...to say goodbye to summer, that is.
Now if I were someone who was on top of my blogging (not to mention PR) duties, I may have shared these with you months ago, perhaps in preparation for summer, rather than when the rest of the hemisphere is putting away their outdoor furniture and pulling sweaters out of storage.
But that's not how I roll.
So, here I am, better-late-than-never-Beth...just now getting around to showing you some very summery garden flags that were offered this (I mean last, sigh) season by Toland Home Garden.
Why am I just now finally getting around to blogging about these, even thinking about them at all?
Well...it's not just me who gets around to things later-than-most. Here in the Pacific Northwest, spring and summer took their sweet time in finally getting around to us. It feels as if summer just got here recently, and I'm not ready to let it go yet.
Also, having just returned from a lovely and quiet week out at the coast to celebrate my birthday, I am so excited to have seen pelicans on our beach for the first time.
Now, I should clarify it's my first time seeing them, not their first time here. I guess they've been here for a year or two, but I have spent far too little time out there in My Favorite Spot on the Face of the Earth. When painting my "Fresh Catch" design, I was really thinking about Southern (Eastern) beaches. But now, here on my own Northwestern beach, in all their magnificently-beaky glory (it holds more than their beli-can, you know) they are here.

I suspect their move here has more to do with the not-so-pleasant circumstances of global warming, reductions in fish populations, pollution, and decreasing habitat than it does entertaining northern coastal birdwatchers like me; but wildlife-geek that I am, I'll enjoy their presence just the same.
Molly didn't seem quite as impressed with them as she was the abundance of deliciously marinated salty sticks on the beach.
But then have you ever known a dog who didn't like the beach? I haven't.
In addition to beach-frolicking, there was also plenty of lounging and dilly-dallying to do around the cabin. Before leaving home I bought a bunch of acrylic paints and brushes that live at the cabin now for everyone to enjoy. Painting on driftwood and rocks with acrylics is something I loved as a kid, and before this last week I hadn't done it in years.
Again, a thoughtful blogger on top of her game would have also taken pictures of the finished product (featuring Molly, Flossie, and the wild roses in bloom all summer along the coast) but no. I left the little painting in the windowsill, no final shots, but I suppose the blogworld will keep on turning just as before without seeing it until next time I see it again.
Still a work-in-progress, our place has recently been thoughtfully and lovingly rebuilt by my amazingly talented and hardworking brother (other members the family lending hands when possible). The original shelter, literally built from scrap-wood, driftwood, and building-salvage by my creative, nutty, visionary Granddad, had been rotting from the inside for almost 40 years...and barely stood upright any more.
Now that it's mostly-finished, old pieces from the original shelter are coming out of storage and finding homes in the new structure.
I was pleasantly surprised to see that since my last visit my brother has hung the old kitchen cupboard doors I had painted...one in 1980, and one in 1985.
And in one of the many photo albums in which my dear uncle has lovingly (and entertainingly) archived every detail of the history of the place, I found a photo of me painting the second door.
In another (even older) album, there are photos of a talented cousin of mine carving the totem you see in the background of the above shot...from a driftwood log right on the beach.
Pretty neato.
My favorite chair on the face of the earth (yes, part of an old broken chair atop a very heavy rusty can) made it to the new cabin. Favorite, but never really very comfortable, I thought it could use a little help from one of my Halloween pillows Windham Weavers produced a few years ago.
The old outhouse still stands, but is now a tool-shed. We don't need to go into any more history on that one, use your imagination.
Thankful to live in such a beatuful part of the earth (for those of you who can't see the detail or don't recognize the second flag, that's our Washington State seal) and blessed with a family that, as varied and odd group as we are, completely different from one another in so many ways, shares some pretty basic values which include preserving our history...I returned home refreshed, grateful, ready to get back to work...but still not willing to give up the last few breaths of summer.
It looks as if I still have a couple more days.
NOTE: a few days after posting this, I asked our Naturalist at the Wildlife Center where I volunteer about the pelican situation. It seems there's not a situation at all! He believes there have always been brown pelicans on Washington's coastal beaches. I had seen them now and then on the more southern-WA beaches but never up here...why, we're not sure. Maybe my beach wasn't "good fishin'" before now, maybe it's a time-of-year thing (as in I hadn't been out there at the right times of year). I will look into this further! Anyway, whatever it is, I'm still a little surprised I'd never seen them before, and am just happy to enjoy their beak-iful presence now.