Chelan Week

Pam Watkins called and offered us their rental condo for the week. How could we say no? Amy came up with Ethan and Olivia, and we had the whole family together for a few days on the 21st and 22nd - what a treat! Then we had the condo on the 23rd through the 27th. You can check out the full account in the blogs of Amy and Katie, but here are some pics. (July 21-27)

Laurel Triathlon

This event has been well covered - see Laurel, Amy, and KT blogs. We just wanted to say kudos for a job well done - go girl!

Our Veggies are Growing

The garden is growing and we are going to have a lot of tomatoes! The weather has been hot, dry, and magnificent.

As I was thinning the tomatoes the other day, I was about to grab a runner to snap it off and I could hardly believe my eyes. There was the biggest caterpillar on the vine that I had ever seen. And it was this beautiful green with yellow spots. Out the back end, it had a wicked little black spine, like on a blackberry bush. It was a fantastic insect. Of course, I had to google and find it!

The tomato hornworm (Manduca quinquemaculata) is a green caterpillar, the larval form of the five-spotted Hawk moth of the Sphingidae (Sphinx) family common throughout the American continent. Tomato hornworms are known to eat various plants from the family Solanaceae, commonly attacking tomato, eggplant, pepper, and potato. Accordingly, tomato hornworms are often found on defoliated tomato plants, the caterpillar clinging to the underside of a branch near the trunk. They are difficult to spot due to their coloration. They eat a lot! Tomato hornworms are closely related to (and sometimes confused with) the tobacco hornworm (Manduca sexta). This confusion arises because caterpillars of both species feed on the foliage of various plants from the family Solanaceae, so either species can be found on tobacco or tomato leaves, and the plant on which the caterpillar is found on does not indicate its species. The larva of these species can be distinguished by their lateral markings; tomato hornworms have eight V-shaped markings while tobacco hornworms have seven diagonal lines. Furthermore, the caterpillars can be distinguished from the larval stage onwards by the color of the horns on their back ends: Manduca sexta caterpillars have red horns, while M. quinquemaculata caterpillars have black horns.

Needless to say, mine was a quinquemaculata (tomato version, black spine). The moth that results is huge, about 4 or 5 inches across. Very interesting. My specimen ended up in a jar over at Emmett's house.

I Think We Will Rest for a While

Exciting Days on Westridge

As Monte and I were returning to Wenatchee on the late afternoon of the 7th, we emerged from the mountains and near Dryden noticed a big plume of smoke down the valley. I noted that it looked awfully close to our house. And so it was! A careless paintballer had set off a smoke bomb in Monitor, and with the prevailing winds headed east, it pushed the fire into Sunnyslope and up and over Burch Mountain. It was an exciting two days as the copters and planes dropped water and retardant all around our neighborhood. Then to top it off, on the 8th the water main in our street broke and made a big mess. The utility guys thought it had been affected by all the hydrant action associated with the fire. Check out the small video clip taken by KR as the fire raged. (July 7-8)

Noah and Sheetrockin' - Seattle #5

After our visit #4 to Seattle, Noah came to Wenatchee for a few days to give Cher a break, while they are remodeling and organizing. Noah is a character. He needs a full-time bodyguard to make sure he doesn't jump off the deck, eat nails, or take a swim in the loo. And he did get to meet Elvis on this trip. Yes, the King lives.




Dad Merrill and I returned to Seattle for two days (6-7) and finished taking out the sheet rock in Jon and Cher's downstairs bathroom, then doing the new electrical and putting up the new sheet rock. Along the way we moved the door over a few inches and raised the ceiling. It is going to be nice when it is all done! Sorry, we were so busy that I failed to take pictures of the before and after. I also think I have seen enough of the road over Steven's Pass. (July 4-7)

Seattle #4 and the Zoo

We went over to Seattle (again) to see how the kids were doing on the house and pick up Noah, as he was going to spend a few days in Wenatchee. On Tuesday, we took Will and Ella to the Woodland Park Zoo and had a great time. They have a new exhibit in the Australian area, where you enter a room, can buy little food sticks, and feed birds. The kids had a great time. I put them on my shoulders and they could reach the birds. When I was holding up Will, a gray parrot kept landing on my head and pecking me - the zoo person said he was "preening". Did I look that "unpreened"? (July 2-3)