is it June already? forget June, it's practically July!

In the past few weeks we've done a little traveling: my folks and Olaf and Julia and I went to  Holden Village for Joe's graduation. Here we are at Ohme Garden, on the way to Chelan. 

lots of lovely views, and Olaf and Julia were so happy to be together. 

I loved this little firepit/nook built out of stone and a hillside. maybe in a future yard sometime, I'll build one... 

I was none to thrilled to shell out a pile of money to take the lady of the lake again  (the ferry to Holden) but Julia and Olaf had a good time. 

checking out the wake. 

the boat's first stop brought us my sister Grace, back from a year in Europe and my sister Caroline, so this trip was auntie and uncle paradise for Julia. 

she was pretty thrilled to learn that we were going to ride a bus too. 

Julia wasted no time in getting re-acquainted with uncle Joe-Joe.  

She and Olaf soon found the playground and had lots of fun.  

Joe's senior project was a boat that he constructed and later rowed down lake Chelan with my dad.  At this point, the boat wasn't finished, but he managed to get it together with only a few day's delay. I didn't get to see it in the water, but I hear it was a huge success. 

We were there for the prom as well. Julia was pretty thrilled with that too. 

She danced and danced and danced. 

once people came, she was a little more shy and danced with her aunties. 

that's Joe, in the red dress. the theme was "turning tables", and there was literal and metaphorical interpretations all over. Holden's proms have a long and wonderful history of fun themes. At this one, both Joe and Kasey were crowned prom "queens" 

there was no programming being offered, but I wove a rug and grace made some pottery mugs for the next potter to fire. 

graduation itself was a great ceremony. Julia slept through most of it, but thankfully it was right outside my chalet door.  speeches were given, a kazoo band played pomp and circumstance, and diplomas were given. 

yet another sibling all grown up! 

Caroline and I walked out to the old miner's village and dug some iris and daffodil bulbs. I planted them all around my yard and hope they take root!  

I forgot how much I love this tea, sold by marketspice in Seattle! I'm going to attempt to re-create it one day from things mostly grown in my garden. 

Julia and Olaf discovered the Hobbit House.

and explored the paths and streams

you could see the heavy remediation equipment up on the tailings, but to me, it just looked like they were pushing it around into new piles. 

it was nice to have some fun family and friend (the vegdahl-crowels came up with us!) time, but I was ready to go home!

On the bus ride, Julia made friends with another kid. 

and we had just a few minutes to look at lake Chelan before the boat arrived. 

We drove home, leaving Dad to help Joe with his boat adventure. Mom and Olaf set off for Klamath Falls, but Grace stayed with us for a few days. I took her up to try milking goats at a local farm, Survival Gardens. Shortly after she went by train to Klamath Falls to nanny for the summer and I prepared to host 4 college friends in a little reunion party. 

Kate (and baby on board), Erin, Kezia and Rachel all stayed several nights, much to our delight!

One morning, Julia drew a picture of Kate's baby, complete with eyes, ears, nose, and mouth! She had never drawn a face before, and hasn't since! She has acquired the conviction that she is growing a baby in her tummy too and comments to me often that her baby is sleeping, or hungry. 

We had a lovely time talking, eating, visiting wineries, going for walks,  

finding grey hairs!

Playing with Julia

and more playing with Julia

and more 

and more. I think she was even more sad than I was when they all left! We've done a pretty good job getting together regularly since college ended and I hope we can keep it up!!!

We settled back down to life as usual. Julia and Daddy geeked out on their ipads

Lots of playdates with little friends

and lots of beautiful sunshine to enjoy. I've gotten a handful of ripe blueberries from my plants, the golden raspberries are ready, the chard is taking off as are the beans, the tomatoes are waist high and growing rapidly, the pumpkins are getting ready to take over the entire yard, the garlic is about ready to harvest, the calendula is blooming and so is the hosta and lavender. I'm pondering letting the chickens loose again to control the bugs now that the seedlings are mostly grown big enough to withstand some chicken attention. Julia lets them out every afternoon anyway in search of eggs, so perhaps it's time to relax about it again. 

some springtime happenings

Spring in Oregon is a beautiful time! we've had some rain, but more sun. Flowers are blooming, roses and poppies are everywhere, the garden is taking off, and everything is green. Here's the life in photos:

our friends Marv and Nancy and Joan and Art all came to visit us, and we crashed their hotel room at Mcminamins, having a lovely but brief visit. 

We stopped by Multnomah falls 

Julia and I have fallen off our morning walk routine, which is bad for my general exercise, but it does give us wonderful lazy mornings, eating breakfast and reading and playing around. I'm hoping to switch to an afternoon walk routine to get back into the habit!

during a playdate, Julia and her friend Aurora climbed into bed and Julia read books to her!

Dave went to alaska for a graduation ceremony of former students, and while he was gone my friend Whitney came to hang out! we dragged out my paper stuff and spend a morning making cards.  

Julia's been 'reading' to her baby a lot.  

lettuce in the window box 

lavender blooming out front

a wild rose bush 

iris, all the ones in the yard so far are this shade of purple. I'm hoping to get some yellow to mix in!

another wild rose

the strawberry bed got netted and has been producing a few berries. more are pinking up!

the adjacent bed has kale, lettuce, carrot, radish, and rhubarb. 

when it is not raining, I sit on the porch with Julia and some blankets and drink my coffee. 

Julia's new favorite game is "go to sleep" which involves dragging her bedding out to the sidewalk and pretending to sleep. 

some friends of ours are moving into town from the country and have been showering julia with gifts as they pack. she's in love with the wagon!

occasionally I care for this little girl, Maya. She's a sweet little thing, but it does remind me how nice it is to have a 3 year old!

princess Julia, ready for a walk. 

foxglove are blooming

Julia's taken on the role of flower inspector and takes her duties seriously. walking to the post office 4 blocks away can take over an hour. 

more flower inspecting and dancing upon

I can't seem to stop starting new seedlings. these are basil and dill and hyssop.  

mint is popping up all over!

I planted this last fall but forgot what it was. something good for tea. hopefully someone will come along who can tell me. 

I'm growing some potatoes in containers. supposed to have less pests that way. 

I've had to boot the chickens back to their pen for the near future while the seedlings grow. They were pretty miffed at me for a few days, but seem fine again. 

we've got a serviceberry that is producing berries, but there's an orange thing covering many of them. i doubt it is good and hopefully someone will come along and tell me how to get rid of it. 

the cherry trees are producing, and the birds have noticed!

the raspberries are getting ready to ripen

the tomato bed is taking off. 

the sage is flowering 

the peas are growing up their trellises

we planted a few sunflowers, and hopefully they will grow huge.  

some blueberries are here!

my sister caroline and her boyfriend Matt came for a night. 

we checked out the evening light on the waterfront

Julia was smitten, of course. good thing that next weekend is joe's graduation so she'll get to see lots of family!