More Roses

Back to the Test Rose Garden, this time with the girls. My next camera will have smell-o-vision. My favorite variety today: Rainbow Sherbert (pale pink with yellow inside), which actually smelled like orange sherbert!

Rose pics (both types)

At the International Rose Test Garden.

Rain damage from our recent spate of record setting storms is most apparent in the lighter roses. As always, click to embiggen. If you want *really* big versions for your desktop or whatever, email me. I have 40 more. :)

The kid isn't one of ours. I just thought she was adorable.

Return to Slobby Island

Sauvie Island is great place for pick-your-own, fishing, hiking, and generally sucking up the green. Matt & I had a great picnic today. The blackberry bushes are just blooming. We'll go back in August to harvest their tiny delectables. Raise your hand if you want to come along!

Snowed in and loving it

Matt taking the cats' place in the bay window.

Well, I said "Let it snow..."

Instant Attitude Correction

If I had still been grumpy when I woke up this morning (which I wasn't - I'm lucky that way and generally don't retain my bad moods for long) the sight outside my front window would have turned me around.

I'm madly in love with "golden hour" light, especially when shining through my dogwood trees while they're waving the big "Fall is coming!" flag.

Come on, October! :)

And the rocket's red glare...

Pyrotechnics by Matt, photos by Jari.

Portraits of Obama

Callie Shell has been taking photographs of Barack Obama for years. There are some really beautiful shots here, of his family, of the quiet moments between the flashbulbs and confetti. Keep clicking "show more images" - they just get better and better.

The Delaware Beaches

Patient-turned-friend Andy (channeling Liz Taylor) invited me and some other girlfriends down to her week-long beach rental last month. Peggy (blue windbreaker) and Susan (white hoodie) became instant friends. We were up all night watching the VP debate, talking politics and men and laughing our butts off. Also, there might have been some chocolate-dipped potato chips involved. And maybe smores. But I'll never tell.

I could only get away for 3 days, but WOW did we pack a lot in. The house itself was in Lewes, right on the water. The entire area is peppered with adorable Victorian houses in a all sorts of fun colors. There's a cute little shopping district there, and some great seafood restaurants of course. We ferried over to Cape May, NJ and did more shopping. We did Rehoboth Beach, too. I was highly restrained, and purchased no shoes at all. A small quantity of fudge did come home with me, but I was clever enough to giftwrap it for Matt so I had help eating it when I returned to him.

All in all, a much-needed break and quality girl-time. As I told Matt, it was like Sex and the City, only with real women I actually wanted to spend time with. :) Thanks, Andy!

Walking Amongst the Dead

Then Nae's tour continued on to Laurel Hill cemetery. You know those photos of old gravesites with ornate sculptures of angels and animals? A lot of them come from here. I'm not happy with most of the pics I took, but here are a few, including a shot of our lovely hostess.

An interesting headstone caught my attention as we drove around one corner... the name on it was "Adrianne Balboa." I wonder if that's where her name came from?

Bartram's Garden

Our friend Nae, a great source for local historical sites, took us to see America's oldest botanical garden. John Bartram collected plants from all over the world and built a fantastic horticultural experience. The flora here was so different from that of Europe that he and friend Linnaeus had to build a new cataloging system (remember him from Bio class?). Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin all hung out here and took tea.

Much of it is overgrown, but the parts still intact are beautiful. The architecture is pretty cool, too.

The wake of the storm

After the girls left, with all that traveling (including lots of little local trips to show them the Philly area and Baltimore), and still missing Blackberry*, we really needed some down time. For me, that meant more lace knitting. Here's what makes Matt happy:

*The cats are going nuts. She maintained the peace when Fig played too rough - now he's a roiling bundle of raging CoonCow. We really need another bossy bunny, but the landlord won't let us get a replacement rabbit. Not that anyone could replace her ... but we need a 24/7 police force here!

On to Maine!

Next we took the girls up to Maine for the annual Rose Family Reunion. This featured incredible cooking (by Matt's sister Nancy and her Andre) and tons of tiny children and pets running rampant.

We toured the tall ship Friendship. I was remiss in my picture-taking (it's hard to hold a camera while cracking a open a lobster) but at least I got Yanna (short for Juliana, Nancy's gorgeous daughter) and Mom.

We also played around with a metal detector and found some old blacksmith nails in the yard. Unfortunately the real motherlode - the colonial trash heap - was back in the woods behind a deer fence and we couldn't get at it. Next trip?