Long overdue.

Looks like there is a lot to report, but after all this time, it sort of old news. 

Briefly. 

 In October we went to New York and visited the Guggenheim. 

 Oh, Mandy, the building is marvelous.  But lunch with you and Andy was certainly the highlight.

Then sailed away with Don, Donna and Karl - 

To Boston and autumn in New England. 

Let's go way back in time to reminisce about the good old days of airline travel and TWA.  When men wore spiffy suits and women wore gloves, maybe even perky hats to match the Doris Day dresses.  That amazing terminal is now a hotel and you can have cocktails in Connie.  Many of us have spent a night at JFK, but it's much nicer in a big bed than it is doing contortions across two or three uncomfortable chairs, waiting for an empty seat to get started on an adventure.

Autumn in Sequim is pretty good, too.

  

The Alf was resurrected for one evening of  holiday festivities.  It was serendipity that last year I squealed with delight when I found the the suit jammed in a wine crate in a corner of the dungeon at Alfred's and was revivable.  He's still Aldorable, isn't he?

The annual grandson ornaments.  

 

We got on the ferry in the dark of the night, well the dark of the early morning, for Christmas Eve in Victoria at Butchart Gardens with Chrissy, Bill and Laura.

This is either very interesting photography or the cataract version.

That's enough for now.  I don't want to exhaust your peepers but promise to come back in a few days for more.  Really.  I promise.  Mike, please remind me if I forget.

Did'ya miss me?

So much to report but here is at least get started.  The end of June we hitched up our wagon  RV and high tailed it out of San Francisco.  It was a long and challenging year, (with so many good things mixed in) so the tail was kind of dragging, but you know what I mean.  

The restaurant is once again officially part of the past (except for the apparently endless paperwork Al is dealing with this very minute) and we are settled back in Sequim.  Weeds galore, but also amazing flowers.  Do you care about seeing any of them?  If not, please avert your eyes now, because I'm going to put them here anyway. 

This is the result of not picking an artichoke so it becomes the thistle it was intended to be.  Who was the first person who thought to cook and eat such a thing?
 Nothing a pound of butter can't fix, as Bonnie used to say.

And the lavender, oh, the lavender.  We now have forty-four glorious bushes, 

more than needed to  weave into wands or stuff into sachets.  

 

The bees hard at work provided a perfect excuse to avoid pruning.  Look very closely.  

  

Bay leaves for the taking.

Try to control your jealousy when you see my garden getup. It's hard to identify in this shot but the shiny rubber boots make up for the knee pads.  Let's pretend they are patent leather and fixin' to attend a high falutin' garden gala in a designer fancy dress, the result of merging two crappy sweatshirts in an effort to keep my ample butt covered when bending to the weeds. 

 I have more pockets than you do. 

Life is much better when Patch time arrives.  A most favorite and special project was working with Rhett's ties.  He was smiling the whole time, you can be sure of it.

 Delightful!

Okay,  enough for now.  I'm worn out, aren't you?  

Too much to tell

Yes, we - mostly Al - have been spending time in San Francisco.  Lucky we didn't sell Homer the RV because it has become his home away from home while working to revive the restaurant.  There is a really long story and the future is an undetermined work in progress.  Stay tuned.  

 A trip to San Francisco . . . .

In the meantime, I can show you what kept me busy while he was working.

To commemorate our trip to Chicago . . .

A 21st birthday . . . .

a high school graduation . . .

A fabulous snowstorm in Sequim. . . . . .

  Two to four feet, depending what part of town was measured.  A huge drift in front of the garage kept me snowbound for six glorious days!  I had enough food, wine, chocolate and yarn to keep me happy.  My Wisconsin snow shoveling skills served me well to get to and from the Patch.  It would have been even better with Al at home. But he would have gone out there and shoveled away that darn drift and spoiled the fun. 

And needlepoint to keep me busy . . . 

One for Paulette. 

 One for me.

Can spring be far behind? 

A tisket, a tasket

Somehow the light caught these spider webs just right to make me think that angel spiders visited.  Are there angel spiders?  Apparently.  But they were gone a couple hours later so I found them just in time, I found them just in time.  They changed my lonely life that lovely day.  

Look at these funny things.  Hardy kiwi, aka kiwi berry, grape kiwi, cocktail kiwi.  Cocktail?  Did somebody say cocktail?  Well, they grow on a trellis in our back yard and are really yummy.  Come pick all you want.

Remember the corn Al planted on the Fourth of July?  Well, The Corn Is Green.  Literally.  There is quite a bit so it's too bad that we don't have pigs to eat it.  It just didn't ever get hot enough to make it plump and yellow and tasty.  Too bad because he tended it so diligently, weeding and watering

This is my harvest from about a week ago.  The strawberries are finished now, but the raspberries must be on their third or fourth crop.  It's not raining  now so I'll take my little green and yellow basket and pick a few.  Bye.