Mr Incredible

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

In the absence of an updated photo of the darling adorable and perfect Hailey in her Halloween costume, I am posting a picture of a work colleague that was sent to me today. I promptly forwarded it to a couple of customers that we manage together. One responded back that he was … “speechless”. Thankfully, they had already signed a multi-year contract BEFORE they saw this picture!
David – you ARE incredible.

The Great Red-Headed Pumpkin!

Hailey was decked out as a pumpkin for school last Friday, complete with the perfect hair color for the outfit!

Rumor has it there is a SECOND outfit for trick-or-treating tomorrow night when she hits all the businesses in Winslow where her Dad works ... what a lucky girl!

Walking, Walking, Walking

Dancing and prancing along in the woods with a steep terrain, lots of fallen leaves that hide the trail and stinky dog breath in your face can be pretty exhausting for a 2 year old.

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Girlfriends

There is something about the friendship of a girlfriend that can never be replaced. A few nights ago, my buddy Tina and I met for dinner and a little shopping. The photo's not the best, but a pose would have meant that we had to stop talking.

Grillin' and Chillin'

It's still so mild these days that we're able to enjoy a glass of wine (and a quick phone interruption) outside on the deck while waiting for some steaks to cook on the barbeque.

The weather guys are telling us the snow level will drop to 3,500 feet tonight (snow in the mountains!!!) and rain for the next few days ... but tonight, who cares!

Hailey and her loyal servants

Another photo from yesterday's walk on the beach.

In case there is any question -- she has us totally and completely wrapped around her little pinkie....

Delightful Sunday excursion

We went over to Hailey's house for brunch this morning. While mom and dad fixed breakfast, we had time for some singing and dancing and reading. (Note the foot position on her servant, Grampa).

Then we took a walk on the beach -- just south of Foulweather Bluff, the entrance to Hood Canal. It was ANOTHER glorious fall day.


Hailey and her Dad had to check out the little sea creatures hiding under the rocks...

Eagle Dive Bombers

We just watched a couple of large eagles pester a smaller bird in the water that had caught a fish. They dive bombed this poor little guy for about 10 minutes, trying to convince him to give up his food. His buddies paddled quickly away, probably trying to avoid the attention of the eagles. And the big boys on the raft?...they appeared to just sleep through the whole show!

Our perfect dog

Yogi went for his "dip-tet" yesterday and was proclaimed "perfect" by the vet. We agree that this 115 pound, big boned, poorly mannered Golden Retreiver is close to perfection. Here he is helping Mickey get some exercise in the front yard, at the end of the day. (One of them tires quickly).

Brussel Sprouts

I'm attempting to introduce some new vegetables into our meals these days. I had tried, and failed, in the past with Brussel Sprouts but recently we went out for dinner and the best part of the meal was these funky looking veggies. So, I decided to give it a go again.
I steamed them a bit too long – but once again, I am convinced that a little garlic, olive oil and butter can make ANYTHING taste pretty good.

My Dahlia hibernation experiment

Somehow I have gotten hooked (and slightly successful) growing Dahlias in our garden. There are a couple of reasons -- first, they are very easy to grow, and second, we have a nice warm spot with good ventilation. I may have created a monster as one good tubular in the spring can show up as 5 intertwined 'tubs' in the fall. I'd lost quite a few in years past due to our wet winters, so I've taken to digging them up and storing them away in the garage. In the past I didn't concern myself with the colors but I had some rather ugly combinations this year. SO, I'm TRYING a new color identification process. I marked them all last week (after I'd cut them down) and then tonight I dug them up and marked them with a magic marker before they went into the box. ......I have absolutely no idea if this will work, and it's a bit of a pain in the neck. We'll know next summer if it's worth the work!

Another beautiful Sunset tonight

Going on a sleepover

Mickey headed out for a sleepover with 5 guys down at a friend's cabin. Here's what a 60-year-old packs for a camping trip:

• sleeping bag and pillow (forget about roughing it)
• large cooler filled with lots of breakfast fixings (he's on duty for the morning meal)
• cards and poker chips
• Crown Royal and similar liquids

Hopefully, the cooler will come back with a couple of whole salmons bought at water's edge from the local Indians....and, given the refreshments most likely consumed, it's probably a good idea they are staying put. Yogi wanted to go on this excursion, but he's been tasked with protecting me tonight!

New Blog Link

I just heard about two guys that left this morning from Times Square in NYC and plan to hitchhike to every state capital within the next 50 days (hmmm...how will they get to Hawaii and Alaska?). I've linked to their site in case anyone is interested. They have a GPS map that shows where they are at any moment and it may be amusing to track their travels and postings.
Ah, what the internet brings us!

Sunset in the Northwest

The sun dipped behind the Olympics tonight at @ 6:15pm. Maybe not the official Sunset time, but it's what we measure as the start of evening. While this feels early, we're still a few weeks away from Pacific Standard Time when the clocks will "Fall Back" an hour. That's when the evening will really come early!

Women: Know Your Limit!

Our friend, John sent this to me and explained it was Tina's "wife training video". ... (Trust me, it's not!).

Women: Know your limits

Stealing apples (with permission)

Our neighbor is away for a couple of weeks...just as his beautiful apple trees are bearing a bounty of fruit. He spends all Spring and Summer nursing those trees along, coaxing them to bear fruit, chasing the various predators away AND then he leaves town! His loss, our gain .... :)

P.S. YIKES...I should have activated spell-check on this before I posted! So sorry,,,, :<}

Boyz in da' hood!

The old raft appears to becoming a popular and busy spot for the local seals and otters. Where it use to be an occasional nighttime resting place, lately they have been hanging around during the daylight hours as well. If it's not "The Gang", it's the local Cormorants, Eagles or Seagulls. Always interesting sights (and sounds).

INTRODUCING:The new WELL HOUSE!

Here are some exciting pictures of the new well house recently built with love, care, incredible architectural and engineering prowess, and pure masculine brawn by Mickey and Joe. B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L!

Time to put the garden "away" for the Winter

It's been a glorious Summer and early Autumn here in the Northwest. The garden looks tired but remarkably good, considering it's October. The weather is suppose to be nice (re: dry) through the weekend, so I'll start to dig up the Dahlias, deadhead the perennials, pull out the tired annuals, prune some of the bushes and try to decide what gets moved around either now or in the Spring.

My back hurts just typing these plans! ... Maybe I'll just go on a bike ride or watch the Husky football game with Mickey! ... the plants be damned, let the slugs have their final feast.

How to keep the grandparents occupied...(continued)

Hailey walked the new trail (almost) completely unaided, including navigating over a big log. She was a little dirty and dusty by the time we made it across the bridge but quite proud of herself.

Later in the morning, Grandpa and Hailey played some computer games on Disney.com.

THREE MONTHS TILL MY NEXT RETIREMENT!

I have set January 1st as my official quit-the-job-and-figure-out-what-next-I-do date.

Zippadeedoodah-Zippadeeday!!!!!!!