August News Letter

Well, who knew going back into real estate would consume every spare moment of my time?  With the dry weather, I barely keep ahead of the most essential watering.  I'm still making time to swim every day, but between doing blower door tests, selling and listing real estate, and gardening, I meet myself coming and going. On the plus side, it's forced me to be more organized, tune up my memory skills, and meet more people.  Life is good!

Flowers that Thrive on Neglect

I've heard that the acidity of the water you put on hydrangea makes the color.  So no water at all must mean bright blue. This one is at our old house, and I can barely keep up with watering at the new house in this hot dry year.

I used to have over 50 different dahlias, but I used to dig the bulbs every year and carefully identify them and store them in the basement.  When I quit digging them, the varieties narrowed to the ones that can survive in the ground all winter.  This is one of my favorites - Called Key West when I bought the bulb years ago.

This one is called Oenesta - very hardy and the bees love the abundant blooms.

This dark red nameless dahlia came from my friend, Bill.  It is very hardy, has abundant blooms, but kind of weak stems so it isn't that great for bouquets.

Plate dahlia - I've forgotten the name - very strong stems, lots of blooms, and it comes back every year.

Duet - I used to have a plate dahlia with these colors, but haven't seen it bloom for several year.  This one bloomed for the first time this year after several years without blooming.

This one might be a cross - don't recall it from the past.

My friend, Karen, gave me several lilies, and I'm just loving them!  Easy to grow, they smell wonderful, and they are very drought tolerant.

Gladiolas are showy and don't require much tending.  I have many varieties blooming and many more that haven't bloomed yet.  It really is my favorite time of year, even though it keeps me very busy keeping some water on everything.

Flowers, Fruit, Veggies, and Visitors

In the Pacific Northwest, summer is when we meet ourselves coming and going.  The days are long, so we don't sleep much, we cherish every day of sunshine, and sometimes think wistfully of winter when we can slow down.  The true sun worshippers live here - when the sun shines, we can't bear to waste a single minute inside.

A wonderful variety of flowers are in bloom 

My sister, Molly, introduced me to dahlias and gladiolas many years ago, and I can't imagine summer without them.

I used to dig the bulbs every fall and replant in the spring.  However, one year I didn't have time to dig them, so I mulched them good, and they have continued to come back year after year without digging.

Most of my flowers are in a swath along my garden fence, but I've moved a few to the front of the new house.

I've added a few new colors this year and planted some along the front of the new house.

When I choose bulbs in the spring, I usually forget what colors I've picked, so it's always interesting to spot new blooms and marvel at their beauty.

My friend, Karen, gave me a bunch of lily bulbs this year, and they just might be my new favorite flower.  They have come in a variety of gorgeous colors,

My entire garden is engulfed in the wonderful aroma of lilies this year.

With the spectacular weather we've had this summer, my garden is overflowing with produce.  The corn should be ready next week, and I already have 8 quarts of pickles in my pantry.

Wild blackberries are ripe, so I'm fully into my jam making season.

And it's the perfect time to enjoy some of our stunning parks and beaches with visitors.  Our granddaughter, Sara,  her husband, Dan, and their wonderful little munchkins came to visit last week.

We started in Granite Falls at the annual car show, "Show 'n Shine" and then went to Deception Pass State Park for a picnic and some beachcombing.

It's so much fun to watch a toddler choose rocks and sticks to collect. Even Grandma brought home a new rock collection.
We love summer!

Grandchildren and Summertime

One of the nicest things about summer is we get to see our grandchildren a lot more. 

We live on a small private late that would be totally pristine if it weren't for us.  There are hundreds of bullfrog polliwogs and Stickleback fish around the shore and we buy Dollar Store nets so the kids can catch them.  We allow them to catch and put them in a five gallon bucket while they are on the job.  Once we all get done swimming and playing in the water, we release everything they have caught back into the lake.

Leeches are a sign of a healthy lake - We like to catch and release leeches also - they're creepy but fun too!

We have an assortment of life jackets, and they all understand that they don't go on the dock or near the water without a life jacket until they can demonstrate good swimming skills.

My daughter and her husband own a house on the other side of the lake, and it's a right of passage for the grandchildren to "swim across the lake with Grandma".  We are always happy when they are able to swim well enough to do that.

Learning to dive is the next step!

Boating - and learning to row a boat are part of the fun.

So is learning to paddleboard with Aunty Amy,

Learning to fish with Uncle Tony,

And there's the Bulldog.  

Motorcycle Ride Through the Snoqualmie Valley

On a beautiful August day, there is really no place finer than the Pacific Northwest.  We take advantage of as many of the dog days of summer as we can on the motorcycle.  There are scenic rides to the West, the East, the North and the South from our home.

Yesterday, we headed South.

Some sort of bike/walk was taking place near Machias on the Centennial Trail so we saw trail guards at every place the trail crossed the road.  Lovely day for a bicycle ride also!

We took River Road from Snohomish to Monroe

and then Highway 203 to Duvall

and then through beautiful bottom land farming country

and into Carnation, where we had lunch.

It was a great ride, but we really appreciated all the shade on Woods Creek Road on the way home.  The gauge on the bike said 90 degrees as we left Monroe heading home.

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Celebrating Grandkids' July Birthdays

In the middle of what has been a cooler than normal summer, we at least were able to spend the day mostly outside.

We took a break from building forts in the woods to have cake and presents - Nice to have the Dads managing the festivities!

Keeping Teddy warm with a sweater that's just his size.

Children, Motorcycle Rides, and Christmas Cards

Oh, I know, I've been terrible about updating the blog for the past couple of months.  I probably did have time - after all, it's hard to stay busy for 24 (or even 6 or 8) hours every day.  However, it has been summer, and that is our busy time of year.  We've enjoyed visiting the south sound family:

Where the lucky grandchildren who live here not only have a pool, but the pool has a spectacular view of Mt Rainier!

The good weather has kept us out on the bike several days each week.  This trip took us all the way up to the Blue Mountain Grill in Whatcom County. 

This ride takes us through several pretty towns - like Clear Lake,

 

where my third cousin who has researched the family says one branch of our family once settled.

 

And where we have mountain views all the way from Big Lake to the Blue Mountain Grill.

Lots of blue showing on Mt. Baker after a warm summer!

oh, and I've been making birthday and Christmas cards in my spare time.

My sister, Mona, introduced me to collage several years ago, and I have never looked at anything flat the same since.  A simple pretty leaf is fun to work into a card.

As I deadhead my flower beds, I collect some to dry and use later in the collage cards.

Tissue wrapping paper that I used to discard now becomes the base for cards. 

Today I finally cleaned up my mess and finished making cards for a while, but I actually hated to do that.  I'll still remember all this fun labor as I clean up glitter for the next month or so.