gardenworks

2011-05-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

Two years??? Just read my last post and it was in August of 2009 which was the year I was going to post something every day in honor of my 60th year. Guess that didn't happen! And, because I haven't posted in two years, no one is going to read this. Must decide whether to keep posting or close it down. file:///Users/Cathi/Desktop/GrimyHands-1.jpg

One month

2009-08-18T21:19:00.000-07:00

One month ago today I turned 60. I don't really think about it, but someone asked me today how old I was and when I said, "60," I realized that I had been that age for exactly one month. Had dinner tonight with two, long time friends and a new friend. Good laughs, and some tears as recent deaths of friends and family from cancer are with all of us.

I am already behind in my vow to post a picture a day. How do people do it? There are so many things to cram into a day that getting to the blog post is low on the list some days.

This picture is from a garden we toured last week. Dinner plate sized hibiscus which is hardy in our climate. The plant was amazing!

Can he get any cuter?

2009-08-11T19:26:00.000-07:00

How does one get any cuter at this age? Each day seems to bring a brighter smile, more attention to movement, and grabbing your finger (and hair) with a tight grip! No pictures of E & Grammie outside, but fussiness goes away when I walk outside with him. My kind of guy!

Emmett

2009-08-05T20:35:00.000-07:00

Time for another E photo. This photo is from three weeks ago. He is probably shaving by now! We haven't seen him for almost two weeks as he and his mom took off for Orcas Island to celebrate Holly's birthday two weekends ago and we were there last weekend. A visit this weekend is planned so that we can play catch up.

Seattle, Spo-de-caan

2009-08-03T19:17:00.000-07:00

Traveled across the state to Seattle this past weekend. We are familiar enough with the Seattle area that we didn't use our GPS until it was time to go from our hotel in Renton to Holly & Matt's house and we turned it on so that we would take the most direct route. Just want to say that without the GPS we would have still gotten there!

Interestingly, the exit on I-5 northbound to H&M's is a dual exit which also serves to enter I-90 eastbound for Spokane. Only, in her fine British accent, the voice on the GPS kept pronouncing Spokane as Spo-de-caan. We laughed every time!

We went over to help with some sprucing up of the front yard and deck in preparation for the wedding party weekend at the end of the month. When we arrived, though, H&M tossed out the possibility of helping them paint their dining room red. We declined, nicely I hope! Just wasn't in our mindset to paint in Seattle in 90 degree heat.

Planting, weeding, pruning in 90 degree heat was enough! Although, my kind of fun! The results look great and I hope the plants settle in and bloom beautifully through the party weekend.

Seattle and Lavender

2009-07-30T21:16:00.000-07:00

We are heading over to Seattle in the morning. Given the record high temperatures over there this week (103, all time high) we have asked ourselves, "why?" We are going because Holly & I have birthdays to celebrate and their house needs a tender gardening touch with colorful containers so that it will show off well during the August wedding party weekend. Off we go!

The lavender is about done blooming and starting to look a bit brown, so thought I would post a picture of it taken about a month ago in all its glory.

Wind in the grass

2009-07-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

The wind is very gusty outside right now. Just came in from watering the pots in the front and it felt like it was coming at me from several different directions. The news says that there are very severe thunderstorms, tornado warnings and flash floods in the region. Should be interesting overnight. Right now these grasses are whipping around like crazy.

Hypertufa planters

2009-07-27T20:39:00.000-07:00

Last August three friends and I made 13 hypertufa pots one day. I brought mine home and put them under the potting bench for the winter. This spring I drug them out and planted them with succulents.

Holly's birthday and other things

2009-07-26T16:32:00.000-07:00

Once again, life intervened and the blog posts are behind. How do people who post something everyday do it?

A co-worker is moving to Texas, so we had a going away party on Friday night with some silly gifts. Those are chili pepper sunglasses, in case you are wondering.

My cousin and her family from the eastcoast were here to visit for part of the weekend which was fun to see her and how grown up her boys are since the last visit.

We disturbed a quail nest while working in the garden earlier this summer and the mother abandoned the nest which made us feel badly. Now, we have a mother robin who built a nest way out on the end of a limb of a maple tree hanging over the front yard. The babies hatched this week! It is fun as they are barely above our heads, so we have a bit of a view into the nest.

And, best of all, it's Holly's birthday!!!! Look who's 30!! Not my youngest child! I can't possibly be old enough for that, can I?

Thursday, already

2009-07-23T19:26:00.000-07:00

How did it get to be Thursday? I am three pictures behind.

Smiles and more smiles

Blooms

2009-07-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

First of 365

2009-07-19T21:02:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me as I was out watering in the garden this evening that I really do have lots of nice photos of the garden, trips, family, etc. that would be fun to share. When I turned 50 I decided to spend the year calling as many friends as possible over the year. Yesterday I turned 60 and have thinking about how to mark the occasion. I saw a couple of blogs where people posted the number of things they are thankful for that matched how old they were. I mulled that over and decided that I wouldn't do that, but will try my best to post a picture a day. We will see how close I get to meeting that goal.

This picture should have really been posted yesterday, so I am already a day behind!

Old, dear friends

2009-06-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

OK, Char. Here's the post. I will try to live up to your posting prowess and post more often!

Had lunch, which lasted well into mid afternoon, with most of the people I worked with for six years at the Area Health Education Center at WSU. We bonded well while working together and continue to keep in touch with each other, even though we have scattered a bit due to job changes and retirement.

You are all the greatest and it was a terrific way to spend part of the day!

Emmett

2009-06-11T07:25:00.000-07:00

Scanning my posts, which have been infrequent (with an intention to post more often), I realized that I had not shared a picture of Emmett. So far, this one is my favorite. He grows and changes each day. This picture was taken 2-3 weeks ago. What a precious little guy!

Provence

2009-06-10T21:44:00.000-07:00

I took so many photos of the buildings and surrounds that I thought I would post them mostly without comment for your viewing pleasure.

Saignon

Eygalieres

Our Trip to Holly & Matt's Wedding in France

2009-06-07T09:03:00.000-07:00

Spokane, Portland, Amsterdam, Marseilles, Saignon: the route to the wedding.

We left Spokane at 6:15 AM on May 25 and arrived in Saignon mid afternoon on May 26 which was about 33 hours of traveling via car, plane, plane, plane, car.

Our first ground level view of France was the Marseilles airport and surrounds. Not exactly the stuff of our dreams, but at least we were on French soil. After retrieving our bags, getting through the rental car ordeal, packing the car and figuring out the French dashboard, we were off. We followed the very loose directions from the rental car guy to follow the signs to Salon-de-Provence and then follow the signs to Apt and headed out of the airport. No one told us that the road was a toll road until Dave spotted what looked like a toll booth. I didn't have time to consult the travel book, as I was desperately trying to read the signs using my limited French to figure out what we were expected to do. All the signs had the exact same message and none of them read the equivalent of, "Go here if you need to talk to someone." So, we pulled up to a booth. No sign, no person. What to do? Drive on through and see what happens! Immediately afterward we pulled into a parking lot fully expecting the sirens to start at any time. I grabbed the guidebook trying to figure out just what kind of road we were on and was reading frantically when I hear Dave say, "Do you speak English?" I look over and the car next to us has three nuns sitting in the back seat. "Non." Then, giggles. Oh, my!

I called Holly and told her what we did. She explained that we should have taken a ticket at the initial toll booth which will tell the exiting booth how much to charge. Makes sense. She asks how much money we have. 30 Euro. "I hope it is enough," she says. Oh, great. Our first hour in France and we are already in trouble! Nothing to do but drive on and see what happens. We got to our exit and the woman at the ticket booth does not speak English. As best I can I explain what we did, where we got onto the toll road, and ask how much we need to pay. She consults someone via intercom. More questions about where we started. I finally produce the rental car agreement. Ah, ha! Problem solved and we owe 3 Euro, 60. Phew!

The toll road was a piece of cake compared to what awaited us upon exiting. We are now on a two lane road which narrows to a width almost as wide as the two vehicles which need to pass each other. There are no shoulders and the Plane trees planted right on the edge of the road. No room for error! And, those rond points/round abouts. The map was on my lap and I found myself trying to guess which town further down the road in the direction we want to travel is going to be the road identified in the rond point as the direction we want to travel. We mastered the rond point pretty well during our visit, only having to go around more than once a handful of times.

We were told that the drive from Marseilles to Saignon would take about 2 1/2 hours. But, no one accounted for our quick escape from Marseilles via the super fast toll road. So, in an hour we had arrived in Apt, the closest large town to Saignon with only the remaining 5 km to cover before arriving at our destination. We found the parking lot next to the church which Holly & Matt had designated as the meeting spot for arrivals and called Holly to come meet us.

She arrived alone as Matt was suffering from food poisoning from dinner the night before and was in no shape to leave their house. Holly got into our car and off the three of us went to find our gite (rental house) which wasn't located within walking distance from the village. Back down the hill following a hand drawn map. We find the gite with only a couple of wrong turns, park and walk over to the owners house for the keys. Marie Christine greeted us warmly and offered a very welcome drink.

Front door

Front door view

Back door view

The house was spotless and welcoming with cherry, olive and linden trees in the yard and the oleander blooming next to the terrace. We unloaded the car, and headed for the grocery store in Apt. Back down the hill for breakfast supplies & TP as Holly informed us that the French only supply one roll! Back to the gite to drop our purchases & change our clothes before heading back up the hill to Saignon to see who else had arrived.

Matt's parents were already there. Friends from Seattle had arrived and other friends had called from the road as they drove from Paris. We tried to book a table at the Auberge (the main hotel in town) only to find that we would have to wait until 8:30 for a table to be available for nine people. So, the Seattle friends went off to find their own meal, Matt's parents decided to eat in Apt, and Holly, Dave & I got a table for three at the Auberge. We were so tired that we almost opted to not eat, but glad that we did as the wine and food was definitely what we needed!

Forty-three hours after getting up in Spokane we were heading for bed in Saignon.

May 27

Day started late as I slept for 10 hours, getting up around 10 AM. The weather was sunny & warm. I stepped out of the house to beautiful views, bees humming in the trees, fresh cherries to pick for breakfast and my cup of tea. Matt, Holly and Matt's mother, Sara, arrived shortly after to see our house and drop off Holly while Matt & Sara headed to Apt for shopping.

We drove back to Saignon with Holly. Our first task was to explore the village and climb le rocher (the rock) which was the location of the wedding ceremony.

The roof of the house Holly & Matt rented.

She also wanted to go to Manosque, which was the town she had lived in for the past nine months, to run errands and finish moving out of her dorm room.

The view of Manosque from Holly's room

Manosque was 45 minutes away and we arrived midday. Our first stop was the high school at which Holly lived with 4 other assistants. She lived on the fifth floor of the dorm without an elevator! The climb to her dorm room was harder than the stairs up the rock. This was a familiar task as Dave & I have helped Holly move in & out of several residences in Seattle over the years. She had moved quite a bit of stuff already, so the task wasn't too onerous. We gathered up all the remaining stuff, including her wedding dress and the rings and trucked back down the stairs, across the school grounds, across the road and packed it into the car.

Then, walked down the hill to the center of town for some last minute shopping, lunch, picking up Matt's dry cleaning, more grocery shopping at the Hyper U, dropping off boxes at the post office that Holly was mailing to herself, and an appointment at the hair salon for a trial run of our hair do's on Friday.

On our drive back to Saignon Holly took us on the route she & Matt had used when they discovered Saignon on their travels in February. A breathtaking view of the village awaited us as we rounded the last hairpin turn coming into town. We could see why they fell in love with this wonderful village. The rock at the top left of the photo was the wedding site! We dropped Holly off to walk back to her house and headed for ours to change our clothes prior to a family/friends gathering where Matt's parents were staying.

That evening everyone who had arrived in Saignon gathered for a Provencal meal with most of the 28 intrepid souls who were gathering to attend the wedding. Matt's brothers and their wives had arrived as well as Holly's father & his girlfriend, and 5 friends from Seattle. The party went well into the night and we arrived back at the gite on another late night.

May 28

Our one free day. We had laid out the map on the dining table, read the guide books, listened to Holly & Matt's suggestions and picked out a day trip to head out on on our own. We decided to go see Le Gorges du Verdon, Europe's deepest canyon. It appeared to be about a two hour drive each way to get there, plus 2-3 hours touring the canyon. The plan was to leave by 9 AM so that we could return in plenty of time to get ready for the family dinner at the Auberge hosted by Matt & Holly. But, in true French fashion, we didn't leave until 10 AM. Still, no problem to be back as we had until 8 PM to gather for dinner.

Provence is famous for it's vineyards, olive trees and lavender fields. The lavender fields were everywhere teasing us with the promise of purple for as far as you can see as we were there 2-3 weeks early for the bloom. But, the poppies were blooming everywhere and were worthy stand ins for the lavender.

It is a bit of a problem when you continue to head slightly in the wrong direction because you missed the road you meant to turn on and figured you would just turn the next time, only to miss that one, too! We finally found ourselves close to our destination, only about an hour later than planned. But, aware that we had to watch our time and not really knowing what we were going to see and how long it would take us to make the left bank & right bank loop, we took the detour through one of the little towns perched on the side of a cliff, but didn't stop. The town was Moustiers-Ste-Marie. Picturesque doesn't even begin to describe it. The guide book I was reading while on the road mentioned that people go to this town for its famous pottery. Sounds nice, but we had a plan for the day that didn't include stopping for pottery, so on we went. A couple of days later I discovered that Moustiers-Ste-Marie is home to Faience pottery, one of France's most famous pottery lines which had been made since the 1500's and is still being made in this town. Reason enough for a return visit sometime!

Aiguines Castle

The loop around the gorge was spectacular, if not a bit scary. The road was narrow with a sheer drop-off on one side and rock cliffs on the other. No room for error. The traffic included cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, walkers, and tour buses all navigating the narrowest of cliff-clinging roads. Dave did a masterful job of driving, but wanted to see all the views and rock formations, so we made lots & lots of stops.

We made it around the left bank and were about halfway through the right bank when we realized that we had about 3 hours to dinner with a 2 hour drive after we exited the gorge. So, with some regret on Dave's part to not stop at all the future views, we finished the gorge tour and headed back to Saignon stopping in Manosque to pick up champagne for the mimosas to be served Saturday breakfast. Made it with 30 minutes to spare to change and get back up to the fountain square for drinks.

We enjoyed a wonderful meal with the menu selected by Holly & Matt. We all received a fun gift of an handmade yo-yo by Matt. The story behind the yo-yo is that it was what he made and gave to Holly on their first date.

May 29

Wedding Day!

I haven't mentioned the weather yet, but rest assured it was glorious every day! Clear blue skies and the temperature was around 25 Celsius (70-75 Fahrenheit) during the day. The evenings cooled off enough to require jackets and sweaters. This day did not disappoint us with another promise of a beautiful day for a wedding.

But, first, errands to run. Matt's parents, Mort & Sara, and Dave & I headed for Apt with our list - flowers, candles, cheese, olives, fruit, & bread. The carnival was setting up in the town square which made getting around a bit more difficult, but we managed to find a parking space and do the shopping.

We returned to Saignon with armloads of goodies, all needing to be delivered to the house Holly & Matt were renting at the top of the village next to le rocher. The problem was that the tiny street leading up to their house had a very narrow archway and a 90 degree turn with buildings right up to the edge of the street. But, Dave was game and managed to drive our car right up to the house for the first time, only to have to repeat that trip many times that day and the next.

It was time to head to Manosque as Holly & I had hair appointments. We also had to pick up local strawberries & cream for dessert and Holly's bouquet at the florist. Once again, Dave was the chauffeur as I had decided that being mother of the bride was enough stress without also navigating the French roads driving a rental car.

We returned to Saignon with just enough time to deliver Holly to Mort & Sara's apartment to get dressed, go to our house to dress and get back up to Holly & Matt's house where Sara & I were decorating the cake with ivy, sage, rosemary, fruit & vegetables. The "cake" was actually a cheese cake, but not what you think of as cheesecake. It was four tiers of rounds of four different kinds of cheese which Matt had selected. Heavy and not in need of icing!

The servers & Holly's friends were busy setting the dinner table and putting out the flowers. All was in order for a wedding celebration. Just needed the bride!

As the sky began to show signs of sunset, the guests arrived and gathered at Holly & Matt's house. Everyone climbed the Roman-built stairs up the rock to await Holly's arrival serenaded by the jazz trio hired to provide the wedding music. Holly & I climbed halfway up the rock in our flat shoes, before pausing to don our dressy shoes and make our way very carefully to the top of the rock.

The ceremony was very personal and special. It was obvious that Holly & Matt had put much effort and thought into what they wanted to say. One of the professors Holly had worked with, Yves, was the officiant. The sky was pinky blue, the air was still, birds flew by and the little army of family & friends on top of the rock witnessed the marriage of Holly & Matt.

Down the rock we went, escorting the newly married couple on a walk through the village led by the musicians. We wove our way through the winding streets to the fountain square, and to the delight of the townspeople and visitors, Holly & Matt had their first dance in the square.

The wedding ceremony took place on the top of the rock where you see the tree.

Then, back up to the house for dinner. The caterer had outdone himself and the courses kept coming until it was so dark we couldn't see what we were eating and we had to tell by the taste what course we were on!

The cheese was cut, wine flowed, the musicians played and played and played until wee hours of the night. We walked back to our car through the village warmed by the glow of a wonderful night taking with us Holly's German roommate, Linda, to spend the night in our spare bedroom.

May 30

The day after and breakfast for family and friends. Holly had invited the families of the children she had privately tutored. The morning was sunny and warm on the terrace, the coffee and mimosa's flowed along with croissants, cheese, pate and quiche. It was a relaxed time to meet Holly's Manosque roommates and friends, chat with family members & friends, and remember the night before. Holly's friends convinced her to throw the bouquet. It went home with a 10 year old student who was so surprised she caught the bouquet that she tried to give it back to Holly! Holly had to explain the tradition and convince her that it was hers to take home.

Cleaned up the breakfast, then back to Holly & Matt's house to return dishes & glasses and get ready for the rental company to return for their goods. That left time for a quick nap before heading out to another village, Eygalieres, about 45minutes away in which the Richter family had summered one year. Matt had a favorite restaurant which he wanted to share with us. Only the 45 minute drive turned into an 90 minute drive due to a 30 minute detour around Apt due to the carnival. We still arrived ahead of time and had time to walk up to fascinating Roman ruins at the top of the town.

We enjoyed dinner outdoors on the patio right on the main intersection in town. Cars, people, mangy dogs lying down right in the road, young children running around, gathering of the "regulars" at the bar all contributed to make our final Provencal meal memorable. The drive home went more quickly - until we hit the detour around Apt. They didn't take us on the same detour we had driven coming from the other direction, so we were driving along very dark, narrow roads with a local sitting right on our tail annoyed that we weren't driving fast enough. We had absolutely no idea where the road was going to lead and were pleasantly surprised when we came to an intersection we recognized!

May 31

Our last day

The day started with a final gathering at the fountain for breakfast. Everyone was getting ready to head off in different directions and this was our time for final goodbyes for a while. We had the day ahead of us before ending up in a hotel at the Marseilles airport.

Feeling like we had somewhat mastered the art of driving the narrow, winding roads and not wanting to head directly for Marseilles, we mapped out a circuitous route taking in several more villages and scenic views. Saignon to Buoux to Cadenet to Petruis to Mirabeau across the Pont de Mirabeau to Venelles to almost into Aix-en-Provence to Equilles to St-Cannat to Pelissanne to Lancon-Provence to Vitrolles to Marignane (where the Marseilles airport is located) to Vitrolles to Marignane (notice the repeat trip as we couldn't figure out how to get into the hotel and got ourselves back on the highway going the opposite direction and had to turn around and do it again!). Who knew that the hotel entrance was hiding behind a large, green steel gate which opened only when one pushed the button on the side of the gate.

We decided it was lunch time while in Mirabeau, which had to be the smallest village on the whole trip. After all the narrow village streets this one almost did us in with its tiny passages perched on the side of a hill. We stopped at the fountain square and there was a restaurant open across the street. We purchased a ready-made salad and drinks and sat down at a table next to the fountain next to the French family who lived over the restaurant eating their lunch. It looked much more appetizing than ours! Plus, we discovered upon opening the container that there was tuna and pasta in the salad. I could pick through the pasta to eat tuna and tomato, but poor Dave wasn't getting anything to eat being allergic to fish. Back into the car and figuring out our escape route, we left Mirabeau to continue our travels.

Old Mirabeau bridge

Somewhere along the way Dave mentioned that the gas tank was approaching empty. One thing we noticed about France was that not much was open on Sunday. That included gas stations. Station after station was closed with barriers stretched across their entrances. Finally, an open gas station! It accepted credit cards so figured out of the 5 we were carrying, at least one of them would work. Wrong! Drove on looking for a station with an attendant. At least the car was using diesel, so we were making good mileage. The circuitous route started to seem a bit extravagant and we had visions of the end of the trip taking on the same excitement as the beginning!

On our second pass to the hotel, we figured out that big green gate had to be the entrance and got ourselves inside the "compound." Checked in and unloaded all the luggage which included all of ours plus a humungous suitcase of Holly's that we had agreed to take home for her. Then, off to the gas station around the corner on our last drop of fuel, to the car rental place to return the car, a ride back to the hotel and crash on the bed as dinner wasn't served until 7:30 PM. That fact alone was probably Dave's least favorite thing about France. Meal times were just too late for a boy who is used to eating well before bedtime!

Dinner at the hotel was an interesting experience. First of all, I had to order in French because the waiter said he didn't speak English. I did sail through getting us food and changing the menu options to accommodate our food allergies using much fewer words than Holly used when she ran interference for us at other meals, but I felt good that my French got us fed! Unfortunately, by the time we went to bed, I knew something I had eaten was not sitting well. Visions of Matt floated through my head! Why on my last night was something rearing its ugly head? Went to bed and managed to sleep until the alarm went off at 4 AM. The stomach was already flying and I wasn't sure how the day was going to unfurl.

Left the hotel on the 5 AM shuttle to arrive at a very quiet Marseilles airport. We met a woman on the shuttle who was from Seattle flying on the same plane as we were to Amsterdam. Small world. Checked in expecting to pay mightily for the extra poundage of Holly's bag, but sailed right through the check in procedure without anyone batting an eyelash.

Arrived in Amsterdam hoping to shop for gifts as shopping time on the whole trip had been pretty lean. We landed at one terminal and needed to leave from one the furthest away. But, we had 2 hours and only had to go through passport control and stroll down to the gate. Ha! The airport is huge with great shops and we could have spent more time, but I looked at our boarding passes as I was buying chocolate and the boarding time was the exactly the same time on my watch. We hadn't even gone through passport control and those lines were LONG! So, took off for the gate hoping to arrive on time and not get stranded in Amsterdam (although I hear the city is gorgeous and we could have found ourselves in a worse situation.) Got through passport control, and found the gate to see that they were flashing "boarding." Whew, we made it! An hour later, standing in a crowded gate, we started to board. Dave was miffed that he had missed more shopping and a meal!

As with the flights over to France, the flights home were uneventful, except for my churning stomach. I drank more gingerale on the 10 hour flight than I think I have drunk my entire life! Meals were interesting as Dave had ordered Kosher hoping to avoid dairy and I had ordered gluten free. The meals served heading over included eggs for Dave and wheat for me. The meals coming back were gluten free, but eggs continued to rear their heads for Dave. He ate some of my food and I lusted after his steamed salmon which my stomach just wouldn't let me eat.

We arrived in Portland wishing that it was our final destination. Two passes through customs for passports and accounting for our purchases, and checking in our bags on Alaska (again, without being charged an overweight fee) we were on our way to the gate for our final leg. Only, I looked at my watch still set to France time and miscalculated the actual time and thought we had 20 minutes to our flight! Summoned up the energy to rush through the whole airport, raced up to the gate, only to find out that I had cheated us of an hour! Time to spare and we dropped exhausted into hard, plastic seats awaiting the flight.

The same family which had sat behind us all the way from Amsterdam were across the aisle from us on the Alaska flight to Spokane! Small world. Finally, home on time and glad to have the trip finished.

We are looking forward to having Holly & Matt home in Seattle after their honeymoon on beaches of Corsica. It was a wonderful trip for a fabluous reason and we hope to return one day.

Baby Shower

2009-02-22T19:56:00.000-08:00

The first of two baby showers was held today. So many cute, creative baby gifts! Some were handmade, some purchased, all very cute and soft and beautiful. The babe will be one smartly dressed kid, playing with sweet stuffed animals, wrapped in warm, colorful, soft blankets!

The parents' to be

The gifts awaiting to be opened

Trying on a hat made for the babe

Colorful blanket

Baby Rome, 2nd most important guest of honor! She is 11 months old with a birthday near Klay's due date.

Klay holding Rome & Richard trying on the baby carrier with Rome assisting.

Amaryllis

2009-02-22T19:54:00.000-08:00

The end result! Only one of the three amaryllis bloomed. I think this one felt the responsibility to make up for all the others, so it has grown to 18".

In From the Cold

2009-01-31T08:17:00.000-08:00

Even the snow people think it is too cold to be outside. How did they sneak in through the locked front door?

Amaryllis

2009-01-11T19:28:00.000-08:00

This is what happens when you wait to buy new amayllis until they go on sale.

They bloomed in the box! The one on the right had two buds, one of which had already bloomed and shriveled up. Maybe the second bud will open.

This is how the soil comes. You add water, and voila! crumbly soil! Reminds me of something we used to play with as children that would grow into funny little shapes when you poured water on them.

Magic! Ready to use.

This one came out of the box with white leaves with green tips. No sign of a bud, but who knows.

This one shows promise. TWO buds!!

I am easily entertained these days with the promise of flowers.

Winter Sunset

2009-01-02T19:14:00.001-08:00

Even though I swore I wouldn't take another snow picture this winter, this sunset was just too beautiful to pass up even if I got a little snow in the picture.

This is one of three of those white metal deer with lights. The other two are so buried that one has completely disappeared and the other one has only a single light denoting its position. This is the tallest of the three, still holding out for a peek at the world.

Orchid

2008-12-29T20:39:00.000-08:00

To counteract the mounting piles of snow outside I thought I would post a picture of what is happening inside. I can usually keep most plants alive, but have tried twice to grow an orchid and both times the effort has failed. This one was given to me as a gift last year, in bloom. I enjoyed the bloom, cut it off when spent, and hoped to at least keep the plant alive. Somehow I managed to do that and just before Thanksgiving I noticed the new bud! It took a month to bloom, but it was worth the wait. We have had an additional 16" of snow (8" today) with more snow predicted every day for the next 10 days. This continuous snow event is getting really old, really fast.

So, I gaze into the face of my beautiful reminder that things do grow, are green and pretty and that everything has its season.

Study in White

2008-12-18T13:04:00.000-08:00

I told myself that I wasn't going to take any snow pictures this winter. Why remind myself of my least favorite season? But, during this massive snowstorm currently dumping white stuff from the sky and dumping and dumping and dumping, there are some views that can't be missed.

This is the back deck railing at 7 AM this morning

The same railing at 11 AM

The first pass at clearing the driveway. The snow measured an even 18". Dave has already done it again today and will probably need to do it one more time before night and again in the AM so I can go to work.

Just in case you can't figure this one out - there is a basalt fountain under there!

I hung snowflakes in the living room windows when I decorated for Christmas. Now there are fake snowflakes looking out onto real snowflakes.

There's a potting bench under there somewhere

The garden house cloaked in snow

And, my favorite - the little, metal snowman at the front door

Study in Yellow

2008-11-09T18:59:00.000-08:00

Took these pictures at the same time I took the red ones and was intending to post the yellow ones shortly after the red ones. But, life intervened. Enjoy the yellow ones as the color fades into winter.

I can't resist inserting this last one even though the election is over. I took it intending to post this prior to the election. I had errands to run on two consecutive days about one week prior to the election which took me north/south and east/west in Spokane. I started counting yard signs for both presidential candidates. On the first day the count was Obama=20, McCain=0. The only McCain sign I saw on the first day was at the Replubican headquarters office. On the second day the count was Obama=18, McCain=3. Hmmm...... 38 to 3. I am not a pollster so had no idea how to extrapolate that data into percentages, but it seemed to me that this was telling us something. Spokane is normally a Republican stronghold with a few Democractic breakthroughs. But, the dirth of McCain signs really made me wonder if I wasn't witnessing a shift in the winds.

And, it turns out, I was right! Spokane County and Whitman County (the county due south of Spokane) went for Obama while the rest of eastern WA was a sea of red.

Study in Red

2008-10-21T17:23:00.000-07:00

How many shades of red are there?

Autumn Torment

2008-10-17T07:59:00.000-07:00

I, like many other people, have a love/hate relationship with autumn. On one hand, it is gloriously beautiful with an array of color that is unparalled at any other time of the year. One the other hand, it is a precurser to winter. I revel in the crisp air, the colors, the feeling you get after taking a deep breath, the taste of crisp apples, and all the other things that say "autumn." But, the little voice in my head is saying, "Here comes winter!"

Right now I am going to just enjoy the scenery and take what comes next with the best of intentions to not complain.

Chapter Two

2008-10-16T08:16:00.000-07:00

I intended to write this chapter about three months ago. Time flies and no one catches up with it! It is a cloudy, fall day and I have some beautiful fall pictures of the garden to post, but first let's finish the story about the backyard transformation. We left off with the mystery of what was going on to the left of the new fountain.

This is the before shot of the area in front of the garden house. The really lovely garden house was just not being shown off to its best potential and the raised beds which used to grow vegetables were now too much in the shade for good vegetable growing and had been relegated to nursery beds for perennials waiting to go into the garden, weeds and lots of self-seeding garlic. Time for a change!

Digging out the dirt so that the raised beds could be removed.

The original plan was to remove the raised beds carefully so that they could be transported to our daughter's house and placed in her vegetable garden. But, in the process of digging and lifting three, heavy frames Dave stacked one on top of another to get it out of the way. Wait a minute! That looks like the perfect compost bin! So, Plan B: keep the frames and stack them all up on each other for two, side-by-side, 4x4' compost bins. Ingenious!

Voila!!

The other addition to the space was a potting bench. I wanted one I could stand up at without breaking my back and I wanted to be able to face out into the garden while standing there. So, I designed, and Dave built, a potting bench with shelves for nursing new plants and also with its southern exposure, a place to grow herbs.

There you have it. The backyard transformation summer 2008.

I have lots of really pretty garden pictures taken recently. I promise to start posting those tomorrow.

Baby, oh baby!

2008-09-07T19:40:00.000-07:00

There is a reason this happy couple are smiling. They are expecting a baby! That definitely makes them headed for parenthood, but it also makes Dave & I headed for grandparenthood. Oh, my!! The baby is due in March and we look forward to every day getting closer to the birth and being able to hold a most precious bundle.

For details check out Klay's blog http://www.klaydoughdreams.blogspot.com/

Congratulations Klay & Richard!

The New Look: Chapter I

2008-07-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

The transformation of the back garden started in mid May. Is it complete? Not quite. Complete enough to finally post about our progress? Probably. Is any garden project ever completely done? Not around our house! There are still some plants to plant to fill in the gaps, but I am waiting to do some fall bulb planting and see what little gems I pick up at the Friends of Manito Plant Sale http://www.thefriendsofmanito.org/index.html in September.

For years (10 to be exact) Dave has been wanting to build a water feature in the backyard. Our backyard is long in width and narrow in depth. Our drain field for the septic system is the whole backyard. So, our options are limited in what we can dig up. Thus, a few years ago a section of the front yard beside the front walk leading up to the door became a basalt columnar water feature and patio. Very nice. But, we don't sit out there even though there is a bench. So, next plan was to build a sluce box-type water feature off to the side of the house with the pond area next to the deck. Plausible. Would we see the pond? Probably. Would we hear the water? Definitely. But, I think that the best view would be for those people walking down the street and looking into our yard from the neighbors viewpoint.

Then, last summer a glimmer of a great idea started to take shape. The back garden had become very overgrown with a few select plants which had decided that none of the other plants needed to be seen. It called for drastic measures like digging up the whole 12 x 50 foot garden and starting over. If we were going to do that, why not incorporate a water feature? A Cathi-type water feature with slightly more refinement than the Dave-type water features of rock and hard edges. An urn! A large urn!

We went shopping at the end of the season to see what was left but, nothing worthy of coming home with us was found. So, with much patience and the help of a long, snowy winter, we waited. In May, we went shopping again. This time we found the perfect urn. Only the cost of the urn ate up our whole budget. My very clever husband decided that instead of spending big bucks on a "pond package" he could figure out how to install the urn on top of it's water base by purchasing the needed items individually and putting them all together. The urn was purchased and left at the site for drilling and installation of the plumbing.

A return visit in driving rain netted us an urn and all the parts needed to complete the project loaded into the trailer.

Well, almost all, as they sold us the wrong pump. But, the owner drove the 40 miles to our house to bring us the correct pump and consult on the project to make sure we were on the right track. Just how heavy is a 3' by 30" urn? Very. And, that is even before it has water in it. The urn made it home in one piece and was unloaded and moved to its new home.

Friend, Steve, who helped unload the urn and move it to the backyard.

The new home ready and waiting

The abridged version of placing of the urn

Fountain and dirt and rocks! Oh, yes. Gotta have the rocks!

Fast forward a couple of weekends and you have this:

The path leads from the deck out to the fountain with new stone patio and bench.

Another view

Trial run

Now to the garden.

Poor iris got dug up even before they had a chance to bloom this year. Hopefully, they will be forgiving and bloom next year once they get back into the ground.

Dirt & wheelbarrows

We were being watched!

The dug up garden replanted. Hopefully, it will remain tame for a while.

Chapter II is the companion project which was taking place just to the left of the urn/garden project. Will post that soon!

Holly's Engaged!

2008-06-30T20:13:00.000-07:00

Holly's sister, Klay, already posted http://klaydoughdreams.blogspot.com a wonderful missive about Holly & Matt's engagement, but seemed like I couldn't let the opportunity pass by without noting the occasion. Dave & I are thrilled that she has found the person with whom she wants to spend the rest of her life.

It was such fun to share the moment with Holly & Matt. Her grandparents thought they were coming over for a shared birthday (Grams) - Father's Day dinner without all the fanfare of an additional reason to celebrate.

Should have known that there was an extra glow to Holly's lovely face all day before the big announcement.

Holly opening the chicken box which contained the ring. Ask Matt about the chicken.

Phones permanently attached to the ear for the next 24 hours as they had THREE pages of friends & family to call to share the news.

Oh, yes. Grams opening her birthday cards and Gramps opening his Father's Day present.

Matt, welcome to the family!!

Snake River Expedition Through Hell's Canyon

2008-06-29T20:19:00.000-07:00

A little late is better than never. Here are some photos from a picture perfect day jet boating the Snake River earlier this month. The Snake forms the border between Idaho and a part of Washington and Idaho/Oregon. According to our pilot, it is the deepest river gorge in North America, eclipsing the Grand Canyon in total depth.

We took a jet boat with 56 of our closest friends. Actually, only 7 of our friends; the rest, riff raff from who knows where! We started out in Clarkston WA and went 100 miles south with the current, then turned around and came back 100 miles against the current, which was quite a ride as we estimated we were traveling about 45 mph. The whole day took 11 hours.

Supposedly, it was to only take 9 1/2 hours, but the pilot announced as we were leaving historic Kirkwood Ranch after lunch that we were a little low on gas and shifted around some of the seating. One member of our party was sitting close enough to the front to watch the gas gauge hit bottom about 20 minutes before we were due in for a landing at the refilling stop. As they were approaching the dock, the boat suddenly smacked into the dock quite hard. To those of us in the back, it was a bit of a jolt! Turns out we ran out of gas at that moment, engines stopped working and we were proverbally up a river without a paddle. They managed to grab the dock and hold us close enough to tie up before the boat started drifting down the very strong current.

Long story short, it took an hour to prime the pump, move the boat to the refilling dock, fill the tanks, come back to the passenger dock and let us on for the final trek to home base. Wasn't too bad as we were at a place called Heller Bar which has BATHROOMS, cabins, a lodge and gift store. We stood on the deck of the lodge pondering a worse-case scenario, and glad that the excitment wasn't more than we could handle.

The traveling crew

This guy knows how to travel! I have never really thought I would be up for a rafting trip, but after watching all the rafters on the river that day, I think they had the right idea! The river was still running high from the snow melt off, so the rapids were higher and not as exposed to all the rocks. This part of the river, and the feeder rivers we passed are prime rafting and kyacking territory for the very brave souls who get their thrills going very fast down a very powerful river. The Snake River has Class II, III, & IV rapids.

A rare stretch of still water

The view of the river through the trees at Heller Bar.

We stopped for lunch at Kirkwood Historic Ranch.

It was first homesteaded in 1890. It was the largest sheep ranch on the Idaho side in the 1930's. It is now run by the US Forest Service and serves as a respite stop for boaters and hikers.

On the day we were there, the creek was running strong and full of water. I am sure that in the middle of summer in 100+ heat, this creek looks mighty refreshing.

Old farm equipment

The boat...

.....with Dave standing on the bow wondering where in the heck I was! I was having a very interesting conversation with the USFS volunteer who, with her sister, was at the ranch for a full month as caretaker. Everything they need for the month is brought in with them by boat at the beginning of their stay. She had been serving as caretaker for the month of June for five years. I learned that people wait for years to get the chance to be there and that when you finally get your month, you hold on to it for dear life! The boat didn't leave without me, but I was the last person on!

Our wake with rafters in the distance.

About to get wet....... something which happened a few times on the trip back. We were sitting in the very back of the boat with nothing but those chains between us and the water!

It was a fun trip and I am glad we went, but next time I am riding on the mail boat. It goes down river once a week and takes two days to make the same trip with many stops at the homes and resorts along the river in a boat that only holds 6 people. I like the idea of going slower and getting up close and personal with the river.

Spring Skies

2008-06-12T17:18:00.000-07:00

We have been having some really interesting spring weather. Nothing like the damaging cyclones, tornadoes, floods, and even fires in other parts of the world, but nevertheless, interesting as the evening skies can attest.

The first pictures were taken at sunset in early June.

The following pictures were taken last night as a severe thunderstorm rolled through at the whopping rate of 19 mph from the northeast. The whole thing was overhead for about 30 minutes with the rainbow glowing and fading several times during that period.

2008-03-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

Spring??

The first day of spring is one thing, and the first spring day is another. The difference between them is sometimes as great as a month. ~Henry Van Dyke

Included the sign just in case you were confused as to what scene the photo was supposed to represent on this snowy March 30.

Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush. ~Doug Larson

The view from the front door.

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips its turn. ~Hal Borland

Silly me. I was thinking of taking in the sleds now that winter was over.

No matter how long the winter, spring is sure to follow. ~Proverb

2008-03-16T13:18:00.000-07:00

The Garden is Blooming -- Sort of

These pictures represent the total blooms I found in the garden today. Of course, I am trying (the operative word is "trying") to not walk on the soggy grass yet, so couldn't get close to a couple of accessible by grass only beds. But, didn't look like anything was blooming over there anyway.

I know this is the dangerous time of the year in the garden. Planning is still a better activity than planting, weeding, trodding, etc. But, the garden muse is starting to call loud and clear.

This weeping pussy willow is finally producing a very healthy looking crop of pussies! Interesting thing about this little tree is that the first major snowstorm of the year toppled the tree clear to the ground. We stood it upright and tied it to the tree next to it, hoping it would stay put through the rest of the winter. But, then the granddaddy of all our snowstorms toppled it again, only in another direction. I thought for sure it was a goner, but this spring it produced its first noticable crop of plump, velvety pussies! I know that it can take several years to see if the roots were permantly damaged by the uprooting in the middle of winter, so for now we will enjoy and see what happens in the future. And, you can still see some snow on the ground. I cut a few to bring into the house and take over to my mother in her senior apartment.

The witch hazel is two years old, purchased from Heronswood Nursery (the original) on a very cold, crisp, sunny day in February. I hope one of these days it will start to grow! It is special for a couple of reasons: 1) it blooms now!, 2) that trek to Heronswood Nursery was my last as Burpee closed the nursery a few months later. In protest, I will never knowlingly buy a Burpee product.

I bought several hellebores on that trip (it turned out to be a fairly expensive side trip on the way to a conference), all of which, except one, have survived.

The primroses are blooming low to the ground and under their protective leaves, but they are there!

There are lots of spring blooming bulbs starting to push their leaves up and lots of helleborus foetidus getting ready to bloom, so things are looking up!

2008-03-09T19:52:00.000-07:00

90th Birthday Party!

On February 20, my father celebrated his 90th birthday. It certainly was a milestone we couldn't let go by without having a party in his honor, so we did! Friends and family gathered from near and far on a sunny Saturday afternoon to wish him well and enjoy lunch.

My parents have been married for 65 years, so it seems appropriate to start with a picture taken at that party (it has been a party year for them!) as an introduction to the festivities.

Dad is the eldest of five children, four of whom are still living. My Aunt Jean lives in Idaho. Aunt Leah & Dad live in eastern Washington, and Uncle Steve lives in Colorado. Steve flew in from Colorado as a surprise to Dad.

Younger by two years less three days, brother Steve

Sisters Jean & Leah

The rest of the family and friends

Snowy Week in Spokane

2008-01-31T11:04:00.000-08:00

I don't know why I seem to be motivated to only post to my blog when it snows as I really don't like the stuff. But, the transformation of the landscape is fascinating so thought I would share some "before and after" pictures.

Looking the same direction along the street two months later

The front yard during summer and fall

The front lawn and garden buried under several feet of snow with Dave doing winter chores

The rose arbor in front of the house

Backyard view from the house

Just waiting to look like this

The prediction is for more snow several days in the upcoming week, including the possibility of additional snow today if the front in northern California pushes on the weather south of us too hard. California can keep that weather, thank you very much!

A final picture which says it all!

Snow in Spokane

2007-01-20T18:54:00.000-08:00

For those of you who know me you should be surprised that a snowstorm, which is not one of my favorite things, motivated me to post to my blog for the first time in 18 months. But, the 6" that fell overnight and this morning provided great fodder for the camera and I couldn't resist.

Our favorite guardian of the garden, Neptune, who hangs out in the backyard seems to be saying, "Where is all this snow coming from?"

Almost Christmas card perfect

The garden house during its lonely wait for spring activity

And, finally..... hope for spring!

Beautiful June

2005-06-10T21:03:00.000-07:00

What garden isn't beautiful in June? Here are some of my favorite flowers which are blooming like they have been waiting a long time to be pretty! Below are coral bells and hosta with a Saxifraga 'London Pride' hiding behind the coral bells

Perennial Forget-Me-Nots and White Jacob's Ladder.... an accidental pairing which has turned out to be so beautiful they get to stay right where they are

This combination of barberry and iris is hard to beat

The third year for this clematis is definitely the charm

One big rose bush which blooms all summer and is wonderfully fragrant

The girls

2005-04-24T14:33:00.000-07:00

The girls and I in the garden last July 4th.

Welcome

2005-04-24T14:19:00.000-07:00

Soon I will be posting pictures from my garden.