Category Archives: Colville

Raspberries

On Friday JJ’s mommy and Addy went to Spokane with Granny and Granny Great to celebrate a friends new baby. JJ and Baba were left to their own devices. It is so good to just spend time with one Grand now and then. JJ is developing the right skills to pedal his bicycle and it was fun to watch him. We spent a little time in the garden and he gets to pick and eat all the raspberries he wants. Inside he enjoyed his lunch and then we played with trucks and blocks and puzzles. We worked on a Kiwi Activity box that gets delivered monthly. After we read the book that came with the activity box JJ brought several other books he wanted me to read to him. Later in the afternoon it was time  to wind down to his nap so we watched Octonauts just as Mommy and Addy pulled into the garage. A nice day for everyone.

Survivors

Many of our plants have survived our epic heat wave and for that I’m grateful.

This clematis hasn’t bloomed the last couple of years but this year we’ve gotten two blooms. This is the second bloom.

The daylilies seem to thrive in the heat.

How does your garden grow?

Today I have a follow-up appointment in Spokane so we’ll leave O-dark-thirty to get to the appointment on time. Need anything from Costco while we are there? That’s a standard question we ask our kids and they ask us depending on who is headed to Spokane.

Welcome July

These baby Swallows were around for a few days learning to fly. They stayed relatively safe hanging on to our soccer goal.

A buck came to visit.

The deer that come into our yard have their favorite plants. The Variegated Willow is one of them.

We are headed back to double digits instead of being over 100 degrees which is a relief. We’ll be in the 90’s for several days.

We don’t have big plans for the 4th this year besides going to church. My sister and hubby are stopping for an overnight on Monday the 5th after some time in Idaho. It will be nice to see them. The mayor of Colville has made the decision to not allow fireworks in the city this year. Because our Spring was dryer than usual and we’ve been in an extreme heat wave there is a danger that any little spark could start a wildfire.

Our flags will be waving proudly!

Do you have plans?

Garlic

We are novices when it comes to garlic and harvesting garlic. All the garlic that appeared in our raised planter was put there by someone before we moved in. It was a surprise last year when they popped up and our Daughter in law informed us what they were. This year we were a wee bit more informed and were told if we removed the scapes as soon as they appeared we would get larger bulbs. That advice was timely and good.

This is what the scapes look like and you remove them before you harvest the bulbs. They are good for eating, too. You can see the curly stem with a single bulb on the plant and you can remove them easily.

Next year we will be even smarter about how to pull up the bulbs and what to avoid. I watched a lot of youtubes on the subject after we pulled the bulbs up. Why not before you might ask? That’s the way I roll.  Hopefully I’ll learn from my mistakes.

Hanging the harvest in the Cold Room that we have in our garage using the deer hanger. It’s dark and dry (hopefully). We’ll check them in about 3 weeks to see how they are doing. When they are good and dry we will cut off the stalks, trim the stringy roots and brush off the dirt. Then we’ll store the bulbs in mesh bags like lemons or oranges come in, something airy. Then we’ll store them in a cool dark spot.

Going into the cold room this morning to take the photo I was hit with that pungent fragrance of garlic. It smells like an Italian or Greek restaurant in there!

On the weather front: Our little digital window thermometer tells us our high yesterday was 107 degrees. Today they are predicting 111. Time will tell. Dear is mowing today very early (6:30 am). Our neighbors aren’t close enough to mind too much. We continue to water in the coolest part of the morning.

On the Cataract front: My eye is doing well and Dear is administrating the 3 different drops 4x a day. Tomorrow we move to only 2 different drops 3x a day. Thank you all for your encouragement!

Love One Another…

Uncle Joshie joined Auntie Lolo who was already in Colville for Father’s Day weekend. Addy and JJ were delighted to see him and spend time with him. Their daddy was away because of work and they really missed him. Uncle Joshie was a nice diversion.

Josh flew back home on Father’s Day. Auntie Lolo drove back home on the day of my cataract surgery. Before Lolo left she captured a lot of photos. Thank you Lolo and Joshie for all your help and love!

Collecting the eggs and enjoying garden delights picked fresh!

Addy and JJ’s daddy came home on Thursday the 24th of June and their little family is together again much to everyone’s relief.

The news around our region is the heat! We are above 100 degrees with predictions of temps getting as high as 114. Yikes. That means fire danger, too. We are more appreciative of our cooling possibilities. We are watering early in the morning and have blinds closed and curtains drawn during the day. The birds are enjoying our watering. We hope to get to more normal summertime temps in a week.

Under the Sea

Auntie LoLo came back for another week on Wednesday June 16th. Addy and JJ were happy to see her again.

On Friday a trip to Spokane to visit the small aquarium was in order.

JJ had no fear in touching some of the sea creatures but Addy decided against it.

So much to see under the sea!

Back home and the day was just right for bubbles!

So thankful that Auntie LoLo catches such great moments with her phone!

Late on Friday night Uncle Joshie flew in for Father’s Day Weekend. More photos to share from that time soon.

Things are going well with my recovery from Cataract Surgery.

For the month of June I’ve been reading the book of Romans in the Bible.

Romans 12:9-13

9 Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. 10 Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. 11 Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 13 Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

Late June Snapshots

I’m scheduling a few random shots while my eye is recovering from my Cataract surgery. We’ve made a few minor changes in our living room since the original look when we moved in.

Romans 12: 1,2

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Update:

Good morning. Surgery went well and my only restrictions are no lifting, bending over, or contact sports for a few days. Thank you for all your prayers on my behalf!

Tea for Eight

On Saturday I cashed in my winning bid at our Missions auction for a Tea for Eight. I set the table and invited the guests and then was able to sit and enjoy being served along with my seven guests.

As my guests arrived they were invited to choose the tea cup and saucer from the tea cart. Once the choices were made and the headbands chosen we sat down for our first cup of tea before the Tea Sandwiches arrived.

 

Kathy, the gal on the left was the the cook and organizer and she brought along a helper.

Each sandwich type and quiche were delicious. Not sure what my favorite was. Cucumber Cream Cheese and Dill was delicious and such a classic. The artichoke sandwich might have been my favorite but then there was the Chicken Salad. Something else that was different besides the yummy artichoke sandwich was the Cream cheese, Apricot, Olive and Pecans. Would we have room for Scones?

Oh yes we had room and some of us even managed a second scone.  All the right stuff came on the luncheon plate for the scone along with fresh strawberries in a lavender syrup.

After our Scone course we decided that a little walk about would be good. Addy was really taken with the older girls and they were very sweet with her.

After our walkabout we enjoyed a piano interlude from the girls.

The Dessert Course. A picture is worth a thousand words.

I think the youngest guest thought the dessert course was the best!

Addy and Auntie Lolo.

Addy’s great aunt Rhonda bought this tea dress for her. If you look closely the skirt has teapots and teacups on it.

 

I got the cutest thank you card from one of the young girls in my box at church on Sunday. She thanked me and said she thought the tea was excellent!! It was a wonderful treat to be served tea in my home with my guests using my dishes. We were all thankful for air conditioning, too, since we reached the upper 80’s on Saturday.

Happy Summer everyone! Summer is coming in hot for us here with 3 digits predicted for the end of the week!

Clematis Joy!

Hope you all have a good Father’s Day weekend.

I’ll be away from my computer for the next couple of days. Tomorrow is Tea Day here at our Country Bungalow and there will be eight of us around the table. I’m handing over my kitchen to the gal who offered up the tea at our Mission’s Auction. She has a helper coming along, too.  I’ll share lots of photos as soon as I can.

With our son flying in for the weekend and the Tea and Father’s Day things will be busy around here.

I’ve gotten all my dates for my Cataract surgeries so the next 5 weeks will be hit and miss for my computer time. My first surgery is next Wednesday. I might have some flashback posts popping up while my eyes are resting.

I’ll leave you with this quote from a Commentary on Romans that I’m reading from John MacArthur;

“God is the only source of goodness, and therefore everything good and worthwhile a person has is from the gracious hand of God.”

Take care and go in God’s goodness!

Peonies and Puzzles

Most of our white peonies decided to be ready at the same time so I scrambled to find containers for them. Our house has a wonderful fragrance from these blooms.

Weekend before last we finished up my London Puzzle, #15 in the books.

Last night we had a thunder and lightning storm and as I look out this morning our pink peonies are just about ready to burst, too. Yikes I’m running out of vases, pitchers and other containers!

Our ‘server’, whoever that is, will not upload any more of my photos this morning so I’ll leave you with these. I’m off to get our car serviced at the local Toyota dealer.

When I came in from weeding the server decided I could upload more photos.

Thankful that our yards got a good watering with the storm in the early hours so I won’t need to water today. I appreciate God’s watering! Have a good day everyone.