Saturday Sprinkles

Yes, after over a week of beautiful weather, the promised rain arrived during the night. Friday it actually got up over 70*. I've been very busy in my yard~ planting, weeding... all the stuff that goes along with having a yard. It's starting to look great!



Thursday Bob came by and I took a break so he could take me to lunch. It was one of those really pretty days, the sun was shining, the birds singing....Anyway we ended up eating at a place called Dock Street Landing situated on one of Tacoma's many waterways. Since I have this new little skinny camera, I've been carrying it with me all the time. I took the picture below very near where we were sitting in the sun eating our lunch. That ship down there is a big grain ship, sitting at the grain elevator taking on grain for some distant port.







When this boat headed out into Puget Sound, Bob mentioned that it was time to get his sail boat out & also his power boat. This man and his brother have, what I call the "Finnish boat curse." I don't even remember how many boats of various sizes they have between them. I don't really like to go out in his 16 foot power boat and the sail boat is absolutely not for me. Actually, I like my boats about 900 feet long....then I feel totally comfortable on them. That Foss barge you see in the picture below is loaded with sawdust. You can also see a couple other ships out there either waiting to be loaded or unloaded or both. We have one of the deepest ports on the west coast so lots of big ships come in here.

After we were thru with lunch we took a drive up to Tacoma's historic north end. My present header picture is of Stadium High School (star location of the movie "The 10 Things I Hate About You"). Even though I did not go to this school, I've always been intrigued by this classic old building. The picture below shows their football stadium. A natural bowl in the ground offers magnificent views of the waterway and the Cascade Mountains in the distance.

The building with the clock tower is Tacoma's Old City Hall. Built in 1893, it still stands tall, gracing Tacoma's skyline. Once the business of the city was carried on here...now it contains professional offices. Last weekend, we ventured across the Narrows Bridge, to the little town of Port Orchard. If any of you gals out there read books written by Debbie Macomber, this is where she & her husband Wayne make their home. Debbie has written a series of books called the Cedar Cove series. Cedar Cove is a fictional town but in reality is Port Orchard. One of the many landmarks in the town and in Debbie's books is the Victorian Rose Tea House. The picture below is that famous tea house and gift shop owned and operated by Debbie's daughter.

For those of you who follow me on Face Book ~ you've heard about the great tulip caper. It was around the 22nd or 23rd of April, while pulling weeds I discovered that all but a very few of my blooming tulips had been picked, in fact one area of my yard that had been loaded with blooming tulips was completely devoid of them. The neighbor on the east side of me came out and was loading rubbish in his truck for a dump run and I mentioned to him that all my tulips were gone. He then said that a little girl had rang his doorbell selling tulips for $1. I thought he was joking but then I asked him if she was a thin little thing with dark brown hair. He replied that yes that was the one. Then I started looking around and I found missing daffodils, more missing tulips~some pulled out by their bulbs. I was furious to say the least. Then the 10 year old suspect came swishing by on her roller blades....I hollered at her, she stopped and I asked her if she picked the flowers. Yup, she had......why did you do that, they weren't yours to pick, a shrug of her shoulders......how much money did you get for them, none she replied. I asked her about the daffodils and she told me she got those out of her own yard (that later proved to be a lie~no daffodils in that yard). I then told her that I thought we were friends but I guess we aren't anymore since you stole my flowers. I also told her I'd be talking to her parents. At that, she sailed down the street. Pretty soon I got a call from Dennis, the guy that owns the mobile home where this family has moved in (and aren't paying the rent by the way~he's trying to evict them). It seems Alexis (the culprit) had skated down to his place looking for sympathy because I was upset with her. She told him that she had to pick & sell my tulips because her mom didn't have any money and they needed groceries. She told Dennis that she'd gotten $9 for the tulips. (Remember she told me she hadn't gotten anything for them.) About that time mom & dad pulled into the driveway to the west of me. I told Dennis, I needed to hang up because the parents were home and I wanted to talk with them before they got into the house. I stepped out into my car port and told them "we've got a problem." After hearing my story, the mother said that Alexis had told them that a lady a few blocks away had said she could pick all the tulips and daffodils she wanted out of her yard. And yes she did come home with $9 and they'd taken her to Target so she could spend the money. The mother did apologize and said she would look into it. The next day mom came over to tell me that Alexis had been punished and that she would be doing extra chores around the house to earn money, so she could give me $9. Then last Sunday afternoon mom came over with a small lilac tree and some Day Lily corms as a peace offering. She said again that Alexis would still have to earn $9 and bring it to me. I already have two lilacs and the bed where I have Day Lilies is full, so I've taken those items back to Lowe's for store credit. Meanwhile I was really mourning the loss of my beautiful tulips, so I called around and found some ready to bloom tulips at a local garden shop. So I went over there the other morning and replenished my tulip crop. They're all planted and I'm hoping they're safe from 10 year old hands. I told Alexis and her parents that she is not allowed on my property any longer. So far she's stayed away. The other day she came right to the edge of my front lawn to ask me a question. I think I got thru to her.The following are pictures I took at the Spring Fair. I was intrigued with the use of ordinary items that people use to create floral displays.







We are considering another road trip. This flu thing will definitely keep us out of Mexico. And that is disappointing, because I was hoping we could do the 7 night cruise to the Mexican Rivera that we cancelled last October when I got sick with bronchitis. Right now we are planning on leaving the morning of May 11th but of course if the Swine Flu gets worse in southern California, we may go some place else or just stay home.

It has spread to Washington state. Several schools were closed this last week when it was discovered that some students were ill with the flu. All had contact with people who recently come back from Mexico. This whole thing is sad, in that people can die from this stuff and it will really hurt the Mexican economy. They depend on those tourist dollars. I know a couple from my area that flew out today to Los Angeles, for the 7 seven night Mexican Rivera cruise but they were contacted by the cruise line that their ship will be going north instead of south. They'll be stopping in San Francisco, Astoria, Oregon, Seattle and Victoria, BC then back to Los Angeles. Not exactly Cabo, Mazatlan and Puerto Vallarta. I know the cruise lines have the best interest of the passengers and crew in mind when they make these decisions and I'm sure those on board will still have a fabulous time.

Well, that's about all for now. Sorry for the long post...hope you're not all asleep with heads down on your keyboards.

Have a wonderful weekend and remember Mother's Day is next Sunday, time to start thinking about that special gift for mom. Until next time.....Linda

P.S. Does anyone out there have one of those cute little Acer Aspire laptops? If so, please let me know what you think of it. I'm considering buying one to replace the old bulky Compaq that doesn't work like it should.