G&G, J&K, L&D

Grandma, Grandpa, John, Lenny, Dakota and I spent last weekend at the beach. Just for fun!

Lenny has decided it is a good idea to freak out when the car alarms go off on the ferry. Thought I would see if his Thunder Shirt would help him relax. Jury is out on how it went.

We each had a few projects we wanted to get done but mostly we wanted to just hang out and enjoy a couple of days out there. And I'm happy to report it worked out just as we planned.

There wasn't a breath of air so the sun was toasty warm. Grandpa eventually shed his sweatshirt - so it must have been hot for that cold-blooded man to get down to a t-shirt!

Grandma spent hours puttering among the flowers and foliage. Her favorite thing to do.

Grandma did say she is really looking forward to Ben and James cutting back the  prolific weeds, grasses and plants so we will look less like the shanty Irish (please note: not a racial slur - just a grandma saying!)

Question. How many people does it take to fix a door that sticks?

Answer: Three plus Lenny.

A makeshift shower is in place (thank you mr. marth for helping me with my vision). It will undoubtedly need some adjustments and improvements as it gets used - but I'm hoping it will give the worker-guys a comfortable place to at least rinse off the outer layer of grime.

Of course the shower setup required some rearrangements. I know, I know. I can hear Ben and James telling me to quit moving things around - but I'm doing all of this for you. Really. Ya gotta believe me!

This former recycle bucket has been reassigned as the new bathroom garbage can. At least for now. Sadly I have two dumpster diving canine companions. I'm hoping this re-purposed garbage can will thwart all 4-legged creatures while nicely accommodating the rest of us!

Lucky, Dakota and Lenny had projects to accomplish too...eat, sniff, poop and play. Mission accomplished ;)

Snack break.

There was a smidge of excitement as PSE tried to find a break in the power line that runs from our power pole to Caley's property. As it turned out the problem was about 3 feet under the ground in the middle of our turnaround. About 8:00 PM Caley's had power back and the very nice worker-guys from PSE got to call it a day.

BIG Puget Sound Energy truck in the middle of the road (eventually there were a couple more)

Gard's graciously accommodated our vehicles in their carport so grandma, grandpa and I did not have to walk from the logging turnaround (Johnny was a good sport and parked up there :))

We were wishing we could ask them to trim some branches while they were up there!

They thought they knew right where the faulty power line was...

...but it proved a bit more elusive than expected!

Quite some time later (and after some careful exploratory digging) they found what they were looking for. The also found our old corrugated drain pipe. No one will be surprised to hear it was decayed, fractured, collapsed, filled in and just generally useless and non-functioning. Guess we can ditch the bucket that Grandpa has used to mark the start of the drainpipe...so we could clean it out one day!    

We sat around and had a great time visiting while the PSE workers did their thing...

...and they sat tied up while the PSE workers did their thing. I don't think they enjoyed themselves as much as we did.

Job is complete.

All is again right in the world

Grandma's moon over Vashon. Even though it wasn't pitch dark it was still pretty dang cool!

Good morning happy place. You are perfect. 

Grandma, Lenny and Dakota have already enjoyed the -3.2 tide and walked to Fragaria and back. Now we are just hanging out waiting for Grandpa to rise and shine and have breakfast.

This is our Happy Birthday to Joc picture. OK. Admittedly it needs some work - but it is the sentiment that counts. Happy Birthday little momma!

Do you know what this is? June bug? 

Don't know how they know it is nearing time to leave but they do. And  about that time Dakota is either glued to my side or my car...why is this? I've never left him and not returned!

Quick Trip

Glenna and I were in need of a quick trip to prep for the 4th. Well, at least that was our excuse ;) I think we just needed to relax and unwind for 24 hours in our happy place!

We arrived to another beautiful day.

Glenna is up to some shenanigans. You'll have to visit the sleeping cabin to see what it is ;)

The eagles (mom and dad?) have kept us enthralled with their hunting, fishing and soaring  this summer. We have spotted them numerous times on the beach or on our fallen trees with their catch of the day. Pretty darn awesome! Watching the crows chase them through the sky and trees is aerial entertainment as well.

Something ate almost all of the fennel fronds! Slugs? 

Dinner didn't work out as planned so we decided to throw lots of good stuff into a pot and call it good - but it wasn't :( oh well!

We managed to actually get some projects completed and feel fairly prepared for upcoming visits. We went to bed before the sun came up so we were pretty proud of ourselves about that. At the end of the day; time together, priceless.

Grandma's BD at the Beach

The birthday girl wanted to go to her happy place for her birthday weekend! The weather was perfect, the company divine and the food was northwest gourmet - bbq'd fillets one night and fresh wild caught King Salmon the next (not caught in Colvos Passage of course :)) Grandma, Grandpa, Glenna, John, James, Tess, Jocelyn, Tyler, Hailey and I - along with Lenny, Dakota, Drake, Ophelia and Morris had a most excellent time.

The 'boys' and I arrived first. We were greeted with a calm afternoon.

Fire-pit is in need of a little attention from Ben and James. Thanks guys for having this on your project list!

We sure appreciated having a full wood bin this year - and by we I mean grandpa! Time to restock so he can light his morning and nighttime fire - no matter the outside temperature. We'll get Daniel and his friend Alex on that as soon as we snag some more trees.

Aunt Dorothy's climbing rose is doing well in this location. It is covered with lots of buds and new foliage. It makes a nice tribute to Little Dorothy below!

Little Sam's rose bush is full, green and healthy too. What really thrilled Grandma was her Rose of Sharon in the wine barrel. It has been rather poopy the last couple of years (grandma's words, not mine). She was thinking of taking it home. But here it is this year all leafed out and chock full of buds. Nice BD present!

I just love the pump that grandma painted red. It's a whimsical garden piece (as they say). Honestly, I usually think this planter box is rather unattractive but right now everything is in bloom and it was pretty sweet looking. On the other-hand, the slats behind the garden are anything but sweet. Most are broken or falling off -  but Ben and James are going to fix this mess this summer. Go boys, go!  

I hear a hammock calling two special girls to come visit. Do you hear it Shannon and Tess?

There is something very odd about this picture of people at the beach. Can you see it?

The apple tree is HUGE this year with a ton of apples on it. Maybe we will get a few before the deer do :)

A large otter family was keeping us entertained as they rounded the point and splished splashed their way toward us...all except Johnny who was glued to his phone watching his beloved Chicago Blackhawks play in the Stanley Cup finals (spoiler alert - they just won the whole shabang!)

Tess got her fingers greasy, grimy and smelly but all tiki torches are now full with working wicks. Night time is so much nicer this way :)

Ooooops. The sun is coming up and Glenna and I are still talking. Yikes! 

Morris is loaded into Glenna's van and ready to make the trek back to Mercer Island.

The BD girl and her handsome hubby had a most excellent adventure in Paradise!

Until next time.