Trimming the Rhodies

The rhododendrons bloom a bright red in June.  My neighbor has often commented on how nice they look at the peak of their season.  As often as not, I miss the bloom because of festival travel.  This year was a miss. Sandi and I talked about trimming the rhododendrons after they finished blooming this month.  Last Saturday afforded both beautiful weather and a free afternoon.  With a few tools I took to dead-heading and trimming the rhodies.

 

 

Ahhhh.  Much better.

Cape Horn, Washington

Mom and Dad came down to visit last weekend.  I wanted to take them on a good hike but was I've grown weary of fighting the weekend crowds a all our favorite hiking spots (i.e. - the Columbia River Gorge).  I looked online for inspiration and discovered that there is another state to the north of Oregon called Washington.  Apparently, Washington has the Columbia River Gorge too.  That's where we found Cape Horn. 

 

Cape Horn Trail is a 7-mile loop after July 15th.  Before that, it is an out-and-back trail.  No parking hassle, quiet trail, beautiful scenery, perfect!

 

If you had a magnifying glass, you might be able to see
 Multnomah Falls across the way about 3/4 down the river.

 

Not the clearest day but still...

 

... pretty spectacular views.

the fam taking a lunch break

 

 

 

I think we hiked about 5-miles.  The trail started out fairly steep and then leveled off.  We even hiked through pasture land on the way to a look out.  We might have to explore more hiking trails in this land they call Washington.

Spring Planting

Sandi and I had an unexpected free day so decided to plant our garden for the season.  We took our list to the Farmer's Market and brought home a bounty of herbs, fruits and veggies. 

 

Sandi has always loved calla lilies - her wedding bouquet featured them and I've liked hostas.  We got both. 

 

Sandi lined the driveway with calla lilies

 

The backyard planter boxes were a bit unruly.  The Thyme and Rosemary were trying to kill the sage so the sage was trying to leave and the oregano was trying to take over.  We moved the oregano and sage to their own pots for their safety.  Cilantro and dill joined the thyme.

 



Ahh, much better.

We also gave the rosemary it's own plot outside of the herb garden at the far corner of the house. 



before...



bush beans, carrots and a variety of onions

we are trying broccoli and cauliflower this year,
kale and lettuce variety packs are favorites from last year

a hosta separates the planter boxes

with the rosemary at the far right of the house, the remaining
herbs should do quite well. I hope this translates to
a bumper crop of cilantro and basil

Now on to berry row...

Our blueberry and raspberry plants are fairly well established so we decided to add strawberries

 

On the other side of the raspberries we planted two tomato plants (a large and sun-gold cherry tomato) and capped it off with a red pepper and left-over onion

looking good....

Bush beans need a lot of sun so here is our attempt to provide it.  We may decide to build up the back strip of the yard after we build a better fence.

We still have a few more herbs to get later but I think we are in pretty good shape.  It will be a fun harvest later this summer.

Washington Vacation 2014

Last weekend, Sandi and I took a long weekend to celebrate her new job and paid-off loans.  Denise and Dwayne were generous to let us use their comfortable cabin in Whidbey Island.  We arrived Friday afternoon in time to enjoy a walk around Langley.  Our dinner that night was an English pub called Mo's.  Feeling nostalgic for my homeland (if I can count my homeland as Scotland), I ordered Bangers and Mash. 

On Saturday, we drove up to Deception Pass at the north end of the island.  What a beautiful day for a scenic hike!

I love snacky-lunches, especially on vacation

 

After lunch we took a hike around the north-east part of the park.  I think it wrapped us around a peninsula to see a really quiet bay. 

 

On the drive back to the cabin we stumbled on a little festival in Oak Harbor 

The mocha frappes tasted so good on a warm day after a hike.










What's a trip to the cabin without a walk down to the beach?

Princess Sandi on her throne :)

And what's a celebration without steak?



Though it tasted like a five-star restaurant, we cooked it at the cabin.

 

I mentioned to a friend that we live in Oregon but we vacation in Washington.  On Sunday we drove from Whidbey to Leavenworth to experience an entirely different climate and culture (actually it was to enjoy candy bacon at a B&B).  If you need a recommendation, check out Granite Hills Bed & Breakfast just outside of town. 

 

The B&B had great accommodations and delicious breakfasts.  When I looked for places back in March I was taken by the phrase 'candy bacon.'  It's actually all Sandi and I talked about in the weeks leading up to the trip.  Candy bacon did not disappoint.  Everything else on the menu was good too. 

 

From water to mountains, Leavenworth was a great second half to our journey.

 

 

The mountains either competed with or dominated over the town. 

 

It was fun walking around the town and wandering into shops.  The crowds were light and the shop owners friendly.  We were hoping to find a pottery store but alas, we'll have to get our earth-toned sponge holder elsewhere.

Spring-time in Bavaria! 

 

I expected to eat nothing but German meals after breakfast.  In fact German food was harder to come by.  Our host recommended two places: Pavz and South.  Pavz is a French place specializing in fondue and crepes, of which we had both.  South is a Central American place.  Sandi enjoyed the mole` and I liked the carnita platter. 

 

The closest meal we had to German food was Monday's lunch at a pub which consisted of more snacky-foods!

 



Did I mention we ate well the entire trip?

The two of us had a great time together.  Our loans are paid, Sandi goes on days, the weather was beautiful, and cell reception was spotty at best.  Can it get any better?