Viva Las Vegas

Our girls with Great-grandpa.

Spoiling Doodles...

On an outing!

And a big night out at the "Tournament of Kings" show at the Excalibur Hotel. Looks like a fabulous time!

And they're off

Amanda just sent me this picture from the airport. It's only 5:30 am and they're ready for their flight.  They got to the house about 9:30 last night and snatched a few hours of sleep. Everything went well, except we only got to see the girls for about 5 minutes.  They were both so excited. And I think they each grew about an inch since we saw them last.

It's hot in Vegas but chilly here, with thunderstorms this afternoon. I just put on the furnace to take the chill off the house.

We have no big plans for the weekend, other than the Symphony on Sunday afternoon.
Have a good one.

Cool, cloudy (and maybe) wet

We call it June Gloom on the west coast. It's typical to have day after day of murky low clouds, with a bit of afternoon sun breaking through if we're lucky.

In Washington, the cool, cloudy weather usually starts around Memorial Day weekend and lasts until July.  The old saying goes that summer doesn't really start in Seattle until the 4th of July.

Today is National Gardening Exercise Day.  If you’re a gardener, you know gardening is exercise and plants are nice personal trainers. They don't nag or goad.  Apparently, an hour of weeding, digging, mulching and carrying stuff around is the equivalent of walking five miles – there's the 10,000 steps in a day that we're supposed to do, according to the nagging FitBit.  

Amanda, Tom and the kids are driving to Seattle tonight after work. It will be a long day for them.  They won't get here until late, then leave the house really early tomorrow for their 6 am flight to Las Vegas.  Maybe we'll get a little glimpse of the girls in passing. They're all excited about spending a long weekend with Great Grandpa and fun Auntie Margie, who has all sorts of things planned. 

Honeysuckle

This big honeysuckle vine is actually growing in a pot, although the roots have probably punched through the bottom by now. Anyway, it's there to stay, or until the old shed finally falls down. Honeysuckle vines grow vigorously, often becoming invasive.  My kind of plant.  But oh my, one whiff of the sweet fragrance and that old song starts playing in my head:

Every honeybee fills with jealousy
When they see you out with me
I don´t blame goodness knows
Honey suckle rose...

Fats Waller, 1929 

The butterflies, hummingbirds and bees all love honeysuckle. This guy was wallowing in the pollen yesterday, oblivious to a phone poked in his face. There are more bees than usual in the yard, a lovely sight. Of course they live across the street in their fancy new hive, and fly over here to forage on our flowers. Maybe I'll knock on the neighbor's door for a share of the honey?  :-)

Speaking of a sweet honeysuckle rose, here's Maya after her dance performance this weekend.

Quakertown, PA

Quakertown Train Depot 1915

 

I found these historic photographs of Quakertown for Dad.

 

He was born on this farm in 1924 and didn't really leave Bucks County until he was drafted at the start of WWII.

When we lived there the 1950's, you could still take the train anywhere in the country. I remember a long trip west to visit Aunt Ruth in Colorado. It was a huge adventure, and a few memories still stand out: the Pittsburgh steel foundries glowing at night, the frightening experience changing trains in Chicago, our little bag of plastic toys, and especially the feel of scratchy seat upholstery on bare legs. Little girls did not wear pants back then.   

Quakertown has a rich, long history. It was originally part of the William Penn (1644-1718) holdings, a 1000-acre tract known as the "Manor of Richland."

Manor, indeed. Penn thought quite highly of himself as he snatched up huge tracts of "wilderness." Just a crossroad village with a tavern, Quakertown was a stopover for stagecoaches and commercial traffic between Allentown and Philadelphia.  
 
There was an extensive community of German farmers (Pennsylvania Dutch) but the village remained small until the railroad came through in 1855.  Then local industry took off, employing many of our relatives right up until the 1960's.

Small factories like this produced cigars, boots, shoes, clothing, tools, harnesses and stoves. 

There were a couple of hotels like The Bush House, the only places to stay before motels were invented.  I was surprised that the run-down Bush House is still operating as a boarding house. You can even find some hilarious Yelp reviews on the Internet.  What a world.

Sines 5&10 Cent Store and soda fountain is also still there, operated by the Harr family for over 100 years. This was where we went once a week clutching our nickle allowance, agonizing what to spend it on.  A wondrous place, where you can still buy just about anything.

Maya Ballerina

The International Fountain

On Saturday, we drove to the Seattle Center via the new tunnel (still toll free) and then had a drink after the ballet with friends Betsy and Paul at The Armory.  They are ballet season ticket holders, so it worked out well.

Seattle old-timers remember when The Armory was called The Food Circus during the 1962 World's Fair. Before the fair, the cavernous structure was indeed The National Guard Armory, so the latest renovation was a return to the building's roots.

Historic Key Arena (once home of the Sonics) is also undergoing major renovations in preparation for our new hockey team. The Seattle Center was hopping with people and construction.

The weather was early summer perfection, the kind of day that makes you wonder why you would live anywhere else?  Back in February, which seems a lifetime ago now, the city was paralyzed with snow and we missed The Sleeping Beauty.  The ballet let us change those tickets (for a fee, of course) for this later performance.

We were in the third row, which gives a good up-close view of the stage, although you can't always see their feet. Perhaps the most fascinating part of their very fascinating anatomy.  No lack of beauty and grace on full display at the ballet.

But on the cuteness scale, no match for our Maya ballerina.  She worked hard at lessons all winter at the LFW School of Dance, and their big performance is tonight in Omak.  So sorry we can't be there. These are some pictures Amanda took at the rehearsal yesterday.

 On to the Seattle Center?