Kingfisher Cove

Hello, Long Weekend!

Oh man, I’ve needed this. This whole summer has kicked my butt at work, and there is no end in sight. But I managed to ditch out at noon today (after pretty much cramming an 8-hour day into 4!) and after a rather brutal drive through killer traffic, we have landed at Harstine. The stress of the rat-race hasn’t quite diminished yet but I sense it’s going to start puddling around my ankles in short order.  Then I’ll kick it to the blue moon!

It’s sunny! It’s warm! It’s quiet! And John’s grumpy! (His foot is still killing him from that plantar fasciitis that simply will not subside).

Heh. With all those trees down (and especially the Big ‘Un), the deck definitely gets a whole lot more sun in the afternoon and it finally chased me inside. I’m about to head back out though, because the birds need feeding!

Sure is pretty.

 

John intends to do some more excavating this weekend – attack stumps, and clear some of the scotch broom on the neighbors’ empty lot to make room for storing dirt/logs/etc.

Kind of hit a hiccup with our contractor who came back with some extremely excessive bids. John’s loaded for bear (as well as ammo – in terms of facts and research of his own) and there will likely be a come-to-jesus meeting between the two of them soon.

Yeah, here we go. (I suspect this is just the beginning of a whole lot of “hiccups.”)

The Perfect Analogy

The Reason I Could Never Be A Republican

I don’t even need to tell you. This sums it up 100%. The “American Taliban” part is key. I’ve been saying this for years.

 

So, This Happened

I’ve been thinking about new dishes for a while. I know it wasn’t that long ago that I bought these. But, truth be known, I have never been in love with them. They’re OK, and I don’t dislike them (and I’m keeping them), but they never made my heart go pitter-patter or anything. I’ve spent many months browsing through the internet – Macy’s, Nordstrom, obscure places, and then Pinterest – just trying to see if there was anything out there that actually would make my heart go pitter-patter!

Boy, am I picky.

Either that, or the ol’ ticker is stone cold.

In the meantime, I tucked money away for the possibility that something might eventually sing to me.

And it finally happened!

It was a huge decision because of the price—I never in a million years would have thought that I would spend that kind of money on a set of everyday dishes. But I’m the queen of justification! I have a gorgeous set of china that my great-aunt gave to me that I absolutely love, so I never had to spring for the cost of a set of china. Hence, it’s acceptable to spring for a set of uber-quality everyday dishes. Right? Right! In fact, damned right! (Although, like I said, it took me several weeks to come to that conclusion).

Introducing Denby “Azure Coast.” And of course, with Harstine Island in mind! Nate had best marry one special lady if they are to ever be handed down my Denbies or my great-aunt’s china.

They are also open stock, which was a requirement. There are two other Denby styles that complement this one, and much of the open stock serving pieces are kind of a blend of all of those, which is fine. The only serving piece I ordered was a serving bowl that is the (much) bigger equivalent of the regular bowl shown above. (There is also a platter to die for, but, uhm, I’ll wait on that…)

They arrived yesterday.

Yup, serving for 12. I plan to do some entertaining when we’re retired! Or, at least pay back our neighbors for inviting us over for various shindigs that we haven’t been able to reciprocate (yet).

And to be reminded on cloudy gray days how beautiful it can be when the sun is out and the sky and water are beautifully blue azure! Heh.

Oh yes, we used them last night! The mug is gorgeous!!

Wish I could be Mary Poppins (or Bewitched) and have the house all built and be all moved in and not have to deal with the continued stress that is work-work-work.

Laughing My Lips Off

You all know (you can’t deny this) that if the tables were turned and it was the Democratic National Convention in the crosshairs of a hurricane, Pat Robertson would be all over the airwaves spouting about “This is God’s message to those evil Democrats, they’ve brought this on  themselves because they are evil doers!” et al. I notice he’s pretty quiet about this.

But I saw this today and I’ve been giggling about it all day long. I guess you could say, “You republicans have brought this on yourself with your War on Women!”

Giant Uterus Heads for GOP Convention!

At least I think this is funny. Pat Robertson has been, and would be, serious!

Then there’s ol’ Rush Limbaugh blaming President Obama for the hurricane.

Crazytown.

And then Paul Ryan: “Rape is another means of conception.” How despicable can somebody be? He is utterly unfit for office. Seriously in need of having his mouth washed out with Tabasco sauce. And I mean it.

All that said, I am concerned about this storm and the vulnerable people in its direct path, which looks to be New Orleans yet again. The 7th anniversary of Katrina is this Wednesday.

Unsunny Sunday

Today is not stellar. Cloudy, breezy, gray. Well, I guess that’s what makes us appreciate the stellar!

In other ways today is not particularly stellar, either. John worked his (and the excavator’s) ass off unearthing a HUGE! rock that would be in the path of the driveway, and hauled it up the hill to where he’s been placing other large rocks he’s encountered (likely to use for landscaping eventually, except this humongous one probably wouldn’t serve any aesthetic purpose).

And then. He’s been working to try to remove a big ol’ stump and it’s been going on for hours. Well, and the track came off the excavator so that took quite a while for him and the neighbor to repair, let alone frustration. But that stump is incredibly stubborn with giant roots that must go to China! Definitely hoping that this particular stump is the most difficult one – but I wonder. We have a hunch that all of the tree roots around here go to China.

Going on hour #5 (or 6?) with this sucker. (Including downtime with the track issue). Jeesh. I hear baffled voices out there over the top of the growling excavator motor.

There are piles of logs everywhere. John has hauled a few of them (and I mean just a few!) to the top of the property to eventually cut/chop for firewood.

Sure wish I’d taken this video yesterday when it was sunny and the sky and water were so blue! But alas. It’s a brief panoramic look at the building site. (Heh, you can hear the excavator in the background. Considering its power, it really isn’t a terribly loud thang).

What’s the status right now? A couple of things going on (besides dealing with these trees). The contractor is getting bids for various parts of the work, and is being meticulous about it before submitting the materials list to the bank. John’s been in touch with the bank and they are happy about the “meticulousness.” And then sort of a big thing – our contractor (“Trapper John”) suggested that we raise the height of the garage and lower the height of the house. John’s been working in AutoCad and SketchUp to accomplish that, which involves some rearrangement to accommodate the reconfiguration of stairs, etc. It is a good thing to do – it will make a lot of things much more accessible and greatly cut costs for grading and materials. The only downside is that it means a full flight-and-a-half of stairs from the garage down to the house, which before was just a half a flight. That’s sort of a biggie for when we’re old(er) farts and have to haul groceries, etc. into the house. (OR MOVE INTO IT). But an eventual ramp might be the ticket to ease that issue. What will be especially nice is we’ll have closer access to the beach. We won’t be towering above the gully so much, and that’s a good thing.

A Whole New View

Even in the almost-dark when we arrived at Harstine last night, I was amazed at how different the view is now with that Big Ol’ Tree down. The best gift of ‘em all was that the moon was out and reflecting on the water and I could totally see it without having to duck and sway between branches everywhere to catch a glimpse. It’s a stunning sight, and I’ve learned that it’s impossible to capture a photo (at least with the cameras I have).

The contrast of being here with the quiet and the beauty and the serenity compared to my work week in the city with all of its jarring and screeching noise and rat-race traffic and drama and demands — is indescribable.

Update: Just learned that Neil Armstrong died. First human to walk on the moon, and last night I felt that moon flowing through my veins as I was speechless, watching it’s other-worldly reflection on the water. I am not religious in any way, but nature always brings out my spirituality. RIP, Neil. (I was at Heron Island, very close to Harstine, in 1969 during that first moon landing. I’d just turned 13 and was with a girlfriend and her family — who were NOT interested in watching the landing! So I watched on their TV all by myself , very grateful that they even had a TV at their beach cabin. I was utterly mesmerized). 

Thai-ish

So. This was good.

My cousin, Sheri, sent me home with a bunch of fresh veggies after our cousins’ get-together last Saturday. And at the grocery store the other day I’d picked up some chicken breasts marinated in satay sauce. I did a little poking around on recipe sites online and decided to concoct a stir fry using all those ingredients, plus some peanut sauce I had in my pantry. I even threw in some chunked fresh pineapple. Oh! And fished out some peanuts from a can of mixed nuts and chopped them up and sprinkled them over the top once it was all done. I’m here to tell you that it turned out DELICIOUS. Rather “Thai” (which I love) and even John liked it. (I may now even be able to talk him into visiting the uber-rated Thai restaurant in town!)

It was all pretty much on-the-fly (no recipe involved), so before I forget, here’s what I did:

Ingredients (no measurements, but approximately 1/2 C to 1 C each):

Sliced zucchini (1)

Snap peas

Miniature peppers (cut in half and seeded)

Mushrooms (quartered)

Grape tomatoes (halved)

Fresh pineapple chunks (added a lot of flavor)

Two large chicken breasts (purchased marinated in satay sauce & sliced into strips. I don’t think it’s make or break if not marinated in the satay sauce, but probably add a little coconut milk to the peanut sauce)

1/2 C chopped peanuts

~~~

Heat olive oil on medium high until starting to smoke and add the chicken, stirring constantly for 2-3 minutes. I seasoned the chicken with a little bit of Johnny’s Dock seasoning and several sprinkles of powdered ginger – (didn’t have any fresh ginger, but I bet it would be awesome). Also a splash of granulated garlic powder (too lazy to deal with mincing the real thing on a week night). Then I added about 1/3 C of peanut sauce and continued to stir fry on med. high heat until chicken was opaque.

Add the veggies in batches and continue to stir fry. I also added a little bit more peanut sauce, and a splash of reduced sodium soy sauce.

Continue to stir fry for 4-5 minutes until the veggies are cooked but still firm and not wilty (although the tomatoes did end up rather wilty, so maybe add them last).

Sprinkle the chopped peanuts over the top and dish up! Yum!

The Big’un

I had me a case of the nerves this morning around 9 a.m., knowing that at distant Harstine (where I am not!) the downing of the Biggest Tree of ‘Em All was due to happen. John called me once the deed was done (relief!), but he told me it really didn’t go quite as planned.

Neighbor Dale brought a larger chainsaw.

Even it wasn’t large enough for the circumference of that tree! John sawed while Dale inserted wedges, with the *idea* to aim it down across the gully.

That didn’t happen.

Here again is that big tree (center) with the arrow showing where he wanted it to fall.

As you can see, it fell toward the water instead.

The weight of the branches on the water-side had their way! A little disconcerting, but no harm, no foul. Except that it’ll be a bear to de-limb, cut to 10-foot lengths, and eventually haul them up and out of there, even with an excavator. (That’s a steep drop-off, right down to the beach).

So, I thought this was pretty interesting. I had to search, but I found a screen capture from a video that shows pretty close to the exact same view of “before” the big tree to match with the “after.” The screen cap was taken last winter (it was actually snowing!) so you can’t see across the water very well. But they really are the same view:

Wow! There’s a lot of water and sky out there now! Below is the full pic of the “after” photo – click on it to get a good enlargement.

And one sad little side-note: Every time a tree has fallen throughout this summer—every time—Bailey, the long-haired weenie dog whimpers and cries.

Except for two small dead trees, the tree falling is done.

Just Sayin’

“If by a “Liberal” they mean someone who looks ahead and not behind, someone who welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions, someone who cares about the welfare of the people — their health, their housing, their schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and their civil liberties — someone who believes we can break through the stalemate and suspicions that grip us in our policies abroad [and at home], if that is what they mean by a “Liberal,” then I’m proud to say I’m a “Liberal.”  –John F. Kennedy, 1960