The dog days of summer...

Wow...I can't believe it has been so many weeks since I have posted on here. Does anyone read this anymore I wonder??? Ah well...I love to talk so I'll just ramble on anyway...

Summer has come & gone & the crisp fall days are apon us. Summer was so great this year. We started it with the best vacation ever. The rest was just filled with days of hanging out at home, cookouts and swimming.

It was a very hot summer here so many nights after work we would take the short ride up the road to Comet Pond.

Pretty isn't it? Tanner has always loved the water but was always to nervous to go deep enough to learn to swim.


That changed this year though. After a lot of gentle coaxing bringing him a little deeper each try...he finally decided he did know how to swim and that he loved it. There was nothing this dog loved more this summer than fetching sticks we threw into the lake for him.

I always knew he was a true water dog...we just needed to convince him.

Love this picture of him enjoying the view...

When we weren't swimming Tanner was a great gardening companion. He loves hanging out on the rocks in the front rock garden. And I love having him to keep me company while I work pulling weeds etc.

I think that he thinks he's king of the hill,,,,

And he is quite a ham for the camera isn't he?

The best photo of all......such a handsome dog !!! Love this boy sooooo much !!!

Washington 2010 - Part 3

Prepare to be amazed...because on our venture to the Northern Cascades National Park the scenery was nothing short of AMAZING !!! What a gorgeous gorgeous area !!!

Take this picture for example....Rainy Lake was one of the hikes we took in the Cascades. And when we came upon this beautiful lake we knew we had made the right choice in choosing this hike. Snow capped mountains, crystal clear water and blue skies & sunshine. Amazing !

Here's a picture of all of us that shows more of the view we enjoyed. If you look close you can see a few waterfalls behind us.

And speaking of waterfalls...they were everywhere. This pretty one Jake is sitting in front of was one that was along side of the road that we stopped to enjoy.

This pretty view was along a riverside trail we meandered down in a cute Scandinavian style town called Leavenworth.

And Diablo Lake another gorgeous spot. The glacial lakes were the most beautiful shade of blue-green. This photo does not do the water justice.

My dear friend Liz took this great photo Amanda, Jake & I. I love this photo so much. Love that we're not all looking the same direction, love that we surrounded by clouds and a gorgeous vista...and love how happy we all are.

We took hundreds of photos in the Cascades...but these are a few of my favorites

Washington 2010 - part 2

One of our side trips away from Whidbey Island was to take the ferry to the San Juan Islands. We had good weather the whole trip so this day was no exception. This ferry passed us by on our way to the island.

I love this photo of Jake & Amanda on the ferry as we pulled into Friday Harbor...

Just about there...

This pretty scene was taken looking off to the side of the boat as we were about to dock at Friday Harbor.

We rented bikes and took a very hilly but beautiful ride around the island.

This photo of my friend Liz & Jake gives you a glimpse of the beautiful scenery we saw as we were riding.

And you can't go to Washington & not enjoy a good cup of coffee every chance you get right?

Washington 2010 - part one

We did so much on our trip to visit Amanda in Washington that it may take me a few posts to share some of my favorite photos. And blogger is being such a pain about uploading photos that it is taking me forever to get them on here...ugh !

So part one - The Olympic peninsula and Whidbey Naval Air base

The Olympic National Park and surrounding area was so breathtakingly beautiful. We stopped at a few different areas of Cresent Lake to take photos....gorgeous blue green water surrounded by mountains and wildflowers...

We hiked to a couple of different waterfalls while there...Sol Duc Falls was one of them.

The forests were so lush and green...

And some of the trees are enormous..

We spent the night in Forks. For any of you who read the Twilight series you'll know this is where the vampires called home. It was actually just a seedy little town...not much at all to look at. But after getting settled into our hotel we went out to LaPush (where the werewolves in the Twilight books lived) and hiked out to Second Beach...what an amazing place. This panorama with Jake in it is one of my favorite photos from the whole vacation. (click on it for a larger image)

The same beach at sunset...another favorite photo..

We also were able to get onto Amanda's base during our visit and see where she works and trains...

We even got to go on the plane she spends most of her working hours in. Jake loved this (actually we all did) Coming down that steep ladder...not so fun...

It was really cool to see firsthand Amanda's workstation where she tracks submarines from (or practices tracking them...when not tracking the real thing)

Love this photo of one of the planes in being worked on with the sun setting beyond the doorway at the far end.

Amanda has really done so well in her 3 years of service so far and we are really proud of her.

Wow !!!!

I know I have been MIA for a while. I have recently returned from a 2 week vacation to visit my daughter in the Pacific Northwest. It was an amazing vacation & I promise to post soon to share a few favorote photos from the trip etc.

But I had to quickly share this You Tube video I came across tonight. I'm not a religious person but I think this is the most beautiful song. You get goosebumps when you hear this adorable 7 year old sing it. Amazing !!!

Amazing Grace video

bored...so I'm copying...

Saw this on a blog I follow & I thought I'd post it on mine too since I'm kind of bored...

Listening: To the dog snoring
Eating: Nothing...still full from dinner
Drinking: Diet Coke
Wearing: Shorts & a tank
Feeling: Bored
Weather: Nice right now...was pretty hot earlier though
Wanting: This week to be over quick so I can start my vacation
Thinking: Life is too short to waste on people who try to bring you down...especially the ones who pretend to be a friend.
Enjoying: How good it feels to weed the pretend friends out of your life. It is the most freeing feeling imaginable. Life is truly good.
Wondering: How much my pup will miss me when I'm gone for 2 weeks. I miss him already...but I have to admit it will be nice to have 2 weeks of dog free time off.

Plants on steroids?

This years has beeen such a great year for my gardens. Just enough rain & sunshine....and it shows in how healthy everything is growing this year. Tanner was not very happy to be left inside while I walked around taking photos. Can you see him peeking out the front window at me?

After the long cold winters we get here it makes me so happy to see everything begin to bloom..

Some of the plants I have had a while are so beautiful this year. Not even sure what this plant is but there are 2 large clumps of it this year & the magenta flowers on it are are so pretty.

The yellow Evening Primrose with the pretty pink bell shaped flowers of this Campanula look so nice together.

Aren't these flowers gorgeous?

This climbing rose is new this year. I planted it next to the arbor Amanda gave me last year for Mothers day. This is not the best picture but it really is a pretty rose. It's called Night Owl.

This daylily is new too. A Wal Mart special. I love the 2 toned bloom but I have to laugh because when I bought the package at Wal Mart with the bare root plants in it the photo on the bag showed a 2 toned flower...but it was dark & light pink. No pink in this flower though is there? I still like it though.

The heathiest growth in the garden this year by far is the Hosta's. They are gorgeous. These large green ones are particularly beautiful.

And this beauty (Gold Standard) is 3 times the size it was last year. Love it !!

This yellow green monster is still one of my favorites though. (Sun and Substance) Look at the size of those leaves. And the plant itself is almost as big as the double front window. And there is Tanner...still peeking out at me wishing he could come out to play.

Where does the time go?

Wow...has it really been 2 months since I last posted on here. Last time I was here I was just breathing a big sigh of relief that winter was finally over & spring was here. And now here it is the beginning of summer already.

So what have I been up to?

Well....

I had a couple of ice storm damaged trees cut down. Including the maple in the front yard which I had been wanting to remove anyway. So there is lots of logs waiting to be split now...

I replaced the maple with a beautiful Sweet Bay Magnolia and enjoyed watching it bloom for the first time. The scent of these pretty flowers was amazing. A vanilla, citrus, floral scent....love it.


I spent a lovely day at the ocean ...just me & my camera doing the loop around the perimeter of Cape Ann. I got lots of great photos. The one below is one of my favorites .

Baseball season has come & gone. Jake finished out the season with the best batting average on his team which made him really happy. Can you see the ball in the photo below as it sails by just to the left of that third baseman in red?

I've spent the past couple of weeks going through old photos of Amanda for a project I am doing for her birthday. It was a weepy couple of weeks feeling sentimental & wishing my little girl was still my little girl & not all grown up and 3000 miles away. We leave for Seattle & the pacific northwest a week from Friday to spend 2 weeks with her. Can't wait to see her !!!!

I did this page weeks ago but I don't think I ever posted it. If I did...sorry for the repeat.

Its not one of my favorite layouts I have ever done...but I love the photo of Tanner begging me to take him for a walk over the top of my computer. He is such a sweet boy...who could resist those big brown eyes.

5 on the 5th layout share

I'm early this month in getting my 5 on the 5th layout completed. I'm loving joining Brenda on these challenges....and as an extra added bonus it is helping me get over my fear of multiple photo layouts. My spin on Brenda's "signs, signs...everywhere a sign" challenge was to do "5 signs of life" layout.

Now here's a big surprise.......everything on the layout except the brown cardstock...Basic Grey of course. I am so in love with the beautiful colors in this Origins line.

A closer look at photos & this beautiful paper.