Flowers and Critters around the Lake

Wild flowers are beginning to reseed themselves

And the lilies come back year after year, so we have a sea of color all Spring, Summer, and Fall without planting.

Roses also come back year after year

As do lilacs

So many flowers - impossible to choose a favorite.

On to the critters:

And all the water fowl:

So much to see around here - I guess I'll leave the gardens and orchard for another post.

Motorcycle Ride in July

 

Now that we once again have a motorcycle in Washington, we are retracing some of our old rides.  This is one of our favorites.  Going through the back roads through Machias into Snohomish, and then out the Snohomish River Road to Monroe.

On a sunny day, we have lots of shade from trees along the road, and sweeping views of the farmland along the Snohomish River.  The whole Cascade range is in view along the way.

In Monroe, we stopped at our favorite restaurant in the Tye Plaza, which is now a Mexican restaurant.  Apparently in the years we didn't have a motorcycle and didn't stop there for lunch, it changed hands and menu.  The outdoor seating and view are still the same, and the food was delicious.  This is a Chimichanga and salad, which I can recommend.

Coming back through the Pilchuck River valley along the Centennial trail through more farmland and nurseries.

The view from Swartzmiller Rd overlooking the Pilchuck River is one of our favorites.  The mountain on the right is Mt Pilchuck, which overlooks our small town.

Even on mostly canopy roads, it was getting warm by the time we got back, so I'm ready for my daily swim.  Summer is great!
 

Annual Family Gathering at the Lake

 We waited through a very wet and cold spring for a nice day in June when the family gathered for a picnic at the lake.

Although the water was still cold, we barely saw the children as they spent most of the day in the lake.

Boating in many forms - paddle boat, kayak, rowboat, floaty.  It was a great day to be on the water.

Some food was involved.

And some fishing...nothing like making a fisherman for life like catching a nice big fish.  Grandpa Tony knows how to catch them!

Update June 2022

 

In the interest of minimizing how much weeding I would have to do with yet another tamed bank, I ordered a 15 yard load of bark.  It was enough to spread over all of the flower beds by the house, and I even had helpers for part of the job.

Once the tractor and rake areas were done, I spread the last half of the huge bark pile using the wheelbarrow.  It took me a few days, but things really look great with iris in bloom.

I was so happy with the bark project, that I ordered another 15 yards for the garden area.  Then began a monumental job of weeding raspberries.  Most of the rest of the garden was mostly weed free, but I had horribly neglected the raspberries and the creeping buttercups had taken over.  They have roots about 18" deep and were twined around the raspberries so in places I had to dig up raspberry plants to remove weeds.

So nice to look at the raspberry patch and see it neat and tidy.  Since raspberries will thrive no matter the weather, I expanded the raspberry patch by about double, so I may have to do a U-Pick next year. 

We did take some time to visit the kids and grandkids and great grandkids in Eastern Washington on one of our rainy June weekends.  Sara took Sammy and Addy for horseback rides while Eliza and I took a nice long walk in the hills.  Addy's comment on being walked around the arena on the horse: "Can this horse go FASTER?"

Finally, sunmer has arrived, and we're looking forward to a family gathering at the lake this weekend! 

May 2022

 Unfortunately, a super cold and wet April is being followed by a cold and wet May around here.  Mama ducks and geese don't care - They are continuing life as normal with baby chicks showing up every day now.

The steep bank in front of the house that we cleared of an assortment of sturdy weeds looks pretty good.  The iris I moved from other spots all have buds, and the native wildflowers are in full bloom.  We had planted heather, Candy Tuft, and transplanted rhododendron on the bank also, so it is pretty full.

Since this bank is under control and I can keep it up by pulling weeds any time I pass by, I started another project:

Another steep bank - Lots of rocks for a rock border at the base, and lots of exercise moving each small one.  The biggest rocks have to become part of the landscaping.  This one is bigger than the one in front of the log house, and steeper, but I'm making progress! Four more banks to go - then maintenance should keep me busy.

In the meantime, I've kept busy - powerwashing all the walkways, planting the gardens, weeding....

Busy time of year for us!

The Hugel mound has radishes, carrots, celery, beans, peas, cabbage and some flowers growing, but the only things that is thriving in this cold, wet weather are radishes and Shasta daisies.

I hope my June update will include some sunshine and things like pumpkins, tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.

Gardening in April 2022

 

Although you can see garlic in this row, it is pretty overwhelmed by weeds.  So finally on a sunny day where it was kind of warm I decided to work in the big garden.

The garlic wasn't the only thing that needed attention!  I threw some strawberry plants in this area and they have more or less thrived with neglect, but I weeded them too, and transplanted some that were growing in the middle of the pathway.

Garlic and strawberries weeded.  New blackberry plants weeded and trellised and peas planted. Our neighbor, Gene, came around to look at his garden area just in time to help me pound in posts for the blackberries and peas.

In spite of a very cold and wet April, the garden is looking good - raspberries all tied up and ready to burst into bloom.  Cherry trees in full bloom, apples about ready to bloom, potatoes and Swiss Chard planted in garden, and my kitchen table is full of tender plants waiting for warmer days to go out in the big garden.