Back to Basics...

I've been thinking about our stalwart friends from the U.K. who came over for the wedding and then headed to the eastern U.S. to see some of that area of the country. It's been so hot there. We would loved to have gone with them since it's a beautiful part to experience, but life dictated otherwise. Still, I hope they haven't found it too unpleasant.

Finally we can say that summer seems to have arrived in our far corner. Temperatures have been consistently in the 70s and we might even hit 80 one day next week! This is my kind of summer. John is back from a week in California and today we plan to get some much needed work done on the lawn/meadow/jungle clearing. The driveway guy failed to show yesterday to give us an estimate for repaving the drive. We'll have to find another one, I guess. And we still need to sort out a foundation for the long-awaited garden shed and some concrete for the side of the house by the garage. Now that we can count on being around, we can get those bits done. I love to travel, but it does cause a bit of a backup to the "list".

Roosevelt (cat) brought a mouse into the house yesterday morning. But instead of the usual terror that accompanies this when John is away, it was handled quite quickly and efficiently while I stood at the ready in the kitchen armed with my trusty mixing bowl/mouse catcher and a broom. Zoe had already confined the little critter to a corner and all John had to do was provide an assist. Less than 5 minutes and the offender was outside.

Looking ahead, I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow and a few errands to run. With such a nice week ahead, we'll have our meals outside so I'll need to go to the grocery. There's a craft fair up at Kingston this weekend and I plan to go tomorrow. The week will be a short one as son Jake arrives for a visit on Friday. We have some new places to show him. Tonight we'll open a nice bottle of wine, sit outside, and solve all the world's problems (or at least not care so much about them!).

Let me tell you about the wedding....

What a whirlwind it has been these past two weeks. We traveled down to Sacramento last weekend and met up with family and friends (not much difference really) to watch Katie and Morey tie the knot. The bride was stunning! And the event seemed to go off without a hitch as far as I could see. I hope the B&G enjoyed it because we surely did. A special thing about a wedding is that is collects lots of people in one place who might otherwise not show up together at the same time! The bride's family surely racked up some frequent flyer miles (or car miles as the case may be) since they came from all over the eastern and southern part of the United States and from England as well; in-laws, ex-laws, and outlaws (as I heard someone describe this recently) all together and all celebrating being together. It was fun and fabulous and felt great!

Special memories of the weekend: seeing the bride walk down the aisle with her dad, seeing the groom get a little teary at the sight of that, being escorted down the aisle by my son again and for the last time, hugging people I hadn't seen in years; hugging people I see more often but never enough, dancing with my husband all night, seeing the look on his daughter's face when she watched her dad dancing, meeting for the first time (and hopefully not the last) my son's and my stepdaughter's significant others, dirty dancing with my sisters and my (always) sister-in-laws and my nieces, wedding-crashing penguins (long story there), bare feet, lots of stories old and new, my incredible and loving sisters, being called "Aunt Vic". My heart is full for the experience.

We flew back on Sunday evening and got right back into the work week the following morning. The luggage finally got unpacked on Thursday in preparation for a house-guest's arrival Thursday night. Our good friend Ian from the UK is visiting with us until Sunday since he was "in the neighborhood" on business. We wish Gill could have accompanied him but, in her absence, we are laying plans for getting together in the future. He has brought good weather with him and we sat out overlooking the harbor last evening for dinner. Today we go in search of eagles and then on to Port Townsend for a wander. We'll cook some salmon (Pacific Northwest staple) outside tonight with some vegetables from the garden and enjoy good wine and good conversation on the deck. It promises to be a summer evening and we'll take advantage of it...

By this time next week....

I'll go from MOB (Mother of the Bride) to Mother-in-law! We are on the final countdown for the wedding which takes place Saturday. The bride seems to have it all under control, or at least has everyone else under control. Relatives will begin arriving sometime this week and make their way to Sacramento by Thursday. John and I will travel down on Friday and return on Sunday. Sacramento weather looks to be in the high 80s - low 90s for that period which is not as hot as I had anticipated and far more palatable than 100+ degrees. Still, I'm looking forward to the event and sharing this joyful moment with my daughter.

John will spend the week in California and return on Thursday evening. We both have busy work weeks ahead  so the time will fly. Yesterday we celebrated my birthday by having some friends over for a delicious meal and good storytelling. The weather cooperated and we were able to relax on the deck for most of the evening.Earlier in the day, I had a pedicure and got my toes painted a lovely shade of lavender for the upcoming wedding. Today we will pick up John's suit from the tailor (had to get the waist taken in!), get the lawn/meadow/jungle clearing tidied up, and finish some other odds and ends that waited until today.

Life flows on...

Brilliant!

I feel as though June went by in a blur. How can it be July already? What I am learning is that, up here, summer really can't be expected to arrive until the "official" summer months. While living in California, one gets used to having summer-like weather even in winter. Up here, Nature is a little more *organized*. Seasons have seasonal weather. And now we are Summer.

July is proper Summer. The sun is out and the colors are brilliant. The temperatures rose to the mid-70s yesterday and folks are out in their summer vacation clothing. I consider mid-70s to be perfect summer weather! None of this 100+ business I read about elsewhere in the country. We are fortunate to live in a place where others come to vacation. Of course, that means others (lots of them) are vacationing here this weekend and will likely be here for the rest of Summer. Fortunately, I don't have to take the ferry to work as there will be longer lines now. But there is a definite increase in the numbers of people in the grocery store and down in the burg.

On Friday, we had dinner at the Loft and sat out on the deck over the water. It was lovely. Yesterday was yet again the monthly Farm Breakfast and we sat out under the tent on their patio amidst the gardens. Good friends, good food, good weather. And last evening we enjoyed using the grill to cook some salmon. Lest you think that all we do here is eat, I will add that we had a very productive day of yard work. (The photos are of our 3-foot tall potato *trees* and of the new fuchsia blooms.) And then last night we savored the movie "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest".


It's a 3-day weekend. The Tour de France is underway and we'll check in there for a bit. It's a wee bit rainy this morning so it might be the best day to do things-that-want-doing-inside. I am going to make a lovely fruit tart for dessert later. Hmmm...food again. Well, that's as good a place to end as any. Enjoy...