For the last few days we have had friends visiting [full time RVers] who stay at the same RV park we do in Texas [when our neighbor Mike saw the Texas license plates in our driveway he said "there goes the neighborhood!"]. Anne & Scotty are staying at our place with limited hookups [although Scotty is such a great handyman that he has solved all the hookup problems] while Jim & Linda are staying at a park south of here where hookups were easier to manage. They have had dinner here a couple of times and once we ate out [Chinese]. For one of our dinners we had pork chops [cooked expertly by Anne] and fresh vegetables [that I had picked that day out of our community garden]. There is nothing that tastes better than just picked veggies. We had potatoes, peas, carrots, cabbage and beets. Yummm!!
We also had home made apple dumplings. For over 100 years our town has had a festival called the Creamery Picnic where there are a lot of food booths and a barbeque cookoff. Our church women make and sell apple dumplings, which is our one fund raiser for the year. These dumplings are well known and people come from all over to get dumplings. We made them this week, they will be frozen then sold at the festival next weekend [thawed then microwaved then served with ice cream for only $3.50]. Since we had made them the day before our dinner, I bought some early and that is what we had for desert.
Yesterday Anne & Scotty left to fly to Maine to be with family for a week, leaving their motorhome here, while Jim & Linda will continue on their way. Dan and Scotty have some projects to work on when the Scotts get back. We don't want to work him to death but sure do appreciate Scotty's expertise as you sure need to know what you are doing especially when you get into electrical stuff.
The poppies that were blooming [see earlier photos] have now gone to seed and while they are beautiful at the time, cleanup is another deal. We have decided that next year we are going to limit their production.
It has warmed up here [in the 90's] but even without air conditioning in our house we are keeping cool. This place is well insulated and we manage the temps by opening the windows at night when it gets into the 50's then closing the windows and blinds during the day when it warms up. I am the first one to complain when it gets hot but even I am happy.
We have a pond on our place that has thousands of small fish, and obviously some large ones. I have tried my hand at fishing but I sure don't have the magic touch. Our neighbor told us that the fish were easy to catch....ha!! Good thing my life does not depend on eating what I catch.
I have had the second back injection when they burn the nerves. It is an improvement but not back to normal [I think those days are gone...I will always have to be careful]. It will take a couple of weeks to get maximum benefit from the procedure.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Trip Photos - 1
Cottage where we stayed.
Private entrance and driveway.
Secluded amidst the trees
Covered patio with comfortable chairs and large gas grill
Furnished with everything you need
Beautiful landscaping around cottage and the home of the hosts
We would recommend this location to anyone visiting the area.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Photos from trip - 2
Passion Flower
Orchid
Orchid
Peace Arch International Border
Canadian border...flag made from blooming plants
US Border ... flag made from blooming plants
Ferry boat crossing
A visit to my brother's place
For the last 10 days we have been visiting my brother who lives on Vancouver Island. We only get there once a year but always enjoy the time we spend together. He has recently bought a new house which he is remodelling so we stayed in a cottage owned by some people about a mile from his place. That turned out to be a great decision because the place was fantastic. Very secluded, surrounded by trees, a beautiful garden, lots of birds, gracious hosts and a very reasonable price. I put out a hummingbird feeder and very quickly had little guys coming to drink. The cottage had a living room, kitchen, bedroom and large bathroom, a porch outside with a big grill plus a new computer with high speed internet. They had equipped the place with everything you could possibly need/want including coffee beans and a grinder. I cooked the meals and everything I needed was in the kitchen. It was amazing and we really enjoyed it.
One of my favorite things to do while in that part of the country is eat fresh salmon. We drove to the next town [about 30 miles] and bought fish that had just been caught...delicious. I also bought LOTS of just picked blueberries which were delicious, and only $1.40 a pound. I always buy fresh in the store but they don't compare to "picked the same day and bought on the farm". If it sounds like my main motivation on our trip was food, you are absolutely right. My brother is just an after thought....just kidding.
While we were there Dan had his 70th birthday. He got calls from several friends the day we left who knew that he would be away for his birthday and then on the actual day, he got lots of emails with greetings. Then we had a dinner of filet mignon, fresh vegetables, baked potatoes as well as cake and ice cream. All in all a great day.
One of my brother and my favorite things to do is go to garage sales. Dan is not crazy about this but goes along anyway and often finds goodies. But he has to go with us because last time George and I left him at home while we went to the sales he fell off a ladder and broke his wrist. He is now not allowed to stay home by himself!! When planning our trip we made sure we were there for 2 weekends and a week so that we could get to the maximum number of garage sales.
Since George has moved from the mainland to Vancouver Island, our trip to visit entails a 2 hr trip on a ferry. We have been going by one route for a couple of years and this year decided to try something different. The trip up was great and the departure site was much more convenient than in previous years. Our trip home was another matter and resulted in "the day from hell". I am an interstate driver and dislike slow traffic and stop lights when trying to get somewhere. To go home the way we came involved slow roads. I thought we should get to an interstate ASAP then our 700 mile trip home would go a little faster. The one hesitation I had was that the border crossing on the interstate would be busier than the one getting off the ferry. But I thought "how bad can it be?" I sure found out when it was WAY too late to change my mind. The lineup at the border was 1 1/2 hours long. When we got up to the check point the line branched into 3 lines. As usual, just like the grocery store, I picked the wrong lane. The guy we had pulled us over for an "agriculture inspection". I told him we just had salmon and blueberries but that was not good enough for him. We had to park the car, leave the keys, surrender our passports and go in a building that was crawling with people....both inspectors and "criminals" like us. A woman came and asked us questions then made us stay in the building while she went out to inspect. After a while she came in, entered something in the computer [we are probably now on the "do not fly list"] then came and told us we could leave. After living on the border and crossing at the same location all my life that is only the second time I have been inspected. I don't much look forward to having to do that again. Next time we will go home on the other ferry. We had gotten up at 6am to make sure we had an early start but by the time we got through customs and on my favorite interstate it was afternoon.
We made good time...for a while... then we got caught in the rush hour traffic in Seattle which is a nightmare. Almost any time you drive through that city the traffic is heavy. I told Dan that if I had to live there and drive to and from work in that traffic every day I would just quit work and go on welfare! I guess I have lived in small towns for too long.
But wait....the day from hell is not over yet. We only got as far as Ellensburg Washington and stopped at a motel. We were relaxing and watching TV when we noticed that the air conditioning was getting louder and louder. Dan tried what he could to get the noise to stop but to no avail....and of course the maintenance people had gone home for the day. In the end they moved us to another room and at 10pm we were hauling our junk down the hall....but it was quieter. Thank goodness that day was over.
We made it home the next day with no further "adventures". It was good to be here, even though the grass had grown like mad...a situation that Dan remedied this morning. The bird feeders and the water feature were also empty so the little critters were mad at me. However, all is now back to normal.
I have had trouble posting photos so will post some of our trip and the cabin where we stayed as well as a butterfly and orchid garden in a different posting.
One of my favorite things to do while in that part of the country is eat fresh salmon. We drove to the next town [about 30 miles] and bought fish that had just been caught...delicious. I also bought LOTS of just picked blueberries which were delicious, and only $1.40 a pound. I always buy fresh in the store but they don't compare to "picked the same day and bought on the farm". If it sounds like my main motivation on our trip was food, you are absolutely right. My brother is just an after thought....just kidding.
While we were there Dan had his 70th birthday. He got calls from several friends the day we left who knew that he would be away for his birthday and then on the actual day, he got lots of emails with greetings. Then we had a dinner of filet mignon, fresh vegetables, baked potatoes as well as cake and ice cream. All in all a great day.
One of my brother and my favorite things to do is go to garage sales. Dan is not crazy about this but goes along anyway and often finds goodies. But he has to go with us because last time George and I left him at home while we went to the sales he fell off a ladder and broke his wrist. He is now not allowed to stay home by himself!! When planning our trip we made sure we were there for 2 weekends and a week so that we could get to the maximum number of garage sales.
Since George has moved from the mainland to Vancouver Island, our trip to visit entails a 2 hr trip on a ferry. We have been going by one route for a couple of years and this year decided to try something different. The trip up was great and the departure site was much more convenient than in previous years. Our trip home was another matter and resulted in "the day from hell". I am an interstate driver and dislike slow traffic and stop lights when trying to get somewhere. To go home the way we came involved slow roads. I thought we should get to an interstate ASAP then our 700 mile trip home would go a little faster. The one hesitation I had was that the border crossing on the interstate would be busier than the one getting off the ferry. But I thought "how bad can it be?" I sure found out when it was WAY too late to change my mind. The lineup at the border was 1 1/2 hours long. When we got up to the check point the line branched into 3 lines. As usual, just like the grocery store, I picked the wrong lane. The guy we had pulled us over for an "agriculture inspection". I told him we just had salmon and blueberries but that was not good enough for him. We had to park the car, leave the keys, surrender our passports and go in a building that was crawling with people....both inspectors and "criminals" like us. A woman came and asked us questions then made us stay in the building while she went out to inspect. After a while she came in, entered something in the computer [we are probably now on the "do not fly list"] then came and told us we could leave. After living on the border and crossing at the same location all my life that is only the second time I have been inspected. I don't much look forward to having to do that again. Next time we will go home on the other ferry. We had gotten up at 6am to make sure we had an early start but by the time we got through customs and on my favorite interstate it was afternoon.
We made good time...for a while... then we got caught in the rush hour traffic in Seattle which is a nightmare. Almost any time you drive through that city the traffic is heavy. I told Dan that if I had to live there and drive to and from work in that traffic every day I would just quit work and go on welfare! I guess I have lived in small towns for too long.
But wait....the day from hell is not over yet. We only got as far as Ellensburg Washington and stopped at a motel. We were relaxing and watching TV when we noticed that the air conditioning was getting louder and louder. Dan tried what he could to get the noise to stop but to no avail....and of course the maintenance people had gone home for the day. In the end they moved us to another room and at 10pm we were hauling our junk down the hall....but it was quieter. Thank goodness that day was over.
We made it home the next day with no further "adventures". It was good to be here, even though the grass had grown like mad...a situation that Dan remedied this morning. The bird feeders and the water feature were also empty so the little critters were mad at me. However, all is now back to normal.
I have had trouble posting photos so will post some of our trip and the cabin where we stayed as well as a butterfly and orchid garden in a different posting.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Photos from the Refuge
These are some of the photos we took yesterday at the Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge about 8 miles from here.
Savannah sparrow
Great horned owl chick
A second Great horned owl chick. We saw both parents and 2 chicks
Great blue heron and 2 chicks
Two Great blue heron chicks
Thursday, July 1, 2010
The next step in the solution to my back problems is now complete. Last Monday I had the nerves burned at 4 vertebrae on the right side of my back. Some parts of my back pain are better, but as with all invasive procedures, there is a certain amount of soreness that will go away with time. At this point all I can say is thank goodness for ice packs! The second step, which is the burning of 4 nerves on the left side of my back can not be done for at least 2 weeks. I am planning on getting it done at the end of July. While nothing is perfect and I will always have to be careful of my back [as all of us should] this is definitely an improvement that I am very happy with. Now if I could just go back to being 35 again!!!
My neighbor, her sister-in-law, son and I had a garage sale last weekend. I had only had one before when I lived in Cherokee and swore I would never do it again. However, since there were 4 of us it was not as bad as doing it alone. As always, the worst was sorting stuff out and then pricing it. The sale its self was kind of fun. They have a huge garage for their tractor and motorhome that is enclosed so after kicking out the vehicles things could be set up well ahead of time instead of last minute. The weather was perfect and we got rid of a lot of junk but of course there was still some left over. Then, the day after the sale was over, I found some more stuff that I should have put in the sale but that is the way it goes. I didn't make as much as I could have as I found some things that Linda, Mike and Lisa were selling that I just had to have, so mostly money and stuff just exchanged between us. We even sold some lettuce and salad greens from our community garden that is growing really well.
Dan and I each have the same Canon camera with telephoto lens that we use to take bird pictures on the trips we take. Both cameras have been acting up and after doing everything that we knew to do [change batteries and memory cards, and cleaning the contacts] things were still not working. The next step was to send them back to Canon. After a sizeable chunk of change and numerous calls and emails, we have the cameras back. Today we are planning on going to the refuge near home to try out their "fixes". Fingers crossed that everything works OK.
My neighbor, her sister-in-law, son and I had a garage sale last weekend. I had only had one before when I lived in Cherokee and swore I would never do it again. However, since there were 4 of us it was not as bad as doing it alone. As always, the worst was sorting stuff out and then pricing it. The sale its self was kind of fun. They have a huge garage for their tractor and motorhome that is enclosed so after kicking out the vehicles things could be set up well ahead of time instead of last minute. The weather was perfect and we got rid of a lot of junk but of course there was still some left over. Then, the day after the sale was over, I found some more stuff that I should have put in the sale but that is the way it goes. I didn't make as much as I could have as I found some things that Linda, Mike and Lisa were selling that I just had to have, so mostly money and stuff just exchanged between us. We even sold some lettuce and salad greens from our community garden that is growing really well.
Dan and I each have the same Canon camera with telephoto lens that we use to take bird pictures on the trips we take. Both cameras have been acting up and after doing everything that we knew to do [change batteries and memory cards, and cleaning the contacts] things were still not working. The next step was to send them back to Canon. After a sizeable chunk of change and numerous calls and emails, we have the cameras back. Today we are planning on going to the refuge near home to try out their "fixes". Fingers crossed that everything works OK.
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