The Great Wheel In Seattle

My husband and I had a Monday off together last week.  I was thinking about all of the things that needed to be done around the house and yard, trying to decide what to do first.  Pat had another plan that was much better, we were going to take a drive.  We headed south on I-5 and headed to downtown Seattle.  We have a new attraction on the Seattle waterfront, it is called

the "Great Wheel."

 

 

We arrived at about 10:45 and learned that they were delaying the start of the ride for regular maintenance.  We stood in line and visited with a lady from Tennessee who had come to Seattle to see the sights and also planned to visit the San Juan Islands and Whidbey Island.  Her friend did not like heights so she was on her own for the ride.

 

It was a beautiful day so the wait was an easy and enjoyable one.

The sky was a little hazy which might have been caused by the smoke coming our way from east of the mountains where they have experienced devastating fires.

 

We bought our tickets and were on the first ride of the day on the Great Wheel.

You know that moment in time when you think to yourself, what am I doing here and how do I get out of here?  Well since I was the one with the camera I was able to get a picture of Patrick when that thought crossed his mind.  I had the same thought but you will not see what my face looked like at that second.

 

Here we are much more relaxed and enjoying the scenery.  We tried to get our heads even so that one of us didn't look like we had a huge head.  I will say that Pat is holding the camera so he is a little closer.

After our ride on the Great Wheel we walked a few blocks and took an elevator to the Pike Place Market.  Seattle is a city with many hills so we had the option of several flights of switch back stairs or the elevator.  Going down is much easier so we chose the stairs when we headed back to our car.

 

This market is a very busy place and seems to go on forever.

 

I took a picture when no one was in front of this flower stand, that was only for a very brief time.

 

These are the flowers I brought home with me as a reminder of a very enjoyable and relaxing day.

I Had Some Time For BOM Rehab

Completing Block of the Month blocks or anything for that matter has been a little tough lately.  I am excited that I was able to catch up with my Aurifil Designer Block of the Month blocks.

The August block was designed by Bari J, inspired by her beautiful line of fabric called Lilly Belle

 

The September block was designed by Amy Ellis.

 

Visit the Aurifil Designer Block of the Month Flickr site and you can see the blocks made by other stitchers.  You will also want to visit Sinta at Pink Pincushion to see what has been happening in BOM Rehab.

Jenny of Elefantz Gumboot Giveaway

It is almost time for Jenny's newest issue of Elefantz Home, this is her bumper garden issue.  Visit her blog here and read about what you will see in this issue.  While you are there you can enter her Gumboot Giveaway.

Isn't this fabric fun!

A Little Paint, A Little Rust and a Special Lady

I have not written a blog post in a while so I started thinking, have we accomplished anything lately?What have we  been doing? 

 

We have done a couple of outside projects that we are happy to have completed.   

 

 

We have a little playhouse we bought for the grandchildren a few years ago.  It was looking pretty beat up and the door had broken off.  It was in need of some repairs and some paint or stain.  We took a trip to one of our local home and garden stores and found some outdoor paint on the "unwanted" paint shelf .  I guess it is where they sell paint that people don't like once the color is mixed up.  So for 10 dollars we brought home a gallon of tan outdoor paint and for 3 dollars a quart of trim paint.

 

We pressure washed the little house last year and kept it out of the weather until now.

 

Here it is all spruced up!

The grandkids love it and Emmy seems to like to snoop around too.

 

These rusty wire baskets we found at a garage sale this summer, two for 20 dollars.

We were able to attatch them on either side of our front stairs.  We filled them with mums we found at a sale at one of our favorite nurseries.  Pat was able to attatch them securely so that I can fill them with flowers or whatever else comes to mind.  It will be fun to change the planters with the seasons.

 

We are having beautiful weather here in the Pacific Northwest.  Wonderful sunshine in September, we are loving it.

 

 

Another thing we did last week was purchase a rusty arbor for 40% off at the same nursery we bought our pots of mums.  We have an Akebia vine that has needed some direction for a couple of years, now it knows where I want it to go.

 

 

A very special lady in our lives had her 85th birthday this week, my mother in law Virginia.

 

You are a blessing to all of us.

I have a couple of fun things to share with you. 

I won two giveaways and I want to share what two very talented ladies have sent me.

 

First this little notebook covered with vintage fabrics made by Rae at Raemissigman Creating a Repurpose Lifestyle.    Visit her and see what she has been creating.

 

Marsha from Tattered Chick made this fun spoon.   You must visit her blog and see what is happening in her world.  She is a very talented lady and has a special talent for finding wonderful vintage items and creating treasures from many of those items.

 

Happy Wednesday!

Time Spent In The Garden

I have not blogged consistently about our gardening adventures this year.  We have spent some time enjoying and working out side so I decided to catch up on what has been happening outside our doors.

 

Every year while visiting my favorite nurseries I check out the sale tables in late July and August.  I call the plants that I purchase "sad plants" or "rescued plants."  I bring them home at a much discounted price and try to find them a sometimes temporary home so that they can make it through the winter. I do buy a few annuals too to try to brighten up my pots.  The plant below were all rescued.

 

 

They are waiting for their new homes.

 

 

After finding open places for most of the plants throughout the yard these perennials found a new home in my "temporary rescue garden."  When they are all in one place we can make sure they are watered and watched over.  If I spread them out around the yard I may forget about them.

 

I will take another picture in a few weeks to see their progress.

 

Below are pictures i have taken over the past few weeks of the blooms I have found while wandering our yard.

 

 

Oh and of course our grand dog Lexie who was a great help while she was visiting

 

And Emmy enjoying the shade after playing with Lexie.

 

Patrick seems to be enjoying the watering, he is multi tasking by listening to a book on CD.  His little player is hiding in his apron pocket.

We had a beautiful visitor who stayed around a while, very focused on the task at hand, so I was able to get a few pictures. 

 

 

Summer is almost gone but we enjoyed a lot of its beauty while it was here. God's creation is truly amazing.