Lovely sunset off the stern:
Friday at the lake.
Lovely sunset off the stern:
Category: Fun
Twirly.
Accidental sidewalk art.
Cheers, sweetie dahling!
Every August 4th I celebrate Champagne Day, because I once read on the interwebz that it was on this date in 1693 that French monk Dom Pérignon created the very first batch of the stuff. Many thanks, Dom!
And, so, it is only fitting that we picked Champagne Day to see the new AbFab movie.
Cheers, Eddie & Pats!
4WILL.
My grandnephew stopped by poet vendor @williamthepoet at a Seattle farmers’ market last weekend. The sign said “your topic, your price.” And this is the poem that was written for him. *snap snap* 🙂
Purple mountains’ majesty…
Mount Rainier today. I wish I could have washed the window before we took off 🙂
The Boys’ boat.
We stopped at the University of Washington rowing center. The rowing 8 shell that won the gold medal in the 1936 Olympics, the Husky Clipper, is on display there. A book was written about it, called The Boys in the Boat.
Then on to Pike Place Market for the obligatory walk-through.
View from the 18th green.
We golfed at Alderbrook Golf & Yacht Club yesterday with Fran and Art. It was a great day! This shot from the 18th green looks west over Hood Canal towards the Olympic Mountains.
Through the rain forest.
A misty, drizzly day led to a very enjoyable trek through the Olympic National Forest, walking along trails on Walker Mountain, a drive through Quilcene, a Fat Smitty’s burger in Discovery Bay, antiquing in Port Townsend, a little geocaching, climbing through 100 year old bunkers at Fort Worden State Park, and walking to the beach to see the Strait of Juan de Fuca and Point Wilson Lighthouse.
A few shots from the day…
Not a sculpture.
I took a field trip today to the Umlauf Sculpture Garden Museum, down by Zilker Park. Admission is free this summer, through the end of August, thanks to donations from Amplify Austin. You may want to check it out as well. Hours are Tue-Fri 10am-4pm, and Sat & Sun noon-4pm.
I’ve been there before, but it has been over 15 years. It was a lovely morning, and I headed out before it got too hot. Charles Umlauf was born in 1910, died in 1994, and was a prolific sculptor. His first commissioned work was at age 12! The sculpture garden lies on land between his former home and Barton Springs, and displays 50+ of his works scattered throughout lovely, wooded grounds.
My favorite:
Ok, so, now for the best part… as I was walking through the grounds I noticed a large dark shape sitting on a branch of a tree right over the trail I just walked on. I realized it was a bird. A big one. It was just sitting there, watching me, as I doubled back to try to get a picture. It was an unexpected sight, and I love the shot. After I got home I looked online to identify the bird… I believe it to be a barred owl.
Sails aloft.
We ended up sleeping on the boat in our slip last night. Lori, Marty & Sue, and Joe did the same. Sunday morning we all hung around and visited. In the afternoon, Monte and I went out on Marty & Sue’s boat and went for a great sail up past Windy Point and back. The winds were sporting! Here’s a shot from that trip.
Head to head.
We had a little wii competition going on last night. The competition was fierce. 🙂
Happy place.
We spent Friday night and Saturday morning in Cow Creek, one of the loveliest coves on Lake Travis. In the morning we had the entire cove to ourselves. We each took a turn kayaking around it. The wall has water perpetually seeping out showering the lake below and there are curtains of mineral deposits and caves along its face. It’s a beautiful thing.
May the Fourth be with you.
We headed up the lake yesterday (yes, a Friday!) for 2 or 3 nights to see what we could see. We are anchored in a lovely cove this AM about 20 miles upriver from our marina. The sun was scorching yesterday. I like how it was illuminating our flag. I hope you have a great 4th of July.
Quittin’ time.
To celebrate the end of my last day of work, at 5pm last night I popped the cork on a bottle of Dom Pérignon Vintage 1993 that I received upon my promotion to the executive ranks. (woo hoo!) I kept putting off opening it until an appropriately auspicious occasion.
Well, here we are 15 years later – and this was to be the occasion. Conventional wisdom says that good champagne shouldn’t be saved or aged. I didn’t really know that at the time. Over the years we have joked that this bottle of champagne, which has taken up space in our refrigerator on its side all these years, was going to be flat and vinegary when we eventually opened it. So, i was fully expecting that. We even had a backup bottle of bubbly on ice, just in case. But, low and behold, there was a resounding pop when the cork came off, and no shortage of fizz and bubbles! And it tasted good, like… a very special bottle of champagne. 🙂 I take that to be a good omen on the closing of one chapter of my life, and the start of the next.
Cheers!
I would also like to thank Teri & Jim for this absolutely stunning orchid that they sent me today. You guys are the best! It’s gorgeous, thank you!
Sheila365 