Happy Solstice!

Attended the Fremont Solstice parade with a bunch of my best buddies.  This was one of those packed Seattle weekends which included a spa day (including facial and pedicure) for me and a plant-run for Roger.  The evening finished up with a Greek meal in Wallingford and a concert by our friend Jay Hamilton at the Good Shepherd Center: Honor.  We also visited Dad for Father's Day.  And managed to squeeze in a trip to Costco, of course.

Progress on the Carport!  See these three beautifully tapered columns?  Notice the very attractive cement bases?  Can you picture the size and shape of the carport to come?  Setting these poles up was a big milestone.  The next step, placing the rafters, will involve not just milling the lumber, we will actually have to go out and cut down two or more trees to harvest logs long enough to span the roof. 

Before we do that, we are going to take out the lower branches from the nearby doug firs to get some more light coming through on the west side of our house.  It is amazing how much vegetation is closing in on us and its time to hack it all back!

Here's a picture of Suzie teaching a five month old pup, Millie, how to drink out of the fountain.  One of my many projects planned for this summer includes a mosaic bowl addition to the fountain.  I've also got some waterlilies coming up.  I've had to place a net around them to protect them from predator poodles.

Sorry for the flash at the bottom of the photo.  This is my new art piece.  I bought it from Mary McCulluch Art Walk Studio Tour.  The colors match my kitchen cabinets perfectly.  



approx 2 lbs of strawberries

And finally, strawberries!  Here's a picture of one day's harvest.  With about 50 plants in the main garden and another 25 or more in the kitchen garden we should have plenty of shortcake this summer.

Hey, I've been busy!

Road trip to Montana- My friend Nancy retired from Metro in April. I invited her along on my planned road trip to see my friend Linda who just retired to her mountain retreat in Montana. July is possibly the only month we could expect to be free of snow. So I picked Nancy up on July 16th and we headed out along Hwy 18 to I-90, stopping to see my niece April in Ellensburg. We cut over to Hwy 2 and got to my brother Joe's place outside of Kettle Falls in time for dinner.

The next day, Joe and his wife Cheryl took us on a history tour of the region. This pix is of Joe explaining the accomplishments of a pioneer named Rickey. We had a great dinner of local food that night http://www.lovittrestaurant.com/ and later heard the "Planetary Refugees" play reggae in the produce section of the Meyers Falls market. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLumsg9FZco

The trip across Idaho and Montana took a lot longer than we figured and we had to stay in Butte the next night. But early on Sunday we found our way to Linda's in the Bridger Range of the Rockies, near Livingston. Here are pictures of Linda's valley, Linda and Nancy on Linda's porch, Linda and Suzie in a nearby meadow (did I mention I brought my dog Suzie on this trip?) For more on this part of the trip, check out Linda's blog "Sweet Home Montana" posting. http://clemoyer.blogspot.com/2009/07/visiting-season-is-upon-us-and-murphys.html

We then had a nice return trip on Hwy 12 in Idaho inspite of the ever-present road construction, stopping for the night in Orofino and the next night at my brother John's place in Richland, WA. He gave us apricots fresh from his tree which he needed to pick immediately before the resident skunk got them all. It was 100 degrees in Richland. But that just prepared us for the weather waiting for us at once we got home.

The encampment at English Camp was just a little more special this year because this summer marks the 150th anniversary of the Pig War on San Juan Island. That is why the Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftan graced us with their presence in Garrison Bay and nearby Wescott Bay. Roger and I went on a "three-hour tour" last Sunday. We needed to take the longboat to the Hawaiian Chieftan as the water was too shallow at the English Camp dock. It was a glorious day!

Earlier that day, Suzie took part in a "Doodle Romp" to celebrate her labradoodle friend Emma's 2nd birthday. There were over a dozen goldendoodles and labradoodles and one standard poodle--Suzie! Look at all the doodles retrieving from the water. Suzie is still watching from shore.

Yesterday we hosted Roger's brother Guy and his wife Brenda from Sacramento. We plan to visit them in October. Here ends our very busy month of July.