Saturday, December 29, 2012

Snowflakes for Sandy Hook Elementary

Today is the 6th day of this ugly flu, but I'm improving! I'm no longer on the couch. When I checked my email yesterday I found a message from Issaquah Sew and Vac suggesting that those of us who own embroidery machines might want to spend a little time sewing up some snowflakes that will greet the kids from Sandy Hook Elementary when they return to a new school later in January.  That was such a senseless tragedy and this is a small way for people to show that they care.

Check this link:  http://newtown.patch.com/announcements/help-our-sandy-hook-pta-family

I found several snowflake patterns to download for free, so today I spent part of the day tending to my machine. Here is the result. 14 lovely snowflakes. Each one is between 2 1/2" to 4" in diameter.

Each snowflake takes between 16 and 28 minutes just to stitch out.







If you type "Snowflakes for Sandy Hook" in your browser you will find all sorts of links to this project. With so many people creating snowflakes out of all sorts of materials from fabric to paper the school should be a fabulous site to behold.  If I had kids at home, I would get them busy making paper snowflakes and mailing them directly to the school. I will drop mine off at Issaquah Sewing and Vacuum (my favorite sewing spot) and THEY will mail our snowflakes for us, hopefully in a big box full of handmade snowflakes from lots of crafty people.

It feels good to spend a day creating some cheer for others who have suffered so much.

Friday, November 30, 2012

Emily and Amber

My wonderful friend, Judy, invited my niece and her daughter and me out for lunch on Wednesday. Since my niece lives in Port Orchard, it was the perfect opportunity to experience lunch at the Victorian Rose Tea Room. The restaurant is owned and operated by Debbie Macomber. If you don't know who she is before you go to lunch here, you will quickly learn that Debbie is a very popular romance novelist, who happens to live in Port Orchard. She also owns the yarn shop in the next building. I have never read her books, but discovered that she has written over 150 books! THAT'S A LOT OF WRITING!!

Check out the tea room: http://www.springhousegifts.com/pink/tearoom/default.asp

Anyway, we had a very nice asparagus soup, with salad or sandwich and a slice of pie. And of course TEA! Thank you, Judy! And thanks to Emily and Amber, who is 16, for being available for lunch! Just to add to the confusion, I have two nieces named Emily. This Emily is my brother, Bob's, daughter. Dave's sister, Jill, also has a daughter named Emily. Here is where it really gets interesting. Both Emily's were born at the University of Washington Hospital because they were PREMIES! One was 2 lb. 4 oz. and the other was under 2 lbs.  25 years apart! That's just crazy!!

 Here we are.

Judy, "yours truly," Amber and my niece, Emily



Tuesday, October 16, 2012

This and That

Dave and I drove down to Palm Springs with Dick and Judy for two weeks. It was HOT!! 113 degrees one day and most of the time it was well over 100. The day before we left for home, the temperatures were beginning to drop to the low 90's. My favorite activity was not golf, as it may seem, but rather laying by one of the 8 swimming pools in the Oasis complex. Reading, knitting, napping by a pool and floating in the pool now and again to get "cooled off." Ahhh. Floating on my back in the hot sunshine puts me in my happy place! But there was golf. And lots of it! We played 10 rounds of golf. Some of it consisted of going around twice for 36 holes. I shot my best round ever!! 92 for 18 at Cimarron's Boulder course. That was my first game of the trip....it went downhill after that!


The Oasis complex consisted of about 160 condos, some are owner occupied and some are rented through Vacations International. I would go back there in a heartbeat!! Beautiful mature grounds, those 8 swimming pools and hot tubs, tennis courts (blech!) and convenient to everything. Just south of downtown Palm Springs (or is it west?) I AM directionally challenged!
 

If you've been to Palm Springs, you won't foget this HUGE statue of Marilyn.

We arrived home on Thursday evening and Saturday morning we drove up to Bellingham to spend some time with Kyle, Kari, Saben and Annika. What fun to watch Saben play soccer! He was goalie for the first half. It took us right back to the days of watching both our boys play soccer....and Dave coaching.
What a HUGE field Bellingham has for ALL of their soccer games for every age.
 
Kari served us a yummy lunch before heading out to the soccer game and when we got home, we spent time playing games. Kyle, Kari, Annika and I played a fun game called Fish Sticks, and Dave and Saben played chess. Dave had to learn as he went along becasue neither of us know how to play. Kari's parents dropped by on their way home from a Skagit River rafting trip to see the fall colors, so we all went to the Electricity Museum, which happened to have free admission on Saturday. Lucky thing.....I was a bit bored with it all! The guys loved it. The girls not so much!


Last night (Monday) I attended a floral arranging class at Countryside Floral in Issaquah. Jon is very creative with his designs and he holds classes for the public to get our creative juices flowing. He makes amazing designs for weddings, funerals, birthdays. You name it!  Below is the design I made. We all used the same materials and he guided us through the lengthy process. There were eight of us in the class and we all made the same arrangement, but they all looked just a little different from each others. Inside the square container are three strands of curly willow that we wrapped around our hand and shoved inside for the structure which holds everything in place. That way we could poke stems in and have things stable. We began with those green tipped pussie willow twigs that we painstakingly tied together in a grid. I do enjoy making flower arrangements!

I love being able to go outside and cut branches and flowers to use in floral arrangements and I may need to see if I can get a Fatsia to grow in my new yard. That's the big leaf on the right. I had a fatsia in my yard oh about 30 years ago!! That house is long gone.

There's Jon!

The challenge was getting  it home in one piece!

Last but not least is a photo of my latest knitting project. Yup. A pair of socks.

I was worried about the fit, but measuring from the heel to toe and using those measurements to make the sock the right length and having the toe fit worked just right.

Dave keeps reminding me that socks are cheap and I should just buy them instead of spending extra money on yarn and so much time for such little reward. Ahem. What does he know!! I made these socks from a multicolored worsted weight wool yarn. I found that when I was working on these poolside in Palm Springs, ladies would want to find out if I was making socks and then we would have a lengthy discussion about knitting socks. It amazed me to see how many ladies have an interest in making them, but are scared off by how complicated they appear.  I bought yarn about 2 years ago for a sock project and got the book but I was also too overwhelmed to start. That is until Sharron told me that she decided to knit a pair of socks! Over the 35+ years that we have known each other, this is the way things go with Sharron and me! We do have similar interests and have found our craft project ideas running through our minds at the same time, and NO we haven't even mentioned it to each other. (This is exactly how our rubber stamping hobbies began. We are always amazed to see our interests converging!) Anyway, I guess I figured if she could do it, I should not be outdone!  Voila!

The other socks that I was planning on making were made from sock (fingering) weight yarn and my oh my! That is such thin yarn that I was getting nowhere fast! I just ripped out the 2" I had done...which took me about 5 hours to do and have begun again with a different pattern. I am using size 2 needles for those socks and I really have to concentrate because my vision isn't all that great and it is easy to make a boo-boo. Why socks, you ask? Probably because I still have a pair of green wool socks that my grandma made for me. They are at least 50 years old and they still fit and are in great condition. My grandmother is the one who "taught" me to knit when I was a kid, but actually I am self taught from that basic encouragement of grandma. My mother sewed, but did not knit or crochet. I'm really pretty much game to try anything.....at least once!

Such poor quality photos using my cell phone. I don't know why.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Hillcrest Elementary School classmates - at our 45th Reunion

Then.....



Here is our hall patrol photo. I guess the boys weren't trustworthy enough to be out in the hall alone!! Check out those pointy glasses!
Now....

Of course, we were sometimes in different classes throughout elementary school, so some of us in the current photo are not in the other three pictures.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Generous Friends - The Scotts

Last month we went to the Scotts home in Hansville, right on the water. Hansville is next to Point-No-Point if you know where that is! This "cabin" was built by Judy's grandfather and will remain in the family for years to come. The lot is only 40' wide, but Dick and Judy have expanded the living area by building up. Now it is really a house not a cabin. Dave loves to go to Hansville to relax and watch the cruise ships on their way to Alaska or on their way back to port in Seattle. I love to go to fish for salmon from the shore. I also enjoy watching for the cruise ships and relaxing, but mostly it is my only chance to go fishing! Dave isn't into fishing, so I anticipate getting to go during salmon fishing season. This time, however, I didn't catch a thing! Neither did Dick.

Dick always has the fishing pole ready and waiting for me.

Debbie and Judy were troopers, out watching us fish! Dave kept himself busy by taking pictures.


Relaxing on the deck with some coffee after casting and reeling before breakfast.

 
Yesterday we had the pleasure of going to the Scott's Bremerton home with friends to enjoy time together, eat, play games, eat, talk, eat and enjoy the water view from their home on Bud Inlet. I made this butterfly fruit cookie to share.


You can find the directions for this here: http://www.hungryhappenings.com/2012/04/butterfly-fruit-pizza-is-colorful-and.html
What a fun time with friends!

Joan McCormick and Gayle Pollard

Ladder golf. Darvel Farrell and Vic McCormick

Debbie Scott & Judy Scott. Daughter and Mom fixing the salads!

Some of the guys...Dave, Ed Schultz, Larry Pollard, Dick Scott and Jerry Stelma

One of Ryan Scott's 4 daughters. Kayla.

Getting ready to say grace. Jerry, Gary Schimke, Dave, Ryan, Kayla, Debbie & Vic.

Dick, Marv, Chuck & Mary Strouss

Joan and Mary...Mary and I won...barely!

Patty and Jerry Stelma had already left before we snapped this photo.

One more photo indoors, so we could have Mary included. She has difficulty with stairs.
 
In addition to ladder golf, we also were able to play croquet, bocce ball, pool, ping pong and practice our putting. Glad I remembered to capture the day with a few photos. THANKS SCOTTS!!

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Boeing Classic & our High School Reunion

Phew! What a full day we had yesterday. We left for TPC Snoqualmie Ridge at about 8:30 am for the Boeing Classic Golf Tournament. We picked up Dick S. & Dave L. and off we went. If you are a golfer and are familiar with TPC you will know how hilly it is there. I was exhaused by the time we left at about 4:45 pm. Walk, walk, walk! Up, down, up, down. It WAS worth it.





This is the 17th hole, called On the Rock.

 
My favorite spot to watch from was the 14th hole which is called Bear's Canyon. It is 448 yards the long way (par 4) but I loved it when some of the guys drove it to the green over the canyon which drops 80 feet in elevation, tee to green. A gutsy play for sure! The green is pretty tiny and has a deep bunker in front of it. Sorry I didn't get a photo of it! Here are some of the names of other holes, which I found interesting: Southern Descent, The Ridge, Twin Firs, Deception, The Narrows, Screaming Eagle, Bunker Hill, Mt. Si-gh and Rat's Nest. What a perfect showcase for the Seattle area!

I did manage to snap a few photos of Tommy Armour III as he was swinging the club. He uses the stack-and-tilt method so thought I should try to capture it.


 

We were fortunate enough to score tickets from our financial advisor at Schwab so were able to get in for free (after paying $10 for parking and the bus ride from the parking lot) and have lunch and drinks in the Schwab Hospitality Room. Before we left the course, we went back up to the hospitality room and got to meet a couple of the players and have our photo taken with them.

Here we are with Tom Pernice, Jr.

Oh look! It's Fred Funk! One of Dave's favorite players. A genuinely nice guy and a fellow Christian to boot! That was a sneaky way for Dave L. to get in the photo!! Maybe I should photoshop him out!! Nah! Where was Dick when all this was going on?
Our 45th High School class reunion was due to begin at 5:00. After we arrived home, showered and dressed, we were only an hour and a half late! We got caught up with lots of classmates and were so tired we called it a night at about 11 pm. Here is a photo of Dave's Campbell Hill Elementary classmates.


I attended Hillcrest Elementary and our much smaller group posed for a photo as well. I don't have a copy of that yet. Out of the 800+ in our class, we must have had a couple hundred in attendance. This reunion was just a bit different than others. More of us are retired and there was way more talk of ailments. Cancer, hospitalizations, and joint replacements! I wonder what our 50th reunion will be like!

Friday, August 24, 2012

45th High School Reunion Best Ball Golf Tournament

Today was our annual golf tournament with some of our high school classmates. Out of over 800 in our graduating class from Renton High School, you might think that this is a small group! But when you think about how many want to embarrass themselves in front of their former classmates, well, I guess there are only a select few that are willing to suffer that kind of humiliation! Let me assure you that not all of those pictured below are experienced golfers! We do have fun. And since it is best ball, we aren't comparing our scores or seeing who is better than whom. That's a good thing. Here is our group posed at just before 7 am this morning at Maplewood Golf Course.



Dave and I were originally slated to play together in a foursome but our 2 team mates didn't show up. They paid their money and perhaps 7 am was just too early for them? We usually try to have one girl and 4 guys in a foursome, however, since we were "stood up" so to speak, Dave and I had to split up and fold into other 4-somes to make things work.

Here we are with our fellow players.




Tomorrow night is our 45 reunion dinner. I'm looking forward to catching up with everyone! We will likely show up a bit later than the 5 pm start time since we will be at the Champion's Tour Boeing Classic Golf event at Snoqualmie Ridge for most of the day. I can't believe that our 50th reunion is only 5 years away! Oh, and I play golf with my high school PE teacher, Miss Rogers, on Tuesdays in the Maplewood Ladies Golf Club. I hope I'm still able to golf at that age! Way to go Miss Rogers!!

Here is a link to what I posted about last year's high school golf game:
http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=9086536524354370656#editor/target=post;postID=6325182221109304187;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=27;src=postname

Friday, August 10, 2012

10 on 10 August 2012

Morning coffee with a book on the deck

Sandwiches for lunch on the golf course

I'd like to have "happy feet" but alas, it is not to be today

FINALLY, both the recycling and yard waste were picked up today. Dumb strike!

What form!

Instructions....for a golf cart???


One more hole!

What a stud! No....if you look way out in the distance....just joking!

Dave and Sharron, still looking fresh as daisies!

Uh oh! I forgot to tell Dave I bought limes for the Coronas!
A wonderful day of golf with friends and relaxing with cousin Chip!