Catching up....

Has been a few days...OK months.... since I posted something new here.   

Was a busy summer... hubby was gone a few times for his Logistics Chief duties on Incident Management Team #5.  And he missed a couple fire trips in order to attend the annual family reunion, and a special trip to the Oregon coast.

Had a great summer of gardening.  Hubby did most of the work, and I got to harvest the goodies.  Love it!!

I planted a crazy row of Zinnias.  You don't have to harvest them; 

we just get to enjoy the colors!

Volunteer sunflowers grew 10-12 feet high. I love the happy sunflower faces!

Looking west in mid-July.  Pumpkins in the foreground, 

with zucchinis next, sunflowers, tomatoes and more!

We enjoyed a great few days at Seaside with our daughters and granddaughters.  For hubby's 60th birthdayr, our girls booked a nice rental home a few blocks from the ocean in our favorite area on the northern Oregon coast. 

The weather wasn't great, 

but the time with our kids and grandbabies was marvelous. 

Both the little girls love to read, 

thanks to mamas and daddies who read to them every day.

We used to camp at Ft. Stevens, and had to make a nostalgic trip 

to the south jetty.  Was WINDY and cold, but still a wonderful place.

The day before we left, the weather broke and we got to dig in the sand, 

walk the beach and enjoy the beauty of the Oregon coast.  Awesome!

Now the holiday season is in full swing, and I have several fun projects queued up.  Can't share cuz someone might see... :)

My outside white lights are up, but not turned on. I do think it must be time!!

And we had our first dusting of snow... snow shovels are out and firewood is waiting on the front porch.

Thanks for visiting!!


  

Garden's turning green....

Things are looking pretty healthy out in the garden.  A few little tomatoes, and a couple baby zucchinis. If we had a few days of warm sun.... we'd could be harvesting!

I started zinnias from seed back in mid March...First bloom! Yay!

Potatoes catching the last of the evening sun!

Potatoes in the foreground, then onions and leeks, then a few more tomatoes,
swiss chard, tomatillas, and zukes, cukes , cants and Big Mac pumpkins.
Three rows of tomatoes, peppers and zinnias were behind me when I took this pictures.

visit comin' up!

Gearing up for a trip to the westside...taking zukes, cukes, potatoes, onions, eggs and homemade cherry jam.... what fun!

Has been a few weeks since we have seen that grandbaby!  Can't wait!  And we get to see our pregnant daughter.... haven't seen that baby bump in too long!!

This unassuming pile are the pieces of a crib skirt, cut out and ready to sew.  :)

I need to get busy!!

Growin' like crazy!

Summer is in full swing in eastern Washington, as you can see by the garden pics. Had potatoes and onions for lunch yesterday..... just minutes after we harvested them!

Sweet corn looking good!

Birdhouse gourd hillls continue to spread like crazy... little gourds are starting to form.

Sunsflowers in the back, leaning to the east, facing the morning sun. 
Zukes in front, mulched with big sheets of cardboard.  Not real attractive, but works!



Found our first tomatoes in the midst of overwhelming foliage!
I am brutally breaking off the suckers.

First potato harvest... yukon gold, reds, and russets.  Tasty!

And use fresh-picked strawberries and raspberries for first jam of the season....

Crushed fruit, lids simmering, and LOTS of sugar!

Four pints - YUMMY!!!

The pectin box had a recipe for jalepeno jelly... think I might get peppers at the farmers' market next week and give it a try!

Sunshine!

It's the fourth of July and it is a beautiful day in Selah! Had lots of fun at a family BBQ yesterday....  as usual, way too much to eat :)  The next generation, Norma's great grandkids, enjoyed the pool and running around in the yard.


One of my gazanias from the Master Gardeners



Geraniums, lobelia, coleus, and a calendula to the right



Walla walla sweet onions - just about ready to harvest



I have FOUR kinds of zucchinis... this is a yellow zucchini, can you tell?  :)

I am pleasantly relaxed and cooled off, after hanging out in the pool for a time.  YAY! 

Had some odd, disjointed thought ramblings, floating around in the pool... among other things, I was thinking about Ree Drummond, aka Pioneer Woman, and how different her life would be if she had not visited her local watering hole that first night she met Marlboro Man.... 

Was thinking how some people take risks, while others chose not to, and how "chance" encounters and decisions put us on wholly different paths than we might have expected.... Nothing we haven't all thought of one time or another.... not sure why it appeared in my thoughts in the pool :)

Blue sky and sunshine....

Garden is growing well....

Zukes are less than a week away from harvest,

and then I will have so many .. YIKES!

Walla Walla sweets are growing nicely...

won't need to buy any more this summer.

Hostas are growing like crazy in the shade of the honey locust tree!

Made a batch of iced coffee concentrate... ala Pioneer Woman. Yummy!!

Check it out...   perfect iced coffee!

Here's to a great week!!

Kids came.. kids left....

Had a great weekend with both daughters, both husbands, three dogs and little Miss M!

The family photo shoot went off without a hitch... and hopefully both daughters got great family pics for their own use.  Lots of visiting after "The Picture," with BBQ-ed hot dogs, good eats, and gathering of "nuts" (acorn caps) by the many little guys and gals - the great-grandkid generation.

I can hear Miss M "talking" when I look at this picture!

The little one is a bit blurry, but what a priceless picture!



And.... changing the subject... the garden is looking pretty good!

Three rows of potatoes in front, and then WW sweet onions, and tomatoes beyond that.

Volunteer sunflowers we tranplanted in a row along the fence.

Future birdhouse gourds!

First day my gazania bloomed... gorgeous color!
The bloom closes up when the weather turns cloudy!

Beautiful geranium.....  Thanks to Master Gardeners!

Take care, ya'all!!

FINALLY... .got the garden planted!

The weather finally cooperated.... freezing nights are over.... and our vegetable garden is in. 

Four kinds of zucchini plants... TWELVE (are we nuts?!?) tomato plants, a tomatillo, seven pepper plants, three kinds of cucumbers, potatoes, two kinds of onions, birdhouse gourds, and Old Mexico calendula flowers.  We moved volunteer potatoes to make a third row of spuds, and moved volunteer sunflowers against the fence.

Zucchinis in the foreground, and tomatoes up against the wire fences.
Well-established Walla Walla sweets are bright green in the distance.

We bought a few well-developed tomato plants....
hoping for tomatoes sooner rather than later.

Looks pretty bare right now....
but I know these zucchini plants will spread out and take over!