Auld Lang Syne

Translation: "Old Long Ago". The last day of 2011 brings reflection of another year gone that was filled with friends and family, meaningful work, and some time spent in other places. The comfort of the familiar mixed with the excitement of the new. Christmas holiday is over but the spirit of it will linger. This soon-to-be new year brings us new beginnings and new opportunities, but not without appreciation of the auld lang syne.

I spent (or will spend) the official "holiday" Mondays at work, not willing to pay for a day off when I will want that time later in this year. Many people do take those days off, so the place is quiet and the traffic is almost non-existent. A win-win. Since we didn't have any visitors visiting, spending the day at home seemed an unnecessary indulgence. John stayed up here for that second week and that has been nice. He returns to California on Tuesday.

Tonight we will celebrate the New Year at our favorite restaurant Four Swallows. We signed on for the 8:30 seating and hopefully I won't fall asleep before dessert is served. Except for an overnight trip on the train from Paris to Florence when we ate at 10:30 and family dinners in Italy which lasted until nearly midnight, my evening meal usually occurs much earlier (as does my bedtime). Then January 1 brings the traditional observance of the Rose Parade. I can't help it. I have been watching the parade since my grandparents got the first color television and we all gathered at their house to watch and eat lunch in the living room (an unheard of privilege in those days). Now I can watch it in hi-def, well before lunch time. Or I can record it and watch it later. But watch it I will.

The rain has returned. Once the calendar said "winter" was officially here, the weather obliged with typical Northwest rain. This morning it is 29 degrees and crunchy again and promises to be a mostly dry day. Tomorrow the rain starts up again. The sunrises have been gorgeous this week, though. The storms move through overnight and by morning the clouds open up just enough to let the sunrise show through and reflect off the formations. Some very pretty sights on my way to work.

I think I'll leave 2011 here. I'll be back next year...

These are a few of my favorite things...

Lovely week. The Solstice arrived and brings the return of the light. Hard to fathom that 6 months from now, sunset will be nearly 6 hours from its present time.

This Christmas has been somehow quieter than those past. John and I are on our own as the children-who-are-now-grownups balance their grown-up lives. That means that this year they are spending their small bit of holiday time elsewhere. We did much the same at their age and stage of life. They are missed but with us in thought nonetheless. So, without any temporary lodgers, we have had a pretty smooth week. This morning we were up at our usual 4:30-ish. Zoe spent lots of time smelling and barking out in the yard (perhaps at transient reindeer?). We enjoyed our coffee while opening gifts. We can now decant wine while slicing and dicing vegetables with a very sharp knife, enjoying homemade jams and pickles,watching squirrels eat from their own fast food station, or just pouring over wedding photos from the summer. I have a hat (from Ireland, no less) to wear on those frosty days and John will have warm hands and feet as he works in the garden. I have some books from my wish list and an audiotape for use with meditation. John can try new camera angles with his handy travel tripod while wearing new, warm track suit/pj bottoms. And we are the proud sponsor of a rescue dog at Best Friends in Utah. Santa was extremely generous to us this year.

The rest of the day will be spent enjoying time and the company of each other. We plan to get the good china out, prepare an extravagant Christmas meal together, and enjoy a nice wine (properly decanted, of course). Maybe we'll finish that jigsaw puzzle that has persisted since Thanksgiving. Maybe I'll finish my current book on my Kindle. Maybe. Merry Christmas to all...

Fa La La La La....

We have successfully avoided all the crowds of shoppers this year. That's a gift to us. Presents are secured and we are enjoying a lovely holiday season. John was away most of last week, so the Z-dog and I carried on with our routine. I'm not too fond of the flashlight-lit walks we take in the dark, but I do appreciate the opportunity to take in the stars and breathe in the cool night air. On Wednesday, we were on our last walkabout of the evening before heading to bed and somewhere out there were Christmas carolers! The woods were singing! That was a treat.

The mice have been at John's car again. We took it to the repair shop and left it for Monday. There must be a way to deal with these tiny vandals, but we haven't found it yet. So far, my acoustic disruptor system has worked for the house and garage. There have not been any "events" since I put them in place.

No progress was made on the gate repair this past week and it looks like that will be the first project completed in 2012. It has simplified package delivery during this season of online shopping though, so I can't complain. We are looking at replacing the dishwasher next. The one that was in the house is allegedly a high-end product but we were spoiled with our Miele in California. This current dishwasher doesn't clean well and has a poor dish-placement design. So, we've put up with it for nearly three years and have decided that enough is enough.

We are enjoying unusually dry weather. I think we have had something like 0.6 inches (or less) of rainfall this month. It was quite cold last week, but the temperature has moderated some as well now. What a difference a year makes. We are actually going to have a Skype call with our friends this morning. Turns out last week I was misinformed. And then I'm off to get a much-needed massage. We're on a path to achieve some health-related goals this next year. Again, enough is enough. And on that note, the day has begun...

You Know the Drill....Read On...

It was nice to have John at home this past week. It always is. Tomorrow morning he will head for California for 4 days and the hard headed brown dog and I will manage on our own. At least it's predicted to be fairly dry for the week so that makes some things a little easier (like taking the 4:30am walk outside).

We didn't get the Christmas tree up last weekend and have now agreed that it won't go up at all this year. What a relief! Don't get me wrong. I love the tree. It's an annual ritual that lets me reflect on the past year(s) as I place the ornaments on the tree. It's like comfort food. But we're on our own for the holiday this year and it doesn't seem necessary somehow. And it takes several hours to get it up and then to take it down. So, there are festive decorations about the house, but no tree. We mailed off the last of the cards and the Christmas parcels yesterday. Hooray! Most of our holiday is spent vicariously with those who are dear but not near to us. 

Progress is being made on repairing the gate. It is now mounted on one of the new posts with impressive hinges (ball bearing, no less). Hopefully, while the weather holds, they will be back this week to assemble the arm and opening mechanism so John can do the electrical wiring next weekend. They have to knock down the current base that is made of crumbling concrete and will replace it with a metal base. However, in the interim, the gate stands open which has allowed packages to be delivered right to our porch and that has been very nice.

We'll be working around the house today, doing some of the mundane things that keeping a house requires. We will talk with friends in England via Skype (what a fantastic invention that is!) and will make one trip out for the necessary pet food and the not-necessary-but-nice coffee. It's Soup Sunday, so I'll put something together to simmer in the crock pot and that will double for my suppers while John is away this week. Now though, I have a date with the treadmill in the garage...

Would you look at the calendar! It's December!

Wow. December. How'd we get here so quickly? We had a good visit with son Jake and girlfriend over Thanksgiving. November is typically the wettest month up here and it all seemed to come down during Thanksgiving week. But we took advantage of the one dry day on Friday to visit Port Townsend and if you have to be out on "Black Friday" that was a good place to be. Otherwise, we stayed close to home and enjoyed the visit. Thanksgiving dinner was a definite winner this year. The menu was largely the usual fare: roast turkey (brined), mashed potatoes from our garden, gravy, candied sweet potatoes that came out perfectly for once, homemade cranberry relish, homemade rolls, dressing made with fennel, prosciutto, pears, and toasted hazelnuts (a new "favorite"), and brussel sprouts sauteed with chestnuts, prosciutto, and shallots. Of course there were pies: pumpkin, pecan, and Banoffi. Something for everyone (with seconds!). Today the Autumn decor will disappear and the Christmas tree will go up.  December is official.

The weather has turned dry for a projected, extended spell. Historically, in our few years of experience up here, December has been the coldest month. It is certainly the darkest. We are dark by 4:30pm and still dark at 7:30am. Once the Solstice comes around this month, the light will start to reappear and I look forward to that. With the cold weather comes more frosty mornings and John took the first tumble on the steps this year. He lived to tell about it, but it was a reminder that slippers do not have the appropriate traction needed in this season. We got some tread strips and will apply those to the steps this weekend.

Work on the new gate mechanism began this week. Some pretty substantial black posts, approximately 4 inch square by 10 feet, have been placed in preparation for mounting the actual gate. They will likely finish the job next week. John will take advantage of this dry weather to make some more progress on the shed's gutters. My wall hanging quilt is complete so I am without a current project. Time to take a look through the accumulated "things I want to do" and see what calls to me. Today we will go to the monthly Farm Breakfast and meet up with friends there for a hardy chat. Then we have some errands to run and household duties to attend. The aforementioned Christmas tree will make its appearance today or tomorrow, and Christmas cards will be readied for mailing. There's a nice rhythm to all of this and a familiarity to it that I enjoy. Guess that's a good thing...

Tail of the Dragon

We went to the crafts fair yesterday as noted in my last post. For most of the time, we wandered and looked. I marvel at the creativity of people and their talent. Near the end, we stopped to look in a photographer's booth and found something we didn't know we needed (which is almost always the case when you're "gathering"). We ended up buying this stunning photograph for the wall.

It's called Dragontail Reflections. You can see more of the photographer's work on his Web site. The shot was taken at the Enchantment Lakes near Leavenworth here in Washington. There's a glacier there in the center and to the left is the Dragontail. He had some beautiful work and it was the premiere showing for this new piece. While we were in the booth "sealing the deal", about 5 more people came by and asked about this piece. Very nice...

Just around the corner....

It's cold. Today it is predicted to stay in the 30s for the day. But then I look at Fairbanks, Alaska, where our beloved house/pet sitter just moved and it's -41 degrees. That's "minus" 41 degrees! So, we won't whine about a mere chill in the air. Late November is the wettest time of year up here which means, unfortunately, that next week over the Thanksgiving holiday, it will rain. That being said, most of that rain falls in light showers and needs only a hood on a jacket as you go about daily doings. And that concludes the whining portion of this blog post.

John traveled last week and arrived home on Thursday evening. The hard-headed brown dog and I carried on as usual in his absence, though the absence was noticeable. And Roosevelt found that sleeping on the bed when the house is chilly at night is not such a bad thing after all.

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, and visitors arriving on Tuesday, there are some preparations to prepare this weekend. There are menus to plan and food to buy to actualize them, as well as some general tidying up around here. But we don't live by chores alone, so I will drag John to a huge craft show (Actually, he has offered to accompany me) today or tomorrow. I have forewarned him that this is a "gatherer" event, not a "hunter" event, meaning that I will browse slowly through the hall, not "go in, buy something, and leave". And he will need to do whatever it is that hunters do while waiting on the gatherers to gather.

The fence-fixing folks promise to call sometime next week to arrange a date to do the necessary repairs on the gate. And, depending on the rain, John will continue to work on those pesky gutters for the shed. There's an issue with the sealant and temperature and that's about all I care to know.

Winter is just around the corner. The Olympics are wrapped in a shawl of clouds as snow has begun to cover them. The Cascades have accumulated more snow and the ski resorts are reporting 30 inches for their openings this weekend. There are some colorful  leaves left on some trees and they might last out the month. Fortunately, we will still have the green of the conifers throughout the winter. It's a pretty good place to be...

Crisp Outside, Cozy Inside

Ahh....a busy week has come and gone. We've got the estimate for the gate repair and have accepted the price. Hopefully, this won't be a regular repair and, done properly, it will last more than 3 years. I hope they can get it done quickly as our driveway has seen more traffic in the past two weeks than in the two plus years we have lived here. Granted, it's only been a few and most of them have been delivery trucks, but I have become unused to sudden and unexpected knocks on the door. Seclusion (solitude) seems to agree with me.

The weather has turned to more rain and chillier temperatures, more in keeping with Autumn and the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday. Something about chilly weather seems more in sync with a turkey roasting and football on the television. And one of the reasons to live here was to have more seasonal weather. Speaking of that, today I will put the emergency equipment back into the car. Last year, that sudden snow that caused me to take 4 hours to travel home from work occurred on the 22nd of November. Better safe than sorry, eh? Hopefully, "Snowmageddon" won't happen again this year. Snow is nice, but then it should melt. In any event though, I am more prepared than I was last year. And on the home front, we didn't get an on-demand generator this year, so we'll hope for few and short power outages and manage with the candles and battery-powered lamps when needed.

Chores were the order of the day yesterday. That's the usual agenda for Saturdays. Today I will tackle the garage and try to get the treadmill set up for use. I should be able to move some "stuff" around to make that happen, but the shed is already "off-limits" I am told for any more storage out there. Seems it feels cramped to the resident handyman. I'm sure once we have installed some shelves, a loft, and a workbench, it will be quite spacious. Here's a picture of the shed in its present state.

And here is a picture of the gate (lying in the leaves at the left) just up from the little blue reflector. You can also see the stone post.

And another of the driveway across the road. The leaves have fallen in great quantities this year and the colors have been so vibrant. It's the cozy time of year...

The "Home" Team

Well, the broken gate remains in a broken state but is out of the way, at least. That sympathetic repairman did arrive and he and his helper removed the gate from the bottom hinge and placed it to the side. We're waiting on an estimate to fix it which requires constructing a legitimate post on which to mount it with legitimate metalwork to support it. If we involve a stone mason (because we choose the option to reconstruct it within the stone pillar and have to rebuild the pillar), that will automatically raise the price about $5,500. So...we're going with Plan B where they will construct  posts right behind the pillars, leaving them intact. Like I said, we're waiting for the estimate.

Meanwhile, we have had the gutters cleaned and the driveway regraded as we prepare for winter and rain. So far though, the weather has been pretty nice through October and here we are, in November, and it's still quite pleasant. Temperatures have fallen and we get to the high 40s during the daytime. Chilly, but fresh. The leaves won't stay on the trees much longer.

John has been home the past week and will remain for this week as well as payback for his two consecutive weeks of travel. Finally, he got to experience the "call of the wild" when he took Zoe out for her o'dark thirty duty call this morning. The coyotes were partying and yipping up a storm in the woods. And when some rustling started in the bushes at the edge of the clearing that passes for our lawn, he and the Z-dog retreated to the house. It's an eerie sound they make.

I have a massage scheduled for this morning and then I hope to spend the rest of the day focused on completing a quilted wall hanging. I have the applique done and it's on to adding the borders, building the layers,and then quilting it all together. I'll put some soup on to simmer so dinner will take care of itself later. John is working on putting the gutters on the shed and that will be his project du jour.

It's going to be a busy week at work for me. Having John here will be nice. It has been nice. As you can see from all the "maintenance" that was done, there's a fair amount of householding that is better accomplished when there is someone available to manage that. Harder to do when juggling work/home schedules and demands on my own and remotely. Go Team Grant!

Stuck at Home...

So, I'm stuck in my house. Seriously. Seems the large iron gate that keeps others out of our driveway is keeping me in! Apparently the hinge at the top pulled out of it's anchoring pillar after I arrived home last night and the gate, once closed, can no longer open. I was tempted to just muscle it open and leave it, but considered its weight and size and the likelihood that it could somehow end up on top of me (Murphy's laws, you know) and used up what bit of common sense I had to back away and leave it be. So, I will work from home today and try to locate a sympathetic repair person to come out and fix it asap. Ahh, home-ownership. Meanwhile, John will arrive back in mid-afternoon and I have engaged a friend to pick him up from the drop-off location.

It's not entirely a bad thing to be "stuck at home". I like being here. Right now, the leaves have finally turned a blazing gold color and Autumn is definitely here. When I got up at 4am one morning this week, the temperature in the house was 62 degrees.Unfortunately, 4am has become more usual than not as Zoe needs to go outside at that time. Somehow, we have to find a way to re-train her lest we be getting up at 3am once the time changes! I suspect we will just go along and take her out, then return to bed for a few more hours.

I haven't seen or encountered any wild critters while John has been away this week. But a bear was sighted near one of the elementary schools locally. Where I had tornado drills as a youngster in school, they have bear precautions here. Parents are alerted to come and pick up their children. What happens to those kids with parents who both work, I wonder?

This weekend will bring some usual errands. The gutters for the shed need a day to get installed. It's been dry this week and, hopefully, we'll get a dry day this weekend. The shiny red tractor wants one more trip to cut the grass before more serious weather starts. Tonight we have plans to go to dinner with some friends and solve the problems of the world, no doubt. But for today, I'm stuck. And I don't mind that a bit....

Enjoying the Layover

John was in California last week. He returned Thursday evening and today he will travel back down for yet another week. So, life at the house has been (thankfully) quiet. He arrived back home to Autumn in the Northwest - in other words, rain. And now that he's off again, the week is promising sunshine.

We went to the annual Quilt Show yesterday. This year was a Civil War remembrance theme as well as all the usual show-quality quilts on display. Some real beauties. I especially enjoyed some that were embellished with hand-stitched embroidery. Since my little chickens are all finished (and the first one was sent across country yesterday), my next project is a wall-hanging with a Northwest theme.

So, another quiet week is in the making, but Thursday will roll around soon. Meanwhile, I'll enjoy some additional reading time, frequent walks with the Z-dog, and I'll leave the light on for our traveling man. All aboard...

October Fly-By

Lovely, busy week. Lots of things to take my attention at work. John was home so the household was well tended. We went out to dinner in the 'burg Wednesday night. Our favorite restaurant there (Sogno di Vino) has "date night" on Wednesdays and Sundays with a special menu and special prices so it's a nice break in the week. The near calamity with John's car tags was averted when they arrived on Wednesday. He made the 2 mile trip to collect our farm share vegetables that afternoon and thwarted Murphy and his laws. Despite traveling to and from the airport and freewheeling about town for the nearly three months the tags have been out of date, it would be that 10 minute round trip down the road when some sheriff would be out keeping the peace on Miller Bay Road and pull him over for those all-but-flashing law-breaking tags. But the tags arrived and we're law-abiding citizens once again.

Autumn is simply brilliant up here. The temperatures have been in the high 50s - low 60s and it promises to be a dry week. The moon was full this week. Yesterday, the sun was shining and the air was cool and refreshing.Finally the trees have turned colors. We put away the furniture on the deck and the porch and attempted to clean the gutters in preparation for winter. We'll have to get a 30-foot ladder that feels secure or some daredevil with a cherry picker to clean those on the second floor. I could ignore them and pretend that they are in fine working order except for the small plants growing out of two places. It's fairly obvious that regular maintenance should be done regularly.

John planted several rows of garlic and shallots to quietly grow during the winter. We're harvesting the last of everything else in the garden. Every year we learn more about the needs of growing things up here. His next project will be to get some gutters up on the shed and rain-collecting barrels attached to them (before the rain starts in earnest). My day will involve a massage (therapeutic), retrieving some new prescription sunglasses that have arrived, and taking a final look for dog-related Christmas-themed items. Tonight, a friend and I are going to decorate a small Christmas tree for auction at a fundraiser and its theme is "Santa Paws". And I will continue to work on my menagerie of chickens that have taken over the sewing area upstairs. I have 22 of the delightful little creatures waiting now to be stuffed with lavender, stitched closed, and eyes attached. Then they will be sent near and far, tucked into boxes at Christmas.

The furnace just kicked in again. It was 64 degrees in the house when we came downstairs this morning. That's my threshold for supplemental warm air. Time for breakfast and then on with the day!

Liking this Autumn season...

A friend of ours came over yesterday with his tractor and front loading scoop and helped John distribute the very large pile of dirt at the end of the driveway. The dirt had been removed form the site where the shed stands now and there was a lot of it. Despite John's protests that he could manage it with his cart and shiny red lawn tractor, I went ahead and enlisted said friend with his bigger toys. By the end of the day, John admitted that, yes, he could have done it with his cart, but it would have been Christmas 2012 before it was done! So, that's finished and now we can call the driveway guy and get him over to re-rock the driveway before winter.

This same friend, who is a retired police officer, also noticed with his police officer eyes that the license plate tag on John's car is woefully out-of-date (since July). Did we miss a renewal notice somewhere? Turns out there's a hefty fine for that so it was renewed online at once and the car is grounded until the new tags arrive sometime this week. I've signed us up for email reminders going forward. The good news is that in this state, license plate tags are not very costly (less than $45). The fine is over $500 so the ROI is worthwhile for renewing.

While John was away this week (as is usually the case), another critter made my acquaintance. Curled up for a warm nap in the basket next to the front door where we kept Zoe's towels for those rainy days was a rat! I discovered it when I was wiping my feet and noticed something move in the basket. Did I mention that it was next to the front door?! I retrieved a long handled broom from the garage and gingerly tipped over the basket from a safe distance. He emerged sleepily from his cozy bed and wasn't in too much of a hurry until I began my fierce yelling and pounding the porch with the broom handle. On our next trip outside, Zoe immediately scented and tracked him to the propane tank where a game of dog and mouse ensued for a good 10 minutes until she gave up. My ultrasonic rodent deterrents have seemed to work in the garage and the house. Outdoors presents a different challenge.The basket is gone and we are on high alert status against furry creatures. It's an uneasy state of affairs.

Today we will move some more "stuff" from the garage to the lovely shed. It promises to be a nice Fall day. The week, however, will turn to rain for most days. It will likely be that light Northwestern rain that requires a light jacket and a hood if you prefer to keep hair dry. I'll make some roasted butternut squash and shallot soup for dinner. Autumn is my favorite time of year. 

And the Beat Goes On...

It feels like most of last week was spent at work. The evenings were quiet and relaxed. But the daily grind defined the week.

That ended pretty abruptly on Friday as we drove to the airport after work to retrieve Karen and Gareth. We enjoyed having time to spend with them both. The monthly Farm Breakfast was yesterday, so we took advantage of that and introduced them to that experience. And since Old Mill Days was happening up at Port Gamble, we went along to watch some of the lumberjack contests and see what other woodworking crafts they had in place. The evening concluded at the Four Swallows restaurant on Bainbridge Island which is our favorite special-occasion place. It was John's birthday, so a special occasion it was. It's Sunday morning now and John has pulled the airport duty for the return trips. I'm off to the grocery as soon as I finish typing, and laundry has been started. Lots to do before the daily grind starts again.

John is off to California tomorrow. The weather is promising rain on most days next week and temperatures in the high 50s. October 1 marked the day we used the heat in the house. I thought we might make it longer, but our warm weather offspring found it a little cool up here :-). I think we'll light the fireplace pilot light so we can just take the chill off that room in the evenings for a while and avoid the whole-house heating.

The shed was completed last week and some of the things that were stored in the garage have already made their way out there. John is planning to build a workbench and I am planning to have him build window boxes for the two windows. There are still the gutters to install as well. It will be a busy October for my handy handyman.

Onward

Finally, John is here to stay for the week! He has traveled three weeks in a row and it got a little tiresome for us both. The house seems much less "full" when he's not in it.

The shed is almost complete. All that remains is to shingle the roof and install the skylight. John will add some gutters for the rain barrels and inside he will make some kind of loft for (yet more) storage. The skylight and the two windows will allow us to winter some plants or plant some seedlings in there as well. We still have to figure out what to do with the (really) large mound of dirt left from digging out the area. A small tractor and front loader would be nice about now. Next up, we call the driveway guy and get that done before the really big rains (and snow) arrive.

The kitchen cabinets got their knobs and handles installed. Lesson learned: handles are a lot more tricky than single-hole knobs. It took most of the day to get it all done; 32 knobs and 14 handles. Today I'll stick with sewing chickens, getting a massage, and watching some football. Less is definitely more on the weekend. We attended the annual fundraiser event last night for the Humane Society. Incredibly, we came away without buying anything. But we have a soft spot for this organization and were happy to see them raise over $44,000 for their medical fund. They do good work there.

Our own resident animals are well. John took Zoe to the vet Friday to see why she is shedding three times more fur than ever before (and to discuss her anorexic state). She has lost 4 pounds so a new food was prescribed and she gave it a hearty thumbs up for the first two days. This morning she is holding back, waiting to see what else might be on the menu. The vet also thought her thyroid might be at the root of the shedding problem so a small dose of medication was prescribed to boost her level. We'll see what this month brings. Meanwhile, Roosevelt continues his strict surveillance of the garage for errant mice. So far, with the new audio disruptive devices in place, his security rounds have not turned up any of the small terrorists.

Our weather gave one last shout-out to summer last week with temperatures in the high 70s. That all came crashing down about 3am this morning when, as predicted, the wind came up and a new front came in bringing rain and cooler weather for the week. John rose to the pressure yesterday and mowed all the lawn/meadow/jungle clearing. There can't be many more of those mowing days left in the year. Next weekend we look forward to a visit from both Gareth and Karen and hopefully the weather will behave. Until then, it's business as usual....

and "Just Like That"...

Summer has given way to Autumn it seems. We are promised a few more days next week of temperatures in the 70s, but our 80s are gone and abruptly so. It will be in the low 60s again today and the rain has begun. For good measure, we had a power outage in the night just to get us in the proper Autumnal mood. Last weekend I canned more jam as John continues his mission to denude all the blackberry bushes. It's unlikely he will succeed, but a man has his dreams, right? Meanwhile, the blackberries continue to show up in the kitchen and so far the freezer is managing the overflow. I also tried my hand at making dill pickles from the hearty supply of cucumbers that we have received from our Farm Share. If they turn out well, I will distribute them to pickle-loving friends and family as we won't be able to consume them all. By "we" I mean "me" as John won't touch the things. Our own garden is yielding a few beets, some carrots, and loads of John's beloved runner beans. Whether we manage to get any winter squash is still up in the air. There are two wee squashlings on the vine, but they have a long way to go and will have to do it during the Fall with much less sun and cooler temps. We have a fair amount of shallots and will enjoy those if Zoe doesn't eat all the tops. In spite of a reluctance to eat her expensive prescription food, she enjoys hopping into the garden bed and munching on shallot greenery. Go figure!

The hard-headed brown dog has been, well,,,hard-headed, of late. She obviously feels much improved but has become picky about eating. Not wanting her to decline, the humans in the house are trying all kinds of things to entice her to her food bowl. Whether it's old age and loss of appetite or part and parcel of her chronic kidney state we don't know. But she is confounding us with her stubborn stance. And I thought cats were finicky!

Our shed started going up last week.On Monday, I arrived home to a large hole dug in the lawn/meadow/jungle clearing. Since there's no level ground on the property, and since we didn't want the front of the thing to rise 6 feet above ground (that's a bit tricky for getting the shiny red tractor inside), a backhoe was called in. There are pictures at the end of this post. It has steadily progressed through the week and will be finished by the end of this one, we are told.Then we'll have to figure out some landscaping. Amazingly, the backhoe missed cutting through the invisible fence wire in that corner! Literally a quarter of an inch more and it would have been severed. John tried to map its location out before the digging began, but carrying Zoe's collar while touching the sensing posts turned out to be a bit of a "shock" (or in the invisible fence lingo, a "correction"). We decided to just go with the flow and if it was severed to deal with it. Fortunately it survived.

Knobs and handles for the kitchen cabinetry have arrived! They are a lovely brushed nickel finish. Two years into the house, they will make a nice "improvement". I will work on installing them over the next week in the evenings while John is (yet again) in California. For the third straight week, he is traveling south. Less than ideal, but necessary. It's always nice to have him home and out of that rat race they call the Bay Area.

It was the year of the 40th reunion for my high school graduating class. We had planned to go but weren't able to swing it after all. Still, a classmate wrote and presented a nice tribute to the times we all grew up in and I have included the link to his blog where it is posted. Enjoy:  40 Years High School Reunion. Thanks Dave.

Today it is cloudy and has been raining in the night. It looks like a good day to be inside. Maybe we'll watch a little football later. The football that is soccer to us Americans is already on and being absorbed by the resident soccer veteran. I have a sewing project to begin and later I will start some lamb shanks for dinner.And then it will be another week. Just like that...

Photos of the Shed this week:

Indian Summer???

A quiet week while John was down south. The weather has been stunning; clear days and nights, warm temperatures, and brilliant colors. The leaves have not begun to change color yet, but the sun is lower in the sky and casts intense shadows through the trees. Soon enough we'll move to proper Autumn with that certain chill in the air.

We're still harvesting blackberries. It looks like more jam is on deck. And I will take a stab at making pickles from all the cucumbers that we have received from our farm cooperative share. We had dinner with friends last evening and contributed some blackberry ice cream for the dessert. Very yummy.

This weekend seems quite short. I guess I like the three-day variety. Yesterday, the morning was taken up with a service on the car just in time for winter, followed by a quick drop off at the Goodwill store and a stroll through the Farmers Market to grab some more tomatoes. We had a few hours for some of the usual weekend duties before cleaning up to join our friends for dinner. They have a lovely view of the Olympics and we were treated to a beautiful sunset. The Olympics are looking a bit like the Blue Ridge Mountains at the moment. There's a fire burning that will continue until the rains put it out and it has resulted in a perpetual blue haze over the mountains. It's in a remote area, difficult for fire-fighting crews to get to and they have chosen to let it burn. A natural solution to a man-made problem. Despite all the rain that falls out here, the conditions get quite dry quite quickly.

The month is well under way now. We have a few "occasions" on the social horizon. Later this month we'll go to the annual fundraising event for the local Humane Society and then we look forward to the weekend of John's birthday when Gareth and Karen will both travel up here for a visit. In the meantime, it's business as usual and there's nothing wrong with that....

Bonus Days...

It's Monday in a three-day weekend. Labor Day usually signals the end of the "summer season", but it looks like summer is here for a couple more weeks at least. Still, the sun is much lower and the nights are quite cool even with the warm days. It's the best of both worlds; autumn nights and summer days. No rain is in sight. It's really pretty perfect.

We've taken advantage of the weather to eat outside (al fresco) each evening. Soon enough we'll be putting away the summer toys and hunkering down for winter. For now, evenings are pleasant as we while away an hour or two with a glass of wine and plain ole conversation.

We've accomplished quite a lot this weekend. It was the monthly Farm Breakfast on Saturday and we enjoyed chatting with our regular breakfast partners. We like the breakfast experience but it's lots more fun with friends. We admired their beautiful gardens at the Farmhouse and aspire to one day have a fraction of that at the house. Of course, they have "peeps" who work on it daily and we have no "peeps" save ourselves who are working elsewhere most days. But John has been clearing and reclaiming some of the lawn/meadow/jungle clearing since getting his handy strimmer-on-steroids tool. It's an attachment with three blades that replaces the string cutter head and it takes no prisoners. It makes short work of the brambles which have taken over about two feet around the edges of the property. I guess that counts as some kind of landscaping. And we visited the Farmers Market on Saturday and scored some real honest-to-goodness homegrown tomatoes. Heaven in my mouth. Next year, no matter what else we grow, we have to create a "hot house" so we can achieve tomatoes.

Yesterday, we Skyped with our friends in England in the morning. It's fun to catch up and see them while we do it. Closes the distance a little. Then we were off to do our respective "stuff". John had more gardening to do and he got some rhododendrons placed. He has been picking the ripened blackberries throughout the week and I canned some jam from them. We'll freeze some of them for use later and use another bit to make ice cream. We discovered that blackberry ice cream is a truly divine experience. How can we not have thought of it sooner? We also teamed up and replaced the whole-house water filter that lives in the pump house. That may not sound like much, but this contraption is placed in a wholly inconvenient space and is not the easiest thing to remove. But, we did it and we're set for another 6 months or so. A trip to the hardware yielded us some obscure batteries I wanted if not the filter wrench we were looking for. As an aside - I love a hardware where you can see a man working in a kilt. Finally, we managed to give the dog a bath. Since she injured her leg, we have been reluctant to bathe her because she usually runs around like a nut afterwards and we didn't want her to stress that leg. She had reached critical dirty-dog stage though and so we managed to get her into the bathtub and contain her long enough to get a good layer of muck off. There's a do-it-yourself dog wash in Kingston that we want to try, so as she gets back on her feet more and more, we'll take her up for a more thorough cleaning (those sprayers really help do the job).

Last night the coyotes were out in full chorus. I woke a couple times to their eery howls and replies. And early this morning the owl that lives in the woods gave a few hoots as he finished his shift. Today is rightfully a holiday. The "work" of the weekend has been completed and so we can enjoy some down time. Maybe I'll pull out a quilt project that's calling me. John will likely putter about in the garden. And this evening, we'll sort it all out when we meet on the deck for dinner. As I said, really pretty perfect...

Brilliant!

What a brilliant time of year it is up here! The temperatures have finally persisted in the high 70s to low 80s and only one day of rain in the past month. On Tuesday night, there was a sunset to rival all sunsets as it looked like the sky was on fire. The color was just a deep rose-orange contrasted with the deep green of the woods. It was a pretty sight. The mornings have been so clear when we have our first walk outside with Zoe at o'dark thirty that if I knew the names of all the constellations, I could tell you what I saw. They were all there. As it is, I can reliably identify Orion's Belt, and the big and little dippers. Not a cloud in the sky. So, it's against Mother Nature's finest backdrop that the rest of the week took place. Not a bad place to start.

John was in California Monday to Thursday and stayed in a noisy hotel. He didn't get much rest and arrived home pretty tired. He has shaken that off with a long and good night's sleep here in the woods and we'll enjoy catching up this weekend. While he was away, my days were pretty even with the exception of Tuesday night when the cat brought another mouse inside from the garage just as I was preparing to go to bed. It looked to be a pretty straightforward catch and release as Zoe immediately captured the little guy only to turn quickly and lose her footing on the hardwood floor. She went down suddenly and apparently knocked the wind out of herself. With her recent leg injury and slow recovery, her inability to get up caused me to think she had seriously damaged one, if not both, of her legs since they were out at odd angles. But she was shortly up and walking fine. However, I was not. By this time I had called John and was pretty shaken up at the thought of losing the Z-dog (even for those brief minutes) and, not forgotten, the mouse that was now "somewhere" but nowhere I could see. I feared the cat may have taken it upstairs to be alone with his prize. Fortunately, that was not the case. The cat sat staring steadfastly at the stove meaning the small darling was underneath. So, with John still on the line, the dog and I went upstairs, I barricaded all the doors with towels, then barricaded the two of us in the bedroom for the night. In the morning, the cat was laying outside the bedroom door and the mouse was laying on the kitchen floor. I don't like it, but there it is. So, I have obtained three "rodent deterrents" which emit a high-frequency sound said to be offensive to my tormentors and placed them on each floor and, importantly, in the garage.

We have no plans this weekend other than to catch up on needed chores. We have some folks lined up to refresh the driveway, lay some concrete by the side of the house, and to build a shed. John simply doesn't have the time to do that. It will be great to get the "stuff" that rightfully belongs in a shed out of the garage. Then maybe we can actually use the treadmill in the garage. And John will be able to find some of his tools which are still in boxes.

So, I'm off to participate in this lovely summer day. The rest will take care of itself.

Summertime...

Finally! Our temperatures reached the 80s yesterday. It has felt like summer for the month of August and worth every bit of waiting. There is just no prettier place with the sun shining and casting shadows through the woods, the water is brilliantly blue, and the mountains still have some snow on them.

Zoe has been diagnosed with age-related kidney failure and we have put her on the prescribed low-protein diet. She has responded quite nicely and her energy and appetite have returned. The vet reassures us that she might get another 2-3 years by following this regimen and that's good news. And we have decided that the former President (aka Roosevelt) does not need another cat to keep him company. He seems quite content to be the one and only feline on the house. It's easier to maintain his delusions of grandeur (being the alpha cat) that way.

I had a massage last weekend. There's a critical difference between a massage one might have at a spa somewhere and a "therapeutic" massage such as I undergo at these twice monthly sessions. It might be the depth at which the practitioner kneads the tissue or the laser sharp focus with which she seeks out the "problem" areas. Sure, there's lovely music playing and the room is darkened. But all similarity ends there folks. Don't get me wrong; I value these sessions. They are the best type of "intervention" for my money. I'm lucky to have found such a skilled (and determined) practitioner.

Yesterday we took our first trip to the local "landfill". It had to be the "classiest" visit to a dump ever. Really, it's a place where you take your "stuff" and put it into very large bins to be hauled away. No earth movers shoving stuff around and no smell! And all for under $20. We had to remove the large rugs that were rolled up in the garage before they were transformed into cozy mouse habitats for the winter. Without a truck and given the weight of the things, the resident tool man used the handy Sawzall to cut them in half so they would fit nicely in the back of the station wagon.

Following that, in the afternoon we traveled down to Bremerton to attend the annual wine festival that benefits the hospital's philanthropic arm. We made our way around the waterfront where it was held, sampled a couple of the wines and ruined our appetite for dinner with the restaurants' small tasters (like being at a classy Costco on Saturday morning!) before heading back home. So, from the landfill to the waterfront in one day; we have it all!

It looks to be another lovely day outside. We'll putter about and finish a few "to be done" items on the list. But we won't putter too hard. It's summer after all....

The usual blather...

Well, last week went along quite nicely. While John was away, there was work and pleasant, sunny days. Zoe is getting around pretty well and the restful days while I'm at work and John is not around the house do seem to help her leg recover. She's still more frail than she used to be and is sleeping more and eating less. But her spirit remains bright and we'll just support her and enjoy her company for as long as she's around.

I read a lot when I'm on my own. It's a guilty pleasure to become absorbed in another's story. Our friend Ian suggested a new author to me, Donna Leon, and I am enjoying her character Commissario Guido Brunetti. Set in Venice, it also allows me to go there for a while and recall a few of our experiences.The Kindle supports instant gratification; no more waiting to get to a shop or for a book to arrive by mail. There are worse vices, right?

This weekend has not been as sunny as "they" promised, but it is summer all the same. While John took the hand lawnmower to Bremerton for repairs (sneaky rocks will get you every chance) yesterday, I went to the annual Hansville Rummage Sale. This little community raises most of the operating budget for it's Community Center with this sale, so there are lots of people there and lots of "stuff". I didn't see anything I fancied and left empty-handed. But it was a good browse. After that it was off to groceries and then later we went to a local nursery (owned and run by our dance instructors) to select a fruit tree. Our attempt to grow an apricot tree failed in this climate, so we have replaced it with a cherry tree. Maybe we'll get some fruit. Maybe not. But the blossoms in the Spring will be lovely. And it's said to be hardy down to 10 degrees so it should manage the winter well enough. John mowed and trimmed back more of the blackberry brambles that grow at the speed of light and encroach on our clearing. I made some zucchini bread from our recent Farm allotment of veggies and an Indian salad/relish to use some of the cucumbers as well. John pulled some carrots from the garden for dinner and we grilled a steak and enjoyed the evening hours.

Today brings more "things to get done" but first I will have a massage to get the ever-present kinks out of my neck and back. Then a trip to Costco for a few staple items and back to the house. John will plant the new tree today and I will do some "inside" paperwork tasks since rain is suggested. We have also amassed quite a few peppers in our vegetable collection, so today I will create some dish to incorporate those as well for dinner. And then Monday will be upon us and the week follows its usual rhythm of work and evenings as it does. I can handle that...

The Other Man....

John is on his way to California this morning as is our routine these days. Later, I will take the other man in my life to the same airport pick-up location and he too will return to California. Son Jake spent the weekend with us and it was the nicest of times. He has managed to time all his visits with the monthly Farm Breakfast. This time we also got him up to Port Townsend for a wander and out to Seabeck where the scenery is outstanding. In between, there was a visit to Central Market to pick out some salmon and some ingredients for a Mexican dinner as well and a short trip over to Bainbridge Island in search of a store which has closed since my last visit.The weather was pleasant for the most part with just a hint of rain and overcast on Friday night.

There were also the usual homesteading chores during the weekend and Jake pitched in and gave John an assist doing most of the mowing on the shiny red tractor. It promises to be dry weather for a week or more now and we have lots to do outside. The jungle has encroached on the grass (or what passes for lawn) about 2 feet and we will work on reclaiming that portion. With a bit of luck, we'll have the driveway refreshed by the end of this week or next. Today I will contact a fellow to do some concrete work for us. John says we look to have a more abundant blackberry crop this year than last and I'll set aside a weekend day soon to can some jam.

Our goldfinches seem to have packed up and moved on this weekend. We have had possibly a dozen pairs this year, but like last year, they arrive in early summer and then leave all together about this time. It's much quieter outside without their songs. For now we are left with the wee Siskins and the brilliantly colored, but aggressive Blue Jays. Before long though, the Robins will return en masse and the Flickers will arrive.

I have the day off today. Tomorrow I will be back to work and that will make the days go by quickly. So, for today, I will enjoy every minute...

Unplugged in Poulsbo

I've discontinued my Facebook account. In truth, I wasn't finding social media to be all that social. In fact, most of those with whom I am social aren't even on Facebook. So, it's gone and I'm not sad. As a matter of fact, my cell phone has lately been unable to hold a battery charge and I have taken to just turning it off unless I specifically need to make a call. I haven't missed it either. No more instant contact. Just more space.

I'll continue to write in this blog as it provides us with a chronicle of mundane, yet somehow important, everyday life. But there are no demands on anyone to read it or interact with it. I like that.

Back to Basics...

I've been thinking about our stalwart friends from the U.K. who came over for the wedding and then headed to the eastern U.S. to see some of that area of the country. It's been so hot there. We would loved to have gone with them since it's a beautiful part to experience, but life dictated otherwise. Still, I hope they haven't found it too unpleasant.

Finally we can say that summer seems to have arrived in our far corner. Temperatures have been consistently in the 70s and we might even hit 80 one day next week! This is my kind of summer. John is back from a week in California and today we plan to get some much needed work done on the lawn/meadow/jungle clearing. The driveway guy failed to show yesterday to give us an estimate for repaving the drive. We'll have to find another one, I guess. And we still need to sort out a foundation for the long-awaited garden shed and some concrete for the side of the house by the garage. Now that we can count on being around, we can get those bits done. I love to travel, but it does cause a bit of a backup to the "list".

Roosevelt (cat) brought a mouse into the house yesterday morning. But instead of the usual terror that accompanies this when John is away, it was handled quite quickly and efficiently while I stood at the ready in the kitchen armed with my trusty mixing bowl/mouse catcher and a broom. Zoe had already confined the little critter to a corner and all John had to do was provide an assist. Less than 5 minutes and the offender was outside.

Looking ahead, I have a massage scheduled for tomorrow and a few errands to run. With such a nice week ahead, we'll have our meals outside so I'll need to go to the grocery. There's a craft fair up at Kingston this weekend and I plan to go tomorrow. The week will be a short one as son Jake arrives for a visit on Friday. We have some new places to show him. Tonight we'll open a nice bottle of wine, sit outside, and solve all the world's problems (or at least not care so much about them!).

Let me tell you about the wedding....

What a whirlwind it has been these past two weeks. We traveled down to Sacramento last weekend and met up with family and friends (not much difference really) to watch Katie and Morey tie the knot. The bride was stunning! And the event seemed to go off without a hitch as far as I could see. I hope the B&G enjoyed it because we surely did. A special thing about a wedding is that is collects lots of people in one place who might otherwise not show up together at the same time! The bride's family surely racked up some frequent flyer miles (or car miles as the case may be) since they came from all over the eastern and southern part of the United States and from England as well; in-laws, ex-laws, and outlaws (as I heard someone describe this recently) all together and all celebrating being together. It was fun and fabulous and felt great!

Special memories of the weekend: seeing the bride walk down the aisle with her dad, seeing the groom get a little teary at the sight of that, being escorted down the aisle by my son again and for the last time, hugging people I hadn't seen in years; hugging people I see more often but never enough, dancing with my husband all night, seeing the look on his daughter's face when she watched her dad dancing, meeting for the first time (and hopefully not the last) my son's and my stepdaughter's significant others, dirty dancing with my sisters and my (always) sister-in-laws and my nieces, wedding-crashing penguins (long story there), bare feet, lots of stories old and new, my incredible and loving sisters, being called "Aunt Vic". My heart is full for the experience.

We flew back on Sunday evening and got right back into the work week the following morning. The luggage finally got unpacked on Thursday in preparation for a house-guest's arrival Thursday night. Our good friend Ian from the UK is visiting with us until Sunday since he was "in the neighborhood" on business. We wish Gill could have accompanied him but, in her absence, we are laying plans for getting together in the future. He has brought good weather with him and we sat out overlooking the harbor last evening for dinner. Today we go in search of eagles and then on to Port Townsend for a wander. We'll cook some salmon (Pacific Northwest staple) outside tonight with some vegetables from the garden and enjoy good wine and good conversation on the deck. It promises to be a summer evening and we'll take advantage of it...

By this time next week....

I'll go from MOB (Mother of the Bride) to Mother-in-law! We are on the final countdown for the wedding which takes place Saturday. The bride seems to have it all under control, or at least has everyone else under control. Relatives will begin arriving sometime this week and make their way to Sacramento by Thursday. John and I will travel down on Friday and return on Sunday. Sacramento weather looks to be in the high 80s - low 90s for that period which is not as hot as I had anticipated and far more palatable than 100+ degrees. Still, I'm looking forward to the event and sharing this joyful moment with my daughter.

John will spend the week in California and return on Thursday evening. We both have busy work weeks ahead  so the time will fly. Yesterday we celebrated my birthday by having some friends over for a delicious meal and good storytelling. The weather cooperated and we were able to relax on the deck for most of the evening.Earlier in the day, I had a pedicure and got my toes painted a lovely shade of lavender for the upcoming wedding. Today we will pick up John's suit from the tailor (had to get the waist taken in!), get the lawn/meadow/jungle clearing tidied up, and finish some other odds and ends that waited until today.

Life flows on...

Brilliant!

I feel as though June went by in a blur. How can it be July already? What I am learning is that, up here, summer really can't be expected to arrive until the "official" summer months. While living in California, one gets used to having summer-like weather even in winter. Up here, Nature is a little more *organized*. Seasons have seasonal weather. And now we are Summer.

July is proper Summer. The sun is out and the colors are brilliant. The temperatures rose to the mid-70s yesterday and folks are out in their summer vacation clothing. I consider mid-70s to be perfect summer weather! None of this 100+ business I read about elsewhere in the country. We are fortunate to live in a place where others come to vacation. Of course, that means others (lots of them) are vacationing here this weekend and will likely be here for the rest of Summer. Fortunately, I don't have to take the ferry to work as there will be longer lines now. But there is a definite increase in the numbers of people in the grocery store and down in the burg.

On Friday, we had dinner at the Loft and sat out on the deck over the water. It was lovely. Yesterday was yet again the monthly Farm Breakfast and we sat out under the tent on their patio amidst the gardens. Good friends, good food, good weather. And last evening we enjoyed using the grill to cook some salmon. Lest you think that all we do here is eat, I will add that we had a very productive day of yard work. (The photos are of our 3-foot tall potato *trees* and of the new fuchsia blooms.) And then last night we savored the movie "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest".


It's a 3-day weekend. The Tour de France is underway and we'll check in there for a bit. It's a wee bit rainy this morning so it might be the best day to do things-that-want-doing-inside. I am going to make a lovely fruit tart for dessert later. Hmmm...food again. Well, that's as good a place to end as any. Enjoy...

It's Summer this Weekend!

Whether it stays beyond this, who can tell. But it's beautiful today in this green and lush place, so I'll happily take it.

Yesterday we did all our usual Saturday "stuff". But we also found a local nursery that had good prices on fuchsia baskets so we bought two for the front porch. We might add a third as John nurses his survivors from last year back to a presentable state (and they are coming along).  John started to mow the lawn/meadow/jungle clearing but somehow got a puncture in one of the inside tires on the shiny red tractor. So, today he will have to see how and where to get that repaired. Meanwhile, if viewed from the air, our grass would probably look like one of those clever designs found in cornfields attributed to aliens.

Today I will finally get the outdoor furniture in place and I will fill the planter boxes on the deck with flowers. Up until now, there hasn't seemed to be much reason. Hooray for sunshine! I look at my daily weather tracker and see our friends in California and other parts enjoying/enduring heat into the 90s while we still put a jacket on to make trips to the grocery. But not today! Today I will go freely wherever I want dressed only in my Northwest Summer attire: a long sleeved T-shirt and capris. And I will enjoy a day which reaches 70 degrees. By tomorrow I may even break out a short-sleeved T-shirt.

John is off again tomorrow to California and it's back to a more "normal" routine. But for today, it's summer...

A Nice Sunday...

 We were successful yesterday in finding eagles. As the tide went out, they were gathering to look for the clams or mussels. Such beautiful creatures.

We also enjoyed breakfast at Barbie's Cafe. (See the Yelp reviews here). It was well worth the drive and a new favorite for us.

A nice Sunday indeed!

It's All Good...

Back home after a week in California for a conference. The conference was good. My head is full and I have lots to think about. But I am glad to be home. John will be here this week, so we'll actually see each other for more than two days at a time. The weather on the flight home was clear as a bell and I could see all the volcanoes as we came north: Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt Rainier and the smaller ones as well that make up part of that Pacific ring of fire.

Now the focus shifts to the anticipation of daughter Kate's wedding in 4 weeks. We're hosting the rehearsal diner in a nontraditional twist and I am finalizing the details. I look forward not only to the event, but to seeing family members and friends that weekend. All in all, Katie and Morey have done a great job of getting everything in place for the event. It's pretty much all done but the "I do"-ing.

Today is Father's Day and to honor our resident "father", we're going to breakfast out at Seabeck where we hope to catch a glimpse of some eagles. Even if they don't grace us with their presence, the scenery will be spectacular and my resident photojournalist will be happy.

On the home front, now that our schedules have settled down, we will contact a "driveway guy" to see about getting our driveway refreshed. And we want to talk to a "concrete guy" about laying some concrete down on the side of the house next to the garage where it gets very wet. In an inspired moment, we also had the idea of having said "concrete guy" put in a foundation for the needed shed. Once that occurs, John will build the structure. And once the concrete get laid along the side of the house, there's that generator to consider in anticipation of future winter storms and power outages. Seems like there's always a list.

So, on with the day and the ones to follow...

Sweet sixteen (eagles)...

On Monday I was at a meeting at the Seabeck Conference Center. I carpooled with a colleague and as we were leaving and as we were stopped temporarily for some road work, we looked out over a small inlet and counted 15 bald eagles on the beach eating clams (or maybe mussels). What a sight! Add the one I saw fly over the house last evening and that's 16 for the week. We seem to have a nesting pair nearby as we see them frequently now.

Yesterday, I was about to accompany the hard-headed brown dog outside when I glimpsed a large deer. Fortunately, I saw it before "uno who" and gripped her collar to prevent a certain chase. I dragged her back into the house to allow the deer to meander safely back into the woods and give Zoe some time to cool her heels. That wasn't about to happen and she barked incessantly at the now-gone intruder. So, I put her on her lead to prevent her from going full steam ahead into the woods and off we went. She did go too close to the "invisible fence" once and was reminded why that's not a good idea. But we spent plenty of time scenting and tracking (as we have done each time since) and giving out warning barks in case something out there has any more ideas about crossing into sacred land that is hers to protect. Beautiful creature though. So, after two years of no large critter sightings, this year we have seen the deer and the coyote. Can a black bear be far behind?

I picked up our "share" from the farm cooperative yesterday. This is the second week and it is lovely to smell all the goodies as I transport them home. Right now we are getting mostly greens of one kind or another as they are thriving in the cool weather that is persisting. Also some herbs and radishes. Wonderful salads at hand.

I spent the weekend in California to attend my daughter's bridal shower. Lots of fun and so good to sit and talk and share. The wedding seems to be in hand and I will send out invitations to the rehearsal dinner this week. Who can believe we will be returning for the actual event in just 5 weeks!

John has been in California again this week and will return tonight. Then I will be off next week to a conference in Long Beach while he stays here to manage the menagerie. I give my final presentation for school on Monday evening and then I'm done! Again! I'd like to think that life will take on a more even pace for a while then. Well, a person can dream. Right? But really, it's all good...

Remarking on Nothing Much...

We have officially lived her for two years! Actually, that happened last month on the 21st. The weather has warmed and when we returned, the trees had finished leafing out and the woods have taken on that fullness that wraps around us like a big quilt. The colors are vibrant and new, full of shadows and light. I like to stand outside and just breathe in the woodsy scent in the morning.

One of these days, I might post some photos from our recent trip. I love the immediacy of digital cameras when you take photos. But the human factor afterward is much slower than the previous process where you dropped film off and got real photos (and even a disc) back in three days. Now they get put on the computer and eventually get reviewed and hopefully given a label for future identification and retrieval. We have some really nice photos and I want to get an especially nice one printed on canvas for display as a memento. That's my plan anyway.

Today we will go to the much-anticipated monthly Saturday breakfast. Then off to do a couple of quick errands and finally I will fly to California this afternoon to participate in my daughter's bridal shower tomorrow! What fun :-) I will get to see the new house and my new grand-dog (our first!). And last, but not least, I will get some face time with my daughter and (soon-to-be) son-in-law. I'll come back up on Monday.

The week went by quickly. Back to work and getting a grip on all things pending there. John in California doing the same. He's back for the weekend and then off again on Monday. We'll see each other when he returns next Thursday. And then I'm off to a conference the week he is home. It's a crazy month. The hard-headed brown dog has regained nearly all her strength and mobility in her leg and is feeling more like her "old self". She's decided she likes our company on each (and every one) of her trips outside, so she waits for us to get some shoes on and exit the house with her. I have to admit that I like going out with her as well. Her energy is up and that's bad news for Roosevelt as she's much more attentive to his actions or even his imagined/potential actions, particularly if there's a "cookie" that hasn't been consumed yet. It's inhibited his spontaneous and freewheeling antics about the house.  I've been looking at the shelter list for a companion for him and I'm certain we'll find one just after we get through the wedding next month.

My course will come to an end in two weeks and I look forward to some "free time"! I have to create one small project yet for a presentation and then I'm done. I don't have plans to take another class after this (but of course I wasn't "planning" to take this one - until I saw it). Instead, I will learn to kayak with John and I will put some attention to some quilting projects and maybe get a watercolor underway. Just saying that feels like taking a big breath...

Vacation State of Mind...

We arrived back from vacation on Friday night and have been using the 3-day weekend to recover from a bit of jet lag. It's always nice to come home and this time was no exception, but this trip was truly extraordinary. I would go back to Il Casolare di Libbiano in a moment and I'm certain we will return. From the setting to the hosts to the food, we were cared for in a way that exceeded any of our expectations. In that place, we enjoyed the all too infrequent company of some very good friends and just simply enjoyed being. No TV, no internet, no newspapers. All were replaced by the surrounding woods, sun, distant thunderstorms, conversation, exploration, and so much more. There will be more to share as I reflect back on the month. At the end of that week, half of our group returned home and half of us went on to Venice.

Without access to local news, we were unaware of a train strike that was in place on our travel day until we arrived at the train station! Fortunately, even with a strike, some trains were still running and we were able to make our trip even adjusting for a fire on the tracks near Bologna. We arrived in Venice only an hour later than planned and a quick journey by water taxi brought us to the hotel, the Casa Santa Maria Formosa. This second week was more "energetic" than the previous one as we walked throughout the city, fascinated by the workings of this place that is built on water. The highlight for us was a visit from John's cousin Erica and her husband Nereo who had lived in Venice for 20 years, not far from the hotel as it turned out. Besides the pleasure of seeing them again, they were excellent guides and had arranged for a lovely "lunch" at a local restaurant; a 3-hour event with countless courses of local cuisine and lively conversation. John was our capable translator as we moved between Italian and English. Suffice it to say that dinner that night was only a gelato as none of us had room for anything more! Each day brought a different look at this interesting city. While I am not a big fan of being in a boat, it was the way to get from here to there. We spent some time on the water buses to travel the Grand Canal and to return from the Islands. We also used the speedier water taxis to get to the Islands and eventually to the airport. I'm sure I heard the theme song from Miami Vice playing as we sped along. Since we also had access to TV (one station in English - the BBC World News), we watched the progress of the newly erupting volcano in Iceland and wondered if it would impact our travel home. Fortunately, it did not.

We arrived home to find the grass as tall as the dog, the dog feeling better than when we left, and the cat suddenly finding his voice as he "talked" nonstop airing a long list of grievances. We'll tackle the day-to-day routines to get things back to "normal", but we'll do it with a post-vacation perspective; refreshed, recharged, and renewed. Last night we had dinner at our favorite place in the 'burg to celebrate our 12th anniversary! All good... 

Bella Italia...

John and I are off on our excellent adventure this morning. A short visit to the UK followed by an extended visit to Italy. We'll stay with 3 other couples (all friends) in a farmhouse in San Gimignano (Tuscany) for a week followed by another week (nearly) in Venice. There will be lots to share when we return.

Zoe is getting progressively better and we have a great house/pet sitter who will look after her. Hopefully Roosevelt will behave and will not try to impress them with gifts of the live, furry type.

Meanwhile, it's all good...

Where the Wild Things Are...

It's been a busy, interesting week. For the second week in a row, John headed off to California, this time for 5 days. I'll retrieve him tonight. We have some things to do this weekend to get ready for a much anticipated vacation that begins next Thursday when we trek to Italy for a couple weeks. I've got the house-sitter primed and we laid in more dog food than I imagined could be on the shelves. It's coming together.

The week began in earnest when Roosevelt brought a mouse into the house once again. I awoke Tuesday morning (and by that I mean 3:30am) to sounds of "something is not quite right". As an early tribute to Mother's Day, he had brought yet another mouse into the house, but with a new twist. He brought it up to the bedroom. Well, I was out of that bed and downstairs in no time where I could have a cup of tea and ponder my fate for a good hour or so. Although I have pleaded with John to get me a shotgun for times such as these, he is reluctant to do that citing some notion of widespread damage and mayhem. So, I was left with my trusty broom, a pair of gloves (yuck!), some plastic bags, and some vague plan to put a dead mouse into the bag. But Roosevelt wanted me to have a live present; much more interesting. Ultimately, I had to place a mixing bowl (where would I be without kitchen utensils?) over the unsuspecting gift whilst it was grooming and take it outside for release back into the wild. Since then, Roosevelt has slept in the garage with the cat door locked.

Yesterday, I spied a large coyote loping across the yard/meadow/jungle clearing. I gave him my most fierce yell, "Hey! You get out of here!". He took a moment to assess me and realized I meant business with my fierce words so he slipped quickly into the woods. Since then, I have accompanied our Zoe on her trips outside. She has spent a lot of time marking over the intruder's scent.

And speaking of wild things, I have ordered my "chucks" shoes for the upcoming wedding. Katie and Morey have encouraged guests to wear these purple basketball shoes (as their wedding party will do). Mine have MOB (that's for Mother of the Bride) written on the side and are quite spectacular.

I see that it's time to hop in a shower and get into the rat race properly. Enjoy...

May Pole or Just Running in Circles....

It just might be that Spring is here! There seems to be less rain than sunshine these past few days and more of the vitamin D-producing stuff is forecast. The days are definitely longer too. John did some mowing with the hand mower yesterday in preparation for doing the bulk of it on the shiny red tractor today. The grass has not been hampered by the wet weather.

We had a day of "getting stuff done" yesterday; post office, find a notary, check out smarter "smart" phones, load up on basics at Costco, get a few groceries and a lot of pet food. I also ordered the invitations for the upcoming wedding rehearsal dinner in July. I have a little work to do at the computer today, but should get to spend some time outdoors. I'll get the furniture set up properly on the back deck so it really looks like warmer weather has arrived. We'll use the barbeque tonight for the first time as well. John will do that mowing and will plant some shallots, potatoes, and beets in the garden. Last weekend he put the peas in.

Zoe is making steady progress now with her leg injury. She gets around more easily with only a small limp. We still don't let her climb the stairs, so she stays downstairs at night. She's not keen on that but she does it without too much fuss. Roosevelt has become a 3am nuisance. Once we're back from vacation, we'll get him a companion to tire him out a bit.

I'm sure the week will fly by quickly. John will travel back to California for a second week in a row as we get our ducks in a row for the upcoming vacation. I have a steady stream of things that need to get done at work and a small project to prepare for my class. I hope the sun keeps on shining....

Monday, Monday...

Great weekend! Gareth was here and gave us a chance to get out of our usual routine. For his birthday, we made lasagna for dinner Saturday night and strawberry shortcake for dessert. I haven't made either of those in a long while. Very yummy. We went out to the Point No Point Lighthouse and for the first time visiting there it was sunny and absolutely stunning. The mountains were clear and the sky was blue. People were walking on the beach and some were flying kites. Gareth seemed to really like the area here. We delivered him to the airport yesterday until next time :-)

My sister from Florida writes to tell me that she has already started up the air conditioning; quite early in the season for them. We haven't turned off the heat! This morning it's 36 degrees. Rain and high winds are promised for later in the day. On our trip to the airport yesterday, we noticed that the Scotch Broom is in bloom. It's an annual show of bright yellow all over the county, considered a weed by the natives. But it's a sure sign of Spring's persistence.

I'll deliver John to the airport transporter in just a bit and we'll get on with the week. Take care...

Let's Give a Big Shoutout to the Sun....

Well finally! The sun is shining and the skies are clear for two days in a row. Today the temperature is predicted to get into the 60s. The rest of the coming week is mixed with showers and lower temperatures, but for today we will celebrate the season of Spring in proper Spring-like fashion. All two days of it :-)


The goldfinches arrived on Monday or Tuesday joining the house finches on the feeders. And yesterday the house martins returned to their house under the chimney eave. They were here when we moved in and have returned each year since. Beautiful colors and fascinating flight. The trees have been saving their leaves for warmer weather and this weekend might just be the final push. Every day it gets more green here. And the brave tulips which have reluctantly poked their heads out will probably open fully today. I will celebrate by opening some windows to smell the fresh air in the house.

We have company over the weekend. Son Gareth arrived Thursday night to spend an impromptu weekend in the woods. It's great to have him around and share face time. This couldn't be more different a place from Las Vegas (where he lives).

Zoe remains on injured reserve. Her leg is bearing a little weight, but she has a significant limp. We stopped the pain medication as she seemed to be having some unpleasant side effects. Her demeanor since has been more alert and more cheerful. We do notice, however, that she seems to have lost her hearing. We had noticed it somewhat before the injury and perhaps it just seems more apparent now. We're grateful for her loving presence for as long as we can maintain her quality of life.

John is fully recovered from his tune-up procedure and will return to California this week. It has been nice to have him present for three weeks. I am plugging along at work and trying to squeeze in some school time. I'll be glad to have some unstructured time when this course finishes. It has made me see just how full my time is and how important it is to have some opportunities for doing nothing. And on that note, let's enjoy this day...

In Search of Vitamin D...

Still raining, but more breaks. It's running about 10 degrees below the normal temperature for this time of year, so it doesn't yet feel much like Spring; just an extended mild winter. Still, the tulips and daffodils are valiantly trying to put on a show and there is a lot more green around. It's just cloudy all the time. My head gardener has been on limited duty anyway, so nothing is lost. Perhaps next weekend he will plant some peas in the garden and I can do a spring clean of the garage. All the rain has made the grass grow (and grow and grow). Maybe we'll be able to make a first attempt at mowing it next weekend. Right now, the ground squishes.

The Z-dog has a tear in her remaining ACL (big ligament inside the knee). She has more will than physical strength at her age (87 in human years) and it tore while she was leaping into the back of the car. She's been on medical leave from all her doggy duties this week while she recovers. She's still limping, but last night, for the first time in a week, she climbed the stairs to be with the other members of her pack at night. John had been sleeping on the couch downstairs all week because she worries if she can't keep eyes on him and she doesn't settle down.  And then we can't settle down. They both slept poorly, I'm afraid. We won't put her through another one of those surgeries at this age, but the vet says it should heal sufficiently in time. She just can't do any more leaping. I know the feeling.

We enjoyed having some friends over for dinner last night. Good food and good conversation. We're very fortunate to have found friends that we can "hang out" with. Today brings school work. Maybe we'll make a run to get some bird food. But mostly it will be a day to study and complete assignments. If you see any sunshine, please send it my way...

Springtime Chatter...

We had some sunny days this week; two to be exact. But they were spectacular. The daffs are up all over the place and the tulips are beginning to bloom. All of this thanks to my resident head gardener who put the bulbs in last fall. The fruit trees, the dogwood, and the lilac bushes all have new leaves and seem to be thriving. Yesterday we joined a farming cooperative and will reap the benefits in the form of fresh veggies weekly from May thru November, even tomatoes! We'll still plant our garden, but this will expand our selection and we like supporting the local small farmers. This one is all of 5 minutes down the road at the Fox Dog Farm.

The Farmers Market  opened in Poulsbo this weekend. They have expanded and we enjoyed seeing all the vendors, some familiar and some new. That was on our route for the weekly errands which included the post office (to pick up John's new camera bag for travel) and the Pet Food Store (for the Z-dog's tasty liver treats she loves). We threw in a stop at the local Starbucks for good measure.

We said goodbye to Mr. Purrkins last weekend. He had been failing recently and had lost weight. Kidney failure was the agreed culprit. But in his three years with us since we rescued him from an undeserved and hard life on the streets, he had a good life and a family who loved him. We are pleased to have done that for him and he returned the favor with affection and some good stories to remember. Since then, Roosevelt has seemed a little lost, missing his buddy. Maybe we will see about getting him a companion.

John has an extra work week at home this month. He won't be traveling to California next week. My final school quarter has begun and is off and running. I'll try to keep up. It will be good to see the end of this program as work and home keep me well-occupied as it is. So, we're into a new week and new possibilities...

Calll it what you want - it's still rain!

I'm a patient person...really, I am. But seriously, it's time for some sunshine here. We're caught in this pattern of 50 degree, cloudy with showers and it's getting a little tiresome. It's Spring after all. (And that concludes this portion of the blog...the whining portion. Thanks for letting me get that off my chest.)

Living in the countryside has it's many perks, but it can also have its challenges. That was the case this week when, on Monday night, some locals looking for a place to drink some beer and sit around a campfire chose the lot that is for sale across the road. Once they drive up the steep slope, it's fairly secluded, but I noticed it because their vehicle made a heck of a racket going up the driveway. And of course, they were lighting a fire in the middle of a woods! (okay...so it's a pretty wet woods)  My peaceful existence here in the countryside felt a little violated and I didn't sleep very well (John was away). Next time (and I'm sure there will be one), our retired crime fighting friend advises a call to the local Sheriff's department. Apparently they are not unfamiliar with this springtime ritual.

Since it's been raining (pretty much every damn day...but I won't go there), activities tend to be those that can be done inside. I've been putting more energy into the family tree. I am back into the 1200s in one branch (my maternal grandfather's side) where I've discovered plenty of English nobility (Knight's, Earls, Lady this and Lord that) and some beheadings (one down to being on the wrong side of the Henry VIII divorce from Catherine of Aragon) and a Welsh nobleman who fought beside King Henry V in the battle of Agincourt. I had always heard we had some Welsh ancestry but hadn't discovered it until now and it's quite a rich history there. I am finding most of my ancestry is English with a wee bit of German and Swiss thrown in. While I knew my father's side was  English (with some Irish that I haven't discovered/documented yet), I though  most of my mother's side was German. The findings of the family tree have really debunked that misconception. No wonder I like Marmite so much!

John intends to plant peas in the garden tomorrow when the sun is promised to show in spurts. We will go to the monthly Farm Breakfast today, run a few errands, and tonight we are going to dinner and a dance with a 1920s-30s Speakeasy theme. I will wear a flapper-esque dress, a feather boa, and a headband, and John will wear his black and white sport coat with black shirt and white tie. The password to get in the place is "hoochie momma" :-) Should be lots of fun - even if it's raining...

Going Home...

My grandmother passed away a week ago. She celebrated her 98th birthday the previous weekend and by all accounts she enjoyed the day spent with family and friends. And then, without too much fanfare, she left.

Sometimes life seems made up of all the routines that fill our days. It's easy to allow the constructs we call "reality" to masquerade as "life". So, passages such as this serve to remind us how little all that matters.  Routines were quickly put aside as arrangements were made to get from here to there and back again. John stayed behind and kept our life here intact. Actually, none of my brothers-in-law made the trip. They all stayed behind to tend to the business of life. But my sisters and I (and one of my nieces) went home. Not so much the physical place, but a place where family comes together to share collective feelings and memories; a place we lived in the past but carry in the present as part of our becoming. Getting to "be" there and with each other was a cherished opportunity. Life continues and Grandma's passing is a part of that, not an ending.

So, back to routine. John had his first occasion to travel to Vancouver, BC on Friday. Crossing the border has become "sort of a big deal" compared to my experiences in the past. He was questioned and questioned some more. The Canadians asked him to bring a letter of invitation should he need to go there to "work" in the future as they are very protective of their citizenry's right to work. The US Customs required the usual 3 pieces of ID to prove his right to be in this country (once he made it to the front of the line which took a fair amount of time). But he made it back in time for dinner. He'll be off to California tomorrow, but we've enjoyed the weekend together.

We got some rhododendrons to add more screening at the front of the property. We had hoped to plant them where the county dug up the bank to clear the culvert which flows into our stream. But on inspection by the head gardener, he pronounced it too gravelly and opted to put them along the road-side of the lawn/meadow/jungle clearing. In the past week, lots of green has appeared on the surrounding bushes. Once the trees leaf out, we will be well-screened for the season. The daffodils finally burst into bloom and look lovely along the driveway and throughout. The tulips have pushed up another two inches and will bloom before long. John saved the fuchsias from last year and they are growing well. They should be ready to hang in another few weeks. And the bird count is up substantially with more to come.

We ran errands yesterday so today I will hope to get a wall quilt on an actual wall and see what else the day foists on me. I'm glad to be home...

Spring is almost here....really....

Seems like we have been busy the past couple weeks (post-mouse incident). It's been raining a lot (4 inches in the past two weeks) so maybe we've just gone into hunker-down and deal with it mode. John had a little dental surgery but recovered just fine. He's been in California this past week and will arrive home tonight. And it looks like we may finally be free of the rain (or at least most of it). Last weekend we spent the time inside for the most part. We have one more dance class tomorrow night and then we probably won't take any more for a while. By the time they start up again, we'll be packing for vacation.

This vacation is a team effort with 4 couples coordinating international comings and goings. The farmhouse/villa in Tuscany is confirmed and cars have been hired, train tickets have been purchased, a guide for Sienna has been arranged, and on and on. We'll end up in Venice for a few days before heading back to the UK and then home. And it's less than 2 months away. I'm loading up the Kindle with books and I will get John one before we go so he can give it a try while he's on long plane rides.

I finished up my work for this quarter of school yesterday. Only one more quarter to go! I'll take two classes in the Spring but one of those is the Practicum. I'll be glad when it's finished as I have been missing some of my "time to do things spontaneously".

Spring is due this weekend. The equinox will pass and days will lengthen, hopefully allowing more time outdoors. I promised John I would learn to kayak this year and we want to get that under our belts before long. Who knows. I might take to it like a duck on water. It's that part where the duck goes under water that I'm not too keen about. Enjoy...