A dry May

Can you grow olives in Seattle?  You bet your martini.  The little olive stick we bought in 2010 at the West Seattle Nursery finally outgrew the pot, so I planted in a flower bed on the sunny south side of the house.

 Then

 Now

Olives are beautiful, silvery, ornamental trees that eventually reach 25 feet or so. They like sun and well-drained soil, and once established don't need much care at all.  Yes, those are real olives.  Not enough to harvest yet, but time will tell.

Parts of the country are drowning in rain, but it is extraordinarily dry in western Washington.  Seattle had only 1/10th inch of rain this month, a record.  I've never seen anything like it so early in the year.  The grass is already turning brown. But it was the nicest Memorial Day weekend in memory. We have 15 hours and 38 minutes of daylight now, and the sun sets about 9 pm.

We had a relaxing weekend at home with some nice highlights. Betsy and Paul came over for brunch on Sunday morning. We took a walk around the peaceful neighborhood-- everyone was sleeping in or off doing other things.  It always seems to be quiet when they visit, and we have a hard time convincing them how hectic the urban village is with traffic and construction projects. They love West Seattle, and it's interesting seeing what you take for granted through other people's eyes. 

The Bewick Wren babies left the nest early Monday morning and were fluttering around the yard in that clueless way of nestlings. I watched the worried parents give frantic last minute encouragement.  Fortunately, the crows were not up yet.  I hear baby birds now in the holly tree, so hopefully they all made it.  No sign at all of my possum friend.

Finally, we spent most of yesterday morning doing a thorough clean in the bedroom:  John moved stuff and I vacuumed behind the furniture and under the bed, washed the curtains and mattress pads, etc.  Amazing how much dust accumulates in a year.  All day long I was looking forward to that blissful moment of crawling between clean sheets in a perfectly fresh room.