Improving the View

With all of the work we've been doing to get our yard ship shape, one thing always bothered me.  

Sitting at the firepit and staring at those big, bulky trash and recycling  bins. 

So I had a plan. 

(I do this a lot to my husband...  draw out something on paper for our next project.)

And we went to work. 

Of course our favorite seven year old was here to help. 

Now you see it - now you don't!

The bins are still accessible.  The fence is actually panels which lift off to wheel out the mower or the bins.  I am very happy with the reality we created. 

It's JUNE!

 For whatever reason I adore the month of June. 

Maybe it's because I grew up having "June is Dairy month" engraved in my head. 

And since I am a cheese head by birthright it just seems to go hand-in-hand.

Or maybe it's just my love for ice cream. 

Friday we had a sleepover with this little guy.  Isn't he a cutie?

Baby C isn't much of a baby any more.

  

Papa had the evening shift.  Dinner.  Playtime.  Bedtime. 

It was my late night at work.

I was the first smile he saw in the morning.  

Mr. T had Saturday afternoon soccer.  His Momma had to leave to work.  

Gramma was completely outnumbered by testosterone when it came to our close proximity to High Desert Harley Davidson.  Actually Papa and Mr. T's Dad were registering for the Patriot Thunder Ride.

We wrapped up our afternoon together with dinner. 

Sunday AM, the guys headed out for their ride with 200+ of their closest riding buddies, 

for the Idaho Patriot Thunder ride. 

Normally it is an organized ride, with Idaho State Patrol escorting the riders to Mountain Home.  

This year ISP was not able to budget the escort and it was said the ride would have to cancel.  The money collected for the ride was meant for the Veterans and not the salary of the escorts. 

A couple of organizers started a social media campaign.  Riders registered, and the money went to the Wounded Warrior fund.  Famous Dave's donated catered food for the riders.  

They started from Idaho Ice World. 

Scary biker dude

The ride to Mountain Home was a success. The Mayor spoke and donuts were offered.  The riders returned to Meridian where they were welcomed by Governor, the Mountain Home AFB Commander.  There was a flag raising ceremony and food to celebrate the successful, safe ride.  

ISP reported only one complaint by a driver who said the miles of motorcycles on the Interstate were causing him to feel road rage...  (anger management...)

Matthew made the KBOI News.  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...  Mr. T and I were holding down the fort.  

This amazing seven year old was such a great help.  He dead-headed flowers in the gardens.  He watered the vegetable garden.  He used the blower to clean the cut grass from the sidewalks as I mowed.  

And Gramma got to spend the entire afternoon with him.  

He reminds me of his daddy, who was always willing to help work in the yard.  

Here's to a job well done!

The guys got home and Papa got some time with Mr. T too. 

Productivity at its Finest

This weekend we found ourselves feeling VERY productive.  It was a continuation of our productive week.  Saturday we were up early - that's what happens when you are exhausted on Friday night and sleep a solid 8 hours because you go to bed early.

Our roommates moved into their own cozy apartment last weekend (I miss them already).  We spent the weekend looking after our youngest grand.  Sunday night as they drove away with the last of their belongings, i.e. the cats; I resisted the urge to dive into a whole house deep clean (not because I was celebrating but because that's just the way I function) as I was working on Monday.  However, Mr. T was sleeping over since school was off for Presidents Day.  I rearranged the 'boy's bedroom' enough for a good night's sleep. 

After work Monday I started washing bedding and reloading empty closets.  We met up with Matt and Brit to turn over Mr. T to his folks once more.  Mr. T and Papa had a busy day of errands and some how managed to stay out of trouble. 

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent washing walls, shampooing carpet and large area rugs.  I remade the beds and continued my mad organizing of closets.  The first load was delivered to Idaho Youth Ranch and arrangements were made for an 'in-house' pick up of some larger items. 

Thursday and Friday I took a reprieve and went to work to rest my tired, aching muscles.  We made a couple of mental lists - some long range planning if you will - giving ourselves a time line for projects around the house.  There are plenty to keep us out of trouble, but we have a goal to reach.

Saturday we hit the ground running...  I walked Ruger around the park trails in our neighborhood taking advantaged of the sunshine.  We braved the crowds at Costco and the grocery store but successfully restocked our very empty pantry.  In celebration we toasted National Margarita Day with a shared plate of nachos and a couple of adult beverages. 

After Mass Sunday we soaked up some vitamin D and emptied the shed of it's overflowing contents, scrubbed the floor and the mini-frig before reloading the loft and shelves with only items that had been sorted and organized (though I bet he snuck in a few things too...).  Mike filled up both the trash and recycling bin.

Since the shed was his project and I was desperate to stay outdoors, I found a task of my own.  The wood pile (yes the wood pile) has been an eye sore for over a year.  Trimmed branches cut and piled haphazardly and leaves from two Falls caused me to avert my eyes whenever I headed that direction.  So yes, I confess, I organized/cleaned our wood pile.  I used my favorite tool in the world - the sawzall - to trim branches down to burning lengths, raked out leaves, pulled small kindling pieces (avoiding nasty hiding critters) and re stacked the logs.  The whole time burning any extra pieces of timber so that we might have a cozy, relaxing fire to enjoy while we took periodic breaks. 

When the embers burned down we wrapped up our time outdoors, with our chilled beers empty, we were ready to call it a day.  Chicken wings were thawing, showers happened and we answered the door bell to discover Mr. T and his folks out for a drive.  Soon after our daughter and Baby C showed up to use the laundry.  Additional wings were thawed, more veggies added to the pot and a controlled chaos ensued as the spontaneous visit evolved.

So as we start the new week we have cleared closets, organized storage, donated items, shampooed floors and washed walls - putting our empty nest back in order.   Temperatures are promising to be a huge Spring tease this week and we will take full advantage despite the little voice in the back of my head reminding me it's still February.

"Coast"ing thru the weekend...

Sometime the end of the year, our Texas family shared a Groupon featuring our favorite little piece of heaven on the Washington Coast. Imagine our surprise! Needless to say my interest was peaked and I signed on for our own Groupon updates, all the while keeping a close eye on that discounted weekend in heaven. The timing wasn't quite right. We had a new grand baby to meet. However, I did find a special for one of the other four Olympic National Park lodges which did work.

Fast forward... New year, new grand baby, new month and we were headed west after work. We've discovered a comfortable place to stay along the Columbia River just east of Portland. It fits perfect into our itinerary for leaving town after my Friday shift, provides a great night's sleep and puts us 'nearly' there for our morning departure.

Mt Hood was missing from view when we crossed the river from Oregon to Washington confirming the bleak forecast for the weekend's weather. No matter. It's part of the coastal charm. We packed music, books, deck of cards, rain gear AND wine!

We met up with our DIL and oldest granddaughter for lunch. Family news and catching up between bites. Debbie has always been such a good friend. Granddaughter Andrea is gorgeous, owns her own home, has a great job working for the State and SINGLE! Seriously she doesn't need her Gramma finding dates as she has a very nice gentleman in her life - but I'm just sayin'...

Our trip to the coast was met with patches of rain as we expected. Lake Quinault Lodge is 30 miles closer than Kalaloch but just as quaint. Its nestled about 2 miles off Hwy 101, in a small, sleepy community which I'm certain is buzzing in the summer months.We had a cozy fireplace room with a balcony overlooking the lake.

We made reservations for dinner as encouraged after we unpacked. We added our jackets and set out to explore the immediate area around the Lodge.

There are several trails in a variety of lengths. The weather was trying to clear. With my hubby's still gimpy ankle we didn't stray far. We scooted along the edge of the lake and found a small water fall as well as a nice camping area. There were several trails we want to explore this summer including the 4 mile nature trail.

We returned to the lodge, surprised to see it much fuller with folks playing cards & chess, putting together puzzles, reading by the main fireplace and socializing. We ordered a couple of adult beverages and followed suit.

Dinner at a table for two, looking out on the lake as the sun set over the mountains, was delicious. Mike had salmon and I had prime rib.

We focused on our weekend away from home but our children were on our minds.  As the day wound to an end we were back in the room enjoying a warm fire, hot shower and comfy bed.

Sunday morning we were greeted by sunshine on the lake as we started our morning with a vigorous hike before coffee after 10am. I can't recall the last time we both slept in that long. Coffee and homemade banana muffins in our room for breakfast and we headed out to explore.

Naturally we had to stop at Beach 2 to visit Nan and Papo. It's also a good spot to recall memories of Uncle Ric and Rex. . As we approached the beach I watched a bald eagle landing where the snow run off blended into the ocean. It wasn't long after we were joined by a circling female 'balden' eagle (a Tate-ism).

From Beach 2 we headed for the closed campgrounds. The Or-Ida Shaws are returning for their 9th year this summer. Despite the winter storm debris we were able to walk thru and check out our adjoining sites reserved in January. I think we have some good sites. Plenty of room for the WA-Shaws too!

We did some further 'research' on the beaches with a cup of coffee. The sunshine was warm but the wind was brisk.

We circled Lake Quinault on the way back to the Lodge, exploring some graveled, narrow, terrain with muddy roadsides that dropped severely on the passenger side of the vehicle.

Dinner and drinks back at the Lodge. A new choice for dessert... Bananas foster. Ok so I'm not a banana connoisseur. Once in awhile a nearly green banana with cereal is consumed. This was a walnut tuille... A bowl which looked like burned sugar. It held ice cream, sliced banana and a caramel sauce. The combination was different odd not my favorite. Honestly except for banana splits or banana pudding how does banana end up in a dessert, let alone an overpriced splurge. I kept thinking "this is a dessert that would be created in an Iron Chef competition where the chefs learn bananas are the mystery ingredient". (Comment attributed to the time spent recently with our daughter as I've never watched those shows before...)

But despite the bananas we enjoyed our meal and the weekend in total.

The sunshine carried us home. Our departure was acknowledged by Mt. Rainer, Mt. St. Helens and Mt. Hood, all standing tall and white against a brilliant blue sky.

We stopped at Centralia Deli and picked up lunch to share with our oldest grandson, his wife and our two adorable GREAT granddaughters. How blessed are we?!  They moved from San Diego to Seattle this year and we finally met our beautiful Greats.  It was great to catch up with Adam and Alexis as well. 

Weekend

This weekend our favorite five year old was left in the care of his grandparents.  His folks drove over to Washington to participate in the Navy promotion ceremony for a good friend.  The five year old spent Thursday and Friday with his maternal grands.  We picked him up Saturday morning for our turn. 

 Guess who's grandson is in the spotlight at the Y this month? Yep! 

 My partner in crime.  Papa was camped out with his Saturday schedule of college football.  It happens once a year and I don't worry.  It gives me time to run and play as I choose for a few hours too.  This weekend I had a sidekick.  We managed to run a few errands, take a few pictures for a project I'm working on, and scout out some stores for the perfect pieces we were seeking for a gift.  I even had a date for lunch!

 Clearly Lola was thrilled to have her five year old stalker in the house for the weekend.  He's learning to approach her slowly and she even sticks around once in a while.

 We had to work in the yard for awhile.  My "Super" helper found his cape to make the tasks go quicker.  I cut back day lilies and iris.  Later we dug the iris out of the flower beds and carried them over to their new zip code and replanted. 

 And we found a really cool bug in the yard...

The basket of puzzles was a good place to find what we needed to keep busy.

We had to get ready for swim lessons in the morning.

 Time for school.  Dressed, teeth brushed and gel in hair, he turns to me, makes this face and hand motions, does a little strut and says "Rock Star". 

Schools done.  Waiting for his folks who are their way home again.  He wanted to work his "States" puzzle.  He's getting pretty darn good at this one.  We always pick out where he, Papa and Boppy were born (Washington), where his Cousin Friends live (Oregon), where Denie and Granpas live (Wisconsin), Uncle Michael (Virginia) and Auntie Di, Uncle Kevin and the kids (Illinois).  He shows me Utah, Texas and Alaska (it's where Whitee grew up Drahma).  I always loved this puzzle when I was a kid (hush there were STILL 50 states then too!) and think we'll keep working on State Capitals too.

It was a fun weekend, a little more energy, louder giggles and constant five year old questions.  And with him back in his own bed, today was way too quiet today!