We share our property with some very friendly and vocal mockingbirds – the state bird of Texas. Here’s one:
And here’s the song that is now stuck in my head. Enjoy!
Tag: postaweek
Cascades in clouds.
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. 🙂
Scenes from my Saturday.
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:
One shot of Nicky:
And one shot of Will:
A great day. Back to Austin tomorrow. Goodnight!
Nice kitty.
Brian comes over to my mom’s on Fridays a couple times a month to watch movies with her. Today he brought his 5 year old teacup pomeranian, Chip. She’s just recently been groomed for summer but she’s still so tiny! I could stop calling her “kitty.” 🙂
Today’s movies were quite the mix of genre: 300, Goodnight & Good Luck, and the first two episodes of the John Adams series. I could not keep up.
Oh, and IT’S FRIDAY!!!
Pop.
This morning these lilies from Mother’s Day were still closed buds. Tonight, voila! Very pretty.
60 years on.
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.
Lilac.
My dad planted lilacs in the yard many years ago. They multiply like crazy in these parts.
Fuchsia.
I spent a great Mother’s Day with my mom and 3 sisters and many of my niece/nephews. We also took a trip to Tacoma to visit my brother’s family who just welcomed his first grandkid into the world. A nice day indeed. The array of colorful flowers that explode here every spring is staggering. This is a beautiful place year round, but especially this time of the year. This is one shot from my mom’s backyard.
In Texas. Not in Texas.
I made it to Seattle last night 3 hours late but safe and sound. Today Noreen and I shopped for a while then headed over to mom’s. Two of my nephews, Jake and Aaron, are spending the day with her. So I got to enjoy time with them as we’ll.
Aaron came down to Austin for a visit about a year ago. He is lobbying heavily with his mom and dad to come down again soon. This is a picture he drew that he showed me exactly 3 seconds after I walked through the door today. 🙂
Stormy weather…
Headed to Seattle tonight. Boarded the plane. Fell asleep. When I woke up they were asking everyone to deplane due to storms in the area. I did not know that most of the bars AND the admirals club close at 7:30. What were they thinking?! Still hoping our flight leaves after the storm passes. Here’s some of my moments…
Thank you Ray Benson’s Roadhouse Bar!!!
Indie-pendants.
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.
Jasmine!
We have a fence along the south side of our lot that has several flowering vines covering it. Some Carolina Jessamine. Some orange trumpet vine. And some jasmine. The winds have turned back out of the south again, where they should be. So our backyard is engulfed in the entrancing fragrance of jasmine. I love spring!
Old Yeller.
Pretty flowers in the house. Thanks to Monte!
Unos momentos desde mi Cinco de Mayo.
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.
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.
And, now back home, we are celebrating Cinco de Mayo with Julie. Salud!
Sheila365 