End of the day beauty

A couple shots of the sunset and clouds tonight.  Forecast was thunderstorms... but we got a gorgeous sunset instead!



Looking through the apple orchard....

 Take care, ya'all!!

Monday at home...

Took advantage of the extra day off, and puttered around the house... put away some things that had been set down, and then never moved.

Started and finished a quick project to cut down a king-sized bedskirt - no one needed it! - to fit the queen bed in the downstairs guest room (otherwise known as the blue room, due to blue carpet, and, at one time, blue walls).

Here is a poor quality phone pic...

Went to the movies....I know I know... has been a LONG time!  We saw the latest Pirate of the Caribbean/Johnny Depp flick - not bad! - and enjoyed senior discouts at the show and at a quick dinner afterwards.  When did I become a SENIOR?!

Sad news to hear today a 51 year old woman jumped off the Fred Redmon Bridge north of Selah.....it's a LONG way down, and rock at the bottom.  So sad. 

Take care, y'all!

Not quite summer....

It's been a cool, windy, and hazy - USFS is burning brush to the west - day!

The pool is ready for swimmers... but just a TAD chilly :)



The garden is established... now just need warm weather to GROW!  Walla Walla sweets look pretty healthy!



One of our resident quail families likes to check out the garden, from the vantage point of the wood pile right behind the fence.  I haven't noticed anything eaten... hopefully they are looking for bugs!

A one inch long zuke.... can't wait for it to get bigger!  :)

Hostas are really healthy!  They love the cool weather and the shade!

Take care y'all!!



Extra long weekend :)

Been catching up on things around the yard....Hubby pruned back a lot of bushes, and I hauled off the cuttings (I got the better part of THAT job!) 

Planted two rows of bush beans and a "block" of white sweet corn.....Looking forward to harvesting corn!!  Corn grilled on the BBQ - yum!

Have blossoms on several of the tomatoes, and one zucchini plant, and one pepper....now if the weather would cooperate.... and the sun would shine....We might get to eat some veggies eventually!  (hopefully in a month or two I will be "complaining" that I have too many zukes and cukes :) )

Uncovered our fun 18-ft above-ground pool.... which is always a chore.  The pool is downwind from several birch trees, and by early summer the winter pool cover is weighted down with leaves and wind-blown little branches.

And there has been enough sun that there is slimy green algae on the whole cover.  Took half the day to syphon off a winter's worth of snow and rain from the cover, and to skim off the slimy leaves and branches.....but it's DONE!! 

The water under the cover is clear and clean, so now I am filling the pool with two hoses. There was frost on the truck windshield this morning, so it's not quite swimming weather - brrr!

And... found a yummy-sounding rhubard crisp/bar recipe, so a treat is bubbling in the oven.  Yum!

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!

Loved having visitors....

The house is quiet and empty again..... my daughters, their spouses, three active dogs AND the cutest grandbaby born... all left today. 


Here is a picture of Miss M is smiling up from her play mat.  When she smiles, her whole face lights up.  (And so does mine!!)

What a cutie!!

I feel blessed that our daughters and their hubbies often make the trip over to see us.  I love to spend time with them... and always miss them when they leave.

Selah Days....

We were up and out by 6 a.m., to help check in royalty floats, and kids, and shiny cars, and motorcycles, and marching bands, and dancing girls...and more. This is the 14th year that D and I have been part of the crescendo of chaos that precedes the start of the Selah Days parade.  Means we see almost all the entries before everyone else.... and we get to deal with both the sweet folks and the ones who think they should get preferential treatment.

Unfortunately the 75 degrees that was forecast was more like 60 degrees, and RAIN.... bummer.  We took a quick trip through the park, but steady rain wasn't much fun.

Miss M's first Selah Days.... she was dressed to the nines..but had to be bundled up to stay dry and warm. Good memories anyway!

Bunn came along too.... next year he will be much more interested.  :)

Got the baby!

Hooray! After a busy and intense day at work - my headache is suddenly better....must be the SWEET bundle of baby asleep in my arms :

And the sun is forecast to keep shining for the rest of the family's arrival tomorrow.  YAY for Selah Days!

Setting sun.....

Had a windy but no-rain day.... local flooding is still an issue for many.  Fortunately we are on top of a big hill!

Moon rising in the east....



And sun setting in the west....

Enjoy!



Rain rain ... finally went away!

Wow... the weather can sure vary from day to day!  We watched a high school baseball Saturday.... the sun was SO HOT in the bleachers,  I walked back to the car to get our big golf umbrella.  By late afternoon, serious clouds had moved in, and it started RAINING.... and kept on RAINING... til mid-day today. 

Last night and today area roads were awash in water, and there will likely be highway dramas to deal with at work on Monday. Raging rivers flooded homes and threatened roadways, like this picture along SR 410 west of Naches.

Water seeped in our basement on just one wall, but being an old basement with a floor drain, that's kinda what is supposed to happen.

On a cheerier note, I finished sewing a cute little romper for my sweet granddaughter.  I used a 30 year old pattern that I sewed for my daughters :)

For little Miss M :)

Happy week to you!!

Looks like summer!

I am back home after a work trip to Olympia.  Was good to work in person with the folks I chat with often on the phone, and best of all... to visit with a special friend.  Thanks, Penny, for your positive attitude, your smile, and your relaxed attitude.  Wish you lived closer!!

Got to stay in a NICE hotel in Oly!

Even had my favorite Bed, Bath and Beyond fragrance waiting for me.
How cool is that?!

Today I took the plunge and planted my many containers. 



Before....plants still in flats...



Hubby generously filled them with fresh soil, so all I had to do was decide what to plant in each container.  I am spoiled :) 



Lots of empty pots after all my planting!



All those Master Gardener geraniums, asters, coleuses, gazanias, dusty miller etc are tucked into my many wooden pots.  Come ON - summer!!



After......



Fancy geranium... gorgeous color!

Saturday sunshine.....

Sunshine, rain, wind, and then more sunshine..... we saw it all today. 

Sun is low in the west, and the breeze is hitting the
weeping birch tree....

Today's sun coaxed out more blossoms on the kwanzen cherry.

Setting sun lighting the cherry blossoms.

The orchard...as seen through the trellis.

Made it to Friday....

Well.... the fact that I am posting a brief note, is proof that I escaped the clutches of the PAPER piles at my office.  I know I will never catch up.. there is always something else to take care of, but at least I have most of the major items listed on paper.... I printed out my list.... and then added another dozen items by hand.

Eight flats of vegies and flowers await true warm weather in the kitchen.  Not likely that it will freeze again this spring, but the chilly, windy weather is not real hospitable to baby plants! 

 

The Kwanzen cherry tree has started blooming, and the first Golden Delicious blossoms are out in the orchard across the driveway.  Spring rain is falling now....everything will be GREEN tomorrow! 



Golden Delicious Apple blooms



First blossoms brave the still cool nights

Mother's Day weekend... has been sixteen years since my dear mom passed away...STILL miss her.  This year both my daughters will earn the identity of "mom"... E already has a precious three-month old daughter, and M has one on the way.  Makes me a grandma I realize.....Guess that comes with the territory.

Isn't she a cutie?!