We are biding our time until it is time to leave for the Boise airport to go home. Brian is at work at the moment and will be here in another hour to give us a lift.
It was a most enjoyable holiday weekend with Brian and the boys. We drove to McCall on Wednesday evening, and Brian and I had enough time in McCall to do some gorcery shopping before the store closed at ten. For a small town, McCall has a wonderful grocery store by the name of Paul's. They are able to walk a fine line to be able to appeal to a wide range of shoppers from the basic to the gourmand. They have a great deli and gourmet food section. And then to add to the mix, there is a flight of stairs just past the cash registers that leads up to a quilt shop. What more could I ask for? Gourmet groceries and quilting supplies!!
Our dinner was very traditional starting with an appetizer of pickled herring with Aquavit and a beer chaser!! Now that is a Kirkwood tradition with the components coming from Ken's Danish heritage, but we press it into service for every occasion no matter how signifcant or insignificant. Dinner was roast turkey and stuffing, gravy, two kinds of potatoes, Brian's cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie. We pretty effectively missed the vegetable/salad course except for some baby peas. Brian found some specialty root beer for the boys for their Thanksgiving libation, and we adults shared some tasty wine.
Brian and his dad installed an outdoor light on each of the six condos in their complex. There are no street lights on their street, and the one tiny light near the entry just doesn't offer much illumation. By the time they got to the sixth unit, they were down to about ten minutes per installation. A Crusty's pizza and a jug of beer was their compensation.
Since there is not enough snow at Brundage to open the ski season (although we got about three inches on Thanksgiving), the boys spent a lot of time with their Play Station, Game Boy, and Legos. They have a wonderful Lego train with both freight and passenger cars. But more track is needed to get the train up to full speed. I loved it.
I added a new game to the condo collection: Blokus. It consists of different colored squares combined in odd shapes to be fitted together on the board with only corners touching. It is a pretty fast game and one that can be enjoyed by most all age groups. Brian won every game he played, and Nolan was a close second. As usual, I participate in games for the sheer pleasure of playing since winning is not usually an option.
I'll blog again after we get home and I get the layer of dust off the keyboard. I need to clean fast and move quickly to accomplish everything and be ready for Christmas when Keith, Janet, and the girls arrive on the 22nd. Ciao.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
Eastern Washington Trip
I spent a fun 8 days in the Spokane area. Cinda and I left Bellevue a week ago Friday at ten in the morning assuming we would miss the bad weather that was due later in the day..........not so. The bad weather arrived early and we as we approached the Snoqualmie Summit and for ten miles on the other side we drove through snow and rain and slush. The road crews must have been caught off guard also, becuase we only saw one grader and it was parked behind a jack-knifed semi truck and trailer. I was glad to have someone with me for company and moral support, and we did make it just fine.
Lois had Calla and Sam and Maja up for dinner on Friday night, and then I was whisked off to Coeur d'Alene on Saturday for an overnight of fun. This was all planned by Lois and Calla. We stayed at the Coeur d'Alene Hotel, had drinks and hors d'ourves in the lobby, shopped a bit, and had a marvelous Italian dinner at a local restaurant. Maja joined us, and since she is just sixteen, she was very patient with all of her 'matronly' relatives.
I moved on to Karen's on Sunday evening, and she cracked the whip for three days to be sure I had enough of my latest quilt completed to be ready for the class on Thursday and Friday. However, we did find plenty of time to visit, and shop, and have lunch out.
The two days of quilting class was very good even though I didn't come away feeling as if I had accomplished very much. I spent the better part of the two days learning to cut out bits of fabric to create applique. I'm not so sure I will ever be very good at it. But it was another learning experience.
Karen and I visited with Mike and Mary for a couple of hours on Tuesday evening. Joel came home while we were there so got to visit with him as well. Both Mike and Mary are talking more seriously about retirement, and like most of us, have to wait to make sure all the ducks are in a row for health care.
I drove home last Saturday without incident amd was pleased to find the floor work completed. They do look much improved, but of course not perfect since this is a 100 year old house. There are some places that had to be repaired, and there are a few stains, but overall I am quite pleased.
Of course you can imagine how much dust is layered on EVERYTHING and inside EVERYTHING!! I have emptied, cleaned, washed, and relined four kitchen cupboard shelves and that is it. I know all of this will be waiting when we get back from Idaho next week. We have been staying in the motor home because of the fumes, but they have pretty well dissipated, so we are back in the house tonight.
We are looking forward to a few days with Brian and the boys. Sheila is now in Arizona and will be working twelve-hour days for the next two weeks. She has always been willing to work holidays to allow others to spend time with their families and this year is no exception.
We had dinner at Craig and Cassie's last night which is always a treat. They are a gracious host and hostess, and the food and wine is second to none. Craig is shopping for a chain saw to tackle the big maple tree that went down during the recent heavy rains. They heat with wood so it will be put to good use.
I need to finish packing and get to bed. I probably won't blog until we get back home, but when I do, it's quiddity will be retained.
Lois had Calla and Sam and Maja up for dinner on Friday night, and then I was whisked off to Coeur d'Alene on Saturday for an overnight of fun. This was all planned by Lois and Calla. We stayed at the Coeur d'Alene Hotel, had drinks and hors d'ourves in the lobby, shopped a bit, and had a marvelous Italian dinner at a local restaurant. Maja joined us, and since she is just sixteen, she was very patient with all of her 'matronly' relatives.
I moved on to Karen's on Sunday evening, and she cracked the whip for three days to be sure I had enough of my latest quilt completed to be ready for the class on Thursday and Friday. However, we did find plenty of time to visit, and shop, and have lunch out.
The two days of quilting class was very good even though I didn't come away feeling as if I had accomplished very much. I spent the better part of the two days learning to cut out bits of fabric to create applique. I'm not so sure I will ever be very good at it. But it was another learning experience.
Karen and I visited with Mike and Mary for a couple of hours on Tuesday evening. Joel came home while we were there so got to visit with him as well. Both Mike and Mary are talking more seriously about retirement, and like most of us, have to wait to make sure all the ducks are in a row for health care.
I drove home last Saturday without incident amd was pleased to find the floor work completed. They do look much improved, but of course not perfect since this is a 100 year old house. There are some places that had to be repaired, and there are a few stains, but overall I am quite pleased.
Of course you can imagine how much dust is layered on EVERYTHING and inside EVERYTHING!! I have emptied, cleaned, washed, and relined four kitchen cupboard shelves and that is it. I know all of this will be waiting when we get back from Idaho next week. We have been staying in the motor home because of the fumes, but they have pretty well dissipated, so we are back in the house tonight.
We are looking forward to a few days with Brian and the boys. Sheila is now in Arizona and will be working twelve-hour days for the next two weeks. She has always been willing to work holidays to allow others to spend time with their families and this year is no exception.
We had dinner at Craig and Cassie's last night which is always a treat. They are a gracious host and hostess, and the food and wine is second to none. Craig is shopping for a chain saw to tackle the big maple tree that went down during the recent heavy rains. They heat with wood so it will be put to good use.
I need to finish packing and get to bed. I probably won't blog until we get back home, but when I do, it's quiddity will be retained.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Air Waves, Tulips & Well-diggers' rods
Just when our lives were settling down, we found a way to upset the apple cart. We have toyed with having the floors refinished for quite some time, and so we called a local business to come out today to give us an estimate. Of course we, like everyone else, want the work completed before Christmas……but he said he could do the work next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.
In the meantime, Ken has to tear up the old kitchen vinyl and subfloor, and of course the living room, dining room and hallway have to be emptied. So I spent the better part of the afternoon stashing china and stemware in every possible nook and cranny with most of it going on the shelves in the guest room closet. Oh yes, and the pantry, which is chuck-a-block, had to have everything on the floor moved. The kitchen serving cart is in the bathroom, and the bathtub is stacked full of storage drawers that contain everything from paper plates to beans and rice.
I am going to Spokane tomorrow, and Ken and Cooper will have to move out to the motor home next Tuesday because with the floor plan of this house, there is no place for them to go in here once the floors are in progress. I think I am glad I will be gone.
Well this week’s election truly did give the Republicans a thumping as President Bush called it. I won’t speculate on any of it, but it would seem that the electorate wants something done to bring a closure to Iraq. The stock market hit another record high on Tuesday so I suggested to Ken we stash our investments in our mattress for a while until we see what happens post-election!!
Cinda has tomorrow off since it is Veterans’ Day so she is going to ride to Spokane with me. It will be a great chance for us to visit non-stop for about five or six hours. I’m hoping the weather holds with just some wind and rain predicted.
Lois sent a card to me this week with the following verse that I find hilariously funny every time I read it (actually, I can just recite it at will by now because I have read it so often). She sent it to say she can’t wait for my visit this week end. It makes me laugh out loud every time:
Stroke the air waves, pull up the tulips,
Break out the well-digger’s rod…..
We’re gonna yodel tonight
It is from a line of cards called Pondering Pool whose creator is Susan Mrosek. She is my latest heroine.
Well, my jaunt to Spokane doesn’t qualify as a true peregrination, but it is sufficient for me at the moment.
Ciao
In the meantime, Ken has to tear up the old kitchen vinyl and subfloor, and of course the living room, dining room and hallway have to be emptied. So I spent the better part of the afternoon stashing china and stemware in every possible nook and cranny with most of it going on the shelves in the guest room closet. Oh yes, and the pantry, which is chuck-a-block, had to have everything on the floor moved. The kitchen serving cart is in the bathroom, and the bathtub is stacked full of storage drawers that contain everything from paper plates to beans and rice.
I am going to Spokane tomorrow, and Ken and Cooper will have to move out to the motor home next Tuesday because with the floor plan of this house, there is no place for them to go in here once the floors are in progress. I think I am glad I will be gone.
Well this week’s election truly did give the Republicans a thumping as President Bush called it. I won’t speculate on any of it, but it would seem that the electorate wants something done to bring a closure to Iraq. The stock market hit another record high on Tuesday so I suggested to Ken we stash our investments in our mattress for a while until we see what happens post-election!!
Cinda has tomorrow off since it is Veterans’ Day so she is going to ride to Spokane with me. It will be a great chance for us to visit non-stop for about five or six hours. I’m hoping the weather holds with just some wind and rain predicted.
Lois sent a card to me this week with the following verse that I find hilariously funny every time I read it (actually, I can just recite it at will by now because I have read it so often). She sent it to say she can’t wait for my visit this week end. It makes me laugh out loud every time:
Stroke the air waves, pull up the tulips,
Break out the well-digger’s rod…..
We’re gonna yodel tonight
It is from a line of cards called Pondering Pool whose creator is Susan Mrosek. She is my latest heroine.
Well, my jaunt to Spokane doesn’t qualify as a true peregrination, but it is sufficient for me at the moment.
Ciao
Monday, November 06, 2006
It's wet and windy
So now I've quit complaining about being cold because it is wet, wet, wet. There is a state of emergency for every county in western Washington, and there is more rain on its way tonight. Up to now, I haven't heard the sump pump turn on so there must not be all that much water under the house.
Craig and Cassie have a creek running through the property in the backyard and Craig sent pictures showing how high it is. It isn't up to the house yet, and he said the house has been there for 100 years without incident so they are feeling okay. However, Huxley the dog can't figure out what happened to his backyard.
For lack of anything better to do, or lack of good sense, Elisabeth and I drove to south Seattle today to shop at IKEA. We drove both ways without incident and had a great shopping experience because there was no one else there. All of the Christmas items are on display so we had a grand time - after we dined on our usual Swedish meatballs.
Ken went to Spokane yesterday and will return tomorrow or Wednesday; I'm not sure which. He stayed at Jerry and Lois' las night, and who know where he is tonight. I know he went to Rod and Karen's this afternoon to talk about our trip south in January.
We had a good visit with Anita and Larry on Friday night and dinner was fine, but the cook has a poor memory. I forgot to pass the hollandaise sauce for the stuffed chicken and forgot to add the pomegranate seeds to the salad. Hmmm. I made an apple custard cake for dessert which is something I had not made in years and was not positive about my hand-written recipe from our Canadian days in Nova Scotia, but thanks to the internet, I was able to find the exact recipe and rest assured that mine was accurate. After reading Catherine Ousey's blog today and her description of a Jeannie's cake made in Winnipeg, I was able to find a recipe on the internet. It is a light cake, frosted, and perched atop a shortbread cookie crust. Sounds yummy.
Well this doesn't qualify as a florilegium, but it is all you are going to get. Ciao
Craig and Cassie have a creek running through the property in the backyard and Craig sent pictures showing how high it is. It isn't up to the house yet, and he said the house has been there for 100 years without incident so they are feeling okay. However, Huxley the dog can't figure out what happened to his backyard.
For lack of anything better to do, or lack of good sense, Elisabeth and I drove to south Seattle today to shop at IKEA. We drove both ways without incident and had a great shopping experience because there was no one else there. All of the Christmas items are on display so we had a grand time - after we dined on our usual Swedish meatballs.
Ken went to Spokane yesterday and will return tomorrow or Wednesday; I'm not sure which. He stayed at Jerry and Lois' las night, and who know where he is tonight. I know he went to Rod and Karen's this afternoon to talk about our trip south in January.
We had a good visit with Anita and Larry on Friday night and dinner was fine, but the cook has a poor memory. I forgot to pass the hollandaise sauce for the stuffed chicken and forgot to add the pomegranate seeds to the salad. Hmmm. I made an apple custard cake for dessert which is something I had not made in years and was not positive about my hand-written recipe from our Canadian days in Nova Scotia, but thanks to the internet, I was able to find the exact recipe and rest assured that mine was accurate. After reading Catherine Ousey's blog today and her description of a Jeannie's cake made in Winnipeg, I was able to find a recipe on the internet. It is a light cake, frosted, and perched atop a shortbread cookie crust. Sounds yummy.
Well this doesn't qualify as a florilegium, but it is all you are going to get. Ciao
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Brrrrrrrrr
I’m sure part of my problem is having been sweltering in southern California for the past three months, but it is damn cold around here. It has been getting down into the upper 20s at night which is what we might expect in the dead of winter. But rain and clouds are on the way so it will be wetter, but more importantly, It will be warmer.
I have been sewing for a while each day and spending some time just catching up on housework and shopping. Ken has washed the motor home, put the garden to bed, and yesterday he went shopping for a new scanner.
The first attempt was an HP all-in-one scanner, printer, copier, fax, etc., but its design made it too high on the computer table for me to be able to see all the buttons, so now we have just a scanner that doesn’t have any buttons! Its seems I have become more aware of my height (or lack thereof) over the past year and am amazed at how many places are out of reach for me. I realized tonight that the kitchen countertop is above my waist!!
Ken is going to go to Spokane this week end to get a canoe that his brother, Jerry, is giving him, and then he will get out to see the Jaynes and the Spragues. Rod and Karen are our traveling partners for our trip south this winter so we need to agree on where we are going. As soon as he gets home, I’ll head for Spokane.
We are having one of Ken’s high school classmates and her husband Anita (Kanzler) and Larry Foster here for dinner on Friday night. We visited with them at their high school reunion this summer and found that they live in Centralia which is only about 40 miles away. It is fun to reconnect with folks from our ‘growing-up’ years now that we are all grown up.
Well this isn’t exactly a billet-doux, but then that wouldn’t exactly be appropriate would it? Ciao
I have been sewing for a while each day and spending some time just catching up on housework and shopping. Ken has washed the motor home, put the garden to bed, and yesterday he went shopping for a new scanner.
The first attempt was an HP all-in-one scanner, printer, copier, fax, etc., but its design made it too high on the computer table for me to be able to see all the buttons, so now we have just a scanner that doesn’t have any buttons! Its seems I have become more aware of my height (or lack thereof) over the past year and am amazed at how many places are out of reach for me. I realized tonight that the kitchen countertop is above my waist!!
Ken is going to go to Spokane this week end to get a canoe that his brother, Jerry, is giving him, and then he will get out to see the Jaynes and the Spragues. Rod and Karen are our traveling partners for our trip south this winter so we need to agree on where we are going. As soon as he gets home, I’ll head for Spokane.
We are having one of Ken’s high school classmates and her husband Anita (Kanzler) and Larry Foster here for dinner on Friday night. We visited with them at their high school reunion this summer and found that they live in Centralia which is only about 40 miles away. It is fun to reconnect with folks from our ‘growing-up’ years now that we are all grown up.
Well this isn’t exactly a billet-doux, but then that wouldn’t exactly be appropriate would it? Ciao
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