Long Week

REHOMING: Earlier this week, we finally decided it was time to 'rehome' a couple dozen of our extra tomato and tomatillo plants.

We loaded them up into a couple of big aluminum trays and put then down by our communal mailbox with stickers encouraging passersby to take some home with them. 

We left the trays out for about 24 hours, and all but a half dozen disappeared in that time.

They look pretty healthy, don't they? And how do you like my eclectic collection of 'pots'? I had to get creative with the containers, we had so many plants.

Today, Christian took the leftovers and left them out for co-workers to take.  

PLAY THE GAME: We managed to squeeze in a couple new-to-us games this week. One was Fantasy Fluxx. We own numerous Flux games of various themes (everything from Star Trek to pirates, Christmas to chemistry).

We also played a card game called Dungeon Mayhem. It's a quick-to-learn little game where your character is trying to kill off other players' characters.  

CJ enjoyed being a barbarian.

In the end, I outlasted my opponents, so I liked the new game. ;) 

QUIET TIME: A dearth of news from MPA this week. Apologies. It's not that we haven't been doing anything, it's just that we've been doing lots of things, including some super Not Fun things for at least one of us - namely me. I had two gnarly dentist appointments this week, plus a couple of other issues, and wasn't exactly at the top of my game. That, and Laika is limping around with an injury. Unfortunately, $500 and no diagnosis, that's still a mystery. Hopefully things will be on the upswing soon. The kids are staying busy with classes. Tonight, Annabelle had her weekly Gage for Teens session, while the rest of us we watched a movie for CJ's World Cinema class. The movie was a Colombian film, "Birds of Passage."

Here's a trailer if you want to check it out.

 

 The movie covers a span of nearly 20 years, showing the genesis of an indigenous Wayuu family becomes involved in the booming Colombian drug trade of the 1970s, and how that affects nearly every aspect of their lives as the entanglement progresses over time. 

It is definitely not a 'feel good' movie by any means. Rather, it's one of those where you start muttering, "This isn't going to end well," about a third of the way in. The film chronicles the sad descent into violence and a changed way of life for those involved. 

APPLYING THEMSELVES: With spring quarter winding down, and fall a few weeks away, there's been talk of the kids trying to find some summer work. So, we've spent a few hours updating their resumes and crafting cover letters. CJ sent out his first application on Thursday, and today he already had an email asking for an interview at a museum next week. Cool!

Annabelle will likely make her first online application tomorrow. She's targeting artsy opportunities to start out.

SUMMER FUN: News about free, fun activities for students to do over the summer thanks to the National Air and Space Museum came via email this week. The museum has opened up all of their "Anytime Expeditions" to everyone effective May 24, 2021.  You can find the resources for these activities, which are designed for different grade bands from grades 1-12, at:

https://airandspace.si.edu/learn/programs-and-activities/virtual-field-trips/grades-3-up

To see what's available, you scroll down to the program you are interested in, and press the "+" next to "Related Resources" to access the activities for that program.

Flowery Field Trip

 

SPYING IRISES: Midday Saturday we took a quick field trip to a place just a couple of blocks to our north, Leonine Iris. We'd noticed the place on walks through the neighborhood shortly after moving here almost 4 years ago. We'd admired their smallish front yard, which is packed with Pacific Northwest irises. Little did we know, that's just a small part of their collection, which runs through both side yards and encompasses their entire backyard, as well.

Thanks to a post on Nextdoor, we learned that every Saturday in May, Leonine Iris has open garden tours, so we stopped by for a visit.

A slice of the back yard, looking back toward the house.

According to their website,  www.leonineiris.com, their primary focus is on Pacific Coast Iris, "although we grow a significant representation of all other types of iris as well. Our ultimate goal is to create a living archive to preserve as many of the older Pacific Coast Iris hybrids as possible. We currently grow over 350 named PCI hybrids, along with many as yet unregistered seedlings, and are constantly seeking to expand the collection."

There were labels next to each iris. Apologies that I didn't get photos of them. You'll just have to guess what kind each of these are. ;) That, or go to Leonine Iris' website, where they have photos and labels for most all of their irises. 

I like the edge of the petals on this one. 

Check out these almost black buds!

Such strange flowers!

Annabelle amidst the irises, in one corner of the back yard.

I love how the veins on this iris pop. (I realize they're probably not called veins, but I'll be you know what I mean.)

The one below almost looks like a pair of eyes, a mouth, and a fancy nose.

There were so many bumblebees in the gardens! Bumblebees must really love irises.

The next two have colors of a sunrise or sunset.

Pretty spectacular.

Lots of pinks and purples in the gardens.

I thought it funny that the iris below is called "Oregon Watercolor" when it's Washington Husky colors.

Some of my favorite flowers in the garden weren't even irises. Check out these cute little blossoms on the Kalmia shrub. They kind of look like candy to me. 

I figured I *had* to include a photo of one of the irises growing in our yard. Another interesting blend of purple and yellow/gold on one flower. I have to wonder if whoever planted it was a Husky fan. 

FAMILIAR FACE: On Thursday morning, we watched par of a hearing by the House Natural Resources Committee. The Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States, led by Chair Teresa Leger Fernández, was hosting a legislative hearing on the RESPECT Act and STOP Act. The two bills require the federal government to engage in meaningful consultation with federally recognized tribes to prohibit the export of sacred Native items and increase the penalties for illegal trafficking. The hearing was of interest for more than one reason. FIrst, preserving Native artifacts is an important topic, second because CJ is studying Native Americans in his current Pacific Northwest History class, and third, my cousin Lauren van Schilfgaarde, an attorney and who is a member of the Cochiti Pueblo tribe, was testifying. It was interesting to hear about the bills and the work being done on this matter. You can see the hearing here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP8lSl7n1is

FEEDING TEENS: This Saturday was the fourth of the month, so for us, that meant prepping a whole lot of food for Teen Feed. 

The menu was inspired by a summer picnic: Fried chicken, potato salad, macaroni salad, baby carrots with ranch dip, and a choice of strawberry shortcake or Oreo chocolate mousse.  (I suspect some guests had both kinds of dessert.)

CJ and Annabelle helped, of course. CJ cut 15 cups of strawberries. 

Annabelle helped fill over 90 little ramekins with ranch, for dipping carrots in.

We fired up the Flair and baked up about 80 shortcakes, including gluten free and vegan options.  

We picked up 196(!) pieces of chicken from a store in White Center. You can imagine how my car smelled after driving around for about 45 minutes with that much fried chicken on board.  

The dinner went well, and before long we'll be thinking about a menu to serve for next month. 

PARTING SHOT: Kirby, living her best life. And this is *after* the haircut, I kid you not.