July 7 is Cherry Spitting Day

Life Is Just A Bowl Of Cherries. But, who wants to get stuck with all those pits! The summer brings us tons of luscious sweet cherries and July 7th marks the annual International Cherry Pit Spitting Day. There are many Cherry Pit spitting distance contests throughout the United States and abroad, so, grab a bowl and start spitting!

ERBS OR HERBS

I decided today was a good day to dry my herbs. It's good to cut them in the morning when they are fresh. Then rinse them and prepare for drying. I have oregano, parsley, cilantro and thyme. Next I need to find some small containers for storage. It's a fun project.

Transformer Man

This is a large block transformer guy that Grant made while he was here visiting. Scott and Grant stayed with us from Wednesday night to Saturday afternoon. We had a good time and they just entertain themselves and play together. Then they discovered Club Penguin and loved it. Consequently, they spent a lot of time with that. Thursday we did Letterboxing with Erin and her boys and Friday we all went to the movie "UP". It was Carlie's first movie and she did really well. She actually had a seat all to herself too. Afterwards Erin and the boys stayed for dinner and then we watched Journey to the Center of the Earth. Scott and brought that dvd from home. They had given it to Cory for his birthday. It even came with 3D glasses. Jeremy came over a little later because he had been out riding during the day. Saturday it was more Penguin and then I drove the boys home. On the way, we stopped at the Spokane House because they were having an Encampment and demonstrations. It was so interesting. There is a museum there which has pictures and artifacts of the old fort that use to be there. Down the road there was a camp set up with different parts and people demonstrating different areas of fur trading with the Indians. It was really interesting. So that was our weekend.

Cory's 40th

Well, these pictures pretty much speak for themselves. However, the first one you might question what was happening. Cory had begun opening my gift and wrapped the black tissue around Scott and Grant just to make them laugh. They did. We had a bbq dinner - presents - and cake. The boys just gave him messages on how much they thought of their Dad and lots of warm fuzzies for him. All Dads can use warm fuzzies from time to time. We had a great time and it's always fun to be with all of the boys and their silly actions. Can't believe I have a child that is 40. Where did all of those years go? P.S. Jake baked the cake and had chocolate covered wafer cookies on top. Those boys do a pretty good job at cooking these days.

Hanging Toms

This is my hanging tomato plant. We didn't have much of a place in the back to hang it so here it is hanging in the front. It is doing well so I think I will just leave her there. It seems to be a handy way to grow tomatoes, especially if you lack garden space. Erin planted four of these and I am quite anxious to see how her plants do. We have tomatoes and blossoms so that's a good sign. Thanks Erin for the Mother's Day gift. It's a fun one.

Make a Smilebox recipe

Our Garden

In this picture you see from left to right, potatoes, beans and corn. The raspberries we relocated last year are at the edge of garden next to the wood pile. They won't really do a lot until next year. The wood pile is our wood storage in case we need auxillary heat at some point. We are going to take down the fence between our yard and Joyce's and add it to the wood pile also. We plan a new chain link for that area. The pond is all gone and we are working on a new bird bath near the shop. We have to keep our birds happy.

Potatoes

Potatoes planted April 15.

Lettuce and Onions

Onions were planted April 15th. We have had 3 pickings from the lettuce already. It's all doing well.

Dad's 10 inch tomatoes

The Garden

This is the main part of the garden.

My Herbs

First Camping Trip

Dad was bound and determined to get out of town this weekend. I kept saying that the weather is going to be - cold and crumbbbbbbby. He said we are going anyway. We did and we had lots of fun inspite of weather stuff. We camped at Marshall Lake & had our pick of campsites. This is a lake we have been to before. It is by Newport.On Friday afternoon it rained the whole time, Saturday we woke up to broken clouds and a little sun. We went up to Bonners Ferry where Dad looked at and bought a transmission for this big truck he just purchased. By the time we got back to camp it was getting pretty windy. There were white caps on the lake - too windy for boats. So actually we spent a lot of time in the camper and taking naps & reading. (which was good for Dad). I should have brought some scrapbooking stuff to do. That would have been the perfect thing. But - We watched a movie after dinner each night and that was fun too. Sunday we woke up and Dad fixed breakfast and we read scriptures for a while and then walked to the dock and came back and had a nap. We woke up and enjoyed the day with lots of sunshine - but no boating on Sunday. We enjoyed watching the ground squirrels by camp and fed them some bread scraps. I guess you can have fun wherever and whatever happens. Just being together is the important thing.

Dad on Dock

We walked down to the dock this morning while the sun was out. The lake is so beautiful with pines surrounding the shoreline. What could be better than that?

Seed Storage

There is an article in the Preparedness Pantry blog that talks about a person who tried planting her canned seeds after storing them for 6 years - and they grew. It's worth a try.

Last night Dad came to me and asked if I would go with him to do a bid on a house. Well, he never does residential but Kofmehl's secretary (Betty) gave this one to him and asked if he would look at it. So, we drove into town, down Washington and up to Corbin Park. We stopped in front of the house where I use to live on Waverly Place - 1960-1965. There was a sale sign in front and I said "Look, it's for sale". Is this where you are giving a bid? Yes, he said. Oh my gosh! Can I come with you???? Yes he said. I couldn't believe it. Dad had already talked to the owner and told him that I had lived there about 40 years ago. We actually got to go inside and see every room for electrical purposes. For me it was reliving my time there. The ceiling lights were all the same plus all of the woodwork and bookshelves and kitchen eating area was the same. It was so much fun to go through this house again. I love this house so much. They have lived here for 3 years and have spent $50,000 already on the updating and patio area. Whew!. He said they bought it for $400,000. They expanded the kitchen area into the downstairs bedroom area to make it a bit larger. When Dad was stationed at Fairchild he would come and stay on Saturday nights and go to church with us. He would sleep in the downstairs bedroom - which originally was the butler quarters. It was so much fun to see and remember the different rooms. The owner said I could take pictures so I did. He even suggested taking our picture in the front of the house. So, Dad will probably update some electrical wiring etc. there. I had actually been through the house a few years ago with they had an open house and had listed it on the Historical Register. It's too bad but I never appreciated this wonderful home when I lived there. This was such a great surprise from Dad and I am glad we had the opportunity and that the owners were so willing to let us browse.

501 Waverly Place

This is the front of the house. The Davis's who live here wanted to take our picture in front of the house - we said yes, of course. Wasn't that nice of them?

Closeup of the front porch

Dining Room

I love this dining room - especially the window seat. The open door you see goes into the kitchen area. When I lived here, it was the downstairs bedroom. When Dad would come and spend Saturday and Sunday he slept in this bedroom. In the earlier days it was the butler quarters.

Living Room

This is the Living room and everything looks about the same except for carpeting and curtains. The stairway on the right goes up to a small landing and then goes back down into the kitchen area or to the upstairs.