Alpines, Rose of Karen and Rainbows

I need to get with the program with this blogging - I am way behind!!!

We had a brief interlude in Steilacoom before going to Spokane for the opening of fishing season. The greatest accomplishment was to hire a gardening service to spend 2 1/2 days getting the FRONT-YARD-ONLY under control. Craig's affectionate name for the Asian families who do the gardening is Ninjas, and his description of their mode of operation is that they come in and prune everything and what they don't eat they haul away. I found it humorous - and not true. They were three hard-working souls who loved coffee. I put both coffee and tea out for them and one cup of tea was consumed, but the coffee thermos was empty as was the cup of milk and cup of sugar!

They topped the evergreens that are on our neighbors' property (with their permission) and the view we have reclaimed is spectacular. It had been several years since any pruning had been done, so we had lost about 90% of the view of water. Colleen has been edging stepping stones and flower beds and Karen and I worked on the back patio.

We met Rod and Karen in Chehalis a week ago last Sunday and oohed and aahed over big beautiful Alpine and Winnebago motor coaches. And we did manage to come away without doing something foolish like buying a new one. Uhlmans in Chehalis is the only dealer for Alpine coaches in Washington and Karen and Rod are always looking. When we parted ways, Rod headed for Ft. St. John in Canada and we brought Karen home with us.

I am a container-gardener only, and a pathetic one at that, so I seized my chance when Karen came to visit last week. We shopped for mostly flowering annuals such as petunias, snapdragons, and others that I don't know intimately, and as soon as we got home, she was up to her elbows in potting soil. Everything is looking very perky and happy and I can't wait for all of it to fill in with glorious color. Following Karen in the garden store is as befuddling for me as it is for her when I drag her into a kitchen store or gourmet grocery. We do make a good team.

She and I made a road trip back down to Chehalis so I could take her to Sister's fabric shop which is where any quilter would want to spend her every breathing moment. Ten thousand plus bolts of fabric in tight formation shoulder to shoulder, color by color, for as far as the eye can see to the back of a very small shop. After the frantic shopping we were in need of sustenance, and found a delightful bakery where we supped on quiche and creme brulee. I detected a definite German influence and learned of the couple that owns it that one is German and the other Icelandic.

We returned last night from the annual fishing trip to Spokane. Ken and Bob fished three days straight: Lake Sacheen, Waitts Lake and Liberty Lake with some nice fish, mostly rainbow trout, from all three. The weather was as nice as I've seen it for opening week end and I remember one year when they came home covered in snow.

We caught up with Mike and Mary last Saturday at a neighborhood garage sale in north Spokane, so we chatted and shopped and then had lunch together. Their lives are currently taken up with pending retirement and the anticipation of a grandson. Becky is expecting a baby in July, to be named Benjamin. Now that I know it is a boy, I need to be thinking about a quilt perhaps? She lives in Texas, and Mike and Mary were there to see her in April, and Mary is going back down for a few days the end of May. We haven't had a baby in the family for quite a number of years!

Sharon and I had lunch last week in the restaurant at the new Davenport Towers in Spokane which is just across the street from the original restored hotel. The decor of the entire hotel is a safari theme with two life-sized, gold-leafed rhinoceroses greeting you at the entrance. Once inside, animals and jungle abound with a beautiful stuffed tiger looking at you from above. It was beautifully done, and I was very impressed.

And night before last we spent with Jerry and Lois. We had not seen them since last November, so we had a good time catching up. Jerry is recovering from a pulled hamstring, and Lois was her usual perky self. She had a one-man art show in Spokane recently and has enjoyed some good successes with her work. She is so talented. But the shows are hard work. Not only the creating of new pieces, but the matting and framing, and loading, and hauling, and unloading, and hanging, and "un-hanging". I have helped with just one or two and I was worn out.

It is gray and cool today; a typical Puget Sound spring day. I am off to figure out what it is that I need to do for the day. Ciao