Last day of the Seattle Garden show

The food we have eaten so far on this holiday has not been very good in my opinion and it has been very expensive. I just wanted an egg McMuffin and coffee for breakfast today but Rob and Shelly were very apprehensive to even try McDonalds. They have never ever been in a McDonald's before and I don't think they will ever go back to another one. They both disliked their breakfast and never finished their meals. I must say that I really liked my egg McMuffin and coffee.

We got to the show by around 9:00 . Carol and Randy went to see all the gardens with Rob. I went with Ruth and Shelly to see the show and we then took in a few workshops. They were good but I did fall asleep in the greenhouse building seminar. Interesting but not very exciting. I would like to have a greenhouse at our house in kelowna. They do make a lot of sense for a gardner. There was a beautiful cedar framed greenhouse that I would love to own. 

                                         We did buy a great nozzle for Ruth's garden hose .

 I also bought two beautiful sounding wind chimes that were built in california from turned aluminum tubes.I can't wait to get them home and listen to them.

We also bought a real cool garlic shredder that I think is going to finally improve my cooking. I need all the help that I can get. Ruth worked a deal for 3 of them and also got the taxes knocked off. We love a deal.

There was a company that was teaching dog agility and they came past while we were buying the graters. I chased them down between the displays to get a picture of them carrying their baskets. Labs are such good dogs.

Ruth ,  Shelly and I stumbled into a booth that had the most wonderful mask. It was done by an artist in California and Shelly really liked it. She thinks it could look wonderful above the two chairs in their living room but Rob seems to be totally against it. I thought it looked very cool.

We went to an italian restaurant that was only two blocks from our apartment. It was the best meal we have had since we got here. Ruth and I shared a salad and cannelloni. I'm still full. Glad we shared.

After dinner Ruth and I went upstairs with Shelly where there was a huge mall. We all had our pictures taken by a metal penguin.

                                 These girls make me jealous of the penguin.

                   Another great day. I can't wait to get home and try out my new garlic grater. 

The Garden Show

 Today was a great day. Rob and I walked around the garden show from 9:00 until 4:30 looking at the displays. Ruth and Shelly took in a lot of the workshops and we all had a good time. There was so much to see. I love this show. This was my favorite garden display in the whole show. I would like to do a garden like this on our lower level by the entrance to our basement. It was very cool.

I also liked the look of the black sand between the laving stones instead of the grasses that we have.

Alice in wonderland had a beautiful garden. I loved the characters that made her walkway so interesting.

       There was a flower bed that really caught my attention. I would like one of these.

                       Downtown seattle is gorgeous.It is what i think a city should look like.

I got back to the hotel around 4:45 and had a 15 minute nap and Ruth got back to the hotel around 5:45 just in time to crash for about 15 minuets. She had a big day.

We then headed over to Shelly and Robs room to wait for Randy (the birthday boy) and Carol to show.
They got in around 7:00 after a very nice drive down from Kelowna. The only glitch was the boarder. They got the full inspection while crossing.

                   These three beauties laying on a bed can make any mans heart pound.

We headed out to a nice restaurant for dinner and without Randy knowing it was his birthday dinner. Ruth had made a box cake that held 60 candles in Kelowna and brought it along without anyone knowing. She snuck it to the waiter when we arrived and he brought it out with all the candles lit after we finished dinner. Randy seemed surprised and also seemed to enjoy the celebration.It was great. He blew them all out on the first blow. We never said anything but I hope he had a wish and that it comes true.

       Here we are just after the waiter cleaned up his birthday cake from the table. This was a fun dinner.

When we left the restaurant I got a nice picture of Randy and Carol. What a happy couple. They are nice to be with.

I had to laugh when we all went to our perspective rooms. We were in the room for about 2 minutes and Ruth told me that we were going to go across the hall to see Randy and Carol. She figured they would be up for awhile still. Well we barged in and Carol was ready for bed already. I have never seen anyone hit the sack so quickly so I had to take this picture. I think she would have preferred I hadn't.

                            This turned out to be a very nice day.

Our Seattle Adventure

We are off for another adventure. I love when we go away. The Seattle garden show is on this weekend and we headed down south with our friends Rob and Shelly. Shelly left work early and we were on the road by 1:00 Thursday afternoon. The roads were mostly bare and the sky was blue. It was a great ride. We arrived at our hotel around 7:00 and settled down in our room for a glass of wine before heading out to a nice restaurant for dinner. There were a few amenities to this hotel that they didn't advertise when we booked it. One of them was the entertainment across the street.

We laughed about the strip joint being across the street but I am sure we won't be going there. Rob didn't like his room once he saw how big ours was. His room also smelled funny so I don't blame him for wanting to move.

 Look how happy he looks knowing he is getting a bigger room.

He got a King sized bed. Now I don't like my room.

We went to a restaurant that was within walking distance. Only a few blocks away. The food was adequate and we laughed a lot.

After dinner we came back to our room and had a nightcap before bedtime. Skinny little Shelly was cold so Ruth put another blanket on her shoulders. It was a very nice night.

Another Sunday done

We headed out for a hike at the base of Knox Mountain around 8:30 this morning. I like when we leave a little later. There were only 5 of us who showed up this morning. It was very cold out. I think that the rest of the gang figured it was too cold but the sun was out and that made it a very enjoyable walk . Rob saw an interesting piece of metal sticking out of this pile of garbage that was near the front of a yard we were walking past. The owner of the property was getting into his car and Rob asked him if he could have the scrap metal piece. The guy just shrugged and said sure. This is a picture of Rob and his newly acquired prize trucking down the road on our hike.

We headed to the Grand hotel and had one of the best breakfast meals that we have had for quite a while. This place is expensive but every so often we should treat ourselves. Randy and Carol came down to meet us for breakfast. It was nice to see them as they have been in Hawaii for the last few weeks. Here is a picture of everyone hanging around the loby waiting for me while I went over to talk to Bill Goddard who plays the piano every Sunday morning in the Grand Hotel Lobby.

Ruth and I spent the afternoon working around the property. She spent the afternoon in the sun working on the yard. It is nice to see the sun out and think about summer. Once it started getting cool out she headed down the basement to try and get some order into the bedroom and living room down there. Here she was taking a short break while I was trying to get her to laugh.

I spent the better part of the afternoon setting up the garage and getting my kayak kit ready to build. I'm getting excited to start.

At one point I was walking thru the parking lot and got startled when I noticed 4 deer at the corner of the garage eating some scrub on the hill. They didn't even move when I started talking on the phone while walking towards them. Why aren't they this calm during hunting season?

This was a Good Friday

Last Friday Dale and I drove all the way to Cherryville to deliver a new Heintzman Upright piano that part of an insurance claim for a nice couple who had lost their house to a terrible fire. There was no warning and all their possessions were burnt. We got there only to discover that there were about 13 stairs to get into the house. The husband said we should have asked about that before we came out . I had. His wife said there were only a few outside stairs. We can do only a few. We can't do 13 stairs by ourselves . I can understand her confusion having been stressed out by living thru a home fire and getting pressed by an insurance company to hurry up and replace everything because the claim is about to close.

We had to come all the way back with the piano and store it in the back warehouse until today when we did the trip all over again. This time we had 2 movers from Vernon meet us at their house to help.

They live outside of Cherryville on a beautiful acreage. It must be gorgeous in the summer.

I took my 10 foot aluminum ramp as well as an 8 foot plywood ramp to span the stairs .  This picture doesn't look very steep but it was. I was glad that we were waiting for 2 more able men.

Dale was saying that we may be able to do it ourselves but it will be easier with help.

Once the guys got there ,  the piano was sitting in its new home within 15 minuets. The 2 movers from Vernon really wanted to do it their way . They wanted to skid the piano and then drag it up the stairs. They didn't want to use my dolly and they were bragging about how many pianos they have moved in their life. I felt that there was no danger  to us or the piano if we did it their way and if they want to do all the dead lifting of all eight hundred pound piano it was fine. Dale and I use the johnson bar to lift and to wheel the pianos everywhere. This way we never strain ourselves. We both just smiled and told them if that was how they wanted to do it that was fine. I'll never understand why guys want to show how tough they are no matter how much it hurts.

We started talking about hunting and Eric asked me if I got any wild meat last fall. I told him that I never went last year and was looking forward to moose season this year. Last week when I was out on the first try to deliver his piano he saw my bullet pen. He thought it was the coolest pen he had ever seen and was very animated about it. Thinking about all the stress that he and his wife were going thru I gave him my pen as a gift. Today when he heard that I didn't have any wild meat he ran downstairs and filled a box up with Mule and White Tail deer meat as well as some Moose meat. He said he had a good year last year. What a nice guy. I gave a little less than 1/2 of the meat to Dale when we got home and that still left me with enough for some wonderful meals. Ruth an I have been talking about having Dale and his wife Femme over for dinner lately and this makes a perfect excuse to invite them. I cook an excellent moose roast. Tonight we are going to enjoy a White Tail back strap steak. Nothing quite like wild meat.

This was absolutely delicious. I forgot how good wild meat can taste. Ruth agreed with me that this was one of the best meals I have cooked in quite a while. There is nothing that can stop me from going hunting this fall. We'll fill the freezer with wild meat and home grown veggies from Ruth's Garden.

As I drove up the driveway tonight I got real excited with what I saw. There leaning up against the fence was my new Kayak. I ordered it last week from Pygmy .

 This boat is called the Borealis. It is 15.5 feet long and is about 2.5 inches wider than the one I built last year. I wanted something more stable and this is it. Ruth and I rode the bikes out to Port Townsend last Aug and I test paddled the Borealis. http://www.pygmyboats.com/mall/Borealis.asp

                                

Its a great boat. I can't wait to start building it.

Carries in Vancouver

Carrie has left for Vancouver to write the Nautical Engineering exam so as not to have her ticket expire. She hasn't gotten enough sea time this last 5 years to keep it valid. She left Sunday afternoon and we got Jack on Monday morning.

Jack is so easy to be with. He is starting to talk a lot and he laughs easily. We sure find him enjoyable to have around. Ruth is the best Nona I have ever seen.  She talks and plays with him non stop. As long as he is awake she is engaging him in some type of activity.  Jack loves when Ruth becomes the motor for his big purple car.

                    Here Jack is winding down before bed

Mornings are the best with Jack. He is becoming a great muffin maker. He just gets on his perch and starts mixing the ingredients that Ruth hands him. It is so funny to watch. He is happiest when helping.

            It has always amazed me how he never ventures any closer to the edge.

                      Here he is watching Nona mix the sugar into the rest of the batter.

               These are the best muffins ever. A perfect Jack Snack.

Jack is sleeping downstairs in his room and Ruth is on her way to the airport to pick Carrie up. The great news is that Carrie sent me a text a few minutes ago to let me know that the examiner just phoned to tell her that she passed the engineering exam. Its a good day.