VISITORS

Usually when I post something about us having visitors, it means we’ve had the pleasure of seeing a new, unusual bird. This time, however, it means that we have had actual HUMAN visitors! Linda and I both were beyond delighted when our very best friends from North Carolina, Mike and Scott, came here to Yakima for a visit last week!

Our friends are almost at the mid-point of a long trek across the United States with their travel trailer. They are visiting some of the many National Parks that our country has to offer. During their visit to Mount Rainier National Park they took a little side trip for a few days and came over here to Yakima. We had only seen them one time since we moved out here 15 years ago (briefly on our Back East Road Trip in 2019), so when we heard they were coming our way, we were overjoyed.

GOOD TIMES WITH GREAT FRIENDS…THERE IS NOTHING BETTER!

We got to see them for several days, and it was a wonderful trip down memory lane. Their visit to our house coincided with Mike’s birthday, so we of course had a little celebration.

MIKE’S BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

WE HAVE SO MISSED GETTING TO CELEBRATE OUR BIRTHDAYS TOGETHER!

As you can imagine with friends who haven’t seen each other for an extended period of time, there was a lot of talking…and talking…and talking. This was, as Martha Stewart would say, a Good Thing.

THESE THREE WOULD BE RENDERED SPEECHLESS IF THEY COULDN’T USE THEIR HANDS

Sometimes it helped to raise your hand to be able to get a word in edgewise between Mike and Linda.

“UH, I WANT TO COMMENT…PLEASE!”

All in all, we had an absolutely wonderful time with them, not doing a whole lot of anything except taking a short walk one day, having drinkiepoo, eating and…oh yeah, talking.

It was sad to see them go, but we knew they needed to get back on the road. How I envy their getting to see all those beautiful sights while traveling across this country!

THE GANG WAS BACK TOGETHER FOR A SHORT TIME

THE GARDEN FOR 2022

It finally got warm enough for me to get outside and plant my garden for this year. The garden is kind of sad if you compare it with years past, but at this point in my life it is just about all I can do. For the past three years my garden was slowly declining anyway due to the overgrowth of trees around the “back 40” area. This year’s garden in the back consists of two tomato plants (Black Krim and Sun Sugar) and one pepper plant (Jalapeño, of course). I also planted a few zucchini seeds, but I haven’t seen any sign of them coming up so far, so I am not sure if the seeds were too old or what.

I also planted a few peppers in the front yard in a spot that gets the most sun. That area has three Shishito pepper plants and one Banana pepper plant.

Along the side yard, in my usual spot, I sprinkled out all of the seeds that I had left, which consisted of various lettuces, beets, kale, and dill. Some of them are already coming up.

LETTUCE SEED ARE SPROUTING

AND THE BEET SEEDS ARE SPROUTING

Also along this side area there are a lot of volunteer parsley plants, as well as quite a few tomato plants. I am leaving them to see how they do.

VOLUNTEER PARSLEY AND TOMATO PLANTS

It will be interesting to see what comes up, what survives the inevitable onslaught of bugs, and what produces. I will be posting updates to Garden 2022 as things go.

PARTING SHOT

Summer Girl does not enjoy company, so she spent all of the time that our friends were visiting out in the back 40. At least she is able to wallow in the dirt and entertain herself.

Join me every Wednesday (barring any unforeseen circumstances) for more from the Southerner in the Northwest.