OLD, OLD, OLD!!

60 sounds SO old!  I must be looking the part as I was asked twice this last week if I wanted the senior discount when I was out shopping.

 Friday was my birthday, but in reality I celebrated all weekend.  Today was the first time I cooked a meal in 3 days.  It was glorious!!  Apparently, I had my birthday listed on Facebook as the July 20th, instead of the correct day which is the 19th.  So I got tons of birthday wishes late which added to my stretching out the glory.

Friday, only Jared and I weren't working, so he spent the day with me, indulging me as I participated in activities I consider fun.  We started by checking out a new thrift store I had never been to on Mercer Island, where I added to my growing glass collection.  Then because we were on Mercer Island I showed Jared all the tiny little "pocket parks" with access to the lake so that Dunn can go swimming.  Jared threw the ball into the lake for Dunn to fetch for about 40 minutes to get him thoroughly wet before we were off to our next destination.  Another thrift store- I told you that Jared indulged me (but he confessed he was getting bored). I did find out at the last store (a Salvation Army) that they have a 50% off sale on everything in the store on the 4th weekend of every month.  I am so there next weekend!.

Then Chuck had made dinner reservations at Ray's Boathouse in Ballard, and it was the perfect evening to eat on the water.

After dinner we went over to the Chittenden Boat Locks in Ballard to watch the boats go through.  It was such a lovely evening to spend the time walking off our dinner.  Then we went to Red Robin's for dessert because I love their chocolate lava cake. By the time we were done I was definitely waddling, I was so full.

On Saturday morning I had asked If we could go to the Maltby Café for breakfast- I was craving their eggs benedict.  I wasn't disappointed either.  They were just as amazing as I had remembered. Becca and I poked around the nearby shops and she made a new friend.

This is Herbie, a 3 year old Newfoundland/Golden Retriever mix with a very sweet personality that charmed us all.

The climax of my birthday weekend was the arrival of Dick and June Elder my adopted parents and best friends here from Draper, Utah. They showed up Saturday afternoon and took us out for a birthday dinner and then to dessert with a large group of friends. They spent the night at our house and went to church with us today to visit with many old friends.  After church we took them to the airport to say goodbye.

It was a wonderful birthday, almost making it worth turning 60.

STARTING OVER

Now that I have sold all of my garden art, it is time to start making more.  I spent all day yesterday going to every thrift store in the vicinity (about 6) on the hunt for colorful glass and unusual ceramics.

I have learned to limit myself to basic colors: blue (dark cobalt- my favorite), green, yellow and red.  Although there is beautiful glassware out there in more exotic colors such as pink, teal and lavender, it is too hard to find enough pieces in those colors to make them usable.

blue



 

 

 

red, yellow and greens

 

I have also learned to not pay more than $1 for any given piece (although yesterday a cobalt blue wine bottle with a bubbly texture was $1.99 and I decided it was worth it).  It makes it so much easier to price my items for sale.  All I have to do is look at it and count the pieces and know how much money I put into materials and price it accordingly.  But keeping the $1 rule is hard sometimes, as there are some gorgeous pieces out there.  I have come to realize if I keep looking, usually I can find something similar within my budget.

 

 

So now that I have gathered my materials, it is time to get busy. Unfortunately, it means no one is eating dinner on this table any time soon......

 

GARAGE SALE MANIA

This was garage sale weekend.  I had a 6 foot long table sitting in the garage filled with items that didn't sell at my last garage sale a year ago that needed to go. The entire family contributed more clothes, Becca her college dishes, and Jared his air soft pistols and old snow board and boots. 

 

I had 4 large tables, a rack of clothes, sports equipment sitting on the ground with all of our ATV helmets, lots and lots of board games and kid Disney videos. 

 

 But my major contribution to the sale was garden art.

 

 

There were flowers made of ceramic dishes and glass. I had about a dozen of these.

There were 10 glass totems and  2 birdbaths

 

 

 

 

And there were my garden chairs. I sold 3 of them that were unplanted.  I offered the 2 planted ones, which people admired, but couldn't figure how to get home without making a mess of their car.

 

 

All of my garden art sold the very first day!!  I was so surprised!  These were my initial attempts at this type of artwork, so it was less than stellar.  I couldn't believe that people found it charming.  Now, I've learned a few things in the process, and I am sure that I can create much better pieces.  Maybe I can work on it all winter, and by next summer have enough stock to get a booth at a Saturday Market.  I had two customers express interest in me teaching a class on making these pieces!  I got their contact info and maybe the three of us will get together to sell our art- that would be so fun!!

HEART AND SOLE

I LOVE my new sandals!!  They are so cute!  Comfy, too.  Since orange and teal are popular colors this summer, and I have been wearing a lot of orange, coral and mango.  When I saw these sandals at Payless on sale for 50% off I knew I had to have them! I especially like the "gladiator" straps around the ankle.

I HEART these shoes!

SNOQUALMIE VALLEY TRAIL

If Dunn looks tired, he has good reason.  Yesterday was a fairly warm day, so Dunn and I went to the lake, as is our habit.  He has such a heavy coat that I always try to take him where he can get in the water and swim on warm days. We got home and he was just drying out when Becca came home from work and wanted to go to Fall City/Preston area to ride her bike and invited us along. It sounded like fun so we hopped in the car and took off.  Unfortunately, the road to the trail we wanted to do was closed due to construction and we had to come up with plan B on the fly. We found a trail right in Preston that was just under 3 miles long and paved (?).  It was entirely in the shade, which made it nice for Dunn who was tired already from his swim earlier in the day.  Unfortunately this trail had no ups and downs, only a straight down grade for 3 miles, which means a straight upgrade coming home. While Becca did the whole trail, I only did about 2/3 because I could tell that Dunn was pooped and I didn't want him to overheat. He is pretty stiff this morning, so he did more than his 9 year old body should have. Funny, that's what I am usually saying about myself the morning after.

CEDAR FALLS 4th

Although the beginning of the week was unseasonably HOT, the 4th of July was perfect weather for a hike.  So, Becca, Chuck and I decided to head for the mountains.  They took pity on me and picked an easy hike in the Cedar River Watershed called Cedar Falls. 

 It was about 3 miles round trip, with a lovely view of North Bend Valley from the top. Unfortunately the cooler weather meant that the mosquitos were fierce. If you quit moving, even for a second you were attacked.  It was a great motivation to keep my huffing and puffing body on the move.

My new dog, Dunn was along for the trip.  He has a great nose, and picks up the scent of every squirrel, raccoon or chipmunk in the vicinity and follows their scent off into the woods to his satisfaction before returning to our side to continue hiking.  Which means he gets a lot more exercise than we do.  In this picture you can tell he has caught a "whiff" of something.

Becca was our fearless leader and emergency medical tech on site.  She carries her back pack with her EMT kit with her at all times. She is ready for any situation to arise.

When you are as out of shape as I am, it is good to know that medical treatment is just a "yelp" away.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN HIGH

Chuck and Becca have been on a mountain hiking kick lately.  Last Saturday the two of them hiked to the top of Tiger Mountain, and yesterday they took on Mt. Si.

 

For those of you not familiar with our local trails, Mt. Si is a 4 mile trail with about a 3500' altitude gain.  At the very top is a large rock formation affectionately known as the "Haystack" that is a pretty dicey climb, especially after you are tired from the previous 4 miles practically strait up.

Chuck was able to keep up with Becca until they reached the Haystack.  By this time his 58 year old knees were telling him to think twice before attempting to scale it.  After all his knees had already traversed their share of rocky terrain.

And it was hot, unseasonably so.  In this picture you can tell just how drenched Chuck's shirt is by the time he made it to the top.

Becca not only made it to the top, she climbed Haystack as well.

Along the way they found a stream to cool off their feet.

and a fellow traveler that brought his parrot along for the hike........

That's a pretty big bird to be schlepping to the top of a mountain!

I prefer my hiking companions to be the 4 legged kind.