A Lovely Weekend

It was a rare treat that I got to visit with BOTH of my dear sisters this weekend. Sister Carol (the young one) came up on Thursday and we had a few days of sister time. Besides our regular casino "fun".....we got pedicures and went to the movies. I love when she visits too, because she always appreciates whatever I cook for her. We weren't very close friends as we were growing up. Not until we were in our 20's did we start to share friendly activities. We both have strong "gaming" genes, and share a bit of competitive spirit. Back in the early days of video games we used to meet at a little house, that had once been the water department office in Boulevard Park, that had video games like Pac Man, Ms Pac Man, Frogger, Centipede and we discovered a great game called The Nibbler.

And sister Nancy ( the middle one ) was in Bellingham for not quite such a great reason. Her brother in law had been seriously injured while felling a tree on his property and it hit him in the head. He is in the ICU. It appears right now like he has neurological function, but is still basically comatose. So Nancy and her husband Terry drove up to get more details and spend some time with his family.

They were able then to come out to Lynden and have a bit of a visit.

We usually only get to be all three together on holidays. I am the oldest, and since we are each 3 years older than the next, we didn't ever get to go to school together. But it is now, as we are getting older, that I so appreciate having Sisters. I want to find one of those merry go rounds like the one in the photo above and take a current picture of the three of us. Because as the world goes round, and round, and round and round...it's nice to have sisters to share the ride with.

I love you both so much...

In My Mail today!!

AWESOME!! It took a little investigative work to find out it came from Kyle, Genie, Carter and Henry for my birthday. This is a HUGE book, like an old Sears catalog. And filled with lots of great info about spices, and tons of recipes.

Can't wait to dive in and choose something to make first.

Speaking of the Sears catalog.....do any of you remember those days when the catalog would come in the mail? I could spend hours turning page after page after page. Sometimes one sister or the other would sit with me and whoever was on the left side got everything on the left side of the catalog. We would snicker and giggle over the ladies underthings section. Most of my school clothes up until about 8th grade were ordered out of the catalog. OH! And when the Christmas catalog came it was like a holiday all in itself!!

On the occasion we would actually load into the car and go to Sears in Seattle, it was a major adventure. We always parked in the back, and got a bag of popcorn as we came in the back door. By the shoes....

One of my first "real" jobs was working for Sears. My Dad loved it because he could go into the employee discount store.

It is still a bit sad when I pass by on I-5 and look over and it doesn't say SEARS on the top of that building anymore....almost as sad as not seeing the Rainier beer logo.....gosh I loved those commercials! What a rambling post today...

Concerts

Cleaning up my camera file, I found these photos of Mary Chapin Carpenter. This was the outdoor concert at the Woodland Park Zoo that I attended with Lynn earlier this month. She performed here with her good friend Shawn Colvin. I do have one of Shawn's CD as well, and during the concert realized that I do love her crystal clear voice. Much like Jewel.

You can tell that these two have been friends for quite a long time.

This singer/songwriter style is my very favorite to listen to. One of the reasons I love So You Think You Can Dance on TV is for the new artists I discover, that they dance to. The latest is a guy named Ron Pope. If you are a music lover and haven't discovered iTunes yet....go NOW!

We attended a concert about 25 years ago at this same venue. It was Karla Bonoff. Another one of those gems....I used to listen to TAPES of hers in my car long ago, and was thrilled to get a nice collection of her stuff, again on iTunes.....anyway! This time around I didn't care for the venue much at all. About 1/2 of the people attending, were there for the concert and the other half were there for the outdoor picnic with some background music provided. TONS of little kids running everywhere, people wandering and chatting. I thought it was rude to the performers and also to those of us who paid our $30 to hear the music.

The winery in Woodinville has a similar set up, but not the little kid factor. When you are there you just have to deal with people who drank too much wine!! We buy the tickets so we sit in the grass, bringing along a quilt, and a couple of low, low, low chairs. They even have a notice posted that if the back of your chair is higher than 20" (or whatever it is), than you must sit in the HIGH BACK chair section, so you don't block the view of those of us who complied with the regulation. One time they even walked amongst the patrons with a yardstick and measured chairs and made people either move to the appropriate section, or fold their chair up. I LOVED it when they did that. However, the concert was a rockin one and many of those people in front of us chose to STAND UP! Does that make sense?????

When we were younger we attended many concerts. When I was a teen I was lucky enough to get to see the Beatles at the Seattle Center. I remember sneaking out with Susie Price and we went downtown to see The Dave Clark Five! Pat O'Day used to sponsor a Teen Fair every summer and yes, that was me in the group during the dance contest in the white boots....

Lynn and I were talking about all the bands we have seen. Of course, he holds the record of having seen the Beach Boys (or some combination of) over 50 times. In fact, he attended the latest concert in the rain at the Snoqualmie casino in June....I think the band I have seen the most often is Chicago. I hope music will always be a part of our lives together. But I'm not sure how much longer we'll be sitting in the grass to watch......

Design Wall Monday...August 23rd

Hooray, one more little border to put on the bottom and my quilting small group row quilt project will be ready for the quilter.

We each chose a theme. Mine was to make an old fashioned block with a current floral fabric. I think the girls did a great job!

Two of the other women got their projects done, and entered them into the Northwest Washington Fair and each one a blue ribbon, so I feel like I did indeed win a couple of blue ribbons, since each had a row from me in them. I should have snapped some photos, will try to get a couple of shots at our next meeting to share. It's nice to be back in the sewing room again.

Okay, I Admit It!!

I'm a Food Network fiend!! I love the Sunday morning line up starting with Bobby Flay, who is making a pork tenderloin on the grill, which is perfect since that is what I have planned for dinner tonight! His marinade has fresh oregano, but I'll be using fresh thyme from my garden.

The premiere is today of Aarti Party which features this season's winner of Next Food Network Star. She shows how to add Indian spices to everyday food. I LOVE good spice in food, I think I could eat thai everyday.

One night this past week, I had NO idea what I was going to make for dinner at about 3:00. A tour of the freezer and fridge led me to a great meal. Found in the freezer was a package of yakisoba noodles. In the fridge, the remains of a roasted chicken, some green and yellow pepper slices, about a quarter of an onion......looks good so far....

Into the condiment section in the door of the fridge, some remains of some kind of asian sauce I had bought at Trader Joes, and about half a cup of a gyoza dipping sauce.

Into my wonderful large cast iron skillet went some EVOO, a bit of butter......added some chopped garlic and give it a stir, then the veggies all went in...smells GREAT!! Then the chicken I picked off the bones went into the mix, some S & P....And finally the thawed yakisoba noodles and the sauces. OMG!! A touch of sesame oil over all, and then a couple of sprinkles of some toasted sesame seeds. It was amazing. Even the kids loved it!

I feel so accomplished somehow when I am able to create a meal after having a scavenger hunt.
Next time I'll take a photo to share.

I'd love to know what YOU create from your pantry/fridge/freezer. Especially with leftover tortillas....ideas?

An Amazing Project

Be sure to click on the photo and take a good look at this quilt. This is being made by a friend of mine, Neta. She is so creative and does amazing work. This is her own creation, to depict an underwater scene. You can see some of the kelp being added on the right there. The thing I love about it are all those 3 inch blocks!!! Neta is big on making templates for a lot of those blocks. The next time I go to her Inn for a retreat I'll get some photos of some of her other works to show you more. Such an inspiration. In fact....I'm going to head into my sewing room right now!!

Welcome Oh Henry!!

On July 27th we welcomed another wonderful Templeton to the family. Genie's due date was the 29th, and when she saw her doctor on the 27th, the decision was made to give her a bit of a nudge to start labor and get that baby birthed. Carter was a big boy at birth (and still is!!) at 9 # 3 ozs and Genie had quite a long pushing phase. So they figured this baby would be plenty big enough!

I was glad to have gotten the call before the induction started, had my bag already packed and after filling my truck with gas, I hit the road about 2:00 that afternoon. The labor had progressed very nicely and she was already 6 cm when I arrived. Soon thereafter she was ready to push and after only a bit more than an hour, Henry Jefferson Templeton arrived. His shoulder was hung up on the exit for a short time, which was pretty stressful for Kyle and Genie, but all came out just fine.

You can see such a sense of relief for Genie in that photo!!

And you can see that he is starting out an ounce bigger than his "big" brother!!!

A full head of nice dark hair and a very calm demeanor. Carter is SO blonde, but Henry looks like maybe he will stay on the darker side, like his Mommy.





This hospital stay was much shorter and less eventful than Carter's birth and they were all able to go home the next day, where Henry got to meet some of his cousins and his big brother.





It's so amazing to watch this family of three become a family of four.








A kiss for baby brother...

It will be fun to watch them grow. Their age spacing is almost exactly the same as Kyle and Jeff. Let's see if another little baby comes along in about 18 months - LOL!!!

Just So Much Going On!!

The first meeting of the grandkids happened this week!! I will have a whole blog about Henry's birth soon. It was such a treat to have Kyle, Genie, Carter and Henry come for a quick visit. And I actually got Carter, Jillian and Ethan to sit still long enough for a photo, thanks to Carter holding his new baby brother!!

Since Carter was a baby, and he came for his first visit I have taken a photo of him on the corner of this couch every time he comes up. So now I have started this with brother Henry as well. I'll do the progression photos near Carter's birthday in September. In the meantime here is his current addition to the collage, as well as the first for Henry.


We are on the second half of the week of the Northwest Washington Fair that goes on across the street from us, one week a year. For 51 weeks, I live in a beautiful, quiet neighborhood. This one week, I live in controlled chaos!! Attendance so far has been down, we are guessing because it has been so bloody hot up here! Yesterday cooled down and today is actually overcast and breezy. I love it...
I went to the fair on Monday with Kyle, Genie, Carter and Henry. Genie just loves the Dutch treat sold during this fair called Poffertjies.

What a funny photo with Carter's little legs hanging out of the baby carrier on Genies chest!!

And yesterday I did the fair with Krista, Jillian and Ethan. They love the carnival of course and get the all day wrist bands so they can ride everything!






And ride they did!!!






















Krista stayed and enjoyed the Kenny Rogers concert with Lynn. Every year they pick a concert to attend together. Jillian and Ethan walked back home with me and declared it to be the "best day ever!!"

One more photo to share. I was so happy that Todd had a chance to stop by and meet his new nephew. The kids all call him Uncle Tito....never say never, but I'm not expecting this child #3 of mine to provide any grandchildren....but he sure enjoys playing with his niece and nephews!

Lots to do. Lynn is home sick today, terrible head cold. Krista ended up staying home from work as well, feeling like she was coming down with it too. Jillian is over her pneumonia, but Ethan is coughing a lot, and may end up with his own X-ray....

Will do my best to visit more often...