A Hint of Spring

We did have a beautiful day on Friday, and Elise, Emily, and I headed to Carnation for the annual plant sale.  As I mentioned before, we've gone almost every year since we found out about it, and it's rained every single time.

This time was an exception. We didn't leave until around 10:00 and had blue skies the whole time.  I said I didn't care if we found anything we wanted to buy or not.  It was just worth it to drive over and enjoy the day.  The cherry trees have almost all stopped blooming, but all the others are either blooming or leafing out with their pale green leaves.  We passed a lavender field and another flower farm that was pretty. Usually on this road you can find a booth of fresh flowers for sale, but we didn't see one today.

When we got to Carnation, we were a little disoriented.  After turning left and looking for for a parking place, we realized we weren't on the right street.  It's a teeny little town, so we only had to drive around about 3 blocks to find that the place where the sale usually takes place had been replaced by an independent living  building and parking area.  We did see the tents next door though so parked and made our way there.

I'm glad we weren't really needing a lot of stuff, because the whole area was maybe half the size of prior years.  I didn't take one picture there, but we did find enough to fill up the back of Emily's car.  I got some dill, Italian oregano, and anise, but I was hoping to find some pretty parsley and cilantro.  Although I had decided not to grow tomatoes again, it was too tempting to see the little plants and not bring a couple of them home.  Now to find a sunny patch.

Elise was really wanting some New Guinea impatiens and found only some white ones, but the leaves are so pretty.  I can't even remember the other things I bought.  A yellow begonia and some airy flower that was a pretty coral.  Emily got me a few things for Mother's Day, and I had enjoyed about enough of standing up, so we headed home feeling pretty good about our choices.  Elise and I are so limited in our space that we don't need much.  I have them all on the table now trying to match them with the pots I already have.  It's cool again, so I'm not in that much of a hurry to get out there and plant them.  I'll have pictures then.  

Emily had to get home in time to pick up Graysen and her friend Maya and take them to Swirl for a frozen yogurt while waiting for Katherine's school to dismiss.  Then they all went for manicures.  Graysen and Maya had a Hawaiian-themed dance that night, and they were getting ready for that.

 Gray chose the lavender with the darker purple flower on the thumbs, and Katherine got what looks like clear with a white flower.  I can't tell if Maya's color was blue, purple, or silver, but they all looked pretty cute.  

Emily sent me a few pictures after she got ready and picked up Ellie.  From the school pictures, it looked like lots of the kids were more casual than they were, but I love to see them "get pretty" and feel pretty and just have fun.  I don't have many details, but they did have a DJ and karaoke as well as pizza and shaved ice and organized activities.  Some of these pictures are at home and on the way in front of Mount Si, and I got a couple from the Facebook ones.

There were two lacrosse games on Saturday in Seattle in the rain, so I still haven't seen a game or really a practice.  I have no idea about the rules or what the object it.  Graysen's and Katherine's teams played at the same time, and Ryan and Emily settled in between the fields and swiveled around to catch the action.  Both teams won 15-5, and Katherine got a goal.

On Sunday, both teams played in Fall City but at different times.  Gray did well, and their team won a close game by 1 point.  Kate's team won big again,

and she got another goal.  I guess it's called a goal.  She scored anyway.  Maybe this video will work.  From my point of view, she comes in from behind the goal - in the pink shoes - gets surrounded by defensive players, exchanges jabs with the other players, and tosses it into the net.  I'm sure there's more to it than that.

On Sunday afternoon, I walked down to Mary's and played Scrabble with her for about an hour.  It was fun to talk to her and get all caught up.  She's planning to start Mah-Jong lessons on the 21st at the Y - right up the street - and I've signed up for a review and relearning classes.  I haven't played in four years, so there will be a lot of relearning.  It was another pretty sunny day, and the walk there and back was not too far for me at all.  According to phone calls - accidental and otherwise - her daughter Celia had given Emily some plants, and Em and Ryan were out working in the yard.  I drove over there and watched a little bit, including roly-poly bugs and centipedes - then brought the girls home with me for a couple of hours. 

Elise made them some little pizzas with cheese and pineapple, corn-on-the-cob, and grapes which was a very tasty supper.  And a piece of their leftover lemon cake from Thursday.

Gray found a Bible story book and was reading to Katherine.  Usually, they pick the stories with the most swords and action, but I think I heard her reading about the disciples.   Sweet girls.

I've updated my calendar with the Mah-Jong lessons and found out one of the dates coincides with a follow-up visit with my doctor, but I'll only miss about 30 minutes.  Noreen and I have also signed up for a retirement planning seminar at the library to see if we can start making heads or tails of our finances.  

I'll have the girls after school, but until then I think I'll try to get those plants planted and eat breakfast.  

Emily sent me this old video from maybe 2022.  We could never figure out what she meant by "junk."  Maybe several?

First Day of May

 This seems like a perfect day all around and a perfect day to break my silence on this blog.  

It's the day we weather followers have been looking forward to for a couple of weeks.  High of 77 today and 70 tomorrow, and the rest of the 10 days seem wonderful - and dry.

Noreen and I have plans to go sit by the pool this morning when the sun gets high enough.  At least, that's what we talked about.  We don't feel obligated to stick by a plan if we are enjoying the present.

We did follow through with going to Ace Hardware Monday to look for some plants to start off our porch beautification plans.  We aren't quite ready for a nursery, and Noreen needed a tension rod!  That was a nice short trip to North Bend, and we did find a few things.  I'll venture out and take some pictures when I get dressed.

Katherine stops by at 8:45 or so on Thursdays to walk to school from here, and I love that little bit of alone time with her.  

She is just growing up so much.  So conversational.  So sweet.  She had a litany of injuries she needed to show me - like the waist-area bruise she got from the monkey bars at school yesterday, bruises on her legs from something, and a red bump on her shoulder that made the straps of her bookbag uncomfortable.  I found a perfectly sized bandaid and some Neosporin and patched that right up.  We stood at the door for a while and discussed the weather and how Wuffie was sitting in the park across the street watching us, and then she headed up the street to school.  

I couldn't resist a soft, "Look both ways before crossing," even though it normally makes her roll her eyes.  Lately, she said, "I literally cross three streets every single day."  This morning though, she turned around and smiled and waved, looked both ways, and ran across Kinsey.  Then she turned around and walked backwards, waving until she was out of sight.  My heart!  

This is going to be her month.  In 28 days, she will be 10 years old, and I enjoy every minute with her.  I'll try to post the pictures that come up in my memories.

She had just had her first birthday in Palm Springs and was just on the verge of walking.  What a fun trip.  What a fun baby!

Super special time she got to spend with PopPop.  I wish they could have known each other longer.

Sleepy or pensive?  The old flowered loveseat has finally gone away.  It was special to me for so many years but just didn't fit in here and was getting pretty worn.

I'm lucky enough lately to have both girls come after school for a couple of hours on Monday and Wednesday, and sometimes several hours on Friday.  

Sometimes they'll get out their homework and do a little bit, knowing they have more time that night for it if necessary.  Yesterday, Graysen did some of her math review, and we all worked on a poem Katherine had to answer questions about.  I loved seeing that it was "The Road Not Taken," by Robert Frost.  We had a long discussion about it.  Then there was mac and cheese, of course, made by them for the most part, a little TV watching with Aunt CeCe, and chatting about Graysen's upcoming Friday night Dance.  What?  I'm not ready for this.  She's wearing a dress and getting her nails done.  Katherine might have a playdate after that and then lacrosse on Saturday.  I hope I get to watch one of their games.  I really want to learn what it's all about.  

I was tired at the end of the day, as usual, although I did almost nothing all day except planting the flowers I got and doing minimal housework.  

I just made a chicken salad for lunch with some sweet pickles, celery, eggs, and mayo.  It was not bad at all!  

I hate to be totally useless, but there is such a limit to what I can do.  I took out the plants I got Monday and made plans for where I'm going to put them and put some dirt in two pots.  I brought the car floor mats in to vacuum - but didn't vacuum them - and went to pick up the mail.  I walked an extra half a block to look at the pretty spring greenery.  Noreen had to go to Bellevue this morning, so we didn't sit outside, but there's still time and sunshine if we want to this afternoon.

Here are a few pictures I took while walking.

I forgot to take pictures of the two cherry trees at the end of our alley right by the mailboxes, but this is all that's left of those beautiful blooms.  

Here are some of the trees in downtown Snoqualmie at the Railway Museum.  And maybe in Kent or Issaquah.  They were everywhere and amazing.

This is one in North Bend just as it started raining one day.

Walking back to the apartment from the mailbox.  I never get tired of this view of the mountains.  It's fun to see my old upstairs balcony down the alley.  I loved sitting out there with the girls so much when we first moved here.

    

The little sidewalk between Noreen's apt and mine.  I'm jealous of her little rock wall.

     

The prettiest rhododendron in the neighborhood.

 

My place on the left and Noreen's on the right.  We have some work to do.

Residents don't get to plant their own stuff in the beds, but I campaigned for leaving this hosta that comes back every year and somehow hasn't been bothered by the deer.

I'm still aggravated that they pulled up some dead boxwoods and replanted these little new things.  They're pretty, but I'm not sure why they left those scraggly old ones that they prune into little boxes.  You just have to go along with it.

Noreen has painted her planter boxes and is ready to start relaxing outside.  We now have a choice.  If we want a little sunshine, we'll go to her porch, and if we get hot, we will go to my shady retreat. 

And this is the same sidewalk between our apartments with a pretty little Japanese maple on Noreen's side.  We have a new family moving in above my garage with 3 elementary-age children, so the girls might be having quite a few to play with soon.

The only sun I get is around back outside the garage, so I planted a red geranium and 3 ruffly pink petunias in this pot which was here when I moved in - full of heather.  I always have to have a red geranium!  Those yellow miniature petunias are just waiting there until I find something else to put in their pot tomorrow.  Looking for some white bacopa and creeping Jenny.

I got this strawberry vanilla hydrangea last year for Mother's Day and tried to get it to bloom on my shady porch.  It didn't, but it stayed healthy.  I put it around back about a month ago and was rewarded with these new leaves.  If I can remember to water it enough, it should do really well there.  

It's supposed to look like this when it blooms.

The primroses I found at Safeway have brightened up the porch during the cooler months and look healthy.  I'll find a few little things to add to this pot tomorrow too.

 Happy and content.

We're Skipping Whole Months

 I'm going to have to stop being overwhelmed with finding something interesting to write here and just post moments. 

We had a good afternoon yesterday with it snowing most of the day off and on, alternating with melting and ending with heavy flurries.  

There was a 2-hour delay in school starting, and Ryan had an appointment, so we got Kate dropped off for a few minutes before she had to walk to school at 11:00.  Quick in and out and a good chilly hug.  It's still hard for me to send her out without following behind to see if she gets to school okay.  I'm sure I'll never like it. 

I can't even remember what Elise and I did all morning.  The usual tidying up, herding and feeding the cats, watching the snow, her meditating and me catching up on emails and following the morning's always atrocious news.  

I did a little crocheting and heard Gray come in first around 3:00 since there was no soccer practice, a bonus for me!  I feel like I never see her.  It's time for her band challenge to defend her first chair position, so she was immediately on the flute practicing.  She does sound markedly improved since her last challenge.  She says she's still nervous, but I bet the others are too.  

She asked if she could practice her crocheting next, and we got things ready.  It didn't go well enough to please her, especially getting used to how to hold the yarn in her left hand.  We watched a few videos, and she still got frustrated, but she was pretty proud that she made a long even chain without any big loose spots.  

She wants to immediately create something, and it's hard to keep her interested.  We did a few single crochets after that, and she was on to other things!  

She and Elise conferred over which fruity and spicy tea they wanted, and I went along with them, although I can't get to where I really like hot tea.  I can drink cold unsweetened tea all day long, but give me a cup of hot tea, and I'm immediately bored.  Elise spends a lot of time adding spices and fruits and making quite a ritual out of it, which helps her, and then with the meditation, she's in a good place.

Kate then came in in a whirlwind of snow and boots and scarves.  She had to have some tea and conversation, and we got it straight how long they were going to stay. Emily was working in Bellevue, and there had been a small blizzard during the morning but was just lightly snowing then.  I'm always glad to get her home! 

Elise reminded me there were some old sewing kits in the sewing room closet I needed to get rid of, so we got out the stuffed cat one for some closure and her first sewing venture.  It took them all more time than I thought necessary to pick out their cat colors and thread and much discussion, but they were finally all three actually sewing at one time!  I was there for undoing knots, finding the scissors and handing out the stuffing.  No one finished, but they did make some progress, and it was a sweet time of laughing and chattering.  

Carly finally showed up with the pottery pieces the girls made at her birthday party last weekend and a picture of all three of them.  So sweet.  Katherine did an axolotl that was lovely and named him Sun.  Graysen was not thrilled with hers because she had a soccer game and came in too late to finish hers.  But it was fun anyway and fun to add Carly into the cat-making mix.  

This picture! 

 A perfect example of Monday afternoon:  From bottom right clockwise -

Two cups of tea.  One in a Christmas cup because it got left out of the packing-up process and is still in the cup cabinet.  Mine in my favorite cat cup Debby gave me 9 years ago when we moved here. A strawberry Japanese drink and chips from an earlier snack. Graysen's flute lying abandoned after less than 10 minutes of practice.  Gray looking relaxed and happy.  Carly popping in and being her usual sweet self.  Elise taking her stitching seriously and Katherine just kind of flitting around and showing off her axolotl.  Behind them all, the snow drifting down peacefully and the lamp leaning from too many cat accidents, which is the reason for the spray bottle on the window sill - not that it does much to keep them from jumping up there to view the world outside. 

I love afternoons like this, even if I do get a little anxious nowadays when too much is going on around me.  I never did well with chaos, and I have to talk myself into not letting it bother me.  I have felt really well the past few days with fewer knee pain and all-over aches and tiredness.  I don't know the reason why, but I'll take it and enjoy.

After the girls played in the park for a while and Emily picked them up, Elise and I ate a little bit for supper and watched a new series since we finished Downton Abbey Sunday night and miss it.  I just subscribed to Britbox because of DA, and we found Cranford.  More about that later.  We watched two episodes before we got sleepy and thought it was hilarious.  It was a bonus to discover Jim Carter is in it - Carson from Downton Abbey.  Can't wait to get immersed in it this week.