Kitchen Improvements

When our kitchen window frame broke several months ago, we were not able to find anyone to come and repair it.  We finally had to contact a window company and order four new windows for our 30-year-old home.  While it was costly, it was the right thing to do.  The new vinyl windows are energy-efficient, beautiful, and open and close properly.

Here's a picture of my updated kitchen with the new window, faux wood shades, wide-plank hickory flooring, and new sign over the sink.  I love how it all looks!  Also, I just found a wool hooked rug at an antique shop in Duvall several days ago, so now my kitchen is complete!

The Yard in Summer

I wait all year long for the warm spring and summer days to work their magic on our yard.  We just celebrated out 15th anniversary of buying this house on July 4, and it's amazing to see the transformation that 15 years can bring.  We are so pleased at the way everything turned out.  It has truly been a labor of love.

Here is the lush front and back yard.  It's been an extraordinary year for trees, shrubs and flowers.  Also, our fruit trees are loaded with fruit, so we are preparing ourselves for lots of food prep and preserving this year.

Front Yard

Back Yard

Amaro Italian Restaurant--New in Bothell

The Bothell downtown core has been the site of much renovation over the last few years.  The old Anderson School made way for excellent restaurants, a swimming pool, coffee shop, and other high-end businesses.  So, we decided to try the new Italian restaurant, Amaro, a few weeks ago.

It was a wonderful, modern-looking restaurant, with a great wine list and lots of savory foods to complement them.  We opted to share a spinach salad and a Caramelized Onion and Chicken pizza.  It was wonderful!

We'll be going back soon to try other menu items.

Cobblers

I love Summer!  The raspberries are going crazy this year, and we have to pick them daily to keep up with them.  Also, the rhubarb is ready, so what else can I do but make rhubarb/raspberry cobblers?  And raspberry/peach pie, and raspberry bread, and fresh raspberries for breakfast....you get the idea.

Yum.  One word.  Says it all.

Father's Day at the Edmonds Art Fair

We like to celebrate Father's Day by going to the Edmonds Art Fair each year.  It's always fun to see the art, eat great food on the grass, and enjoy the bands that are playing.  It's interesting to talk to the artists and hear their stories.

We bought a beautiful giclee print of a southern Oregon scene from a Lake Oswego artist.  It looks great in the living room over the Lowrey organ.

Visit to North Bend, Washington

My cousin Sue and her husband Mike recently moved to North Bend.  We have so much fun visiting them in their new home, and now my aunt and uncle (Sue's parents) are moving into an assisted living facility in North Bend.  We look forward to our family visits with everyone living in one location soon.

Snoqualmie Falls is nearby, and here are some of the sights we saw on our visit a few weeks ago.

50th High School Reunion Committee Meeting

The Ingraham High School Class of 1968 is coming together for their 50th reunion in 2018!  Our first committee meeting was at the home of Donn Franklin, our school newspaper editor and valedictorian of our class.  His father built a small cabin on the shores of Lake Goodwin, about 40 minutes north of Seattle in the 1950's, and Donn offered this lovely venue as the location of our first meeting to start the planning process.

We had a fun potluck picnic on Midsummer's Eve afternoon.  There were 10 of us who made it to the event, and we had so much fun getting caught up on news, and enjoying the food we brought.  My two home-made pies didn't last long!

Most of us stay in touch on a regular basis, so now the countdown begins:  Go, Rams!

Donn Franklin, Don, Lina Lou, Michelle, Marsha, Brian, Melanie, Bob Burns

View from the Deck

Maltby Pie Company Pies