Old Friends in New Places...

We are hosting our UK friends this week and it is great! I can't believe it's been a year since we were last together. They got to the house Thursday evening just before John arrived back from the Bay Area. So we had a late, light supper and caught up on "stuff". Friday was a local introduction and we visited Bainbridge Island, the Bloedel Reserve, and downtown Poulsbo where we had a nice dinner of halibut whilst sitting outside. The weather is being very cooperative; sunny and just comfortable temps. Yesterday Christine and I had a wander through Central Market which is an attraction in itself. We bought some food and looked at lots more because they have such a selection of good, healthy things not found in the more mundane grocery stores. Back to the house for some tea on the deck with the boys and then we went to Old Mill Days in Port Gamble (about 8 miles away) where we watched a little bit of the lumberjack show (and the Monty Python song begins here...), looked at various craft stalls, had a chair massage, an accupuncture consultation, and just enjoyed a leisurely afternoon. Last night we enjoyed salmon for dinner (and an apple/blackberry crumble) and then watched some video of some of M&C's recent travel (after finding a configuration that would allow us to view from the computer to the TV with the limited connectors that we had on hand.). We are still figuring out this new TV, I'm afraid. So it's Sunday and we will be going into Seattle on foot (crossing on the ferry). Should be an interesting day, once again...

Fun, fun, fun...

Here's my new home away from home (the office) in its bar bones state. I have been furnishing it with my "stuff" and books all week. I've been settling in, getting to know the culture a little more. The team is very supportive and warm, 9 of us in all. Seems like a good fit and I feel fortunate to have found it.

Today I will be in additional training with the electronic medical record and I will revisit a training for an IV pump that is new. Then I will hurry home because visitors are arriving today! John will arrive about 7:30. And then we will spend the next week being tourists with our friends. We will take the ferry into Seatle for a walkabout and a tour of the underground city (Seattle is built right on top of its former self). And we have booked a whale watching trip in the San Juans which will be fascinating. There are resident pods of Orca whales in teh Sound, so it's pretty certain that we will see them. In fact, 2 females and 3 young ones have been visiting in the south portion of the Sound (south of where we are) and people are warned to keep at least 100 feet away and not disturb them. And there are some more sights which I will report back after the week. Right now, I need to jump in a shower and begin my day. Later...

A little song, a little dance...

First week in the new job was completed on Friday. Most of it was spent in orientation which means my head is over-full with information, some of which I will remember and some...well, as I said...over-full. So, I'm off to the second round. This week will be different as I will be in my office for much of the time, getting settled and getting to know my role and my coworkers a bit. There are a few trainings which I will attend and on Thursday I will be in the computer lab all day as I learn more of the electronic medical record system. However, on Thursday, we have friends arriving for a week and there are some things that need doing in preparation.

It was a busy weekend as we put down the new rugs and installed a new TV (spent some time on the phone with various tech support persons), mowed the grass, and several more little projects that have been in the queue. On Sunday I had some time to spend with the computer, clearing off some "work" and some personal "things to do" of an electronic nature. I made reservations for a whale watching excursion next week which should be fun and fascinating. So, the new week is already gearing up and will be gone in a flash. John is off to the Bay Area this morning, so Zoe and I will see how this new work routine feels when we are on our own. Wish me luck...

Trivial Pursuits

Well, it’s the end of the week (again!). Where does time go? Another week and we will have been in this new place for 4 months (a third of a year). I was thinking about the way in which the last year has passed, seemingly at lightening speed. How I was “just over there” a moment ago. Or so it seems.

John will return tonight. He will arrive to find a simply beautiful weekend on tap. The weather has warmed, the sun is bright, and this morning I was enchanted by how clear the stars were shining (as I was outside with the brown dog at 5:15). It will be an “outside” kind of weekend; mowing grass, trimming back the jungle, and breathing deeply. We have plans for Saturday and Sunday evenings.

I’m finishing off some “inside” jobs today: washing windows (though part of that happens outside to be fair), washing floors, laundry, etc. I like to tear through it when I’m on my own. We ordered some rugs to go in the living and dining rooms and they should arrive this next week. That will make it a little more cozy as fall and winter approach.

Speaking of the brown dog, she is doing very well on the new containment system. She is off-lead full-time now and that allows her to run and stretch which makes her a happier dog. Until next Thursday, one of us humans must be present outside when she is there. I think that’s more to offer her praise and reassurance should she venture close enough to get “a correction” (as they call it in the business). We were cautioned that when the training posts were replaced with the down-to-business posts on the collar, she would react more strongly. As the trainer explained, “It’s like seeing a scary movie. Somebody’s going to scream, but it doesn’t mean you’re hurt”. The static charge startles her. It doesn’t harm her. And it has caused a couple “screams”. But she recovers right away and is off again after a reassuring pat and praise. Next Thursday we are to allow her to be outside sometimes without us present (but watching from a window, to be sure). I’m feeling much more confident that this invisible system will actually keep her contained and safe. At least until she sees the rabbit…

Just Jammin'

My week is shaping up. John is off to the Bay Area this morning and will return Friday evening. I'll go to my morning classes with the exception of tomorrow when I have a pre-employment physical scheduled. Today I returned to yoga as I had been grounded for the past two weeks. I paid a little for that but it is steadily helping me become more flexible. I recall when I saw hula and thought "I can do that!". Well, I tried to do it and was heartily impressed by how difficult it really is. Yoga is deceptive as well. Much to discover here and not at all "easy". I hope I can find a way to continue the classes as I start back to work. Maybe in the evening.

I have someone coming to day to re-do a part on the shower door that was causing some water to escape. And I am making (the last) jam. At least I will start them today. I have several berries and some rhubarb and am going to try various combinations of the fruit.

Tomorrow, I will be down to Bremerton for the aforementioned physical and a visit with Human Resources. Orientation begins next week. And we will move into the second phase of Zoe's training with the new containment situation. Thursday and Friday are yet to be determined and, in between it all, I have some "work" (the paid kind) to do.

The weather is improving steadily. It should be lovely and warmer by Thursday; a little bit of summer hanging on while autumn starts to establish herself in the air. Meanwhile, I have jam...

Breakfast on the Farm

The first Saturday of the month is the Farmhouse Breakfast day. It was raining and we went early to avoid standing outside for long, but they have obviously done this many times and had the outside portions sheltered. We didn't wait long. And the rain stopped. We had the good sense to order children's portions this time which was "just right" (in the words of Goldilocks).

As for rain, we've actually had some this weekend. From light showers to heavy downpours, it's been off and on these past two days. Lovely. There has even been some thunder. It will take some more to soak into the ground much. The unusually hot weather this past summer has really stressed the Red Cedar trees. Most are turning red with drying foliage. Hopefully they will survive with more moisture arriving over the winter as they are beautiful big trees.

We had an invisible fence installed on Friday and began training with our brown dog. Right now she is training on-lead and only approaching the boundary twice daily for which she gets much praise and reinforcement for turning away from the line. Of course, being the dog that she is, on Saturday during her first training (in the pouring rain), she saw a frog jump into the bushes and she went right after it, apparently oblivious to any noxious form of stimulation as she crossed the "line". I corrected her by making her come right back (and through the noxious form of stimulation again) and she has performed with flying colors since. She gets an audible signal first when she approaches the line, followed by a small "buzz" if she doesn't correct herself quickly. We will keep working in this way until Wednesday when the trainer returns and we start working off-lead.

This is my last week of staying at home. I begin my new job next Monday. Some new routines will replace the current flow. The hospital seems keen to have me and I am looking forward to applying my skills in a new place; to be useful. But in the meantime, I will enjoy this final week of quiet self-selected activity...

Being Away and Coming Home

I dashed down to the Bay Area on Tuesday and returned yesterday. It gave me enough time for too-short visits with people-who-matter while taking care of some personal business. It was an easy enough trip; good flights, no delays, everything flowed along as it should have. I enjoyed seeing and spending time with said people. Those are the connections you take with you when you move a life. The telling part of the trip was returning to Poulsbo, "coming home". That's what I did. I realized that I truly live up here now and that "coming home" was immensely satisfying. I have been asked by folks how we could be sure it was the right thing to do when we decided to take our lives and move them to a place we had only visited for a weekend, to a house we had only seen for 20 minutes. It's something we have never really questioned. It was right from the moment we saw it and we would both agree that it has been right ever since. Those few folks who have visited have expressed confirmation of the decision. They get it. You don't have to be here very long to feel it.

It rained a little overnight and more might occur this weekend. This morning about 8:30 we lost power. The report said a tree had fallen across a line. They repaired it by 9:30 but it gave us a reason to figure out how to manually open the gate at the end of the driveway and to take a trip into the post office and then to a local coffee house we've been wanting to try. John was out gathering blackberries in my absence Tuesday and Wednesday. There is once again a large colander of the yummy gems. If the rain holds off, we will go to the Blackberry Festival in Bremerton on Saturday where they might have more ideas for ways to use this bounty. Otherwise, more jam will be made and distributed to friends, old and new. A blackberry and apple crumble has been requested by our much anticipated visitors later this month. That can surely be provided. (Only one?) If our vegetable garden grows as well as these wild brambles, we shall need to set up a booth at the Farmers' Market next year!

It's nice to be "home"...