A Concert at MeadowHouse

About a month ago we received an email from our friend Lydia McCauley. We were invited to a house concert at the home where she and her husband Kurt live, on August 14 - even though The Shepherd was scheduled to be at the Skagit County Fair with the boys this weekend, we knew that we couldn't miss this important event. I sent in my RSVP immediately - her concerts are very popular and I knew that only a few people would be able to attend this one because of limited space.

Training had begun in earnest (much to the boy's dismay) - and they were actually beginning to "respond" to being good boys with the halter and lead, in exchange for one of those yummy alfalfa & blackberry treats. Well, as it turned out, the halter training was for naught - a week ago (even though they'd had his paperwork FOR A MONTH!) we got a call from the fair office, that "unfortunately, there was no room in the sheep barn for our sheep this year" - The Shepherd was so very disappointed. But, it did give us the opportunity to go, unencumbered by worry about sheep on their own at the fair, to Lydia's concert.

Besides being her "sound man" Lydia's husband Kurt is one heck of a master builder. Their home,which he built, is a sight to behold - centered in a meadow and surrounded by lavender and herb gardens.

Inside - the kitchen and the bath have marble counter tops - a professional range in the kitchen - of course I would notice that you say - well, there are just some things that are important!



Lynn (the band's bass player) and her partner Keith opened the concert with a humorous song about a bumble bee and an old James Taylor song about life's changes - Lynn has been with Lydia's band for about 9 or 10 years - essentially all of the time that we have been, and I hate to say it - "groupies" - well - when you find a good band, you go to their concerts - you want to support them, so they will keep finding places to play, right? Over the years we have become good friends with Lydia & Kurt and the other band members, so it's almost like a reunion of friends when they have a concert any more.

If you click on Lydia's name in the first paragraph it will take you to her blog where you can listen to snippets of her music, or if you have an iPod, you can even buy some of her tunes.

Lydia is a very talented musician and has a lovely voice. One of the fun things that we have done together was a few years ago when she and the band came to our little church in Blaine and gave a concert. We packed the house for them . The Shepherd & I got to sing with her! That's one way to get to sing on stage - promote concerts staring your friends.




There were between 40 and 50 people there tonight - including poet Lucy Shaw who lives here in Bellingham, and chocolatier Kevin Buck, owner of Chocolate Necessities, just the best place in the world to get the world's best hand made chocolates! (get a feeling that these people make good chocolate? - you'd never believe HOW good their chocolate is!)

And, in the small world department - as we were preparing to take our leave, one of the ladies sitting in front of us - said "you're Tina aren't you? - Do you recognize me?" Well, I had kind of thought she looked familiar - but after working in two highly customer service oriented companies AND spending 21 years singing in a restaurant, many local people look familiar - Anyhow - long story short - she (Peggy) and her husband and their children used to come in after they got done with church every Sunday night (I mean, we're talking for many months) to have a snack of Nachos and listen to me sing. After she said that, I did place her - and even smaller world department, in the mid '70's, that same family had briefly rented a little house on a street called East Victor here in town - the very same house that I bought in 1981 and where I lived for 13 years until I married The Shepherd and we moved here.

In fact, "That Old House" will be the topic of one of my blogs next week. Check back in a few days to read more about it.

I have had cats who would let me vacuum them and cats who would go scurrying for the door the minute I got the dreaded vacuum cleaner out of the closet - Go figure...






I love this idea and I've got a LOT of lidless Tupperware containers. I don't think The Shepherd is ready for another kitty tho.




See more Lolcats and funny pictures by clicking here. This web site never fails to cheer me up -

Decompression chamber

There are three ways I can come home from where I work. Depending on what my errands were after work - groceries, the bank, etc. - I might come home on the freeway, or through the middle of town.





My favorite is to drive home on Marine Drive. In town it's lined with an eclectic mix of 1950's and Victorian style homes built in the late 1800's with their beautiful gardens.





This is the view when I get to drive home
without errands









And just a few weeks out of the year at the beginning of the summer this ground cover plant begins to bloom and for just a few hundred yards a wonderful fragrance will "waft" its way into my car. The area where it was growing used to have homes there, but the airport bought them all out and moved the houses but left the landscaping. Over the past 15 years that we have lived out here, this plant has grown from one small 8 or 10 foot square patch to a hundred feet or so long and 10 or 15 feet in from the road. It seems hardy and has never winter killed that I can tell. I don't know what it is, but it sure smells good.



When I finally get home (it's only 20 or so minutes max) here is where I park - under this canopy of a River Birch tree with the late afternoon sun peeking through the branches. Sometimes, if the neighbor doesn't have his outside radio on, I will just sit, close my eyes and listen to the birds and the wind in the trees.

Sometimes I might read a chapter or two in the book I have along or browse through the issue of the latest "O" Magazine that's hanging around in my front seat. Anything, just to shake off the cares of the day.

It's my decompression chamber.

We Remember Neelix

It was just a year ago this weekend that our sweet boy Neelix went to The Bridge. The disease that overtook him came on so swiftly that it defied our desire that he stay here with us. I always intended to write a memorial post for him, but it never quite happened - I thought now was a good time.

We got him from the local Humane Society - he was so little and had this rattly purr - turns out it was "rattly" because he was sick - even the vet said that they should not have given him to us - but I was glad that they had, because from the moment we saw him - he had a hold of both our hearts. We were big fans of the show "Star Trek Voyager" and Neelix the cat had the same orange striped pattern on his head as "Neelix the Talaxian" on that show - so he became our Neelix.

For The Shepherd, he was his "right hand man" - he snoopervised the building of the barn and outbuildings, and required a ride around the farm on The Shepherd's shoulders every evening when he got home from work.

Neelix loved the sheep and was in attendance at most lambings - pacing like an expectant father. When he knew things were all "good" - he would purr loudly - "See what we've done?" he'd say.

For as big as he got (almost 22 lbs. at one time) he had an "itty bitty" meow - left over from the respiratory illness that he had as a kitten.

He used up two of his nine lives - one time, disappearing for over a week - when he returned, he was missing his collar and was a few pounds lighter. There was a bad storm the night he disappeared and we think he'd gotten it caught in some underbrush and was only able to get loose when he'd lost enough weight to get his head out of it. I never put another collar on him after that. The other time, he got locked in our storage room out in the barn for a day and a half in the hot part of the summer. Any other cat would have put up a ruckus that we would have heard, but, as I said, Neelix's meow was no more than a tiny "mew" - Luckily, The Shepherd remembered that he'd had the door open for a few minutes the day before - when I raced out with the key to open the door I was met by one very thirsty kitty. After that, he stayed out of the storage room, that's for sure.

Neelix was the only cat I've ever had who slept on his back. He was our official farm greeter and would run out the door to meet whoever had come in the drive way.

I loved how sassy he was - He patrolled the farm and protected us from skunks (yes, he got skunked once - that was enough), and was observed knocking a young raccoon off our back porch. He had a mean left hook. Most of all, he kept the rabbit population down. The Shepherd has really missed that this spring as the rabbits have decimated his garden.

With his floofy fur, he often looked like he had a halo -

I have written almost 500 posts since I started my blog and if you look at my "labels list" you'll see that he was a part of 50 of them - such a big part of our lives.

Our friends Karla & Miss Peach wrote a beautiful poem for us that weekend. It still "makes my eyes leak" but it is a good reminder of a (not so) little fellow who was a big part of our lives.

For Neelix (and his "mom & dad") -

Close your eyes now, my longtime friend,
and let this time of suffering
come to a peaceful end.
We'll walk together soon, I'm sure,
as winter turns to spring,
when snow gives way to budding leaves
and birds begin to sing.
The gentle breeze shall call your name
along the water's edge.
For what we shared and what you meant
shall never be forgot.
Your friendship spans the years behind,
your memory ahead.
You'll always be there next to me,
companion and good friend.

Three Beautiful Things

Last summer I told you about The Bellingham Lily but didn't have a very good picture of it - that was then - this is now - (and with a different camera, I may add)

Sweet!









How nice it is to sit on our deck and have the colors and the fragrance of these pretty petunias.












Sometimes a simple white daisy can bring back all sorts of memories - daisy chains - or playing "he loves me - he loves me not". What memories does it stir up for you?

Yes, it was PURPLE cauliflower!

It's been a colorful year in The Shepherd's garden - first, there were these beautiful beets -

And then the purple pole beans, and the green beans and the broccoli -








Then came the purple cauliflower. LOTS of purple cauliflower - enough to share with five of our neighbors and one of my coworkers.







And the plant's were HUGE! - They obviously like growing in composted sheep poop!









Isn't he cute peeking out from behind these huge leaves? Unfortunately the sheep didn't like them, so they just got loaded up in the trailer to take to be composted.









Here is one head with a teaspoon to give you perspective.

And one of the neighbors traded for this handful of yummy tomatoes - now that's what I call a great deal!

Pretty, Prettier, Prettiest!

The Shepherd was excited about these dwarf hollyhock seeds that he planted. "Ho, hum", I thought - "Hollyhocks - nice - but not very flamboyant"

Boy was I wrong - this was the first bloom to come on a week or so ago - it almost looks fake it is so pretty - like it was made of silk...






He planted them in a bowl of marigolds - aren't they pretty?















Over the week more blooms have opened - I took this picture on Sunday a.m.

I think it is the prettiest!

Sometimes the Universe just knows...

that you need a hug............


The mail hadn't come Friday night when we left for dinner, so it made an even nicer surprise to find a package with a familiar handwriting in our mail box when we came home.

My present was from the ever thoughtful Miss Peach (and her mamma Karla, I'm sure, as I've yet to find a kitty with opposable thumbs in order to wrap packages...) who sent this wonderful little tin box with a candle in a little flowerpot with my name on it, a tea bag of "Perfect Peach" tea, a magnet that says "Count your Blessings" and a sweet little card that says "A home without a cat is like a garden without flowers" - (how true that is!)

Wow! What with the hot weather this week and some not so hot changes at work, getting this little reminder that someone cares really made my day! Thank you. Miss Peach, from the bottom of my heart.

Nothin' But Blue Skies

Blue skies
Smiling at me











Nothing but blue skies
Do I see













Bluebirds
Singing a song













Nothing but bluebirds
All day long...

(Thank you Irving)









We have A/C where I work.

I have a "weather bug" on my computer that tells me the temperature. I watched it climb, bit by bit, all day long - when I left at 5:30, it said 96 degrees.

When I went around the corner where the bank time & temp sign is it said 100 degrees!!!










But it's sure making the garden grow!

Ever see one of these? We've got LOTS of 'em!










More to come -

Sweet Saturday

Oh, so fragrant -

Sophia's sweater heads to England

Sophia's Sweater is headed to England with her grandma & grandpa. Look at the sweet little heart buttons I found for it.












And look at the cool hat I made for her mama from the yarn I had left over. (if you click on the photo to biggify it, you can see the flower and the detail of the shell stitches) Wendy has promised to email me a picture of Erin in her hat. I can't wait.

It was the best time.......

A few weeks ago we went out to see our friends Curtis & Felicity for a wonderful luncheon on their deck. They live on the channel between the mainland and Lummi Island.

One of the main reasons we went was to see their son Johnny's vegetable garden - no, this isn't it - somehow, I didn't get a picture of that, but I love how Felicity has grouped all these blue pots with the cheerful geraniums





We also wanted to meet Rufus - their new "dawg" - he's a good dog - still a puppy - and very friendly. He and The Shepherd hit it off immediately.

And we heard all about the family's recent trip to Disneyland and about teen aged daughter Anna's foray's into the world of driving a car.













I worked for Curtis from 1981 - 1991 - he is one of my very best friends.











Felicity is a fantastic cook. We had grilled chicken that had been marinated in spices and soy sauce. It was SO good! A big platter of fruit and a very tasty pasta salad with artichokes and avocado, feta cheese and Genoa salami - all my favorite things!





I was in charge of bringing a green salad - so I made up a chop salad with spring greens topped with chopped celery, cucumber, tomatoes, mushrooms, broccoli, green onion and topped with nasturtiums! Served with Poppy Seed dressing - it was pretty darn good, if I don't say so myself.

I also learned that when you use flowers in your salad you need to wash them REALLY well - If I hadn't found him, a little extra protein in the form of an earwig really would have ruined my day!



We had a special visitor - this blue heron stopped by to see what was happening.

The other special person who joined us for lunch was Felicity's mom - she is such an interesting person and has been on all kinds of adventures -








This is Romeo - coming out to bid us farewell.

Yes, we had just the best time.

A welcoming sight - and the story of "Lila beans"

The Shepherd has planted these bright and cheery zinnias in the front bed by our gate - this picture was teken about a week ago and they are already about 1/2 again bigger and brighter.









He had some left over so he planted them in pots for my planter by the back door.

















His corn, sunflowers and pumpkins are all growing on the same row.

Unfortunately, the thieving raccoons have been stripping the ears off his corn this year. He is not a happy camper! Next year? Electro-net!






The green beans are coming on like gangbusters. He picked two of the BIG yellow Tupperware bowls full of beans today - 1 green and 1 purple. I'll snap the green beans tomorrow a.m. to take with us to our church potluck tomorrow. We call them "Lila" beans - here's their story -

The original bean that these came from were found in the crop of a duck that "Lila"'s father shot over 100 years ago up at their home up in Canada. Ever the frugal wife, Lila's mom decided to keep the beans for the next spring and see if they would grow. Turned out they not only grew but they provided very tasty beans - both green and dried. The family kept the seeds from year to year. Lila took some with her when she married Leonard and set up their own farm here in Whatcom County. What they didn't eat fresh or save to dry for seed, Lila would can.

When I first met Lila, she was in her late seventies. Leonard's family was one of the founding families of the little church that we go to, and whenever there was a potluck, Lila always brought a big pan of beans for the dinners - As Lila was getting on in age, she knew she would not be able to keep planting these beans forever, so one year, for our fund-raiser auction, she provided 4 or 5 little jars of seed to auction off. We bought one of the jars, and, since then, Lila has passed on. The Shepherd has now become "The Keeper of the Beans". Unfortunately, they don't freeze well (and I don't do canning) but they are excellent fresh - so I freeze the extra purple pole beans that we have, and for three or four glorious weeks in the summer we have all the Green Beans that one would ever want.

He will save enough seed for ourselves and for about 2 dozen plants to sell at our church's summer plant sale where they are very popular. (although when he's told people what we call them "Lila beans" they often will say, "Oh, I don't like Lima beans" and so the story of the duck beans gets told over and over.

We also have two huge patches of nasturtiums that reseed from year to year. They are bright and cheery too - sometimes I don't think that the digital photo's capture the color as well as they could. I used some in a green salad that I took to some friends last week. It was very pretty.


Across the driveway from the nasturtium bed are the "Turk's cap" lilies - they don't have any fragrance, but they are very cute, don't you think.

I hope you've enjoyed our walk through the garden. Come again soon, you hear?