....A Thousand Words...or Vice Versa

DISCLAIMER: This post contains no photographs, only word pictures!


I can't seem to remember to take my camera with me when I leave the house. On the few times I have remembered, I've seen nothing terribly photo-worthy. But you can be sure if I don't have it with me, extraordinary things will await us wherever we go, and yesterday was no exception to this pattern.

We started our day off with a fine breakfast with my brother, sister-in-law, nephew, his wife and their 3 young sons. They were all in town to support nephew, Rob, who participated in the RSVP. His plans included a stopover in Bellingham and then he would continue on to Vancouver, BC, on Saturday. The rest of the family met him up there, presumably to party "along with" and then provide transportation back to Seattle. Making this trip by car is grueling enough, I can't imagine doing it on a bike!

After breakfast we headed out to the north county to a little gospel concert at the Haynie Opry (aka the Haynie Grange). Whatcom County is such an interesting mix of "cultures": loggers, farmers, fishers and the corporate crew who inhabit the "castles" that line the waterfront. You don't have to venture far out of Bellingham in any one direction before you find yourself in a "different world". Such was the case on Saturday. The Haynie Opry is a solid, old 2-story wooden grange building with a high ceiling, an well-worn wooden floor and huge casement windows which were wide open because of the afternoon heat (90+ degrees). Large flower-print chintz curtains blew in the breeze as mostly elderly, well-fed folks in overalls, suspenders and flower-print dresses found seats among the collection of used and mismatched pews donated by different churches. Thermoses provided ice water and cold lemonade and for a $2.00 donation (proceeds destined for clean water work taking place in a village in Africa), you could have a piece of rhubarb or blueberry pie. We got one of each. On stage the 50-something gray-haired men in black pants and black western shirts adorned with sequined roses began setting up for the afternoon performance. We were transported by old favorites such as "I'll Fly Away", "I've Seen the Light" and "In the Garden" and left feeling like we'd been on a long vacation.

No trip to the north county is complete without a trip to Edaleens Dairy for the very, very, very best soft ice cream you have ever tasted. No matter when you go, you will stand in line for this treat, as their renown has spread far and wide...even internationally, as more than half of the license plates in the parking lot are from BC. Can you blame them? A large (and I mean LARGE) chocolate/vanilla swirl cone is a whopping $2.00! While we were sitting outside trying to eat the ice cream faster than it was melting in the heat, we saw the Snowbirds performing some of their stunts as part of the Abbotsford Air Show. "Locals" know that if you head out Northwood Rd. you can catch some of the show for free by parking next to Randy and Leslie's raspberry fields! So we did just that and had a great view of their amazing show.

By then we were hot and tired and it was time to head home for leftovers. What a day!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Since work schedules and economic realities preclude "vacations", as such, for the Hoyt-Whitakers, this is where I "vacation" in the summer!

Pre-Vacation Soiree

Wally and Winnie

My brother's family takes an annul summer vacation together every year. What a great tradition! This year they are heading for the Washington coast. Although I couldn't make it this year, we did manage to get down to Seattle to say "hi" the the whole crew before they take off today.

McCartney Liu

Finn, Isaac and McCartney

Rob (Finn and Isaac's Dad) and Finn and Isaac

Sam (Isaac and Finn's older brother)

Finn, Eliza (McCartneys' Mom) and McCartney

my brother, Bob and Julie (Rob's wife and Mom to Isaac, Finn and Sam)

Randy (husband to Meg and Dad to Isable and Winnie)

Marilyn and Bob

Summertime, and the Livin' Is Easy....

Well, sort of...for Wally, not so much. He just worked a 6 day week, so today was his only day off. After worship, we came home, had lunch and then headed for a sunny spot by the bay. He made the best of his brief respite!

Otherwordly

If you know me well, you know that I harbor several "addictions" when it comes to collecting knick knacks. I've always been surprised by this side of myself, since I really can't abide "clutter". One would never guess this by looking at my living room which is FULL of "stuff" that has been lovingly given to me over the years. I don't think of it as clutter, though, I think of it as a gift store transplanted into my house!

One of the things I love to collect is drangonflys. They are beautiful and prehistoric in nature and they intrique me. So imagine my delight when I was out watering my hanging baskets the other day and discovered this big guy just sunning himself!

But let's not stop with the real thing, let's take a tour of the gamut of dragonflys that permanenly inhabit my world.

And let's knot forget the collection of sheep--and this is the latest addition to that menagerie, given to me by Jessie for Christmas...too cute, eh?

Rare Sighting

We saw one of these last night perched at the top of a tree in Cornwall Park! This is a Western Tanager (photo from web). It's the first time we've ever seen one of these birds here. Their coloring is stunning!

Summer Camp

Summer arrived last week, briefly! The high on July 1st was 59, the low on July 9th was 60! The PNW is all about extremes! We did our best to enjoy the heat and sun. Jess was here for a visit (great timing, it was over 100 in Portland!) and we spent lots of time near water. Just sitting.....

Or enjoying music in Elizabeth Park during their weekly free concernts.....

Or swimming at Semiahmoo.......

and enjoying the great view of Mt. Baker from there.....

or picking raspberries with dear friend, Leslie, on her farm....lots of memories for Jess here, she and Leslie's kids used to play Little House on the Prairie in these fields....

or watching Wally watch the sunset at Larrabee State Park......

or eating supper on the patio.....

or helping Dad edge the lawn....eeww, bad memories of doing this chore herself!

Summer has taken another hiatus, it's back to clouds and temps in the 60's. But....it's not raining, so all is well!