Kingfisher Cove

Historic

My friends and I are old enough now that when we get together we are compelled to take a moment to marvel at the l-o-n-g histories of our friendships. It kind of makes us blink our eyes in amazement. Decades. Since we were 7 or 12 years old! It boggles the mind. It’s wonderful!

Thursday, my friend Margaret drove to Harstine to visit and spend the night and we had such a fun and relaxing time catching up with each other. Had a nummy Copper River salmon dinner, imbibed in some adult beverages, and relaxed on the sunny and warm hot deck. Friday morning we took a beach walk with the weenie dogs. And Wylie the cat decided that Margaret’s pets and soothing kitty-voice was something she could purr about. [Both cats tend to be quite wary—and therefore scarce—when other humans are around, so this was heartening!]

The last time Margaret was here was about a year ago. John and I were still sleeping in the trailer, although since the glass studio was pretty much done we hauled dinner down from the trailer and ate at the patio table in there. (The house was many miles from being finished!) We John has come a long way since she was here last.

Yesterday morning as I was bringing out slices of breakfast quiche to the deck where John and Margaret were sitting and browsing news on their phones, Margaret said, “TONYA!! 5 to 4!!!” At first I thought she was giving me the Mariners score (wtf?), and then it was clear: the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay marriage! WOW!

Talk about historic! And just the day before, they’d handed down an important ruling in favor of the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”) that cements its legacy, much like Social Security and Medicare are legacies.

And there’s more!

After last week’s horrific terrorist attack by a white supremacist at a black church in South Carolina, killing nine parishioners, there is now a strong nationwide groundswell for the southern states to take down their confederate flags from public buildings. It looks like it’s going to happen!

What a week! Good news all around. We are finally seeing positive progress toward equality and health care for all!

My Response to Republicans

• The confederate flag is a symbol of your heritage, you say? You mean the “heritage” of bigotry, white supremacy, slavery, and treason? You know, much like the swastika? That heritage?
• You say that gay marriage means that “children will be raped?” (Really?) You do know that a pedophile is a pedophile, regardless of sexual orientation? And remember that the key is “consent.” Those pesky facts are important.
• You insist that marriage is between a man and a woman? Well, I would argue that marriage is for people who love each other and want to get married. And if it doesn’t quite align with your idea of what marriage should be, ask yourself how gay people marrying (or not so many years ago, interracial people marrying) specifically harms your marriage? You would deny people you disapprove of the pursuit of happiness and justice you feel a right to? And who are you to judge?
• Obamacare! Repeal it, you say? Eye-roll. Snort.
• “It’s just so odd that all this hatred and discrimination seems to be emanating from a bunch of Republicans who claim to represent Jesus.  Now there is a conundrum. As a Christian politician do you abide by the law of the land and treat others with love and respect or do you follow the teachings of Jesus and treat others with love and respect?  Such a dilemma.” –from Margaret and Helen

Wild

Yesterday really was. A hummingbird flew inside the house, something we’ve been a little concerned about because they tend to boldly hover around the deck and swoop in close to the open deck doors. And so, it happened. And oh, what an ordeal. (Thankfully it wasn’t a disaster. I had visions of this poor exhausted creature dropping to the floor and being pounced upon by a cat! Actually, I think the cats were oblivious).

For FOUR HOURS that little bugger hovered and buzzed way up high at the clerestory windows. Based on their curiosity that I’ve observed over the years, I assumed that hummingbirds were relatively bright for their size. (Considering that they are a bird). But apparently not. The stupid thing would NOT fly down toward the wide open quadruple double deck doors and escape! Later, it occurred to me that he was seeing the trees through those upper windows and that’s what he was aiming for. He desperately wanted to head for the trees and he kept clicking against those windows trying to get there. I tried every silly thing, like loading up whatever red item I could find near the deck doors to try to catch his attention, including the hummingbird feeder. Nada.

Then he would perch on the beam and rest for a while.

Always thinking…UP. (Thinking?)

John got up from his nap and said, “He’s still in here?” Um, yeah. So then he got busy. Affixed a towel to the end of a pole to try to herd him toward the open deck doors. Heh.

(The hummingbird wrangler).

Finally, he hauled in a ladder and a sheet of 1/4-inch plywood and I handed him up a laundry basket and after three (or more?) tries, he finally trapped the little bird/bug against the window above the deck doors and oh-so-carefully held that plywood tight to the laundry basket, gingerly climbed down the ladder no-hands, and headed outside onto the deck…and set him free.

And the hummingbird shot straight up to the trees.

(I had dreams last night that kept waking me up. I kept hearing Star Wars sabers, and I’d bolt up in bed all stressed that the damned hummingbird was back inside the house).

Something tells me this will happen again. We may need to create tools for the situation and keep them on hand. Or get a butterfly net.

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Today, a squirrel discovered the bounty of fallen bird seed beneath the bird feeders. I was really hoping this wouldn’t happen, not because we don’t like the squirrels (we do! They are the little red/pine squirrels and they are cute and personable). But that deck is a dangerous place with two cats in proximity. Lots of that bird seed has also fallen into a couple of the flower pots and the squirrel was in and out of those things, then he’d perch in the sunlight and eat  his nut. Then back into the pot again, tail hanging over the edge. One of the deck doors was open and I saw him heading toward it. You can bet your bippy that I hot-tailed it toward that door to ward him off because WE DIDN’T NEED ANOTHER WILD CREATURE INSIDE. Man, he was right at the threshold, and if he’d made it in, all hell would have broken loose because Mojo was snoozing on the couch just a couple of feet away. Mojo is the Dexter of cats and it likely would have been a bloodbath. I shudder to think…

I closed the deck door, and soon afterward Wylie noticed the squirrel through the window and was all on-point. I had to run to the grocery store, but later John told me that Wylie zoomed outside through the bedroom window and started stalking the squirrel. So John went out and tried to scare the squirrel away down toward the other (safe!) end of the deck—but the stupid thing wouldn’t scare! It was as if it was relatively tame! John finally made loud, threatening motions and the squirrel vamoosed. (“For your own good, buddy! We’ve seen squirrel guts on the living room floor before, and we’d rather not revisit that scenario.”)

Holy crap.

Guffaws, Giggles, and Grins

Dad’s 80th birthday celebration yesterday at my aunt and uncle’s house on Camano Island (Dad’s sister’s place) was pretty much perfection! A fair amount of preparation beforehand made it possible for me to really enjoy the day with the family and double over with laughter with my cousin, Sheri. At our “wizened” ages we still giggle like the girls we used to be!

First, some of the prep. My fridge was PACKETHED.

(As an aside, we did some major Costco shopping both for the party and for the pantry, and I divided up and bagged a bunch of MEAT for the freezer. As a meat-lover, there is something beautiful about fresh meat, don’t you think? That is, if you’re a meat-lover…):

The day was gorgeous (with a stiff breeze). And oh, that fragrance of salt water! Heavenly!

It was a three-hour drive TO THE MINUTE from our place at Harstine Island to Camano Island! Here’s the spread (plus we had crockpots with BBQ meatballs and my brother’s famous chili stew):

And the cake! (Chocolate with raspberry filling):

Cousins!

Sheri and me (we are 4 months apart so we’ve always been close):

And the man of honor as we sang Happy Birthday:

So…remember when I mentioned the “project” I was working on that I had to keep a secret? It was a Shutterfly photo book depicting his life. I opted to make it 12” x 12” so that the photos would be large enough for him to see them well. You can view the electronic version of Dad’s Photo Book if you’d like! (I recommend clicking “full screen” to see it best).

As you can see, he was quite tickled about it!

I was VERY pleased with how it turned out. The quality was top-notch, with nice sleek paper and it is beautifully bound. Some of the photo colors were a little wonky, but that happens with a mix of scanned (old) photos mixed with digital. Overall I think it was really the perfect gift for him.

AND, he really enjoyed himself! He doesn’t hear well (like our geriatric dogs these days), but he was alert and engaged and grinning all the time! Some old friends came that he hadn’t seen for a while, and it was great that he was surrounded by family. I sure wish Nate could have been there.

Here are some of the pages from the photo book:

I’ll leave you with a magnificent sunset from this past week.

Saturday Saturday!

(It is strange to admit that we struggle sometimes knowing what day of the week it is!)

This morning we left the dogs home alone (WTF? Yeah, they didn’t like that…) and drove over to the Harstine Island Farmer’s Market. It’s about, oh, 5-7 miles away from our place. The island was busy with some kind of run-a-thon happening, and with rural roads without shoulders we had to often drive in the oncoming lane. A little dicey at times with all the curves! But we eventually arrived in one piece and enjoyed ourselves in the sunshine. A few years ago I had a booth there one Saturday with my fused glass stuff. It was pretty fun, although a lot of work setting up and taking down for just a 2-hour Market. I could see giving it another go, maybe on a simplified basis. It’s a very “rural” market, and I do recall more produce than they offered today (maybe it’s a little early? Hmm.) But I enjoy all the arts and crafts, too, and there was a lot of homemade pastries, jams, jellies, and even “bread & butter pickled zucchini.” (I had a taste of that and it was yummy!) There was also a booth with an older fellow selling fused glass jewelry and it was very pretty (yes, I bought a pair of earrings from him!) I’ve basically decided making the fused glass jewelry is not my thing. I’ve dabbled in it, but I haven’t been happy with the results. And, there are a lot of people who are very good at it, so the market is pretty saturated. I still have some supplies to make some jewelry items so I won’t say “never,” but…it doesn’t make my skirt fly up.

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John finished the glass block in the master bathroom! (Well, he does still need to grout, but it’s all up, secure, and in place!)

I have always loved the look of glass block, and John has, too—but we wondered if it would “fit” in our rather modern/timber frame-style home. I’ve always associated it with art deco style, but we decided to go for it and I absolutely love it. It is so dramatic in there! He’s now working on the wood “lattice” frame that will support and complement the lighting fixtures. (It will be SO NICE to finally have decent lighting in there!) And then…we’ll be able to finally USE that bathroom instead of the guest bath.

Taaard. In a mood. (Watching idiot local newscasters—instead of Journalism/Broadcast school, I swear they hire these women straight from the Seattle SeaGals these days. Nasal child-like voices, can’t read the teleprompter, but oh don’t they have gorgeous hair). 

‘Tis the Season

Madronas are wacko trees because June/July is their October/November. (Maybe they think they live in the southern hemisphere?) Their leaves turn crispy and gold/brown and drop onto the deck (and everywhere else) and wedge themselves between the deck boards.

They did this on the trailer deck, too. It’s like they exist to wedge themselves between deck boards—which makes them really difficult to sweep or blow off with the leaf blower. And of course, the instant you DO remove them, more drop down to take their place. Like shoveling snow while it’s snowing.

Then, once they’re done dropping leaves, they switch over to shedding their BARK. Big ol’ strips of crispy bark…everywhere.

Messy damned things.

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It’s time to buckle down and get serious about Dad’s 80th birthday party on the 20th. I have the preliminary stuff at least thought out, and I really can’t shop or prepare foods until later next week, but I need to square away the “preliminary” into “final.” Detailed shopping lists (including Costco) and a schedule for food prep. It’ll be fine, except that I’ll be hankering to make stuff ahead of time and I really can’t (looking forward to having our spare fridge down here). Plus, I want things to be fresh. Thursday and Friday will be a flurry of activity, that’s for sure.

So, in anticipation of all that, I’ve been spending some hours in my glass studio. I currently have things cooking in the kiln and several items lined up. So far I’ve completed four of those tea lite trays (click to embiggen):

They all differ somewhat, which makes them fun to do. Here are some close-ups:

I’ve ordered some glass so I can also incorporate some “tangerine” and more reds and yellows. But you can probably tell what my favorite color palette is! (Well, it’s beachy, right?)

Stuff

Time for bullets!

• Enjoying clean floors for a few minutes. (Sigh). I feel such Zen when they look this way, but I’ll tell you what: The almost immediate effect of wet doggy noses/paws + men’s dirty boots pretty much feels like someone reached over my shoulder and hit the delete key after I’ve completed a godawful proposal.
• Been working on some glass projects! Some have been sort of meh, but I was happy with this “cousin” of my stream piece. This is smaller with a different curve—the idea is a beachy tea light tray. I left space to set some shells, beach glass, maybe agates, and a tea light candle. I have two more currently cooking in the kiln that differ a little in design. I may throw them up on my Artfire site and see what happens.

• John now has the tile completed in the master bath shower and it looks WONDERFUL!! And get a load of this!

• He’s also installing the glass block—it’s complete here at the terlet enclosure and he’s working on the shower area. Then he’ll work on the lighting.

• Squeeeeee!
• So, we finished Netflix’s “Bloodline” (it was goooood!) and now we’re watching the 10-part show called “Wayward Pines.” It caught my attention because I’d read the first two books of the trilogy last fall (and am now reading the 3rd book). So yeah, I do know what’s going on (for the most part), and it’s well done. Very well-cast! Poor John is wide-eyed and wondering! Heh.
• We’re in a heat wave! Man, it’s been close to 90° the last couple of days. At least until the beastly afternoons (the deck is western exposure), it’s been pretty comfortable, and we are so very thankful for our A/C in the house!

Calm Before the Storm

I have some fun (and busy!) weeks ahead with preparing for Dad’s party and also company coming, but right here and right now I’m kicking back a bit. My birthday came and went (meh) and Nate’s birthday is today (29!)

The surprise “project” I obsessed over worked on last month has come to fruition and I’m soooooo excited about it! I will post a teaser:

Once again we’ve transformed from gray days to a streak of sunny days—and these will be toasty! Upper 80s! Maybe even into the 90s this weekend. Today most definitely felt like summer!

 

Who needs Hawaii? Who needs palm trees? This is absolutely stellar! (Aside from maybe having someone serve me a drink with an umbrella, but oh well). John and I took a walk (found agates!) and it was lovely.

It was fun to see our geriatric dogs behave like puppies, running all over the beach. And Bailey bulleting into the water! (I was expecting a belly flop!) Wylie even showed up, which made me smile because it goes to show that the cats are always aware of our whereabouts. I saw this on Facebook today. (Heh heh).

They are also good at looking nonchalant when, in fact, they are guilty as hell (either in action or intent).