Where's the rain?

I'm feeling cheated-- it was supposed to rain yesterday, but we didn't get a single drop, at least not in Seattle. I had plans to drive out to North Bend to see my friend Dolly's new horse, but put it off because of the weather.

Anyway, I had plenty at home to keep me busy.  A trip to Costco this time of year usually leads to a bag of impulse bulbs, a bargain too good to pass up. But then, of course, you have 50 tulips bulbs on your hands. It was an awful chore yesterday, because the ground is so dry each hole I dug collapsed like a miniature sand pit.

Anyway, I did a quick sloppy job of it and they're in the ground for better or worse.  All they need now is water. Tulips are not too fussy, but it's better to plant the bulbs while they're still fresh and plump.

Speaking of plump, I picked the rest of the low-hanging fruit, the best of the best, and enough to can 5 pints of plum halves in a light syrup.  Good for topping my yogurt or cottage cheese this winter.  The plum tree is probably 20 feet tall now, so there was no way to safely get the ones at the top.  Now they're rotting and plopping down to the ground, getting caught in the soles of my shoes like you-know-what when I take out the compost.

It looks like a pleasant Labor weekend, with just a chance of rain again on Monday (promises, promises.) Seattle has sweltered through five "hotter-than-normal" summers in a row. July was the hottest on record and August is looking like it could finish in the Top 10.  But we've had relief in the last few days with a touch of fall in the air.

Soon the school buses will be roaring by the house, and harried parents dropping their kids off and picking them up in the afternoon. Our days of easy street parking are over for another 9 months. Few kids actually walk to school these days, I suppose it's considered too dangerous, even neglectful to let them do that alone.

Today is a big day for Maya. Amanda said she spends the morning at "Kinder Camp" at the school in Winthrop. She starts all day kindergarten and Nova, if you can believe it, is in 4th grade this year. Ready or not, off they go...