Half way

Isn't it hard to believe that in two days we'll be half finished with 2014?  

Time flies, especially when you're having a great time.  Take a gander at this fun:

 Do you like how the hanging basket holder makes a halo over my angelic hubby?

Matthew must be standing in a hole because he's taller than either Al or Nicholas.

 From this

 to this. 

 Al is afraid that I've been lavenderized.  Walking into the messy Patch kind of makes his eyes water from all the wands in progress.  It's time-consuming but fascinating. 

TCM has kept me sane during the mind-numbing under, over, under, over.  Repeat.  

 Next time I'll get it all tidy and show you how it looks when nothing is happening in the Patch.

All this from one bucket!  6.5 pounds of goodness.  

  I'm searching for a secret code in some of the strangely deformed guys.  What do you see?

Can you smell the lavender from there?

 Al has been working on his project to straighten the driveway for days, maybe weeks.  But see how nice it will be for him to appreciate in his old age?  Notice that those blue sweats just won't die.

 Hurricane Ridge with Matthew, Chrissy and Nicholas.

 It looks like the need to read all about it has been passed on.

 Nick says it's the best burger he's ever eaten.  And eat it he did.  Every crumb. 

 Sorry, Matthew, the picture of you is very blurry and I didn't even have wine. 

 It's Lavender Festival Weekend in Sequim, the lavender capital of North America, so everything every where is, you guessed it, lavender.  Three days of street fairs, music, food, activities, and farm tours.  Some reports say that an expected 30,000 people would visit but one report suggested 50,000!  The population is 6,000, so you figure it out.  

They always have activities to entertain the kids.  

A boy with a new toy

 Not a very good shot, but this was taken at 10:00.  These long days make me feel guilty for not getting more accomplished before dark. Then I get over it.

 Crab season opened last week and our next-door neighbor went down to the bay and came home with this.  This fella was swimming about three hours earlier. 

 Do you think he knew that he gave his life to make us very happy.  

 So Al has this new tool.  A flame thrower to burn the stubborn weeds.  Seems like of silly to me, but he appeared to be enjoying the process. 

He thinks that his favorite ratty sweatshirt looks "much better" turned inside out.  

 All those teeny weeny bits of blue star creeper have performed a miracle and are growing lickety split.  Soon they should spill over the edges and do the creeping thing.

 Okay, check this.  A perfect hydrangea, right? 

 It's the only one on the entire bush!  The one growing about two feet away has hundreds of flowers, (well, okay, dozens) but this one seems to have concentrated all its energy into one stunner.  

What's that all about?

Al didn't plant any pumpkins so I had to knit one for some baby's precious head. 

The beet goes on

 These came from one of the buckets!  

 Is arugula supposed to flower this much?  Who cares, it's pretty.

Window shades are in progress in the bright Patch.  I'm such a lucky woman!