Sunday Funday

Sometimes the obvious gets past me.  Lake Padden and Whatcom Falls Park are two beautiful spots in Whatcom County that I'd never visited.  Yesterday after church Hubby and I went to both and did some walking.  We hiked around the lake on the trails and then went to the falls and walked on the trails there.

 We stayed on the trails but others were jumping off the rocks or walking the tight rope over the water at the falls.  

 The bridge built by the WPA would be a great pattern for the little bridge to our house.

 I made a Margarita pizza for dinner.  It was easy and pretty tasty too.

It was a good day.

IKEA Field Trip

Yesterday afternoon I went on an outing with my Therapy Thursday gals, Leslie and Marjean.  I had not been to IKEA for several years.  Since the dollar has changed we decided that it may be a good idea to visit our local IKEA in Canada.  The border has been so busy that I hadn't crossed in a long time.  There wasn't a wait and the traffic was good.  We almost got lost but I made a quick U-turn and we fixed that issue.  I've seen many Canadians flip a U-turn on Guide Meridian so I assume it's legal in Canada. Hah!

I wanted to check out bookcases and found some grey ones that I think would work.

 In the meantime, I filled a blue bag with miscellaneous IKEA junk.

 I actually went for the hanging clips which I just happened to find in a random spot.  I never did find any more.  I needed them for the Aloha.

 Who goes to IKEA without buying the tea lights and some napkins?  Not this girl!

 Meatballs anyone?  Yes, please.  Swedish meatballs are the best and are small enough to add to soups.  The US Customs officer asked if we had any meat and then told us the only restricted meat is lamb and goat.  Goodness, I hope not! Ikea meatballs are beef and pork.

 Leslie found faux plants for .99 each.  We all bought three or more.

 The topiary looked a little sad when I pulled it out of the bag this morning however; fluffing and a new pot makes it a designer's dream.  That's a slight exaggeration.  I think they are pretty and sometimes we all need a little plastic green to soften a vignette.

 And of course, something new!  I saw the elder flower juice concentrate and I thought I could substitute it for St. Germain liqueur in cocktails when we want something lighter or nonalcoholic.  

And the bottle is pretty!

 I have one drawer for utensils in our kitchen.  I looked for an organization method.

Squirrel!

 While cleaning out the drawer I found this plastic green thing.  I have no idea what it is.  Anyone?

 We'll see how long this organization phase lasts...

It was a fun trip with the girls, a lot of laughs and treasures.  It's good timing too because when mid August comes around I start nesting, organizing and cleaning our home.  I made a Target and Costco trip this week, Fall cleaned the kitchen and now just need to order the firewood.  Autumn is coming!  Bring on the pumpkin recipes!

What I Did on My Summer Vacation

The week after our family reunion in George, WA Hubby and I took a week's vacation. Danny was home visiting from Michigan.  Danny wanted to see everyone while he was home so one evening our friends met at Kulshan Brewery.  I brought chocolate salted caramel cupcakes for dessert and we all enjoyed Hot Mess food truck for dinner.  Blake and Grace are newly engaged to be married so it was fun to hear their plans and share their excitement.  Blake is my spare guy and I couldn't be happier for him and his beautiful girl.

 Sam and Danny went to Whistle Lake to jump off cliffs, Hubby and Danny went to Artist Point at Mount Baker to hike and we had a family BBQ one evening.  After a fun packed visit Danny left on Wednesday evening.  Hubby and I took Danny to Oliver's Lounge for a cocktail and to Andaluca for dinner before bringing him to Seatac to catch his red eye flight.

 The next morning Hubby and I packed Hua'kai Annie for a little road trip.  We stayed off I-5 and enjoyed a leisurely trip to Anacortes via Edison.

 We stayed at Fidalgo Bay Resort, where we had the smallest trailer in a sea of huge, deluxe rigs, where we were the youngest campers and where we didn't have to share the restrooms because everyone else had one in their motor home.  It was nice

 There is a beautiful trail leading to the bay in one direction and to town in the other direction.

After dinner I baked cookies because I wanted to try our oven in the Aloha.  It works!

 In the morning we packed up and went to stay at Camano Island.  Hubby wanted to make a few repairs to the cabin.  We hiked on the beach and in the state park.

When we got home my peaches had ripened.  On our way home from George we had stopped in Thorpe and bought 4 boxes of peaches.  I spent the next week returning to work and frantically freezing peaches and baking pies.

We had a good time with our family, road tripping and spending time with each other.  It was fun to go camping with Annie and we are excited to do more camping.

RIP Hawley

Hawley

October 30, 2001 - July 30, 2015

Hubby and I gave the boys a puppy for Christmas in 2001.  I named him Hawley.  The boys had their eyes closed, I set Hawley down and then told them to open their eyes and meet Hawley.  Sam had a few seconds of disappointment.  He thought Hawley was a little sister named Holly and that we were adopting a little girl.  He got over it pretty fast.

 Hawley grew up with the boys.  He was a fun puppy.  Sam was  the dog whisperer and taught him good manners.  Hawley sat on my lap whenever I was weeding and planting until I had to tell him that he was just too big.

 Sam would leave a treat on Hawley's nose, clear the table on the patio and then tell Hawley, "okay", only then would  Hawley would toss his head and gobble the treat.

 As the boys grew up and left home Hawley aged and started to spend more time hanging out with Hubby and me.  I bought him a new bed at Costco each Fall and so we had beds all over.  That way if we were working in the back yard he had a bed there, or in the garage he could watch Hubby work on the trailer, one on the patio, one in front of the wood stove and one in his dog house

.

Hawley loved the wood stove and many times as I came into the house carrying firewood he slammed me out of the way to get inside to his spot by the fire. This picture shows him on a towel but that wasn't the norm, he had a bed by the fire.  He liked to lay so close that when we walked by and petted him his fur was too hot to touch.

 On the patio he took over my chaise lounge and then ignored me.  If I don't look your way then you do not exist and I don't have to get off of the chaise lounge.  Right?

 Hubby was Hawley's person and they loved each other.  It started on Hawley's first night with us, Hubby built him a dog house and then at bed time he crawled in with Hawley.  Hubby laid with him until our new puppy fell asleep.  It was his first night without brothers or sisters and Hubby knew he'd be scared and lonely. 

 Hawley met Hubby every night and did not want to be on the patio or in the house at 4:30 because it was time to meet the boss in the driveway.  Hawley and Hubby got gray together, raising those boys wasn't easy!

 We were told that we'd know when it was time to say good bye to our faithful friend and that was true.  It seemed to happen overnight though we knew for a year that the time was coming.

It was harder than we thought it would be.  Sam was able to come help us say good bye.

Hawley is buried under the apple tree.

A wise friend told me that when it's time to say good bye that is the time we pay for having loved a good dog for so many years.  It is hard, but we loved him a lot so it is worth the pain of losing our dear, faithful friend.

Family Reunion with Hua'kai Annie

On Friday Hubby and I packed up to go to George, WA to his Mom's place for a family reunion.  It was our maiden voyage with the '57 Aloha.  It ended up taking a long time to get out of town.  We decided to put new tires on Annie.  Then of course, traffic was terrible because of Seafair and Watershed.  Sam and Angela picked up Danny and drove over earlier. 

 We had a small window when our whole family was there.  Sam and Angela left Saturday morning to attend a wedding and Kassie left a bit later to attend another wedding.

The boys had a pic with Aunt Laura because every time they see her that is what we do.

 We went to Jake's for tacos at lunch time and then I played Mafia with this group.  There was a lot of lying and killing and some saving and investigating for this game.  A lot of laughing too!

 Tom was in charge of grilling this year for Saturday night.  Oh my, this is a fantastic meal!

 The kids love reunion because there is a bouncy house, a swimming pool, and a soft ice cream machine. 

 The aunts and uncles started this family reunion many years ago,  It was different this year without Hubby's dad, Court and without Aunt Joyce.  They were missed but both would have loved that the tradition is continuing.

On Sunday morning it's a fat boy breakfast.  There are trailers and tents everywhere on the yard,  Pretty soon things get going because no one can sleep through the sausage and bacon cooking.  Scrambled eggs, fresh fruit and pancakes too.

Kassie picked fresh blueberries for the pancakes.

 The kids love Max and he spends time with them.  On Saturday, Sam took kids swimming in the morning and then Danny and Max took them in the afternoon.  They swim in the canal.

After breakfast on Sunday the kids finish working on their bottle rockets.  A compressor is used to shoot them off into the field.

 Michele came with seven of her eight kids, her husband was working,

She is a brave, sweet Mom.

 It was our first trip with Hua'kai Annie.  She isn't quite finished but was road ready.  It was so great to have her there.  Remember, she came from this corral area on the farm.  Now she is spiffed up and looking a lot different.

 It was 102 during the afternoon but she had afternoon shade.  We have a fan and it was comfortable by bed time.

John and Carla Fischer came to tour Annie.  John's parents owned Annie and he had slept in the canvas bunk as a boy.  It was an emotional reunion.  Unfortunately, the person that took pictures of John and Carla didn't actually push the button so I don't have pictures.  

I am so bummed about that.

Danny rode home with us and we decided to take the scenic route.

We had a good trip home, stopped at the Red Horse Diner in Ellensburg and in Thorpe for peaches.

It was a fun family reunion, we had our guys together for 12 hours and Hua'kai Annie's first trip was successful.  A win, win, win, for sure.