The Wine Valley

The Walla Walla Valley is well-known for its grapes. There are over 200 wineries in this tiny valley alone, with more cropping up every day. Walla Walla Community College has its own viticulture program, with a gorgeous building to go along with it. I've been doing this blog for over a year now, and have yet to post a photo of a winery. So here is the first one. I believe this is a house turned into a winery, with grapes planted all over the several acres surrounding the buildings. This one is located to the east of Milton-Freewater. I didn't catch the name of it, unfortunately.

Main Street Spill

A couple of weeks ago while I was getting in my car after a brief afternoon shopping trip downtown, I heard car horns honking. I turned around and in the intersection behind me was a unique sight: A Coca-Cola truck had lost a case of soda, sending Sprite and Coke bottles bouncing around the road. Several people nearby hurried into the intersection to get the pop out of the way of traffic. Within a minute everything had been picked up and a minute later the driver reappeared, obviously embarrassed. She thanked everyone for their help and loaded up the case to take back to her truck down the street. I'm glad I had my camera right there at hand!

MF Frogs 12

We have come to the end of this Milton-Freewater Frogs series. There are more in town, but I don't have photos of them yet, so they will have to wait a little while longer. Besides - we're tired of frogs by now, I'm sure! This young lady just went shopping in a little boutique that also houses a mini salon. It's a two-story shop (which is unique to this area, as far as I know) full of beautiful and fashionable trinkets and other dust-catchers. It's a fun shop to browse in.

For more information on the MF Frogs, check out my first MF Frogs post.

MF Frogs 11

I'll bet you can guess where this frog is! He guards and welcomes folks to a local barber shop on Main Street in Old Town Freewater. I'm not sure what hair a frog would have to cut, but he looks happy at his post, so who am I to judge?

For more information on the MF frogs, check out my first MF frogs post.

MF Frogs 10

This adorable little frog family resides outside Saager Shoe Shop on Main Street in Old Town Freewater. I actually didn't notice the little guy the first time I walked past them, but it made me smile when I finally saw him!

For more information on the Milton-Freewater frogs, see my first MF Frogs post.

Skywatch Friday

Catching the moon with my camera is never easy, because it's just a point and shoot digital - nothing fancy. I liked how this turned out, though...probably my best ever moon shot, even though it's still slightly blurry. This photo was taken while driving down the highway between Walla Walla and Milton-Freewater. You can see the Blue Mountains on the horizon, and a farm in the foreground. The moon was just about to slip behind a small wisp of a cloud.

See more great skywatch shots at the Skywatch Friday website!

MF Frogs 9

Another in our Milton-Freewater Frogs series, this lovely lady sits waiting for her Prince Charming (see the reserved sign next to her on the bench) outside what used to be a bar. It is now a place called Boop's Family Diner, but I'm not sure I'd take my family there - it still looks a bit questionable.

MF Frogs 8

"The Stitch Nitch" is a sewing supply shop that also offers alterations and tailoring. This is the frog that sits outside the shop on Main Street in Old Town Freewater.

MF Frogs 7

This frog is in front of a "Curves for Women" on Main Street. I should have taken the shot sideways so you could see that she's holding out her jeans to show how much weight she's lost. "Curves" is a weight-loss center for women only. It's a cute frog.

For more information on the frogs here in Milton-Freewater, check out my very first MF Frogs post.

MF Frogs 6

Another in the series of frogs in Milton-Freewater. I took several more shots a couple of weeks ago, so this week we're going to take a look at the frogs on Main Street in Old Town Freewater. This one is outside of what used to be a sewing and vacuum shop. I believe the shop is gone and the space for rent now.

Stormy Wedding

This is the house at the location of the wedding for which the car from yesterday's post was used. The weather was a bit iffy, but the rain held off at least through the ceremony (I was unable to stay for the reception so it could have rained then, I suppose, though it didn't at my house). The house is beautiful, as are the grounds. It's a place called Mill Creek Gardens and it is located about a mile past Rooks Park in Walla Walla. The wedding was lovely, too, and I'm glad I was able to go.

Old Timer

This is a beautiful old car that was used as the "getaway car" at our friends' wedding. I can't tell you anything about it, really, so if anyone knows what it is or any interesting facts about this model, do share! The wedding was held at a place called "Mill Creek Gardens," located about a mile past Rooks Park in Walla Walla.

Skywatch Friday

We actually get a couple of rainy, cloudy days every summer. They are rare and far-between, but we do see a couple every year. I love rain, especially in the summer, so I was happy to spend a day under a sky that looked like this.

See more skywatch shots at the Skywatch Friday website!

WW Frontier Days #8

As we close out our Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days series, here is my favourite shot from the event. The ride on the left is a fairly fast ride, I believe it's called the Zipper. You ride in the cages and the entire arm spins. The cages themselves rotate on a bar, so as the arm turns, the cages also spin. If you've got the stomach for it, it might be fun! Thanks for joining me at the fair this year. I didn't take as many pictures as I should have, so hopefully I'll go again next year and get even more.

WW Frontier Days #7

I don't remember the name of either of these rides (I didn't go on them, and we didn't really spend much time in this section of the fair), but they looked quite bright and cheery against the darkened, stormy sky. The ring puts people in what looks like a roller coaster car and spins them up and around, and of course they go upside-down at the top, and of course it stops there for a few moments. The tall tower seats people around a ring, facing out, slowly takes them to the top, and then drops them straight down. VERY frightening, if you ask me! But then, I'm kind of a wimp when it comes to fair and amusement park rides. I'll take the bumper cars, thank you! Oh, another note - the green flag on the ring ride is the Washington State flag. It's green and has a portrait of George Washington, America's first president. (Kind of boring, actually.)

WW Frontier Days #6

The YoYo is one of the few rides I might consider going on at the fair. All of the rides are collapsible - as in they are constructed IN a semi-truck and when the fair is over, they are collapsed and become the truck itself. On some rides you can see the back of the truck at the side of the ride - it's part of the ride's construction! A work of engineering genius, I guess! I'm not much of a ride-rider, but this one looks kind of fun. It doesn't go too fast - at least, not from the ground! I'm sure it feels faster when you're on it. I just liked the colours of the ride, brightened in the setting sun, set against the dark sky.

WW Frontier Days #5

More produce from the competition. A lot of awards were given out, and I missed the actual judging, so I don't know what kind of criteria they had, but it was nice that so many won something. Or, it's frustrating that so many won something, depending on how you feel. The colours of the freshly grown produce just really caught my attention. And there were some odd-shaped ones, too! Interestingly enough, the green squash at the top in the center of this photo were submitted to the competition by the people from whom we purchased our house. What small town!

WW Frontier Days #4

This adorable little rabbit seemed quite content half in and half out of his Quaker Oats tunnel. I'm not sure if he was doing the ostrich thing - sticking his head in, thinking all of him was hidden - but he was definitely cute. He was one of dozens of rabbits of all types, colours, and sizes. The rabbits were in a building with the chickens, ducks, geese, and even a couple of peacocks. Most of the entrants (if not all of them) were kids.

WW Frontier Days #3

"The Great American Duct Tape Contest." That's what this garment fit for a rodeo queen was created for. Quite lovely, if you ask me, and I'd say definitely worth first place, which it did indeed win. Other entries included flip-flops, wallets, and random trinkets. With all the colours you can get duct tape in these days, the competitors had plenty to choose from.

WW Frontier Days #2 - Skywatch Friday

This was the sunset as my husband and I left the Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days on Sunday. The building is on the fairgrounds, and was used to house horses brought for show and racing.

WW Frontier Days #1

This last weekend was the Walla Walla Fair, or, as it is known officially, Walla Walla Fair and Frontier Days. They usually have one country singer whose name I recognize performing, and then someone I've never heard of. Surprisingly, I've never gone to the fair before. We went this year with some friends of ours who had their little girl the day before we had Kayla. I enjoyed the produce competition entries - especially these HUGE pumpkins! Those big ones there weigh over 400 pounds each. I was dumbfounded, really. More fair pictures to come!

Long-Awaited Little Miss

I'm back! It's been six weeks since I last posted, and at that time I was in the hospital having my darling little girl. I was induced at 6 a.m. and at 9:16 p.m. on July 29, my Little Miss entered the world. It was a pretty straight-forward delivery, though her body temperature was a little low, so they had me hold her skin-to-skin and draped two heated blankets around us. By the following morning she was doing just fine, and was feeding well, too. This picture was taken the day after we brought her home from the hospital. She was so peaceful, napping next to me on the couch. So here is your first introduction to...Kayla Sue.