More Magic from Lopez Island

I'm sorry it has taken me so long to get to this next chapter on my trip to Lopez Island.  Terry and I have been cleaning up his place and re-arranging so that I can move in.  Yesterday was the big day. 

The storage unit is not large enough, and we now have a small house crammed full of furniture and boxes.  We will get this all arranged, it's just going to take time.

 

So, below is the last hike of the day.  This is the trail leading to Shark Reef.

 

 

 

Have you ever been somewhere that just grabs you?  It's like you have come home, you have found the place you came from.  Mystical and spiritual, Shark Reek affected me in this way.  I did not want to leave.

If you click on the picture below, you will see the sea lions.  They were mostly sleeping in the sun, but a few were being playful in the water.

I've never seen sedum growing in the wild before.  The rocks here were covered with it.

When we returned to the house, we had a beer and sat there, planning on digging some more clams, but our bodies just did not want to move another inch.  I finally commented that it was not a requirement that we get more clams.  We had plenty for now.  Terry breathed a big sigh of relief, and we went off to a local restaurant for dinner.  Below you can see sunset from that restaurant.

All good things must come to an end, and Sunday morning found us at the ferry dock, ready to travel back to the mainland.

That night, we enjoyed the fruits of our labor, steamed clams.

 

We froze enough to make clam chowder on another day.



THE MAGIC OF LOPEZ

A month ago, Terry took me on a very romantic and magical trip to Lopez Island in the San Juan Islands.  His friend has a house there, and he graciously let us use it for the weekend.  The first day was the ferry ride, a brief ride around part of the island, and digging clams.

On Saturday, it was exploration time.

I was amazed to see this farmer plowing his fields with horses!  And believe me, the fields he had finished looked as good as any plowed with a tractor.  Take it from the farmer here.

 

 

 

Then we took a walk down this beautiful trail.

It took us to Spencer Spit.  Oh, would I love to take that enormous piece of driftwood home with me!

I love the beach and walking on logs.

 Then, we took this nice trail down to Watmaugh

 

Watmaugh Bay is one of the most serene places I have been.  We sat on the beach a good while, just enjoying the peace of it all, and sun in our faces.

And the bottom picture shows how clean and clear the water is.

I will have more to show you tomorrow.  I don't want to overload the system with pictures, but the best is yet to come.



A Happy Mother's Day

 

It was another beautiful and warm day in Seattle on Mother's Day.  The flowers above are the bouquet I received from one of my sons.  Do love my flowers.  Terry and I worked in the yard until it was time to get ready to go to brunch with the kids.  The day before, the Community Center up the street had held a Backyard Festival.  They had booths from the Master Gardeners, the Audubon Society, and vendors of plants native to the Northwest.  We purchased a black huckleberry bush, a red huckleberry, and a flowering red currant, and they all needed to get settled in the ground.

We also attended a lecture on companion gardening, which was very enlightening.

 

Cadel provided much entertainment at the brunch, as usual.  He is so good, and has quite a sense of humor at this young age.  He keeps us laughing, that's for sure.

Our waitress was really superb, and she took this picture of us all after we had stuffed ourselves.

 

Terry and I decided to go for a bike ride to burn off some of those calories later in the day.  We live right by the Green River Trail that runs for miles along the river.  It is easy riding or walking, and very scenic.

After a bit, we stopped for a rest and observed an Osprey perched by her nest on the other side of the river.  Soon, we noticed movement in the nest.  We could hear alot of noise coming from there, and finally the mother bird flew off to hunt for some food.  Or maybe just to get some peace and quiet.

It really is amazing how they have been restoring the river to it's natural habitat.  This neighborhood is surrounded by airports.  We have Sea Tac to the West, Boeing Field to the North, and Renton Municipal to the South.  Even so, we have a healthy eagle and osprey population.

 

Friends have been posting some of the most amazing recipes to Facebook lately, and I have been saving them all.  It is so nice to have someone to cook for again.  Last week I made these mini German pancakes, made in a muffin tin.  I made the filling out of frozen raspberries from Terry's crop left over from last year.  They were delicious.

 

Last night, I tackled Fig Pizza.  Our favorite restaurant features some really unique pizzas, such as butternut squash and fig.  We haven't had a chance to try the fig pizza yet, so I just decided to make my own.  I had some dried figs on hand and made them into a sauce.  That goes down first.

Then you pile on the mozarella cheese, proscuitto and arugula.  MMMMmm....mmm.

A terrific meal if I do say so myself.

So this is Retirement?

Terry retired this past week, and we attended a small party in his honor on Monday evening.  It was nice to meet his co-workers and learn how much they admired him and were really sad about his leaving.

I have made sure that he doesn't get bored.

 

Here he is after assembling a big gazebo in the yard.  We have NO shade in this yard, and have been having an unusually hot spring.  I swear it went from 47 degrees to 84 overnight.  We don't like that here in the Pacific Northwest.  Yes, we put shorts and sandles on when it reaches 60, but 75 is the best.

We also bought this firepit for having outdoor weenie and smores roasts with friends.  I was pleased that Terry, a Husky fan, allowed this WSU Cougar pit in his yard.

 

The second day of retirement, we bought this truck.  We will be shopping for a camper in the future, and maybe we will come to visit you on our cross country forays!!!!

 

 

Here's another shot of the gazebo.  Terry is reading to me from the paper, which says yesterday was 87 degrees, making it the hottest big city along with Phoenix.  Thank goodness he installed the air conditioners last night.

Here is a shot of our little house.  It needs alot of work, and as you can see, I am busy digging up gardens and tearing out shrubs.



 I got this and three other boots at the Goodwill Outlet.  Is that a scream?  An Outlet for Goodwill?  You pay by the pound.  I got 4 unmatched boots for growing sedum in.  Me and my yard art.

So, things are going well here, and I'm busy as a bee and very happy.  I'm so glad I have gardens to work in again.