Young Sailors...and Great Parents

The local sailing club to which we belong is the site of an annual Youth Regatta that includes youth sailing clubs from all over the Pacific Northwest. The regatta is hosted by a Portland club but held at our club because...well, because it's a nice club with a nice lake and good camping facilities.

These kids are fun to watch.They have such enthusiasm and are so good.They aren't afraid to jump on a boat they've never sailed before and that has unfamiliar rigging.After a few instructions from the boat owners and within a few minutes of leaving the dock, they're heeled over and flying across the water; laughing and grinning from ear-to-ear.It's pretty fun to watch.

There were over 70 boats that participated in the regatta this year; everything from very small, single-handed boats to 3-person crews on Lightnings. We watched this pair of Lightnings approach the finish line from our house deck before driving down to the club...that was fun! This picture was also taken from our deck.

I admire these kids. They are polite, they are attentive and they are having fun.

I also admire their parents. They encourage their kids to participate in an activity they love.

And they're sitting right there ... all day ... cheering on their kids, taking pictures, and waiting to congratulate them on a fine race. No matter where in the pack they finished.

Flowers, Flowers, Flowers

I do love flowers. And it seems my favorite flower changes each time a new blossom appears. I absolutely love peonies. No doubt about it. However, they're pretty short-lived here in the PNW. The rain turns my beautiful light pink peony rusty before the powdery mildew sets in. But for the first few days...man, I love that flower. When we go perennial shopping in the early spring, we always pick up some African Daisies. The colors are so wonderful and as long as I remember to deadhead regularly, their little bright faces bloom up at me throughout the summer. This purple variety is one we pick up each year. But we also saw the yellow ones with the purple centers this year...and they were just too lovely to pass up. And of course, when the clematis is blooming, well, there's nothing quite like it. The shower of flowers that cover the vine are spectacular. Most of our clematis blooms in the April-May timeframe because it gets the early spring sun. However, we have two vines that are pretty shaded until June when they start growing. As luck would have it, one of them is also blooming now: Anyone who grows clematis knows that it likes its feet in the cool shadows but its head in the sun.We've struggled with that over the years but really did get it right with this particular plant. It's beautiful...and, of course, one of my favorite flowers! I was in flower heaven! Then, our daylilies started blooming. And while some daylilies are okay, we have one variety that is simply stunning. Well, it's stunning to me. The colors remind me of a tropical sunset. And since I LOVE the tropics, this becomes my favorite flower. I marvel at how frilly the petals are - as if the dramatic color wasn't enough, it has to have frilly petals, too! And the Asiatic lilies are blooming now.The coloring certainly isn't as dramatic as the daylilies but the smell...oh mama, the smell! One blossom is fragrant enough to fill a room.I know because I cut one blossom and put it on our dining room table. And I can smell that one bloom in the kitchen. It's amazing. Another plant I get every year is an Angel's Trumpet. The first time I saw this plant was in Costa Rica many years ago. There, it grows to a tree size. All I could do was stare at it. The blossoms were out-of-this-world incredible to me. And I swore I would have one if I could find them here. Well, I've had several since then but have never managed to over-winter one successfully. It may because I keep it in a pot. I suspect it would do better planted in the ground near the house. But I need to have it close to me so I can stare at the blossoms. That picture isn't the best...the sun was on the wrong side. This picture is better. Is that not gorgeous? It is my favorite flower today...and probably tomorrow and the next day, too. I love the name, I love the shape, I love the color, I love that it reminds me of a wonderful vacation with Randy and some great friends. And I love that it makes me think of my parents and brother every time I look at those blossoms. Because for me, Dennis, Mom and Dad are my angels and I like to think that these are what their heavenly trumpets look like. Gotta run...I think I hear a trumpet!

Wildflowers

First, let me say that I am not a fan of dandylions. I consider them weeds in the flower garden of my life. Okay, I admit it, I'm not poetically inclined.

I don't like wild blackberries either. I hate being pricked by those thorns!

When I see either of these plants growing in the yard, I yank them out by their nasty little roots.

That said, I decided to shoot some close-up pictures of them while we were down at the river last week.

And I must admit that when I looked at them close-up and personal, I was pretty impressed.

They were actually pretty and I loved the bright yellow color on that dismal, gray day. I did mention that it's still raining here in the Pacific Northwest, didn't I?

But I digress...

Even the blackberry vine blooms are pretty if you ignore the fact that the vine itself is very invasive and has long, nasty, prickly thorns that grab onto your clothes and hold you in their tight little grasp. They're just nasty, I tell you. But the blooms on the blackberry vines? Well, they kinda make you forget about the thorns.

Finished...well, almost

I made college quilts for our niece and nephew who graduated from high school this spring. They're both off to Los Angeles this fall to attend college and while they might not need quilts in California, I thought it would be a nice idea for them to be able to wrap themselves in a warm hug if they start feeling a bit homesick. Sappy of me, I know, but it's who I am. Here's Emily's finished quilt top:

And here's Jack's quilt:Right now, the tops are waiting for their turn to be quilted by a local machine quilter who does exceptional work. In fact, I'm probably more anxious to see the final quilts because I know the quality of work this quilter does.

If you're interested in either of these patterns, you can download the instructions for free at http://www.maryquilts.com/. She's written easy-to-follow instructions for many patterns. Just scroll down and check out the left column under Instruction Sheets!

I never thought I'd ask but...where's the wind?

The local sailing club that we belong to had its annual regatta on the 5th and 6th of June. With all the rain we've had, the lake was very full and all of the sailors were ready for a great weekend of racing. Unfortunately, Saturday was a beautiful day - the kind you wish for with sunshine streaming down, temperatures in the low 70s, and a very slight breeze. Perfect! Except if you want to sail. There were over 70 boats registered to participate, with a couple of sailors flying in from East Coast and midwestern states. At one point, the breeze seemed to pick up. The race committee spotted it from the docks.You could see the wind filling in on the far side of the lake. Everyone dashed to docks, untied their boats and hoisted the sails...it was time to sail!

Well, maybe not.

Only one race got run on Saturday and from what I heard, it was a pretty slow race. When I got to the club around 3pm, the sailors were sitting around the club grounds visiting and anxiously watching the water. Watching for wind...that never came. This is Team Frenzy...being hopeful that the wind is filling in!Oh well, there was still Sunday. And if conditions were right, it would be possible to get enough races in for the regatta to still count. Randy and I had volunteered to prepare the Sunday morning breakfast. When we woke at 6:30am, we could hearing the rain beating down on the roof. It wasn't a good sound. We hurried to the club to get coffee started and pancakes mixed for those sailors who were camping. Let me be very clear, this wasn't just rain. This was like monsoon-type rain. It was rain like we get in January. The amount of rain forecasters warn could trigger flash floods. And there just didn't seem to be an end to it. It finally let up - just a bit - about 11:30. With rain gear donned, the sailors headed out once again. Only to have what little wind there was, die completely just as the race committee was preparing to start the first fleet race. The sailors floated around on the lake for well over an hour before cancelling the races. Let me just make this point...Sailors aren't very happy people when they don't get to sail.

Rain, Rain and More Rain

I've been very bad about posting. Or rather about NOT posting.

It's not that I haven't thought about posting lately. It's just that the rain has me down. I keep thinking that as soon as the sun comes out, my mood will lift and good thoughts will come pouring out.

I've been waiting now for over three weeks. The sun was out Saturday but I wasn't home (a different post still to be written) so couldn't blog then.

And while there are thoughts pouring out of my head today as I watch the rain pelting the ground yet again, I don't think I'm quite ready to share most of those thoughts; they come from a dark, dank place deep inside. Plus, I'm not sure that kind of language is proper for blogs!

Suffice it to say, we've had a LOT of rain in the past two months - like record-setting amounts of rain. This is Rose Festival week in Portland so it's natural that it should be raining. It pretty much always rains during Rose Festival.

Despite the rain, we do still get Charli down to the river for her daily swim. We discovered on Thursday of last week, however, that our beautiful sandy beach has been consumed by water.

See that red line?

Yeah, that one. That's normally where we walk on a nice sandy beach; it's now under several feet of water. So we can't walk. We just walk to the bottom of the path and stop.

And Randy throws the bumper for Charli.

And she swims out to retrieve it because...well, because she loves to swim and she's a labrador retriever...it's what she does. And while Charli loves to run on the beach and roll in the sand, she really loves to swim. So, even though there's no beach for us to walk, we continue our daily trips to the river.Because Charli doesn't care if there's a beach; she just wants to swim.