Highlights of the rest of the week:
I was invited over Saturday to view the first tryout of the sprinkler, but by the time I got over there, the excitement had waned, and two little girls were mad about it being too cold.
We also met near here at the little water fountain park for Mother's Day. The girls packed a picnic and found a shade while Emily and I sat on benches and nearly had a heat stroke. I have to toughen up a little bit when it comes to the heat. It was only 83! Full sun is HOT here, but if you walk into the shade it really cools off, so that makes it better. We didn't think about it until both of us were irritable and hot with our masks on! It was nice to celebrate in even such a small way, and I got pretty cards and gifts to enjoy.
After they left, I walked home and was just drained and almost ready to call it a day and get my pjs on, but Noreen had texted two hours before and asked if I wanted to meet on her porch. It would have been so easy to pass, but I told her YES, grabbed my coffee, and had a good visit with her. It's amazing how much we have in common and never run out of things to talk about. We decided to try for the apartment complex delayed party on Friday, but this time it's a burger truck instead of Mexican. Oh, well. Hopefully I won't have a sore throat and will have a good time.
On Saturday, I was needing some potting soil, so I asked Elise if she wanted to ride to Ace Hardware in North Bend to see if they were open. Were they!! It was like a party with loads of happy people, most in masks and keeping proper distances, music playing, and plenty of sunshine.
Elise stopped by Huxdotter Coffee and got a cup. It smelled so good I wished I had gotten some. Next time. It's been there awhile and right across the street from Ace, but it's newly remodeled and very busy. Looking at the menu, there's a lot of good stuff for sale, stuff I won't be eating though. I will try the coffee next time.
The parking lot was full when we got there, but there weren't too many people in the greenhouse, which is very small. Everyone was just excited about getting something to grow. They did have some beautiful baskets, and Elise fell in love with some New Guinea impatiens, but I was only there for potting soil, a tomato plant and some herbs (found only Thai basil and had to buy seeds). There's a limit to what that little balcony will hold.
Elise checking out cat toys. I'm always amazed at what a huge assortment of pet food and stuff they have. There's another aisle too.
I did find a couple of pots and decided that was enough. It's a cute store and very well equipped. Friendly people too. The checkout lady and I agreed that we could neither hear nor see nor even think with those masks on and kept mixing things up. Just making the best of it, all of us.
Elise pulled over and took this picture of the beautiful rhododendron in front of the Senior Center.
This red is my favorite, and they're everywhere right now, more in North Bend than in Snoqualmie, for some reason.
These are the ones beside Noreen's porch and the type that will bloom at our stairs later on. We're slow down at Building K.
I asked Elise to drive a different route home so we could enjoy the pretty day, and that reminded her of a drive that she likes to take sometimes.
The road crosses the Snoqualmie River and runs alongside it a bit, and it was just beautiful. This is right before it reaches the falls.
It was a lovely drive.
We stopped by Steller Street on the way to take some peppers to the garden, and they were all washing the car.
And doing some sidewalk art.
Emily has so much patience! Ryan was also there "helping" but managed to stay out of the pictures.
I went by the garden and planted the peppers and watered some. We're now in the middle of a whole week of rain, so maybe things will perk up in their growing. Besides the weeds. They're doing fine. I had ordered a sunhat for gardening, and it came today. I'm ready!
Ryan still has my chairs there for pressure-washing and painting, but the balcony is now clean, freshly painted and full of my usual haphazard "old-lady gardening" that Mike teased me about.
Geraniums never fail. I got these plants from the Mount Si High School FFA sale. The purple wave petunias looked a little damaged, but I didn't mention it. They were out of everything by the time I ordered anyway, and I think they'll bounce back. The blooms are beautiful.
This is a ground cover I picked up at Ace. I think it's called Platt's Black and looks like little ferns. I thought it would be cute in a pot.
I had to buy a 6-pack of peppers at Safeway, gave Emily 2 for her yard and planted one in the garden. I know these will outgrow the pot, but what the heck. I love banana peppers for adding to salads.
Same here with the Better Boy tomato. It will soon be needing a bigger pot (I hope) or transplanting to the garden, but I'm out of big pots now. The geranium on the left is one I babied through the winter along with a fuschia that survived. It looked healthy enough now.
The clematis and bacopa are doing pretty well after a traumatic planting. Clematises are so fragile but so worth it.
My favorite pot from plants I got at the local nursery, Utopian Gardens.
The geranium is the prettiest coral color, and the wasabi coleus just complements it so well along with more of the white bacopa.
The cats are enjoying having the chair cushions inside and think it's their new special perch. If I can't find any cushions I like, I wonder if I could take these apart and make my own new ones.
It's a beautiful world right now, and we sometimes are able to forget what a mess the world is in and just enjoy the simple pleasures.
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