It Takes Clouds to Make Pretty

That's what I said to the lady walking her dog as I was out for my evening stroll.

It was 84 here today, hot my our standards.

I went for a walk this morning, but not very early.  I have actually been getting several good nights of sleep lately.  It's about time. When that happens I am not an early riser.

It was already quite warm at 9 AM.  I walked in the park and appreciated the shady parts.  My pedometer read 2.34 when I unclipped it back at the house.

Tom and I cleaned house this morning, and then I picked a new bouquet of sweet peas for the kitchen table.  After that I was quite lazy.  

It was clear this morning but high thin clouds moved in and the air felt heavy and in need of a good rinsing.  We have really enjoyed the blue sky and warm weather this week, but a change is on the way.  Tomorrow's high will be 74 and there are potential showers in the offing.  That is predicted to be the pattern for the next week.

When I passed that lady this evening she commented on the beautiful sky and how she wished she had her camera.  I didn't have my camera either, but I thought I might have time to get the grand finale after I got back home and drove to a viewing location.

A plane took of from Sea-Tac as I snapped this shot.

It takes clouds to make a pretty sunset.  I think there might be a lesson somewhere in that.

And now my pedometer says 4.77 miles.  It's recliner time.

August Daze

My body knows it's August   My mind knows it's August.  My eyes see that it is August.  There are many signs.

The basil is ready for harvest and we made pesto today.

 It's a messy business, incorporating basil, walnuts (instead of pine nuts), Parmesan cheese and olive oil. Notice I left out the garlic.  We are not a garlic loving family.

Tom went off to have his eyes examined, and I finished up, making about six pints for the freezer. 

Outside the late summer flowers are blooming.

There are sunflowers!   So far the squirrels haven't come and robbed us of their sunshiny faces.

Speaking of squirrels, and other varmints,  I also know it's August because, like every year at this time, the moles are now tunneling all over under the grass and the squirrels are digging little holes all over the lawn, and probably the raccoons visited last night and tore up the mole tunnels.  The lawn is not looking so good.

With very little rain since the end of June, the lawn is going brown even here where we have a sprinkler system.  A little added boost from a hose end sprinkler keeps the sunny parts from going dismally brown.  Brown is the look for most yards in the neighborhood however, which is why the moles choose ours.

Having declared that these last two weeks of August would be slower, I've been 'working' on just that.  I've been taking short walks in the morning when it's cool, keeping busy until 1:00, and then having lunch on the patio, followed by reading and blogging in the shade.

In the evenings I take another short walk, so my daily total still adds up to about 3 or more miles.  Sciatica has been giving me a lot of trouble, and interferes with my sleep, so I am going easy for now.

This morning as I walked around the neighborhood school, the one I retired from EIGHT years ago - wow- I saw lots of cars in the parking lot.  I know it's August when the teachers are back in their classrooms, getting them ready and attending meetings and training sessions.  And I am ever so glad I am not joining them!

With my work done for the day I took a walk around with my camera before lunch.  More signs of August

 I love this kind of sunflower, what ever it is - a whole bouquet on one stem.

 Marigold time.

 It is not sweet pea time, but they bloomed so late that they are still going strong way into August.

 Bees are landing on flowers and fill the air around them.

 Zinnias and asters mean late summer here.

 The first color is showing on the late blooming sedums.

 Fall blooming kafir lily is opening it's first blooms.

Pinky Winky hydrangea has gone from white to pink.

 There is rangy profusion.

 Japanese anemone, the few I have left, since they are thugs.  

                                        Bee-utiful!

 Spiders are everywhere.  You carry a stick and wave it in front of you first time through any area of the yard each day.

 The golden hop vine is producing lots of cone flowers.  I have no idea if they are good for beer making, but we have a good crop.

As I walk in the evenings, the sun is setting much earlier.  I tell myself summer is NOT over, but there is that tiny feeling of melancholy that creeps in, and that I chase away. 

It's another sunny day, and there's still time to play!

Being Neighborly

There are times when being a good neighbor may require going above and beyond the normal.

So it has been this week for Tom and me.  

Maxine and Leroy have lived next door to us for all of our 35 years here in this house.  In fact they have lived in their small home since 1955.  Leroy died about three years ago, and lately Maxine has become overwhelmed with keeping up her place.  I hadn't really realized how befuddled she had become until we had to deal with getting her moved out of her house.

To backtrack, a former neighbor, now living in assisted living, called Maxine's relative living in Iowa, reporting that Maxine was not capable of living on her own any more.  That was a bit of an overstatement, but it put in action a plan via an old friend in Montana ( I know, I can't keep track either) who arranged for Maxine to go into assisted living, and then announced it to Maxine.  She had about two weeks to get ready.    The Chateau where she would be living arranged to help her select and move the furnishings she would need for her two room apartment   This move happened while we were on our east coast trip.

When we got back we spend a day getting things done here and then moved into the garden to work.  That was Sunday   At 2:00 in the afternoon Maxine came over asking for help loading things into her car.  Three hours later we came back home exhausted and very concerned.  It seems there was no plan to deal with the 60 years of  contents of the house. 

Maxine has no family here or anywhere near, and really no one else to help her out.  It fell to us.

I had nightmares that night.  On Monday we each spent about five more hours there.  I had to lead Maxine to each move as I worked to get her to go through her clothes and personal papers and anything else she wanted to keep.  Tom worked with another neighbor, George, who came and removed valuable items to sell on Craig's List.  

On Tuesday, once I was ready to leave for the coast, I went over to check on progress, and got talked into running an estate sale on Sunday.  That was today.

Tom made signs.

The house was full of stuff: main living area, garage, basement, attic, and outdoor shed - none of it at much value.  George had advertised the sale on Craig's List, a $5.00 Estate Sale.  We had seven "professional" buyers lined up when we opened at 10:00.  They were wonderful guys, actually, and through the day they kept finding "treasures".  Others came from the neighborhood and because they had seen the sign out on the arterial.

Tom worked in the house.  Jill and the kids helped for a while.  I was the woman in charge, dickering prices and taking payment.  I guarded piles of stuff that accumulated outside the house.  There was a lot of hunting and fishing gear and tools - lots of MAN stuff.

 People were kind and considerate.  Several found jars of coins and handed them to me.  One woman found Maxine's photo album from her wedding.  You see Maxine here with it, remembering the day and the people.

It was after 3:00 this afternoon when we closed up, sat down and counted the cash.  Maxine does not have a lot of resources, so we were very pleased to hand her $1850 in earnings.

We are not done yet.  The house is still full of stuff.  One buyer says he can take almost everything and haul it off - perhaps for re-sale, we're not sure, and we don't care.  When he is through, we will have some more disposing to do.

We will wait now for final clean out.  Tom and I plan to get some down time until then.  We are tired.  Staying home sounds wonderful.  

But we are also pleased to have been able to help, as much as we really didn't want to.

Home From the Sea

We had a good few days at Rockaway on the Oregon Coast with Jill, Isaac and Irene, and kitties, followed by a fun family picnic hosted by my sister Ilene, and Mike, in Vernonia, Oregon.

 On the way down Tom and I stopped for lunch in Astoria at the Wet Dog Brewery.  It was warm enough to sit outside and watch the trolley go by.

 The rain came as we were finishing lunch, and continued lightly most of the rest of Wednesday.  But we all went for a beach walk anyway.

Thursday morning, and Friday too, we called in at the Garibaldi Bakery for morning goodies.

 The kids had already done the Tillamook cheese Factory, so we went to the Blue Heron, for the petting zoo and fun shopping and tasting.

 Back at the cabin, the tourist train was making steady runs along the tracks right by the cabin.

 Inside the cabin, sleeping soundly, were Isaac's cat Sandy and her litter of days old kittens.

 Irene's cat, Mr. Whiskers was there too.

We finally got out to the beach.  Jill and Isaac walked to the north jetty.

 Irene and I played on the beach with the tide way out.

 Irene loves the surf!

 The rest of us drove the 3.5 miles to the jetty to pick up the winners!

Friday morning the fog persisted and we did some shopping.  We finally got out on the beach in the afternoon in the warm fog. There was surfing, water play and digging.

 Remains of the day.

 Evening camp.

Saturday morning was busy as we packed up and cleaned up and headed inland to join up with my extended family  for our annual Norquist Family Picnic in Vernonia.

 We were happy to have our cousin Kathy join us,  and our brother and sister-in-law Don and Sheree and Brent, Janelle and Pete out from Boston and New Orleans.

 My sister Ilene, the hostess, created a fun family game for the kids, with family history questions.  Prizes were 50 cent pieces.  Some kids got a little coaching from the back row. 

A good time was had by all!

And now we plan to stay home for a while!