Miss Maisy Mae!

Today was a fine day for bathing dogs...warm and sunny, hose water warmed by the sun, and a freshly cut lawn to work on. Maisy did quite well with Caitlin and I working on her. Here is a wet and dry shot...

Weed Rake

Annie needed to make a trip into Leavenworth yesterday so we visited a fun park and ate our picnic lunch. After sitting on a log nibbling and drinking, Oliver was ready to do "boy things".  I distracted him from taking off with this dry branch. Brooke thought he was hilarious with his dragging the stick around and called it a weed rake! That little girl says the cleverest things!

After lunch we found out how dusty the trail was as Annie's toes were buried in dirt. (photo to come)

Opening up the Cabin

It was long past time to open up the cabin for the season so finally we took time out of busy schedules to make it happen. 

We left town in Wally's boat and were puzzled when an alarm sounded off and on. John took the engine out of gear and checked it out...good on the oil, good on the temperature, spitting water fine, and getting plenty of gas.        Hmmmm!             Seeing nothing wrong, we started out again. As the boat sped up the alarm became constant...what a pest it was becoming. So we checked out the engine again, nothing wrong. Perplexed at the situation we finally put in a call to Hammer's Marine to ask what Tim thought the problem might be. While John explained the situation on the phone, Miss Snoopy Snoop did a little snooping and found the source of the problem.  Turns out that it was the depth sounder!                  Whew!               We had lost a bit of time so John kicked that baby into gear and hightailed it for the cabin.

    

We were able to take the little short cut since the tide was high enough and the cabin came into sight...looking good!

It was an out-going tide so we used the haul-out rope to anchor the boat. Duane, Wally, John and I tugged hard on that rope as it was riddled with barnacles. I must say John did the majority of pulling but we added to the effort! 

Heading up to unlock the door, I had to check out the plants...daphne is growing large and had bloomed, some of the columbine was in bloom in front, the Elderberry was huge and flowering too. Beach grass and new trees are beginning to take over so we'll have to do some work on that this summer.

John cleaned out the gutter that leads to the water tank and put the inlet together while I manned the bilge pump inside the 1000 gallon tank. It was easy to wipe down the walls and floor and let the pump pull out the 4 inches of water and sludge. I think we only had to haul out 10 gallons or so by bucket. That pump saved lots of time and energy!

Had to take a few photos on the landing...

 

It would have been easy to stay for a few days but without water and food it was time to head back to town. 

And so we pulled in the boat and climbed aboard...

just a little bit high and dry so John's boots became low and wet.

A grand time was had by all!

Scandinavian Almond Bars

We were invited to feast on some oysters Chris Holm brought north. Chris and Wally breaded the oysters and Chris did all the frying. Terri brought a beautiful salad, Grandma Koke had fish cakes in cream sauce, muffins, bread, a pot of rice. We brought dessert...I thought sherbert with a crispy cookie would be a good finish to the rich meal. I looked in the cookbook and found this recipe. It goes together in a snap and tastes like Scandinavian Heaven!

 

Pat out four logs and top with toasted chopped almonds. Bake, slice and cool. Then top with glaze if desired.

  
The end pieces become the cook's snack!

Little Norway Festival Parade

The sun shone for the 2011 Little Norway Celebration Parade this last week. I was amazed at the turn out...people were lining the length of Main Street and the parade stretched up the PFI hill.

First came the helicopter fly over with the flags, fire department, color guard, and various vehicles and they all threw candy! The lady in front of us kept her kids' stash between her feet.

Then winding down the street came the Norwegian dancers lead by Heidi Lee. We didn't know a single dancer this year.

  
This was the Northern Lights Brass Band.

The Son's of Norway is celebrating 100 years in Petersburg. They were represented by the Vikings and Valkyries with the Norwegian ship. This year's Norwegian American Award was given to Naomi and Doug Welde. 

 Jack Engell was in the boat throwing candy in the red sweater.

 Alaska Airlines had an entry:

The school used some grant money to purchase some drums for a drum line. It's the closest thing Petersburg has to a marching band!

 Then came the families of Hammer and Wikan celebrating 90 years in business. They had a shopping cart drill team led by Sue Jensen Paulsen.

Smokey and something green also trailed along!

The Harley contingent took up the end of the parade...I don't know how many there were but it was quite impressive.

We wandered around after it was all over and ran into family. Jenny had Parker in his Norwegian sweater.

Easy Does It

 This one's for you, Caitlin. I put Easy Does It into the ground this morning and now it is looking a bit weepy! When I pulled it out of my large pot I found that it didn't have much of a root system and the soil was very moist. One plus was finding lots of earth worms in the bottom! I think the potting soil I used was too heavy and it didn't drain well. Hope it survives the summer in the new spot.

 Crown of Thorns is doing wonderful. I'll put the pot under the lemon tree where it will be watered by a sprinkler. It has been growing for about 4 years now.

 Easter lilies are in bloom...always just before we depart. Next year I should probably divide the clump as I see fewer blooms on each plant each year.

Hybiscus

Saying Farewell

Annie, Brooke and Oliver visited with us in Thousand Palms in April. We enjoyed a longer visit than planned since Brooke came down with the flu. Grandma and Grandpa didn't mind the extension at all!

Cropping Photos

Shooting the blossom:

Now to find a neutral background.

I was playing with my camera's macro setting trying to get a good shot of the Christmas cactus bloom. Looking for a spot not in direct light, I carried it into the bathroom and shot it with flash. I thought the result was more interesting but knew it needed cropping:

 

It's fun playing with images...remember the old days when you had to chop up the photo paper!

Homesick?

This is a snippet of weather for all you who are homesick for Petersburg!



Wish I could have captured all the rain on film...

Hanging

Walking to town on a blustery day: when I carry a camera my eye seems to see! I thought this hanging stop sign was something...