MID SUMMER YARD IN BLOOM

My post title kind of sounds like a book title...well maybe a gardeners book but that's a whole different story.

With just a few days left in July I thought I would take some photo's of the summer blooming progress. You can go here for a post I did on June 12. It is amazing how things take off when the weather finally warms up around here.

Above:  Current shot of the new water fountain

Below: Photo taken about six weeks ago of the fountain before all the plants grew and filled in around it.

I decided to keep the whole Americana theme going being as this is an election year and all.

 The nicotiana plants I planted have done a wonderful job filling out.  My friend Pat (Keeping In Touch) {-go check out her blog, she takes beautiful photo's-}from northern California sent me some seeds from her variety that she grows, I am anxious to get it planted to see how it does here in western Washington.  I will post pictures when they start to grow.

 Dahlia's and geraniums make good companions in this flower bed.

 This is the flower bed in the front of the house.  That is liatris (not sure of the spelling) on the right with dianthis, decorative grass, nicotiana and lemon balm to the left of it. 

 I love this purple hydrangea.  It was a gift from my son and daughter-in-law a few years ago but this is the first year it has actually put forth blossoms.

This is what I call my "tall" garden.  All of the plants I think are competing to see which one will grow the tallest. They are all easily 5 ft. tall.

 I am in the process of redoing this flower bed.  There used to be a wisteria planted on the far left (behind the hosta about where the bench is) but we lost it last winter due to a snow/ice storm.  It grew so heavy that the roots couldn't support it.  I have been adding perennials hoping to get them to fill in.  But we all know that perennials when planted sleep the first year, creep the second year and leap the third year.  Most of the plants are either first year or second year so I am hoping beginning next year they will be creeping and leaping all over the place.

 This hanging basket is thriving nicely where it is on the front of the storage shed.

 I love the color combination in this pot

 This flower box is also pretty happy on the shed.

I have more liatris here along with a climbing plant that refuses to bloom.  Also, on the right is my rhubarb plant that just keeps giving and giving.  I have already pulled rhubarb stalks two or three times and it is ready to be pulled again.

And finally my stargazer lily has decided to bloom.

FAMILY REUNION 2012

This is a post about our first annual family reunion with my husbands brother and his family.  We didn't take the time when our children were small to get together much but now that the grandchildren are coming on we felt it was time to reconnect and start some traditions.  We camped at a park with a trout fishing pond which was a big hit with the grandchildren.  Dessert cookoff, geocaching, campfire games and smore's, bike riding, badminton, and bacci ball were some of the fun things we did.

This is Randy, our daughter-in-law.  She is one happy camper.

Dawson and Brielle were intrigued by the bubbles and had lots of fun popping them.

This is the campground owner Pete helping the little guys learn how to cast their poles.

Spencer had a blast fishing.

Even eleven year old Addison enjoyed catching fish.

This would be a very enthusiastic group getting ready to geocache.

This was one of the "caches" we found.  It was an ammunition box filled with all kinds of trinkets and treasures.  One of the rules of geocaching is that you can take a trinket if you replace it with something of equal or better value.

Miss Dawson had such a great time camping.

My youngest son Dustin (Dawson's daddy)  with his boxer Duncan

PAIGE was the perfect camper, she was just happy to be surrounded by all the kids.

Paige chillin' and relaxin'...CHILLAXIN'!

Everyone is excited and looking forward to the reunion next year already.  I will add the group photo as soon as my daughter sends it to me.

EDIT TO ADD:  Group shot of all that attended the reunion.  Five family memebers were unable to attend.



GOING A LITTLE POLITICAL HERE

MITT ROMNEY has nothing to hide and will not work to "fundamentally change" this country nor will he ever apologize to other countries about this great nation.    Please keep yourself informed about what is happening to this country under the Obama administration; dig deep, ask questions and don't take the mainstream media's word for it.  Ask yourself this question, CAN THIS COUNTRY SURVIVE 4 MORE YEARS OF THIS CURRENT PRESIDENT AND THE DIRECTION HE IS GOING?
 

Whether you agree or disagree with Mitt Romney please take a minute and read about him below.

Personal Information:
His full Name is: Willard Mitt Romney



He was Born: March 12, 1947 and is 65 years old.

His Father: George W. Romney, former Governor of the State of Michigan

He was raised in Bloomfield Hills , Michigan

He is Married to Ann Romney since 1969; they five children.

Education:
B.A. from Brigham Young University ,

J.D. and M.B.A. from Harvard University

Religion:
Mormon - The Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints

Working Background:

After high school, he spent 30 months in France as a Mormon missionary.

After going to both Harvard Business School and Harvard Law School simultaneously, he passed the Michigan bar exam, but never worked as an attorney.

In 1984, he co-founded Bain Capital a private equity investment firm, one of the largest such firms in the United States .

In 1994, he ran for Senator of Massachusetts and lost to Ted Kennedy.

He was President and CEO of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games.

In 2002, he was elected Governor of the State of Massachusetts where he eliminated a 1.5 billion deficit.

Some Interesting Facts about Romney:

Bain Capital, starting with one small office supply store in Massachusetts , turned it into Staples; now over 2,000 stores employing 90,000 people.

Bain Capital also worked to perform the same kinds of business miracles again and again, with companies like Domino's, Sealy, Brookstone, Weather Channel, Burger King, Warner Music Group, Dollarama, Home Depot Supply, and many others.

He was an unpaid volunteer campaign worker for his dad's gubernatorial campaign 1 year.

He was an unpaid intern in his dad's governor's office for eight years.

He was an unpaid bishop and stake president of his church for ten years.

He was an unpaid President of the Salt Lake Olympic Committee for three years.

He took no salary and was the unpaid Governor of Massachusetts for four years.

He gave his entire inheritance from his father to charity.

Mitt Romney is one of the wealthiest self-made men in our country but has given more back to its citizens in terms of money, service and time than most men.

And in 2011 Mitt Romney gave over $4 million to charity, almost 19% of his income.... Just for comparison purposes, Obama gave 1% and Joe Biden gave $300 or .0013%.

Mitt Romney is Trustworthy:

He will show us his birth certificate

He will show us his high school and college transcripts.

He will show us his social security card.

He will show us his law degree.

He will show us his draft notice.

He will show us his medical records.

He will show us his income tax records.

He will show us he has nothing to hide.

Mitt Romney's background, experience and trustworthiness show him to be a great leader and an excellent citizen for President of the United States .

You may think that Romney may not be the best representative the Republicans could have selected. At least I know what religion he is, and that he won't desecrate the flag, bow down to foreign powers, or practice fiscal irresponsibility. I know he has the ability to turn this financial debacle that the current regime has gotten us into. We won't like all the things necessary to recover from this debt, but someone with Romney's background can do it. But, on the minus side, He never was a "Community Organizer", never took drugs or smoked pot, never got drunk, did not associate with communists or terrorists, nor did he attend a church whose pastor called for God to damn the US.

OUT TO LUNCH AT PATTY'S PLACE

The book club that I have been a part of for 7 years goes out to lunch one time a year rather than going to someones home.  This year we decided to go to an out of the way down home cookin' restaurant called Patty's Place at 19 Mile House.  Nineteen Mile was the name of a logging camp located nearby before the mountain erupted.  It is on the road that leads to the Mt. St. Helen's volcano recreation area.  This place is famous for it's many varieties of cobbler,  I had mountain berry cobbler with vanilla ice cream.  AHHHHH! (that would be the angels singing, it was that good).

Seven of the nine gals were able to attend.  Here we are after we finished eating.  We sat on the deck that over looks the Toutle River, the temperature was a perfect 72 degrees with a light breeze.

This is the Toutle River.  This river and area around it were flooded and swollen with water and debris from the eruption of the mountain over 32 years ago.  There was everything from trees to logging equipment that washed down through here.  As you can see Mother Nature has rebounded nicely.  The river looks muddy but it is actually full of silt and volcanic ash along with glacier run off.

This forked horned buck was laying in the flower bed of one of the ladies homes when we picked her up and he didn't even bother to move.  He almost looks like a lawn ornament.

Here was another small buck that decided we were a little too close, he was bedded down in the flower be next to the garage.  Another small doe ran off when Charlotte (the homeowner) came out her front door, it was laying on her front porch.  I would say they are quite comfortable around her place.

SUMMERTIME FUN WITH DAWSON

There is nothing finer than having one grandchild at a time to just enjoy them with undivided attention.

Dawson and her dog Duncan are enjoying a sip of water from the hose.

Here she is playing peek-a-boo behind the tree.

Playing in the water fountain is a favorite activity. 

That look says "I don't know if I should be playing in here but boy is it fun".

Yep, it sure doesn't get much better than that!!!