Farm and Frills 2019

Sisters on the Fly Northwest Gathering 2019 is in the books.  It was held in Union Gap this year at the Central Washington Agricultural Museum with a Farm Fillies theme. Over 150 women from the nation's largest outdoor group, Sisters on the Fly came together and had more fun than anyone.

It's fun to walk around camp and see every one's trailers and tents set up.  You don't have to have a vintage trailer, there are a lot of new trailers too.

 

Annie got a ribbon and later I realized it was a clue for 2020 NW Gathering,  It's at the fairgrounds in Filer, Idaho and the theme is Going to the Fair. #giddyup

The museum grounds were great, a lot to see and maintained beautifully.

The showers were a tad rustic.  I got up one morning, ready to go the showers.  I told Cheryl I was headed to the showers.  She dryly told me that I would be cold, wet and naked in a horse trailer.

Well, when you put it that way...

And yet there I was, wind blowing the curtain straight up.  Oh well.

 We did some wine tasting.  Shelly, Rene', Jackie and I started early and camped in Prosser for a few days.  A prefunc is always a good idea.

More wine tasting once we got to the gathering.

We had a knowledgeable and sweet gal running our tasting.  We kept looking at each other and finally figured out we went to high school together.  It was so fun to see Marian and get caught up.  She was having a quiet morning at the winery and we showed up, she handled us beautifully.

Another winery, which is a Harvest Host for future reference.

We went junkin', lunching, dressed up and dressed down, met new friends and reconnected with old friends for four days.

Penny in her Camping with My Peeps hat was a hoot.

I googled Kentucky Derby hat on Amazon and ended up with a small pink and orange hat.

 I love these two special ladies!

I made a specialtea for cocktails one afternoon.

Rene' and I crafted one afternoon.

 Denise was back! 

And my oh my, doesn't she clean up nice? 

I love my tribe!

It is a really fun week, with a few rules, no mister, no pets, no kids, be nice and have more fun than anyone. Yee haw!

My blogging has been spotty lately.  I did get caught up with a random post here and I wrote about Grace and Love here.

Besides my lack of time management my icloud photos will not add in order and so it's painful getting the photos to the blog.  Super frustrating!

We camped on our patio this weekend and tried our new pie irons with success.

Hubby made ham and cheese and I had strawberries and cheese. Yum!

Now, I need to get Annie packed up for the Fourth of July.

Have a fun and safe holiday friends!

Grace and Love

I was going to write this story for Father's Day.  It's a memory of my Dad and me.

I am the oldest of four children.  My sister Kathi, my brother Ken and my little sis Jodi grew up together in a busy household.  It was rare that I had my Dad or my Mom to myself after the siblings were born.  I don't remember a time as an only child.  I guess I never really thought about time alone with my parents because we felt the love as a family unit. Now kids need one on one time and helicopter parents.

I am blessed with so many wonderful memories of our family.  Saturday yard work, camping trips, road trips, extended family gathering, Sunday morning church and Sunday dinner, holiday picnics, Christmas, pets, good food, hard work and New Year traditions. The list of our good memories is long and fun to think about, especially now that my parents are gone.

That said, there was that one time I was on my own with my Dad.  I don't have any photos of the day at Birch Bay but it's clear as can be in my mind.

One of my earliest memories, I'm guessing I was 3- 4 years old, was at Birch Bay.  My folks rented a cabin with friends.  A lot of friends in a little cabin.  Bill and Janice and their kids, Don and Sandy and their kids, Uncle Ed and Aunt Twyla and their kids.  Now when people mention that they have a cabin it usually means they have a 5 bedroom, 3 bath house in the woods or at the bay.  Back in the early 60's, a cabin meant a cabin!

It took two pick up trips to get all of the baby bassinets, high chairs, strollers, trikes and play pens to the bay.  Now baby gear folds down for travel.  No nanny taken along either, just Aunts Clarice, Nelda and Judy coming to stay in the evening so the parents could have a night out.

There wasn't paid vacation for the dads and honestly they probably wanted to go to work during the day because it was a little crazy.  Toddlers and babies, Gary was the only one older than me.  The moms made a big breakfast, sent the guys off to work with their packed lunches and then drank coffee and played pinochle.  In the afternoon we went to the beach. The Dads came home, drank beer and grilled dinner.  They had Saturday with us and then we packed up and went home.

One morning we ran out of milk so it was decided everyone would walk to the Birch Bay Market.  I rode my green (with red fenders) tricycle on the path.  This is the trike pictured below which eventually was ruined when the Fuller Brush man rode over it with his black Rambler. 

That's another story.

  

It was fun and exciting to have someplace to ride. We got to the store and the moms decided the kids could pick out a tootsie roll pop.  They were in a stand on the counter, where you could order fountain drinks.  I wanted cherry.  Either Gary, Terri, Kathi, Ricky, Mike or Linda  got the last cherry. I was given orange.

I was probably very tired. It was the end of the week and sleeping conditions with all toddlers and babies in one area wasn't conducive to sleep.  I was past the age of taking regular naps.  

What happened next was a total, full on, melt down,

It is a vivid memory of me pedaling and crying and screaming all of the way back to the cabin. I don't remember getting a spanking but I may have and I deserved one. We got back to the cabin and I was put in bed, my tootsie roll pop was set on waxed paper for later.

When I woke up my Dad was there.  In the afternoon! Everyone else was at the beach.  At that time you could leave your kids napping in the cabin while you went to the beach.  Don't judge my Mom, it was a different time.

It's so vivid what my Dad did next.  He asked why I was there.  I can remember feeling ashamed that I had behaved so badly and had to take a nap but I told him everything. He said, "let's go."  We got into the pink Mercury instead of going to the beach. He drove to the drive in at Birch Bay. Without asking me what I wanted, he ordered for us.  He ordered banana splits!  This was crazy. My Mom only ever let us get a kid's size vanilla cone. When we went to the drive in for dinner we could get a burger and a coke or a shake and fries.  The end.  There was no negotiating.

He popped down the glove box and set that banana split down for me.  We enjoyed our ice cream and then went to the beach.  My Mom was surprised to see us.  We had our Dad for an afternoon on the beach. Not only did I get the banana split but the heavy plastic boat it was served in.  Ooh, the other kids were jealous.  The boat was something new and cool to dig with in the sand.

The memory is so clear for me as a four year old.  I can remember what I was wearing, it was a navy sun suit with white smocking on the bodice and at the waist.  I can remember the windows down in the pink Mercury and my Dad's arm out the window. I remember pure joy on my Mom's face when she saw my Dad show up unexpectedly. The morning's incident was over, all was forgiven.

I am so grateful for the grace I was given that day. I had been a brat, I was disciplined and forgiven and loved.  My Dad and Mom parented with grace and love and some fun and treats.  They treated us like they treated each other, using the love of their heavenly Father as a guide. I sure miss my folks.

Random Catch Up

I'm baaaack.  May was a little crazy, in the best way.  In all my years of blogging I don't think I have ever missed an entire month, until May 2019.  May is always my busiest month for subbing.  I squeezed in a of of fun too. Let's get caught up.

Danny and Jess visited us from Michigan the first week of May.  We had a good time being tourists with them and visiting at home.  Danny finished his Master's degree at Grand Valley University and Jess completed her first year as a math prof at GVU.  It was a good time for a break for them.

Hubby gave them a cast iron crash course for their summer camping trips.  He made biscuits and gravy one morning.  Bo helped like a boss.

The one night almost everyone was home, Katie had to work so it's the gang minus one photo.  She was able to see Danny and Jess other nights.

Hubby and I went camping at Port Townsend.  It was Annie's first ferry ride.  We met up with our camping crew and had a great trip kicking off camping season 2019. 

We camped at the marina and enjoyed the farmer's market and the Rhodie Fest in town.

May means yard work and this year we (Hubby) took out the trees around the patio.  Then built some curbing and planted new trees.  The winters have been hard on shrubs here and ours were getting old. So, a fresh start!

 We all know how one thing leads to another and the patio was no exception.  Hubby  installed drip lines in all of the flower beds.

We took or patio from drab to fab.

We added outdoor living room furniture and we were still able to keep the dining area. I am loving coffee time in the morning with my fire and all of the lights in the evenings. 

 Jodi had the pie pals over for strawberry pie and her Specialtea.

I went on a Sisters on the Fly camping trip to Bay View State Park.

It was a really nice event with a lot of chill time.  That is my favorite part of SOTF, you can do the big organized activities or do your own thing.  It's perfect for this introvert.  A day in La Connor with old friends and a new friend, biking the dike trail, lunching and visiting the galleries in Edison, sitting around the campfire and enjoying the sunsets, yep, that was perfect.

Morning coffee in her peignoir, my friend Kathy knows how to glamp.

On Monday I am leaving for SOTF NW Gathering.  I have been prepping the trailer and my wardrobe for days.  Three more sleeps! It actually starts on Wednesday but I have a prefunc with a pool.  #poolside

After some kicking and screaming I left the book world and got a Kindle.  I have resisted for so long.

Annnnd, I love it!  I use the libby app on my iphone , it's a Washington State library system that I can use with my Lynden Library card.

I just finished two non-fiction books, Maid: Hard Work, Low Pay and a Mother's Will to Survive and Flat Broke with Two Goats.  Leslie, I think you'd enjoy the goat husbandry more than I did but I muddled through and it was interesting. 

Now school's out for summer and I am heading for some beach reads.

I saved the best for last in this rather lengthy post.  Sam and Katie are engaged!

It is wonderful to see Sam so happy.  Katie is delightful and we are excited for her to join our family.

Finding the Good

Last night Hubby and I had a million things to do at home after work. Our family has had some changes and stresses lately, good stuff, but big decisions.  We decided to leave our responsibilities and go to town to the home improvement stores and then to Kulshan for a sandwich and a beer.

Sometimes you just have to step away.

We weren't looking for the good but it found us.

At Kulshan, we asked two young women if we could join them at their table, they were at the table that we know to be the warmest spot outdoors. Hubby and I visited, made some decisions and enjoyed dinner. Then we started chatting with our table mates.  We had such a fun conversation with them. I think I recruited them to be Sisters on the Fly! It was so fun to get to know these women, to laugh with them and enjoy a beautiful spring evening.

On our drive home the sunset turned wild with color and light bouncing off the mountains.  As we approached the Wiser Lake roundabout I asked Hubby to turn and stop at the lake.  We enjoyed the sunset with an elderly couple that were fishing from the shore. Sometimes it was difficult to understand their English with a heavy Asian accent but we visited and laughed with them.  They weren't just fishing, they were catching.  Nooo, they don't eat them, but they have friends that will.  Apparently, it was hilarious that anyone would eat them.  But they enjoy catching and fishing and were happy to share cooking and preserving tips with us.

Sometimes it's easy to focus on all of the bad in this world. The media shares the news of horrible things happening.  Last night was a good reminder for me that there are a lot of good people and that there is middle ground over a beer at Kulshan or while sharing a glorious sunset.

I'm so glad we played hooky from responsibilities last night.

Sunshine and the Super Bloom

Hubby and I went to the desert for spring break this year. Mark and Karen came with us and Kassie's parents and friends were there too. Hubby's Mom shares her timeshare with us and one of our favorites is Wyndam in Indio.  Thanks Es!

 Karen and I love coconut cake and Tommy Bahama has one of the best coconut cakes. It ties for first place with House Without a Key on Oahu.

 When our guys were still traveling with us, we tried to have an educational day on our trips.  Once they were gone that fell by the wayside.  You may remember the Palace on Oahu or Pearl Harbor with the guys in earlier posts.

This year we brought back the field trip and went to Joshua Tree National Park.  It was in full bloom and we had a good time hiking so we actually went back for a second day. 

The field trip days are back!

 It was fun to climb on the rocks or walk on the trails. We packed a lunch and entered the park at the north entrance and exited via the west entrance on the first day.  The second day we used the south entrance and after some time in the park we left the way we had come in that morning.

 I want to give a shout out to one of my favorite fashion bloggers, Sheaffer. I wanted comfy walking shoes that were more like a sneaker and she found them for me.  They were great in the park and for morning walks, and just to wear with shorts or jeans. I'm wearing them with my favorite skort from Macys. These skorts are comfy for walking and great for camping and can be dressed up and worn out for a casual dinner. I have black too. And I think I may have to order the orchid print for Hawaii.

 The west park entrance has a cute little street of artists' shops and galleries.  All are closed midweek.

 I had a fun trip with Hubby.  I make the trip arrangements and get us there and set up and he then takes over and does the driving, mixes the cocktails and grills. #teamwork

 I wanted to pay tribute to U2 and their album Joshua Tree and my peeps are willing to play along with me.

Our travel day to get to PSP was a little crazy.  Our flight got changed due to the 737's falling out of the sky. We decided to only use carry on luggage. Seven nights, eight days and one carry one.  Stay calm.  It was a challenge for me and my shoes! Another blogger I follow is Shay and she has posted about packing cubes several times.  Her and her husband travel with their four kiddos and she loves the cubes.  And now so do I.  I drank the packing cube kool aid and loved using them. In one small/medium cube I packed 3 swim suits, 3 cover ups, 2 skorts, 2 tees for walking, yoga pants, sports bra, 1 tank and socks.

 Besides the packing cubes and an educational field trip, I have one more trip tip.  Instacart! I created a group cart for Karen and I, we filled it with breakfast items, we each did a dinner, a picnic lunch, snacks, liquor and sunscreen and lotion.  It was so great to have our groceries delivered within an hour of our arrival. Especially since our travel day was hectic.  Our stop in Seattle involved a bus, two trams and very brisk walking on the people movers to make our flight.

It was a wonderful trip with a lot of relaxing by the pool.  #poolside

Next spring, the Big Island of Hawaii for ten nights.  Aloha!

In the meantime we are getting excited for camping season,  Hubby is practicing his Dutch oven game plan.  One night we did rustic bread, baked spaghetti and a chocolate caramel cake. Delish!

Okay friends, I think we are all caught up and I need to clear the dining table today...

Yep, it's going to take all day.