Memorial Day

The True Meaning of Memorial Day



Amazing Grace by Leann Rimes.

Breakfast

My buddy Nahant sent me this video. How he was able to figure out what mornings were like around here is totally beyond me.....

Breakfast At Gingers

Cold Beauty

Twas a gorgeous day outside today but brrrr when out in it. Never got above 55 today and the breeze had a nasty bite to it that made it feel like it was in the 40's. The sunshine never felt strong today -- all in all its been November in May around the peaceful retreat by the bay.

Nice to see the blue skies and white puffy clouds again. Its been a while for sure. Have been having to start the fire earlier in the day than I usually would and had a few days when I started it shortly after getting up -- was hoping those days were gone until fall.

Token and Bailey have staked out their claims to their respective sides of the stove for the evening. Everyone has a full belly and we are settling down for the night.

Tonight

Tonight it ends. Here is a short recap:



Six seasons of Lost, summed up in one minute by cats.

Same Ole Same Ole

Sorry I haven't posted recently. Been hunkered down this week with winter storms, high winds (gusts of 58 on the cape) and rain. Not a steady rain but bands and bands of showers move ashore and its been forking cold. Feels like November and it is almost the end of forking May. Every day has been the same as the day before it yet different -- gray, wet, not wet, less gray, cold, and not as cold. Some may find it boring but I can pass the hours gazing out the living room windows enjoying how fast the skies and the bay can change.

Lost ends tomorrow night. I'll be glued to the teevee machine from 7pm until 11:30 -- and will be trying to host my Sunday Late Late Night FDL thread during commercials for the last hour and a half. Gonna be a wild ride and I'm looking forward to it.

Busted Is A Magic Man

Bustedknuckles, The Onery Bastard, is a magic man.

Today was not a good day. Was headed out to spend the afternoon with Busted until I got to my car and saw the right front tire was flat.

Oy.

Thank goodness for AAA. I called Busted, told him I was running late and that AAA was on the way to fix the flat. The AAA dood showed up, put the spare on, put the flat in the trunk, and I was good to go.

Or so I thought.

Busted and I were gonna meet up in Vancouver and hang out with some friends of his. He gave me excellent directions to the parking lot where we were to meet. I pulled into the lot, turned off the car, and my radiator hose burst, spewing green antifreeze all over the asphalt.

Sigh.

Instead of hanging out with his friends, Busted spent the afternoon finding an unbelievably cheap replacement radiator hose ($9.00 vs the estimated $75.00) and laying on his back fixing my car. Laying underneath my car in antifreeze and lard knows what else was on that hot asphalt parking lot.

Luckily the parking lot was home to a bar that Busted knows, and they were very helpful folks. I ran many pitchers of water between the bar and the car until the radiator was filled back up and then a couple more pitchers to wash down and dilute the antifreeze on the ground, and, of course, bought Busted a beer.

Holy moly -- let me tell ya this: Busted may call himself an Onery Bastard but he really is a gentleman and a dayam fine mechanic. His magic hands had that busted hose off quicker than lickity split -- putting the replacement on took a while longer. He also gave my engine a quick once over, found another problem, made a temporary fix and told me it would get me home. Told me to make an appt with my local mechanic to fix the temporarily fixed problem (another hose of some sort) and that I needed a front end alignment.

He's a magic man.



Heart -- Magic Man.

Yes, his eyes really are that blue :)

Catching Up

Friday was a brilliantly sunny day. Got up to 74 -- did some putzing with the plants on the bayside deck. Towards sunset, some high clouds started to come in and they have stayed all day today.

These are in one of the beds below and to the south of the deck. Such a gorgeous blue against the greens of the various grasses.

The barn swallows are back along with a lot of other little birds. Am seeing goldfinches, dark headed juncos, grosbeaks, and a variety of finches and sparrows at the feeder, and, of course, the jays.

This week is the 30th anniversary of the eruption of Mt. St Helens. Lotsa local programming specials about it today -- am off to watch. Now that I know the area, I'll be looking the cities and areas impacted from a different perspective than I did when living in the Bay Area 30 years ago.

The Princess Bride

Am kicking back watching The Princess Bride. Cell phone service was out earlier this afternoon but finally came back up. It has been one of those days -- am glad to see The Princess Bride is on tv so I can escape for a bit. Thank goodness tonight is my night off *laughing*

One of my favorite scenes just aired:

Mommy Rhapsody

Mommy Rhapsody

Steph sent me this -- forking love it!

Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground

Allison Moorer -- Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground.

hat tip thatguy at the lake

Happy Birthday Mom

Video from IHasAHotDog

Wish I was there to sing this to you.

Happy 76th birthday Mom!

A Great Day Off

Another lovely day at the peaceful retreat by the bay. This was taken an hour or so before sunset. The sun was low in the sky and is hidden by the large grove of trees on the right. Was a day with more sunshine than clouds and no rain.


The rhododendrons are blooming. Besides this big one, there are 3 even bigger ones on the other side of the house. I can see their blooms whenever I go into any of the rooms on that side of the house.

Token went to the doggie beauty shop today -- he looks and smells mah-vah-lous. He's been quite full of himself since -- he knows he is looking good and is strutting and prancing around the house. He came home wearing a bright blue bandana with white daisies -- very springlike and it contrasts well with his coloring.

I added shrimp and crab to the leftover cioppino along with some more garlic. Yummy!

Last Day

Today is the last day of my vacation. I stayed home and recharged my batteries a lot but I also got out and did some things and saw some places and played tourist.

Had a fantabulous bowl of leftover cioppino from the Three Capes Cafe. Kendra makes cioppino better than what I used to consider the best -- Scoma's on the wharf in San Francisco and Kendra's is $10 cheaper and right down the road!

Picked up an order yesterday - twas my treat to myself and the perfect way to end a vacation -- sucking crabmeat and shrimp out of their shells - slurping on all the garlicy tomato goodness in the broth and the yummy garlic toast. I've got enough left over for at least a third bowl tomorrow and am toying around with the idea of heading into town and picking up a few mussels, clams, and shellfish goodies to add to the broth. Of course, that would require that I change outta my jammies...

I'm really glad I took the week off. I am feeling better about most things -- no longer walking around with that black cloud of frustration and stress hanging over my head. Tis good to feel like me again.

Portland

Spent Friday in Portland with my friends Teddy and Patrick. They are thinking of moving up here (woohoo) -- will be nice to be 2 hours away from Teddy again -- kinda like it used to be when I lived in Boulder Creek but better.

We had a great time walking around the Pearl District and downtown. We rode TriMet in the fare-free zone and then walked all around. Our waitress at Eggs and Things Diner took our picture -- you can see by the smiles on our faces what a great time we had.

Of course, by the time we walked back to their hotel, I was pretty sore. Got home and spent the rest of the evening being kind to my sore spots. Totally worth it!