The Red Tomato Saga

Mind you, we have been packing up to leave first thing tomorrow morning. We gave the crop every chance possible to produce a red tomato. All twelve plants were started with seed back in April and planted in the ground on July 8. All twelve plants were planted from seeds especially picked for their short growing season since they would mature in Oregon. The seed company claimed that the seeds needed a 55-day growing season. It's been over 160 days! They were planted in a green-house environment so that the temperature would stay nice and warm. The plants grew nice and tall—over five feet tall, and produced lots and lots of tomatoes. But would you think one of them could just ripen for us before we head back to California?

Yes! ONE DID!

See? There it is at the left side bottom of the bush.



Here is a close-up of this red beauty!



There is nothing better than a tomato eaten fresh from your garden.



When we were in Mendocino visiting the Thompsons we gave them a couple of our tomato plants. It doesn't get very warm in Mendo and they brought their tomato plants to Cascadia to get some sun . . . what a joke. But look! Their pathetic little plant (it can't be more than 10" tall) has produced one red tomato! Well it's at least blushing like it's gonna turn red !


I took this picture in the dark just so you could see its color better. It'll probably be a nice bright red in a couple more days.

Now it's time to get out my Green Tomato Chow-Chow recipe. I've never made it and never even heard of it, but it sounds good and it's a good way to make use of about 50 pounds of green tomatoes!

Life is good!

Day Four with the Smiths

Day four started really early. When I kissed the boys good night on Day three I promised R that I'd make him and T "Woof-Woofs" for breakfast before school. Upon hearing that promise he gave me the biggest smile he could muster up and excitedly responded "Okay!" Now the Smith family calls them "Eggs in a Nest" or "Hole in One" . . . but we've always called them "Woof-Woofs" because that's what Ken's family has always called them . . . and nobody in his family can tell me why! (I had never heard of them until I met his family nearly 50 years ago.) So we woke up before the sun rose and the boys came running downstairs in anticipation of breakfast. I guess it's a big deal to have eggs because they generally have either yogurt or a bowl of cereal and fruit on school days.

After breakfast S and I went shopping for a few supplies she didn't have in the craft room—after all, one can never have too many supplies! After a couple hours of shopping at Michael's and Hobby Lobby (wow, that's a great store!) we were back in the craft room coming up with some mighty cute cards. The morning went by so quickly, but it was followed by S and M treating us to a nice lunch out and a visit to the Boy Scout store. After school I had the pleasure of listening to T read, one of his homework assignments— it's amazing how much homework kids have these days, no matter what grade they're in. Then it was play time . . . and I got to watch and learn from R how to use the "Guitar Hero!" He's pretty good at it, and I love to watch his facial expressions and his body movements . . . he just may be a rock star some day!

T is a great reader, especially for a second grader. He could easily read what I call "college words" . . . I was truly impressed with his reading skills.

Down in the basement is where the Guitar Hero is played . . . the basement which only the week before was flooded from all the rain from Hurricane Ike. R said he was a bit handicapped because he couldn't find the strap to the guitar (they had to rearrange their things when it started to fill with water) so it was more difficult to hold and play at the same time. But it's all relative because he did just fine compared to his Grammy!

For those of you who've never seen a Guitar Hero . . . the player watches the monitor for it to indicate which chords are to be played using a color-coded button, and if you do it correctly your scores rise quite high.

Or if you truly aren't "with it" or quick enough, your score barely moves—note the concentrated effort show in my face!

The time with our precious Smith family was way too short, but we sure had a great time while we were there! This picture was taken just before the boys went to bed. The next morning we were busy packing to catch a flight home.
Thanks to all of you—S, M, R, and T— for a fun visit!

Life is good!

Day Three with the Smiths

After a party the night before that went way into the wee hours of the morning, we got up to a dreary foggy morning with a bit of a breeze in the air. So with that bit of wind it seemed that it could be a good sailing day, but they wouldn't be able to see the bouys! Unbelievable.

The fog was thick as pea soup!

After nice breakfast and a welcomed hot cup of coffee the sailors were wondering what the morning was going to bring . . . will we race today? There wasn't the excitement in the air as in the day before because, basically, we couldn't even see the other side of the lake! The head of the Regatta and his Director of Racing made a decision at about 10:30 a.m. to call the morning race off and announced the trophies for the regatta would be presented after lunch.

While waiting around in anticipation of the day's events, we strolled around the grounds and found the boys entertaining themselves at the little creek. They were quite busy.

I asked them what they were making, and they replied "A fountain!"

Hmmmm . . . not sure how it's gonna work.

But they were quite determined that it would!

A morning filled with dew from the night before made this spider's web glisten like a tiny string of diamonds!

Upon learning that the races were over, S and I packed our bags and loaded the car. She had invited me to go with her to a card-making class which we have done together in past visits. Ken stayed home with his grandsons while "us girls" had a fun bonding time together. And we had a blast, making three cards each! Hmmm . . . not another hobby? No! I have no more space for any more stuff!

When we got home we were all jazzed about making cards so we went down to her neat craft room and played with her new toy the Cricut machine —it cuts out shapes, letters, etc. using different computer chips —made readily available everywhere—which we used in designing our cards. What an awesome machine it is— I absolutely loved playing with it. In fact, when she went to work the day we were driving back to the airport, I played in her craft room for a couple hours. Needless to say I have no photos of these activities, I was much too busy!

We didn't even have to think about what to do for dinner because M had made a lamb stew to warm up— which was simply delicious! The six of us played Pegs and Jokers after dinner—the boys are pretty good players and it was a fun evening.

T joined his dad and Ken to make up one team.

R joined his mom and I to make up the other team.

Life is good!

Day Two with the Smiths

Saturday was a big day, the day of the Fall Regatta where M and R were going to race their boat. We got up with the sun to pack up the car and head out to the sailing club for the big event of which M was in charge. Sailors from all over the country and Canada were invited and it was a bright and sunny beautiful day. Upon arrival there was excitement in the air with about forty participants arriving and instantly busy getting their boats in the water and rigged for the first race. There were five classes of boats racing in this regatta. Daughter S and I had our chairs perfectly placed on the lawn because our job was to be the cheering section for their boat, the "Sabotage"—a member of the Rebel fleet.

R, showing off his "race shirt" with the name of their boat proudly displayed on the back of the shirt.

With M as captain, and R as the Sabotage crew, they're off to get the boat rigged for sailing.

I was so proud of R and he was quite excited about crewing with his dad. He's learned a lot about sailing, in fact M said that R sailed the Sabotage the last half of the race!

The sad sad part of the day was the lack of wind! Not great news for a sailing regatta. This is the way the flag looked a better part of the whole day.

Occasionally and quite rarely the flag took on this look.

This is a shot of the Rebel fleet, each captain maneuvering his/her boat to be first in line!
They had planned on four races, two before lunch and two after lunch. With the wind conditions as bad as they were, they cut it to one race before and a half-race after lunch. Mother Nature was just not on their side today.

After the first very long race Captain M told his "crew" to jump in and swim to shore, which he happily did.

R swimming to the dock where we were cheering.

Ken and I loved being with our mid-west family, and loved being on the lake with all the excitement in the air. We felt quite welcome among their fellow members. M had previously asked Ken if he'd like to be part of the support boat crew which he eagerly said "Yes!" Their job was to help out any sailors in need. Luckily they weren't needed for much assistance and he was able to just enjoy being out on the water.

Before dinner we were treated to a motor boat ride around the whole lake. Here is a shot of Ken in his PDRacer shirt he proudly wore for race day.

The club is beautiful seen here as we raced in for dinner.

The sun sets in the sky as the first day of the Fall Regatta comes to an end. Not a great day for sailing but we all had a fun day despite the wind conditions.

Life is good!

Day One with the Smiths

What a great trip we've had this last week. I decided I just have to split our trip to the mid-west family into several posts. We had such a good time! I came back with nearly 200 pictures in my camera (don't worry, I won't bore you with THAT many) and it's taken me an hour or so to sort through and organize our fun trip!

Leaving Seattle on Thursday morning, our flight arrived late Thursday night and by the time we got "home" the boys were sound asleep. We didn't stay up much beyond chatting some with M and S just to unwind a bit.

We were awakened bright and early with hugs and kisses by the boys. Since it was a school day they were off and running with their morning routine, each knowing exactly what to do and keeping track of time so they'd be ready to go by 7:30 sharp. S worked a half-day Friday, and M was off to the sailing club to prepare for the regatta the next day. So the first morning was quiet.

Soon after lunch we (Ken, S, and I) picked up the boys at school and we all enjoyed a piece of pie at Bob's Big Boy (which have been removed from our stomping grounds in California).

You can tell by their faces that this is not in their normal routine, they were pretty excited looking at the choices.

R picked Ice Cream Mud Pie and T, after much thought, chose Banana Cream Pie!

Next on the schedule: haircuts. The boys were in need of haircuts since their school pictures were going to be taken the following week. Not having boys to raise, I was surprised and quite proud how they each climbed up into the barber chairs and explained to the barber what kind of a haircut they wanted. Pretty darn cute!

T was quite serious holding very still for the barber, although at times he was quite chatty. I think he was concerned the barber would cut off too much.

He was pleased with the results . . . but with that face how could he NOT look adorable!

R held real still too, and had requested a "Crew Cut" . . .

Perfect!

Life is good!

The Center for Wooden Boats

Was Ken ever excited that there was such a place right here in Seattle. We spent a good couple hours taking in as much as we could at this very cool place.

This is a 700-year-old red cedar log donated by the Haida people of Hydaburg, Alaska.

It is in the process of being carved into a canoe like the one sitting next to it.

Ken admired the craftsmanship of the canoe.

Detail of the bow. . . note the added piece to complete the design.

Boat shop available for employees and students taking classes.

The Center for Wooden Boats houses its library, classroom, and gift shop in this building. Employees get to take classes free . . . hmmmmm. . . tempting!

There is a fleet of these small boats for kids to learn to sail.

And a bunch of this size boat to rent to sail on Lake Union.

I admire how carefully the lines are carefully arranged on the dock . . . actually this one is a bit mutzy . . . but artistic!

Several old wooden boats were on display celebrating Northwest Seaport Heritage Days.

This one was built in 1922.

Ken dreaming of the boats he'd like to build some day soon.

All this fun and a beautiful sunny day too . . .
Life is good!

End of summer is drawing near!

Tonight was our last evening together with Gary and Cecile. We've set a tradition to go into town for a celebration dinner and tonight we picked "Sam City" as our restaurant of choice in Sweet Home. The summer has gone by very fast for all of us, and it's sad to see it come to an end which means we go our separate ways. Gary and Cecile will head over to Winchester Bay for just a few days and then head south to manage a Pumpkin Lot and then get ready to manage the same lot, only it will be loaded with Christmas trees. So we won't see them again until January. Ken and I are headed up to see his mom in Seattle, then fly to the mid-west to see our daughter and son-in-law and our two adorable grandsons. Then back to Seattle and head south to Camp Cascadia where we'll hitch up the trailer and drive over to the coast for some crabbing before heading south to a warmer climate.

Last night was our last after dinner Pegs and Jokers time. We've played 3-4 games a night most nights after a long day of producing the game boards, and we still love to play the game. We are all pretty competitive and usually we play men against the women. Well . . . we played 104 games in all, and the women won 55 to the men's 49. Way to go Cecile and Janice!

It's been a great summer!

Life is good!

It's Pesto-Makin' Time!

One of the last things I do before we head out of Camp Cascadia is to harvest all the basil we've grown over the summer and turn it into pesto. To me it's the best thing one can do with a whole lot of basil, and this year is no exception. Karen grew basil in the hoop house this summer, not for herself, but for me! (Actually she told me she planted it because her husband likes it, but he did nothing with it when he was here so I was next in line!) Thank you, Karen.

And since my blender needs a replacement part, Cecile gave me her blender to use . . . in exchange for some pesto, of course. So I'll be sharing it with the Thompsons. Today I made five batches just using the hoop house basil. When we return from visiting our mid-west family I'll be making the final batch using the basil we've been nurturing on the deck. . . three plants grown in the Earth Box (only one really got to a decent size) and two we purchased at WalMart. Again, thank you Karen for your contribution. It was a really nice harvest.

My basket was quite full from the hoop house harvest!

Pesto is fairly simple to make . . . only five ingredients.
Basil, garlic, pine nuts, parmesan cheese, and olive oil!

Life is good!
And even better with food from your garden.