This year has been quite the year! So much has happened and changed. I took my Aunt Nancy down to Oklahoma the end of February. That was one long trip! 18 hours each way with a night spent just north of Denver each way. I can now say I've been through Wyoming, Kansas and Oklahoma! She's now at Red Bud Canyon. All but one of those that live there have been in the ministry so she's in very good company and seems to adapting very well! I went to see Erika and her family in mid May and while I was there got word my sister wasn't doing very well at all. She's been in a lot of pain most of her life but she started getting pancreatitis the end of last year and by the first of June they said they'd done all they could and she chose to go on hospice. I went over to see her the first week of June as was so very thankful I didn't wait! The first of this month (July) the pain got to where even the pain killer above morphine wasn't touching it and they sedated her. She passed away a week ago. During that time there were several others that passed away. My Aunt Kelita's mother-in-law passed away the end of May. I knew her fairly well from my years in Portland. An elderly man in our meeting here in Rupert passed away that same week as well. And we lost one of our ministers to a heart attack when he was headed to Portland from Parma. They found him in his motel room. It's very possible he wasn't feeling well and thought he had covid so stopped. This last month and a half has been crazy with how many people died that I knew! My sisters funeral will be next week in K-Falls at the grange on Shasta Way. I'm really hoping that does it for the year! My dad is doing okay but is feeling down. Which is totally normal. My sister was the youngest of us. She was 9 years younger then me. She left her husband (Don) behind, my dad and 3 siblings.
It was wonderful to visit Erika and her family! The grandkids sure are growing up!!! Teagan is now 10, Scarlet will be 9 the end of September, Jameson is 2 1/2 and Greyson turned one the first part of May! Teagan and Scarlet love their gymnastics! They both compete now. Jameson so kind of a terror depending on the day. LOL! You can just see the mischief in his eyes. Greyson is a lot more laid back but I think Jameson is doing a good job in teaching him! ;) I got a few pictures from my visit that I'll post below. Erika sure has her hands full! She also helped with union negotiations this year. Where she fit that in amongst everything else, I'm not sure! Nick has been awesome with the kids and just an all around really good guy!
Christina is now in the UK. She seems to be doing pretty well in the Airforce. I really do think it's been good for her. Here's hoping that I can get over there in the next couple of years! She's there for 3 years. I'll post a picture below that she sent me. Her and a couple of friends took a trip to London and that's where the picture was taken.
Now on to the garden! With everything that's been going on and the weather not cooperating at all this Spring, it's been a long planting season! I started seeds the first of May in my greenhouse side of the shed. I asked my contractor to insulate that side so I could start seeds sooner! It worked really, really well but I'm still planting them! Our last frost date was June 13th. That week I headed to Parma for a few days so didn't get anything done. Before that only the frost hardy stuff was in the garden. The following week wasn't bad but then it went to hot. The poor plants. Most seem to be making it but I'm not going to get very many blooms for at least a couple of weeks. Here's hoping for a warmer Fall! Everything that's growing right now has either been direct sowed, self sowed from what I let go to seed last Fall, or started from seed. Peppers, tomatoes (found my first baby tomato last night) and eggplant were started from seed. Potatoes, beans, squash, peas, some carrots and cucumbers were direct sowed. Onions, most carrots, leeks, lettuce and some tomatoes self sowed. I let a few of the self sowed tomatoes stay since they are typically cherry tomatoes and I didn't start any of those from seed. Petunias, dianthus, carnations, snapdragons, cleome, salvia, dahlias, lemon bee balm, asters (annual), alyssum, lobelia, red bachelor buttons, cosmos and mexican marigolds were all started from seed in the greenhouse. Marigolds, calendula, alyssum, salvia (both annual and perennial), petunias (purple) and a few I have no clue the name of self sowed. I no longer start/buy marigolds. Actually this year the only plants I bought were petunias when they were on sale at Freddies in mid May. I had no clue just how well the seed would do at that time! Now bush type plants are another matter! :) There's a guy that comes from Western Oregon and hauls plants over. I got blueberry bushes, currents, gobi berry and lingonberry's from him. Then one of the seed companies advertised cold hardy figs! They're supposed to be good down to zone 5 and I'm borderline 5b/6a so 2 for $20 seem like a good deal to try them! And then I got an elderberry from the nursery in town. Hopefully they all do well and come back next year! I also have gooseberries (just starting to ripen), honeyberries, raspberries (just starting to ripen) and strawberries that have produced this year! I got my first asparagus pick this year! Not a lot was picked this year but with the cooler weather it sure made for some yummy eating straight from the garden! At the moment the lawn is in desperate, desperate need of a mow. The mower has been in the shop for 2 weeks and it was a week before that when it got mowed. The supply chain issue has happened with the part that it needs. I do believe my neighbors will be being asked if I can borrow a mower! This next week after Monday is supposed to be upper 90's for the most part.
