A Slice of Life: June 2009

I took these pictures in mid-May of the rose bushes in our backyard. When my mom came by for Mother's Day she had to tell me how to take care of them. They weren't cared for very well by the tenants who lived in the house for a few decades, and I have never had roses before. I never understood gardeners fascination with roses before, but taking my walks around the 'Rose City', there are so many beautiful and sweet smelling roses. My mom looked grimly at my rose bushes and said she would start over, but I am told these rose bushes are the same ones that used to be here when my great grandma lived in the house. I was very excited when they started blooming. The bushes are by no means as healthy and beautiful and bushy as those around the neighborhood, but maybe they will be in another year or two.

May was a very nice month, with lots of warm and beautiful weekends, and tons of yard work. Daniel's birthday was this month. He took the day off of work. If it was my birthday and I took the day off of work, I would go to the spa or something of the like. But Daniel, excitedly, roto-tilled the side yard with a very scary machine and then laid grass seed. (I must say, it looks very nice to have some green grass popping up over there instead of dirt.) In mid-May, I went up to Seattle to visit a dear friend who was in town on business. It was great not only to spend time with her and her husband, but to also see a few other great friends in Seattle. I was surprised to find that I missed Seattle, it is such a beautiful city. When I told Daniel this he reminded me, I couldn't afford to live in the beautiful part...oh yeah, that's one reason why we left.

The next weekend was Memorial Day weekend. Daniel and our friend Paul (and Talib) worked very hard on Saturday starting the work on our circle flagstone patio that will be my fire pit patio. Sunday, Daniel and I went on a little day trip to Hood River to visit with some friends and had a lovely time taking a little hike, relaxing at a winery, and eating pizza and ice cream. Memorial Day, Daniel continued the strenuous work of laying the flagstones for the patio. While he does all the back breaking work (and my back is already broken), I supply the cold water, snacks, and lunches...oh and the unwelcome advice.

This past weekend, we continued 'our' work on the patio and in the garden beds. I noticed real live snap peas growing on my plants and that made me very happy. I can't wait for the rest of the yummy veggies and fruits to start to appear. Saturday afternoon, we headed South to Eugene for a little adventure and a birthday party. It was the first time I had spent time in Eugene. They have a big Saturday market that we explored and a cold river that we jumped and soaked in to cool off. Plus there was more ice cream eating (that seems a theme in our lives) at the renowned Prince Pucklers. Now we are thinking about our road trip to Minnesota and back. Where does the time go...we have a lot to do to get ready and a week to do it in. Below are some pictures from our May activities.