Happy Halloween!

If you are participating in the fun, please be safe!

Go here for some great tips from my friend Jen.

Irony: the opposite of wrinkly

Popping up for air to share another Ten on Tuesday…

1. My husband preached a sermon on Sunday, which is ironic because I felt very strongly that I did not want to ever marry a minister!
2. No, SuperDad is not starting a new career! It was a rare occurance (he’s done it once before, long ago).
3. We did, however join the church where he preached.   Some of you might remember my struggles of trying to find a “home” for Sunday mornings. We’ve been faithfully attending this one for the past 6 months, so it was time to make it official and become members.
4. My dad is a retired minister and the fishbowl existence for a pastor’s family isn’t my cup of tea.
5. Speaking of tea… I’ve had several days recently when I skipped my usual 3-4 cups of morning coffee for the equivalent in Jasmine Green Tea. I’m never quite sure why that happens; there are simply some mornings when coffee doesn’t seem like such a great idea and Chinese green tea calls my name.
6. Our full week of rain has been very welcome (we had a really dry summer and early fall) but between the rain and the significantly cooler temperatures, I am re-thinking the concept of going camping over the Veterans’ Day weekend.  I don’t mind cold by itself, but cold rain is an entirely different matter.
7. This weekend I am going to attend a Creativity Retreat: 72 hours of hanging out with quilting ladies.
8. I hope to bring back photo proof that their talent rubs off on me, at least a little bit!
9. Make that, I will bring back photo proof — several Christmas gifts depend upon it.
10. Halloween is tomorrow, which begs the question: seeing as how a certain candy bar contains both coconut and whole almonds, shouldn’t Almond Joy be considered a healthy snack?

Time Warp Tuesday: My little pumpkin

Today I am playing along with Jenn at Juggling Life and several other bloggers participating in Time Warp Tuesday.

The first kid gets so many pictures taken of him because everything is so new to the parents AND because we’re only juggling one kid with the camera. Here is MusicMan at 6 months old, sitting up with the pumpkins at a road-side stand. My BFF and I had taken a day trip over the mountains to see a little fall color and buy some new crop apples. KCINNOTX is MM’s honorary auntie and this picture can be found on display in her house. Seeing as how this particular photograph is more than 21 years old, I find that rather impressive! ♥

To Everything There Is A Season

It’s been rather moist outside these past few days, but I am feeling dry in the blogging realm.

She’s left the building…

Back in the Spring (and I use the term “spring” very loosely here, because although it was March, we were slipping and sliding on snow and ice) I spent a couple of days on a scrapbooking retreat.

Well, it’s time to go back again and get some pictures safely into Creative Memories scrapbook albums. This is especially crucial when the store-bought albums purchased 16 years ago (so-called-“quality” albums at the time) have pages that are yellowing.  In danger are my pictures from Europe, with baby H-J and his big brothers, and our adventures in Germany, Italy, France, and England.  [We lived in Germany from January of 1995 until January of 1998.]
Those are precious memories!

NYC 2010 Spring Break family trip, scrapbooked

So I’m headed back up north to The Middle of Nowhere, in a different facility but just down the road from the previous place pictured here. Hopefully we won’t be dealing with ice and snow again!  Three days without outside communication — no phone, no pool, no pets… nor is there internet. It’s all about the quality time spent scrapbooking.

I am looking forward to seeing Bob & Doug at Croptoberfest.  😀
Yes, they plan on coming down from Canada again this weekend (They really are from Canada!) although they probably will not be in costume.  😉

 

I spent part of this week offline, working on things around home (and working around a headache that would not quit for over 2 days) so I’ll have a lot of catching up to do when I get back home again — besides laundry, of course!

Happy Weekend! 😀

Picnic after the roses

After taking my last photographs of the Rose Garden, this is what I found at the end of the path.

Yes, I am thankful for a thoughtful husband! ♥

Clockwise from top: homemade bread, roasted tomatoes with parmesan cheese, raw almonds, apple, smoked turkey sausage, cheddar cheese

Tuesday 20: Roses!

Elegant Lady

Broadway

Voo Doo

Headliner

Honor

Gemini

Veterans’ Honor

Princess Margaret of England

Glowing Peace

Artistry rose

Granada

Prima Donna rose

Pink Promise

Candelabra

Brigadoon roses

Henry Fonda roses

St. Patrick rose, with a green grasshopper!

Bewitched

I do not know the names of these last two roses. I failed to record the variety when I took the photograph. Can you help me?

The red rose to the right is a Black Magic, but what is this lovely variety with the pink and cream petals?

Click on any pic to embiggen

Busy as a Bee

Queen Elizabeth rose

Queen Elizabeth entertained a visitor on Wednesday, although she might have thought him to be a bit rude.

These ladies-in-waiting were not amused:

Elegant Lady roses

The New England Asters were hosting a party of their own.

Plenty of PINK was seen, but only these plants could be considered to be on their best behavior:

We have had beautiful fall weather here this past week (honestly, for the past two months!) and it was time to make one more trek up to our favorite city park before the autumn rains finally arrive. I never get tired of visiting the gardens!

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Let the color PINK inspire you! See more Pink Saturday posts here.

Stone Hearts

Janet began a project of spreading love:  Here, There, and Everywhere

I left this one on a rock near one of the paths into the park behind our house.

You can join the project on facebook with this link.

Kayaking, candles, and other assorted things

Last week I had the energy to head down to the river.

This is what we did for more than an hour.

I wondered if I would be willing to move again, if I had the opportunity to live in one of these houses.

We certainly wouldn’t have to hassle with getting to and from the river!

But I like where I live. And I really wouldn’t like worrying about flooding every spring.

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A few quick thoughts:

• I’ve had a few days of feeling run-down. Not a big deal, just low energy. My husband has been feeling the same way. We are blaming the layer of wildfire smoke caught in our atmosphere.
• The autumn light has a hazy effect, thanks to the smoky skies. Our air quality isn’t necessarily unhealthy (other places are), but it is significant enough to curtail my desire to photograph scenery right now.
• I decorated for Fall on Saturday. The golden orange hues have a cheering effect for me. And while SuperDad was off hiking and camping in the mountains again with SnakeMaster, I spent a little money on some new scented candles: Spiced Pumpkin, Ginger Pumpkin, Amber Wood & Vanilla, and Cedar Patchouli are the options in my house this fall.
• Yesterday was baking day. I made a green tomato pie, a rhubarb custard pie, and 2 loaves of pumpkin bread. Then I took a nap!
• Today we headed to the AFB, which is my usual Tuesday activity (gym and shopping).
• I swam laps in the pool (which was rather chilly so my heart rate went up, too — being immersed in cold water does that to me. I had to meditate during my laps to ward off feelings of panic).
• What started as a quick stop at the pharmacy to pick up prescriptions became an opportunity to get a flu shot (my dh got his this week — I’ll get mine next week) and because I am such a party animal, I went ahead and got a Tdap immunization. Whooping Cough is currently at epidemic levels in Washington State and I couldn’t remember when I last had a Tetanus shot. (I only remember how much it hurts  afterward.)
• I need to get back up off the couch and do more baking because while I was at a meeting last night, the people I live with ate half a loaf of pumpkin bread. Somehow they didn’t hear the message about those loaves being saved for a school event on Wednesday morning. I shouldn’t be surprised; after all, the kitchen did smell really good! Luckily, we have the supplies in the pantry to make more.