Timmburrrr......................

We have a small line of trees in the front yard, on the east side of the property.  Growing beside the Spruce and the White Fir are a few Aspen.  Sadly, the Aspen have been dying one at a time.  During a recent wind storm quite a few branches broke off of a couple of the dying trees.  This morning Bruce decided he needed to do some logging.  Timing was very important - not before 8 am to be polite to the neighbors and not after 10 am because of fire danger.  Got this pictures in my pj's from the front deck.

Nice load of firewood stacked under the tree ready for the fire pit this fall.  Nice job Bruce! 

Sunday Morning

After a late night on Saturday, nothing could of been more peaceful than having breakfast on the patio at the Oergel Resort.  The sun was shining and the pool was perfectly blue.  Breakfast was amazing. 

This morning Marcus told me he had a surprise to show me.  He opened the freezer and pulled out three balloons filled with colored water.  Marcus remembered Gia and I did this for a treat at Christmas for some color in the snow.

This is the "flashback" picture from Christmas.....

Marcus carefully removed the balloons from the ice and started placing them around.

Emma got into the act and helped move the blue ball.

Marcus made three colors - blue, green and pink.

I was hoping to capture the ice, with the water fall, but apparently the water was too warm already this morning.

Olivia loved the ice too.  I bet there will be lots of ice balls in the pool for the next summer party!

After only a few minutes the ice balls started to melt so the kids took them to their flower pots and placed them so the plants would get water.

We left for home and along the way I spotted this family going on a camping trip.  Boy, if this was in black and white, it would be hard to tell that it is a current picture.  

Spokane Baseball

On one of the most perfect summer nights we attended the Spokane Indians baseball game.  Avista, Marc's company, hosted an employee picnic at the stadium and we got to go along.  We arrived at 4:00 and received coupons for hot dogs, pop, chips,and even ice cream.  

Otto the team mascot invited everyone down to try their skills are batting.

Marcus was first out of the dugout.  Wham, Bam he smacked the ball every time it came his way!

 Marc took his turn at the plate, hitting the ball just about out of the park!  Olivia was cheering him on while she waited her turn.  I think Emma was acting as her Dad's agent at this point.

Olivia and Emma each took a turn with the bat.  The event also included a bunch of fun games with great prizes and a petting zoo.

Marcus took advantage of the free glow stick necklaces the front office was handing out in anticipation of the firework show.

Oh Look!  I can see the Silo at the Spokane Fairgrounds in the background!  That is where the Farm Chicks show is held every June.  

The stadium is beautiful!  After the win by the Indians the field lights went out and we were treated to a spectacular fireworks show.  Prefect ending to a great day.  Thanks Marc and Tracie for inviting us to come along.  

UPDATE:  Below are some photo's the professional photographer posted on the team website.  They made them available for sharing.  How nice is that?

Blueberry Picking

Bruce and I went blueberry picking this morning along the Kootenai River.


Cowcreek Blueberry Farm has a fabulous garden just ripe for the picking. 

     After just about an hour we had a full bucket of blueberries.  Six pounds at $3 a pound, not bad for less than 60 minutes.                                  The blueberries are actually slow to ripen this year.  Huge berries, but late in July, almost August.

Last year we hit the end of the harvest on July 16th.  Kim and Tracy brought their kids to help pick.  I think these are great pictures that I haven't shared on the blog so now I am.

 Elle and Gia looking so pretty picking the ripe berries.

 
 Sophie on the left and Baylor on the top.

 
 Gia, Elle and Ceci worked this bush together.  After a great morning we had our quota of berries for our blueberry pancakes in the coming months.  I even took some to Arizona last winter to share.  
Cheers to a job well done! 

Yard visitors

 
This pretty butterfly hung out in the lavender for a while this morning.  I was a little surprised at how hairy the body of this insect was. I believe this is a  Painted Lady.

 
My favorite picture is this one - love those beautiful rings of color.

 
Gnomes and Toads - who could ask for more? The giant toad was in the bottom of the water feature today.  Bruce fished him out and now he is happily hanging out in my flower garden. 

 
The hummingbird feeder has been humming with birds!  I had no idea how much noise these little birds actually make.  Ceci and I watched a group of about 8 birds doing aerobatics in front of the kitchen window.

 
I do believe a good picture of a hummingbird is hard to take!  Actually I have a few I took in Arizona I will share when I find them.............................................

 Found them!  These were taken in February of 2018 in front of our friends park model.

 The hummingbird showed up and took a bath in the solar fountain.

The right place at the right time!  I still love these pictures.