Monthly Archives: September 2008

Camping in Anacortes

16 Tuesday Sep 2008

Posted by in Mount Vernon

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During the Labor Day weekend, we took our motor home to our Anacortes lot to relax, hike, hack at the vegetation, and see what it feels like to spend the night on our lot.

As soon as we parked our motor home, we scampered on top to check out the view. Our 1.5 acre lot has a few high points, but we’d never seen the view from what will be the second story of our planned house. We were amazing at what we could see… the Puget Sound, Mount Baker, and the refineries on March Point.

After a  restful night, we enjoyed a hearty breakfast before packing up for a hike to Whistle Lake… a few miles from our lot. First, Rich decided to make the bed and quickly noticed nibbled holesMotor home on our lot in the sheets and a pillowcase. We haven’t used the motor home for over two years, when we drove it from Texas to Mount Vernon. We evidentially brought a mouse or two from Texas who made a nest in our bed!

Rich did a quick check in the drawers and cupboards of the motor home to see whether we had a major mouse infestation. Nope. Our lone mouse or mouse couple must have either died or snuck outside to freedom.

Either though we’ve hiked around Whistle Lake, Rich wanted to try out his new GPS. Seemingly, every two minutes, he stopped to check our coordinates. It made me a bit loony because we had a map that showed where we were going… and the trails are clearly marked. Rich and his GPS

At one point, Rich got so wrapped up in playing with the GPS that he zigged when we should have zagged. I didn’t say a word until fifteen minutes later when Rich realized that we should have reached the lake… instead of being deep in the woods. Ha!

I had seen the map so I knew that we’d eventually reach the lake. And when we did, we enjoyed a nice picnic lunch before heading back to our lot to start cutting trails and deciding where we want to eventually plant our gardens.

In the coming years, we look forward to more enjoyable days and evenings "roughing" it on our lot… before we start building our dream house.

Progress on Bedroom

15 Monday Sep 2008

Posted by in Home Improvement, Uncategorized

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I’ve had several requests to post progress on our house. We were progressing until summer… good weather… sailing… trips… and Rich’s addiction to watching Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow on MSNBC…Bedroom

Our bedroom is about done. Missing are the closet doors, and some baseboard molding. We’ll also be replacing the single-pane window and adding a skylight when we redo the roof. In the meanwhile, the pictures are hung, bamboo flooring completed… pillow made for the bed… and new bedspread purchased.

The Tiffany lamp on the high boy (above) is from a wonderful woman, Patricia, who I worked with at Dell. The lamp had a broken switch, which Rich repaired in a jiffy. Bedroom pillowsI love the colors the lamp casts on the walls at night.

The pictures are a combination of watercolors and oils, framed antique lace (from my Grandmother), needlepoint, my grandparent’s wedding picture, and a frame copy of Rich’s and my wedding invitation (a gift from a friend).

For additional storage, I placed a bench at the foot of the bed. There’s storage under the seat. by the window is a large dresser and of course, more pictures. The other bench is in our dining room.

Bedroom closetsThe other wall, next to the bed, has a large window with a huge dresser beneath with another Tiffany lamp. And of course, a collage of six paintings… one from Russia.

You can see our "open" closets (right) and Zephyra’s glowing eyes.   

Yummy Dessert

15 Monday Sep 2008

Posted by in Food and drink

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For the past few weeks, Rich and I have enjoyed one of my favorite, Pacific Northwest desserts… fresh picked blackberries with vanilla ice cream.

For those not familiar with the the flora of Oregon and Washington, blackberry bushes (or more appropriately, vines) will grow wild anywhere there’s a spot of sunshine and soil fertile enough to support a handful of seeds — often deposited in bird or animal poop.

Thorny, persistent and seemingly indestructible, blackberries are often the bane of gardeners and will grow six or more feet in height and swallow swaths of land if not kept under control. Many years ago, my dear friend in Oregon, ended up with a yard full of blackberry bushes. We tackled them one afternoon, cutting and slowly removing them. After 10-15 feet of bushes had been cleared, we came across her son’s sandbox, which she hadn’t seen for years.

My first picking this year was in Anacortes. I wandered down the hill from our lot and quickly filled a bowl, picking the berries that grew along the street.

Last week, I picked another bunch in Mount Vernon. Once again, I only had to walk a few paces before I came to a bush, full with plump berries.

Because blackberries are so plentiful in Oregon and Washington, most people don’t bother to pick them, preferring strawberries, blueberries and raspberries, which are readily available at local farms (or in their own backyards). Rich and I have five blueberry bushes in pots and a raspberry bush in the ground.

Being Rich and I have been deprived of blackberries for five years, we’re eager to pick ’em, plop them in sugar then spoon them over rich vanilla ice cream. Heavenly!