So, It Wasn't a Bad Dream

That crash that woke us up about 1:30 has now been identified.  I don't think either of us wakes us easily, but when it sounds like a car has crashed into your house, it will get your attention.

The problem is that it was very noisy for a couple of minutes and then silence.  No car accident in the street.  No sirens.  No voices.  The air conditioner still worked.  It was eerily silent.  We checked all the doors and windows and turned on lights and fretted and wondered and worried.  My first thought was that it was the air conditioning unit because as we were standing in the hall, just as all the noise went away, the air conditioner cycled off.  And doesn't that always happen when you decide to sell your house?   If I could describe the sound better, it was like 4 garbage trucks parked next to the window.

It shook me up.  Mike seemed to not be TOO worried.  We stayed up in the den and talked about it and even made cups of coffee, knowing we weren't going right back to sleep.  We kind of knew that it wasn't crepe myrtle limbs, because the noise was too loud for that.

He finally went to sleep on the couch, and I just watched a movie on my computer until 4:30.  Even then, I still had a trembly feeling that wouldn't go away, afraid we were going to find something bad in the morning.

When I finally woke up, the guy from Home Depot was just leaving, having come and measured the den for carpet, and Mike was out front with a wheelbarrow full of topsoil and a rake.

He had been busy.

This used to be a huge lugustrum (I think) on this corner.


This was the first thing Mike saw when he went outside.

The beautiful lawn that Mike had worked so hard on and babied through all the heat.  

Our neighbors seem to be out of town, but they had a near-miss also.

We were just going to let it go, but an insurance adjuster passed by on his morning walk and advised Mike to contact the police just to cover all the bases.  Which he did, and a policeman came by and checked it all out.  We figure there's not much chance the car made it out of that unharmed; in fact, we found broken tail light pieces on the ground.  He said he would be on the lookout for anyone reporting a "hit and run" or something similar.  But it doesn't matter to us who it was or the reason.  We're just hoping it made an impression on the driver to change his or her driving habits.  Doubtful though.

This was not the only visitor we had last night.  At some point yesterday, these were whole hostas -  2 of them - certainly ragged and heat damaged - but whole.  Looks like the deer are checking for food.  They loved the hibiscus last year, but we don't have one this year, and the hostas are all we can see that they've dined on so far.

Just walking around the yard with the camera, everything else looks peaceful and happy to have had a couple of days of rain.

I always enjoy throwing out several packets of zinnias in the spring.  They hardly ever let me down.

For some reason, Mike decided to fill in a narrow slice of soil between the driveway and fence with sunflowers.  Interesting.

The Texas vine has started to bloom but not too enthusiastically.  I think it's just begun.

Since I've been back from the NW, I've been useless.  Just cannot drum up any enthusiasm for any projects or much of anything.  Luckily, I can get by with it - so far.

We decided to go ahead and replace the carpet in the den.  We were going to leave it old and stained for any potential buyers to decide what they wanted to do with the space.  But it was beginning to bother us and figured it might bother lookers too.

I tried to sew a little.  I bought this cute fabric when Emily and I were shopping for Graysen's hideaway tent.

I started a Bapron since Graysen has outgrown all hers.  It's about the only thing that will cover enough of her when she eats, but the old ones just barely cover her tummy.  I made a 24 month to 3 year size, and this looked more like it.

I'm not sure I'll ever enjoy putting on seam binding.  I even bought a special seam binding foot, but maybe I'm not using it correctly.  I have better luck just eyeing it with a regular foot.  Guess it doesn't matter for this article destined to be smeared with yogurt and spaghetti.

Since I had enough fabric, I have one cut out for Baby Kate, although it's hard to imagine her being big enough to eat.

The Febreze is always there because I share my sewing space with Darby, and she doesn't smell the best all the time.

And not to leave out Little Baby (named Rusty briefly), I made him one too.  He normally doesn't wear clothes, but maybe he will wear the bib.

I bought a couple of yards of cute vinyl fabric some time ago and finally cut out something.  I think this might come in handy when Graysen paints.

Or maybe not.  It seems to work now to try to get her into the downstairs shower and let her play for awhile until all traces of the paint are gone.  

I did find this beautiful fabric at Joann Fabrics.  I was looking around with the idea of finding something for doll quilts for the bunk beds Mike and are I going to fix up for the girls.  This one has the grays, corals, and aquas of both the nursery and Gracie's room.  My photography and lighting don't do it justice.  I forgot to notice what it is - not 100% cotton surely - because it has a lovely feel to it, like maybe it would work for clothing.  

Just a couple of pictures of our sweet girls.

Memories of a happy morning at Snoqualmie Community Park.  Gracie had all the space she needed to run and run.  Kate slept, and Emily and I had a rare clear view of Rainier (ust to left of this picture).  

One of many picnics once she decided she was "hungry outside."

A grownup-looking girl who is finally allowing mini pony tails, bows (sometimes), sunglasses, and even a bracelet.  Yay for Gracie!

These pictures always make me happy.  Poor Baby Kate is getting used to whole-face kisses from big sister.  It could be worse.