit in my special chair to read or just survey my realm. 

There's Tom way back in the background, mowing the lawn. He does a lot more work than I do. 

Garden Visit

 

Gretchen and Paul know how to garden. Just walking down this driveway you know you are entering some place special. 

On Sunday we visited an Open Garden hosted by two of our garden club members, also members of the Northwest Perennial Alliance. There are member gardens open every weekend, May through September, all around the Puget Sound area. We still go to some of them, even though we no longer open our garden.

This garden is set in the hills and valleys east of the Seattle/Bellevue metropolitan area. It's in the woods. 

Lush borders along the driveway.

Hardscapes and features near the house.

Around the great lawn. 

A stream down in the gully below, and the  native woods surrounding the home and garden.

Back out to the border around the lawn. 

Tom using his phone to identify a plant we didn't know. 

Many little pathways lead into the borders and into the wooded areas. 

It was such a beautiful way to spend an hour on a Sunny Sunday morning. Thank you, Gretchen and Paul.