Fourth of July

Don't know what I'm going to do yet, even for this weekend, but thought I'd post some fireworks photos that I took last year in Battle Ground at Debbie & Jeff's annual bash.
Enjoy!!

Two Days Off

What a treat! I took 2 days off work and realize I should do this more often.

Tuesday was the 2nd hottest day of our year and a record for June in this area-as was Monday- and I gathered all the necessary stuff to install a sprinkler system in my back yard and bring water to the front. Mike gave me 5 lengths of PVC pipe left over from a long-ago project of his. I was able to actually make a hose bib in the front yard and WATER! I'm sure the plumbing police would disapprove and snicker at my work, but water is water and my plants seemed just as happy as if it conformed to Union standards. Besides, the sky provides most of the water we need here, so this is just for those few days a year that are truly HOT.

Tuesday evening Mike & I went to the Aladdin to see Arlo Guthrie and family. What a treat that show was. We loved it. For my part, I could have been content just to hear Arlo sing Alice's Restaurant in person. I will never forget that.

Wednesday dawned cooler, but still a beautiful day. It was as if the Weather Gods knew I didn't want to dig ditches in 100 degree heat. I prepared the ditch for the PVC, laid out the pattern of pipes, elbows and sprinklers and needed only one more trip to Ace Hardware to complete my needs. Of course, Tuesday I had made 2 trips to Ace and one to True Value, so I guess that's about par for the course. And I only got two or three blotches of blue glue on my body putting the pieces together. Some of the PVC Mike donated was very permanently curved. I was able to work several of those curves into the pattern and had only to cut out two sections. Anyway, the system is in and it works. I have included photos of the exposed pipe in my little ditch and then of the sprinklers actually working. My garden is maturing and I am enjoying the process every bit as much as the results.

By the way, today I even went to Kelso, Wa and got my new truck it's 5000 mile "well baby check" this afternoon. Must keep up that warrenty......I do want to collect on that free-tires-for-life thing.

June 20, 2006

Once again I haven't been attentive to my BLOG. Life tends to get in the way. Graduations, 75th birthday parties and work have taken my time.
My dear friend Karen Whiteaker has moved to Spokane. This is a really good thing for her. She has graduated from PSU with the double major of Business Management and Human Resources and almost certainly has a great job awaiting her. I will include photos of her graduation. This is a crossroads in Karen's life and the move is a good thing. But I will miss her terribly and also will miss her children Alex, Emily & Everett. We have had many a late nights at my house solving the world's problems and many nice dinners at El Tapatio doing the same. I think I will have some haircuts that involve a trip to Spokane in the near future. As I helped her pack last evening, amid the chaos and boxes, she gave me one last haircut. When I related this story to Mike, he recalled the scene in the movie "Oh God" when George Burns told John Denver to do something normal, like shaving, and he would better deal with the unusual circumstances at hand. I think that's what Karen & I were doing with the haircut.......something normal.

Saturday evening many of us from Broadway attended Gladys Wilson's 75th birthday party. I hope I am as vital and active as Gladys is when I am 75. The party was wonderful, held at the Smith Mansion, of National Historic Register fame. A lovely home that is still occupied by a family. A picture of Gladys and Ted is included here.

Summer officially begins at 5:26am tomorrow morning. I wonder if the weather here will magically change!? I doubt it. As Mike's mom used to say "Never expect summer until after the 4th of July." OK, I wont. But I hope it is nice for the CSNY concert on July 28th!!

What a beautiful weekend!!!! While I worked Saturday morning at BMC the sun came out. A few minutes after I got home about 1:30pm Mike arrived in the Jag. We decided the sun was such a treat that we would go for a top-down spin. I had seen a sign on my way to work for several weeks that said "PEONIES, Thur-Sun 11-6." Of course, those hours were not such that I could see what the "PEONIES" were all about. We followed the signs on Saturday, and thank heaven there were signs! If you lived up there you'd need bread crumbs to get to the store and back. I had no idea there were so many varieties of Peonies. Jim & Bonnie Johnson have made a hobby/vocation of growing and hybridizing peonies. They have, literally, hundreds of colors and varities growqing on their considerable piece of land. They have other very beautiful landscaping as well and are extremely personable to converse with. I believe I will order two or three varieties from them to be collected and planted in the fall. I especially liked Coral Charm, Candy Hearts and Butter Bowl.

After the Peonie tour we took the road off of Highway 30 in South Scappoose that says "Mark's on the Channel" and followed it down to Dike Road. In addition to nursery growing farms we discovered a charming little bar/restaurant on the Multnomah Channel (Mark's of course) and sat on the dock having a beer in the warm sun. What a delightful place! I am sure we will return there more than once.

Sunday dawned (I guess-we got up late) warm and sunny again. After reading the paper in the sun on my deck Mike suggested we go to Troutdale and scout out Edgefield where we are to see Bonnie Raiit/Keb Mo in September. Again, top-down trip was enjoyed through Portland to Troutdale. Edgefield is a wonderful place of gardens and olde, restored buildings. We toured the Herb Garden and enjoyed beer and BBQ'd chicken outside in the area called "The Loading Dock."

My lawns needed mowing and, as Mike left to return to the coast, he predicted that I would mow them immediately. He was right, of course, and by 7:30 both front & back we mowed and edged. My garden is growing-we had salad from it on Saturday night- and the front of the house looks very cute with the korbels Mike added 2 weeks ago. I will include some updated photos here of the maturing garden and the front.

Next weekend brings another graduation (Karen Whiteaker's) and Gladys' 75th birthday party. I hope after that my life can be my own again for a while. I'd like to just garden here and at the coast and concentrate onmy running. The Hood to Coast looms ever closer!

Wednesday

Nothing special tonight...just a nice day. Everyone but me in Administration at BMC is on vacation, so, it's "Tag, you're it" for me. But, really, it's pretty much a piece of cake. We have such a good crew that most folks manage themselves quite nicely. I sometimes think that the managers need to meet just to assure themselves of their own importance. But that's probably one of those things that is illegal to BLOG about your place of employment, so, you really didn't read this.
The clear skies and beautiful scenery on my way home belied the icey cold wind that was blowing. I hoped to run again, but I'm not much a of wind runner. I watered my plants in the back yard and brrrrrr, decided to email my Hood to Coast team instead of running. I did eat enough peas from my vines in the garden to delay my desire for dinner for quite a while! How fun.
I think I will just include some photos of the tulips that bloomed so graciously in my front yard this year. I photographed them and have framed them to hang above my bed when I finish painting my bedroom. The warm colors will compliment the Adobe and Yellow I plan to paint in that room.

Tuesday June 6

It didn't rain today! Some clouds this morning but no rain. I actually wore sandles to work and didn't get my feet wet. Didn't even need to put on my jacket.

The weather was so pretty when I got home this evening, and I had been stuck in the office all day, that I went for a run. I ran in a random pattern down through town to the waterfront and along the river to the north end of our marina. There are float homes there as well as boats moored. I was confronted, once again, with what a beautiful place this is. The sky was blue and clear, the air was warm and the river was beautiful. Mount Hood was peaking above the boats in the marina and is still covered with snow. There were boys out riding skateboards (and pretending to run into me as I ran, laughing, at them) and couple out walking their dogs. I feel so fortunate to live here.

I returned home from my run to find the girls that live two houses south of me out in the street flirting with a boy on a skateboard. They said "Hi" and I got to ask if they would cat-sit for me this summer. They both seemed delighted. I think that may work out well for me. I'd like to know them better in any event.

I will include a couple of photos here of our marina in St. Helens. They were taken a bit earlier this year, but the scene is basically the same.

Remiss in Keeping up BLOG-Guilty!

It's Oregon. It's June 1st and it's RAINING!!!!....still, yet, again. Hood Meadows will be open for skiing again this weekend. However, I have both the front & back door of my house open because Michael has installed two screen doors for me and it's not cold. That, at least, is an improvement.
Lots has happened, not the least of which is that Eric graduated from USC with his Master's Degree on May 12th. I returned to So Cal for the first time and, although I loved seeing Eric and family, I am soooooo glad I don't live there anymore. There are way too many rats in the rat-maze down there. No wonder everyone drives 80 mph and is stressed. They're running away and don't even know they're running in place.
I'll try to include some photos here of the graduation, though last time I tried my files were too big to download here.

My garden here in St. Helens is thriving. I have enough peas on my pea vines to have for dinner. My lettuce is (and has been already) edible and the Walla Walla onions look really good. Now that I have "deadlined" the slugs, my flowers are re-growing leaves and blooming. I have green tomatos and the cilantro looks good, but I think everything (including me) could use a little sunshine. Certainly, I would love to de-slime my deck with the 30-minutes I purchased, but it's hard to do in the rain! Hopefully before the Hood to Coast gang arrives I will be able to do that.

Mike has installed some korbels (little ginger-breadie things) on the pillars of my front porch. They look as if they have always been there and really make my house look even cuter than it was. As he says, my little house is so small that it doesn't take much to improve it. But now I REALLY need to repaint my porch. I did finally cut back the spent daffodils and tulips and plant some summer annuals and perennials. My roses in the front are ready to bloom also, especially since the neighborhood deer have stopped munching on the new growth.

My garden at the coast is going well. The logging near the house has apparently scared the elk and deer into another area. A rose is blooming in the lower garden that I have never seen before and the vegetables I planted remain. I will try planting some lettuce this coming weekend. I have tomatos and hot chilis growing the the little greenhouse. Mike made a foundation to raise it up that is just perfect. He has also almost finished the glasshouse under the stairs. I am looking foward to growing some things in there as well. That will also be a good place to "winter-over" some delicate plants. We'll see if that works.