An ever-so-brief respite from the dusties on the farm...

Soaking in the beauty of a clean, clean, clean deck. With no visible Wee Ski clutter.  At least for now.

This summer has, amazingly, been very dry...even though it feels like I have been living in the middle of a mudpit since the snows in January.  With the combination of haying over the past few weeks and trimming the rows in between the Christmas trees, everywhere on the farm has just felt...dusty.

"Mommy, your car's all dirty. You need to wash it."

Trust me, kiddo, I know.

With the combination of the new gas-powered blower and pressure washer, I found some peace here.  Over the past few days, we have been cleaning up the deck and areas around it.  And when I say "we", I mean I'm doing the work, Thomas is helping with the hose by spraying down John Paul every chance he gets, and John Paul helps by climbing up all over everything covered in the mud created by said spraying down above.  We're a bit of a motley crew, we are.

Yesterday, in the early morning before the heat set in, I pressure washed until I ran out of gas (literally, for the first time, and not just figuratively with the pregnancy).  Scrubbed down all the furniture in the sun and let it dry (LOVE that this set from Costco still looks brand new 3 years later!), weeded all the flower pots, and washed all the windows.  The farm dust, at least for now, is gone.

And we can have breakfast out here, while it's cool, and the boys can ride bikes and fire trucks and play and relax. And I can work from the outdoor sofa, peanut butter-banana smoothie in hand, stacks of Relay Summit papers filling up the table in front of me.  Just as long as Thomas doesn't get out the hose again when there are computers on the deck.

I seriously love this deck. I love my in-laws for planning it into the house.  It gives you shade year-round, a place for the boys to play outside when it's pouring outside, and keeps the living room and kitchen cool from the sun that bakes the rest of the farm. 

We've held our own in the heat so far -- especially since in Washington, unless you have a brand-new home, you tend not to have air conditioning.  So when it's 86° in the evening without wind, you find yourself laying down on the tile floor (which is AWESOME) next to a fan, drinking a smoothie.  Or you find yourself sitting in the fruit cooler at Costco, soaking in the fact that you can see your breath when you exhale.  

Getting ready for the next two days which are looking to be toasty...will probably find ourselves out on the water or in a pool.  And napping in the middle of the afternoon. 

Bring it on, summer, we're ready.