Time change?

Did you fall back? Daylight savings time came to an end for another year last night and supposedly we get an extra hour of sleep, unless you have a dog. At the usual time Max needed to go out, so I got up and took him out. At this point I was so confused as to the time that we just went. He did his sniffing act and liked one spot so much that I decided he would or could sniff all of the way to China. I do get tired waiting for him to make up his mind, assuming he has a mind, and find the perfect spot to do his business.

Time zones and twice a year time changes mess me up, and then I can't remember whether an adjacent time zone is ahead or behind us. I have called people in another time zone and gotten them out of bed when I thought they should be already up. So much for my clarity of thinking, I do think, I think. One time after a time change, I went to church and met everyone coming out. I commented to the minister that it was the best sermon I ever heard.

It takes me about a week or two to readjust sleeping patterns. When I was earning a living, or working, to use a popular term, I had to get up quite early to be at work on time. Thirty plus years of this activity has enabled me to get up early to this day. Why bother with time changes when you can be up at five. I do get the paper read during this time, unless the dog needs to go out again. It is a great time in which to do sudoku too. Now if I could only figure out what time it is today.

Foxy just got up, and I mentioned that I had changed the clock on the microwave, and we both checked computers to learn that this all happens next weekend, not now. Do you think I was confused before? I think I will blame this time confusion on Debby. After all she is the one who told us that the time change happened today. Happy travels.

Stained glass pieces nearly finished

My project for today was to finish piece two and three of my current stained glass projects. Number two needed a bit of touch up soldering and then the solder darkened. Number three needed much the same. Arthur stepped into the shop and had a design in mind for the frame for number three. We both were very careful to keep all fingers away from the saw blade, and in any event one of the pieces of wood took off like a shot when we hit a knot but neither of us was hit or hurt. Finally the frame pieces were made and glued and put aside to cure. Tonight I unhooked all of the clamps, and the frame seems to be complete except for final sanding and finishing. I guess that will be tomorrow's project. Other than that it was a quiet day.

Foxy went to the store for supplies and to the yarn store to get a bit more yarn she needed for beginning some Christmas gifts. She is sure good at that type of creative craft work.

It was sunny this afternoon, which made it a perfect fall day here in the Northwest. Happy travels.

Did we eat all day?

As I reflect on yesterday, it does seem like we ate all day. Not to be boring, but the day started with a toasted bagel. Lunch was creamed chicken on toast. Dinner was pizza out at The Rumor Mill, which was so noisy that you couldn't talk, a brief stop at Herb's tavern to unwind until they cranked up their music and then home for quiet and bed. I think we did eat all day, and I am not getting on the scale to weigh either.

Foxy spent the day contemplating sewing. We found her machine and a tub of winter clothes for me. That was a surprise, but the clothes will come in useful as it is getting colder around here and probably any other place where we might travel. We think it is nearly time to depart this lovely island and head south for the winter. Happy travels.

Back to the saw

I have been making a frame for a stained glass piece which is where I got in trouble and tried to saw off two of my fingers. I am happy to state that both are on the mend. Yesterday I got Arthur to assist, and we finished the frame, both being very careful when using the saw. Now just a bit of sanding and finishing, and that project will be finished.

Project number three is coming along and now needs to have the soldering finished. I think I will wait for the new soldering iron to arrive and then get back to it. Arthur thinks I should try my hand at a lamp shade. We shall see as that involves forms and other challenges.

The rest of the day was quiet here with a bit of rain off and on. Happy travels.

Glass progress

Yesterday I finished cutting out the pieces of glass, grinding them, and then washing each to get the paper patterns unglued. Then I started in on the copper foiling process, and it is about half completed now.

Arthur did get home, and we were glad to have him back on the island. He had a medical procedure in Anacortes and was pronounced well and was happy to have that behind him. Foxy created a lovely dinner of steak,twice baked potatoes and salad, topped off with a homemade black berry pie. We will never lose pounds at this rate of good eating. We got caught up on Arthur's visit in Los Angeles and left after dinner so that he could get to bed early. Miss Duffy was glad to see her daddy back, although she let both of us pet her as well. Max watched a bit of television with us and left for an early bed himself. Happy travels.

Rainy Monday

It is rainy off and on here today and last night, too. I like to stay in bed on rainy days and just listen to the rain fall on our roof. Today I managed to stay all warm and snugly until 7:30, a late start for me. Lovely! Arthur will be home this afternoon, and we will see how his brother is doing. He has Debby clean and take care of his house several times each week, and she let us know that her dad had passed away. She is very upset and rightly so, but was fortunate enough to visit with him a few weeks ago. In time she will remember that visit more than her recent sadness.

I guess it is back to the next stained glass pattern. Yesterday I got it on paper, the pattern cut out, and pieces glued onto glass. Now comes the cutting and grinding. I am in no hurry since my soldering iron finally quit after 5-6 years of good work and 3-400 pieces. I kept track of how many pieces I made for quite awhile but not now. I only make something when the spirit moves me. I think at my age I leave many things up to the spirit and can only hope it keeps me moving.

Miss Duffy, the house cat has been taken care of by us and Debby while Arthur was away. At first she was quite standoffish but then decided to let us pet her each evening. Even Foxy would pet her, and she does not like cats. What was delightful was arriving back in the coach and to watch the expression on Max's face as he could smell that we had been petting the cat. "How could you betray me with that cat?" he seemed to say. Then he climbed up on my lap for some petting of his own and a chance to watch television. He likes the commercials and the ladies. Max has good taste when it comes to the ladies. Happy travels.

Reflections on aging

I received a comment on this blog from a reader in Russia who is interested in old age. I do not think of myself as old, at least not THAT OLD. I know when I was 22 years of age that anyone over 35 was old, I thought. So I can understand why this young man living in Russia knows that I am old. I think that having a living parent who is almost 98 keeps me thinking I am still not that old. I do believe it is a matter of attitude.

We have good friends, Ron and Julie who are quite young being, only in their fifties and somehow retired already. How fortunate they are and that they love to travel. When we are together any seeming age difference disappears. That was an interesting lesson I learned when I became an adult, that any age difference means little. Itreally is an attitude. If you think you are old, then you are. If you feel ageless, then you are. I love relating to people of all ages, especially children and most especially grandchildren. I include any great grandchildren in this general category.

Do I have any advice to someone who is getting older? Of course! Keep your options open, experience new things often, and learn something each day. Thank your maker for each day, and look forward to tomorrow. Sergey, to you I say, "Explore your world and learn how others live theirs. The whole world is open to you in this day of the internet. Enjoy life!" Happy travels.

Pictures of Our San Juan Islands Visit

These are several series of slide shows showing some of our adventures and fun while on San Juan Island in Puget Sound, Washington. If you have not been here or are not quite sure where it is, please be sure to check it out on the map! Unlike Seattle, the San Juans are in the rainshadow of the Olympic Mountains of the Cascade Range, so the temperatures remain moderate all year long, and there is not so much rain. The fall weather has been beautiful while we have been here, usually sunny, in the fifties or sixties during the day and in the forties or high thirties at night. Occasionally there has been some fog, usually in the early morning, and we have had occasional rain showers, which keep everything green and lush. We highly recommend your visiting here, so consider putting it in your "bucket."








These are the pictures from our time in Colorado, which was also wonderful! What a trip!

Your bucket list

Do you have a bucket list? This is a list of things you want to do or accomplish before you die. I guess that as you age and get older, you might have to also prioritize the items in some way.

I still have places to travel and visit. These include: Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, South America, Russia, Israel, and Egypt. This list is not finished yet and may get other places added over time. The only one in order is Alaska, and then we can say that we have visited all 50 states in our country.

Nurturing relationships. Foxy and I have a wonderful one, and it is very important to maintain and grow. The connection to family and friends is also very important and needs continuing connections to maintain.

Visiting family and friends is always on the bucket list. Probably the most urgent is visiting Mom and maybe helping her to finally decide to move from her home or get help with daily needs, particularly as she approached her 98th birthday. What an amazing woman and so independent, which will make this very difficult to accomplish. As I age, I would hope that some of my kids (any of the five) would offer advice, and I would listen and act on the advice.

This blog is on my list and the desire to write daily when possible and to try to find the funny things in life for commentary as well as observations on the human condition.

Reading a good book and daily Sudoku puzzles are on the list. This helps keep my mind active helping to stave off Alzheimer's for another day.

Continuing to produce stained glass still remains, although I intend to take periodic vacations from this endeavor to recharge the artistic batteries and try not to get too much lead in my system.

Giving thanks each day for a chance to see what the day will bring and for good health.

Letting my "deacon duties" happen. I am not in charge of what I do to help others. You never know where the spirit may lead and must remain open to any and all possibilities. After all, "Once a deacon, always a deacon."

Be willing to be silly with the grandchildren and very slow to offer advice. It is more fun to just have fun. None of my grandparents behaved this way, and I wish they had. My favorite relatives, while growing up, were fun to be with and genuinely interested in what was happening. Thanks, Aunt Florence and Aunt Maud.

Finally, being open to adding or subtracting from this list. Who knows what opportunities tomorrow will bring? Happy travels.

Television finally updated

Yesterday the local television repair man reappeared for the second time to install our new updated Dish receiver. We had been given the wrong one in Albuquerque, which caused many calls and emails back and forth until finally we sent back the old one and he sent us the updated version.

When we lived in Omaha, we were fortunate to have Tivo installed on our television and could not only record a show to be seen later but could watch a show midway through and cut out most of the pesky advertisements. In this election period this would have been a blessing, as we are so sick of the nasty bickering between the candidates. This new receiver enables us to have Tivo/DVR again. We also hoped to have the East-West feeds for local stations, but that is no longer available for some reason, probably money lost to local stations.

Having made progress on this front, we were happy with the improvement. Now when two programs are aired at the same time, we can record one and view it later. You would think that with over 200 stations to watch that we would be overwhelmed with things we want to watch, but generally we ignore almost all of it and read instead. Happy travels,

Off island again

We love to travel on the ferries that travel between several of the islands and back and forth to the mainland. Recently we made this trip to get our computer's battery replaced and accomplished that task but also bought an inexpensive computer to serve as backup if needed, since we rely heavily on the computer for banking and keeping in touch with family and friends when we are traveling.

The newly bought computer was found to be quite slow in processing and painfully so. Foxy gave it her all, but finally even she decided that it was just TOO SLOW. This was all the excuse we needed, and we headed to the ferry to get to the Best Buy store on the mainland.

It is at least an hour to an hour and a half trip on the ferry each way, so this is a great time to sight see, read the paper or a book, or play cards or dice games. Lately we have been playing a card game called Nasty, that Marlene taught us many years ago. During the travel time we can get in 2-3 sets and thoroughly enjoy playing. Yesterday it was very foggy, which slowed down the ferry trip a bit, and we managed to get in three games going and two on the way home.

While there we also decided to have lunch at The Olive Garden. It was wonderful. We had salad, bread sticks, and pizza. If we had known how big the pizzas were going to be, we would have ordered only one. They boxed up what we could not finish, and we can look forward to a good lunch in a day or so. We arrived home quite satisfied, having again enjoyed the ride. Happy travels.

Have you heard Peggy?

There is a funny advertisement on television involving a character called Peggy. A man calls a phone number probably for a credit card or insurance question or on line buying help or...... This poor sap calls the number and gets "Peggy." He asks a series of questions starting with her/his name and gets, "Peggy," who is really a big guy with a fake voice. All subsequent questions get the answer, "Yeeeeees." The yes is dragged out, and you see "Peggy" giving a sweet/sappy grin while answering, "Yeeeeees." It is absolutely hysterical, and every time I see it I can not help myself and laugh again and again.

It brings to mind calling to get help with a computer problem and getting a person with such a thick accent in some country in Asia that you finally hang up and have no idea why you even called. In the advertisement mentioned above the caller finally asks Peggy not to hang up and of course she/he answers, "Yeeeeeees" and then hangs up sweetly. I hope you get to see the ad and enjoy it as much as we have. "Yeeeeees!" Happy travels.

A work day here

We decided to have a work day here. Foxy took on the job of defrosting Arthur's refrigerator and his freezer. Both really needed the attention. The freezer especially needed to have all of the built up ice removed. She had her work cut out for her but persisted until both were cleaned and rearranged nicely.

In the meantime I went to work trimming bushes and several trees and then weed whacking, which I got good at while at Guadalupe RV, and finally mowing the front lawn.

By the time we finished our jobs, we were both tired out and in need of showers, and the dirty clothes headed for the washing machine. But the reward was clean appliances and more headway on the yard.

Not a particularly fun day but necessary in our continuing efforts to help Arthur. He has been in Los Angeles this week helping out his brother. We expect him back on Monday and look forward to good news about his brother's condition, knowing it might be otherwise.

The weather has been lovely and very much a gorgeous fall season here. Nights are crisp, and most days sunny. It is supposed to be rainy tomorrow, which is why we did the work day when we did. We think that very soon we will take a brief vacation to Victoria which is on Vancouver Island just west of here. The Buchart Gardens are located there and are spectacular. They have been developed in a vacant stone quarry. We visited the gardens several years ago and hope to get back one more time before we leave this part of the country. Happy travels.

The wizard visits

Arthur has provided our coach electric and water hookups, but no sewer. So we have let our black and grey holding tanks gradually fill up. Since we will have been here three weeks as of tomorrow, it is no wonder that the holding tanks got full. We looked in the yellow pages for someone to come and drain the tanks.

When we were here the last time, there was just such a service called The Wizard of Ooze. They were still in the yellow pages this time and came by after we gave them a call. We were sure glad to have the service. Of course, the $100 cost for one visit seemed a bit steep, but maybe we will not have to have them come again this trip. The joys of full-timing it. Happy travels.

Sunday - a quiet day here

It dawned cool, about 35 degrees and then stayed sunny all day, perfect weather for sure. We read the Sunday Seattle Times and then decided to go to town to have lunch. We had quite a time finding a place to park but finally did and walked about and settled into a lunch place that we do not recommend after eating there. On the way back to the car we checked out several other places to eat that we remembered from past visits, and they were still here. Something in the future to explore. A phone call to Mom while in town, and that ended our adventure.

Back at the motor coach, I had a great snooze, and Foxy explored happenings on nearby Islands by computer. Future day trips, I think. Finally we explored the refrigerator for good left overs for dinner and then a bit more reading, television, and bed. Lovely day! Happy travels.

Visiting clinic & off island

I have been going to the clinic every other day to get bandages changed and suspect that today will be the last visit for this week. It is a bit hard to type and not use some wounded fingers. On Friday the bandages got changed and the rest of the day was quiet except for a lunch visit to Herb's Tavern. Herb's serves great hamburgers and good beer, of course. This visit was followed by a long nap. Lovely.

Saturday dawned early with Arthur leaving to fly from Seattle to Los Angeles to see how his brother's cancer treatment is progressing. He will be gone about ten days and we are left in charge, which mainly means feeding his cat, Miss Duffy.

Arthur left on the early ferry, and we decided to take the next ferry to Anacortes and do some shopping at CostCo and computer places. The battery on this computer, which is not even a year old, died. Foxy, being Scottish, did not want to buy a new one, as they cost over $100. So on Friday she worked with computer techs by email most of the day testing the battery and trying to get them to replace it, as it was still under warranty. Not much success there. When we got off island, she called the computer people, and after an hour on the cell phone she finally convinced the tech that it was dead and got them to send us a new battery on the warranty. Yeah - Foxy!!!! She is persistent, especially when frustrated. We also got a cheap second computer as a necessary backup, which I am trying to get up and running. LOL, as I am technically challenged when it comes to such things,

Lunch and then back to the ferry, the early one which we missed as it was full. So after a two hour wait for the next one, we arrived back to Friday Harbor to find Max a bit cross eyed from needing to go, Miss Duffy in residence, and all was well. A long day but good results. Happy travels.

The woodworkers curse

I have commented in this blog about woodworkers proclivities to lose fingers. If you are the person involved, this is not very funny. Today I was in the process of making a wood frame for a stained glass piece that I was finishing. I was using a table saw to make pieces for the frame and had begun to saw a notch in the frame to hold the glass when the wood was kicked backward by the saw blade. Not wanting to get hit by the piece of wood, I instinctively grabbed for the wood. Actually I ended up colliding with the saw blade and nicked two fingers on my left hand. The second digit was a minor cut protected mostly by my nail. The third digit was another story all together, and the blade did a number not only on my nail but also into part of the finger.

I got Foxy's attention and we made a quick trip into town to the medical center. The nurse Joanne gave me wonderful service and thought the finger should be x-rayed to see if there was any bone damage. A bit of the end of the bone was sliced off and so I had to have a shot of anti-biotics. The attending physician wanted to know where Livingston, Texas, was located, our permanent mailing address. It seems that his parents live in Kerrville, and he wondered if we had been there. A small world for sure since we have been traveling and wintering there for many years.

Everyone at the medical clinic was terrific and so kind. I have relearned a lesson to not make fun of other's misfortunes. I can now join the woodworkers of America since I am now a bit digitally challenged. Happy travels.

Mute button may save us

Thanks heavens for the mute button on the television remote. We have listened to advertisements for various candidates running for office in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado and now Washington State. As Foxy puts it, "The candidates do not often tell you what they stand for, they only seem to run negative comments about their opponent." To make matters worse, they run the same advertisement over and over. Thank heavens for the mute button. This negative campaigning makes us want to throw all of them out of office. Where have they found these candidates that think the only way to get elected is to be so negative? In the Seattle paper on Sunday there was an article about a candidate who had knocked on 60,000 doors in his effort to get elected. I hope he had something to say and that it was positive, and that people listened to him before they made up their minds who to vote for.

When you listen to the negative style of campaigning so prevalent, it is a total turn off. No wonder we have legislative gridlock in Washington D. C. and in many state capitals. If all you do as a potential candidate is to look up the dirty linen of your opponent, no wonder that normal people do not run for office. My final concern is the immense amount of money required to actually run a campaign and the costs of advertising. Anyone with common sense could design a system that would work better and not be so ridiculously expensive. Why spend millions of dollars to get a job that pays you thousands in salary? I would like to have a mute button to turn the whole thing off. Happy travels.

Spaghetti for dinner

The spaghetti turned out to be wonderful. It had a meat sauce supplemented with Italian sausage. We topped the pasta with lots of sauce and dug in. We did not have a contest to decide whether cutting the noodles was better than twirling, or whether to twirl with a spoon was better than simple twirling. Instead there was significant quiet as the three of us got to work on the dinner. Spaghetti is a favorite with all of us, and we made short work of the repast. Salad balanced the meal, and all was finished by ice cream and fresh berries. Not much room left for anything else. We cleaned up the dishes and fell into comfortable chairs in the living room and just visited. We never seem to run out of things to talk about either. All in all a lovely day.

Monday dawned quite cool here in the high thirties or low forties, but a sunny bright day. Another lovely day in paradise. Happy travels.

Sunny lazy day here

Today turned out to be sunny here. We thought that we were in for a rainy spell lasting maybe 4-5 days, but this afternoon it is quite pleasant. We can get cell phone usage only when we are in town, and Foxy went to town to get a few groceries and a chance to call Kim and Chuck and other family. I had a short nap. Then when she gets back it will be spaghetti for dinner tonight. This is a real favorite with us all. Happy travels.

Rainy weekend

The weather forecast was for a rainy weekend. We have been having simply wonderful weather so far, and a bit of rain will not change that. Last night it began to rain and rained off and on the whole night. I like to hear the sound of the rain on the roof of the coach as it seems to lull me to sleep. About five the morning I realized that it was not raining right then, so I got up, and followed by Max, we went out for his morning constitutional. It was still windy, and I am sure that we will get more showers at some point today. This spell of rain is supposed to go on the whole weekend. That is what keeps the grass green, the roofs mossy, and the roads even have a tinge of green. From previous experience we know it can rain lots here in the Seattle area, but the San Juan Islands get only about half of the rainfall that Seattle gets since the islands are in the rain shadow of the Olympic Mountains.

Friends have been telling us of the fall weather in the hill country of Texas. They are so glad that they do not have to use their air conditioners and can have their windows open for some cooler weather. We have not had our system on since we got to Colorado. It certainly is not needed here.

I do have to tell you that our fireplace works well. When we redid our coach, we removed a small love seat and replaced it with an Amish fireplace. Mom has two of these which she uses for heat in the winter. She has one in her bedroom and one in the sitting area of her kitchen. This system seems to work well for her and keeps her winter fuel costs low. So based upon her experience we decided to try one in the coach. It heats about 400 square feet without any problem, which works well in our coach. It does not use much electricity and seems to be quite efficient. Maybe we could serve as an advertisement for the Amish. Happy travels.

Stained Glass is developing

Once we picked out a pattern for the stained glass design and measured the window so that it would fit, I spent a day with the design and then cut out the pattern, glued the pattern to glass. Then comes the cutting of the glass followed by grinding and cutting the glass until each piece fits its pattern. Today the grinding finally was finished, and we began the Tiffany-developed process called copper foiling. Each piece must be encased in copper foil and then fit into the design. Finally comes the soldering, which we hope to get to tomorrow. To get the foiling completed, we all participated. Arthur has been involved throughout and to finish this evening, Foxy helped as well. Truly a group effort.

Tonight Arthur is throwing a poker party, and I can only hope that I can remember which hand wins over another. My luck at cards is not too high, but I will be a good sport and contribute my pennies to the winners. Arthur and Foxy have prepared lots of good snacks, so I have skipped dinner in anticipation. More details on the evening in the next post. Happy travels.

Some daily routines

We are falling into a bit of a routine here. We do not rise too early since television shows that we like to watch at nine o'clock central time are shown here at ten means that on some nights we stay up an hour later and thus are starting to get up an hour later. During the day we work on the landscaping here. Things are a bit overgrown, and also the lawn need mowing now and then. So, we are helping with these tasks when the weather permits. I have started a stained glass window which, when completed, will go in a window here by the front door. Since this window is for Arthur's house, he has helped pick out the design and the glass. Yesterday the pieces were cut out, and today each piece must be ground to fit the pattern. Since there are about 100 pieces this process might take several days.

Arthur continues to try to wind up his brother's affairs here. His brother has a house and a wonderful workshop which is to be emptied. Tools, tools, tools! I am helping where I can with this project. Currently we are trying to put each tool in its case and labeling and things like that. Once it is decided how to best to divest the tools then there is that project as well.

Other than these routines, we generally go into town each afternoon to take mail or get groceries or simply look around. Usually in the evening we three have dinner together, and then we head to the coach for a bit of television or reading. I can not think of a more lovely place in which to fall into some routines. I never get tired of looking at the ocean, islands, and mountains. On a clear day we see several mountains that are really dormant volcanoes. I certainly hope that they stay dormant. Happy travels.

Too make a long story longer, she's back

Yeah!!!! Miss Duffy, Arthur's house cat, returned last night, and we are all relieved. Max is out of the corner and the dunce cap removed. Last night coming home from a dinner out we saw two "red" foxes which can actually be any color, and this brought up the comment from Arthur that the foxes are vicious and have been know to kill cats. Fortunately for Miss Duffy, this did not occur.

We had a lovely day yesterday. We decided to finish our art crawl and drove over to the other end of the island to Roche Harbor. It has changed significantly since we were here a few years ago. They have added small houses that have a view of the harbor that are built in a Victorian style and much like row houses but with space between each. You can also buy them for about 1 million dollars. We thought we might like one until we learned how much they were selling for. Instead, in a gift shop we bought a glass pumpkin for only $30. A much better deal. We also stopped in a cafe there for two bowls of clam chowder. Nice and warm on a cool day.

We then wandered furthur along the outer edge of the island and found a glass works that was participating in the art crawl and enjoyed being the visiting Texans as well as the artist's demonstration of other work she does of wax on board. This sound a bit strange, but she is an excellent artist and produces beautiful results both in her wax work and her glass. What a treat.

To cap off this perfect day, Beth and Jim thought we five should all go to dinner at a restaurant called Duck Soup Inn. We have been there many times, and this is a gourmet restaurant with many unusual items on the menu with local produce incorporated where possible. Foxy had a sea food stew which was more like a bouillebaise, and I had a stuffed chicken breast stuffed with apples and cheddar cheese. Others had Steak Diane. Dessert of creme brule nearly finished us off, and we staggered out the door and drove home. Happy travels.

Miss Duffy is gone, to make a long story short...

When Arthur had his B & B, there were also house cats. This first cat was named after the B & B, Duffy House and thus was Mr. Duffy. After he met his demise, a subsequent cat was found at the humane society and became Miss Duffy. When Arthur closed the B & B and later bought a house on the golf course, Miss Duffy was transferred to the new house where she has happily kept Arthur company for several years.

We come for a visit, and Max chases Miss Duffy out of the house, and when he sees her barks at her. Miss Duffy did not like Max any better than he liked her. They had one confrontation on the back porch whereupon Miss Duffy jumped up on the rail and then onto the lawn and left. She has returned to the house when she determined it was safe from Max. However two nights ago she did not return and has not been seen since. Is she gone? We certainly hope not and wonder if Max is the culprit in this story. Keep Miss Duffy in your thoughts and hope for a speedy return. We shall keep Max out of the house and hope that helps. Happy travels.

The art show

We had seen several posters about town advertising an art show on Saturday and Sunday but no additional information. We drove into town and checked out the fair grounds, and since there was no show there went to a nearby art gallery for more information. There we learned that it was open galleries encouraging visits from the public. Why not, we said and started in visiting several galleries and then broadening our visit by also checking out most of the stores in Friday Harbor. This also gave us much needed walking, and finally we worked up an appetite for a bit of lunch and stopped into The Crab Shack and had clam strips and fish and chips. It was good but too much to eat all in one sitting, so there is more stored in our refrigerator for tomorrow's lunch.

After lunch we visited more stores and then drove slowly back to our coach enjoying the scenery and Puget Sound. On the way back we stopped to visit friends Jim and Beth and then home to let Max out for a run and then a good nap. Lovely day. Happy travels.

Just the dump today

Well we put off going to the dump yesterday, so today we actually went to the dump twice. The first trip was to take recyclables and the second was to take trash. Not everyone appreciates such a trip, but we did it to clean up a space in the garage so that I could do some stained glass work and maybe entice Arthur into doing some as well. In the afternoon I actually got down to some glass work and started several designs that might be used in a window next to Arthur's front door. I think we have narrowed it down to a chile ristra.

In the meantime Foxy was cooking lasagna and arranging an antipasto and bruschetta for Jim and Beth, who had been invited for dinner. We were looking forward to seeing them and really had a fun evening visiting and catching up on each others' lives. We all have mutual friends in Kerrville and were so surprised to learn about our connections there. Conversation and much laughter continued non stop all evening, and all too soon they had to go home. Who knows, we may all get together to watch the Ohio State football game tomorrow. Happy travels.