We Did Not Blow Away

We are here! We are happy to say that the big storm bearing down on us fizzled!  While we have had plenty of rain and blustery weather, most of us escaped the damaging winds.

There was a tornado on the Pacific coast, in the town of Manzanita, just north of Rockaway Beach, that did a lot of damage. We don't have tornadoes here, except when we do, because some freak storm occurs. 

So we still have leaves on our trees and the coloring up is in various stages of lovely. Like this bonsai tree. 

We have been busy in the week since we returned from our travels in New England. We got home late on a Saturday night, and the next day we participated in the scattering of ashes in a beautiful old growth forest in Mt. Rainier National Park. Tom's sister-in-law's parents were put to rest in a place they loved.

On Monday we went early and stayed late at a friend's home for lunch. Tuesday and Wednesday we took advantage of the sunny weather to work hard in the yard. Then Wednesday evening we went to a Sounders match at the stadium. 

Thursday the rain returned and I made applesauce again, and pozole for dinner. When I wasn't busy doing other things, I was sorting, editing and posting my trip photos. I finally finished them on Friday, not knowing if we would have power over the weekend. On Saturday we watched for the storm to come, prepared to be powerless, but did go out to watch Isaac play soccer. 

Since the storm didn't materialize, we got in lots of TV watching, catching up with programs we had recorded while we were gone.

Sunday we were able to get in a walk, even though we got rained on, before we settled in to watch the Seahawks and the Sounders, who were unfortunately playing at the same time. The Seahawks managed to pull off a win just about the time the Sounders lost a heart breaker in the final minutes. We were just happy to have power and a warm house so we could watch. 

And so that brings us to Monday, today. We cleaned house, did the laundry, and went for our exercise walk, without rain! I got some flowers picked and arranged, and I even had enough of a rain gap to get some photos of the garden.

Everything is soggy and messy, but we'll get to the clean up when it dries out a bit. Meanwhile we'll enjoy the increasing color as dogwoods and maples turn. 

 The cedar tree is doing its annual thing. 

 The vegetable/flower garden tumbledown is ready to be cleaned out

 Areas of the lawn were completely torn up by moles and raccoons, so we have put wire down to discourage the raccoons from digging where the moles are tunneling. Of course new areas erupt over night. 

 We are ready for a festive fall.