Tardy again

Sorry - life has been happening and I have not been blogging.

Some more babysitting for the sweet little ones:

Maybe it's because I had my first when we were living in England, but I "learned" that it's good for little ones to have their naps outside (under cover but lots of fresh air).  So when the weather is good enough, little Ms. L has a nap on the front porch.  She seems to rest well.  Ms. B and I played with Little People and sang "Wheels on the Bus" about 7000 times.  :-).

Then it was the holiday week-end and we headed out in Saskia (that's the name of the motorhome.  Actually it's Saskia, #2, as we had one before.)  We "camped" without any hook-ups with several friends, mostly in their rigs and, as we have before, had a great time.  Just lots and lots of coffee, campfires, games, and sorting out many of the "big" (and little) issues of the world.  Fun, fun.  To avoid traffic (and we did) we didn't come home until Tuesday.  Wednesday I took Saskia to a new (to us) RV repair place, much closer to our storage place.  Only 7.5 miles.  There was a recall for something related to the batteries.  But it was fixed (no charge, of course) and they did a courtesy "20 point" check.  Everything looks good.

Turns out that the Honda also had a recall - something related to the master switch for the electric windows - and got that done yesterday (Friday).  So with luck, all our motorized vehicles are all set for whatever comes next.

Today it's a wedding reception/open house.  However, we started the morning with some yard work.  [Yes, Caro, even I did some yard work!]

Fall blooming cyclamen

Winter blooming crocus just beginning

Lots of weeds pulled and bushes trimmed

Some new bark around the blueberry bushes

Been working really hard on cleaning the sewing room.  With luck I may even be able to post a photo - in the next few days.

Week-End Review

I am behind in posting.  Last week was some grandma duties and then getting ready to be away for the week-end.  Meal planning, shopping, laundry, etc.  We left on Thursday mid-day.  We made a stop at our previous RV service spot to use up our gift card for cheap propane.  I say previous because they are going out of business.  We are sad as we have used them for the past 5 or 6 years.

We then headed south and west to Westport, WA. on the Pacific Ocean.  It is an RV park that we have been in many years previously and one of our favorites.  American Sunset RV  This year it was the event of our "every once in a while" fund-raising auction for our RV club.  We worked quite hard but managed to raise about $4000, so everyone felt like it was a great success.  Some things sold for less than their value, but others were quite profitable, so all in all, it kind of evened out.  I am happy to report that my quilt

 (do you remember this one?) sold for $310, to a new member.  She was quite happy as it went with her black and white and grey and red decor.  So all in all, it was quite positive.  I managed to find a number of smaller things, so everyone felt quite good, at the end of the day.

We ate some fabulously fresh salmon that 3 gals caught early on Saturday morning, had a beach-themed potluck and lots and lots of games.  We stayed an extra night and just enjoyed "hanging out".  Also did some bike riding, as there is a terrific paved bike path, through the beach grass (duinen).  For me who hasn't done a lot of riding, it was great fun and just about at my skill level.

On the way home we stopped at DD's new home, outside Olympia, WA.  And discovered that there is a perfect spot to park the RV.  So that may be an up-coming event.  Got home through moderate traffic and all put away before we collapsed on the sofa.  This morning (Tuesday) it was grandma duty again. Oh those girls are just so doggone cute and are really fun and easy to take care of.

Quite the adventures.  I will repeat this duty on Friday, as well.

Oh I forgot, before we left for the week-end, I finished another 1600 quilt top.  I quite love the colors,

No real plans for this one, but it was fun to do it up.

And tomorrow, there will be some more adventures of the 'quite memorable' type.  I finally caught up with a friend from several (maybe 25?) years ago on facebook.  And so I kept bugging her to write me a long, catch-up email.  She surprised me with one even better, she and her family were coming to Seattle.  So tomorrow she and her now almost 32 year old daughter are coming for lunch.  This is truly going to be quite an adventure and no doubt a busy time of filling in the intervening years.  I'm so excited to see Julia.

Of course, it is Labor Day week-end, so Saturday morning we will take off for the hinterlands, until Tuesday.  Yeah for our little RV, Saskia.  "Oh the places you'll go"  And then, September (already)!

A Couple of things Going-on

Well, I can't say that I have been bored - too many things going on.  So, to fill you in:

Friday was our Pike Place Market adventures, with our houseguest

Saturday morning was a very lovely wedding at a nearby park.  Our dear friends Maud and Alayne were married on a hillside overlooking Lake Washington.  Very nice celebration.

[Karen likes to sleep very late, so I don't think she even missed us.]

Sunday after church, we headed out for a trip to Snoqualmie Falls - one of those nice places to take out-of-town visitors.  I think Karen enjoyed it.

The little town of Snoqualmie was running their steam engine train - fun,

As the weather has been nice, we have been doing some BBQ-ing, in the back yard.  We tried a "trick" we learned this summer on our RV trip.  If you wish to keep the bees away, you hang up a smallish brown paper bag [puff it out like something is in it], and the bees tend to interpret this as a wasp's nest.  At least, so far, it has worked for us (and worked earlier in Canada). 

Monday it was time for Grandma duties, as my DIL had her first day back at school getting her classroom in order for the new year.  (School starts right after Labor Day).  Karen had to get up waaaay early (for her) but she came along and we took the two children for a walk to the Locks.  A lovely morning and a very nice outing.

What is that huge flash?

It's hard to have your photo taken when you are so busy with important projects.

Friday Field Trip

We got to enjoy a very nice field trip today to the Pike Place Market.  It was a really lovely day (weather wise) and just several hundred of our nearest and dearest friends also decided that this was a great day to visit the Market.  Oh my gracious - was it ever crowded.  Lines and lines and lines.  There were at least 20+ people outside Starbucks, plus those inside, so Karin Boonstra - our houseguest from Groningen, decided not to wait. But she got to try cheese curds at Beecher's, fresh white peach from a fruit stand and a lavender shortbread cookie.  We visited our favorite olive oil and flavored balsamic vinegar store - lemon olive oil, rosemary olive oil and a new taste treat: Blenhem Apricot Balsamic Vinegar.

Caro - I was sad to see that the Crumpet Shop was all sold out of crumpets by 1pm.  And only one fish "flew", but the flowers were spectacular,

Karin bought these.  And we fulfilled our commission to find 3 big bunches of flowers for Maud and Alayne's wedding, tomorrow.  We also bought 3 different sorts of Pierogi's from the Russian baker, which we had for dinner, along with some garlic chive seashell pasta.

And when we got home, I baked a blueberry cake, a la Nancy.  Yummy!

Itchy Fingers

For some of us, your fingers begin to tingle and itch when they have been away from holding and touching and dare I say, fondeling, fabric.  Well, I been getting itchy fingers, so here are a couple of very small projects I've been working on.

First is addition of a border to a UFO that's been hanging around for quite a long, long time.  It is now about the right size for a single bed. All shades of purple and white.   So to find some batting and a back and we're off.

And then I had ordered a packet of pre-cuts.  It's a lovely collection called "Historical Blenders".  Only challenge is that each piece is only 2 1/2" square.  So I did find a very sweet pattern for an antique child's dolly quilt.  I found a fabric that I'm happy with, for my "other" half square triangle, and here's the center.  Now for a couple of borders and a back.

(and don't write and tell me that I have two golds exactly alike beside each other.  I know it, but like the Amish I try to build in a mistake.)  :-)  Happy sunshine!

"Gypsy Blood"

That's what Yvonne said, I must have gypsy blood - all these RV trips.  It is interesting to think about, exactly why do I love traveling and staying in the RV so much?  I don't know that answer, so I guess I just need to keep trying it out and seeing what is so pleasant.

Last Saturday, we left for Lake Easton State Park.  It is 69 miles from Seattle (I think that is about 90km), so it really isn't far but feels like we are well and truly away from home.  I love this park.

and that's even after they cut down at least 1/3 of the trees due to a root fungus that was causing some trees to just fall over.  They have planted and planted, so should I be around (unlikely) 30 years from now, there will be lots and lots of new trees.  Granted this is not a "perfect" park - there is way too much noise from the nearby highway, but it rather becomes 'white noise' after a bit and you just ignore it.  And when you are down at the beach, playing with the kids, you can't hear it at all.  So here are a few shots of us,

Miss B's first camping adventure with us.  She was a fabulous little trooper (although she didn't go a bunch on those peas!)

We also got to make 3 terrific walks in the area.  Day 1, after the kids left.

Day 2,

Day 3,

Nice, huh?  We had a great time, got lots of little projects done, read, napped, sewed - even our dear Ms. Elaine did some sewing - mending her chair:

Who'd have thought it?

Our friend Karin, from Groningen (Holland) arrives tomorrow.  Lots happening.

Back to Reality

Well, we've been home now for just under a week.  Amazingly, it was really hard to come home.  I just love being out and about in our RV and traveling and traveling and traveling.  I'm not sure I could do it "full time" forever, but I think I could become a "long timer".  This RV trip was so many new things to experience.  Interestingly, we were the smallest RV by several feet.  So I have been reflecting on what I might want different or if, in fact, this one works well "enough" for us.  Certainly for shorter trips, we have plenty of room for storing everything you need.  Longer?  hmmmm.

Our new friends, Cindy and Gerald, from Alabama.  Breakfast on our last morning together.  Do any Cascadian's recognize this gazebo?  We stayed here, in Burnaby, BC, probably 4 or 5 years ago.  It looks much the same, although the shrubs between the sites are a bit taller.  And to go with the higher shrubs are the higher prices - full hookup, 30 amp service, $62+ per night.  Yikes!  Although if you need to do laundry, they only charged $2 per load.  We stopped one place that was $6 per load.  Believe it!

We arrived home late on Saturday.  Sunday afternoon was the 2 year old granddaughter's birthday BBQ.  My son, the chef.  (with apron, just like his granddad)

Their 4 month old is just thriving,

and the birthday girl,

Her three big cousins were there, celebrating, also.

My oldest granddaughter (13) is staying here this week.  She is a counselor at a local Camp Fire Day Camp, so we have really enjoyed having her around.  She can be quite helpful and the conversations are fun.  I must praise my daughter for having done a great job with her kids - they really are so appreciative for most everything done for them. It's nice to do things with them.  So, the real (annual) test will be starting tomorrow, the 3 big ones [and their Mama, who doesn't want to miss out on any of the fun], as well as my son and at least his oldest [I imagine my DIL will stay home with the baby] are joining us at Lake Easton State Park for our yearly "Camping with the Grandmas" adventure.  Photos will follow.