Odds and ends

 

Costco was having a sale on glasses - buy two pair and get $50 off.  I just had an eye exam back in the summer so it was a good time to pick out new glasses.

It's always hard to choose. I mostly wear contact lenses when I go somewhere but on days when I'm at home, I just wear my glasses.

These were my favorites. I like the color on the frames...it adds some definition to my same-color hair and skin.

The second pair has a good sturdy frame. I think they are actually men's. Good for wearing around doing chores and stuff.

With savings on these glasses and a new battery for the Jeep, my Costco membership has really been worthwhile this year.

I've actually gotten enthused about sewing projects again. I finished assembling this small quilt top and got it quilted.

Those three pieces of fabric laying on top are some possibilities for the binding.

Right now I'm leaning towards the dark brown one on the right.  The black seems to harsh and the green is "bleh".

I'm continuing to hand sew these hexagons. It's a fun thing to work on while sitting out back in the evenings.

I had to lay them out together to see how they might look when I put them all together.

I'll probably choose a layout like this...adding a darker hexagon to separate them.

I have a while to think about it. A lot more hexies need to be sewn to make it big enough.

There was another beautiful early morning sky!

It is so amazing but lasts just a short time. As the sun rises the color disappears.

More soup. I know this looks like the last soup I made but it's different.  I was trying for chicken pot pie soup.

It doesn't taste exactly like I planned but it's pretty good anyway.

End of September

 Summer is winding down.

I spent one last morning by the pool with my coffee before the pool guys came to shut it down and put the cover on.

Looking left, you can see the old deck is completely removed.

The time was right to close the pool. The super hot days ended abruptly with cooler temperatures moving in.

Always sad to see the pool covered though.

Just so you know...I didn't plant those Zinnias there in the stepping stones. They came up from previous years scattered seeds. I can't  bring myself to pull them up, so just walk around them.

And here is my new tiny deck. Only 6 by 8 feet, no stairs. 

A father/son team built it in a day. They didn't speak English, so lots of smiling and nodding. I'm happy with their work.  A bit of trim work still needs to be done.

The photo makes the posts look crooked but they are not.

Puss wonders what the heck has happened!  She says it with her ear position.

She used to go down the steps before if I'd have the door open. Things change, Puss!

Though I'm happy with this part of the work, I wouldn't use this contractor again.

Not enough communication, sloppy on the clean up, and things not finished up nicely at the end...like the electrical wiring, the trim of the house, and the old posts sawed off stumps sticking up.

The price was reasonable...but you get what you pay for.

On a happier note...a beautiful sun rise!  So much color!

Changing by the minute as the sun comes up.

A good way to start the day!

Trouble in Darlaville

 Trouble here in Darlaville. Home repairs.

Can you see this squirrel hanging on to the door frame here on the screen porch?

He didn't cause the problem but he alerted me to it.

He made his way through the side of the house into the area between the first and second floor.  Not the attic...but between the ceiling downstairs and the floor above.

Puss and I heard him scampering around in there. I went upstairs looking around thinking he had got in up there (down the chimney), but nope.

It turns out that moisture had rotted out an area where the deck attaches to the house...a large enough area for the squirrel to get through.

It was right below the door.

I had a contractor out to see what needed to be done. He said much of the deck would have to be removed to get to the area that needed repair.

Another choice was to get rid of the deck completely, which is what I decided to do.

I think we added the deck in 1997 or 98, so it's nearly 30 years old.

I don't really use the upper deck or the screen porch...other than a place to put my garden tools and other assorted junk.

The screen porch was nice, years ago. Lonnie and I would sit out there in nice weather and he would use his grill in there. When his family and grandkids would come over for a swim and a cookout it was a perfect gathering spot.

Things change.

Anyway, the tear-down guys were working during those horrible 90 something degree days. Just a few hours at a time. It was a hard job...mostly because the deck was covered in a metal roofing material to keep the screen porch dry below.

Rotten.

The beams still looked good but many would have had to be removed anyway to get at the rotten area.

Sort of sad to see it being torn down and of course I kept wondering if I'd made the right decision.

Here is the rotten area. Whew! That's been going on for awhile. I guess that mischievous little squirrel did me a favor by drawing attention to this problem.

Another worry with the old deck was this tree pushing into the side of it.

You can see that big gash in the bark where it had begun growing around the deck floor.

I did ask for a small deck to be built so that upper door wouldn't open into nothingness.

I'll show that next time.

August and September

 I have a couple of things still from August.

I had a nice visit from a niece (husband's side) and her three young adult kids.

They live out of state and I hadn't seen them in years. I was touched when she contacted me and wanted to stop by.

The young ones were very polite and respectful. They made conversation and didn't look at their phones. Just a really nice family!

A rainbow. It's beautiful even when arching over heavy equipment!

So that has been my view all summer. No more work has gone on over there. Just some bushhogging a couple of times.

August was my birthday month. It was a happy one with cards and messages from friends. It was a quiet relaxing day at home (my favorite thing).

The Sasquatch showed up with a huge watermelon to celebrate. It was a sweet one and much healthier than a birthday cake.

Not a great photo...but turkeys up around the bird feeder.

Here are the book club reads for September...

Shoe Dog (non fiction). Memoir by Phil Knight, one of the founders of Nike.

I enjoyed this book. Mr Knight is a man who believed in himself and had a lot of determination and drive to keep going even when circumstances were not looking favorable.

He wanted to produce good shoes.  It's an inspiring story of his success.

The fiction book was The Impossible Thing, a story based on the now illegal practice of collecting rare bird eggs.

In truth, people really took risks to find these eggs...including being lowered over cliffs to rob the nests.

The book has a large cast of characters and takes place in two different time periods. The author does a good job in building suspense and revealing the story a bit at a time.

It's not cool weather yet, but I had the urge to make soup.

Sort of cream of broccoli with rotisserie chicken added.

I used plain Greek yogurt for the creaminess. I've been finding ways to use it ever since I bought one accidentally at the Costco check-out. (It mistakenly got pushed back with my stuff on the conveyor belt).

It's a good way to add some extra protein.

Garden veggies

 Lots of garden vegetables were ripening in August.

The Sasquatch tried growing cantaloupe. He had success!

He had ordered mini cantaloupe seeds from " Johnny Seeds".

He started them inside then planted them outside in large grow bags. They fell off the vine when they were ripe. This one was the first.

Very sweet and very juicy!  

He is also having good success with peppers this year. The yellow ones are hot lemon peppers, the big red ones are capperino peppers, the small red ones are bishops hat, then the orange may be sweet banana...it's hard to remember them all!

He made a batch of pickled pepper relish.

It's darn tasty!

My eggplants are producing. These are a small type.

My squash plants weren't doing great. I just got rid of the plants after I picked these.

Yellow is Delicata, green is Acorn, and the big one is Butternut. I roasted them all at once.

Good, except the acorn squash...stringy.

What's this???!!!  More peppers. They just keep coming!

The Sasquatch dried a bunch in the dehydrator. There are still more on his plants!

He also grew a few gourds too. They are still on the vine. He said they shouldn't be picked until the vines die back.

It seems the Sasquatch is a better veggie gardener than I am. 

I'm excited about it in the spring but lazy in weeding and taking care of them later in the summer.

Cyanotypes

 I'm behind in writing about August because I wrote so much about my trip.

Anyway, early in August, I went to a class at the extension office. It was something I'd never heard of before...Cyanotypes.

The Google tells me this....

The cyanotype process is a 180-year-old photographic printing method that uses ultraviolet (UV) light and iron salts to create rich, monochrome Prussian blue images

...and it's fun!

The instructor had supplies ready for us.

Lots of leaves and flowers that she had picked that morning. We used these to make images. She also had some stencil type cut-outs that could be used.

First, two chemicals were combined and added to water. That mixture was used to paint a thin coat on heavy weight paper.

Next, we arranged flowers and greenery in a pleasing design over the painted paper, and covered with clear plastic sheets...clamped down to hold everything in place.

After that we placed them on a table out in bright sunlight for 15 minutes.

Here's what the papers looked like after that.

But then when you rinse them and allow them to dry, they turn this beautiful blue color.

I really like this result. I'd like it better if I had done a better job!

Cyanotype kits are available to buy online. Not too expensive.

I think it would be fun for anyone - all ages.

This may seem like a re-run to you because it's sort of like the indigo dye class I took earlier this summer.

Norway cruise part 5

 More about Day 10, after the bus tour in Olden.

There were several shops there at port. I looked through them before getting back on board the ship, and bought a block of "brunost"(a Norwegian brown cheese) and also a stick of moose sausage for the Sasquatch.

I spent some time in my cabin, resting and sitting by the big window. The weather was nice enough to have it open.

Look at the color of the water!  

A dock below was busy with small boats coming and going...paddleboats and RIBs too.  At one point a young couple jumped in and had a short swim!  Brrr!

At sail away time I went up to the top deck. This is a nice seating area up there. 

A beautiful day!

That was the last port stop in Norway. Goodbye Norway! I hope to come back again!

As the ship picked up speed it became too windy and cold to enjoy that top deck.

I had a nice hot tea at the buffet then settled down in the cabin to watch a movie before bedtime.

Day 11 started off strange for me...I slept until 7:43am! I'm usually early to bed, early to rise. I had a moment of panic then I remembered it's another day at sea so no need to hurry.

After a buffet breakfast I went to the cruise director Q and A session. Interesting and lots of funny stories.

 Then later the marine biologist gave a talk on plankton. She is such a good speaker that she makes any subject interesting.

I had a late lunch then back to my cabin.  Each afternoon they leave one of these snack plates in the room (unless I'm in there and I have the " do not disturb" sign out).

I'm afraid it's wasted on me. I don't want to eat stuff I don't recognize. I did taste the red salad. It was good...maybe watermelon and grapefruit with feta cheese?

Also this time they left this invitation to watch sail away from the helicopter pad when leaving Rotterdam the next day.

Day 12 we sailed into Rotterdam.  There's the harbor pilot

I ordered a room service breakfast and watched from my window.

 

My excursion...sightseeing and a visit to the Delft factory started with a bus ride through town.  Lots of bicycles here. People of all ages riding.

Close to the Delft factory area the IKEA store had these "Delft" decorated cows out front.

The factory tour was interesting with a guided museum exhibit area, a walk through the work area, where we saw the molds for forming different pieces, and also a worker hand painting a piece.

There was a big gift shop at the end. Whew! The hand painted stuff is pricey! 248 euros for one coffee cup (that equals 288 US dollars).

They had some less expensive things that were made with transfers instead of hand painted.  I only bought a little Christmas ornament.

Afterwards we had a walking tour. It rained and no one in the group had their umbrellas because the forecast had been for cloudy without rain.

Our bus driver saved the day with a few umbrellas he handed out.

Lots of historic buildings.

After visiting the nature and beauty of the fjords, the huge city was a sharp contrast.

The guide was very good though and gave a lot of information. 

Lots of waterways and canals.

Modern architecture.

Bridges.

Back on the ship I started packing my suitcase.  Here's my souvenirs. 

The coffee cup from "north cape" or 71 degrees latitude north.

A cute moose key chain and the Delft ornament.

I also got a couple of tee shirts.

The next morning in Southampton disembarking went smoothly.  I had a bus to Heathrow where I had enough time before my flight to stock up on some duty free candy.

Flights were on time and that long flight back to the US seems easier in daylight hours.

Overall a really pleasant vacation. I'm beginning to really prefer visiting a place with peaceful scenic beauty like Norway. I feel so fortunate to have been able to experience this.  I would love to go back again.