Respite

 When the national news is hard to take, take a walk in the garden.

You might even find a friend there. 

Back Home Again

 Since we returned home last Wednesday evening we have combined being busy and resting.

Thursday we had an appointment to have a new windshield installed on the Subaru. When the dealer installed new wiper blades, and then we drove in the rain to Bellingham, the blades scratched a big arc on the passenger side. The dealership refused to help so we went through our auto insurance and eventually got the job done for $100 deductable. With saefty feature cameras, new windshields have to be "callibrated". Who knew.

Then I tried to shop for new sneakers since mine are wearing out. Size 11 Wide Nikes, or anything else in womens, are impossible to find. I found some on line. I hope they actually arrive and they fit.

We have been combining gardening and resting and going places.

Garden abundance. 

Tom's mini-Hosta collection.

Friday was breakfast out, then grocery shopping, then some yard work. Saturday was morning Garden Club and potluck lunch, then resting and catching up inside before going to the Sounders game in the evening. 

Yes, I went to the stadium! No one else was available, my physical therapist had urged me to try it, and there I was on the Link.

Because of track repairs, we had to get off two stations early and catch a shuttle bus. OK, I did that. The we had to walk a bit farther to the stadium. Yep, did that.

It was tricky dodging people who don't watch where they are going, but I avoided contact and Tom was right there just in case. After 78 minutes of game time, with the Sounders behind 2-0, they came alive and scored 3 goals in 12 minutes to win the game in an exciting finish. Then I made it back home, bus to train to car to 11:30 arrival. Now we were hungry so we ate ice cream and read online reports of the game.

It was a Pride recognition match.

Sunday was slow, but I did put in two hours of garden work. I watched the US Mens National Team win a match against Bolivia and some Olympic qualifying Track and Field. 

Now most of the Monday house work is done. The laundry is calling me to get busy before we stop for lunch. 

Home is where the work is, but we'll pace ourselves. 

Country Roads, Take Me Home

 The Willamette Valley was my home until I went away to college in Seattle. We lived on a small farm between the towns of Canby and Molalla. Molalla was where we went to school. It was our home town. 

On Wednesday afternoon we drove across the valley from Woodburn to Molalla to find a small nursery and display garden we read about in our Open Garden Book.

Driving around in the valley I loved seeing the crops that are still flourishing  in this fertile valley. Some are more recent types of crops and some are the same as they were 60 years ago.

Everybody loves  Marion berries.

Mt Hood is "the Mountain" in this valley.

The nursery just on the edge of Molalla was small but with nice plants. The display garden was lovely.

What to do with old plates. 

Spice bush, with wonderful blooms. 

What I loved most was being able to be up close and personal with these magnificant oak trees. These Oregon oaks dot the valley with single sentinals in the fields and in wonderful groves like this.

When we left this garden we were just a short drive away from The Pioneer Cemetery, where my parents rest. We paid them a visit. 

Then we began the long drive back to Seattle.

It was a great little trip. 

Willamette Valley Nurseries and Gardens

On Tuesday of this week we traveled to Oregon to help Tom's sister-in-law Vicki celebrate her 80th birthday at a hotel in McMinnville, Oregon.  There were about 15 of us mostly nearly or well established octogenarians present for a lovely catered lunch and lots of visiting. 

After the party we drove to Woodburn to our hotel, one we have used often, especially when my mother was still alive and living in Molalla. After a rest and dinner we found a local shady park to walk in.

Wednesday Tom and I spent the day enjoying a day in the Willamette Valley.There were several nurseries and gardens on our list, of course.

French Prairie Gardens is a small rural nursery out in the valley. They have exceptional annuals and hanging baskets. 

Al's Garden Center in Woodburn is always a must stop. It's big, bright, and beautiful.

Then we drove out of town to Seabright Gardens, a beautiful big display garden and Hosta nursery.

Then we discovered a nursery new to us. It was overflowing with color, containers and hanging baskets,  and with annuals I have never seen or heard of.

Now I was tired and hungry. We drove back to Woodburn for a Subway lunch, and then a coffee dessert at Safeway, not exotic, but easy and predictable. That sustained us for our afternoon wanderings.

Usually a hot latte consumer myself, Tom might just get me hooked on his style mocha frappe with caramel drip and whipped cream. Yum!