Thanks to Noreen for schlepping me to the airport in the wee hours of the morning. I’m not home yet, posting from ORD.
I got a window seat on the right side of the plane, on purpose, expressly for this (my favorite) view. Looking south, Mount Rainier is in the foreground. Mount Adams is to the left farther south. In between, even farther south and very hard to see, is Mount Hood. Mount St. Helens would be visible to the right of Rainier, except for the cloud deck sitting above it.
Colleen is up on Rainier this weekend. Don’t see her though. 🙂
I headed into Seattle today to visit Pat & Nga and the kids. Before I hit the road I stopped by a park on the puget sound shoreline where attended girl scout camp back in the day. I remember camping, cooking, clamming and making sand sculptures here over several summers here. I dare say it has been 35 years or so since i last stood on this particular stretch of beach. It is still amazingly beautiful.
I drove my mom’s car. Not your typical dashboard.
When i got to seattle, we drove to a park on the *other* side of the puget sound to fly the kites that I gave the boys. They are master kite flyers. One shot with both of them:
I finally got a chance to go outside today! I went for a walk this afternoon after my last meeting. There is a new park with a huge network of trails through towering trees about a mile walk from my mom’s house. It was gorgeous. This cut log was laying next to the trail. I stopped counting at 60 rings. Thank you log, I now have Elton John’s 60 Years On ringing in my head. Now you do too.
A shot of the beautiful canopy … I like the glowing green of the leaves in this shot.
I drove jake here tonight and we cooked dinner and ate with mom. Then he played guitar for us for a while. He’s very good. He reminded me that I had taught him the basics many years ago. Very sweet.
I’ve been playing with beads again. I’ve gotten it in my head that pendants that can easily slip onto chains would be fun to make and very versatile. Here are a few I’ve recently made.
Made with (L-R): turquoise, tiger’s eye, swarovski crystal, and howlite.
Hola! Happy Cinco de Mayo. Before I forget, I want to post this shot that I took yesterday. I took it with my waterproof camera from the kayak, so I wasn’t able to upload it until today. This is Nirvana and Sapphire at anchor. Pretty boats.
Rafted up in Arky South.
Today I paddled completely around Arky South cove. I enjoy paddling. But I like, even more, cruising along the shore for found objects. Today’s haul: 4 plastic bobbers, 1 popper jig, 1 croppie tube jig, and 2 nice docklines with spliced loops.
Then we pulled up the anchor and sailed for several hours. We sailed along with Kalliopi (with Nick and his kids on-board) for a while. Then we turned around and caught a glimpse of Lori, Joe, Wally and Kelly on Camelot, with her newly raised 150 whomper jib. I think Lori’s getting serious now, ever since Nirvana beat Camelot in a beer can a couple weeks ago. 🙂
On the way home, we saw this guy riding along 620. Amazing. It appears to be direct drive, no evidence of a chain. And, I have no idea how he stops / dismounts this thing – that front tire is about 5′ in diameter.
Lance, is that you?
And, now back home, we are celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Julie. Salud!
We set out again with Marty and Sue this afternoon for the Austin installment of the Jimmy Buffett “Songs from St. Somewhere” tour. We got there a couple hours early so we could phlock with all the other parrot heads. We saw Rob and Jen, too. Though the concert was postponed 24 hours, the place was packed.
The new Formula 1 track complex is pretty impressive. It sprawls over 1300 acres, located SE of the Austin airport. Quite a trek, but boy do they know how to move people in and out quickly and smoothly.
The Austin360 amphitheater is very nice. Brand new. Accommodates 14,000, which we must have been close to tonight. It is nestled between 2 giant hairpin turns of the F1 racecourse. The tower behind the stage is the observation tower overlooking the racecourse
And the concert was fantastic. Jackson Browne opened, and Jimmy played for a couple hours straight. He’s a great entertainer. I hope he doesn’t wait 17 more years before coming back again.
It’s pizza night! These are the works of art from tonight’s installment. Rachel and Julie were the pizza artistes. Monte’s homemade crusts, of course. The top left one is margherita with tomatoes, mozzarella, home grown basil and olive oil (instead of red sauce). Top right is tomato sauce, prosciutto, onion, basil, red pepper, olive and goat cheese. Bottom left and right are varying amounts of prosciutto, mushroom, olive, onion, red pepper and mozz.
Yum – life is good !
We have another niece visiting us this week. Rachel and Monte went out to the lake and sailed for a few hours. Then Julie and I joined them about 4 o’clock. We sailed around for a couple more hours. Then got a great table at the Oasis. And surprisingly enjoyed the appies that we ordered. The view of sunset was awesome, as usual. Very, very nice!
We spent the night on the boat last night. Got up this morning and headed out for a sail. We had a great day – sailed up to Windy Point and back. Back at the marina we grabbed a bite to eat at Shades and watched the end of the Masters. Then on to Iguana Grill to watch our friend Wiz and his band play.
As I was sitting listening to the music I saw a tiny hummingbird hit a beam and fall down right next to me. I think he flew in the open window on his way home and hit the beam.
For all the times I’ve hunkered in the kitchen in front of the window where the hummingbird feeder hangs trying to get a stealth shot – it was really amazing to see one up close.
I didn’t know if he was dead or just stunned. So I picked him up. His eyes were open and he was breathing really hard. He was so tiny! I held him for 5 minutes or so. I brought him over to Monte for him to see. He held him in his hands for a few more minutes. Then, after his head cleared, he stood up, flew into the air… chirped a “thank-you” and flew home.
This week has been jam-packed. I seem to be playing catch up from the minute I wake up in the wee hours of the morning. I’m doing my last meeting from the car this afternoon as we are heading out of town for the weekend. Lori’s birthday party is tomorrow, and tonight we’re staying with Marty & Sue at a beautiful lake house on Lake LBJ. This place is fantastic. When I grow up I want one just like it. 🙂
We went to a BBQ at Rob and Jen’s house this afternoon. Many of the couples had babies under 18 months or so that weren’t here last time we saw these guys!! How. Time. Flies.
Rob’s blue bonnets were in rare form. Just beautiful.
And one last shot of the pascal sky as we stopped by the marina on the way home tonight.
Ack! I have not been paying attention, but on March 8th, I completed year 3 of sheila365.com’s photoblog! The first year I faithfully posted a photo-a-day (March 8, 2010 – 2011). The second and third years were not daily, but close to it. And after all this time, I still look forward to posting. But, I enjoy much more looking back on my own posts from time to time to remember the moments I captured.
I am amazed and happy to report that I have 180 followers (thank you!) and I have amassed nearly 15,000 visits, and 1100+ comments. This aint the New York Times, but it is my very own soapbox to share an interesting thought or two. I’m glad you are all here to share them with.
In keeping with past years, here is a collage of the moments I’ve shared from year 3 of sheila365.com…
Sheila365 