Summer in September in Seattle

After a stretch of dark and rainy days, summer has returned to Seattle, and just in time for the opening of several sporting seasons.

On Saturday we sat on the sidelines as Irene's soccer team, the Mud Dogs, played their first game of the 2016 season. They have been together as a team since they were six years old, and now they are looking pretty grown up as sixth graders, and still looking sharp too. 

Later in the day we traveled to West Seattle to watch Isaac's new team, the Rockets, where we needed our shade umbrella under the intense afternoon sun. 

Since Isaac missed one of the two practices this new team has had, he began on the bench. Yes, that is Jill, who volunteered to be an assistant coach, since the drive to practices is long enough that she would have to hang around anyway. 

It wasn't long before Isaac was in the action. 

In between the kids soccer games, we went for a short walk, puttered in the yard, and had a long lunch on the patio, something we hadn't done in a while. That made the cat happy. 

In the evening we watched the Sounders play on TV. Their season has about a month and a half to go. They managed to pull out a tie. 

On Saturday the NFL season began, and the Seahawks played a home game against the Dolphins. We weren't there. I "borrowed" these photos. I had my lunch Sunday in my recliner as I watched the opening of the game.

There is a lot of controversy about on-field demonstrations during the National Anthem. Our players and coaches met during the week and decided to have a show of respect and unity by standing and linking arms. Everyone on the team, coaches and support staff included, joined in. I would have respected whatever decision they had come to. That's what freedom is about. Oh, and we won, just barely.

Besides sports, late summer brings other changes. Friday we re-converted Irene's shop back into a shed and moved stuff we were storing in the greenhouse back into the shed. 

That blue tub is our disaster preparedness kit. I restocked it with fresh jugs of water and fresh food stuffs, something we do every September.  

Tom worked on the greenhouse roof, which needed repair, and now it is ready to receive cuttings from Tom's fancy geraniums. 

We have also been harvesting crops and enjoying fresh vegetables with meals: beets, carrots, cucumbers, and lots of tomatoes.  

We gave some tomatoes away, I froze the Roma tomatoes, and we are doing our best to keep up with the rest. 

 I baked a rustic apple pie Friday and Tom is doing his best to finish it off. 

There are still lots of flowers in the garden for making glorious bouquets. The sweet peas are done and yanked out, but there are still dahlias, marigolds, and lots of asters. 

We'll walk in the cool mornings, then work in the yard, and on warm days we'll lunch on the patio and take it easier in the afternoons. I am working on an itinerary for a trip we will be taking at the end of the month, when I am inclined to sit at the desktop computer. I am starting a new book, and Tom always has a book going. 

There is always something to do, which is good, but it is also still a lazy time for us. Heavy work can wait until September summer is over.