Fall Days & The Great Outdoors

We were spoiled in Park City with so much nature in the near vicinity. But, we're reminded every day that Seattle is quite amazing as well. Here are a few photos of us out and about in the neighborhood, and right in our own back yard (literally).

Isaac and Dad Hiking at Carkeek Park

 Isaac Picking Apples in Our Backyard

Isaac with Lodi at Carkeek Park

Photos of Our House

Fall is Here!

Weekend Happenings

Isaac's introduction to the yard.  Overall, a success. Except when Lodi took his stick.

A fun afternoon Sounders game on Saturday. Sounders FC defeated Chicago Fire 2-1. We needed this win!

Spent a few hours in the yard... "after" pictures

Explora-Saurus-Rex (he gained a lot of confidence walking on the bumpy ground and every once in a while he put a leaf in the yard-waste bin)

We dog-sat Tony & Amanda's dog Sangie this weekend. Lodi is a happy & tired boy tonight.

Dinner at Snoose Junction with neighbors Grace, Phil & daughter Irene (6 months old)

Plum Harvest

Ready for harvesting!

We picked lots and lots of plums... at least 3-4 big grocery bags full.  We gave a lot away, but kept some to eat and cook with.  Here are the two concoctions we whipped up this year:

Plum Muffins = delicious! (who knew?)

And Plum Jam.  It turned out pretty well and it was my first time canning (I'd prefer the jam to be a thicker consistency, but it tastes great. it would be fabulous over baked brie).

Fence

We fenced in the backyard this weekend. It looks great thanks to Eric's handy work.

The Hedge gets a haircut

One thing we have come to learn over the years is how wonderful our friends and family are. Especially friends that own power tools :)

This week our friend Ed came over with some snazzy gas-powered hedge cutting devices and the boys went to work. It went from a hippy look to a buzz cut.

Before/During:


look how high and uneven it is....





"After": All even and quite a bit smaller! looks great...




We also got most of the weeds/grass in the front yard cleared, and the maple tree and creeping jenny are doing great:

The Front Yard Project

We are slowly taking on the 'front yard project'.
It is slowly morphing. Here is the history:

Because of our neglect of it last summer (when we were focusing on the inside of the house), weeds had taken over. So this weekend we are working on clearing out the space again, and spend some time and resources on the yard in the next couple of months.

Today we started clearing weeds and planted a new weeping willow.

Exterior Design

It's never Halloween season without the ceremonial carving of the pumpkin.
Here is my creation this year, with a special thanks to the handy dry-wall saw which totally trumps the usual kitchen knife (although the pairing knife was handy at the end). Thanks, dry-wall saw--- I never knew what I was missing. (and, no... I did NOT use a cheesy kit or stencil for my work of art... lol).


The pictures look way cooler without a flash, but to get the whole affect, you have to also see it with the flash, so you can see that it is attached to a stake with a pirate bandanna :)