Christmas!

Independence Day and Our Anniversary

BBQ and Fireworks. Sweet and simple.

We celebrated our 7th Anniversary at Dahlia Lounge in Seattle. Wow. The food is worth every penny. We tried their Tastes from the Sea sampler for our appetizer. There was smoked salmon with hot mustard and sesame seed. King clam sashimi with baby beets, fennel and dill. Dungeness crab with guajillo mayo, salsa picada and lime. Ahi tuna with yuzu kosho, togarashi puffed rice and wakame. AND GEODUCK!! Google that.




I made a simple necklace from Quartz crystal beads for the occasion. And that concludes our annual indulgence. Something I look forward too all year.

Broody Hen

It's always the Barred Rocks. I always have one that wants to try and hatch a clutch of chicks in the peak of the summer heat. There is no rooster anymore and she doesn't realize it's futile. You can really philosphical about that . . . I just kick her off the nest a couple times a day to make sure she gets a drink of water every once and a while.

Speaking of which, David and I built a new water dispenser for them. It works really well and doesn't waste as much water as the old style did. Their water is always clean. I LOVE it. They just peck at the metal nipples in the bottom of the bucket and it dispenses water a little at a time right into their beak. We can fill the bucket from the outside of the cage too, right from the hose without having to lug it across the yard.

A Short Visit

This is Timber. She is a very sweet and intelligent Labrador, Great Dane mix. She came to stay with us for a few days while we considered adopting her. She was abandoned with a broken leg and she's still young at only 9 months. W really enjoyed having her, but we found that her anxiety was a little too much for us to handle so we returned her to her foster family. She's going to be a wonderful pet for someone who has more experience with dogs!

After the experience, I still think I want to adopt a dog. But I think we should wait untill Cooper is a little older. And potty trained.

New Tank

We set this tank up in Leela's room. I'm really excited about it, though the aquascaping is still not finished and the filter intake is dangling there. We built the hood, the lighting and the filter all from scratch and for about $30. The gravel and the rocks are from my own backyard. I think we'll put some livebearers in it. Small, colorfull fish.

June

We're coming to the end of June and it is just starting to look and feel like it.

Our American Gothic

We bought a little picture book for the kids about the life of Grant Wood. The picture has nothing to do with architecture, but I thought it was a cute spontaneous moment between the girls.

I've decided not to beg.

Pink Princess Pancakes have a 1/4 cup of beet puree for every 2 cups of pancake mix. They're actually really good. I've put several dollops of cauliflower puree in scrambled eggs and I've put butternut squash puree on cheese quesadillas. They eat it all up and I'm not begging them anymore to 'please try just one bite of your vegetables'. For more info check out http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/.
She has a recipe posted for Italian Meatloaf with carrot puree that sounds good. I put sweet potato puree in our spaghetti last night and that was yummy.

Q: What are you doing?

A: Painting the house.

June in the Garden

The heart shaped potato I planted is really taking off.

This plant is called Anchusa, I love it's beautiful deep blue flowers. Best of all it loves hot dry sites.


The grape vine is getting into full gear.


A forest of carrots. The kids are already picking them and that is fine with me. So long as they don't trample the spinach next to it. LOL

PNW Windstorm

A tree came down across the street. Fortunately it missed homes and just smashed landscaping.

Lovely Eggs

Leela loves helping care for the chickens and getting the eggs every day. Each chicken lays an egg that is unique to her in color, shape and size. We get a good variety. We keep 3 Plymouth Barred Rock, 3 Ameraucana, 2 Red Star, and 1 Rhode Island Red. The rooster was an Ameraucana, but for his fate check out last November.

So we're in the bathroom talking about the best way to fix the skylight and taking pictures of the damage done to the ceiling and wall. David takes a picture of me leaning against the window sill. A weird place to discuss home improvement and an even weirder place to get your portrait taken.

Tie-Dye!

I made tie-dye shirts for everyone in the fam. I like the way they turned out and I think the kids look super cute. It's such a carefree summery look.

Again with the fish tank.

I'm beginning to think the Angelfish is showing her age at 3 years.

April so far

Leela and Sammy sleeping in Boise.


Cooper peeking through Grandma's back fence.


Shrimp Heaven.


A heart shaped potato I planted in the side yard.