City Gardening

We have a really great deck area right out our front door that is all ours. We needed some flowers and plants, so we went to Lowe's and Home Depot this weekend to look around. John got a lilac, I got a rose, and we chose some petunias and spreading flowers for some pots.

Let's get to work, Mom.

Ok, they didn't really help much.

Daisy standing guard by the lilac.

One of the petunia boxes.

Inspection

It's hard to get the feel, but as you walk up the front stairs, the deck is to the right. Those are our windows with the rose and petunia boxes underneath. The house faces south.

These are the same roses as we had in our wedding. Seemed fitting for our 10th anniversary year.

Daisy is hard to pose, she's so busy.

Tony's all finished.

Easter in Republic

We were so excited to finally be able to go spend a holiday with family! We drove to up and over to Republic for Easter with John's parents.

Here are some shots of the Cascades as we drove through.

We were amazed by the mountains. It's almost like we forgot they existed! They are so big and imposing, like they should be. After we got through the mountains we came into farm land. I had no idea that apples and pears were grown so far north along the Columbia. There must have been millions of acres of fruit trees just starting to bloom.

For Easter dinner, we had lamb (my first one) and for dessert I made the Brownie Sundae Cheesecake from Junior's cookbook.

Tony snuggling with Grandma while we all watched John play Wii.

John took this panoramic view off the back deck of the house overlooking the lake.

(With his phone!)

We had a great time getting up into the mountains and are looking forward to spending more holidays with family.

We're Here

This is our new townhouse in Ballard, WA. Looking straight on, our unit is on the right. We have use of the entire front deck since our neighbors to the left have the bay window. Isn't it cute? We really like it. It's in a great location - close to yarn shops, quilt shops, grocery stores, Trader Joe's, churches, our new veterinarian, and John's office. The neighborhood is quiet, too, which is surprising since we are two blocks from a very busy street. Looking south from our bedroom window this afternoon I was able to see downtown with Mt Rainier in the background. So cool. We have our morning walk figured out, taking us down to the ocean with an ever-changing view of the Olympic mountain range. Spring is on in full force, mixing with the smell of the ocean. It's just about perfect.

We decided when we got here to go out to eat once a week, mostly trying new places. Although, we had to start first with The Old Spaghetti Factory, of course, and then went back again this week. We tried a sushi place, which John said was ok but didn't really agree with me. (Sorry, people, just not going to be a fan of eating raw fish and seaweed. Ewwww...) My favorite dinner night out so far was La Carta de Oaxaca (southern Mexican) and then dessert at D'Ambrosio (gelato) just down the street. Both were so fantastic, I can still taste it.

I have found an LYS about 5 blocks away, which is crochet-friendly. Yay!, because that's a rarity. I do intend to take knitting classes this year to see if I can conquer that mystery. There is also an LQS a mile or so away. I found some wonderful German wool sock yarn that I am using now and also am in the middle of a baby quilt which is going to be super awesome. (Future post.)

The only thing lacking is our church. We are in the visiting mode, which is exhausting, but we have had some good suggestions and are hopeful that we will find a home and friends soon.

The dogs are having to get used to not barking at every living thing. We are being particular about that because there are 5 units in our building and the walls are thin.

Icky, however, is very happy that the crazy cat lady a few doors down also likes to feed the pigeons.