Docent Dinner and Some Random

Danny's girlfriend, Jessica, gave us a ChaCult for Christmas one year.  We use it for loose tea brewing.  Lately though Hubby upped our game and has been brewing an evening drink for us.  It's fresh ginger (grated), a squeeze of lemon and a wedge and fresh mint leaves.  Let it seep and then drain into your mug.  We put about a 1/2 T. honey in our mugs.  

It has really helped my tummy issues.

Of course, Hubby thinks he's the great physician.  He kinda is.

 I was busy at the museum last week.  It was the annual Docent Dinner, a dinner to thank all of my volunteers at the museum.  I decided to use the luau theme this year.  After 19 years I am running out of ideas and the luau was always in the plans if I couldn't think of anything else.

It's a big room for a party with a tiny budget.

 I shopped my house, Party City and Oriental Trading.

 Since I just happen to have a tiki bar for Huaka'i Annie, our '57 Aloha trailer, I set it up.  With my cute bartender.

 I asked Bobby and Barbie to come and teach the hula dance.  Tehri helped too and our museum director Troy was a good sport too, wearing a grass skirt and coconut bra.

 I love Hawaiian music and it was great to have Bobby take care of it for me.

The punch was a hit with everyone and I can say that with rum it's pretty tasty.

Other Random Stuff or Prattling On

*It's Easter on Sunday.  We get to celebrate with dinner at Uncle Darryl and Aunt Judy's place after church on Sunday.  I love to get together with these peeps and we all love to go to their house for Easter.  Sam and Angela and Max and Kassie are coming too and that makes this mama sooo happy.

*Danny won't be here for Easter but he is taking a trip.  He is going to a friend's wedding.  They have been friends since they were at Calvin College.  The wedding is in India.  I don't want to misspell Roweeth's name but I think I just did...  Danny went home for Christmas with him their sophomore year of college to United Arab Emirates and Dubai.  This should be a wonderful trip.

*Our washer died.  The new one doesn't arrive until mid April.  Our washer and dryer are under a counter.  There is only one set that fits under the counter and it is crap.  So, we either tear out the counter or order a new washer every four years.  It has to be ordered because no one carries it in their store cuz, it's crap.  Hubby and I are hopeful that this next piece of junk will last maybe 6-7 years because we are empty nesters and I do a lot less laundry than when three guys lived with us.

*We have made a lot of camping reservations this summer.  Last summer we were slaves to the trailer project and this year we plan to camp and have fun!  I am going to begin my driving lessons soon as Spring has sprung and June is coming.  I am going to a Sisters on the Fly camp in Cle Elum in June.

That is IF I pass Hubby's driving test.  This all means I need to get that blasted awning out and try to finish sewing it.  Oh, the angst!  On a brighter note, Hubby is almost finished with the screen door.

Our punch list is shrinking.  Good thing we are getting another trailer!  Details coming next month...

Not Much

It's been pretty quiet here so I don't have a long or  interesting post this morning.  I'm just letting you know I am still kickin' over here.

I am in mourning over the end of Downton Abbey television series.  I have watched the finale 4-5 times and plan to watch it again.  There is nothing better than a happy ending.  And for myself the happy in the happy ending was that Edith is married to a marquis and Mary is married to a used car salesman.  I will miss my dear friends, even crazy Daisy!

 The Lord and Lady are such a classy couple.

 Dear Violet and her sharp wit will be missed too.

 Snow falling, a beautiful wedding, a newborn baby = a perfect ending.

I've been a little busy hatin' on the wind.  High wind is my least favorite weather pattern.

We have a lot of twigs and sticks down and we lost our smoker. Which we never used but always talked about trying it out some day.  Minimal damage.

 I got up very early to book a room in Maui for April 2017.  My dear Mom-in-law shares her time share with us.  The Maui rooms go fast and can be booked 13 months in advance.  Happily, I scored  a nice room so we are set for our once every three years trip to Hawaii. Whew!

 Max came home this weekend to pick up his new dog, Bo.  He is two years old and so cute.   Bo is living on the farm with Max.  Bo is getting used to loading up in the truck and riding around, walking the fields, swimming in the canals, and sleeping inside.

Max and Kassie have been looking for a dog for a long time and Bo is exactly what Max had in mind.  There were some tears when they picked up Bo, he's leaving a family that loved him. Max and Kassie cried too, they felt really bad for Bo's kids. Sometimes good things have a sad side too.

I took two naps yesterday.  The Spring Forward kicks my bum every year.  

Now, I need to get to work.  Have a good day, my friends and take a nap!

It's a good thing.

Intentional Living and Some Random

I'm not sure if intentional living and random can be used in the same phrase or title, but today that is what works for me.

I have been intentionally putting my time for walking first. It is so easy for me to skip a walk to take care of other things or people. It's a daily struggle.  On a walk last week I noticed that under an old tree there was a purple carpet of violets growing wild. I have walked past this tree for thirteen spring seasons and never noticed this beautiful swath of purple.  I'll be intentionally looking from now on every spring.

 Chris and I went to an estate sale on Saturday morning.  It was going to be quick as it was right in town and Chris didn't have time for coffee.  I was very pleased with my pickings.  And then even more pleased when Chris made time for coffee.  We had a good visit and enjoyed a good sale.

 On Sunday evening when Hubby got home from work I was ready to go to dinner.  We  went to Dirty Dan's for their happy hour menu.  I intentionally chose Dirty Dan's because we love their $2 Caesar salad and other menu items.

While enjoying dinner I started  the "do you ever?" game.

Hey hon, do you ever think about spontaneously staying in a nice hotel when out for dinner?

Uhmmm, no.

Splain Lucy...

Well, you go out for dinner and then just spend the night.

He told me to call The Chrysalis Inn.

I did and they had a room.

We went, checked in and then enjoyed a nightcap at Keenan's.

This is random but if you decide to do this yourself they have tooth brushes at the front desk.

 This kind of spontaneous night out was not intentional but it is with intentional living that we make our lives good and have fun with each other.

 The room was lovely, the view was gorgeous and the sun was out on Monday morning.

 We enjoyed a walk and breakfast and then drove home.

 We weren't home long before Sam came to our house for his lunch break.

He has a very short break.  During that time his goal is to fill his belly. He can clean out a fridge faster that any housewife on a tear spring cleaning her fridge.

Leftovers disappear!  It's great having him come home and do some cleaning.

And of course, it's always good to see him.

Thank you That Sam I Am!

I definitely delivered on the random this morning.

That was intentional.

Love Week 2016

 Love Week lasted longer than a week this year.  Nothing wrong with that!

We had our trip to Leavenworth in honor of our anniversary the weekend before and then still had our anniversary and Valentine's Day to look forward to the next weekend.

For our anniversary we stayed in and I made dinner.  Hubby made a cocktail that called a Bee's Knees. The evening was lovely and we were happy to be inside since it has been raining constantly.

On Valentine's Day I made heart shaped pancakes for breakfast and then we spent the afternoon in downtown Bellingham, poking around Penny Lane and other junk shops including Ormolulu.

 On the way home we met friends at the new Overflow Taps and shared a sampler with them.

Tuesday night my Mom and our friend, Adelene joined us for the traditional heart shaped meat loaf dinner.  My table had a cherry theme, the salad had cherries and the dessert was a cherry chip cake.  Cherry chip cake is Hubby's favorite.  The candy is all cherry too.

The cherries were a nod to George Washington as our dinner was closer to President's Day than Valentine's Day.

Hubby provided valet service so the ladies didn't have to drive.   We had lovely guests and a fine evening to finish Love Week.

Until next year...

Never Say Never

Hubby and I took a trip this past weekend to visit his Mom and Max.  We had such a nice time in Eastern Washington.  Esther had been gone over the holidays so we hadn't seen her for quite some time.  Max had promised he'd take us hunting so we were looking forward to that too.  When Max was driving a combine around during harvest he had spotted a few vintage trailer graveyards.  

Now that Huaka'i Annie is 90% finished we have the bug to start another project.  

Yes, we swore we'd never restore another trailer. Yes, we said we'd never take on such a huge overhaul again.  We would never ever take on a project where the tin has to come off. 

Never say never.

That word, never, has bitten me in the bum so many times.

A hunting we will go...

This little trailer looked like it's being used and it's too small for us.  Annie is now our little trailer and we'd like a bigger one with a bathroom.

 One of these is too old and one of these is too new.

I am not throwing my guys under the bus here but I am the one that has to go to the door and try to find the owners of the trailers.  I left notes and cards.  Because NO one answers the door.  Some places looked a little sketchy and there are pit bulls tied up in the yard.  It's not for the faint of heart because one just never knows if there is another pit bull coming around from the back and one never knows if the owner is an angry, crazy person. I'd hate to interrupt someone cooking up a fresh batch of meth.  It might make them mad.  Proceed with caution was my mantra for the day.

We visited one graveyard in the morning and then after many miles and trailers we decided to go back to it.  Just in case someone changed their mind and decided to answer the door.

Turns out the land owner was there and yes, he'd like to get rid of some of the trailers.  He wasn't angry or crazy just real nice!

I won't show full on photos until I have the trailer in my hot little hand or in our driveway. 

But one of them looks just right.  It has a front door and a back door.  The appliances look salvageable and the water damage isn't too bad, no worse than the Aloha.

 There is a bathroom.  Woot!

 And then like a sign from above I found one of the missing doors in the weeds.

We'll know more by the end of the week if this trailer can be our new project.

I'm hopeful.

We had a lot of fun hunting with Max.  He's a good scout and a good sport.  

Of course, he wants a finders fee...

On Sunday, we drove to Leavenworth, this time we were hunting for snow instead of trailers.

We watched the last quarter of the Superbowl at Icicle Brewing Company. 

 The lights are beautiful in Leavenworth and the little kids sledding in downtown were pretty fun to watch too.

On Monday we drove to Cashmere to visit their antique mall and Apple Annie's to do some junkin'.  I had a Santa sighting.  No joke, his sleigh was parked out front when we left.  Turns out he drives a Fiat on the off season but it was clearly marked Mr. and Mrs. Claus.

 Our plan was to snowshoe but the snow wasn't fresh so we walked/hiked instead.

It was a relaxing time for us.  We got to visit Hubby's cousin, Darrin and Nery and their sweet family.

They live in Leavenworth within walking distance of downtown.

 Such a great trip with Hubby!  A very nice beginning to Love Week. And we saw a lot of snow, so I was very happy,  I guess you could say we had a good hunting trip.

Accountability

 I am still organizing.  By now you must be thinking that I must have really had a mess for it to go into February. 'Tis true, it's a mess.  I am making a dent though.  The Christmas decorations have been taken down in the guest room, even packed away in the attic. The Christmas cards have been taken down, punched, ringed, and labeled.  I have a few years where I made them into a book but this was more efficient.  Do you save your cards? Forever? To what purpose? Do you get them out and look at them often? I'm curious, let me know your thoughts.

The piles on the dining table are diminishing.  I had book work for Dad's estate, and yesterday I resolved to work my way through paperwork, notes and taxes.  Which I did. A trip to the bank, the post office were my only breaks.

The landing is a semi organized mess instead of just a mess.  It's almost to the point of setting up a table and doing some crafting with my bits and bobs.  I need to make a decision about having a yard sale this summer.  They are a lot of work but the day of the sale is fun.  It is nice to just bring it away and be finished too.  What do you do?

I have been meaning to put the recipe for Heidi's Chicken and the Rice Casserole on the blog for quite some time and though I got closer this weekend I have since had a phone/photo malfunction so that will have to wait.  I made this dessert twice in the past few days.  Once for Sam's birthday and once for Hubby's potluck at work.  I have been in the kitchen.

For some crazy reason I feel accountable to my readers for my 2016 goals.  Honestly, I should have never shared the goals because now I cannot cram junk back into the attic.  It's a tad weird and scary at the same time.

My, don't you have the power?

Don't get too excited because I am sure that the ol' I don't give a rip Tami will soon be back.  In the meantime these posts are positively riveting  boring.

Until then...