'57 Aloha Update

There has been progress on the '57 Aloha trailer lately.  Hubby has built new cabinets and installed them.  Yesterday the walls and ceiling were installed.

 The wood finish is so pretty.  Hubby is a bit of perfectionist.  I am not, therefore; I wasn't allowed to help with staining or the urethane application process.  We need trim and that will really close things up from the inside.  The tentative due date for the Aloha is in July for a church camp out at Bryce Creek.  It'll be close.

 In addition to Hubby's carpenter skills he is pretty good at junkin' too.  Yesterday he stopped at our local thrift store and scored a globe.

It's not just any vintage globe, it lights up and stands 32 inches tall.  I'm a little excited to add this globe to our collection.  When it's not lit the colors are a pale aqua and gold.  The exact color scheme as our living room. I may use Annie Sloan Chalk Paint on the wood, or I may just leave well enough alone.

Why yes, Hubby is a keeper.  Today he is spending the day with Reagan, our grand dogger.

I'm a lucky girl and so is Reagan.

Happy Wednesday!

This and That

On Friday I took the ferry to Friday Harbor with Shelly and Sheryl.  We went to see our friend, Deb.  Deb has a consignment store on the island.  We had some things to consign and some shopping to do.  And of course, we had lunch.  Girlfriend's Consignment is a wonderful shop and it was fun to see Deb in her store.

I've been walking.  The boot camp gals and I got Fitbits for Christmas.  There are weekly challenges and competition.  Everyone is so encouraging that I want to move just to "hear" the cheers.  The fit bit also tracks your sleep patterns which I find very interesting.  The sleeping is easier than the walking. Hah!

Do you have a Fitbit and if so, what options do you use and like?

The photo is from Map My Walk app.

 In the past I drank a diet coke every day.  I'm down to one every week or two now.  When I do treat myself to a diet coke I love it from a can on crushed ice with a straw.  I do miss it horribly some days.

Sam and Angela asked us to come for dinner on Saturday evening.  We had such a nice time.  Angela sets a beautiful table.   Sam grilled asparagus and kabobs with veggies and steak and prawns that they served with roasted potatoes.  Hubby and I left feeling very blessed by them.

Sunday morning after church Hubby watched the NASCAR race and I did some serious lounging.  I napped, read and watched a movie, St. Vincient.  We had a very lazy day on Sunday.  I ended my day with Downton Abbey.  I can't believe it is going to be the finale next week, so not ready for the end.

A very random post and now it's Monday and game on.  Here we go!

Drive to Walk

 

 It may not make a lot of sense to drive somewhere to go for a walk, however; there are so many places by the bay, the lake and the mountains that sometimes you just have to get in the car to go for a walk.  This week I pick up my sis, Jodi and her pup, Dottie and we drove to the cliff.  It is part of BP Oil Refinery property but walkers and bikers are welcome.

It was bright and sunny though my pictures look like sunset.

 When we were kids our parents took us here on Sunday afternoons.  At that point there wasn't a sign warning of the dangers so we actually went over the edge and scrambled down to the beach.  After walking on the beach, beach combing, building driftwood forts and having a snack we hiked back up the hill.  There was a heavy rope tied to the top and we used it to pull ourselves back up to the top.  It was always a little scary.  We would start to slide down the cliff and much like roadrunner we would grab branches and hang on for dear life.  What were our parents thinking?  In spite of the danger, we all have good memories or our Sunday afternoons at the cliff.

 Just when you think the view can't get any better.  It's time to turn around to walk back and there in all of it's glory is Mt. Baker.

Though it defies logic to drive somewhere to walk for exercise, some days it's a brilliant idea.

 

Where is your destination walk?

 

 



Seattle Flower and Garden Show

Last week I went with friends to the Seattle Flower and Garden Show.  I didn't get a picture of us, so use your imagination.  Chris sent me a cute black and white one that she had of us.

After fortuitously finding a parking spot in downtown Seattle we went right to the show and directly to see JohnBob Cool Junk.  They do have cool junk and are always happy to see us.  Or they are good actors pretending to be happy to see us.  Their booth didn't disappoint.

 A sweet Shasta trailer was parked in the vintage area.  I loved the red and green color scheme and their fun camping equipment.  The original flooring is so great.

 A flower fairy in a very clever booth was eye candy.  The booth was made from old doors.

 I can't remember the name of the vendor of the next booth, but it's my favorite.  It was so simple, the colors were so pretty.  I could have moved right in and stayed.

 There were eight city patios set up on the sky bridge.

 There were tiny gardens too.

 Uhmm, honey, I think I want a new hut.

Our friend Kim took this shot of Chris, Shelly and myself.  It was fun to see Kim and her Mom at the show.

After the show, we had lunch at The Met, shopped at Watson Kennedy, and had a cocktail at Oliver's.

Pretty much a perfect day in the city with the girls.



Yes, This Happened, to Me

Read this post at your own risk and there are some risks.  A song stuck in your head and a gross picture are just around the corner.  And me whining, a little.  Don't say that you weren't warned because you were warned.

 

On Sunday, my sisters broke into a song for me.  Since we are a non-singing family, no exceptions, this was strange.  That said, it was a very fitting song for me.  Kathi and Jodi sang! They couldn't resist. This song can get stuck in your head easily and you may be singing or humming it for days.

 

  My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,
bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,
brown paper packages tied up with strings,
these are a few of my favorite things.

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple strudels,
door bells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles.
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings.
these are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in a white dresses with a blue satin sashes,
snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,
silver white winters that melt into springs,
these are a few of my favorite things.

When the dog bites, when the bee stings,
when I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
and then I don't feel so bad. 

The chorus was highlighted, just for me.

 

It wasn't that long ago that we celebrated Christmas and I shared my unfortunate Christmas Eve waspbeespider bite incident on the blog.  Now it seems as though holidays are prime time for me to have a mishap.

 

Here's the story, in my own words.

 

On Valentine's evening Hubby and I decided to walk to dinner at Mark and Karen's house.  It was still light, and Saturday was a gorgeous February day.  We met a woman out walking her dog.  We greeted each other and then just as we met on the sidewalk, the dog bit me. 

 

Yes, you read that correctly.  It could only happened to me.  I know you're all thinking that because I am truly the most goofy accident prone person out there.

 

I wasn't scared of the dog, I wasn't coming at the dog, I wasn't feeling threated.  I was simply on the arm of my one true love walking to what I knew would be a lovely evening with friends.  Not a care in the world, when that dog bit my thigh.  Hard.

 

The owner insisted that her dog, Abby didn't bite.  No actually, Abby does bite.  The owner wanted to talk about it and I just wanted to get to dinner.  Well actually, I just wanted to get to Mark and Karen's bathroom so I could pull down my jeans and see the damage.  It felt as though I was bleeding but a bad bruise can feel that way.  It hurt!

 

I did ask if the dog had her shots and the owner assured me that she does have all of the dog's shots current. I want to believe that is true because of the broken skin.  But the owner was also insisting that her dog doesn't bite.  So, you can understand why I'm a tad worried.  After all, the dog that doesn't bite had just bitten me.  Yesterday, I talked to someone who does a lot of walking in our neighborhood,  she lives close to the dog and she  told me that the dog has bitten a neighbor boy.  Hmmm. 

I did feel bad for the owner because she loves her dog and she felt so bad for me.

I am fine, however; I'll be crossing to the other side of the street when I meet dogs on my walks.

And I'll be cautious on the next holiday, Memorial Day. 

Frostbite, falling off a cliff, what's next?

Any guesses?

 

In the meantime, sing it with me.

 

When the dog bites, when the bee stings,
when I'm feeling sad,
I simply remember my favorite things,
and then I don't feel so bad. 



Love Weekend 2015

 It was a lovely Love Week at the Stone House and all of the other places we went to celebrate.

On Friday evening we had old and new friends over for a traditional Valentine's dinner.  The only consistent menu item is the heart shaped meatloaf.  I did make a different recipe this year.  Though no two meatloaves have ever been the same at our house. I don't usually follow a recipe.  I just add whatever I want to add and it usually turns out just fine.  This year though I followed the following recipe.  Well, as best I can, I always change recipes just a bit.

 

Stove Top Meatloaf

2 lb. lean ground beef ***I use one pound of Jimmy Dean Hot Sausage and 1 pound of ground beef

1 pkg. (6 oz.) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1 cup water

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup KRAFT Original Barbecue Sauce, divided *** I used ketchup and I don't top with ketchup.

Heat oven to 375°F. Place meat, stuffing mix, water, eggs and 1/4 cup barbecue sauce in bowl.

Mix just until blended.

Shape into loaf in 13x9-inch baking dish. *** I shape it as a heart.

Top with remaining barbecue sauce. Bake 1 hour or until done (160ºF). 

My former high school Spanish teacher and our dear friend, Senorita Adelene, joined us for dinner.  New friends, Les and Marlene joined us and we had a delightful evening getting to know them.



 On Valentine's evening we had dinner at Mark and Karen's house.  She fussed, he grilled and we felt spoiled and loved.  Vern and Shelly were there too.  Many of my readers will be happy to know that it was decided to bring back the Garden Party in 2015.  After a two year break we are going to try to find a date for August.

 Karen made Coeur à la Crème for dessert.  Mark's Mom made it when he was growing up and gave Karen the ceramic pan that is necessary for the recipe so that she could make it for Mark too.  Ohmyheavenlycreamygoodness!

It was served with a raspberry sauce.  Karen baked shortbread cookies, had an assortment of chocolates and a tawny port to serve with the Coeur à la Crème.

Diets, clean eating, eat less, move more were not spoken of or thought of for one evening.

 

Hubby and I are very thankful to celebrate 27 years of marriage and Valentine's Day in the same week.  It's a lovely week and this year was no exception.

 

I am a little behind on my blog posts so look for more coming up this week.

 

Happy President's Day-

Love Week 2015

It's LOVE WEEK!  Today Hubby and I are celebrating 27 years of marriage.  I still think he's the best thing that ever happened to me.  Yesterday, he proved it again.  I was in the city all day.  I came home to flowers, clean sheets and a lot of progress on the Aloha. 

I'm a lucky girl, for sure.

We're not in Hawaii right now, but it is our favorite spot.

 

Tomorrow our friend, Ad is coming over for a Valentine dinner.  Yes, there is a heart shaped meatloaf on the menu.  I am going to try a new meatloaf recipe.

 

We've been invited out for a Valentine dinner on Saturday night by our dear friends, Mark and Karen.

It's always lovely and special at their house.

 

I got a box of chocolates today from one of my favorite guys.

 

All in all a lovely LoVe Week.  I hope you're all feelin' the love too.

 

And lastly, a gentle reminder to my guys to remember to do something sweet for your sweethearts.

 

The Guys' First Car

Sam bought a yellow Honda CRX after high school.  It got good gas mileage and it was a fun little car.  After Sam joined the army, Max turned sixteen and he bought it from Sam.

 Max drove it through high school and college.

Max bought a pick up truck and was going to sell the CRX.  He hoped to put the money towards his student loan.  Sadly, sometime on Thursday night or early Friday morning someone stole the CRX.

This wasn't the ending we wanted for our guys' first car.  So many good memories for Sam and Max with this little yellow car.  It was reliable and economical and fun.

Now some dirty, rotten criminal took it and is probably wrecking it.

Shame on them.  It's a sad ending, for sure.

The Wedding Closet

On Monday afternoon my sisters and I met at our parents' home.  Our Mom has been telling us to clean out the  wedding closet  for a long time.  We kept ignoring her, but we started to think that she really meant it this time.  Threats were made that every thing would be given away.  There is talk of a possible move to town for my folks.  Not in the immediate future but someday.

 

The wedding closet was always so great because it was packed with wedding dresses, JSB dresses, prom dresses, and many, many bridesmaid dresses.  Oh my, did we have fun reminiscing and laughing.  So many memories of good times and special occasions. 

Though not everyone got a fairy tale ending or a happily ever after.  Some of the weddings we were bridesmaids for ended in divorce or death.

 

 Jodi's dress from Arie and Alice's wedding had dyed to match mules and gloves.  Stunning in a classic sheath style with shoulder bows.  I should have gotten a close up of the shoes, they are really pretty.

 My senior year JSB dress was a Gunne Sax dress that I bought at the Nordstrom Place Two in downtown Bellingham. It opened that year.   It was a pretty big deal first of all to have a dress that wasn't homemade and secondly a dress from Nordstrom.  Exciting stuff for this small town girl!   I used my own money that I made working at the Lynden Library as a page.

 Kathi was in a lot of weddings.  So many weddings that she can't remember in whose wedding she wore this lovely blue dress.  Obviously, it was either hot or very stressful as there were perspiration stains.  Actually most of the blue dresses got tossed for that reason, they just didn't age well.

 If you recognize the dress, give us a shout.  We're curious.

 Dyed to match shoes in every color and size were in the closet.

 We put on our veils,  Yeah, the dresses don't fit.  Some of the dresses I took home are tiny.  Sadly, at the time I thought I was fat.  I'd love to be "that fat" again!

Three generations of wedding dresses were in the wedding closet. Both of our Grandmas' wedding dresses were stored there.  Some things went into Mom's cedar chest.  We each took home a sister's bride maid dress from our own weddings.  I mentioned getting rid of some the dresses.  I was told not under any circumstances because my granddaughters will love to play dress up at my house some day.

So now, I have to start a wedding closet at my house.  Seriously.