Sunday, November 29, 2009

The Beach House Survives!

There was a bit of a windstorm at the beach house last weekend...
It blew a few branches around.
There were some sticks in the yard.
I kid! Sister and the parents worked their heinies off cleanin' up the place. They are gonna need some heavy machinery to get that one off the house, but apparently no windows broke, amazingly.
My husband and I painted the beach house circa summer of 1992. Our payment was the week-long rental of the Tercel that we drove to the Grand Canyon. As Mom suggested, the little Beach House might need a new paint job soon.

The Holiday Season....GO!

The holiday season officially begins with the tree lighting, doesn't it? We walked downtown just in time for the big event. I like the street snowflakes the best.
The unlit tree...
BLAM! Let the holidays begin!! Hopefully that guy behind me gets a new hat this year.
The refurbished capitol will open to the public in early January, but the lights are on!
From there we were off to my husband's second birthday dinner of the weekend... a generous gift from Chris and Sal! We were treated to, among other treats, delicious gorgonzola-stuffed figs, grilled pear salads, and a wonderful Italian wine.
I'm very thankful for SUCH a great long weekend! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope your Thanksgiving was lovely, warm, and.... thankful! :)
We spent the morning raking leaves in the chilly sunshine.
We also observed this raptor keeping an eye on Miss G... for a little too long. We decided she'd be better off in the house.
We then completed furniture move number 473: Operation Man Cave. We moved the green furniture and TV down to the basement. This of course puts the TV room and Xbox in the same room as the beer fridge. ;) Eventually the new TV room and master bedroom will switch places.
We now have a more proper dining room... no TV!

And then, Thanksgiving dinner! Tasty roasted pheasant with whiskey-red currant sauce, baby portobello stuffing (that was more trouble than it was worth), garlic green beans, cranberry relish, and an Idaho pinot noir. Mmm. Hope your day was lovely too!

Happy 40th Birthday, Mister N!

My husband successfully turned 40 on Wednesday! I attempted to put together a fabulous birthday adventure... A camping trip to...Halfway, Oregon...? Hee hee! A junket to Jackpot, Nevada? A road trip to Wisdom, Montana? Hah!

Naw, he had to work on Friday. So the celebration would be dinner and gifts!

My talented sister made him this fancy scarf!
Forty-year-old Idahoans fly fish, don't they? He received a pack of fly fishing gifts from parents!
His fave...german chocolate. Everyone uses a cleaver to cut cake, don't they?
I got him Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for theXbox. In the words of young Max, my husband is "one lucky bastard." Kids say the darndest things!

I also got him these fired-shotgun-shell cuff links. It's a pretty specific event where someone would wear (a) cufflinks, that are (b) made from shotgun shells. I love them! Hee-hee!
And tickets to see U2! In Denver!! He's a big fan and has always wanted to see them. Oddly, Boise isn't on their tour.
Happy Birthday!!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Thanks!

Happy Thanksgiving! Among the myriad things I'm thankful for, is the generosity of others! Especially the kind folks with green thumbs!

Thanks to Elisa for the tomatoes!
Thanks Brandy for the squash!
Thanks Mom for the blueberries! (Among the 60+ pounds she grew this past summer.)
Thanks Rich for more tomatoes!
Thanks Carolyn for the squash!
Thanks Jeannine for the concord grapes!
Thanks everyone! We appreciate your generosity! We hope your day was lovely and wonderful.
Happy Thanksgiving!

Sunday, November 22, 2009

No Heads in our Freezer, but...

Partnerships often work because of differing strengths and weaknesses. I'm a planner. My husband often flys by the seat of his pants.

Sunday a.m. my plan was simple: a quick trip downtown to Urban Outfitters, then to the library, then home to that ham that's been languishing in the fridge that needed to cook for 4 hours.

But I'm flexible. Instead, we went and got coffee, Urban Outfitters...and hey! Let's pop into this furniture consignment store!
Oooh! Lookie there. Furniture that would work in our rather small 1939 front room. Hmm. Don't see that every day.

After much wandering around, and a $200 on-the-spot price reduction, we couldn't pass it up! The set has two chairs, though one is out of the picture here. And our color palette for this room now has direction now!
And carved at the top of each piece, a lady's head! I love them! Like each piece is a ship! Lady-head furniture!!

To describe someone who's creepy or off-center, we often suggest that they might have "heads in their freezer." We don't have heads in our freezers, but we do have them in the living room! Hee hee!
Plus, the price tag had this poem on it. How could I resist furniture that offered me poetry!

While it looks a little "dainty," it's actually quite substantial, and my broad-shouldered husband looks quite comfy on it. And don't worry, the plan is for a big cushy sectional upstairs in the TV room for big-shouldered stretchin' out and family movie-viewin'.

In case you don't remember the previous incarnation of the room with our former rag-tag pieces, it's here.

Miss Ginger is not pleased with it. She preferred the spacious Craigslist recliner she was allowed to slobber on.
Revised to do list: Coffee, Urban Outfitters, furniture store, frozen pizza!
Hooray for new furniture and flexibility in your scheduling!! :)

Saturday, November 21, 2009

Oh Hail!

I got three pumpkins, as usual, but we didn't get them carved, so I just put them out front to give the place a halloween feel.

This one has been very popular! I caught this fellow moments after...

...a short morning storm dumped hail on the lamb's ear.

I just love weather.

Thursday, November 19, 2009

First Snow of the Season!

When the frost is on the punkin...

This one's just left in the yard from Halloween, I didn't grow it or nuthin'.

But you knew that. 'Cause I'm not much of a green thumb.
Snow on the back fence, and on the grape vines!

We got a few more grapes than we did last year. They were tiny, pale green, seedless, sweet, and delicious.

Snow on the lavender in the front yard! Looks a little like cotton...

Wait. I'm sorta seeming like I know a couple things about a couple things that grow...

But I don't. I kill houseplants. They will drink when I want to water them, NOT when they want water.*

* Handy phrase, feel free to use as you see fit. As in, "I come to work when I want to, NOT when work wants me to."
And after the snow, a substantial freeze! Ice on the pavement.

My grandmother used to say that my generation better get used to eatin' pavement, the way we destroy farmland to build roads and subdivisions.

Snow's all gone now. But I suspect it will be back soon enough.

Everclear!

Wednesday night we were off to see my favorite Portland band... Everclear! In addition to the show, they brought out a huge cake for a bandmember's birthday, and we all sang to him. :)

This was my third Everclear show. I saw them back in August '95 at Champoeg State Park with sister. We had a minor but memorable altercation in the parking lot about what each other had decided to wear. Then again in October '96 in Honolulu with my now-husband and Stace, who had come to visit. No wardrobe altercation ensued.

And when we lived in Beaverton, my husband's employer had awesome 27th-row Blazers season tix about 12 seats away from Everclear's lead singer's season tix seats. We were able to use the tix quite often, where I would spend more time mooning over the rock stars than whatever fit Rasheed Wallace was throwing.

I've never had actual Everclear, but I have had moonshine. From a still after a canoe trip through the Louisiana Bayou on our honeymoon. Everclear sang "The Honeymoon Song," but it wasn't about the bayou, it was about... Hawaii.

After I ingested the moonshine our guide gave us, I could not breath for about 8 minutes. Seriously. Like drinking kerosene, I imagine. The only thing I could find to follow it was a strawberry soda. Everclear sang "Strawberry," but it was not about soda...it was about... heroin.

They have written some of my favorite lyrics. Don't fall down now, you will never get up... Breathin' fire doesn't look good on a resume... I will never be your unemployed boyfriend... Last night they didn't do all my faves, but they did a lot of them. And who among us hasn't gotten a little older, a little slower, and a little more comfortable since 1995. :)

[Sister: Rest assured, I didn't wear cut-offs to this show.]

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Miss G Fights Another Day!

When we adopted the dogs back in 2001, Miss G arrived with some bad chompers. My husband has graciously made attempts to brush her teeth, and we've taken her to the doggie dentist multiple times and had bad tooths removed. Time to do it again.

After many tests of heart, lungs, and constitution, she was deemed fit for anesthesia! When the eco/organic/hipster vet called to say she was done, he noted that he had to remove nearly all her teeth...17.

And in doing so he accidentally broke her jaw. :( Apparently this is pretty easy to do considering her age (15.5) and the degenerated state of her tooths.

BUT...after a few weeks of antibiotics and a new diet of squishy (and disgusting) canned food, she's like a new dog! Like a puppy, really! And no more gross dog breath!

But the best part is that her remaining 4 tooths no longer hold her tongue in when she sleeps.

Hee hee!

Monday, November 9, 2009

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Well, another Halloween has come and gone! This year we decided to be a pirate and pirate wench. Pirates works for us. My husband was in the Navy... and apparently most of my clothes qualify as "piratey."
Two pirates in a yella Mini Cooper is just plain funny, ain't no way around it.
This clever gourd was one of the decorations at the party we attended on Friday night. Hee hee!
I think I have a new favorite Halloween pic...
When shot next to an 80s rocker costume, my pirate suddenly becomes very rock-no-roll. I like it.
This was one of my favorite costumes... this fellow was an organ grinder's monkey... the costume is funny enough, but this guy's erratic cymbaling and giggling was PERFECT.
At Saturday night's party my pirate gave up his wig after a while. The gentleman he's with is wearing an actual carved-out punkin on his noggin. It made me claustrophobic just looking at it!
We did give out candy before we left on Saturday night... we got six kids. The neighbor boys (and two friends) and the little girl across the street (and her friend). Kind of a slow night, really.
I hope your holiday was spectacular!

Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Clam Seekers

Today's post will feature a guest photographer... Mom!

Our artist was working on the shores of Gearhart, and shooting with superior equipment: her LG enV2 2.0 megapixel cell phone camera. The subject is Dad, clamming in the sunset.

I'm simply smitten with the pic. Click on it for full effect.

Retirement: Six Saturdays and a Sunday. :)