So only two posts ago I was lamenting on the lack of sunshine and had pretty much given up on my sunny weather crops. Yet here I sit, sweltering ( for a Seattlite anything over 80 degrees is sweltering ) with the forecast predicting a least a week more of this gloriously warm sunshine. And look! My warm weather crops are making a showing! The lemon cucumbers that Husband planted with great faith and excitement and I kind of just shrugged at are producing like gang busters. As is the "Matt's Wild Cherry" cherry tomato that we got as a start from Rents Due Ranch.
I don't remember if I mentioned it but earlier in the season our green beans did, simply put, pitiful. So in frustration I ripped them all out and replanted later than could really be called viable. So it was with great surprise and delight that I walked out to discover a few fully grown green beans! woot woot! Now I can make my very favoritest simply summer salad. Just cut up a few cukes, put in a handful or so of tomatoes, snap some green beans and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic et voila! Sometimes I add feta to beef it up a bit for a nice lunch.
Also unexpected was our beets which were looking very wimpy and then today all of a sudden boom, they exploded! So I get to make another favorite summer salad. Steamed beets with goat cheese, and roasted pecans drizzled with balsamic. At Tutta Bella Pizzeria they make a similar salad but with pistachios which contrast so prettily with the red beets.
While the sun may be shining I can't shake the feeling that this is the last hoorah for warmth and fall is still looming around the corner. Geez what a pessimist! That feeling is sparking my wanderlust though. So last weekend Husband and I packed up the car and the dog and headed out for adventures on Vashon/Maury Island. As we live in the south end of Seattle it is no biggy to catch the ferry in West Seattle over to the idyllic Vashon. We didn't have specific plans and we drove for the pleasure of exploring and discovered plenty of pretty tiny public beaches, meandering roads that were impossible to get lost on and a few specific gems. we stopped at a very cool nursery and garden by the name of Dig.
The selection was a bit dry this late in the season but the ideas! Superb! They had re purposed a bunch of old culverts into various things like this awesome dog castle. They had planted some kind of moss on the inside so this very sweet doggy had a nice place to lay down.
A fantastic fountain, again using pieces of culvert. This has inspired Husband and I to decide that we NEED a water feature.
We then found the Point Robinson Lighthouse and park. Ruby was free to run around on the beach and zip around on the driftwood and swim in the Sound. It was so nice to sit in the sun and look at Mt. Rainier in the distance and feel lucky and grateful for the beautiful place that we live in.
So fueled with new ideas and inspirations and deliciously tired from playing in the sunshine we boarded the ferry home very happy indeed.
