Wood House & Home

Thursday, August 2

Girls On the Town

Two things. One: We had some family come to visit! Afton, DeAnn, Ashley, and Shelby Jo from good ol' Idaho. There was a wedding in Seattle, and they trekked up a bit further through the woods to see us.

Two: It was for a matter of hours. But I explained to someone that lives here most of my far and away relatives are in farming, cattle, or trucking so nothing personal. Time is always of the essence or otherwise stated as No Time Off. So let's ride!

I think they got a good experience. The first time ferry ride is always the best part. And we took them on a dock that harbors tall ships and wildlife.

And we showed them around town (not driving much for good reason). It was embarrassingly cold. Only one hike to the top of the pier. Much easier to do at sea level.

They picked up a huge cooler of oysters for a party my cousin was having and headed home! In a matter of hours. Whew! (I said that already.)

Where's Danielle? ...Oh!

We sure loved having them stay and the little girls had so much fun. What they say about kid cousins being insta-friends is so true.

Tuesday, July 24

Growing Girls and Gardens

Just doing our thing, rain or shine this summer!

The girls are great at picking the super amazing ripe berries (without having to eat too many unripened ones first) and are great helpers outside.

They also do thorough swing-set inspections in case you're interested.

I've also taken to spending a couple of dollars for plants at my local "Walmart Rescue" and seeing if I can't help them recover. I thought it would be a good skill to have and it seems to be working out.

I can afford to be so patient because the climate here makes snap dragons resilient flowering perrennials, weeds even. I've left suspicious looking starts, and what do you know. More snap dragons. Everywhere.

In fact, I'm really liking the "country garden" approach. It is lush, cheap, busy, and maintenance free. Just to fill the pockets around the house.

I've got a semi-coordinated mishmash of Anything Goes. A good summer philosophy besides.

...Including swiss chard, potatoes, and some kind of squash growing unsupervised in discard pile!

And this weather hasn't slowed the fruition thank goodness.

But it has also encouraged the brussels sprouts and nasturtium to settle for world domination.

It's all a gift. Like a take away from the prison greenhouse finally blooming this year and a serious case from the W-rescue. --Sometimes I have no idea what the blossoms will look like, one or two years down the road. Always a sweet surprise!

Yep, things are pretty content. A little on the small side but nonetheless prolific.

We certainly can just go for a stroll and have plenty to take in or munch on. The girls have their favorites. That makes me happy.

Just enjoying what we can, 9 weeks until girl three gets here. Still working on a name-- *hint, help.*

Thursday, July 19

Rollicking Summer

It's not so much a post about the heat and sunshine typically associated with summer... That's fo sho. But it has been a *rollicking* one:

Rollicking defined: "Boisterously carefree, joyful, or high-spirited." I'm trying to bring use of the word back. Because--Well, it describes this summer. I mean the thunder cracks shook the house. The lightening was positively blinding. The temperatures tipped way back. It was a squall experienced on land, I tell you.

That isn't to say in the spirit of the season my spouse couldn't pass up a free hot tub. And I couldn't pass up teaching a few basics from swimming lessons (the bubbles are not the jets, just girl-kicks).

And flying down a wet slide is pretty benchmark, too.

A grange full of preteen scouts qualifies as a Rollicking good time as well:

Carefree and in high spirits indeed, because my scouters got t-shirts this year. (We'll be sure to wear them for a week...) A practice also observed in Summer.