Comings and Goings

I am seriously having trouble knowing what day of the week it is right now. I think the 4th of July, being on a Tuesday, got me all mixed up.  

Anyway, it is Monday, and some house cleaning got done and the laundry is washed, folded, and put away. 

I picked new flowers for the kitchen table. 

With some blooms coming and some going, it's a matter of picking a little of this and a little of that. 

Saturday we drove back to Gig Harbor, connected with SIL Jan, and did a little garden touring before going out to lunch.

House #1 had an extensive collection of conifers. 

The second house had wonderful perennials. Both had water views.

Sunday Jake came over to pick our raspberries, which are coming on strong now. There was a carton for him and a bowl full for us. 

The big news is that Jill and Irene have made it to the base camp of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. After two long flights and a bumpy ride over dirt roads, they have been fed and are settled into their tent for the night.

Jill booked the trip through Mountain Madness, a Seattle mountaineering company, as a way to celebrate her 50 years on the planet and Irene's 18 years and graduation from high school. I may have noted in the past that they are adventurous.  Besides climbing the highest mountain in Africa, they will be going on a safari. If I get good photos I'll pass a few along. 

As for me, I'm happy to be staying home for a few days. I'll see you on the world wide web. 

Time Goes By

 Another 4th of July has come and gone, and now July 5th and July 6th! Zoom! Like a bottle rocket launched into the sky. I had a few photos of our 4th evening at Jan's on Henderson Bay, after the eating and more eating, then watching the sun set and the fireworks explode around the bay. It was noisy but beautiful.

Jill, Jake, and Irene put on a little show down on the neighbor's dock. 

There was just enough wild fire smoke in the air to make for a glorious sunset. 

Snap, crackle, sparkle!

Neighbors and visitors to the spit had big stuff. This one reminds me of the moon rise we saw as we arrived home before midnight.  The moon was huge, round, and glowing. 

The neighbors weren't quite through, but we did manage to get some sleep. July 5th was a slow day.

Tom has been working in the yard almost every day. I got out there for about an hour and a half today, before it got hot. Today's 83 was better than yesterday's 90.

My Facebook app was not working correctly, dropping all but 26 of my 125 friends. Over the last three weeks I tried Google fixes, several times. Yesterday I tried Apple on line, got dropped, got a phone assistant, and no fixes. I got an appointment to see an in store Apple tech today. She had no clue. On the way out of the mall we stopped at the T Mobile store. They are our cell phone carrier. A delightful young man helped us to do a work around. We dropped the app and are using the 5G feed on our cell phones, the same as our PCs are using. I have all of my friends back!

Some techs are better than others. Some just know how to manipulate systems to make them do what we want them to do. I like that kind. 

It's another beautiful evening. I think it might be cool enough now to read on the patio for a while. Then Jake, who came over for pie and a visit this afternoon, showed me how to get brief updates on the Tour de France on You Tube. I'll watch some of that as the sun goes down and the mosquitoes come out. 

We are counting our blessings with weather and fire so far. Wishing you safe travels through this month of July. 
 

Let The Celebrating Begin

 

It was a red, white, and blue crowd at the parade route brunch this morning. This was early. The many friends and neighbors of the hosts swelled to quite a crowd by the time the runners began to pass by, cheered by the onlookers. We had plenty of goodies to eat by then, and some good visiting. 

Then it was parade time. This is basically a neighborhood parade, Normandy Park, and mostly cars. I photographed my favorites. 

We had advance warning of what to look for. Gus the Bus would be close behind the cement truck. 

There's my ride!

There's me climbing in. Yes, Gus is for sale. He has been in the family since 1978, needs a lot of work, but could make some vintage collector quite happy.

There's me doing the parade wave, with an occasional peace sign. Irene decorated the top, Jill was driving, and Jake scrambled  into the back to make room for me. 

Tom got to walk back to the car and then the park where we had gathered, while I got a parade's eye view. 

Jill and Irene attract attention as much or more than Gus. 

After more food, provided by the City of Normandy Park, we posed for a family photo on the beach. 

Tom and I are home now, chilling out, and will rejoin the family at SIL Jan's later this afternoon. 

There will be more eating, and family fireworks, plus all the other famlies' fireworks around the bay. 

Happy 4th of July.

Let Freedom Ring!

The 4th of July!

 

This is the flag we fly over our Whidbey Island cabin. Other family members will be there for this Independence Day. We will be doing our typical 4th activities: a local parade in the morning, and local fireworks and food on Henderson Bay at Jan's in the afternoon and evening. Gus the Bus and crew are scheduled to make their appearance in the parade. I might get a ride.

Looking back at memories on Facebook, I see that I have posted PIE for the last five years, so, once again, it's American Pie!

Not so fancy this year, no stars, but I got them done before going off to my PT appointment. They are Rhubarb for Tom and Cherry for Jill. They'll share.

Happy 4th of July, everyone! I hope the weather gods are as kind to you as they will be here in the PNB.

It's July

 We have been back home for a few days and are settling into a summer day routine. 

The weather has been wonderful, cool mornings and warm afternoons, cooling down again at night. It sounds like maybe the 4th of July will heat up into the mid 80's but lots of folks around here will love that. I will seek shade.

I continue to take pleasure in our garden, and am spending more time on the patio. I had lunch there yesterday and might again today, 

Friday we had breakfast with a friend. One of our group is still testing positive for COVID, and our 95 year old friend is still on her trip to New York State where she traveled with her son to see family and attend a great grandchild's HS graduation. We look forward to her stories. 

Saturday morning I worked in the yard for a while, dead heading roses, staking up lilies, and deadheading Welsh poppies. 

Welsh poppies will shut down soon, but they do bloom longer if I get the seed heads cut off.

I couldn't deadhead this rose. Too tall. I'll get Tom to help me. 

Today Tom is working in the garden, digging tulip bulbs and bagging them up to plant in the Whidbey garden.

I'm not working at all. I did finish my morning session of PT and did a half hour on the stationary bike, where I could read my newest book.  I have read all of Louise Penny's Inspector Gamache novels, set in Three Pines, an invented town in Quebec. Now I am reading her latest, #18, A World of Curiosities. I think it's going to be rather dark.

And I did walk around the garden and find what's newly blooming.

The first Dahlia and Zinnia.

Clematis

The first day lilies

Hydrangea and clematis.

Wow, it's way past lunch time already. See you later.