Cherry Harvest Part 2

Remember my wish for more house guests that would help pick cherries?  Well, Marlis agreed to put on an old t-shirt and climb a ladder and between the two of us, we picked most of the purple cherry tree on Saturday afternoon,

Purple cherries.  They are huge this year.

There were we several cherries left up beyond our reach so Sunday morning yet another house guest helped pick those!

Wait....who is this fellow?

Oh, it's Reynald!!

Baxter is always on hand to help.

Beautiful fruit this year.

Yesterday morning I pitted the sweet cherries and bagged them in gallon zip locks and popped them in the freezer.  One day I'll turn them in to jam, or use them in smoothies or use them for baking.  The possibilities are endless.

Cherries and cherry pitter.  This is a super handy tool for pitting sweet cherries.

It makes quite a mess though.  Cherry juice splatter was every where!

7 one gallon zip lock bags ready to go in to the freezer.

Still left to pick is the pie cherry tree.  That is on the plan for this week!

The pie cherry tree is loaded again this year, 

Cherry pie will soon be on the dessert menu.

And after that, the biggest harvest of all......

Rolinco Road Resort

It's been a very busy week here at the resort.  Guests started arriving on Tuesday and the last check out is scheduled for this coming Monday.  It took some careful scheduling by our event manager to make sure we weren't over booked!

Guests range from college friends who are now dropping their kiddo off for college, (Go Cougs!) travelers from the east coast, Paul and Jean (future family, which we may as well just leave off the future) and Warren, who spends summers in the inland Northwest and the rest of the year in NYC, and finally, Dennis and Marlis arrive today after spending some time investigating possible living arrangements in Eastern Washington.

We LOVE having house guests as each one brings a different perspective and personality to add to our collective attitude about life.  We are so lucky to have these influences and treasure each and every moment spent over a meal and wine one the porch.

Summer does mark the beginning of tourist season here at the RRR and the first day of summer did not disappoint.  It was a spectacular longest day of the year, and though the night was short, the Full Strawberry Moon did it's best to draw our attention to the night sky.  It could not be ignored!

This image was taken in the early morning hours of the following day.  The Full Strawberry Moon, unwilling to yield to the rising sun in the east.

Lest you think this a full service resort, most guests have to work for their supper.  This week Mary Ann helped pick one of the sweet cherry trees and oh my goodness did we get the cherries!  Baxter supervised our work effort.  There is still one tree to pick, and.....sigh.....Mary Ann has checked out of their room.

Rainier cherries waiting to be picked.

Baxter the supervisor.  It was a windy day so his ears were, at times, standing straight up!

Six boxes of cherries from our one little tree!

I canned 21 quarts, made two batches of sweet cherry jam and gave three boxes to Beth to deal with!

The purple cherry tree has yet to be picked.  Hoping for more house guests to arrive!!

As guests circulate in and out, I sneak in a little time to work in the yard and garden.  I have a cluster of lilies that is spectacular every year, and this year was no exception.  I decided to cut some and bring them inside to greet guests this week.

Lilies from the west side flower bed.  

We had a superb, though extremely short, visit with Paul and Jean and wedding plan files and notebooks were filled, lists made, plans discussed, questions and "what if's" asked and some answered, and more created.

There was some time, at the end of the day, for some front porch sittin' and the evening was spectacular.  Again, I over photograph the sunset, but readers always have the option of fast forward.

It was as little chilly on the west porch so we bundled up with jackets and porch quilts.

The color or the evening was striking.

Leo loves taking in the last rays of the sun perched on a fence post.

Baxter loves taking in the last rays of the sun on a lap and a porch quilt!

And now, the last of the color for the day.  Peace and quiet and a good night of rest to follow.

Bee Garden

The bee garden under the windmill has been blooming like crazy the last two weeks.  I have a bit of a balance issue.  The poppies are all on the south side and the coreopsis are all on the north!  This is an easy fix.  Once everything goes to seed I will scatter some of each on the opposite side.

As seems to be my habit, I take more photos than perhaps need to be shared, and then I can't decide which ones to weed out, so  end up including quite a few more than is probably necessary!

Grab a cup of coffee and buzz through these images of bright and happy flowers.  The bees are frantic, trying to keep up with all that is blooming right now!

The bee garden!

Poppies

This is taken on the north side of the bee garden, facing south.  You can see that  it's very yellow on this side!

Coreopsis makes me smile!

This is a better illustration of my color imbalance!

These sweet peas went to seed last summer and I'm so happy they did!

They are so fragrant.  I cut some to bring in the house last night and the bouquet is perfuming the kitchen and dining room.

Bees love poppies.

And there are lots to love!

The day I took the bee garden photos, we  had another spectacular sunset.   It's such a treat to sit on the porch, with a glass of wine, after a long day of work, and take in the color and peace that comes at the end of our day on the farm.

Last of the Big Apple

Already a week and a half has flown by since we were on the east coast.  We have been working from dawn 'til dark, and dawn comes awfully early and dark awfully late these day!

Sunday morning we took another quick tour of New York City, this time with Paul at the tour guide helm.  He had a very ambitious itinerary, which he was confident we could accomplish.  Needless to say, we didn't, but that's OK!  Now we know where to start the next time we go!

We drove past the UN building, several embassies, stopped by Grand Central Station and then caught the subway and rode for a few stops, saw a parade, got stuck in a traffic jam, walked around the Lincoln Center plaza, got a glimpse of the Empire State Building, and had the most wonderful lunch at a delightful French Bakery and Fromagerie.

Enjoy the last few images from a superb trip.....

Grand Central Station

Roni and David inside Grand Central.  Since it was a Sunday morning, there weren't very many people.

The Empire State Building.

The Parade.  This group was very interesting.  They had a percussion unit and several xylophones.  The musical selection ran from the Marlboro Man to the Chicken Dance!  We were all laughing our heads off!  Try to imagine, if you will, the chicken dance with percussion and xylophone, or better yet, the Marlboro Man theme!

I could live on food like this.  Definitely not farm fare!  It was SO good

On our way back to Boston we saw this interesting vehicle at a rest stop.  Made us feel like we were home again!

Speaking of home, it's always great to be back home, but what a fabulous adventure we had.  We could not have asked for better tour guides, bed/breakfast/lunch and dinner hosts.  Looking forward to repaying the hospitality that was shown to us.  Thank you Jean and Paul and everyone else that we had the pleasure to meet.

Bridal Shower

Last week Friday my mom and I were in New York City!  A week later, here on the farm, is quite a contrast.  Both settings unique and vibrant in their own way.

Saturday morning Jean took us to visit a beautiful garden estate which was once a private home and grounds, but is now managed by a non-profit.  Everything is so green and lush.  Such a contrast to our part of the world!  We wandered around the grounds for a little over an hour, appreciating the design of the landscape and I was especially fond of the statuary, which you will see in the following photos.  I really love garden statuary for some reason!

The back of the Greenwood home as seen through the gardens.

The tea room!  Alicia, Roni Jo and Jean

Alicia and Roni Jo

I would LOVE to have these frogs in my yard!!!!

Water features are so much work and maintenance, as illustrated by this abandoned water pond in the garden.  

But, if I had a water feature, I would definitely have to have this darling  statue!  I love the sweet face of this little boy, clutching a heron in each arm!  Pretty sure we know where the water would come our of this statue!

Another sweet faced little fellow.

And Pegasus is a garden statue must.

I would like to share a few images of the delightful bridal shower that we attended last Saturday.  It was a warm and sunny day, absolutely beautiful.  The event was hosted at Jean's friend Stephanie's gorgeous New Jersey countryside home.  Everything about the day was memorable.

Stephanie's beautiful home in the Jersey country side.

We all loved this bridal veil welcome on the front door of Stephanie's home.

Tables were decorated with fresh flower arrangements, featuring sunflowers, Roni's favorite flower.  Each table also had a photo of Roni Jo and David, this one depicting their "sports years"!

A portion of the stunning back yard.   

We gathered for light appetizers on the patio.

The shower hostesses quizzed David about Roni's favorites.  Cougar Gold cheese from Washington State University Creamery is on the top of that list!  Peppy Party Meatballs were also on the menu!!

David joined us for most of the afternoon, which was delightful.

There's a long story behind these aprons, which was a super fun, and personalized gift from David's mom, Jean.  

David feigning embarrassment when Roni opened this pretty negligee!

I spent some time this winter making these cross stitch Christmas stockings.  I also made a darling advent calendar, with lots of redesign help from my friend Brenda.  It's because of her, that it was darling!

Roni Jo and David with the ribbon bouquet, expertly crafted by Susan, a shower guest.

I love this photo of Roni Jo and Grandma Jo!

Roni Jo with the shower hosts....Heidi, Stephanie, Roni Jo, Marianne and Kathy,  

Thank you, thank you, to everyone that made this a terrific day, full of wonder and amazement, generosity and love.