Here comes summer

Slowly but surely it's warming up and feeling more like summer.  It might reach 80 by the weekend. Be still, my heart.

Yesterday we could finally sit outside together on the wine bench before dinner. I worked in the garden all day and John was busy downstairs with his hobby sharpening knives and watching how-to-sharpen-knives videos on the Internet :-) We didn't start the car once, which was another kind of nice holiday.

It was a quiet 4th of July in West Seattle-- quieter than I remember. I suppose people went out into the big city to find some crowds and excitement.  The night was beautiful and about 10:30 pm I heard the booming fireworks far away on Lake Union. It was like listening to a train in the distance.  I felt kind of melancholy to be in bed missing the show on a such a nice night (it's usually cloudy and damp) but I slept 9 hours and woke up to sunshine, which is yet another kind of holiday feeling.

This morning I'm going to clear and prep the deck for painting, and then drive out to Snoqualmie (in sunshine instead of rain!) to see my friend's new Quarter-horse.  So I'm glad I didn't spend all my energy on the fireworks display.

From the West Seattle blog, by Jamie Kinney

We had a red, white and green lunch yesterday.  A Caprese salad sandwich is a fresh and delicious thing in the summer if you happen to have the right ingredients on hand.  It's best of all to go outside and pick a ripe, warm tomato (ours will be late, what a surprise) but I did have a big healthy pot of fresh basil from Trader Joe's.