Wildfire Highway-Hop ~

Hello Hello!
For those of you who read my last newsletter, I have to apologize because I asked you to check your inbox for a forthcoming newsletter that didn't happen until now.  I had a lot of irons in the fire....literally.  The most recent was the wildfires of California that closed the freeways as my daughter, Aliece, and I tried to make the drive home from Santa Barbara where she worked all summer. 
 

We stopped in San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge and we couldn't even see it for the fog and smoke.  



These pictures are taken at 10:30 in the morning.  It was an eerie experience not being able to see the iconic tall towers of the bridge. 

From San Francisco we were going to drive highway 101 all the way up the coast, but we ended up having to zig-zag to Interstate 5 and back a couple times to avoid fires and closed freeways.  We made it home safe, but my heart aches for all of the people suffering loss due to the fires. 

My brother lives in Oregon and is on alert to prepare to evacuate and my friends at Pine Lodge Labradoodles evacuated with all of their puppies.(Click Here to read more.)  If you are affected by the fires, let me know. If you aren't but would like to help out, The Red Cross is a good place to donate.  (Click Here for more information.)


Willowbrook Celebrates a Wedding ~



On a lighter note, my last newsletter (Click HERE to read) shared pictures of our family reunion flower gathering bike ride and I promised to share with you the 'why' behind it all.  Well, my lovely niece Lucy married a wonderful gentleman named Payton in Utah this past June.  So we added a celebration to our August family reunion! Kjaisa made beautiful arrangements from the flowers we gathered, and everyone pitched in to make it a splendid evening.  


Our timing was good, in that our reunion was two days before the governor banned receptions due to the pandemic.  We passed out masks, had families share the same tables and kept lots of space between families.  We were grateful we could all be together. It was a magical evening.


When I planted the chamomile field I pictured tiny white daisy-like blossoms as the perfect setting for bridal pictures, so this photo is a dream come true. 

I Turned Fifty-Five ~


 
For my birthday I chose to go bike camping on Orcas Islands with the E-bikes and all of our camping gear.



I made sure to take a Costco chocolate layer cake to celebrate after we ate our foil dinners.  I do love bike camping!
  

 A huge thank you to everyone who wished me happy birthday on social media.  It sure does make a person feel good!  (Even when you are over half a century old.)


Work at Willowbrook ~


 
Lest you think all I have been doing is playing, I thought I would share some pictures of summer projects.  


 We helped our neighbor paint his fence, since it runs along our driveway.  His son especially loved to help. 



We built a brick patio in a cozy nook of the garden for sitting and visiting.

We built an arbor system to cover the blueberries with nets so the birds don't get to the berries before we do. 


But, with all of the work, we still made time for tea.  

This is a teacup that Jim and I found at an antique shop in Florida some time ago.  The colors and flower pattern are unique.  


My brother Clay was able to scoot in from Atlanta for the last day of our family reunion, and I smiled when he chose the Florida teacup for our family tea brunch.  He likes herbal Jahva with heavy cream....just like me.