Woodinville’s Lavender Farm Opens, Hot Weather and Football, Summer Bugs and Birds, and More

Beloved Woodinville Lavender Farm Opening Weekend

This shot of purple and white lavender blooms are from our local beloved JB Family Grower’s Lavender Farm, across from Willows Lodge in Woodinville.

I’ve been down with a summer virus all week (fun!) and the heat was pretty intense for Seattle this weekend (over 90 degrees!), but we managed an evening visit right before close. A lot of the lavender is already in bloom, as well as a wildflower field including poppies, and the gift shop is selling lavender lemonade, so I say go for a visit as soon as you can! The mountain was out when we were there, and it was wonderful to stand in the field and watch the sun over Mt. Rainier.

: Glenn and I at the lavender farm at almost sunset

: Mt Rainier over early lavender

: Our neighbor’s Rainier cherry tree

The third picture is of cherries in my neighbor’s tree, not pictured are the tiny squirrels shaking the tree to make cherries fall on me, and chittering as they pointedly ate the cherries right in front of me. It was clear they had taken control!

Not a hummingbird – Hairy Woodpecker on a hummer feeder

Hot Weather, Football, Baby Birds

The overly record-breaking heat has brought out the birds—some of them in strange places, like this baby Hairy Woodpecker on our hummingbird feeder.

I have another shot of baby woodpecker being fed and a Rufous Woodpecker hanging out in our bird feeder.

With MS, you have to avoid the heat, and I wasn’t feeling my best this week (had to postpone a meeting with poets and a root canal), so I was inside to watch the amazing American soccer game in the World Cup, where they beat Paraguay by three points. Seattle is a host city, so the World Cup is all over the news (and many of us have had to cancel downtown doctor appointments and visits to downtown for any reason because of the crowds and traffic).

: Rufous Hummingbird in bird fountain

: Hairy Woodpecker feeder baby

And I can’t talk about it in detail, but we’ve also had very stressful in-law drama over the last two weeks—dealing with aging parents in a far-away state with multiple issues is no joke—and so we’re hoping for a less stressful rest of the month.

This Thursday night (6/18) is Poetry Night at J. Bookwalter’s Books, and the featured readers are Catherine Broadwall and Deirdre Lockwood, 6:30 Thursday night, with wine available and a short open mic after.