Passport!

 So my passport expired in Feb.  And in these crazy days, maybe I should get it renewed.  So I fussed about how to do it.  Could I make a appt at my town office?  No not really.  I hate sending those documents in the mail.  Who knows if I would get them back.  In these crazy days.

But I heard that you could do it online and it works well.  What?

So I decide to try it.  I get my picture (lovely) at a local UPS place.  Dennis scans it.  So I start in.  Will it work.  But it won't accept my picture. It's too far to the right, it's not close enough, etc.  Finally Dennis just took my picture (I mean really) but who cares, it works.

So I submit it and they say 4-6 weeks.  We'll see.

I got it back with a new passport in 11 days!!  11 days!  I can't believe it.  I think it's legit.  Who knew?

Frank goes to work

 It was workday at his daycare center.  His dad was in charge.  A lot of mulching going on.  Frank, aged 4, wanted to help.  And he meant it.  Here he is with his wheelbarrow moving mulch.  He is doing the work, getting it done!

Frank and the canoe

 My grandson Frank, age 4, really enjoys Griffey Lake near his home in Indiana.  As a younger child, he really liked going to the beach.  Now, it's more about canoeing and fishing.  His mother is a veteran canoer, years of working at girl scout camp and even leading trips in the Border Lakes.  Frank, he likes it a lot.  They've also tried their hand at fishing.  Somebody gave her a child's fishing pole.  But they didn't really know what to do, things like bait, etc.  Some veteran fisherman have been helping them out.  However, Ilana agrees with me, there should be no damage to any fish.

A slow day but the beach

It was a slow day, not much happening.  So I decided to go to Edmonds Beach.  Took this picture. 

JJ and Pam in Santa Cruz

My sister Pam is taking a vacation to Santa Cruz and Aptos.  A big step for her.  Here she is, with college roomie JJ likely on West Cliff Drive.  She looks like she is having a great time, so glad she's making it a success.  Many thanks to JJ for spending some time with her. 

Healing Hydrangea

 Check out my hydrangea plant.  From the wedding.  I planted it where Dennis chose.  Put a fancy ($13) bag of compost in where we planted.  It looked very very bad.  I cut off the flowers.  All the leaves turned black.  Stems were black. Looked like a goner.  But I talked to it, reminded it of the fancy compost.  

Look!  It's coming back!  All kind of new leaves.  Now, can I get it through the winter.  These bushes grow all over the place around here.

View near Deception Pass

 During our La Conner trip, we took a lunch cruise down the Swinomish Channel our into the Salish Sea and to Deception Pass, a pass between Whidbey Island and Fidalgo Island.  Big bridge, always fun to travel to.  This photo does show what it looks like.  Western Washington, that rain forest where I live.

My potato harvest

 My potato harvest.  Hey, I must have planted fingerling potatoes, who knew?  Pretty good amount.  I like planting potatoes (in my farm) because they give a satisfying amount of foliage and it's always funs (like a treasure hunt) to find the potatoes.  So far, I've fried some up.  Mashed is next

Informal family picture at Naomi's wedding

 

A more informal picture from Naomi's wedding in late June.  You can't see Scoutie in the yellow dress.  But we have Melina and Chris in the picture.  But everybody's there including my brother Charlie and my sister Pam