Just checking in to say hi. Lot's of changes have taken place since I last posted. The biggest change being that Bob retired and after living in the same house for 39 yrs, we up and moved in April of 2014. We put the house on the market on April 29th and had two offers within 15 hours. We took the highest offer, and the changing of title etc. went very smoothly. We moved to our little cabin up on the river in Index WA. on April 29th and lived there that entire Summer while Bob remodeled the double wide MH we bought just up the hill from the cabin. It took him 4 months to finish the new place, so we were in by the first of September. Just in time for Winter! We've been here 2 yrs now, and it really does feel like home now. The only thing I miss about our old place is the location. We were so close to shopping, dining and the theater. I miss being 2 minutes from all of those amenities. The trade off is being up here in the mountains near the river, and all of the recreation this area has to offer. Recreation like hiking, swimming, skiing, bike riding, snorkeling and fishing. We're also close to a major pass which makes it very easy to get to points east. The kids come up quite often, and we always love having them here. The cabin down on the river is our official guest house, and we also have a spare bedroom here and a new trailer with plenty of beds. All in all it's been a good change, and we look forward to many years enjoying our new home and our new way of life in the land of retirement.

Many new things happening in our world. Updates as I can. Bob working on a 5 week project in West Seattle, and I don't expect to be seeing much of him during that time frame. Once he's through with that we can get on with finishing our home remodel.............we only have some minor things to do to our master bath, and the entire garage needs gutting. Bob will clean out the garden shed and get rid of a lot of stuff there, as well as cleaning out the other shed and removing it completely. We bought a .73 acre piece of property with a double wide mobile home on it up in Index Wa. that is within walking distance to our river property. We have plans to move there next Summer. Our tentative plans are to rent out our house in Woodinville for a year to see if we're comfortable living in Index. We'll gut the mobile home and completely remodel it to our liking. We'll live there for a Winter and make a decision whether to stay in Index or not. If we do stay, we'll replace the mobile home with a permanent structure and spend our remaining years there. If not we'll move back to Woodinville and see what develops. All very exiting and some thing we look forward to experiencing. Not sure how it will all turn out for the best, but we're willing to try it and see.

Funny Christmas Picture

We got together with all of the kids a week before Christmas to get a few family photos together so we could add one or two to our Christmas letter. We decided to be a bit zany on the last shot and the results are above.

Crazy kids!

So sorry.................too Long!

Oh.........dear...........I've been gone for way too long.

Just to catch you up, everyone in our family is doing well and all are healthy and happy. We're having Bobby and his lovely bride Nico over for Thanksgiving supper tomorrow night. Dale, Tera and Austin will be spending Thanksgiving with Tera's family.

Bobby started a sales job with a company that contracts with Comcast several months ago and has steadily worked his way up to a managerial position. He seems to like his work and we are so glad he's found his niche. Dale, Tera and Austin spent a week in Florida last week and made sure to spend a few days at Disney World. Austin was very excited and a real chatter box on the drive home from the airport..........I don't think I've ever seen him so animated. And from what I hear, he is now an avid Mickey fan.

Because he had a remodel job in Goldbar, Bob and I spent several weeks living up at our cabin in Index last Summer. It is so beautiful there, and we both really enjoyed the slower pace you find in small towns like Index.

I hope to start adding family information to my blog soon, so dear friends, please forgive me for ignoring it for so long. I hope some of you have been checking in to see if I've posted anything new. And please check back soon for new entries.

Berry Robbing Robin!

I found this image in a local newspaper this morning and just had to add it to my blog. I think it is stunning and only wish I had the equipment and talent to take such a photo.

Weekend at La Push

Bob and I spent a long weekend at the town of La Push a few weeks ago. I spent several summers at La Push when I was a child and wanted/needed to go back again. Despite the fact that it rained most of the weekend, we managed to get out and do some sight seeing. We went to Forks to see what kind of impact the "Twilight" series was having on this normally depressed area. There wasn't much to see in that regard, but we did pass Billy Black's cabin several times. I had forgotten how starkly beautiful it is at La Push. I really hope we can go back again soon, but I would hope the weather is a bit less wet. The sculpture of the boat at left is a bronze in front of the new Coast Guard station at La Push and it is quite good. (click to zoom)

 

It has been absolutely ages since I blogged, so I knew it was time when I downloaded the picture above. We went to Westport Washington to visit our good friend Lani and also to do a bit of clam digging in March. Thanks to my Grandmother, I have been digging Razor clams since I was a little girl. She dug Razor clams during the depression to make ends meet, and there is actually a post card at the coast with her picture on it that is still available for purchase. I love the taste of Razor clams and I love the digging environment. Bob hadn't seen Lani's new home, and both of these things created the perfect excuse to visit Westport.

We went out and participate in the dig both of the days we were there and came away with our limits each time.

The official recipe for preparing Razor clams is this:

Crushed saltine crackers
Razor clams
A couple of beaten eggs
Hot oil

Clean the clams. Heat oil in skillet. Dip clams in egg wash, then in crushed crackers. Fry approx 4 minutes on each side and eat.

Simple!

And thank you again Lani. Thank you for sharing your beautiful home with us. We had a wonderful time.

;)

The Large Billed Reed Warbler

Afghanistan protects newly rediscovered rare bird

By KAY JOHNSON, Associated Press Writer Kay Johnson, Associated Press Writer Sun Feb 28, 5:55 am ET

KABUL – Afghanistan's fledging conservation agency moved Sunday to protect one of the world's rarest birds after the species was rediscovered in the war-ravaged country's northeast.

The remote Pamir Mountains are the only known breeding area of the large-billed reed warbler, a species so elusive that it had been documented only twice before in more than a century.

A researcher with the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society stumbled upon the tiny, olive-brown bird during a wildlife survey in 2008 and taped its distinctive song. Later, a research team caught and released 20 of the birds — the largest number ever recorded.

On Sunday, Afghanistan's National Environment Protection Agency added the large-billed reed warbler to its list of protected species, which was established only last year.

Mustafa Zahir, the agency's director-general, acknowledged the difficulties of trying to protect wildlife in a country preoccupied with the Taliban insurgency. On Friday, suicide attackers killed 16 people in Kabul, the capital, and thousands of Afghan and NATO forces are fighting to root out the hard-line Islamists from their southern stronghold.

But Zahir, who is the grandson of Afghanistan's former king, said the discovery of the large-billed reed warbler provided some welcome positive news.

"It is not true that our country is full of only bad stories," Zahir said. "This bird, after so many years, has been discovered here. Everyone thought it was extinct."

The bird's discovery in Afghanistan kicked off a small flurry in conservation circles.

The large-billed reed warbler was first documented in India in 1867 but wasn't found again until 2006 — with a single bird in Thailand. The Pamir Mountains, in the sparsely populated Badakhshan province near China, is now home to the world's only known large population of the bird.

The Afghan environmental agency also added 14 other species to the protected list on Sunday. It now includes 48 species including the rare snow leopard, the Asiatic cheetah and the markhor, a type of wild goat with large spiral horns.

While conservation efforts are in their infancy in Afghanistan, there have been some recent successes. Authorities in Badakhshan last week seized a snow leopard from villagers who had trapped it and planned to sell it. The snow leopard — one of an estimated 150 left in the wild — will be freed once its injuries from the trap are healed, Zahir said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_afghanistan_rare_bird

Cheese Grater Supreme

We bought this cheese grater at a junk shop out of the Olympic Peninsula about 10 years ago and I wanted to post a picture because it deserves recognion. It has been a faithful cheese grater and has never let us down. It grates the hardest of cheeses with ease and without complaint. If I were the prior owner of this cheese grater I'd be very sorry I gave up this wonderful kitchen tool.

 

Early Lessons

We bought skis, boots and google for our grandson for Christmas. His Grandfather and I took him up for his first lesson, which was intended to familiarize him with the gear. After arriving at Stevens Pass Ski Area we let him walk around in the boots for awhile, then we got him into the skis and we pulled him around a bit. He was pretty tentative, and didn't want to spend much time on them. That was OK........he is only three and just beginning. His Father took him up the next weekend, and he reported Austin did very well and had fun........even going down a small slope several times. We decided to get him back up the next weekend, so his Father, his Grandfather and I got him into the car and headed up. It was pretty much a disaster. We spent more time in the lodge looking out the window than skiing, and when Austin was on the skis he did a lot of complaining, so we got the hint and quit. We decided we wouldn't push it and told Austin that all he has to do is tell us when HE is ready to go up to the mountains and learn how to ski. I suspect he'll be more inclined to go up in a year or two when he's older, but for now we're not going to drive that far just for a hamburger.

 

 

The Engagement

Our oldest son and his girlfriend surprised us all on Christmas Day by announcing their engagement. We were all so very happy to hear of this as he and Nicole (Nico) have been dating for over two years, and it was quite obvious that they make each other very happy. They surprised us even more when they requested that the Wedding Ceremony take place outdoors at our property in Index and could the reception follow at our home in Woodinville? "Would that be OK with us?" Of course it is, and we can't explain how excited and happy we are to be able to do this for them. The date has been chosen.........September 18, 2010........now the work begins. In the months ahead, I'm sure I'll be adding more details and posting more pictures, but for now suffice it to say that we are delighted and happy to welcome Nico into our family and look forward to many years of enjoying the togetherness and love they share.

Christmas in Leavenworth

We drove to Leavenworth after meeting the kids up at the cabin Saturday morning. The drive was beautiful going over Stevens Pass and down the east slopes of the Cascade Mountains into Leavenworth. Although the skies were gray and there was rain in the forcast for that afternoon, the town of Leavenworth was packed full of holiday shoppers and holiday gawkers. After taking a drive out to look at the orchards, the wineries and the awesome veiw on North Road we headed back to town. There were dozens of buses parked at the park and ride........our usual preference.....and we eventually managed to find a free parking spot two blocks off of main street. After walking into town, dodging people and dogs and cars and horse drawn carriages we headed for the cheese shop. I bought a lovely bottle of ice wine which I'm going to open for dessert after Christmas supper. Nico bought cheese and the guys stayed outside with Neeka the dog and did some people watching. We'd arrived late in the afternoon, and were thirsty so we ended up at the Muchin House where we found roaringly happy crowds, warm fires and that great Alpine Ale. We sat and drank and talked to strangers and participated in the joyous comraderie we always find there. 4:30 was drawing near and it was time to get back out to main street for the traditional tree and town lighting. There were speeches given and carols sung and Santa even came. At the thundering of the cannon and the countdown from five one by one the trees, buildings and street lamps of Leavenworth lit up. Everyone was so merry and our surroundings so festive, this was a perfect way to welcome in the Christmas holiday. We had a long drive ahead of us and a turkey and stuffing dinner awaiting us at the cabin, so along with most of the rest of the crowd we slowly made our way back to the car and settled in for the long drive over the pass. We got the car warmed up, and played Christmas songs on the radio. We sang songs and talked about the holidays and before we knew it we were back to Index and our cozy little cabin.

 

The Pinks (Humpys) are Runny Hard

The river was just chock full of Pink Salmon last weekend. We spent much time down on the bank watching the show. We saw a huge and strikingly beautiful King Salmon muscle his way up river through the hoards and hoards of Pinks. We hope he got very far up stream and found a suitable mate.

I did a Wiki search and found this:

Reproduction
Male at spawning time

Pink salmon in their native range have a strict two year life cycle, thus odd and even-year populations do not interbreed. Adult pink salmon enter spawning streams from the ocean, usually returning to the water course, or race, where they originated. Spawning occurs between late June and mid-October. Pink salmon spawn in coastal streams and some longer rivers, and may spawn in the intertidal zone or at the mouth of streams if hyporheic freshwater is available. Using her tail, the female digs a trough-shaped nest, called a redd (Scandinavian word for "nest"), in the gravel of the stream bed, wherein she deposits her eggs. As she expresses the eggs, she is approached by one or more males who fertilize them as they fall into the redd. Subsequently, the female covers the newly-deposited zygotes, again with thrusts of her tail against the gravel at the top of the redd. The female lays from 1000 to 2000 eggs in several clutches within the redd, often fertilized by different males. Females guard their redds until death, which comes within days of spawning. In dense populations, a major source of mortality for embryos is superposition of redds by later-spawning fish. The eggs hatch from December to February, depending on water temperature, and the juveniles emerge from the gravel during March and April and quickly migrate downstream to estuaries at about one-quarter gram. The fish achieve sexual maturity in their second year of life. They return to freshwater in the summer or autumn as two year old adults. Pink and chum salmon sometimes interbreed in nature to form the hybrid known as the miko salmon; the hybrids are reproductively sterile.

 
 
 

We tried to get a few good pictures, but It is difficult as the salmon don't stay still very long + they meld in with the coloring of the background. If you look hard at these pictures, you will see the fish.

Once they are through with their reproductive cycle, the Salmon die. The air was getting rather pungent, and I imagine it is even worse now. Fortunately for us (but not the Salmon) they decay rapidly. It will all be over in a few short weeks.

Ever heard of the Equiux?

Hat tip to DmAa on the "Bear Stories" thread at Siliconinvestor.com


Notice I said that day and night will be approximately equal on the fall equinox. The equinox is a specific point in time when the sun is at a specific point in the sky. Since sunrise and sunset times vary greatly across the planet depending on location, true equality of day and night -- called the equilux (EE-qwill-lux) -- occurs on slightly different dates depending on where you live. Equilux for Duluth, Minn. is on September 25 when the sun rises at 7 a.m. and sets at 7 p.m. To find your equilux date, go to the U.S. Naval Observatory website http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php and type in your location to get the day's sunrise/sunset information. Are there exactly twelve hours separating them? If not, then go back, change the date a couple days ahead (or back) and look again. You may have to do this a couple times to find out when they're equal.

"http://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/RS_OneDay.php"

Fall Chanterelles

We look forward to this time of year because of the bounty of the garden and the bounty of the woods. While I was making applesauce from my favorite apples today my husband Bob took a walk in what we call "Our Chanterelle Woods." He's been going down to the woods every other day to see if these succulent and tasty mushrooms are showing yet. Up until now he's not found many (it takes a good rain to really bring them out), but today was different. He found bunches of them growing here and there, and brought home the nice bounty you see in the picture. There are way too many to eat at one sitting, so we lightly saute them in a small amount of butter, and then pack them in freezer bags. During late Fall and Winter, we pull a bag out and enjoy them with our meal.

The lovely weather we've been experiencing is something we expect in our area this time of year. We spend as much time as we can up at the cabin knowing full well by November the days are shorter and Fall projects at home are part of our routine. We don't go up to the cabin for any over night forays until the snow flies in December or January. It is very nice to have a place to stay close to the mountain after an exhilarating day on the slopes.

The Power of the Poor

First I want to apologize for not blogging more this summer. I have been tied up with some work issues that have needed my attention, and I've also been spending as much time as I can at the river. If you read this blog from the beginning you would know I don't have Internet capabilities at the river, and so haven't had the option of blogging from there. I am giving up the idea of Summer reluctantly and have a few other forays away from home planned before the big chill descends and forces me inside where I can concentrate more on blogging, among other things.

I wanted to post this link because I think this documentary will be interesting and informative. I have only watched the trailer, so I can't comment on it's entire message, but I thought others would be interested in knowing about it before it airs in October.

I'll be seeing more of you when the rains come.

;) Maureen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


The Power of the Poor: Blog Contest

By Alex Tabarrok on Television

On October 8, PBS will be showing, The Power of the Poor, a new documentary featuring the great Hernando de Soto and from the team that brought you Free to Choose. You can see a preview below. To increase awareness, Free to Choose Media is sponsoring a blog contest on the question:

What institutions can enable the world's poor to realize their power and achieve prosperity?

The best blog post--under 500 words--on this theme will receive $250 and a DVD of the show. See the rules for more information. Yours truly will be one of the judges.

Extrodinary Images from the WW1 Era

British photographer's extraordinary images of American icons... using up to 30,000 U.S. troops

These are the extraordinary pictures of the Statue of Liberty and icons of U.S. history captured on camera by an ingenious British photographer - using up to 30,000 soldiers.

Englishman Arthur S. Mole took the pictures of soldiers returning to America after World War I.

Now the unique collection of the remarkable pictures has been brought together for the first time at the Carl Hammer Gallery, in Chicago, USA.
Arthur S. Mole

STATUE OF LIBERTY: Using 18,000 troops at Camp Dodge, Iowa, this is one of the many photographs taken by British photographer Arthur S. Mole in army camps across the U.S. in 1918

Mole's work was the first to use a unique technique to beat the problem of perspective after he devised a clever way of getting so many soldiers in the pictures.

Taken in 1918, photographers Arthur S. Mole and his American colleague John D. Thomas took the photographs in camps across the U.S.

UNCLE SAM: 19,000 troops, Camp Lee, Virginia and (R) THE LIBERTY BELL: 25,000 men, Camp Dix, New Jersey

Arthur's great nephew Joseph Mole, 70, said the photographer was unique in the way he captured so many people on film.

He said: 'In the picture of the Statue of Liberty there are 12,000 men in the torch alone, but just 17 at the base.

'The men at the top of the picture are actually half a mile away from the men at the bottom.

'Arthur was able to get the image by actually drawing an outline on the lens, he then had the troops place flags in certain positions while he looked through the camera.
Arthur S. Mole

MACHINE GUN INSIGNIA: 22,500 officers and men at Camp Hancock in Augusta. A special 70-foot tower was built at each site especially for the shots

'It worked so well because these men were used to following orders and the flags were a well known way of communicating.

'When it came to the day of the photograph Arthur would then be able to put all the pieces together, he could say to 157 men 'move there and you can be Woodrow Wilson's ear'.

'It would take a week to get all the outlines right, but just 30 minutes to move all the men into position to take the shot, it must have been amazing to watch.'

In total they took a total of 10 photos where thousands of soldiers were posed to form giant living symbols of the USA, including a portrait of president Woodrow Wilson, the Liberty Bell, the Statue of Liberty, the Marine Corps emblem, and more.
Arthur S Mole

THE HUMAN U.S. SHIELD: 30,000 officers assembled in Camp Custer, Battle Creek, Michigan. It would take the photographer weeks to get all the outlines right but just 30 minutes to move all the men into position

The photographs were taken as part of a U.S. government bid to raise public morale.

Carl Hammer, from the Chicago gallery of the same name, said Mole and Thomas were unique for their time.

He said: 'I see modern photographers with all the technology we have these days trying to do the same as these two guys did almost 100 years ago, and I still think they did it best and they did it first.

'It really is very clever how they managed to get so many soldiers in the shots, they realised using the same amount of soldiers for each row they would lose the image in the background.
Arthur S Mole

British photographer Mole, along with his American colleague John D. Thomas, were commissioned to take the photographs by the U.S. government to raise morale among the troops

'If you look at the Statue of Liberty formation there are just a handful of men at the front, but the back row is made of thousands.

'Mole and Thomas were commissioned by the U.S. government to take the pictures as a way to raise morale among the troops and raise money by selling the shots to the public.

'It must have been incredible for the soldiers to be part of these photos and to be part of this slice of history.'

Read more:

EXTRODINARY IMAGES

Did You Know 5 - April 2009 - Update

Did You Know?

The Patio that finally is!

It took just under 40 hours for our oldest son to install this beautiful patio in our back yard. He sand set it right over the old broken and crumbling cement we put there 32 years ago. It is made of Pennsylvania Blue Stone and is just lovely.

I have been wanting this project to begin for over 4 years and was told over and over again "we'll do it." I guess I finally decided to take the bull by the horns and make it happen. My youngest son and I went to the stone yard to pick up the already ordered stone, and after much planning on how to deliver it to our back yard, finally had it brought out and moved into place.

The stone came on two huge pallets each weighing approximately 3000 lbs. Getting it off of the delivery truck and placed close enough to the patio for ease of access was a challenge. We finally opted for renting a fork lift from a nearby rental store, but wondered how we'd get it to the back yard? The man who delivered the fork lift said to go ahead and run it on the lawn, but expect a few tire tracks. We didn't know whether the side yard would support so much weight, and the fork lift did get stuck at one point, so we hooked a line up to it and attached the other end to the Van and pulled it out. After all was said and done, the fork lift did very little damage to the lawn.

Once the stone was in place, there really was no choice but to get the details worked out and install it. Because our oldest said he'd get the job done by Father's Day, he worked around his day time schedule and made it happen.

We'll be planting some plugs from the already established Pinks, and Ajuga we have scattered in our landscaping around the edge. We think the combination of silver blue foliage and pink flowers of the "Pinks" and the blue flowers and dark foliage of the Ajuga will really look nice together against the backdrop of the stone.

We will be using the patio a lot more..........no one wanted to even get near the old one it was so disgusting......to eat our meals on the table and to rest on our new patio loungers. We may even move our portable fire place to the patio so we can sit at night and be comfy and cozy while we watch the stars above.

Thank you Bobby, Dale, and Mike.

I can't tell you all how pretty it is other than to say it is such a pleasure to walk out the back door onto the deck and see this patio.

Thank you for making Mom happy!