Vashion Island Gardens

On Sunday the weather was cloudy and cool, with showers in the area, the first for a long time. But it was perfect weather for going garden touring. We toured five private gardens and DIG Nursery. I took so many photos I have to pare them down, and show them in batches.

We took the ferry from Fauntleroy (West Seattle) over to Vashion Island.

The first house was actually on Maury Island, which is attached to Vashion by a narrow isthmus. The house overlooks Quartermaster Harbor.

(Click on photos to see the details. They're too good to miss.)

A gorgeous garden in a very special old village out in the Puget Sound.

Sounders Fans

Soccer is HOT in Seattle, and today it was even hotter. Sounders FC played the conference leading Huston Dynamo a XBOX Pitch / Qwest Field. Tickets are hard to come by. I bought ours over a month ago, when they opened up a new section. Over 32,000 fans pack the lower levels of the stadium for every home match. The game was at 1:00 this afternoon. We left early, leaving the driving to Metro. We joined Jake and Tad at Swannies for brunch. This is the "headquarters" (read watering hole) for the North End Supporters, of which Jake is a charter member. We were enlisted to post the colors. Ninety minutes before the start of the match, the Sound Wave, the team band, meets supporters in Occidental Park, Pioneer Square, for a rally and the march to the pitch.

It's a sea of rave green in the stadium, even in the newly opened section in the south end. We blended in.

32,000 fans can make a lot of noise, especially when our team scores. Then the Mylar confetti floats down, glittering in the sunlight.

Jake and Tad urged the team on from the north end, opposite the field from us.

The result was what the crowd cheered for, a victory, and a firm hold on second place in the conference.

Much of the crowd stayed on to acknowledge the team. The Emerald City Supporters in the south end continued their cheers and chants.

Jake and Tad stayed to pay tribute to the team in the north end. We kept an eye on them through our zoom lens.

It was about 85 by mid afternoon, and we had been sitting in sun. Then we made our way to the bus stop for the bus ride home. By the time we made it back to Southcenter Mall, we were ready for refreshment.

An iced chocolate coffee crunch at Seattle's Best Coffee did the trick.

We don't go to many live sporting events, usually watching on TV at home. But once in a while, it's good to experience the real thing. What an amazing atmosphere at these soccer matches. What a great day!

Salt Or Medication, That Is the Question

Today, on my doctors orders, I attended a blood pressure clinic/class. My blood pressure has been in the threshold range for a while now and my doctor thinks I should go on medication. I have been reluctant to start down that path. So what am I supposed to do instead? Exercise - good. I do, usually. Lose weight - OK, I would like to, and can try harder. Give up salt - no, not OK. I can not imagine not salting my food when I cook it, and having the salt shaker on the table as well. Food without salt is not worth eating. Oh, that might help with the weight loss, though. Hmmmm. I'm thinking if it comes to a choice, the pill might just win over the loss of my salt shaker.

Swiss Chard For Dinner

I harvested more crops today. I picked Swiss chard, a lovely little head of butter crunch lettuce, and our first zucchini. I also made my first summer bouquet with zinnias, marigolds and dahlias. They are just starting to bloom in the cutting garden. I love making abundant summer flower bouquets.

There were more sweet peas to pick this time. They smell so good sitting on the kitchen table.

This afternoon we had a new visitor to the yard. I looked up from my chair to see this cotton tail rabbit on the patio. It returned later while we were eating dinner and came right up to the patio door. So far I haven't noticed any chomping in my garden. It may be a matter of time.

Successful Tech Support For Suzie

You may remember my cute little Acer Aspire One mini-laptop. When I got her for Christmas my little granddaughter and I decided she was cute enough to be a girl and we named her Suzie.

Well, I thought I broke Suzie because the battery pack was not working. I remembered removing it hurriedly when Susie went berserk on me about a month ago when I was using her in the car and picking up a wireless signal outside a restaurant in Langley on Whidbey Island.

I finally got around to dealing with the problem. I collected all of the necessary serial numbers, etc, found the one service number for the USA and called. I got to an actual person within about 30 seconds! The tech guy, probably in India, was fairly easy to understand as he led me through a series of screens and attempted fixes. I did have to ask him to repeat several times and I could tell he was getting just a bit impatient with me ( heard him sigh) but he stuck with me in my clumsiness and lack of knowledge.

We were at the point where he was going to order a new battery pack when I tried checking the battery function again. Low and behold, the fix seemed to have taken after all!

Now Susie is here on the counter getting her battery power restored, getting charged up. I'm charged up myself, because it worked! I did it! And I have the information for further support if I need it. Hurray!

Enjoying A Cool Morning On The 4th of July

We were up early this morning to get the raspberries picked before the sun got hot. The warm, dry weather has brought them on fast after a slow start.

We had about a quart of berries before we went to Whidbey. Today the harvest was eight quarts. Three went into a big bowl for the picnic and fireworks viewing we'll be heading to this afternoon. The other five went into the freezer.

I picked my first bouquet of sweet peas. They were late too, after our cold spring, but I had to pick the few in bloom for my 4th of July bouquet. Some lavender from the garden filled them out.

Tom tied up the cucumber vines, and I picked some lettuce. The hot weather will make it bolt, so we'll have to eat it up as fast as we can. There will be salads every day now.

I grew up a country girl, and while I'm happy to be a city girl now, I still like to dabble in the dirt a bit. Harvesting for a 4th of July picnic just seems right.

And the brownies I baked will be great with the raspberries and ice cream!

Hope you have some fun planned, too.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!

Short Whidbey Retreat

We're back home in Seattle after a brief stay at the Whidbey cabin. It's hot here in town, 88 today, but the Island is heating up, too. When we crossed over to the mainland by ferry this morning, there was a three hour wait on the other side, with cars lined up all the way up the hill. Some of those were probably cousins headed to the cabin for the holiday weekend. They were expecting a cabin full to overflowing. We had a little less company for our two days, and we prefer it that way. Of course, we tended the garden, profuse now with orange and purple and chartreuse and blue.

We saw an air craft carrier go by out in the shipping channel.

On an evening walk we caught this eagle on it's perch, watching the people and dogs go by.

The days were bright and beautiful, with flags flapping in the breeze.

A low morning tide allowed us to get in a beach walk. Even the beach was quiet, with very few herons. The osprey were a constant though, fishing in the bay.

Double bluff with the Olympics in the background.

Low tide at Useless Bay exposes lots of sand for walking.

With no clouds, the sunsets were just a gradual change of color. Here Mt Rainier is rosy in the glow of the setting sun.

It's very quiet and peaceful at this time of the evening, after the breeze calms down.

The skyscrapers far off in downtown Seattle catch the sun, too, and it turns them into pillars if fire. (click to enlarge)

Sunset over Deer Lagoon.

We've turned the cabin over to other family members, and each family in turn will be taking a week's vacation there through the months of July and August. It is a well used and much loved family treasure.

Island Time

Today we spent hours in the garden, grooming, mowing, edging. Now the house and garden are all spiffy. It's time for a little get away. We'll be heading to Whidbey Island for a few days. Island Time is slow and lazy.

A Newly Painted House

It has been a long time since we painted our house, and it was over due. But for the first time, we did not want to tackle the job ourselves, so we hired it done. First decision - who to hire? Tom had worked with a young man named Jonathon, who worked at Lowe's when he ordered materials for the new front porch. He asked him for a referral. Turned out Jonathon was leaving Lowe's and starting his own business, and wanted to submit a bid. Tom worked with him, and when his bid came in at a very reasonable amount, Tom hired him. Last Sunday we worked to get everything off and away from the house. We left the nails in the wall for the Carruth Collection so we would know how to put them back.

On Monday Jonathon arrived and did the pressure washing.

Cleaning always seems to make a bigger mess before it gets done.

Then the weather turned difficult - it was windy with a threat of rain. So nothing happened until Thursday, when Jonathon returned to begin the masking. We have 28 windows. It was an all day job.

Finally on Friday we got paint, but not until Jonathon had to go get some parts for his sprayer. Seems he had loaned it out, and the borrower had not cleaned it. And Jonathon had not checked it. A learning experience?

Saturday Jonathon's wife came with him to help. They are newly weds, which may explain why she was willing to help, but they made a good team. Saturday, late in the afternoon, they ran out of paint. They were back Sunday afternoon to finish the base paint and begin the trim.

Finally today Jonathon finished the job by 1:00 this afternoon. While he was finishing, Tom got all of the windows washed and I cleaned the inside. We have most of the stuff moved back into place outside, with a few more pots to return to the front porch.

It looks good, with the exception of the bottom of the garage door, which might need a bit more paint. We have to paint the green house/shed, do we can handle that too. But it feels good to have this project done.

We got a good job at a good price, and a young man got some experience and some capital to get his business going.