November Photo a Day - Day 4

TV

November Photo a Day - Day 3

Breakfast

November Photo a Day- Day 2

Colour

November Photo a Day - Day 1

I've decided to do Fat Mum Slims Photo a Day challenge. Day One is Something Beginning with "c". So here it is ( I admit, I forgot it was the November 1st and did this at the last minute and I didn't have to get out of my chair). I'll try and be more creative.

Our trip

Mount Shasta, California The happiest place on Earth (provided spending lots of money and standing in line for hours is what makes you happy). Still fun though... The cruise ship

Catalina Island Ensinada, Mexico It was Flag Day in Mexico the day we were there and we arrived just in time to watch this flag raising ceremony. Here the lads are holding a truly enormous flag.After lots of military higher ups arrived and some fuss was made they finally got to let go and raise the flag Look at the size of that thing.

The Whale watching trip where the whales kept away and dolphins were the highlight. Which is ok because dolphins a pretty great too.

There were about a dozen of them but they are fast so we only got a good picture of this one.

These guys were sleeping on the deck when we got back and apparently didn't like getting their picture taken.
He started barking and carrying on after this. It was very entertaining.

It was a great trip. The only low point was sunburn and vomiting on the whale watching trip (both me) which is pretty good considering five of us were together pretty much 24 hours a day for a week and that included 20 hours in the car each way.

Round Two

This week we had round of two of cold, snowy weather and round of two of a stomach virus thing for me. Thankfully both were short lived and things are back to normal today. Everyone is getting a bit tired of the winter weather and as we don't get the extreme heat that my sisters do we are kind of looking forward to sun and summer living. We've all been ill more than once the past few weeks. The kids had sore throats and colds, we all got a stomach bug and then as I mentioned I got it again. Hopefully everything is past now and we are all healthy as we are going on vacation next week. We have a four day Mexican Cruise planned and we will drive down to San Diego taking a couple of days and seeing some sights on the way. I'm so excited. None of us has been on a cruise and a short one like this is perfect to see how we like it. The only problem is no one has any warm weather clothes and its in the high 70s there at this time of year. Oh well, we'll have to go shopping. What a shame.

Groundhog Day

Phil says six more weeks of winter. This was confirmed by the thick layer of frost this morning and the fact that I still need to wear several layers to be warm. I'm not happy but Phil is so cute I'll let it go.

When we had the big freeze before Christmas we were concerned about the birds that were foraging around trying to find to some food in the frozen snow covered ground. So we bought a bird feeder. Like most good eating establishments things got off to a slow start and we didn't see many birds at first and the food in the feeder lasted a couple of weeks or so. But word spread in the bird community and good reviews gave us this site each morning
There are usually several more on the ground getting what these guys have knocked out. I can barely keep the thing full of food now. I love it. Simon hates it and often barks at them and the cats are transfixed as they spend most of the day in front of the door watching them. They don't go out so the birds are safe. At least from my cats. There is a big black cat that keeps sneaking under the fence. He hasn't been able to get any and usually I see him before he gets too close. Some larger birds have appeared recently that seem to keeping the smaller birds away. I'm not sure what to do about that. But for now I'll enjoy watching them from my desk each morning.

More flooding

We went out today and even after what we saw yesterday we were surprised to see how high the dyke's were

I had to take this picture from afar as they had just shut off downtown because the dyke's were about to break. Anyway, earlier we went to the dyke and saw this (usually fields and a road there)See that stop sign! There's also a Park and Ride under there. This is mainly farmland but its right on the edge of downtown.

Floods!

We had a really nice Christmas. Everyone was happy with their gifts, we had lots of great food and a really relaxing holiday from the hustle and bustle of normal life. The weather made things difficult up until about New Year. The snow and icy conditions made travelling a problem and we had no trash pickup for two weeks, amongst other inconveniences.

Now.....well, we are flooded. There are flood warnings for most of Western Washington. The whole region has been affected by the days and days of rain (with no end to the rain in sight) with flooding said to be the worst on record. Roads are being closed, thousands evacuated and the all the schools are closed too. All the mountain passes are closed because of the extreme weather and avalanche risks. We went for some groceries today and driving home we saw lots of flooded roads and houses surrounded by water. We have many rivers here and they are breaching their banks. Its hard to tell where the rivers are in the huge expanses of water. Even the smallest creeks are overflowing and causing damage. Tonight I took 13 year old to help his church Scout Troop sandbag downtown near one of the senior centres. As I drove past I saw buses being loaded with the poor seniors who are being evacuated to the High School. We are lucky as we are on high ground but half the town and most of the farms are on flat, low ground and if they aren't water logged yet they soon will be. So I count my blessings as I sit with a hot drink in my comfortable, warm, dry house.

*Meanwhile wildfires are causing problems in Colorado. What an amazing world we live in. It certainly isn't boring.

Merry Christmas

and

Happy New Year!

The week ahead.

We have all our shopping done including the Christmas grocery shopping. The beginning of the week will be spent at home, relaxing, hanging out and eating yummy food. I am making Chex Mix today and will bake some sugar cookies and more gingerbread tomorrow. We have a nice Christmas Eve dinner planned for here then Christmas Day we will go to Yakima to spend the day with the kids Mum and her family then possibly onto Wallowa County to see Brian's Mum. All this depends on the weather which is supposed be much of the same as we've had. Heavy snow! We have to cross mountain passes which is the problem. We'll see. I have a back up Christmas dinner for here in case we have to stay home but I don't think we'll need it. I'm looking forward to a nice Christmas.

Waiting for Christmas

We did the last of our Christmas shopping yesterday. The weather kept most people at home it would seem and we had the mall practically to ourselves which was nice at this time of year. So aside from a grocery shop next week we are all set for Christmas. This weekend we are planning to stay home and watch Christmas movies. I'll probably so some more baking as the peppermint brittle and gingerbread cookies I made two days ago are all gone. Its still very cold outside and Simon hates going out so this is what he plans to do.

Stay inside and play with his toys.

Snow pictures

It snowed and snowed and snowed.

Simon had fun attacking snowballs.

He wanted that giant snowball. And yes, 17 year old is quite comfortable out there in shorts and a t-shirt!

Finally, Simon got the giant snowball.

Snow days

Today we woke up to this and closed schools.

It has snowed all day and doesn't look like letting up any time soon. This is the most snow we've had in this area in the 5 years I've been here. The schools are closed tomorrow too. This morning I had to make a path for Simon to get out.

It's filled back in so the boys are out shoveling it all away now. We're having a day of hot meals, hot cider and later I'm baking some gingerbread and making fudge. It's all very nice.

Freeze

This morning it is 18f/-8c. Now that's cold and almost unheard of for us here. The east coast has been getting horrible storms and blackouts as well as the freezing temperatures so we can't complain . We had snow Saturday and then it cleared and now its FREEZING. All the slush and snow is ice now and the roads are treacherous. The schools started 2 hours late so I have kids still running around. We have a birthday today so I'm going to the shop to buy some things for the birthday dinner then I have an eye appointment but I'd rather just be snuggled in at home for the day.

Now I must go and salt the steps.

Visiting Santa

Today we took Simon to get his photo taken with Santa at Petco. It was a lot of fun. There were lots of dogs including bulldogs, boxers and pugs. The squashed faced dogs were out in force. We had two "potty" incidents but Petco is prepared for that with clean up stations so it was no big deal. Simon tried on some antlers but we decided against them when he tried to chew them. They wouldn't last long if we got them. Pictures with Santa will be on later once I get them. There was snow in our area that bypassed our town completely. The surrounding area (I mean 1/2 a mile from where we live) looks like this

not much snow but still. We have absolutely nothing.

I have to say I love Zazzle . Last night I ordered several t-shirts including 3 custom made ones with Simon on them from them and they have already shipped. Now that's service. Tomorrow Brian and I are doing the Christmas shopping. I'm looking forward to that.

It just started snowing. We'll see how much we get!

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Earlier in the month I wasn't feeling particularly excited about Christmas. I think it because the older kids weren't being very enthusiastic. But that's changed. Today I filled the bowl with nuts, got in some eggnog and candy canes and planned what to bake tomorrow. We are told there may be snow so I thought it would be nice to have lots of yummy winter treats on hand over the weekend. This is the kids mothers year to have them for Christmas but because of her work schedule they will stay here and we will all go to Christmas lunch with her family. So really we have them whole time even though its not our year (hubby is secretly happy about that haha).

When everyone has gone to bed tonight I am planning to wrap the Christmas for my nephew and nieces in Australia so I can get them mailed so they (hopefully) get them before Christmas.

So this weekend we will bake and probably go for a drive around town to see all the neighbourhood Christmas lights and decorations. Oh and I got some visitors yesterday and was given this really nice fresh holly. Its looks so good.

Snowmen without the snow.

My Mum used to make snowmen from Styrofoam balls covered in cotton wool. I thought this would be a fun thing to make with the girls so I bought the supplies. The girls have been eagerly anticipating making them. I'm asked on a daily basis if we can make the snow men. I have been ill with a head cold and various aches and pains so I haven't felt up to it. Today we finally made them. We were responsible for one each. It was as fun as I thought it would be. We plan to keep one and give one to our former neighbour who is like a Grandmother to the kids. The third will go the their mother.

Here they are.



They are in shadows because they are naked. I am knitting them hats and scarves. When they are dressed they will be revealed in all their (modest) glory.


I do wonder when knitting mini hats and scarves became my idea of good way to spend Saturday night. I have slowed but who cares... I'm having a great time.

A bit of knitting news. I'm finishing off a pair of socks and then I have to decide what I want to knit next (I've been knitting these socks for so long I've decided I'm not allowed to start anything else until they are done). I have a Sock Monkey kit from Blue Moon . I can't wait to knit that but I also want to do another Noro Scarf. I have STR in Grinchy to make my annual Christmas socks. These are socks I knit in Christmas themed yarn over the Christmas holidays. I really need to get away from scarves and socks and knit a vest or something but I have these scarves and socks I want to knit. I guess I can knit whatever I want though. I just feel a tad boring.

We had a movie watching and pizza for dinner type of day. We watched Hoodwinked which was really good. Then Alvin and the Chipmunks and now we are watching Evan Almighty. I love that movie. Now that Thanksgivings over and school is back to its regular schedule tomorrow it seems life is back to normal again. Good. I'm not good with changes in the routine.

Oh and the outside of the house is decorated!!

It hasn't snowed. That picture is from last year. This year it looks just the same and I don't want to go outside and take another picture (it's cold out there - and I'm lazy).

Last but not least........I did it!

ETA: actually it appears I didn't. I wrote this post but must not have pressed publish post. Oh well!

Well, last night we went to Wights Nursery in Lynnwood for our annual Tree decoration purchases. At Christmas time the nursery is transformed and all they sell is Christmas decorations. We love it. Each year we all get to pick a special decoration that's just ours with the plan being the kids can have theirs when the move out. So we did that and then we had hot chocolate and did a bit more shopping. It was great day all round. Simon was stuffed full of turkey leftovers and scraps so he slept through us going out (he was also tired from all the activity of barking at xmas tree and decoration boxes which were in the house without his consent). Today we have nothing planned but we'll see how feel. A movie maybe....