The Battle Begins

Arriving in the desert for the winter means gardening. Before putting the new annuals in the ground there's plenty of work to be done. (We have a gardener, while we are in Alaska, to keep the weeds down and make sure the watering system is working but pruning is not on his list.) So after 6 months of being away there is always a lot of pruning to do. Cuts (battle scars) from the roses, lemon and orange trees run up and down my arms and legs.

I tied back the Mexican sage that was engulfing the fountain before turning it on. The mums have taken over...but it is so hard to cut them back while still in bud.

 

 It seems as though we missed the first great bloom on the rose bushes...we'll have to wait about another month for the next one. In the mean time I have been cutting out the dead stalks and dead heading the spent blooms. This rose is from a new plant I put in last year. The second photo shows the blossom after a few days in our sun. 

The Ligustrum  provides great shade in the hot summer and is a buffer between yards. I have started to trim it back to catch more rays now that its fall. We planted it so that the neighbor and I weren't eye-to-eye while working in the kitchen! (Living with close neighbors is common here!)

Our soil is very sandy (duh!) here in the desert so we have to amend it. Before planting we mix a few inches of Amend into the soil. Last spring I dumped all the potting soil out and so we had to buy new. We loaded up the Pilot with 6 large bags and carted them home. What fun!

I had a horrible mishap the other day. While trimming roses I spotted a green body among the leaves... I have battled grasshoppers before and assumed it was one. I grabbed the green head and body, separating the two quickly. Only after looking at it carefully did I discover I had beheaded a friend ~ a praying mantis. Yep, I'm still ticked at myself over that one!

Signing

 
Brooke has learned signs to tell her parents what she wants. One sign she knows is for milk...squeezing the hand like one is milking a cow. She also says the word, but unless you know her you wouldn't recognize it!

Grandpa Time

Grandchildren

So, what one does when visiting grandchildren is to dote on them, play with them, take photos of them, read with them, and take videos...  Of course each grandchild is special but this one is EXTRA SPECIAL!

First Snow

While in Washington the girls and I took a drive out Icicle Creek Road to go on a walk. The night before had left snow. Of course the dogs were in heaven, running and cavorting in the white stuff. Brooke was getting her first molar (we didn't know at the time) and wasn't in the best spirits but she was a good sport.

We'll Follow the Sun

It's October...time to migrate. On the way to California we like to stop and visit our family in Washington. This year we were later in the month and many of the leaves had turned brown and fallen. This shot was taken leaving Leavenworth heading for Cashmere. 

We took a drive up Icicle Creek to go for a walk and run the dogs. We ran into snow! Annie & Kent had camped there the previous weekend.

 

Their camping spot~

Maisy and Cassy had a great time running and rolling 

in the snow.

Brooke experienced the snow ~ a first. She didn't like it when Maisy shook off in her face. Annie was explaining about snow.

Caitlin, Maisy, and her new CRV!

Brooke and Carol playing Wii ~ a first for Carol!

Grandpa John loves reading to Brooke

Brooke is good at giving hugs these days...

Granddog Maisy and Brooke enjoy a story

Annie made the best pumpkin pancakes and Brooke would inhale them. She wanted pumpkin pancakes every morning we were there.

Putting the Cabin Away

Pumpkat for Halloween

Leaves were blowing off the Mountain Ash yesterday - yellow sleet flying. As I was driving out to the dental office my thoughts drifted back to this time of year while teaching school. I would be doing Halloween projects with the kids ~ cutting out pumpkins, accordion pleating dangling legs, cutting and pasting witches heads as well as doing math activities with pumpkins. Those were fun times. Caitlin asked me last night if I missed teaching... I'm on the fence! It was a wonderful time but it was wearing me out. I loved working with kids and doing projects. 

As I was browsing in my favorite on-line quilt shop I saw a pattern for vegetable cats...weird. I printed off the pumpkat photo and thought about copying the idea. I drew a version on freezer paper, cut out the pieces, found scraps of fabric to machine applique and went to work. Machine applique with invisible thread made the project a quick one. I had fun using some silver metallic thread to give the whiskers a little sparkle. I thought it could be used as a banner outside, a table topper, or a wall hanging during pumpkin time!

video

Well, this has been an experience that I probably won't try again...
Using my camera, I took video of the trip and downloaded it to the computer. It was saved in a format that the editing program didn't like so I had to troubleshoot... computer language is not my forte! 


I probably spent about 10 hours researching/troubleshooting/downloading programs before I ended up with this YouTube cut. I am disappointed with the quality, frames, etc...


Thanks to Annie (computer whiz daughter!) I can now do this the right way!

King Crab Harvest

We were invited to go along on a trip to pull up two crab pots. The day was clear and crisp~perfect to get some nice photos on the water.

Brother John's Delta is looking sharp ~ this is the second year on the paint job.

Wally and Colleen climb aboard.

Captain and First Mate head for the secret spot.

Wally in his favorite spot.

John was able to snag the buoy. Whew... the captain wouldn't have liked it if he'd missed.

The first pot looks empty...

Oh my, that's why it's empty ~ get out the cotton twine to mend it for the next trip.

Reaching for the bait sack was an ordeal ~ John was using a crowbar on the frozen humpies, trying to break them into smaller pieces.

 

The second pot was in better shape and even had a few crab for the cook pot. 

Miriam lights the crab cooker.

Baited and ready to set back overboard.

Photo op...

Colleen went for the gusto!

Crab Cook Wally used Rob's method of steam cooking~less salt water in the pot. This was a bone of contention with other members of the group.

Rinsing the cooked crab with fresh water.

First mate Miriam enjoying the view.

 Back at town, heading for the stall in the South Harbor.

 

Rigging 

I have been trying to put the video clips I took on this trip together to make a movie to post. For some unknown reason Picasa won't allow me to do it. Grrr   I have some nice footage to post too. 

That was an afternoon to remember!