On Their Way Home

As I post this, Jill and the kids are in the air, on their way back home to Fort Morgan, Co. They will land in Denver about midnight where Corey will meet them to drive them the hour plus it takes to get home. I don't expect the kids will be awake for much of it, since they were not interested in naps this afternoon, and Uncle Jake came by for an early dinner and a chance to wear them out in the back yard. It has been a wonderful three week visit; action packed, fun filled, and precious. Now I shed a tear of longing, and a sigh of relief. We are all ready to get back to normal. God speed. We'll be together again soon.

Seattle Fun

I've been busy since I last posted. On Sunday Tom and I toured more wonderful gardens in Lake Forest Park, a suburb north of Seattle. That evening the kids returned from their stay on Whidbey Island. On Monday we mostly stayed home except for a short trip over to Angle Lake Park to feed the ducks, and then a walk in our neighborhood Crystal Springs Park after dinner. We were looking for banana slugs, but it has been too dry for them to crawl out into the open. We also hosted another tea party lunch, and this time Jill got in on the act.

On Tuesday we headed downtown, to the waterfront, and the Seattle Aquarium. It has been much improved since I was there last and we all enjoyed it, with it's emphasis on Puget Sound and Pacific marine life.

Irene especially likes watching the young woman biologist who was working with the fur seals. She thought that would be a good job.

Of course we had lunch on the pier at Ivar's Fish Bar, and fed french fries to the sea gulls. Jill had a line of wide receivers catching her tosses ten for ten, her all star Seattle Seagulls.

Since we were parked near it, and had to climb back up the stairs anyway, we walked through the Public Market. There was some fish throwing, lots of vegies and fruit, and gorgeous flowers. Jill bought me a bunch of sweet peas, which Irene loved carrying and smelling.

We took the annual photo with the market pig.

Today we are having an indoor play day. The rule is to play with any toys you want and you can have them all out at once. The kitchen floor has become Seattle, with Totem Pole Park, the ferry docks, and, of course, the aquarium. Little sea creatures we picked up at the gift shop have been carefully attended by Irene, who studied the techniques carefully yesterday.

The gloves are necessary when handling fishy parts and squid tentacles.

Jill has now gone off to the Sounders match with her brother, Jake. We'll watch on TV and eat popcorn.

Garden Touring On Whidbey Island

We belong to a gardening organization, The Northwest Perennial Alliance, in which members open their gardens to other members. Before the first of May we receive a booklet listing all the gardens that will be open each weekend May through September. We have opened our garden each year for many years but chose not to do so this year. Today there were five gardens and two nurseries open to NPA members on Whidbey Island. We caught the 10:30 ferry in Mukilteo to cross over to the island.

Just down the beach from the ferry dock was our first stop, with this lovely perennial garden right on the beach.

Our next stop was Cultis Bay Nursery, a small, fun little business tucked back in the trees and pastures. They have a great selection of plants, but what caught my eye first was this little self serve produce stand by the parking lot. The cooler was full of fresh, bagged greens ready for your next salad when you deposited your money in the tin can.

The Prindle garden overlooks the sound with a spectacular 400 foot border framing the view.

After a quick stop at the Bayview farmers market to buy some fresh strawberries, we headed for the family cabin to eat our picnic lunch and join the family there for a short visit. We found them all on the beach.

It was soccer shirt day, with Jake in a Seattle Sounders jersey, Isaac wearing the French National Team, Irene wearing the Norway World Cup kit, and Jill wearing the Netherlands colors. Except for the Sounders shirt, these were all gifts we brought back from European travels.

We also checked in on our own island garden and couldn't resist pulling a few weeds.

Then we were off to two more gardens. By now I was really interested in the little details I found in the gardens.

This one was full of whimsy.

Those are rocks about six inches across in this "nest".

Moose Run is a huge and spectacular garden near Langley. My camera liked the koi pond.

Our final stop was the Chocolate Flower Farm, a small nursery specializing in flowers that are chocolate in color and/or fragrance. It's a great little place where we usually find a plant or two we can't resist. I left my camera in the car today, so these are photos I took in April.

We made a final stop in Langley for an iced latte before heading back to the ferry. We stopped near home to pick up a pizza and made it home in time to see most of the Sounders FC soccer match on TV. They won! Yea, Sounders.

It was a very good day.

June Is Busting Out All Over

The scent of roses is in the air. The Paul's Himalayan Musk rose has once again erupted on the fruitless cherry tree that has become its trellis.

After a late arriving spring we are experiencing an early summer here in Seattle, with four weeks of no rain and temps in the 70's, and even up to 90 last week. The first blush of roses is bursting out.

The native dogwoods have long faded, but the Korean Dogwoods are in full bloom.

Along with the roses, the fox gloves and columbine have planted themselves, and determine their own color combinations.

The Lady's Mantle and Cat Mint are adding a colorful froth that is humming with bees. Because of our shady garden, some of the peonies are still blooming, along with those big orange oriental poppies.

I'm sure I posted photos like these last year, but each new season with its new blessings deserves its own celebration.

I love the long vista that is my whole garden, but each day I try to take a stroll to enjoy an up close and personal visit with the beautiful details. And when I take my camera along, the results are very hard to limit to a few. So you get a big bunch!

What a glorious bounty this late spring has brought to us.

Comings and Goings

What day is this, anyway? It's hard to keep track. - Tuesday we went to the zoo. While I can take or leave the zoo myself, I did enjoy spending the day with the family, walking around in the pleasant weather, having a picnic lunch on the lawn, being entertained by the kids. Jake was able to join us, and that made it even better. We enjoyed the flamingos, typically standing on one leg and hiding their heads, and this goose who thought he was one of them.

We saw animals both real and artistically rendered.

The statues are fun to pose with.

I find zoos frustrating. In order to give the animals a semblance of a natural habitat, they have large, vegetative habitats. That's better for the animals. But it makes it almost impossible to see them. Hm-m-m.

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After we got home I went up to the school for a retirement reception for a former colleague, and then we took the kids out to Red Robin while Jill went out to dinner with a high school friend. You earn your Grandparent merit badge when you take a six year old and a four year old out to a restaurant without either of their parents. As Irene was squirming under the table, I informed Tom that I was merely containing her, not controlling her.

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Wednesday we were up early to watch the tree demolition. The wonderful cherry trees along the drive that we have loved for 30 years had become so diseased that they were barely leafing out this year. The blooms faded on the trees almost before blooming. We knew that it was time to have them removed.

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We called Little Joe's Tree Service. They sent a big crew and had the job done in an hour!

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With long reach chain saws and a tree size chipper, they made those trees disappear like magic, without a trace. It does pay to hire a company that has the tools and skills to do the job right.

We do mourn the loss of the trees. It seems so bare without them and I know the neighbors will miss them. But it needed to be done.

Since that job was done by 9:00AM, we had the day to play. Jill went out to lunch with an old friend and we entertained the kids with a grand luncheon and high tea down on the deck.

It is very quiet here now. Tom and I were up early to take care of an annual garden chore before it got warm. Jill and the kids left for Whidbey Island where they will join Aunt Jan and Jake. Jan is Tom's sister and a very devoted aunt who needs some time with the kids without the competition of Grandma being present. They will have beach time and canoeing in the lagoon and campfires in the back yard and sleeping in bunk beds. We'll check in with them briefly on Saturday when we go to Whidbey Isalnd to tour some gardens. Other than that, we are not invited.

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And that's OK. I just enjoyed a two hour lunch while sitting on the patio, reading the newspaper. When I'm through blogging I plan to catch up in the news magazines and then start a book. We are ready for some down time.

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They'll be back on Monday for another busy week.