Curtains, estuaries, and delicious food, plus more food.

Another month at home brings us more of the same. We hike; we eat; we do chores. My mother helped us by sewing new curtains for the bathroom out of some pillowcases that had been hand embroidered by my great-grandmother. They had been sitting in my linen closet for years, but now I am able to enjoy them every day. She also made throw pillow cases from more of them for the bedroom. I do know how to sew, but my mom is a real expert. Russ' mom is also an expert seamstress. I like the idea of it, but don't like the process, so I stick to knitting and crocheting. We fixed fried green tomatoes for lunch after she measured and finalized the finished length. Green tomatoes are a childhood favorite of both me and my mom.

I love the heirloom embroidery.

Perfect length. The old curtains were too short.

Fried green tomatoes.

Mom enjoys her reward.

I've continued to work on learning Spanish every day using Duolingo. I recently reached a streak of two years of doing at least one lesson every day. I am improving, especially at reading and translating in both directions, but I haven't done what I need to do in order to speak fluently. I need to talk to people more, until it hurts, really.

Russ and I have continued to get out. Recently we hiked at the Nisqually Wildlife Refuge. It is quite close to where we live, just 20 miles south on I5. The land has been restored from a farm to a natural salt/freshwater estuary over the past 25 years. It is amazing now. We enjoy bird watching there. This time the local sea lions were in Medicine Creek. It was funny how they kept pushing each other off smaller and smaller hummoks as the tide came in up the creek. I was unable to get a good photo with my phone, but Russ managed some nice shots with his telephoto lens.

Mount Rainer across the estuary toward the Nisqually River.

They replaced part of the old farm levy with this boardwalk.

Trees from the old farm were mostly killed from salt water intrusion.

I'll finish up this post with a random collection of other things we've been doing, plus food! We stay busy, even as we stay near home and socially isolate. I try not to get lazy about making dinner for just two people. Usually, I can make enough to freeze for lunches.

We drove past Seattle. I love this view from the Ship Canal Bridge.

Crab-Stuffed Peppers with a Horny Toad Cocktail.

Salad Nicoise.

Summer vegetable tart.

I thought this was funny and managed a picture at the stoplight.

We hike with a friend every Friday (wearing masks). This part of the old trail eroded over the cliff.

Mushroom ragout with polenta. Tomatoes are from my garden.

Chambers Bay Golf Course. There is a path around the course that is well used.

Greek pasta. It's a favorite with feta, fresh tomatoes and basil.

This hummingbird perched in front of me while I meditated.

Russ looks at the moon. We used the telescope to see Comet NEOWISE.

Fresh basil pesto with zucchini and chanterelle mushrooms.