a visit to the 50th state

 

Just got back from a few days with the 'rents in Hawaii.  It was wonderful to spend time with Mar and Jer, get in the saltwater, see the fishes, wear flip-flops and sunglasses everyday, sip fruity drinks under the hot sun, and even play a round of golf where I lost to my pops by only one stroke.  Ahhh, the tropics - my ghostly-white and nearly-transparent Seattle skin could barely take it...I wore SPF 55 the whole time!  Loved it.

 

Mar and Jer at one of our favorite digs, the Kona Inn

 

sacred Hawaiian site

 

beach shrubbery

 

my new house

 

northern coast

 

Pololua Valley coast

 

Pololua Valley

 

northern coast

 

M, J and J

 

Pops at Mauna Lani GC

 

Signature hole at Mauna Lani

 

not a bad lie

 

Par!

 

making bets

 

best breakfast joint ever

 

palm shadow

 

sunset from the condo

everyone loves sunflowers!

 

AJ is growing some monster-sized and colorful sunflowers this year in the garden - and since everyone loves sunflowers, I thought I'd share.

 

 

 

 

 

 

sun stalker

Our poor cat craves the sun around here perhaps more than we do.  She patiently waits through 10 months of grey to relish the warmth that comes from two months of blinding light.  She hunts out little patches of sun as it streams through the windows, sprawling out to catch the rays on her black fur (which by the way is actually VERY brown...but no one can tell unless she is in the sun!).  My favorite is when she tracks the sun as it comes through our skylights in our bedroom - it hits the floor in the morning, then traverses the room like a spotlight.  Below are some pics of her stalking the sun, even if all she can get is her face in it.

 

 

 

 

a barn fit for the city

The Centenarian is small, no doubt about it.  At least we're not packrats, so we can generally find a place for things - but it still can be challenging.  To help, I just finished up a little storage barn (if 2.5ft x 7ft really counts as a barn) on the back of the house.  Now the mower, yard tools, and other implements live there - which may have opened up JUST enough room in the basement for me to put a wine barrel...

bloomin update

 

Things continue to grow and bloom in the 20th Avenue Garden.  Here's an update of what's flowering and how the garden is coming along.

 

The garden itself is looking lush and is in full production.  We built some little A-frame trellises for things to climb up on, like zucchinis and other squashes. And the strings you see are for the hops - now that the weather is warm, they will grow about 1 foot/day...so they can crawl along the strings and create an overhead canopy.  Other than that, the corn is knee-high (and its the 4th of July), the tomatoes are coming online, the artichokes are about ready for harvest, and the lettuce, beets, radishes, greens, chamomile, peas, herbs, strawberries, and even the cherries are ready for eatin.

 

Bee love on the marigold. 

 

Buddha overseeing the nasturtiums 

 

soon-to-be tomatoes 

 

soon-to-be tomatillos 

 

pea flowers 

 

leek flowers - which the bees love more than anything 

 

thyme flowers 

 

squash of some sort 

 

chamomile 

 garlic harvest

 

more marigolds, of the striped variety 

 

soon-to-be strawberries and artichoke 

 

velvet queen watching over the Centenarian 

 

a California poppy! (shhhh....) 

 

round 3 of the frontyard lupine 

 

awesome calendula 

 

small sunflower 

 

yellow calendulas 

 

a Sunset Magazine-style backyard...right?

ladybug

Isn't this the coolest ladybug you've ever seen?  I guess in reality all ladybugs are cool - but this one really caught our eye today.

bright grey

 

When storms roll through here, often the sun will peek under the clouds and light everything up.  The grey clouds provide a stark backdrop - this is one of my favorite signature scenes in the PacNorWest.