2026 Gig Harbor Garden Tour, Part 1

 On Saturday we met up with some of our Joyful Gardeners Garden Group to attend the Gig Harbor Garden Tour. Tom's sister Jan is one of the organizers of this annual tour. Tom arranged to get group rate tickets for our members. 

The day was cool, cloudy, with some periodic light showers, but nothing to discourage true gardeners. The mostly cloudy cover provided just the right conditions for photography. 

The garden of Cindy Bartel, located on a cul-de-sac in Gig Harbor, was a gem of color and plant interest on a small city lot. Cindy made to most of all of her limited space.

A rose and a poppy of the same color. 

Each garden features at least one artist or craftsman. Here Jeanne Anderson displayed her watercolors. She was selected this year for the program/ticket cover design. I bought a card featuring Mt Rainier. 

Garden # 2, which we did out of order and was actually the last garden we visited, is the garden of Leslie and Tom Watkins. Located on the hillside above Wollochet Bay, this is another small garden with a surprise, a "hidden" access down the hillside, around a neighboring house, to a garden overlook of the bay.

The view from our resting spot in rocking chairs on this garden terrace, 

My choice for the winner of the post interesting plant on the tour, this variegated Heliopsis, Heliopsis helianthoides "SunStruct". Bright sunny flowers, very interesting foliage, on a very compact plant, it was new to me and I loved it. Too bad I don't have enough sun to keep it happy in my garden. 

And back on the landward side, redwoods!

Keep watch for more parts to this tour. 

Summer And Soccer In Seattle

 We have been watching a lot of Soccer, of course. The World Cup came back to Seattle today on a sunny, blue sky, kinda' hot summer day. Bosnia-Herzegovinian played Qatar at noon. Isaac scored tickets and took his mom.

They were in the city early and did the march to the match. They had a little company.

The stadium was full of fans for both teams and locals happy to score World Cup tickets at a lowered price. 

Isaac's girl friend's parents immigrated from Bosnia, so we had a favorite to root for. We were happy that Bosnia won. I was so happy that they got to go. If Jill had a bucket list, attending a World Cup Match would be on it, so, CHECK!

Tom and I watched at home.

It has been hot again so we do some work outside in the morning and then enjoy down time on the patio.

The first Brugmansia bloom!

And I try to follow my mantra: live, laugh, love, eat chocolate.

The news isn't always good, but I do try to laugh, and I certainty succeed at eating chocolate!
 

Summer Solstice!

 The official time of the Summer Solstice here in the northern hemisphere, locally at Pacific Daylight time, is tonight, June 21 at 1:24 AM. I think we can start celebrating.

If I were with my 4th cousins in Sweden, we would be celebrating Midsommar, like this.

Every village has a Mai Pole and they all have their local costumes. They gather the wild flowers that are finally blooming after a long winter.

Here, I gathered a new bouquet of roses. 

And I changed our my garden flag, springing into summer.

Thanks to Jill's Christmas gift, I have new fresh flags this year. 

Picking flowers and changing flags was about all I have managed after my walk this morning. I have done a little over a mile on Wed, Thurs, and Saturday, and my legs are saying STOP. It's lovely today, just about 70 degrees F, but it's going to heat up the next few days.

I have been watching World cup matches, of course. Friday was a big day here in Seattle, as the US Men's National Team played in our stadium and defeated Australia. The city, and the region, were alive with watch parties and events and cheering crowds. It was colorful and fun and wonderful. We host more games next week. 

Tomorrow is Father's Day and for the first time Tom will have a day without children or grandchildren. They are all off somewhere doing their own things. He's fine with that, so I am too. 

If you are celebrating summer or fathers or just enjoying yourself, have have a lovely time. It's summer!

June Is Beautiful

 It got hot here over the weekend. The roses I picked for the table on Monday are a little bloomed out now on Wednesday. They last longer outside on the bushes but I needed flowers for lunch on Monday when granddaughter Irene came to lunch. We took a tour around the garden and were going to eat on the patio but it was too hot. We appreciated the inside air conditioning. We had a very nice visit, catching up with her comings and goings. She has completed her Junior year at Western Washington University in Bellingham and has a few days off until she starts a summer school class. Jill is finished with her school year today and they are going to Whidbey Island for a few days. 

We welcomed cooler temps Tuesday and today. I finally got over to the park for a walk. I wasn't sure how that would go, as I get tired easily, but it was great. I walked 1.10 miles and enjoyed the park.

Day lilies are starting to bloom.

Dogs and their people are having fun in the dog park. 

Wild pea blooms enhance the ubiquitous park plantings. 

I walked in the mild sun and in the cool shade. 

I felt so much better when I got back home. Then it was time to catch up with World Cup action. Croatia gave England a run for their money. Congo shocked the soccer world by holding Portugal to a 1-1 tie. More action continues. 

I just spent some time figuring out how to renew my drivers license. Since I am "over 70" (way over!) I now have to appear in person. Making an appointment and figuring out what I might need to renew my enhanced drivers license took some doing. The earliest appointment available is after my birthday, but I guess I have 60 days after expiration. Hope so. Also hope they accept my expired passport. We plan to stay in country the rest of our days. 

Now it's time to start dinner. Time flies when you don't want it too.

Another Week Already?

 

Our only Peony, Bowl of Beauty, but a favorite.

It popped open while we were gone this week, spending Monday through Thursday at the Whidbey Island cabin. We had rain on Monday and Tuesday which allowed us to be lazy and not work in the cabin garden.  

The rain was off and on and we did go to Langley for coffee, to visit the "Boy and Dog" and to check out the family memorial bench. It needs some work and the city has no funds, so Jill will get it to the cabin and clean it up.

We did some yard work on Wednesday morning and then in the afternoon I took a walk on the lagoon dike. There were still wild roses blooming and adding their fragrance to my walk. 

Since I don't walk as far anymore, this favorite tree on the dike is my destination and turn around point. 

I do love this beautiful Madrona tree, and the view through it to the wetland and farmland. 

Off in that same direction is a stand of cotton wood trees that is home to a Great Blue Heron rookery. 

You might be able to see one of the adult herons just above the center of this photo. The nests are pretty well hidden, but the young in them set off quite a noisy ruckus when food arrives or when a local eagle tries to menace them. 

There's good fishing in the lagoon and in the bay when the tides are right. 

Clouds provide sky drama.

And finally on Thursday it was clear. 

We came home Thursday evening so we could take our 98 year old friend Dede to breakfast, get our grocery shopping done, and be ready to watch the first USA World Cup game Friday evening. I geared up.

Now it's late Saturday afternoon. We worked outside this morning and ate lunch on the patio. It's heating up, 81 degrees now. I got too tired. I needed to call Dede to tell her how to watch the World Cup but I lost my phone. Then we found it. Then I called her and she told me she borrowed a chair and set it right up in front of the TV and watched the WHOLE USA game! She doesn't see well or hear well so that's dedication. She's not a soccer fan but she loves sports and wants to know what's going on. 

I'm going to post this and then see who's playing soccer, or baseball. It's time to rest.