June, you were golden

 

Other than a touch of welcome rain, June was amazing. Nothing across the country can match a beautiful June in Seattle. 

We're exactly halfway through the year and never mind those depressing New Year's resolutions that didn't last until February. Imagine some simple wins that will make you feel good about yourself, come dark December.

Today is Social Media Day. Since I already spend (waste?) so many hours blogging, I don't miss Facebook. But this weekend I set up an Instagram account out of curiosity and to follow our Twisp neighbor, who has a watercolor studio at TwispWorks called Arrowleaf. 

Yesterday Nova gave me a crash course on navigating the complexities. What a surprise, Instagram already knows so much about me, showing videos of kitchen tips, and pictures of charming country cottages that just break your heart with envy.

Since Nova has an account, it immediately linked to her best friends, as well as dozens of people who "sound familiar" but I can't place for the life of me. 

Is that the first sign of senility, or a typical social media experience? Maybe both. Anyway, talk about Pandora's Box. No wonder people get hooked. 

We have a busy and fun week coming up, with a trip to Twisp for the holiday. 

 

Bless my soul

 

It rained for about an hour yesterday afternoon, wetting down the parched yard. Not enough for the deep watering the plants need, but the sound and smell was sure lovely. June has been quite dry.

So the pork chop barbecue got moved to the frying pan-- there were no complaints. 

Amanda, Tom and the girls will be in Seattle this weekend for Amanda's 30th high school reunion. (Imagine that.) 

They have a packed agenda, but we look forward to having them for Sunday breakfast before they head back to the valley. 

Have a good weekend.  

"Fast bites, fleeting delights"

 

Four hours to prepare, ten minutes to consume.

 

Record low high

 

Sorry all you sweltering people across the country. I went to Safeway this morning without a jacket and it was COLD. Tomorrow might be a record low high in Seattle, topping out at about 65 degrees. 

No worries, warm and sunny weather will be back in time for the weekend.

John is cutting up a 5-pound bag of Walla Walla Sweet onions I bought at Lone Pine. They take hours to cook down to make a base for French Onion soup on this chilly day. The house smells great (if you like onions.) 

That's about all the news fit to print.  

Will they or won't they?

 

Being a sucker for blue glass, I bought this antique looking hummingbird feeder at the feed store in Twisp. Amanda was in there selling her extra eggs and I tagged along. 

Of course, hummingbirds are most attracted to red (ugly plastic feeders abound) but blue supposedly works too, once they figure out there are goodies inside. I hung it in the olive tree-- we shall see.

The lilies are beautiful and the roses just finishing the first bloom. Time to deadhead. It rained some over the weekend, but you would never know, because our sandy soil is as dry as dust. It is not hot like most of the country, but the summer sun is intense at this latitude.  

Moving a little slow this morning after the long drive yesterday-- a day of housecleaning, laundry and garden catch up.

Turkey trot

We've had untypical weather in central Washington this past weekend, with cloudy skies and cool temperatures. 

A break from the summer heat is appreciated, but unfortunately the heavy cloud cover brought hardly a drop of rain to the parched valley. Twisp is notorious for being in a rain shadow. You can see it coming down all around but it often misses us.

On Friday morning I walked up Mill Hill trail above town, but the cold, dry wind tuned me around before I got to the top. That showy flower grows out of dry gravel along the road. It is aptly called "Giant Blazing Star." 

I've enjoyed watching the turkey flock come through, a group of several hens herding dozens of poults running hither and thither. It looks chaotic but somehow they keep the gang safely together.

 

The doe brings her frolicking fawn to the yard every morning about the time the sprinklers go on. Aw. 

 

Amanda and I picked Nova up from work yesterday (in a few weeks she will be driving herself) at the nice clothing shop (above) where she works in Winthrop most weekends. She lifeguards weekdays at the pool in Twisp. So capable and mature for her age, we are really proud. 

While we were waiting for Nova  to close the store (she does everything there) we browsed at Trails End Bookstore next door. With windows overlooking the river, it must be one of the prettiest bookstores in the world.

This morning I'll close up the house and head back to Seattle. We'll be back for the big 4th of July weekend.

My neighbors just invited me over for homemade sourdough waffles on the way out of town. Can't turn down a kind invitation like that!  

 

Summer Solstice

 

Hot summer weather is expected across much of the country, but as usual, we are the contrarians in the Northwest. In fact, a rare winter storm watch is in effect for parts of Montana, with heavy "summer" snow in Glacier National Park.

Looks like wet in Seattle (yea) and here in the Methow Valley, the Summer Solstice dawns cool, cloudy and dry. It is pleasant laying in bed with the window open, listening to the river and breeze in the cottonwood trees. Last week was very hot here. 

The Summer Solstice occurs 7:42 pm. It's hard to believe (and accept) we now start the long, slow process of declining daylight hours until December rolls around. But as usual I'm getting ahead of myself-- one day at a time.

Speaking of that, I have the day to myself. Amanda and Tom are at work. Nova is busy with life-guarding (she loves it) and horse chores. Maya is in soccer camp, and both girls are in swim team again. What a relief to the community, having the community pool open after the closure last summer.

 A doe just dropped by with her new born Bambi-- sweet sight. 

The turkey families are around, and I hear the hens and poults talking to each other in the grass along the river. They communicate like that even before hatching, so they imprint quickly once out of the egg. Each hen knows her own offspring and vice versa, but they move around in large flocks as mutual guardians. 

They say dinosaur mothers did the same thing. What an image. 

 

North Cascades

 

Amanda, Tom and the girls went backpacking last weekend in the North Cascades. This is their family tradition, celebrating the end of school and Fathers' Day. 

They hiked back to Martin Lakes, about a 15 mile round trip, which is an easy-peasy walk for them. The elevation is almost 7,000 feet, hence the snow in June.

I'm heading over the mountains today. I might take the northern route over the North Cascades Highway, but it just depends on traffic. Getting north of downtown in rush hour traffic can be tough, so it's usually easier to hop on I-90. Not as interesting a drive, but the car knows the way and I have my regular stops so I don't have to think about anything but the road. 

International Panic Day

 

Sorry, but June 18th really is "International Panic Day." And there's plenty of fuel for the panic fire right now.

Anyway, life is too short to waste on worrying about things we can't control. Spend some happy moments with your loved ones instead. Along those lines, I'm heading to Twisp tomorrow for a few nights at the house. 

Interesting weather ahead this weekend in central Washington, with some rain (always welcome) and thunderstorms (in fire season, not so much.) 

 Thought for the day:

“Only 8% of our worry will come to pass. 92% of our worry is wasted. DON'T PANIC”
― Mark Gorman  

 

Try something difficult

 

Bearded iris are hard flowers to draw, like roses. This took a couple of hours and isn't bad, although you're probably thinking it could use some color. 

I like plain pencil drawing, because the tools are so simple and you can do it anywhere. My iris was copied from this how-to-draw-flowers book. 

Maybe that's not as creative as drawing from life, but I find copying engaging, because the concentration quiets down the busy right side of the brain. For a few minutes, at least. Anyway, the hardest part of any drawing is staring at the blank paper and getting started. 

We've passed the halfway mark of June, and not a drop of rain has fallen in Seattle so far this month. We might get a touch of wet over the weekend, which will be welcome. 

An old farmer saying: 

"A good rain in June sets all in tune." 

Make that two, please

 

We heard the super star violin virtuoso, Hillary Hahn, play the Beethoven Violin Concerto yesterday. It was an amazing performance, especially from our excellent 4th row seats. The packed Benaroya Hall audience went crazy, and then she played two encores! 

Including this haunting Bach Partita: 

 

Anyway, in decades of going to the Symphony, we've never heard more than one encore, and even those are getting few and far between. What a treat. 

The second half was Prokofiev's Symphony No. 5. His ballet music is good (at the ballet) but I'm not a huge fan of Mr. Prokofiev's big orchestral works. The loud crashing music sounds like the end of the world has arrived. Well, the Russians didn't have much to be happy about when he wrote it in 1944.

Other than the concert, it was just a weekend of cooking and eating at home. 

Homemade corned beef hash and Amanda's wonderful eggs on Saturday...

Strawberry crepes on Sunday...

A big vegetarian pizza on Saturday, then beef stew from the freezer when we finally got home from the Symphony. 

Downtown was jammed with cars and crowds of people, having fun in the blinding June light. The Solstice is just around the corner, and sunset after 9 pm in Seattle. 
 

Memory lane

 

Precious memories pulled from deep depths of the blog. That's Amanda and my horse Sizzle, right before Nova was born, almost sixteen years ago.

And months later, the delight on Baby Nova's face watching Sizzle munch a carrot. Sizzle was such a sensitive mare, spirited and fun to ride, but incredibly careful and gentle around children. She especially liked little girls and they loved her. She took a big piece of my heart with her.  

Downright chilly this morning. We turned the heat on! The dark clouds might burn off by late afternoon topping out at 65 degrees-- typical June gloom weather in Seattle. 

Happy Father's Day weekend. We are looking forward to the Symphony Sunday afternoon.  

 

Simplify

 

I should have taken a before picture of that messy window. Yesterday I threw out some struggling plants that no longer "sparked joy." Then I transplanted and drenched the cactus in those bright yellow pots. They had not been watered for months, and sucked it up like a sponge. Now the window is about as carefree as it gets with houseplants. 

And not my favorite job, crawling up in there to clean out all the dead flies and poor lost bees from the neighbor's hives across the street. 

We are chipping away at the summer projects. John primed the peeling and chipped front steps, which need to be touched up with paint every single year. The joy and charm of old houses. Always something to clean or fix. 

 “How does dirt find its way into old houses like it does? Sometimes I think it's the house itself, old and disintegrating by degrees, breathing out sighs of itself, sighs longing for a little bit of notice.”
 

Lisa Samson, A Thing of Beauty

 

National Corn on the Cob Day

 

Corn today? When our sweet corn came in season on the farm, there were times when it was all we had for dinner--just a big platter on the middle of the table with butter and salt. 

The housewife's trick was to get the pot boiling then head to the garden and pick the corn, so it stayed sweet as candy. In retrospect, that was lots of carbs and sugar, without any protein on the side. 

Well, nature's air conditioning came on last night when the marine clouds rolled in, just like someone flipped a switch. On this grey morning a big sigh of relief went up over Seattle.

 

The heat gave the old jasmine vine a boost, and I'm happy to see it struggling back to the land of the living. 

Some like it hot

 

The tomato pots are going wild on the baking hot south side of the house.

And roses adore strong sun, as long as their feet stay damp. But they are whipping through their first bloom way too fast. More typical June weather in Seattle is morning clouds with afternoon clearing, which shall return tomorrow, to everyone's relief. 

I've enjoyed the mini hot spell though, sitting on the side of the house, moving the sprinkler around and getting some vitamin D on my eggshell white arms and legs.  Yes, yes, the sun should be avoided like the plague, but we rarely have that kind of bone-warming heat. It feels so good.

 

I'm happy with how this big project turned out. That evergreen was growing in a low bonsai-type pot for years and became completely root bound. I managed to wrench it out and transplant into this beautiful Vietnamese pot. 

It needs light pruning to reveal the interesting old growth structure, but I'll give it time to recover from the harsh treatment first. 

Warm here

 

And many would say, too hot. Seattle could reach 85 for a few hours this afternoon, so a heat advisory is in effect. 

Ask anyone from the Sun Belt, the Deep South or the East Coast, and they’ll tell you we are weather wimps in the Northwest. 

Anyway, heat never lasts very long here, because the big ocean just over yonder keeps our climate temperate year round. 

 

We drove to PowellsWood Garden in Federal Way, a nice place for a quiet walk in the fecund Jurassic Park garden. 

Getting there not so peaceful in the mad rush of speeding cars on a Saturday afternoon.  

I know you're thinking, "old lady slow driver" holding busy people up, but even consistently going 5-10 miles over the speed limit makes you an irritant on the roads these days. 

Sigh. I’ve driven in the same way for 60 years now, just getting from point A to point B without an accident or a single ticket (knock wood.) When did people become so impatient and aggressive?

What to cook in this warm weather. In the NYT cooking section, I found a cold soba noodle salad with spicy peanut dressing. That sounded simple and easy. Ha ha. The dressing alone had about 8 ingredients, including a half cup of peanut butter and quarter cup of soy sauce. Too heavy for delicate buckwheat noodles! 

Like many of those NYT recipes, a little too much of everything. No photo this time, it turned into a big sticky mess. Back to simple grilled meat and salad. 

 

National Gardening Exercise Day

 

 

We're headed into to a nice stretch of weather, hitting the mid-80's this weekend. 

"June gloom" is more typical here, and there's an old saying that summer doesn't start in Seattle until the 5th of July. But not this year. The times (and the climate) they are a'changin.

Yes, today is Gardening Exercise Day. The Apple watch lets me log credit from dozens of different categories I'll never do, everything from archery to ping pong, but the folks in Cupertino apparently don't consider gardening as exercise. Ha. Ask my back. 

Anyway, the heavy spring work is done so I'm in puttering mode until fall: weeding, watering, deadheading. There hasn't been any rain to spoil the first bloom on the roses. 

 

Lovely in the early morning light...

Have a good weekend.