Roses are Red...

Roses are red,
Sometimes its true.
Ours are on fire,
For hottie's like you...

Poetry has never been one of my gifts, but sometimes I cannot resist...

One of the joys of living in Lynden, Washington, is that it does not take a green thumb to grow gorgeous flowers. The climate is perfect for gardening, and while we have very little garden area of our own we do have a spectacular rose tree just outside of our patio area.

I took this photo a few weeks ago. Right now the tree has three major stems with 10-15 blossoms on each tip...they look like 3 bridal bouquets growing on one tree.

I am the official 'dead-header' for the 4 trees in front of our building, so I keep them trimmed for the neighbors. (Most of these condos were empty last spring, so I started taking care of the roses--spraying, tieing them up, removing the deadheads, etc.)





The roses are called "About Face" with petals that are golden-orange on the inside and bronzy-red on the outside. They look like flames all over the tree.



I wish I could send you all a bloom but this will have to do.

Computers...

"Computers used to take up entire buildings, now they just take up our entire lives." unknown


Recently we discovered that our poor computer is almost maxed out as far as memory is concerned. (Not due to too little memory but rather too much stuff.) I will be focusing on cleaning out/deleting things. As a result I may not post for a while until this project is completed.

(Have you DEFRAGMENTED your computer lately? I didn't know it needed to be done. But thanks to our recent house guest and friend, Jerry W., I now know how...and will do so regularly.)







Included in this post are a few photos of kids who have not been DEFRAGMENTED regularly...







I found them at the recent Botlab* company picnic.


*Botanical Laboratories - Tim's company.

Lavender Festival-Part III

Lavender Festival-Part III

(Please see Parts I &II below or click on them at the Right)

The Festival included many local farms where one could enjoy live music, great food, and lots of things from artists and crafters, not to mention all the lavender stuff produced by the farms. In Sequim, there were street fairs (more music, more food, and lots more stuff to buy.) Jacque and I also thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the Quilt Show. We'll see who finishes their purse project first!


















The lavender was lovely and I think Tim might even consider another visit someday as long as we schedule a Mariner's Game first.








On Sunday, we took the ferry from Port Townsend to Whigby Island...











....and then headed home by car.

The purple bow selected by the groomer last week was so appropriate for the festive week-end.
Katers got tons of attention and seemed to enjoy herself as she shared the kingdom of "Ivory" and "Wegman"-her much larger canine hosts.

Lavender Festival-Part II (See Part I)

Lavender Festival-Part II
(Start with Part I for the correct sequence)

Now here is a sign we all could get into...Note the little kids enjoying their peach lavender and blackberry lavender ice cream cones on the swing.





...reminded me of you, Jack. What flavor would you like best? There is lavender lemonade, if you get thirsty later.
















Tom and Tim enjoyed their cones-they had some of each flavor. I think you preferred the Blackberry version, right?




When I saw this sunflower I thought of you, Libby...this almost looks like Kentucky, don't you think?


This sunflower reminded me of you, Becky...because you are so often "outstanding in your field."







(Pardon the Blog humor)

...Continue with Part III

The Lavender Festival-Part 1

Lavender Festival-Part I

This past week-end we visited Tom and Jacque S, our favorite S. cousins in Washington. You may recall the shrimping story of a few weeks ago at their summer home. This time we stayed with them at their delightful home in Sequim (skwim), a very dry area of the Olympic Peninsula; rain is blocked by the mountains to the SW. This makes for a climate similar to Provence and well-suited to the cultivation of lavender. We had a great time sampling the aroma, flavor, and glorious lavender fields as we pretended we were back in France. This required just a short ferry ride...






Unfortunately, the festival folks were big into signs...some of which seemed needlessly restrictive.


Some more formal than others...but they did always said "Please."















We liked this sign better and brought home both white and purple* lavender to dry, as well as a couple other lavender mementos.









*There was also pink lavender...an oxymoron, don't you think?


Please read Part II, above, for the "Rest of The Story."

Sunset & Software

This is one of the magnificent sunsets Tim and I enjoyed last December when we stayed at a lovely little cottage on Birch Bay while we looked for a place to live in Washington. I wanted to share it with all of you...












I also want to share some great software for storing and handling your photos. It is easy and FREE...just click on the colored icon at the end of this post and check out Picasa. (A part of the Google family.) I learned about it this week-end from Jacque while visiting cousin Tom and Jacque in Sequim, WA. Thanks, Jacque!
Check it out!

Utah Reunion

I planned to post these in the opposite order so they would end up on the blog in chronological order but somehow I failed in that effort. To read them in a logical and correct timeline-start with the last (3rd post) and work your way backwards. For most of you it just doesn't really matter...

I will get this all figured out eventually...but not this late at night.

Utah Reunion: Lots of Socializing

Shelly V. S., her husband Nik and their family, share our Dutch heritage. When we arrived at CEC, I think we doubled the Dutch influence there. Sorry we have abandoned you guys, but I trust you will carry on without us. Shelly, thanks for hosting me on Monday-sure appreciated your chauffeuring me around. Keep up your terrific work at the Pregnancy Resource Center-you are doing a fabulous job as their director. If you ever get up to this Dutch enclave in Washington, please stay with us and let us show you are around the Dairy Country of the Pacific Northwest.




We first met John and Lori T. at the church picnic we attended 2 years ago shortly after moving to Utah. Their hospitality was so appreciated when they invited us to dinner at their home later that week. We have been hanging out with these two ever since. This visit we shared a delicious (as usual) meal in their lovely garden-a favorite place to eat, drink, & share lively conversation together.

Hope you come to Washington so we can "Start slow and taper off." (John is a great philosopher and this was his latest insight.) We love you guys!




Tuesday evening we visited with Linda and Charlie H. who we also met at CEC. Unfortunately, they moved to Salt Lake City shortly after we arrived in Orem. We kept in close touch anyway and we have shared lots of great times!

Loved dinner at "The Avenues" even if there were a few rain drops...the rainbow afterward made it all worth while. Linda, thanks for driving me around the area during this visit. Loved Tai-Pan. It was so terrific to spend time with you, Linda & Charlie, and of course, Oreo (dark spot in the middle of photo-see eyes and nose). He was a perfect host to Katers. Come see us sometime!

We missed photos of other special friends...how did I miss you, Pastor Scott? Next time.

Utah Reunion: CEC Church Picnic

When we learned that the Sunday we arrived in Utah was also the day of our church's annual picnic....we were delighted. This made it easy to see lots of friends from Christ Evangelical Church (CEC). I only caught a few on camera, but here is a little photo album from that evening in beautiful Provo Canyon.

Tim gets an update from Nick A. regarding the college ministry that he coordinates.








Annie M.K., our former dog-sitter and Kater's good friend, introduced us to her boyfriend, Nolan, who is looking for life after the AirForce. Best wishes in your job search...and whatever else you may be searching for!























Bobbie M.K. (Annie's not so little brother) is heading to Chicagoland this fall for college! Welcome to the Midwest, Bobbie.




















Mark and Lili C., members of our small group at CEC, introduced us to the newest member of the family, Elias, only 6-weeks old. They moved in just down the "block" from our former home in Orem. Wish we could have been neighbors longer!














Now it is time to be embarrassed...Katers and I played with this little "doll" and her mom, but my memory is failing me...can someone please "Comment" with their names, so I can label this photo correctly??

Utah Reunion-Neighbors

Tim and I traveled to Utah for business, golf, and reunion with friends. Our first stop was to visit neighbors who lived 2 doors from our townhouse in Orem. This is Samuel, who you may recall, was one of our first visitor when we moved in 2 years ago. The bell rang, I opened the door, and Samuel was standing there with his plastic golf club set and he asked me, "Do you play golf?" He is a very big fan of Katers and they played often..."Can Katers come over?" They even had a sleepover once!

Samuel's Mom, Kim, and Dad, Todd, were wonderful friends and neighbors to us during our short stay in Orem! (The photo of Samuel and Mom was too dark to use-sorry!)

Next stop on Sunday was to see the Budding family. Emelia and Edgar became good friends and their family often watched Katers when we traveled and had to leave her behind.

We were treated to Emelia's delicious empanadas, a traditional dish of meat-filled pastry from their native Argentine. Yum, yum! While we sampled some other of Emelia's good cooking, their kids enjoyed a game of Uno. Katers learned the finer points of the card game from Jennifer, Eric, Kimberly & Kevin (aka "Bob"). The gang posed for a photo-such a handsome group!

We met many terrific folks in Utah and we miss you guys!