sunday in the city

pike place fish market. seattle.
you know. that place with lots of fish. and seafood.

the place where men in orange bibs throw fish (sorry, no photo of that... way too crowded) and are willing to pose with tourists for christmas card photos.

(my brother-in-law and sister)

and where there's a bronze pig with no sign that says 'please do not climb on' so grown men do.

pressure

steve wants to have another baby.

here's our first...
she's grown up to be quite the stunner.and sweet and loyal and funny and the light of our life.now he wants another puppy, a brother or sister for pixel. it's not a recent development. he's been talking about it since pixel was, oh, maybe 9 weeks old. so that's 2 years and 5 months.

i'm not so sure. a puppy is a lot of work. a dog is a lot of work. 2 dogs are double the work.

this just showed up in my inbox. followed by a text message telling me to check my email. wouldn't want me to miss the email. it was a link. this link.

i found these guys staring at me. a new litter of boykin spaniels. a breed steve's considering for our next child. yes, dear, they're cute.
seriously cute.
they grow up to be this.
we even have a possible name picked out for the puppy. (i've gone along with naming the dog, just not quite agreeing to adopting the dog yet. i'm still having trouble believing i have THIS dog, pixel.... remember, she's my first.)

oh, yea, the name....digit. yes, ...digit. it can change. but we kinda like it. of course nothing will top pixel for a name.

pixel's even in on the game. the game of wear mommy down slowly until we get another puppy, another brother or sister for her. pixel typed this as my screensaver.

those 2. they're laying it on thick. real thick.

caddy cards

i get a lot of requests for custom work... especially calling cards and business cards. this one came from my sister. her husband needed business cards for his side job.... caddying. i came up with these. my initial thoughts were tidy grass, green and bold. i think i succeeded.... and he likes them!

up in the air

my father-in-law sand sledding in new mexico. i love this photo. you could either walk down or ride down. he chose to ride. (click on the photos for the full beauty.)
my inlaws are on a plane right now heading to seattle. they stopped first to visit their daughter (steve's sister) in new mexico and her family. while there, they visited the white sands national monument. and had some fun. how beautiful are those dunes. and that blue, blue sky.
my nephew. being a typical boy.
my niece. nice body plant, morgan. you're still "it".
and they also went to carlsbad caverns. beautiful.
my nephew sam at the cave entrance. see him? see him? look closely.
great photos, brother-in-law dave!

i've closed the shop. i've cleaned the house (ok, i still have to vacuum and mop). i've stocked the fridge. let the fun begin.

giggle fit

i was going through some photo files last night. i came across this series. and laughed all over again. steve and i and my sister, kim, and her husband, bobby, were in maui, makena beach specifically, this past february. we found a great spot for photo ops. kim and i sat to pose. (please, please, don't be jealous of our ability to pose just like models.) steve was behind the lens with sidekick bobby. we got the giggles. we said don't take the photo until we're done laughing. we were sure he wasn't shooting.

then bobby made a joke about cleavage... or lack thereof. so, wait, don't shoot, let me fix my top.
then, a joke about kim's. huh, wait, don't shoot, let her fix her shirt.
ok, i think we got it together here. ... no, wait. still laughing.oh boy, severely laughing now. hold on. one's about to burst a vein.
ok, maybe we're ready. oops, no, monkey face showing.*no, wait. more laughing. we were sure no pictures were taken. we gave steve the go ahead to start shooting. steve said, done!. what?!? you were taking our picture all along?!? that put us into another fit of laughter.
* i will add this...my sister doesn't usually make such faces. she was adjusting to new braces. no explanation for my faces.

a beautiful thing

one of my goals when mom and kim were visiting a few weeks ago was to can peaches. 'cause if you haven't heard, there's a canning revolution going on.

image via gluten-free girl

and i wanted to be part of it. and drag along mom and kim. and kelly. we started with 50 lbs (!) of peaches from calhoun family farm in wapato, wa. i love their peaches! and kelly's canning equipment.
mom, kim and i were the peelers and slicers. and kelly, canning guru AND newlywed of less than 2 weeks here, manned the stove and pots. not everyone present thought they had to help. we were organized. we were productive. we had fun. here's our first batch in and out of the water bath.
aren't they pretty? we canned a total of 20 1/2 quarts.
steve and i had a pint over pancakes for breakfast the next morning. they were scrumptious.

dog person

pixel's the first dog in our family (including me, my sister, and my parents) in over 40 years. we're cat people. we've had sneaky, sheba, mr tibbs and oreo amongst us. and still have maizi, greysie, vegas, cali and beauty. and now there's pixel. a dog. there's a warming up period when they visit. they're not used to the jumping and high energy and sniffing in inappropriate places. but this may turn someone into a dog person. how could it not?

traveling women

image via here

and we're off. 3 women and a car and a ferry. i'll tell y'all about our adventure in a few days when we return.

can it

i have an urge to can peaches. washington state has THE best peaches ever. sorry georgia. and i have to preserve the flavor to enjoy in the winter season. my mom and sister come into town saturday for a week of fun... orcas island, shopping, julia/julie movie, pf changs, s'mores, a golf tournament (well, they won't think that's fun, but i'm dragging them along anyway since it's a block away). i think i'll also get them involved in my canning since i've never done it and mom has way back when. we might try blueberries also. there's a pick-your-own blueberry farm nearby. see, lots of fun in store. photo via sunday suppers

Sunday

sunday started with chocolate chip and blueberry pancakes made from this, served with honey and sliced strawberries. yum. (and that's chocolate chips and blueberries together in the pancake... try it, it's awesome.)

steve actually prefers these, and we often have 2 batches going, his and hers. but today, only one.


pancakes were followed up by watching these 2 duke it out on the links. it's the one sport i can watch on tv.

photo from here

the weather was perfect. 75 and clear and sunny. i read this in the backyard.


i tended to a few plants while the master gardener mowed the lawn.


after a venture to the dog park for some exercise, we finished it by relaxing on the back deck with homemade sunny bunnies.

photo from here

juiced carrots, apples, ginger, and banana. another yum.

a quick pose for the camera and


and then back to relaxing.

it was a good day. no, a great day.

Lovin' Them

Fridays are my day to show you what I love. This is my husband's family. We surprised them last week with a visit to Cleveland. Here we are on July 4th.


I know these people because January 13th, 2004 I sent an email to the guy (then stranger) on the bottom right. Best email I ever sent. Yes, we're an internet dating success story. Check out my nieces, Emily and Lucy, in their 4th attire. Cute huh? And the girl behind me... she's almost 13 and already 5 inches taller than me! She didn't let me forget the entire week. And one nephew, top right. That's Sam.

Thanks for a great time last week!

photo by David Wilt