Spring Yard Update

The yard is looking GREAT!  We have had these beautiful iris plants, but no blooms.  This year we put the all court press on and it paid off in dividends.  Jared made sure that the ivy didn't impede on the plants and Kristina fertilized the crap out of them this spring.  And boy, did the irises bloom!

The rest of the yard looks great too...

And of course Indy loves the GRASS!

Welcome spring!

Picnic Table

We have been searching for a table of some sort for the back deck for quite some time.  We have very specific weather requirements, so that limits our choices a bit.  This spring when we were going to Wallace Falls, we stopped at Sultan and found this (among other stuff),  It fits our requirements beautifully and we are looking forward to spending many evenings this summer eating dinner on it.

Backyard Plant Update

We have several different projects going on in the backyard (as usual), and we are happy to report that things are going well.  Ever since we have moved into the house (almost 4 years ago now), we have had this bunch of Iris plants that always have lots of green leaves, but no Iris flowers. We have maybe gotten one actual bloom each year -- until now.  Finally, this year, the plants seem to be stepping up. It might have something to do with Jared clearing out all of the ivy from around the plants themselves and Kristina fertilizing them almost to the point of no return with organic fertilizer!  Anyway, we have blooms and lots of them.  This is only the first one, but as you can tell from the other photos, there are more to come...YIPPEE!

And, the peonies seem to be getting in on the action as well.  Kristina has her hopes up that she actually gets some peony blooms this year.  One plant has two promising buds as you can see from the photos.  Again, Kristina has been fertilizing them as much as possible.  Two of three bushes still look questionable, but at least one bush has TWO blooms.  Kristina loves peonies and will take whatever she can get at this point.

And last but not least, the fruit is doing well.  Kristina finally broke down and bought a strawberry pot this year and planted strawberry plants in it.  And the berries are doing well.  If only we can keep the squirrels at bay...that remains to be seen.

The Meyer Lemon Tree is doing well too -- it has TWO lemons on it and is doing quite well now that it is outside again.  We moved into the house over the winter and it really doesn't like that.  However, it is either that or death. It seemed to prefer life and is doing fairly well.  We haven't had any lemons on it until this year.  :)

Again note that these photos were taken with Kristina's Samsung Galaxy S4.

Kristina's New Cube View

As already discussed on this blog, Kristina has a new job and is still getting used to her surroundings.  Everything these days is open concept. Something that she doesn't particularly like (no privacy), but she understands why it is so popular these days. 

Please note:  Companies that hire engineers need to understand that engineers need to THINK, therefore, open concept is not always the best idea.

The other day, Kristina got up from her chair to stretch a bit and when she stood up and turned around to look out the window, she realized that this is her view!  What a fantastic view of part of the Cascades! Maybe open concept isn't so bad after all!  That being said, Kristina doesn't care of the open concept, but she does love her new view!

Again, please not that these pictures were taken with Kristina's Samsung Galaxy S4.

Spring Visitor

This spring we had a new visitor in the backyard -- a hooded merganser.  Please check out this link for more info.

After doing some research, it made perfect sense why the hooded merganser was hanging out in our Pileated Woodpecker House. Apparently when it is time for the hooded merganser to have her babies she looks for old Woodpecker habitats to hang out for a few weeks, has her babies, and then they all leave to find a water way.  While we didn't see her babies, she followed this behavior perfectly.

Here are some photos we snapped of her while she visited.

She even hung out on the ground for a few days as well.

It was pretty cool to have her visit.

A Short Hike in the Rain

We have been working too hard, so we decided to get out of town for a short hike.  It was a rainy day, but that doesn't matter to us Washingtonians.  We packed up the truck and the dog and headed out for an afternoon.

We decided to go to Wallace Falls.  It is always packed there, but since it is a crummy day in most people's opinion, we decided to chance it.  Good choice!  The parking lot was empty and we had the path we took pretty much to ourselves.

We went on the alternate railroad path and not the path that goes right by the stream.  That being said, we still had plenty of good scenery and all three of us got some much needed time away.

As you can tell from Jared's hood -- rain!  Of course, Indy doesn't care.  Rain?, she says.  I don't feel a thing!  Let's keep hiking!

This photo is a bit blurry, but you can see the "happy look" on Indy's face!  PRICELESS!

Also, please note that these pictures were taken with Kristina's Samsung Galaxy S4, so not an actual camera.

April Rain

More rain than usual in April, we collected 4.68" on the back deck at our house.  Even though it is a bummer that it rained so much, we have both been so busy at work, we haven't had much free time enjoy good weather anyway.  :)

However, the yard is coming along and looking very good -- so it is definitely taking advantage of the extra rain.  The plants and flowers Kristina planted are looking good too.  Maybe by the time Mother's Day comes along, we'll be able to show you some good looking yard photos!

Happy May!