July 4th in Berrydale

Sixteen adults, including the Pastricks and a neighbor couple of the Sitte's, and eleven kids under six, made for a well-attended July 4th party.

Joel smoked ribs and I grilled three kinds of hot dogs.  Hamburgers would have been too much.  Helen Eby brought ham, and Julie Adams brought a dark blue patriotic carrot cake.
 
Playtime in the wading pools and Jenkins Creek were the order of the day.  It was Irene's first dip in a pool.

July Begins and Ends with Galen
 
On Friday, July 1st, I was already down in Berrydale.  Jean and Joel had gone to a concert at Benaroya Hall the night before, so I just stayed over.  On Saturday, Joel worked on the new railing in his big south yard while I was entertained by Galen.

Every time I visit, I check out Joel's 75-gallon aquarium.  Recently, I've seen more young Cherry Barbs, offspring of the adults I gave to Joel.  He had originally bought them for me at Aquarium Co-op in Edmonds.  And, while I still imagine getting a similar big tank someday, I realize it's impractical and I have so many more important things to do, like hanging out with grandkids. 
 
[LEFT]  Galen was delighted to have me turn the lights on and off in the downstairs bathroom.  The pitch dark room did not bother him at all.
 
[RIGHT]  Luna was content to let Galen sit on her just long enough for me to run in and get my camera.  On a later visit, he road her a bit in the living room.
 
At 20-months, Galen understands us and is just on the cusp of talking.

I spent most weekends in Berrydale this month since Jean was away acting in Henry VI with GreenStage.  Galen and I went for walks down to the creek to throw rocks, stroller rides, and swinging in the climbing dome. 

He enjoys peanut butter sandwiches and watching age appropriate educational shows on the big screen TV. 

I visited again the 15th-16th and 28th-30th.  Galen started crying when I had to drive home.  I drove the van down and delivered our radial arm saw to Joel and pots of green onions for Jean and Cynthia.  Helen and David Eby stopped by and picked up the onions and three boxes of large-mouth canning jars we cleaned out of our garage. 

On Sunday the 3rd, Galen came to our house.  The day before, our northwest neighbor, Lucas Liu, offered me a pallet of retaining wall blocks he was trying to sell.  It took me a few hours to move the 45 heavy blocks to a spot south of our garage.  Jean and Galen arrived just as I was finishing.  Annie and Thomas had taken the girls to Kristen's apartment complex to swim, so Nancy and I had Galen while Jean went on to her rehearsal.

When his cousins returned home, Galen tried to keep up with Charis and Valerie as they played outside.

On The last weekend of the month, I cared for Galen, Luna, and the kittens as Jean did her acting and Joel attended a conference in Vancouver, B.C..  I'm the on-call grandpa.

The Sitte family has claimed two stray kittens that showed up this month.  Coco, a motherly Siamese cat from across the street had been serving as a surrogate mom to the little black and tabby kittens.  They had been living under their neighbor friend's shed two doors east.

Joel prepared his office for the new family members.  Joel has never had cats before but they had planned for cats sometime in their future.  That future arrived sooner than expected.  Initially, the kittens live downstairs while Luna stays out of Joel's basement office. 

On the 24th, Joel corralled the tabby, and Nathanael came by to try and capture the little black kitten.  But it was Jean who caught him (or her?).  They will get their names after a visit to the vet on August 18th.

As part of our ongoing clean out of our house, we were happy to donate the large and small cat castles that were stored in our garage.

Jean Acts with GreenStage

Jean has been acting in GreenStage's Shakespeare in the Park performances of Henry VI, part 1.  She played four parts including Charles, the King of France, and Basset, a minor noble under Somerset. 

The performances continue on two weekends into August.  I had to miss the performance the family attended since I'd promised to help Randy with his computer and financial matters.  Annie got these shots from the back of the audience.

Nancy Continues with Physical Therapy

While I cleaned gutters on the west side of the garage, a perpetual chore due to the giant Redwood tree, Nancy tried to level the area where we park "Millie," Annie's Ford Taurus station wagon.  It was the first time she'd been mobile enough for that kind of work in a long while.  Later in the month, that spot west of the garage became the new spot for our big blue van.  Millie, which hardly starts now, will soon be leaving us.

While the Dishers were on vacation, Nancy and I cleared out the west side of the garage enough to be able to park the "nearly new" (2022) Ford Escape Hybrid that Nancy drove home from a dealership in The Dalles, Oregon.  Annie had put a deposit on the SUV and the Dishers drove Nancy there at the start of their Oregon vacation. 
I made sure we had enough money in our checking account to cover a big check.  Nancy surprised us by stopping on her drive north at Jean and Joel's house where I was helping with Galen.  She was very tired from the long drive north and this also gave me a chance to see the new car.  Annie chose this car for her daily commute with Charis this coming school year, a 36 mile round trip to Seattle Christian School.

Nancy's physical therapy appointments continue on Tuesday and Thursday.

A Park Play Date

The Bellevue Downtown Park was our meet-up spot on Thursday, July 6th.  Jean brought Galen, and Bonnie (James) Awabdeh brought Jacob and Salome.  For some reason, I had missed the birth of Salome.  Bonnie's parents, David and Heidi James, are two of our oldest friends as a couple.

The water features at the park made a visit on a hot day bearable.

July Garden Notes

By mid-month, flowers were blooming all over the garden.  And the lilies (far left), planted in prior years on the north side of the house, are beautiful. 

I don't often photograph my food, but my Yukon Gold potatoes baked up wonderfully, and my green onions made them even more delicious and healthier.  Each of my eight grow bags of these potatoes produced enough spuds for about a dozen meals like this.  And these half-dollar-sized ones are just as tasty as the many larger ones that were harvested.  Next year I need to put the grow bags directly on the ground so that the three or four large potatoes on the bottom in each bag do not rot due to poor drainage.

I gave the garlic two weeks to dry in the garage.  Only three of the 30 garlic heads were undersized.  Those three earned the right to be cooked up first.
 
A number of years ago, Don and Judy bought me this elegant cast cement "Seal" in the Native style that I love.  This year I chose to use it as a planter for Marigolds.
 
After garlic, potatoes, strawberries, and green onions, but before the tomatoes and peppers, come the first cucumbers and the blackberries.  Nancy enjoyed the first cucumber.  She likes them when they are only 6" long. 
 
In fear of bees, Charis and Valerie are not interested in picking any more blackberries.  They both got stung, and Charis had the more serious reaction to her sting.  Grandpa is the fastest blackberry picker anyway.
 

I've begun adding blackberries to one smoothie as a meal replacement each day.  And (finally) I've gotten my morning glucose readings down under 100 for multiple days in a row.

The perennial Phlox is back and bigger than last year.  I got this photo just before Nancy cut "her" Phlox for a table decoration.  Two pots of Asters will look stunning if they ever bloom.

The cucumbers I planted this year were from seeds I saved from a nice variety I grew last year.  There's a good number of them growing up my cucumber trellis.

Some critter got the first large Early Girl tomato that was beginning to turn red.   It's good that they don't bother the green ones.  I may have over a thousand Centiflor tomatoes already growing, with many thousands of yellow blooms still to produce fruit.

Most of the pepper plants are doing well, but I wish I could take out the Holly tree that shades much of the garden.  My pepper plants would prefer more sunlight.

We enjoy fresh green onions with our salads most days.

Grandkids Corner
 
Irene at 6-months started on solid food, especially while the Disher family vacationed on the Oregon coast the second week in July.

Charis and Valerie will always follow me into the yard if I mention any fruit ending in "...berry."
 
I've decided the photo of Irene at the right looks like the late beloved Rev. Dr. Earl Palmer.
 
This month, Irene started crawling.

Bits and Pieces 

My next Bible teaching opportunity will be four Thursdays back at the Emerald Heights Retirement Community in March 2024.  I will do it on the Book of Galatians.  I was delighted to find in my library the 1953 edition of The Epistle of Paul to the Churches of Galatia by the great Dutch theologian Herman N. Ridderbos.  I used his excellent commentary when I taught on Matthew.

Did I say I was impulsive?  When I learned that the SPU EmeriTimes newsletter had lost its editor, I volunteered as the new editor.  Dr. George Scranton, Jean's Theatre professor, and president of the emeriti faculty group, approved my appointment.  Dr. Mike McDonald, Nancy's German professor, seconded that decision.  I am the only "Instructor Emeritus," and this duty gives me a reason to stay involved with the Emeriti community.

On the 25th, we met with Jimmy Brown from Guardian Roofing.  He did a thorough inspection and gave us a bid for a new metal roof, new gutters, and a new skylight in the Great Room that Nancy has wanted since 1992.  We'll get another bid in early August.  A new roof has been required by PEMCO, as has cleaning up trees and wood near the house and other areas.  We've made progress in the later half of the month.  I've gotten a lot of exercise sawing, shredding, and carrying.  See the before and after pictures.  [Link]

After months of earth moving and wall construction across our western property line, that was halted by the City last month, there has been no additional work done there in July.

My Quote from July

Perfect Woman
William Wordsworth

She was a phantom of delight
When first she gleam'd upon my sight;
A lovely apparition, sent
To be a moment's ornament;
Her eyes as stars of twilight fair;
Like twilight's, too, her dusky hair;
But all things else about her drawn
From May-time and the cheerful dawn;
A dancing shape, an image gay,
To haunt, to startle, and waylay,

I saw her upon nearer view,
A Spirit, yet a Woman too!
Her household motions light and free,
And steps of virgin liberty;
A countenance in which did meet
Sweet records, promises as sweet;
A creature not too bright or good
For human nature's daily food;
For transient sorrows, simple wiles,
Praise, blame, love, kisses, tears, and smiles.

And now I see with eye serene
The very pulse of the machine;
A being breathing thoughtful breath,
A traveller between life and death;
The reason firm, the temperate will,
Endurance, foresight, strength, and skill;
A perfect Woman, nobly plann’d,
To warn, to comfort, and command;
And yet a Spirit still, and bright
With something of angelic light.