A Park Everyday This Week

I am babysitting a bit this summer and school is finally out so I feel like I have been to a park everyday this past week

Hovander Park- This place has everything - A climbable tower, playground, farm animals, gardens, paths, children's garden.

Star Park - This is the newest park in our town. This place can get busy. They now have public restrooms. 

Tennant Lake- Fragrance Garden, Tower, and Board Walk around lake

Birch Bay Park- State Park near the water.  They have a new playground so we had to check out.

We also visited Squalicum Creek Park is well know for its zip line.  It was busy even before 9 am.  No Photos.

What I Read June

I am linking up with Modern Mrs Darcy's Quick Lit.  Check out what everyone else is reading.

I first saw this book Starvation Heights by Gregg Olson at Nonna's.  This is a twisted true story about a woman who called herself Dr Hazzard who offered a cure of fasting to her rich patients.  Once she got them into a weakened state basically drained their bank accounts.  Dr Linda Hazzard will give you the creeps.

In 1911 two wealthy British heiresses, Claire and Dora Williamson, arrived at a sanitorium in the forests of the Pacific Northwest to undergo the revolutionary “fasting treatment” of Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard. It was supposed to be a holiday for the two sisters, but within a month of arriving at what the locals called Starvation Heights, the women underwent brutal treatments and were emaciated shadows of their former selves. 

Claire and Dora were not the first victims of Linda Hazzard, a quack doctor of extraordinary evil and greed. But as their jewelry disappeared and forged bank drafts began transferring their wealth to Hazzard’s accounts, the sisters came to learn that Hazzard would stop at nothing short of murder to achieve her ambitions. (Amazon)

I found The Woman in the Photo by Mary Hogan on the hot reads table at the library.  While the book is not a true story it is based on a true event of a dam breaking. The book is set in the past and present. An adopted girl in the present finds a gilded age photo in her adoption records that leads her to discover her ancestry. This is a good summer read.  The historical event of the dam breaking was well researched and interesting. 

The Widows of Malabar Hill is part of Modern Mrs Darcy's Summer Reading Guide.  I really liked this book.  The main character is Perveen Mistry. Perveen Mistry is Bombay's first female lawyer and takes on a case of 3 Muslim woman and a will she is trying to settle for them of their late husband.  This was a great mystery set in 1920 Bombay.  I found the cultural information fascinating.  This book reminded me of some of Zoe Ferraris books though the setting is Saudi Arabia and not India.  

Linky Love

Giant Frog/Toad/Bullfrog found near our house

Why Children Aren't Behaving, And What We Can Do About It

The White House Christmas Tree 2018 is going to be Oregon - they are having a great ornament hunt. It would be so great to find one of the ornaments

Homemade Ice Cream Sandwiches - these look fun and delicious

Why Grandmother's Hold the Key to Human Evolution

What I Learned This Spring

Linking up with Emily Freeman's - What I learned this Spring

Neglect Works (Sometimes)

I have tried to grow sweet potato slips in the past unsucessfly.  Yes, I know I live in the Pacific Northwest but a girl has to try anyway. I accidentally left a bag of sweet potatoes on my counter and they sprouted.  So, I have started the great sweet potato experiment.

What the Heck is a Mellophone?

My son transitioned from the trumpet to the french horn this December.  But for parade season, he also had to learn the Mellophone. A mellophone is essentially a marching french horn.  Hey, I was in orchestra. This band thing is a whole new world.

Floret Seeds

Daisies and Orange Calendula

This year I treated myself to some special seeds from Floret.  I have grown regular Calendula - orange kind in the past.  So I was so excited to see some other colors- bronze beauty, pink surprise, and ivory princess.

Dill is Part of the Mustard Family

So no matter how lush and bushy the dill looks growing by the ocean.  Yes there is dill in the above picture. Don't let your friend run her fingers through it when she is allergic to it. That is my PSA for the day.  Luckily she had some bendaryl with her when her hand became all tingly.