Alaska Days and Garden Treats

Alaska is where I was born, it's where my dad broke his back, it's where we all gathered as a family after Talitha died; Alaska is a place I consider home and yet it finally came time to say farewell in a way. My grandparents' health is failing and the decision was made to move them down to Washington to live with/near my parents. I arrived in Alaska on Thursday night with the work starting on Friday. We packed, loaded, sold, garage sale'd, laughed, cried, visited and shared time together. There is grief in the air, along with happiness of having my grandparents closer. Lots of mixed emotions going on right now...

Just wanted to share some of the beauty of one of my favorite places...

I came home to some really amazing garden treats and my wonderful husband. The edge of our patio is finally finished as well!! Still feeling a bit sad these days, but looking forward to our vacation in a week!

Julember Treats

I know - it's not really a word, unless you live in Seattle and for those of us who live here we know exactly what month, or months, Julember includes! Despite the ridiculous humidity, clouds, rain and then sporadic sun we've enjoyed lots of yummies from the garden. We have bagged a bunch of sugar peas, snow peas, even a few carrots and gallons of lettuce. Still waiting for squash, tomatoes, cucumber and eggplant. We did find some unusual pink flowers on the sugar pod pea plants that are so pretty! Not sure if they cross pollinated with the nearby pink/purple potato plants or what, but they are very pretty to see.



The other big news is our patio is 3/4 done!!! They finally finished the stones and gravel, there are just a few more things to add - sod up to the patio edge, pergola and flowering pots. Then a backyard warming!!!
Day 1:

Day 2:

Day 3:

Happy Julember!!

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries

I know, the saying isn't quite correct, but seriously when you are sitting in a chaise lounge chair, envisioning the new slate patio going in on Thursday (July 7th), the sun is shining down, the breeze is caressing your face and a huge bowl of cherries is sitting between you and the love of your life - life IS just a bowl of cherries.
Summer (dare I say the word) has FINALLY come to Seattle. It seems as though the last few years have pushed Nick and I to our max with being able to stand staying in Seattle, however, with our fantastic new backyard in, the roses blooming and first harvests from the garden coming in we have managed to survive the season that we will call "Sprinter" in Seattle. Here are some lovely shots of the last couple weekends in our little green paradise!

From our garden:



Market and Festival Goodies:

Our lives from here on out will be referred to as two different time periods BP (before patio) and AP (after patio). BP life is not as fantastic as AP life - as evidenced below:

Yep, all you need is a patio, some sunshine and a bowl of cherries and other goodies. Life doesn't get much better than that!