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November 14, 2014
IT'S FRIDAY, MY FAVORITE DAY!!
With the drop in the temperature and the wind and rain coming at us, it sure feels like Novembuuuuurrr! We took advantage of the sunny days that we had earlier in the week and did a little winterizing around here. Dave got the steamboat out of the boat barn and we emptied the water out of the boiler and the pipes, put the curtains on her and put her back in the barn for the winter with a nice toasty heater under the curtains. Dave has still got a few little things to do before we can forget about the Captain Bell for the winter. We also got the garden fountain drained and covered for the winter and I took down my hanging fuchsias to winter over in the greenhouse.
While we were hanging around the house, my nephew Brian came by to visit. He is a driver for Oak Harbor Freight and had to make a delivery in Garibaldi. So on his way by, he pulled his big rig over along Highway 101, put on the flashers and came up and ate his lunch. It was great to see him and we were glad he stopped.
We can finally talk about the surprise "project" that we completed a week ago. It was this "chain saw" bear that belongs to our daughter and it needed to be restored. The wood was pretty badly checked and the bear was missing a couple of claws and an eyeball. Dave got the checks filled in with putty and got everything sanded smooth, including the replacement claw. What was holding up the whole project was that he couldn't find a black eyeball to match the one that the bear was missing. But, just recently, he had gone to an estate sale and found a whole jar full of 250 black marbles. He brought the marbles home and found one that matched perfectly. He only needed one, but now he has 249 black marbles on hand! Anyway, the eyeball was replaced, the checks were filled and the couple of claws were reconstructed and replaced, so all that was needed to be done was to repaint it. That was my job. So I tried a "cedar" color but it didn't look natural, so a friend and I got together and we mixed about three other colors together and with a cloth, we applied it to the bear - blending the colors are we went along. He turned out great! My daughter was so surprised when we gave her back her bear and loves his "new" look.
I spent two hours on Friday night and five more hours on Saturday helping out with the Master Gardener's annual tea. They put this tea on to raise money for scholarships. There were over 100 people that came and we put on quite a spread. We had three different types of "tea" sandwiches, spinach quiche and a vegetable kabob for the one of the courses and then for dessert there were scones, cookies, fudge and a blueberry lemon tort and a fruit kabob. I worked in the kitchen preparing the different foods and arranging them on the plates to be served. They held a raffle and a contest for whoever wore the best hat. All in all, it was successful but I was so tired by the time it was over and I was glad to get off my feet. I have a respect for people who work in the food business and have to do that for a living.
The next couple of days were pretty busy. Monday, while I was at water aerobics, Dave had his final rehearsal for the Churchill presentation. As soon as that was done, we packed up and headed for town to meet Dave's cousin Marta and her husband Gene for dinner at their place in downtown Portland. We don't get a chance to spend time with them very often and it was a treat to visit them in their home. After spending the night at Lara's, the whole family got together at a photography studio on Tuesday (Veteran's Day) and had our picture taken. It had been a few years since our last photo op. In fact, our youngest granddaughter, Jordyn - who is now six - wasn't even in the last family picture. It is hard to get eleven busy people together for a picture but it turned out great as everyone had the day off from work or school that day because of the holiday. Afterward the photo shoot, we went to Red Robin for lunch and then Dave and I had to drive back to the coast as Dave had to be in the Winston Churchill program that evening. It was after 10 when we finally got home. It was a busy day, believe me!
Our volunteers for the Park and Recreation Committee got together on Wednesday and we planted a tree in Waterfront Park. One of our former members donated it to the city after we had to take a tree down last year. It was obvious we needed to do something because that spot looked bare with nothing there. We were able to get the tree from a nursery in the valley early in the week and we were hoping the weather would cooperate so we could get it planted. It didn't rain, but it was windy and cold that day. We bundled up and got the tree planted in spite of the wind chill being below freezing! Are we troopers, or what? We also planted some daffodil bulbs around the tree so it should look really nice this Spring.
We are slowly making plans for our trip next year. One of the things that we needed to get done was to renew our passports. After filling out the application at least twice, we finally got it done and out the door. What a hassle when you are dealing with the government. Our old passports haven't expired but they will by next year and so we wanted to get that done early because it takes so long for them to get processed.
