Love Led Us Here

Busy week last week - didn't get around to blogging, barely kept my status update on Facebook ;-)
J turned an assortment of large pieces of plastic into a very neat shed. My main contribution was stuffing it with various garden implements. DAS came by while we were working on it and gave his thumbs up to the project. (J says I did help - she couldn't have done it without me.)
Pumpkin hunting over the weekend went well. We came home with six pumpkins from our traditional pumpkin patch. We have yet to carve them due to our many different schedules, but hope to start tomorrow night. Ollie came along to the pumpkin farm. If you haven't yet read about Ollie, be sure to visit her blog to find out about her adventures.
I spent the weekend puttering. decluttering, cleaning, but there still is a lot left to do. I did go a little overboard at J's house (sorry, honey), but overall it was a satisfying accomplishment. Afterwards, J's roommate gifted us with a bag of clams and since they had to be eaten ASAP, I looked up a recipe on the Internet and we enjoyed steamed clams with garlic and white wine broth. Tonight, my brilliant J turned the leftovers into a delicious clam linguine dinner. Two home cooked meals in a row!
The rest of the week is full - J will work another twelve hour shift, the teenager has her usual full schedule of activities, J and I are going to Bellingham to have dinner with a family friend (my family, and by virtue of that fact, J's family). Hallowe'en will be here before we know it and the weekend will be another one of chores and family time.
Wishing you satisfaction in your endeavours and lots of love. I am ever grateful that I have found someone who fits me so well.

Salty Dog

Did I mention the sea lions at Santa Cruz? We spent quite a while on the wharf, watching, listening, taking pictures.

After the Sunrise

Back home - ahhhhhhh...
I'm at the tail-end of a cold so took today off. J is back to work (though she is off tomorrow).
Including some more fine photos from the past week, taken both here and on our trip.
Ivey has joined the colour guard (also known as the flag team) with the goal of accompanying the high school marching band at games and events. Here she is in glorious colour:

J has been spending a lot of time on my yard this year. The latest project is to put in a shed to store everything that was displaced by the garage demolition last year. We bought a pre-fab model at Costco that is still in the box waiting inside Fred. J spent two days prepping the spot to put the shed:

This included digging, rototilling, weed killer and laying plastic down. Today we'll get the gravel to gobeneath the shed and then I hope to rope someone else into assembling it. J is a fabulously motivated worker, but even she needs a break once in a while. Here she is with Chance:

I need to take a break as well - all this posting is wearing me out ;-)
Hope your day is lovely!
Lava, 'mi

We are Family

Good morning and greetings from sunny Berkeley California!
Slept in, which was a vacation in itself. Yesterday we rose at 4 AM to catch our flight from Seatac. The flight was fine although the seats had a funky headrest which stuck out and made it difficult to sit up straight. But the sky was breathtaking and we saw the mountains majestic: Rainier, Saint Helens, Hood - I fell asleep before Adams and Shasta. We landed without incident (J clutching my hands, eyes squeezed shut) and we were picked up by Peter. He is so easy going so no worries there. He drove us to Parker Street to see the Folks. Sari, Molly and Reva came by, so J met most of the family right away.
Afterwards, we had a couple of adventures exploring the Bay Area. The highlight of the evening for me was seeing - and hearing - the sea lions at Fishermans Wharf. We also saw a fireworks display . Unsure of the occasion for that. It was the night before Fleet Week and the Blue Angels visit.
Later-
Saturday J and I had breakfast at the Homemade Cafe and then did projects at Parker Street. I gave mom a pedicure and we took Dave to the recycling center. We also did an overhaul of the kitchen shelves, tossing old food, giving away cookbooks, organizing cans of food. Quite satisfying for the declutterer in me. In the afternoon we drove down to Santa Cruz and walked along the beach, boardwalk and down to the wharf, where we saw many more sea lions. J took loads of pictures and I'll post some when we get home.


We spent Saturday night at wildwood where j met TJ and we creeped her out with tales of scorpions.

Sunday we toured wildwood and j met ma, Pa and some of the neighbours up there. Then sari, peter, j and I headed to Berkeley to celebrate VM and DAs 54th wedding anniversary. Reva, Tim, Scott, Katy and Richard B all came as well. More photos.
After the party , J and I walked up to UC Berkeley and then had cottage pie and Guinness at a new pub downtown.


Monday - we're in the car, heading north to Anacortes. We picked up an extra passenger, an older fellow who lives there too. He was on our flight and missed his shuttle ride home.
We had a good time and J was well liked (ad I knew she would be). And despite having seen my family in full dysfunctional mode she still likes me, so all is well.
Glad to be almost home. Pictures soon.
Pictures added Tuesday.

Picture Perfect