Isn't It Grand!

Dale and I had the distinct privilege of spending the holiday weekend with these two beauties. Their parents, Julie (daughter) and Jeff (son-in-law) celebrated their 10th wedding anniversary. (Already!)

We also celebrated Miss Melody's 8th birthday

while little sister Annalee did her best to be a good sport.

Dale and I got to have the kids all to ourselves at the park where I consented to climb the playground equipment with them - and went head first on my back down the slide. Going down was easy. But I was a bit like a turtle resting on its shell as I tried to get myself upright again. The kids thought that was pretty funny.

Along the Clearwater

Earlier this month Dale and I traveled back to Idaho for our granddaughter Annalee's birthday. We stayed in my old college town, Lewiston. To get in a little exercise after the long car ride, we took a short walk on the Lewiston Levee Parkway Trail along the Clearwater River. We walked from the downtown area down to the confluence of the Clearwater River with the Snake River.

Looking west at the confluence.
The Snake River is on the left; the Clearwater River on the right.
From here, the Snake River flows west through the valley.

Where the two rivers meet, an interpretive center highlighting the Lewis and Clark Expedition has been built. It includes this bronze sculpture that depicts the legends and creatures of the Nez Perce Nation. 

We sat on a bench facing the sculpture ... and found a geocache.

Walking back upriver, this railroad bridge.

A bit further on the path, this marmot poked her head up out of the rocks.

After taking these photos, we saw her baby. So cute! So small! And too quick for me to get a decent picture.

It's odd how many old stories and memories and emotions bubble to the surface when I'm back in Lewiston. I've not lived there for 42 years!

Throwback Thursday: Dragonfly

From 2016

I walked down to Kiwanis Park in Post Falls, Idaho with my telephoto lens on my camera to see what I could see. I saw this. 

I miss that park.

I'm pretty sure I received Fan Photo of the Day for this pic.

Throwback Thursday: Rose

 It looks like this bug has a heart on her back!

From our front yard in Post Falls, Idaho in June 2017.

"digitally re-mastered" in 2024.

Crocus

Spring comes early in western Oregon!

The first crocus are blooming down at the Bethel Community Park parking lot.

My favorite are the purple striped flowers. They're a sweet reminder of the garden near my front porch in Idaho. 

I'm feeling nostalgic. I don't imagine those blubs will bloom for another month (or two). This photo is from my Idaho garden in mid-March 2018.

And this from April 2012.

Throwback Thursday: Oh, Idaho!

 I got such a laugh when I happened upon this scene in rural Kootenai County Idaho. 

Driving my daughter to work along the back roads, I caught this "dog" out of the corner of my eye. I did a double take and turned the car around to capture the scene.  

I still wonder why there is a camel in north Idaho standing under pine trees on damp soil with a slash pile burning in the background. It's not exactly an arid, sandy habitat!

Pausing to take the photo was worth it. I hope I didn't make my kid late for work.

Throwback Thursday: Mill River Park

I'm looking back to this date in 2016. I took a ride down to Mill River Park in Post Falls, Idaho. The small park lies along the Spokane River. I remember it being a brisk morning, with quick wind gusts. The leaves had recently started changing colors and falling. It was a school morning. Very quiet. Very few people walking nearby.

There are few things that I miss about living in Idaho. Spending time by the Spokane River is one of them. My heart gets a little squishy when I take time to look at the photos and recall the feelings associated with those special places.

Mom's Favorite

Summer of P: Past

From 2007: Lilacs in Light

The Mystery at Lilac Inn

Any of you remember that title? It was one of the Nancy Drew mysteries.

Growing up in southern California, I didn't know what lilacs were. My mom said they grew where it got cold in the winter. She told me it was her favorite flower.

When I was about 10, my mom started allowing me to read her copies of the Nancy Drew books. They were some of the few books she kept from her childhood in the 1930s. She kept them way up by the ceiling on a top shelf in the laundry room. I had to climb on a counter and stand on tiptoe to get to them.

I loved their blue cloth covers. The thick pages. That "old books" aroma.

I loved that dresses were called "frocks" and they drove around in a convertible called a "roadster." Reading those books may be a principle reason I love words and language and have a vocabulary that helps me relate precise feelings. 

Mostly I love that my mom trusted me enough to read her Nancy Drew books.

When I moved to Idaho for college, there were huge lilac bushes growing outside the music/dance building. We used to keep the windows open in the Spring to drink in their scent. I came to love lilacs, too. I later grew some in our Post Falls yard. This photo is from one of them.

When I moved from Idaho to Oregon, Dale and I gave away most of our large library of books. I gave my mom's Nancy Drew books to my librarian daughter, Julie.

She keeps them on a top shelf.

Maybe in four years, she'll trust Melody to start reading them.

Floating

Summer of P: Past

From 2013: Bubbles in the Back Yard

This image plops me right on the old wood deck in our Post Falls home's back yard. 

Hot summer day. Nothin' else to do. Go out back and blow some bubbles. Is there any chance at all I can get an image that's in focus and sharp? 

Hmmmm. Not quite.

P is for Pinecone

 Summer of P: Past

From 2016, a pinecone from our front yard.

We had hundreds of pinecones in our yard each year. Dale used to pay Jodie five cents each to pick them up before he had to cut the grass. 

I was proud of myself for being able to capture this macro shot of a pine nut tucked between the scales.

Melody Turns Six

 A month after Annie's birthday, we returned to Idaho to celebrate her big sister's birthday. It was a whirlwind! We forgot to take photos, except when she was opening her big pile of gifts. Thanks to Papa, we have these images.

She loves her new heart box filled with 24 rings, and can't wait to try out her new, shiny, colorful gymnastics outfit.

She received about a dozen "new reader" books. That includes all the "Dick and Jane" books I used when I learned to read.

Melody loves puzzles and mazes and drawing, so she got activity books to encourage those interests. The two drawing books say, "Happy Birthday, Melody" on the cover. It blew her mind that someone knew her name and printed it on books for her.

Aunt Jodie and Uncle Kenny got her a big fluffy Cam the Calico Cat Squishmallow. Cats are her favorite animal ... well, that and bats.

Grandma Jean gave Melody a Lego set. Goodness! This girl has a very studious and scientific mind. She sat in the middle of the chaos, and read through the instruction book. A girl after my own heart.

That Lego set had bags full of tiny pieces. By the time we left the following morning, she'd constructed the entire set.

Annalee Turns Four

In mid-April, Dale and I traveled to Idaho to celebrate our granddaughter Annie's 4th birthday with her family. 

Let the shenanigans begin!

Throwback Thursday: Autumn Favorites

#throwbackthursday

Throwback Thursday: Hosta

I haven't done a lot of gardening in my time, but I have tried a bit over the years. In 2012, Dale and I did a major relandscaping of our yard. Trees were removed. Curbing was installed. We got a new lawn. We put in some plants. We shoveled and raked in a lot of bark.

For the front yard, I wanted hostas in the beds around the trees. We chose a Golden Tiera variety. There is a nice variegation to the leaf, and it's not too big.

This was what the beds looked like in 2012 when the planting was done and bark was added. 

Nice and tidy.

Every Spring, Jeanne would come by to "play in the dirt" with me. Hosta can be divided fairly easily. We got a knife, cut all the way through the root ball, divided each plant, dug new holes in between the established plants, and plopped the now smaller plants into the holes. 

2019

By the time Dale and moved away from Post Falls, the hosta beds looked like this. They'd filled in beautifully!

2019

They're a plant with these funny, tall, spindly, purple flowers. I loved taking photos of them.

2019

I never got tired of lying on my belly and taking photos of them.

2014

2015

2015

2016

2016

2017

This is my most established gardening success.