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!!


  

Blooms

Despite the chilly weather...my flowers are looking good. 

This is a rose that D's grandma planted, and we moved to our house.

The pink blooms welcome visitors at our back door.

This is a gazania bloom.. they fold up if the sun is not shining!

Looks like I am leaning toward pink this year!  :)

~Melinda

Slow start to summer!

Wow.  I turned the furnace on when I got home from work today....brrr!  Dark GRAY skies to the north as I left work to come home, and sure enough... I encountered a blinding rainstorm/cloudburst on the way home.

This morning was chilly!  Note that it IS supposed to be warmer next week... Our garden will surely appreciate that!!  A chilly weekend is in store!

~ Melinda

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.

Up close at Wild Horse Windfarm!

We had a mini-adventure today.  


We drove east of Kittitas on the old Vantage Highway, and toured the Ellensburg Wild Horse Windfarm. Learned a lot and even got to inside one of the towers.  


Pretty impressive view from the visitor center... elevation 3,500 feet - higher than Snoqualmie Pass!

Pretty futuristic!

You could see for miles!

The shrub-steppe vegetation included flowers like these and some cacti!

The blades are 120-some feet long, and each weighs seven tons!

Looking up from inside the base of the tower....220 steps in the ladder!
We could see the top section of the tower flexing in the wind!
A computer read-out tells you the wind-speed and how much electricity is being delivered.

Worth the trip!  Bring your jacket, though! Was windy - duh!! - when we were there!

Community Days...

Once again, we helped out at the Community Days parade by checking in floats, antique cars, clowns, high school bands, dancers, military tanks, etc etc.  A busy morning, and then a quick hike down onto the parade route to sit with our daughters, and granddaughters.

Saturday night we got together with a bunch of the kids our girls grew up with, and enjoyed chasing after the next generation!  How blessed we are!

Sunny mother's day...

Got tons of things planted today... temps were in the high 80's, and I am pretty tuckered out!


Here is the view looking through our ash tree at the bright blue sky.  I was lying on the deck bench, taking a rest.

HAPPY MOTHERS' DAY!!

Fun app!

Here is a "sketch" version of an apple blossom photo, using my PS Express free app.


I think I like it :)

Plants and more plants!

I took some time off work this morning to be one of the first in line at the annual Yakima Master Gardeners' plant sale....

This is the sight that greeted us!  Gorgeous plants, and lots of 'em!

There were already over 100 shoppers making their way through the rows. 

This picture is deceiving! 

The first shoppers lined up to pay..... 

since it was  Friday, there were a lot of retired folks and a few BRAVE moms with kids.

Some of our loot. All healthy looking plants!

The ten flats of starts and purchased flowers and veggies  we are still bringing in every night. 

Low temp tonight is forecast to be 30...everything is inside for the night!

Later!

~ M

Blossoms bursting out!

The sunny days mean all the orchards around us are blooming. 


Nights are still chilly....37 this morning and the orchard fans that stir the cold air to minimize fruit damage were LOUD early this morning!

Bing cherry blossoms - will be lots of cherries, hopefully!

Baby apricots are already formed...

here's hoping that nights don't get too cold

Apple blossoms just starting to open

I love the colors in these blossoms!

I had fun with my PicFrame app!

Later!

M

Getting dirty!

The vegetable gardening is in full swing!


We have planted two rows of Walla Walla sweets, a row of red onions and leeks (first time for leeks!), and three rows of potatoes - red, white and Yukon Gold.  No weeds yet :)


We have four full flats of flowers and more tomatoes than we need that we take out in the morning and bring in at night  Two days ago there was frost on my windshield when I headed out to work at 6:30 a.m.  Brrr!


The days are warm and the spring temps means the flowering trees and the orchards are bright with color and buzzing bees.  


.

The Golden Delicious apples next door are in full bloom!

When you duck into the orchard you can hear the  bees, 

busy doing their pollinating thing!

Later!!

~M

Absent for a while...

Have been busy and not blogging... still following lots of interesting folks!   


I entered two tops in Made by Rae's Spring Top Sewalong .  My tops didn't get selected but I had a lot of fun sewing for myself.  One pattern was a tutorial from Rae's Web page, and I bought the other one online as a pdf.

Rayon-linen blend... have already worn to work :)

Love the colors! Fabric is a bit stiff... 

doesn't drape as well as I would like, but still looks good.

 Pics for Rae's contest had to be headless :)

Have almost finished Ada's sweater....just need to assemble the pieces! 

I was not very far along at this point...

Signin' out....!

Milestone birthday...

Company is arriving and food and flowers are stacking up. 

My MIL turns 80 TODAY - and her kids have planned a big shindig and celebration Saturday.  She will have a great time visiting with all her family and the other folks joining us for lunch and visiting.

Old friends from Kansas flew out for the occasion and surprised her this morning... happy tears from all!

~M

Sew busy...

I keep a list of sewing projects on my iPhone. I don't want to forget some of the inspiring fat-quarter sets I have, and the ready-to-go charm packs. 

Have been concentrating - of course! - on sewing for little gals, and guys.

Here are a couple quick accomplishments. 

 

Two crib sheets for Miss M...the lower one is flannel and the top one is cotton.  Nice and bright!

The green flannel two-sided receiving blanket is for a yet-to-be born boy.

I love the top pattern!  Really cheerful!

"The Voice" is calling... time to pickup my knitting!

~M

 

Optimistic!

Post-frost planting time in Selah is the middle of May, so today I started three different kinds of flowers in a little seed-starting kit.  I may order some specific flower seeds from Burpee or Nichols.... but at least I got them started.

The rainbow coleus seeds were TINY - and I know I dropped more than one in each cell.  The cosmos seeds were long....at least half-an-inch and very skinny.  The zinnia seeds were different shapes and sizes, since the seed packet was for a mixed variety. 

They are sitting in a southeastern facing window...waiting for the Selah sunshine to warm them up.

Amazing to think that the gorgeous healthy flower plants I enjoy in the summer come start as such little tiny seeds! 

In a couple weeks I will start two varieties of zucchini and a short-season cantaloup!  Yum!

~M

Morning...

I took a chilly half-hour walk this morning...With the hour shift forward, and being Sunday, there was little activity on my route.  Passed the intriguing turban-wearing neighbor, on his own  morning stroll. 

Having passed the 60-year mark two years ago, I need to keep the body moving.

I should rearrange my morning routine, to get out more often, but a 7 a.m. arrival time at work means I would be out in the dark EARLY.

Looking forward to daffodil blooms and warmer days. 

These are last year's cheerful flowers.

 ~M
Happy day to all!