Sunday, June 5, 2011

Sunny weekend

Yesterday was one of those days in the Pacific Northwest when it's the most beautiful place on earth. About 75 degrees, not a cloud in the sky. The trees are green on green, the azaleas and rhododendrons are mostly blooming brilliantly, and I want to go outside in my shorts and a t-shirt and no shoes.

So I did. I started up the pressure washer and worked on the downstairs deck and the playhouse for three hours. It feels like good exercise even though I'm mostly just standing there directing the spray. When I was finished I was filthy and soaking wet and tired but there was grass to lie down in and PowerAde to drink and about five hours of daylight still left. Ah, June!

Art attached a chain to the back of the pickup and pulled a brambled plant out of the ground in the side yard, and we'll replace it with an asparagus bed. I love that gradually we're putting more food into our yard and less ornamental stuff. We set up our garden two years ago. Last year the cherry tree produced one cherry, which got eaten by some critter. The apple tree produced nothing. We harvested five tiny pears. This year all three trees were laden with flowers, so I expect we'll have the special pleasure of fruit from our own trees. And the raspberries are spreading like crazy - I thought only blackberries did that!

We have a hot tub we installed way back in 1995. We haven't used it much in the last few years because I got tired of messing around with the maintenance. Yesterday as I was pressure washing, my neighbors with the chickens were planting squash in their garden. We share a greenhouse, so when Jennie came over for the squash starts, I asked her if they were hot tub people. She said yes. I offered to share our hot tub with them if her husband Jason would maintain it. He's the guy that already mows our lawn when he's doing his (one of the benefits of us being older). Jennie and Jason talked about it and said "we're in". So we'll provide the supplies and he will do the work and we'll all use the hot tub. They're big into organic gardening and sustainability, so I suspect Jason will find ways of keeping the water clean and balanced that are healthy. A win-win for our two-family community.

Today I'm going to watch my blogging buddy DJan (www.eyeontheedge.blogspot.com) skydive. It seems surprising that we've never met since we've been reading about each other for over a year. She's an avid hiker and gets WAY more exercise than I do. One of the things on my bucket list is to overcome my fear of heights, but there is no way I'll ever skydive. Just watching others doing it today will be a bit scary!

I can hear a weed whacker in some neighbor's yard. The deck is sunny already. Larissa the Designer Cat is pestering to be fed. Time to go watch some skydivers on a beautiful sunny Sunday.


14 comments:

Anonymous said...

Love the arrangements for the hot tub -- a win-win situation! How clever of you to think of it! I feel the same way you do about skydiving. BTW, I found you via DJan's blog and am glad I did.

Teresa Evangeline said...

What a nice day you had and working out the sharing of the hot tub with the neighbors is perfect. I like that you're turning your yard into more usable space and it sounds like you're going to get some real results.

Have fun with DJan!

Arkansas Patti said...

YEA--now I can finally comment. When I saw you were going to see Djan, I hoped I could reach you through her.
Thank you so much. I know I am not the only one that has been effected.

DJan said...

Ah yes life is good here in the PNW. Not for nothing we have all that rain for so long. It was a great day, and I have to say I felt like I had a reporter quizzing me on every aspect of the skydiving experience. And I think you are a VERY SPECIAL PERSON I look forward to getting to know even better. Thanks for sharing a great day with me.

Dr. Kathy McCoy said...

It sounds like a perfect day, indeed, Linda! I love the idea of sharing the hot tub with your neighbors! I wish we had thought of that when we lived in California and struggled to maintain our hot tub and rarely used it. It would have been much more fun -- and less work -- to share. A very important lesson!

#1Nana said...

I am the maintainer of our hot tub and right now it is mostly empty with the cover hanging askew. I need to measure for a new cover, so won't refill until that gets delivered. I'm going to wait for a very sunny day to bail out the last foot of water and clean all the nooks and crannies. I think a hot tub is a necessity and worth all the effort to maintain it.

Out on the prairie said...

After you dive the first time it gets easier.

Tom said...

Sounds like you got it made in the ... sun!

Olga said...

Sky diving, wow. That is something I have not the faintest desire to try. That and bungy jumping.

Tracy said...

Ahhh, Linda, it sounds like a perfect day; a little work mixed with a little relaxation and well, a whole lot of fun!

Linda Reeder said...

You sound like a very resourceful person, one neighbors would be happy to cooperate with.

Anonymous said...

I just came from DJan's place and read all about you there. Seems like the thing to do...

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hi, I am a new visitor who dropped in from Abe Lincoln's blog cause I am always looking for blogs to read and enjoy. My husband and I live on the VA eastern shore and have a small mini-farm. I also enjoy A McCall SMith too! Great that the neighbors will help maintain the hot tub - truly win-win for all. I enjoyed reading about your bucket list too. Please do feel free to visit our little blog spot where we write about our gardens, adventures, recipes and what else strikes our fancy (or not).

Deb Shucka said...

It's so cool that you and DJan got to meet! One of the nice things about the rarity of warm and sunny days in our neck of the woods this year is that the good days feel like a holiday.