Archive for the 'family' Category

tree story

Published
by
wiz
on December 2, 2007
in family
. 1 Comment

We saw it coming; or rather, we saw it going.

We’re in the midst of another big blow. Gusts are expected up to 100 mph. That’s kind of brisk. The power has been off and on all day.

We’ve been watching the swaying trees. When Peggy came upstairs today, she thought a particular tree was listing a bit more that usual. So she ‘planted’ herself on the sofa to knit while having a good view of the tree. Sure enough, a bit later she heard a crack and we all went to the window to see the tree. It had a good size split in the trunk. Knowing a gust would knock it down soon, we all stayed at the window. CRACK! We saw it fall. Immediately there was more light coming into the house. Unfortunately we also now have a clear view across the pond to a house that seems to start major yard/house/deck projects but never finishes them……

The winds are supposed to continue until Monday night. There may very well be more trees down near us.

Family treasures

Published
by
wiz
on November 24, 2007
in family
. 1 Comment

After a few false starts, I finally have a gallery of quilts made by me and my dear mother-in-law, Bunny. Her creations are labeled as such, and the rest are my work. I wanted to have a record of the quilts for future generations; for them to see the wonderfulness of Bunny’s work. My work is strictly making a pattern.

The Mariner’s Compass/Storm at Sea was designed by Jerry. He chose the fabrics and drew the side panels. It’s kind of hard to see the detail, but two sides are an underwater scene while the other two are an above water scene complete with sailing ship and lighthouse.

Barney’s adult quilt was the last quilt Bunny made. Wilfred helped her because Alzheimer’s was taking hold of her mind.

The Cathedral Window quilt was 25 years in the making. I would work diligently for months at a time then put it away for years. It is completely hand stitched. There was no way to “cheat” and do some by machine, hence the long time in its building.

The baby quilts I made are all the same pattern, as you can readily see. They were fun to make, and they are all different, yet the same.

first blow of the season

Published
by
wiz
on November 12, 2007
in family
. 1 Comment

The wind doth blow!!!  Or, as we like to say, “It’s doth-ing out.”

And when the wind blows, trees do bend.  Sometimes they fall, wherein we obtain firewood.   When they just sway and torque in the 80 mph winds, we have broken swing sets.  Yes, the huge beam which Jerry mounted between two massive spruce trees could not withstand the winds of last night.  The movement of the trees made one beam end disconnect from the tree.  Repair and reconstruction will ensue but not for some time.  It’s still (always!!) soccer season and that takes up a lot of weekend time.

The power also went out for an hour early this morning.  I had the oil lamps burning and manually dripped some coffee to sip while reading.  Pioneer days!

the ripple has rippled

Published
by
wiz
on August 17, 2007
in family
. 2 Comments

Remember the ripple effect that was started by nephew Iain a few months ago? The one that put the family reunion planning into effect? Well, the reunion has come and gone. What a whirlwind of activity but great fun.

We played lots of golf, ate lots of homemade specialty foods, built “the puzzle from hell” which was then mounted on a board and brought home by Iain. The ocean water and pond water were utilized. Some of the kids had their first canoe ride.

Heather took an enormous number of pictures and I am going to direct you to her site to view them. She blogged on numerous subjects and loaded a bunch of galleries. She is far more motivated than I am concerning all that.

We are down to our little family of five again.

Jerry and I are camping this weekend for a soccer tournament. Saturday while he coaches, I will be taking the ferry across the Sound to pop in on my parents. It will be only a two hour trip instead of the four hour trip from home, and I get a ferry ride in the process. I do enjoy ferry rides. As I was growing up in Seattle, one of my favorite activities (when I was old enough) was to bus down to the docks, get on a ferry, and just ride for hours.

Next weekend Jerry and I head to Eugene for a Gordon Lightfoot concert. It’s at an outdoor venue so I hope the weather is dry. Dorothy will be joining us for the event.

Then two weeks after that, Jerry and I start our two week road trip to Calgary. Not too sure about that amount of driving but the change from the ordinary will be something. Looking forward to visiting with Laurelindë while there.

OK, that’s the news from here. Off to finished packing camping stuff.

Super Hero Day

Published
by
wiz
on July 19, 2007
in family
. 0 Comments

Once again, Jerry shows his prowess at creating a costume at the spur of the moment.

Today is Super Hero Day at camp. He started out with a cape. As Peggy and I were digging it out of the boys’ closet, she suggested Gabriel’s baldric and sword. Then I headed to the sewing room for a strip of black fabric with two eye holes. Find a black shirt, turn it inside out to hide the writing, cut the tag off; add black soccer shorts and referee socks (inside out to hide the stripes) and you have…..

ZORRO!!!

End of an era

Published
by
wiz
on July 18, 2007
in family
. 0 Comments

Today is day three of soccer camp. Each day has a theme, today’s being Water Day. This means you dress up in whatever water-type array you wish. Jerry is fond of wearing his swim suit, goggles, and a shower cap. Many kids come in water wings or life jackets; most wear swim suits, some even wear flippers. (Have you ever tried playing soccer in flippers?!?) Snack is watermelon and the kids have a water fight with their brand new camp water bottles.

As Jerry and I prepped for today’s session, we remarked about the weather. It’s raining. Now, this is not an unusual thing in itself. However, in the 11 years of camp it has not rained on us. Sure, we’ve had cold days but no rain.

It is fitting weather for Water Day and a signal that it’s time to retire. I’m always looking for retirement signs. :) We have one more week then that’s it. It’s been a good run: great fun for kids and a huge fund raiser for the league.

Soccer–it’s a kick in the grass!!

Heat wave

Published
by
wiz
on July 11, 2007
in family
. 4 Comments

Not an original title but an accurate one nonetheless.

Yesterday, it was 80* at 10:00 in the morning; at 5:00 it was still over 90*. Way too hot for me. I was wilting all afternoon. I drank so much ice water I got my exercise making potty stops!

The pool was utilized and pictures were even taken. However, Peggy brought the camera down to her room last night to take knitting pictures (you have to go to her site and see the masterpieces she creates!!) so the swimming pics are still on her camera.

It didn’t cool down for bedtime. There had been a slight breeze in the evening but that died down making the air so still and stifling. Even after taking a cold shower, I was still steaming as I crawled into bed. I had taken the flannel sheets off knowing they would be far too much for the night. The cool cotton sheets were nice for about five seconds. I got out of bed, wandered downstairs where it was cooler and seriously considered sleeping down there but decided not to. On the way back to my room, I stopped off in the kitchen and filled an ice bag with ice and water. In bed, as I sat reading, I had the bag smack on top of my head in an attempt to cool me down. It helped a little bit.

All the windows in the house were wide open. About 10:00 the breeze finally returned. Of course, that made for doors wiggling in the wind and making racket. As it cooled down, I had to hunt up the blankets that had been unceremoniously strewn off the foot of the bed. Not a lot of sleep last night.

It’s cool and foggy right now. Another hot day is forecast….

Time flies

Published
by
wiz
on July 10, 2007
in family
. 5 Comments

Thirty one years ago today, I stood amidst the trees of the University of Washington Arboretum wearing a handmade, hand embroidered (by me!) dress. Beside me stood Jerry in a matching shirt. We were wedded among family and friends.

Through the years, our anniversary celebrations have varied but we hit upon a “keeper” about 20 years ago: a traditional lobster picnic at the beach. We have procured the lively lobster in a number of ways. A local grocery store had a live tank but that only lasted once or twice. Then the local fish market was able to get lobsters for us with a bit of notice. That fell through and we resorted to Jerry having the distribution part of the company special order the bugs. We utilized that source for a few years then another local store opened with a live tank. Perfect!! That was our source and we could get the bugs when we wanted them.

Yesterday was the planned day for the picnic. I drove across town and the store no longer had a live tank with lobster. So we did our picnic with all the fixings except the lobster. Did we go hungry? Not even close!

We went to Ecola State Park and feasted in the sunshine. The fog bank was hanging just off the rocks and was great to see it swirling about. We then drove to Indian Beach, the north part of the park, and walked the beach. Having worked up an appetite (ha!) we went into Cannon Beach and treated ourselves to ice cream. It was still relatively early so we stopped at the Lewis and Clark Salt Works in Seaside then walked to the beach. Lots of folks on the beach! We talked of how people come here for vacation, and we live here!!

Barney and Heather gave us a wooden plaque a while back and it states: If you are lucky enough to live at the beach, then you are lucky enough.  So true.

After a ‘light’ supper at Dooger’s, we headed home. We arrived in time to give good night kisses and hugs to the Hobbitses. From what their mom said, they had a very ‘water’ day. Chances are they will again today. The temps are supposed to be in the 80s.

Fourth of July

Published
by
wiz
on July 5, 2007
in family
. 3 Comments

The day broke brightly; the sun streaming through dirty windows. “I really should wash them,” I thought. However, the coffee sipping sounded better.

Jerry was at work early for a few hours and Peggy and Gabriel were up relatively early. The three of us were in the front room visiting. Nikolai came up about 8:00 but does he want his usual ‘good morning’ hug and snuggle?? No! He is excited: There is a doe and fawn in the back yard. He awoke, looked out his window, and there they were. He was thrilled! So we sat and watched the fawn nurse then gambol on the lawn. Pretty darn cute. Jerry came home shortly thereafter but missed the show.

First major project of the day? The swimming pool needed emptying, cleaning, then refilling. As that chore went on, I made brownies. As the boys played in the clean, cold water of the pool, Gabriel had a meltdown so he was removed and brought indoors, much to his dismay, anger, chagrin? He was mad! He finally calmed down aided extensively by his dear mother.

A yummy lunch was had with brownies for dessert, a special treat. Jerry took his nap, then the boys went downstairs for their quiet time. It was still very sunny and warm. It got up into the 70’s; not seemingly warm for the world but for here, that’s a rare summer day. After an hour of napping, I woke Jerry and we headed to the beach for a walk. The tide was rather high so we had to contend with the drivers on the beach but a pleasant walk nonetheless.

Back to the house to lounge in the sun. But, oh! Sunscreen was applied too late! Jerry and I both burned in the course of the day. Hence to cool off, we climbed into the pool! Alas, no kids to play with. Nikolai did come out but Gabriel continued to sleep. Jerry finally complained enough that he should be out there with us that Peggy woke him. The two of them came out in swimming suits. The whole family had a splashing good time. No pictures, of course, as we were all wet.

Jerry BBQed burgers for dinner with a special requested Jello for dessert. Two desserts in one day?!? Very special indeed. No need to stay up for fireworks, we would hear them as we snuggled in our beds. The sun drained the adults’ energy, well, the old generation of adults, so sleep came quickly.

A fun, busy, family day.

old folks redux

Published
by
wiz
on July 1, 2007
in family
. 1 Comment

Jerry and I had a pleasant trip to the Big City. We were able to leave home a bit earlier than expected and took a different route that put us on the interstate quicker so we had time to stop for a nice lunch on the way north.

The day was warm and after a quick ‘hi’ to my folks, Jerry planned to head off to the zoo to pass the afternoon. I was planning to take Mom out for coffee and a good chat. Didn’t happen that way. Daddy wanted to go shopping. Jerry did go to the zoo while I took the folks shopping for a new, different style of walker for Daddy. He found one that would serve but did not want to make the purchase as he does not need it yet. Mom looked at me pointedly and so I voiced the fact that he would be needing it and I was here with the van to easily transport it back to the Home. He relented without much arguing.

Then it was off to Office Max. I followed their directions and ended up going east on 45th instead of west. After some time they said if I’ve passed over the freeway, I’ve gone too far. Well, we were going away from the freeway and they realized I had been given wrong directions. You must understand, I have not lived in Seattle for over 30 years. Anyway, we found the store but I knew Daddy would not find what he was looking for…and he didn’t. I started to suggest another store and Mom again looked pointedly at me and shook her head. So I followed her lead and clammed up.

Back to the Home to go over paper work. It turns out some papers that they thought I had have never been filled out and/or filed anywhere. So they’ll contact a lawyer (grandson Matt) and get that going. In the meantime, I can do nothing as the paperwork is sequential.

We went out for Chinese food for dinner. It was barely 5:00 so we beat the rush which was good as we had a ferry to catch. After dropping the folks off at the Home, we headed through town to the terminal. The day was gorgeous and warm. The hour ferry ride was delightful. However, it did take a wee bit longer than the hour. As we approached the shipping channel in the Sound, a container ship was steaming north from Tacoma. They obviously have the right of way over a ferry so we had to slow down to allow them room to pass. That was kind of fun.

We moteled in Bremerton then hit the back roads home. We came upon a driving range and as we had our golf clubs, we stopped and each hit a bucket of balls. Then down the road again, stopping for lunch in a little town and ice cream in the next little town.

All in all, a pleasant two days.