UPDATE

A picture of a Sunrise that I took in November 2009 at Debbie's houseNot too much going on. On Christmas Eve, Donna fixed a nice dinner. We had Marge and George, Marge Otte, Kyle, and Mars and her daughter, Zoey. Mars husband did not feel up to coming. At the present time Mars and her family are living in a tent. I hope things get better for them as winter has just started.


On Christmas Day the weather was great. It was sunny but not real cold. Marge, George, Donna, Laif and I, and of course Misty, all walked at Carrie Blake Park.



I have finally decided to get busy and do a couple of projects. My new couch and chair are coming tomorrow. I have started a nice Afghan to throw over it. It is a beautiful pattern and it is in three shades of pink--light to dark-- and it will take me awhile to get it done. Also I bought some pretty yellow fabric with small red apples on it. I am going to make a Cafe curtain for the window at the far end of downstairs. I think I told Debbie kitchen window but it is actually in the dining area.



Also I finally broke down and bought a Kindle reader. I had been wavering back and forth about it for so long. I would tell myself it would be nice and then I would tell myself I didn't need it. But finally due to a generous gift from my wonderful Grandson, Kyle, I finally broke down and ordered it. I have it already. It came yesterday. I absolutely love it. I have ordered the new John Grisham book I have been wanting and also the LDS scriptures. A lot of the books are very reasonable. Some are free, some only 99 cents, a lot for $3.00 and then the others like $9.00 and up. I will just have to watch I don't get carried away ordering books. It will hold 3,500 books. Thanks again Kyle for giving me that little nudge I needed to make up my mind. Already I just love the Kindle.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

Just a few pictures I took at Debbie's at our family Christmas Party. We had our party on the 18th this year. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I so enjoyed seeing all the grandchildren, spouses and great-grandchildren. Donna, Laif and I got to Debbie's Saturday morning. When we arrived, we found the power had been off since midnight. That was very frustrating for Debbie as she always works so hard doing this party every year. Laif and Kent rented a generator and got that hooked up and wouldn't you know the power was back on a short time later. Everything worked out fine. The food was wonderful. Debbie made it a fun time for everyone. She is a great hostess.

RAINBOW IN THE MORNING

I caught this rainbow this morning. It was a complete rainbow but I couldn't get the whole circle in my camera from where I was standing on the deck. It was an amazing sight. The downtown was bathed in bright sunshine and up on the hill where I took the picture, it was raining.

A few weeks ago I got a bone density test. I had never had a complete bone density test before. I have had the ones where you put your foot in a tub. Anyway, I am so pleased that my test turned out normal. I am at low risk for fracture. Of course I still have to keep taking calcium with Vitamin D and exercising. I won't need another test for 2-3 years. I am so fortunate.

I saw pictures on TV of the terrible storm that went through last night. One lady was killed from a falling tree. We did not get that. We had some rain. When I talked to Debbie she told me it was real bad in Renton. Transformers were blowing and the wind and rain were really bad and they lost power for awhile. Debbie said you could hear the storm coming.

BEHIND IN MY POSTING

David was down from Alaska for a month so we did a lot of running around. We had a nice Thanksgiving. We had lots of company which was nice. Now Christmas is just around the corner. My new couch and chair should be delivered on January 1st. I can hardly wait.

I had a Hummingbird visit my feeder. It was a male one. It was a beautiful green one. I see that the syrup is going down in the feeder so I guess they are coming around. I probably would see them more if I spend all day downstairs.

HUMMINGBIRDS

Hummingbirds have long lifespans for organisms with rapid metabolisms. Among the better-known North American species, the average lifespan is 3 to 5 years. The Rufous Hummingbird is one of several species that breed in Western North America and are wintering in increasing numbers rather than in tropical Mexico. Thanks in part to artificial feeders and winter-blooming gardens, Hummingbirds are surviving Northern winters and even returning to the same garden year after year. The Rufous Hummingbird nests farther North than any other species and must tolerate temperatures below freezing on its breeding grounds. This cold hardiness enables it to survive temperatures well below freezing, provided that adequate shelter and feeders are available.

SNOW, SNOW AND MORE SNOW

We really got hit with the snow. As I am writing this Donna, Laif, Michael, Rachel and children are out shopping. They have been gone a couple of hours. David and I, who seem to be the only intelligent people here, are hunkered down in the warm house watching the snow. David went out and took some pictures for me of the snow. It looks like we have about 5 inches now. The wind is starting to pick up and is blowing the snow around. Aren't these nice pictures of the kids? Noah has the nicest smile.

FIRST SNOW

The first snow here in Sequim. It did not last long. Today was a good day to stay in. I baked Pecan rolls. It is the first time I have made them in many years. Everyone thought they were great. It was my practice run. I will be baking some for Thanksgiving. Apparently I am "volunteering" to make the dinner rolls too.

NEW FLOOR

I just love the new floor! I am going to look into buying a new couch but not until after the first of the year. The floor looks so nice and I want a nice looking couch to go on it.

QUILTING RETREAT

Just a few pictures from our quilting retreat we went to the first weekend of November. It was a lot of fun. Bottom picture is Donna and Debbie in Debbie's kitchen doing some preparation for the Retreat. It was great to have a girls weekend.

NEW QUILT AND NEW KITCHEN FLOOR

The quilt I made for the back of my couch at the Quilting Retreat. This couch is the same old couch that Clayton and I had. I have no idea how old it is. I think about getting another one from time to time. Maybe I should take lessons from Rachel about couches.

This is my new kitchen floor. Laif is doing his part in recycling. This flooring is from Debbie's house. We are going to continue with the flooring throughout the room. That was my idea. I have never really liked carpeting in the main living area.

Another view of the floor. Laif worked really hard the weekend we girls went to the Quilting Retreat to get this done. He had to move a lot of things to put it in and move them all back.

Donna, Debbie, Diane and I all had a great time at the Quilting Retreat. Next time the retreat will be in a different location. The retreat will still be near the Columbia River Gorge but on the Washington side instead of the Oregon side. The hotel we stayed at and where the retreats have been for years are turning their conference room into a breakfast room. The breakfast room they have now is quite small.

Look on Facebook at Columbia Gorge Retreats and you will see a picture of everyone that was at the Retreat. Debbie, Donna and Diane got new nicknames at the Retreat. Everyone called them the "D" sisters.

OCTOBER IS ALMOST GONE

I took this picture of a rainbow just after a shower. We have been having such nice fall days here. This is a picture of Daryl, Rachel and Avery in their Halloween costumes from Halloween of 2009 I took at Debbie's house. How fast a year goes by.

On the left under my desk is a small step-on garbage can that I bought at the Wal-Mart grand opening in Port Angeles. I just bought it because it was so cute. It is only 10 inches tall. You can see that it is smaller than my paper shredder on the other side.

The grand opening of the Wal-Mart in Port Angeles was October 27th. Apparently other Wal-Marts were opening that same day. We spent quite awhile there. Donna and I both got our hair cut. Haircuts were only $10 for the 27th and 28th. Besides the haircut, I managed to spend over $100. Some things I needed, some things I would not have bought if I hadn't gone there. We did all our shopping there and even ate our lunch at Subway in the Wal-Mart. It was neat to find everything in one place.

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. I got up early and went to Seattle with Donna so she could get her knee checked. She is doing fine. She did have a topical infection and so she has antibiotic pills for that. We went over on the Kingston-Edmonds ferry and came back on that ferry too. Donna was going to drive around but the traffic did not sound good. It was dark when we left and it was dark by the time we actually got home. We went to Frys in Renton because Donna needed to buy a laptop. Her laptop (which she said had been the bottom of the line) was dying slowly. We didn't really have time to go visit anyone. We spent so much time looking at laptops that by the time we got through it was time to head for the ferry.

Even though it was late when we got back to Sequim, Donna wanted to check out to see if the Taco Bell had opened yet. It was open. There was a long line of cars in the drivethru and also inside was packed. We waited in line and got an order for us and for Laif. I guess grand openings are real excitement for small towns.

Tomorrow is Halloween so Happy Halloween to everyone.

JOHN WAYNE MARINA

Finally I am remembering to put on the pictures I took at John Wayne Marina Park. I took these last Tuesday. The weather was just great. This is a beautiful park to walk in. We walk a lot with our neighbors, George and Marge and, of course, the star of the family, Misty. Misty is such a nice friendly dog and well behaved.

JUST CATCHING UP, AGAIN

Donna didn't go to Church today because she had her knee surgery Friday so Laif, Eloise and I took care of the Library. Today was the Primary Program. How wonderful it is to watch the children.

I had sent for a new bedskirt for my bed. I had this cheap one from Wal-Mart that did not look good at all. The one I left at Debbie's would not have worked either because I decided that was not the color I wanted even though it was a nice one I got from Penney's. The color of the new one I got is called "Merlot" which is the popular color this year. I put the bedskirt on by myself. I had already planned out how to do it. The mattress that I have on my bed is much lighter than the one I had in Renton. I just moved the nightstand and leaned the mattress on the closet doors. It was more work making the bed than putting the skirt on. I didn't want to ask Laif. He has been working so hard downstairs putting LOTS of lights in for me and Donna was laid up with her knee.

I forgot to mention that I bought a new electric blanket (also in Merlot) because they had a huge sale on bedding and shipping was only $4.99. It is Penney's top of the line blanket. I saved $119.00. I bought the blanket for probably one of the silliest reasons you will ever hear. I bought it because it has stand-up controllers rather than the ones that lay down. Also you can see the numbers better. As it turns out, I am glad I did. The blanket is so nice and so soft. I have been wanting the new blanket ever since I saw it on line at Penney's. With my other electric blanket I had to turn it clear up to high to keep warm in the basement. With my new one I stay very warm on 5 or 6. It goes up to 9 and then high. The first night I set it for 8 and I woke up in a sweat and had to turn it down. I put the old one on the bed in the other bedroom downstairs.

BEAUTIFUL FALL DAYS

My plant that was supposed to attract Hummingbirds. I only saw one Hummingbird all Summer. The plant, however, is doing great. It is one that should be able to winter over. If it gets too cold, you are supposed to cover it with plastic wrap. We will see what happens. The beautiful plants that I put in the planters that Richard made me finally died. I put in these Asters. I have never grown Asters before. They are Perennials and are supposed to withstand temperatures down to -30 degrees. So if all that is true they should bloom again next year.

A closer up picture of the Asters. Purple was the only color they had at Home Depot. Wal-Mart had some plants but they already looked half dead.

Donna and I spent all day yesterday in the beautiful sunshine shopping for items to put in our jar for the Quilting retreat. It was in the low sixties both yesterday and the day before. Just gorgeous weather. Tuesday after Donna was through with her classes, we went walking with George, Marge and Misty at John Wayne Marina. I will put a picture of Misty on my next blog.
I went to the eye doctor for my check-up on Monday. I am doing real good. I have one more appointment on November 1st. The doctor thinks my eyes will be settled in by then and that I can finally get some glasses.

A BREEZY SUNDAY

It has been windy all day here. It rained most of the night. I am glad it had stopped raining before I went to Church.
I thought I better write something since I have not written in so long. Nothing real exciting to write about. My eyes are doing good but it looks like it will be a month before I get glasses. I got my flu shot Saturday at Walgreen's. A lady was waiting for a prescription and was telling me all about herself. She has Arthritis really bad. She had been on Naproxen for sometime and it finally caused internal bleeding so she was in the hospital. After she got out of the hospital she fell and broke her arm. She said she doesn't really know what the doctor is going to suggest for her Arthritis. She says she has so much pain that some days she can hardly walk. I didn't even mention my eye surgery. Sometimes I need to hear those stories so I know I am still doing good. I do fuss about being old but I have nothing to complain about really.
Wednesday Donna said she was taking me for an eye test. At first I didn't know what she was talking about because I didn't have one scheduled. Then I realized she meant the SARC pool because she wanted to see if I could read the numbers on the key and the locker. At first I did my usual fussing because we had not been there for awhile. The SARC center was closed awhile in September and also I was getting my cataract surgery done. We did go and I cannot believe that I could not read those big numbers before my surgery. The numbers are tone on tone and I just couldn't see them. They were so easy to read Wednesday. The Catract surgery is amazing.
The one fun thing we did this month was go to the Fall Stash Dash (Quilting shops). On Saturday, October 2nd, Donna, Marge (our neighbor) and I all went. We left at about 10am and did not get back until around 7pm. The weather was great and we just had a great time. We went to seven stores. We went to Port Townsend, Paulsbo, Bainbridge Island, Kingston, Silverdale, Port Gamble and Sequim. We had lunch in Kingston. At each store you get your "passport book" stamped. You sign up for drawings and you get a free "fat quarter" which is a quilting square. Each store gives you part of the directions for making a quilt from the fat quarters. Donna got the directions but we are saving our fat quarters for our Quilting Retreat in November.
Most days I am still walking with George and Marge and Donna if she isn't teaching. We have to take Missy for a walk. Missy gets excited about seeing me now. I have been walking the parks without my walker. I am still a little leary about walking up and down the hills by the house without a walker. I will work on that.

WHERE THE DEER AND THE ANTELOPE PLAY

My second post today. I came downstairs a little after seven this evening. There were three deer in Donna and Laif's backyard. I grabbed my downstairs camera. In the top picture I was able to get a good shot of the smaller deer. The other two were larger and moving fast. They hopped the fence leaving the little one behind. Laif came down to help him out and he ran up to the front of the house. By that time the other two were in the neighbor's yard across the street. I think they all got together again. In the picture below are all three deer but they are hard to spot. It was getting dark.

All three are in the bottom picture also.

It is nice to have a camera handy. You never know when you might see something interesting.

If you click onto the last two pictures you can see the deer pretty well.

FALL IS HERE--WHAT HAPPENED TO SUMMER?

I have not written anything for awhile. I had the surgery on my right eye on the 13th and will have my left eye done Monday. I am really looking forward to it this time because now I know what a difference it makes in my vision.

I am putting this picture of my Snake plant on so that you can see how much it has grown. On the left you can see that the leaves do not come up to the tieback on the curtain. On the right they have grown past the tieback. I just love these plants. You hardly ever have to water them. You don't want to repot them. The roots like to be crowded. If you repot them, you can kill them. Other than that, they are almost impossible to kill. The plant is a lot larger than the picture shows when you see it in my room.

ONE MORE PICTURE

Just one more picture from my trip with Debbie. On our last day we had breakfast in Gilroy (Garlic Capitol of the World). We ate breakfast at Minis. We really pigged out. We had huge bowls of Oatmeal, toast. A huge muffin that we shared. We also wanted Strawberry-Banana Smoothies. We did not realize how huge they were. They were delicious.
I had my Cataract surgery Monday on my right eye. It went just fine. Today I went back for the day after checkup. The doctor says my eye looks great. Hopefully I will be a little more relaxed when I get my left eye done. I didn't really think I was that nervous when I went in yesterday but when the nurse took my blood pressure it was 180/77. I was shocked. My blood pressure usually runs around 128/70. I said to the nurse I was probably going to have a heart attack. She said "no you aren't" because we don't have time for that kind of paperwork. Anyway, by the time I was relaxed with the IV, my blood pressure was down to 135/72. The real nuisance about this kind of surgery is the eye drops. Three different kinds. I have the chart they gave me to keep track of when and which drops to take. I am doing eye drops 4 times a day. It will be at least a month of drops by the time I get the other eye done.

Anyway, the good news is that I can see so much better. The colors are so vivid and I can see things at a distance and really make them out. I am sure now that I can tell the difference between a tractor and a red flowering bush and I am sure I will be able to see a Squirrel on a tree. It just opens up a new world when you can see good.

Donna and I are going to Relief Society tonight. The meeting is about food preservation, canning, etc. Donna and I are supposed to answer questions about canning. I have canned thousands of jars of food over the years. I started canning on a Kerosene stove when we lived in Moses Lake.

WILDLIFE AT HEARST RANCH

This is the only wildlife I was able to see on our tour. We were boarding the bus to go back to the Visitor Center and one of the guides saw this Tarantula. The guides were so excited because it was the first Tarantula of the season. The guide said this one was a male and that it was out hunting for a female. I was so excited too because I have never seen a Tarantula except in pictures. It was so neat to see. Debbie, bless her heart, got off the bus and took a picture for me. There is supposed to be Bears. Zebras run with the Black Angus beef. We didn't see any. The guide says the Zebras are a little further South.We went on the Garden tour in the evening. All kinds of flowers, shrubs, orange, lime and lemon trees too.

How would you like to work in this kitchen?

Yesterday afternoon I went to the Puyallup Fair with Donna and Laif. I wasn't going to go but Donna talked me into it. I am glad I went because I really did enjoy myself. We all had to have Scones, of course. We were at the Fair for 5 hours. I did something I didn't think I would be able to do. I did not take my walker. I got along really well. My feet got tired from walking so far but your feet always get tired walking at the Fair. I think from walking around in California gave me the courage to do it.

Monday is my cataract surgery for my right eye. I am beginning to feel more relaxed about it. I know I need it done.

HEARST CASTLE

Just a few pictures from our tour of the Hearst Ranch. Hearst referred to it as "the ranch in San Simeon." Hearst is still a working ranch and has been since 1865. To fulfill Hearst's dream for the site, he hired California Architect Julia Morgan.She designed the Mediterranean Revival Style Estate over twenty-eight years, from 1919-1947. The Neptune pool ranges in depth from three feet to ten feet. It holds 345,000 gallons of water. It was heated year-round to the mid-70's. and is still filtered using a sand filtering system. Stairs lead up to the bath house, containing seventeen dressing rooms. On the rooftop Neptune Terrace you have an expansive view of the 250,000-acre ranch W.R. Hearst owned. There are Tennis courts, guest cottages and on and on.