It was a good idea...at the time

Does anyone else remember that Lyle Lovett song? Part of the lyrics are - - -
"She wasn't good, but she had good intentions" That can sum up my blogging behavior for the last ten days. I had sooooo many good ideas, but nooooo energy. Hey kids, I've seen blogs out there that haven't had any entries for months on end. Some of them had even been nominated for "blog awards" ...go figure.
So...back when I was germ free, I had ideas for blogs running around in my head like elves on Christmas Eve...and then....the germs came.
My world was a vortex. No ideas, no energy, no nothin'.
Today I thought...what the hay....better late than never! I have the photos, why not do some belated blogging - make up for lost time.
Check out the cheese slicer from Appel Farms. I grabbed it when The Husband and I went to the cheese store to buy their yummy goudas and cheddars for my Christmas gift baskets. I used it today and really like it, gotta love a good kitchen gadget. It's simple and pretty but that's not enough for me...pretty is as pretty does...and yes... it slices quite nicely. Yay!

Speaking of Christmas baskets, I love making them. I like to fill them with all kinds of goodies....cheese, sausage, cocoa, crackers, chocolates, candy canes, candies, apples, oranges, Christmas blend coffee, sparkling cider - goodies galore. One goes to The Husands boss, one to our renters, the in-laws...sometimes more people...it's always so much fun to deliver them. This year the fun of basket delivery was a little lost in the sneezy haze...I thought I would assemble all of them on the dining room table and take a lovely photo - uhhhh - didn't happen. This is the last one to be delivered...and yes...I snapped the photo of it in the front seat of my car.
Lovely photo composition...doncha think?

Sickie No Bloggie

So, I've been told by my blog pal Tami that I am
a very naughty blogger. No posts for dayyysss!
Sorry kids...I caught that nasty plague that seems to be running rampant. Instead of whining on-line I thought it best to lay low and focus on wellness. Besides...that's what I always do when I'm "broken", I get quiet...lay low..and mend. I thought of giving Disney a new set of dwarfs...Dopey, Sneezey, Coughie, Sniffy, Cranky, Sweaty and Droopy. I could play all the parts...not a pretty picture...I know.

Speaking of pictures, I have so many! Here are just a few from the last couple of weeks. Even though I wasn't in top form I sure had a great time!
Christmas coffee at moms with her neighbor
ladies. She still lives in the neighborhood that
I grew up in so it was really fun to be able to
see them all.

My pal Susie had a 50th birthday party! It was
at the restaurant Mission in West Seattle, great place!

Here is Susie ( in brown ) with some of the regular Sun Valley ski gang. The Husband went with me to the party...that doesn't happen very often. He can rarely attend functions in the city due to his work schedule (and let's face it...he's not much of a party guy ). It was great to have him there with me, he was almost as popular as the birthday girl since the gang hardly ever sees him. Pretty funny.


My trip to Friday Harbor was fast and furious and lots of fun. I went house shopping (dreaming) with my Favorite Friday Harbor Realtor, otherwise known as my dear pal Deb.

Check out the view from the deck of this place...wowwww. I loved the view but didn't like the layout of the house....good thing...this baby
is wayyy out of my price range. Who am I kidding,
what price range? It's fun to dream.





Love it that you can't see another house or even a rooftop!


The whole reason for the trip to Friday Harbor was to attend a 50th birthday party that Debs husband threw for her. It was really quite something. He rented Vinny's Restaurant for the evening, there was a band, a yummy buffet...heck...there were girls in gowns and gloves! Nooo...not me..I wore my Holiday Uniform - the outfit that you will see me in every photo that required dressing up.

That's Deb on the dance floor giving her hubby Pete a big smooch for throwing her such an incredible party.

OK...there are many more photos but I need to
focus on too many other things around here
that are sorely in need of attention. Like a very
messy house, putting away Christmas, loads of
laundry....annddd...spring being just around the
corner....this gardener is surfing the seed catalogs
for the best beans and peas and corn and lettuce.
Yum!
No more dreaming of a White Christmas, this
gal is dreaming of fresh garden produce.

Whirly Girl

Wow...what a weekend.
A ferry ride to Friday Harbor, a tea party, a birthday party (with a band!), house shopping, new friends, old friends, lots of laughter.
Back Home.
Off to Seattle, another birthday party! Fun! More old friends and new friends and friends I haven't seen in ages! What a treat.
Home today, making lists - so far I have three pages. Yikes. I have so many fun photos to post but I'm drawing a line in the sand....I GOTTA cross some stuff of the lists before I may play on the computer.
So my friends, I'm putting on my sensible shoes and hitting the road with my lists in hand, determined to create a little bit of order out of all of this marvelous chaos.
It's wild and crazy and I'm loving every second of it. My heart is so full, I'm feeling incredibly blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life. In fact, I'm loving it so much I don't have much of a voice left from too much talking and laughing. I love it when that happens, it always means I had a bucket of fun.

From Reading to Eating

It's time for research!






Next week is the "foodies" Christmas Dinner Party...ohhh goody. I'm in charge of the soup course, it's winter and I love making soups, so being assigned this task makes me really.... so very happy.
I used to collect garden books, like a crazy woman. If I was cranky because I was working hard and traveling too much (for work) I would treat myself to a new garden book....and presto...I could pop out of the crankies in no time flat.
Now that work related travel is a thing of the past it seems my cravings for garden books have all but disappeared. Ohhh..but it it's place....
Cookbooks! I must have books by the Contessa, and Rachel, and Nigella...books just about Chocolate or Appetizers...French books, Italian books...books that have a story attatched to each recipe. I read them like novels. It's research!
Today when I was getting groceries I happened to notice a book just about dinner parties, I took a peek...I liked it, I wanted it, I didn't put it in my cart...I'm not over it. I'm having a formal dinner party in a couple of months, I really think I need that book for research.

I love birthdays

Happy Birthday Tami!

Today I'm going for lunch with my friend Tami. We're going to celebrate her birthday, I'm not going to say what number but she's eight months older than I am...you do the math. Hint? I met Tam in the first grade and it was sometime in the 60's...oh myyy.

Incredible Guy

I met him at a New Years Eve party. I was in a bit of a funk because I had just lost a special friend and was still a little wounded. Our hosts had invited a group of old and new friends from near and far. The first thing that I noticed was how quiet and unassuming he was...and he had such lovely manners. The gossip at the party was that he had come to the city to stay with a "friend of a friend" and things just didn't work out. At pre-dinner cocktails he and I seemed to really click. Before I knew it we were all at the dinner table and he was by my side. As the evening progressed it was obvious to the other guests that he and I were an "item". A few of the other guests were commenting on the fact that he was workin' me over and might very well go home with me. Now understand, I'm not that kinda' girl. I'm quite cautious about who I let into my personal space, but....some things are just meant to be. As the evening came to a close our hosts and some of the other guests walked us out to the truck and he jumped right in. He turned to the crowd and seemed to be saying "see..I told ya so". "He" is my dog Tippy, I love him. We both won the dog lottery...we're living happily ever after. :-)
Special Message: Don't support puppy mills! If you must have a purebred check out Seattle Purebred Rescue. Better yet, adopt a stray! Tippy started out his life as a stray, he was adopted by the Wilson Family and when Mary Wilson could no longer care for him we became his "Foster Family". Oh...one more thing, spay or neuter your pets! Please!!!

Try and Try Again

The old saying is true...."If at once you don't succeed..try and try again". Yesterday I was not successful posting a photo, got a little crazy/cranky with the new digital camera and the computer and the blog. I know that they were all in cahoots to see if I would either swear a blue streak orrrrrr...throw something. I did neither. I WIN. HA!
My friend Tami is right about manuals...they don't tell you squat. What they do tell you is a whole bunch of babble that makes absolutely no sense at all. My take on the whole scene is that the computer people and the camera people write lousy manuals that you can't understand so that you will go buy something else and keep consumer spending spiraling out of control, it's a conspiracy theory...ya...uh huh...you know what I'm talkin' about. Granted, I'm not a techno-geek by any stretch of the imagination but I have been known to find my way out of a cardboard box.
I'm going to keep gardening as a hobby, dirt doesn't need a manual. Oh...the photo...merry merry...the tree is making me very happy. I have the lights on two switches - we have options options options! You got yer "happy bright tree with lots-o-lights"... orrrr...yer "subtle evening dim-the-lights twinkle twinkle". Guess it's time for the wrap-a-rama, looks a little naked under that thar tree.