Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Summer 2014 - Part 2

Summer has flown, but we are still having some beautiful days here on Quadra..this evening is an example of the end of one of them, day before yesterday it poured.
September 30th. Aloha summer, aloha fall. 


And now back to the end of July. Bit of along post but so much to share. Forgive all typos!
Beautiful sunrise

The garden continues to grow

And bloom

and flourish


Fava beans, my most successful crop

At last I can grow daisies and I have a bloom!


We did a redo of this bed and it is now looking good.

The flower beds.
Jackson and Kali. I love this photo which was taken by Jessica when Kali and Sara were in Portland.
We met Kali and Sara, end of July,  in Seattle and due to a mix up in the reservations for a house they rented we all stayed in a hotel. Kali decided this bed with a view was for her.

Here is the view

Kali and Captain cooling it in the lobby
Playing beauty parlor...Nana gets her hair done.

Even blow drying

Sara's turn

The busy beautician relaxes with a snack in her bubble bath
The Seattle Ferris wheel with a very faint Mt. Rainier in the background

One of the many ferries buzzing around the area

Kali donating to the hula hoop man


What are they looking at?
Ahhh yogurt, not frozen but rich and delicious

Always happy to know the spoons are clean

We never tire of this place

Pretty, especially in the sunshine

I wonder where the dishonest biscuits are sold?
Standing in front of the original Starbucks
Bedtime story with a view


Glass of wine with a view
Sunset over Seattle
And the next day we moved to Alki Beach. These cute buggies were for rent and once we got the hang of it we managed to stay on the sidewalk and not run into people or things. Well, there was this one fence Buck and Sara took a chunk out of.
Buggy's motor
Captain and co-pilot
There they go looking for a fence to cream.
House built of beach stones
House covered with plants
The house we stayed in.
Seal Girl
There is a little Marnie in her! Marnie always looked like this at the beach as she searched for treasures.
Seattle from Alki
Statue of Liberty?? Can't recall why it is there, but there it is.
Miss Imagination is pretending a brick, yes a brick, is her baby.
She gets Captain into the game too
Here she is doing a soulful play about a homesick girl far away from her father...it was a heart breaker.
And it went on and on....
But a s''more cheered her up immediately.
August and the Jr. Lairds arrive on Quadra, followed a few days later by, Jessica's parents,  
Linda and Larry
The arrival!

The annual scavenger hunt took on a new twist this year.


Winding, winding,

winding

And more winding.

Finding a treasure (Jessica took over the string as the ball got larger and larger)


Another treasure..

Just what he wanted, a moose pencil!


And on goes the string..

A treasure box with rubies in it...wow!

Follow that string!
All treasure found, headed to the house to look them over. (Sadly missed the grand finally - a child sized shovel.)

Checking out the drop down steps to the attic.

Jessica and Captain relax at day's end

Hanging a basket up for his mama.
Well done boy-san.

Finally after years of wanting one, I have a clothes line. Thanks Buck for the instillation which wasn't easy in our rocky soil.

Can't resist garden photos - these are called bee balm and the bees love them.

Succulents and the flower bed beyond.

Orange geranium on the deck and a sort of black-eye Susan daisy behind it.


Jess and Jackie at the beach

Oysters for dinner

Jackie was into check writing...

And book writing..

He looked at a song book of Bucks and decided to write one of his own.
One evening we had an art show.
The audience was jaw dropping amazed.


Thad, King Of The Stump!


No more photos please.

Annual beach picnic to welcome the JR. Lairds back to Quadra and reconnect the kids.


Aine- one of John and Mia's granddaughters


Checking our some crabs which sadly didn't survive the party.



Cute Marley



Ru

Saoirse another of Mia and John's granddaughters.


Loving s'mores- Aine, Jackie, Rowan

Two forces to be  reckoned with  - Miwa and Jackie.

Jackie and his pal Rowan driving.

Enjoying the party?

Val ready to go home.

Arianna has Jackie's attention...


Jackie and Aine

Look out world...here come Jackie, Rowan and Miwa!
 Due to pesky fire ban, s'mores were cooked on the grill.

Arinna and Jackie

Snacks at the beach - Miwa,Rowan, Jackie
Tide pool

Sweet feet

Thad fishing
Sarah Frishholz Walsh and Neve paddle boarding

Thad paddle boarding - in front of our house

Taking Jackie for a ride
Dandelions just for Jackie


Little friend Jackie bought at the Saturday Market

The boys at Rebecca Spit


Good looking family

Loving the beach and the sunshine


Kissing

More kissing





Jackie and Nana discussing possibilities

Thad and Nana discussing world events:)




Mr. Smiles
More kissing, photo should be up with the others but I can't make it move!

Thad and Jackie


Conferring with Captain

There goes Captain.

Captain is asleep so why not put hot rock in his piko??




Nana paddles too.

Conversation with Jackie.

Jackie joins a party raft...
Wait? With beer???

Linda does the paddle board.

There goes Jessica/
Jackie and Larry.
Martini at Gowland Harbour

Yummy bouillabaisse.
-->

Larry and Doni do pella
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Chef Marianna and Jackie

Gowland Harbour view

Jackie charms one of the waitresses
The guys at our beach

Jackie and Grampie..

Linda collecting driftwood


Linda and Larry


There is also a bit of Marnie's beach combing style in this boy!

Jessica bringing driftwood up from the beach.

Jackie and Nana in the truck taking driftwood up the hill to the house.
Linda and Jessica at Heriot Bay
Jackie at Heriot Bay Inn, examining his recent purchase.

HBI calamari...
   How can I caption this one??

Jackie with Grammie and Grampie

Communication central.

Off to Mia and John's

Cousins - Jackie, Aine and Saoirse

Sarah and her beautiful girls

Nana and Captain with their best boy...


August 19 off to Oregon via Horseshoe Bay

Cloud over Vancouver

A new border crossing for us...
And then there is the traffic in Seattle!
A party at Jackie's school -lawn mowers were a big hit.

And the jumping house and slide were big too.
Hummingbird in Thad's garden

Thad's front yard..looking good!

Backyard vegetable patch, also looking good.
Zucchini Boy
Rest stop  on the Olympic Peninsula on the way to Port Angeles and home

First Nation art at rest stop on the  way to Port Angeles

August 30th  Val Barr at artist retreat on Mt Washington...all my photos disappeared and only Val survived...darn.
Sunset again.
September 10, my birthday eve...whales..they gave us quite the performance

That evening we first went by boat shuttle to Painter's Lodge for wine and a pupu

There is our destination
On the boat
At Painters
Then back to April Point on Quadra for sunset and dinner.





Us at April Point..great dinner!


Moonlight on the water when we got home! A perfect evening.

The next day, on my birthday,  in my garden, was a surprise from my family..with the help of Mia and John's coordinating and delivery service..a beautiful heron.

Love my heron!
September 13..Jackson Holmes. Mia Frishholz and Donivee Laird celebrate 210 years of good living with lots and lots of friends...the flowers are ready and so are we!!
Tent setup
Tables ready
Birthday girls

Just a tiny bit of wine...

The crowd of friends gathers
The birthday trio cutting the cake
The next day..moving the gazebo back to its place in the garden
Thanks to Jackson, breakfast for 10 and enjoying the view.


 The party is over and all is calm...
Meanwhile the garden has been growing and growing...

Calendula which I tried and tried to grow in Hawaii

A type of dahlia

A plant related to tobacco called nicotina, I think

More garden..it is amazing what one can do with a fence to keep the deer out!

And more...I'll stop soon, but I just love my garden!



Zinnia!!
Another humpback whale, imaging the shots those people are getting. I think they had stopped and the whale came up to them.

Racoon on my compost bin. Cheeky guy opens it and helps himself while watching me n the deck.

He took out a papaya skin which he soon left behind, not his taste, too foreign!
Sept. 24 On the way yo Anacortes to spend two nights in La Conner and then  to go to the border to get our Nexus cards which will help us get across said border faster.

New ferry for us..

Buck on the ferry

Stop in Friday Harbor, San Juan Islands

Cormorant

More Friday Harbor

Loading ferries is like doing a jigsaw puzzle

La Conner here we come. We stayed at the La  Country Inn, comfortable, roomy and just fine and had fantastic dinners at Nell Thron and Oyster and Thistle.Drinks and pupu at La Conner Brewing Company.  Breakfast at Calico Cafe and lunch at Seeds..all great!! It was sort of a gastronomic crawl...
Crossing the iconic La Conner Rianbow Bridge.





That bridge again
La Conner sunset
La Conner is famous for the tulip festival..here are some of the farm lands around La Conner.



Lunch at Seeds with Mike and Virginia MacBride. Mike from Hawaii with many connections to my family.

La Conner waterfront


On the road to the border..had the interviews, had lunch in Vancouver with Carole and Wendy, caught the 5:20 ferry to Nanaimo and home by 9:30. Good trip, good month and GOOD summer, hello fall...