Whidbey Island Dog Park

My one day off falls on a Monday every week. This means that Mr. Ramon and I rarely get days off together except for holidays and well planned escapes. 

This Memorial Day was beautiful in Seattle. Warm with some cloud cover. My mom and her dog were in town for a visit and we all had this Monday free to do something. Not one to waste a day off together I thought it would be fun to go somewhere different. 

In my 7 years here in Seattle we have never gone to Whidbey Island. A 25 minute trip up the freeway and a 20 minute ferry crossing we were what seems like worlds away. The draw of this drive is that there is a huge, on the beach dog park. 

If your dogs are anything like mine, they love the beach. Love might not be the right word. I think the beach is the place where my dogs are the happiest. Running free on perfectly packed, cool sand. Drinking ocean water only to puke it back up. Digging holes for who knows what and rolling in stinky stuff. Dog heaven! 

We let them run for a few hours. By that time Mischa was feeling pretty rotten from drinking to much ocean water. They were all sandy and wet. So much fun! 

With four tired dogs in the truck we set out to see what else was on this little island. We drove to the tiny town of Langley and shopped and ate. We had such a great day. I think I found my new little get away. 

My mom

This is my mom. She taught me how to fold towels properly, how to iron a mens shirt, how to make her famous potato salad and so much more. My love for keeping a home and entertaining comes from her. We always had the best birthday parties, happy thursday gifts and holidays. She was there to see me in my recitals and graduations. She is an amazing woman. I am so glad she is my mom. 

Here is an awesome picture of her in 1964. 

Flower Project

With spring weather finally here I am in the mood for pretty flowers. The back yard is pretty blah. It is really green with the lawn and trees but some color would be nice.

I think that you can add a touch of color with flowers almost anywhere. An edge of the lawn, in pots on the patio or window sill. If you have not put in some color yet I urge you to run out and do it. It will make our grey days feel much more spring like. 

Next to the back patio we have this short cinder block wall with planters at the walkway. They are full of chicks n hens and weeds right now. I think with some great container plants they will look really nice. 

Here they are after I cleaned them out and added some fresh dirt and compost. 

I chose a lavender and a purple verbena - two of my favorites. The other plants I chose because I liked the way they looked and the tag said they would be good in hanging baskets and containers. I chose purple, white, pink and a pop of yellow. I put the lavender in the center knowing it would be taller than the others. 

I placed them all in their spots before taking them out of their pots and planting them.

Here they are finished. They don't look like much yet but I bet when they get a bit bigger they will add a nice pop of color. Easy project only taking me about an hour from start to finish. 

A couple of months later we have this result - so pretty and happy!