Visitors

Norris and I were both working at home, when I looked out and saw two beautiful ducks in our driveway. They're pure white, with beautiful orange beaks and feet. Their heads are sleek and smooth, and they have beautiful small dark eyes. They're so lovely I just want to pick them up and snuggle them!


















Norris fed them bread, and one of them ate it right out of his hand. The next day we found them waiting on our front door mat. They've been seen at the neighbor's bird feeder, and are apparently looking for a place to nest. I'd love it if it would be right in our garden.



















But there's one in this house who wouldn't be quite so receptive to the idea. So, as much as we'd love to have them stay, we have to encourage them to go elsewhere. Boomer is still king.

For My Shopping Friends!

Kate Spade designed a couple of the best presents under my Christmas Tree this year. Thanks to Claire and Whit, I was the happy recipient of a great clutch bag and a very cool black & white scarf.

Check out Kate Spade's latest sale, and take 30% off your entire purchase using the attached coupon code. Or print out the coupon and take it downtown to the shop in Pioneer Place and they'll give you an extra 10% off for shopping in person!! Hurry, the sale ends on Monday the 30th!

Obama Slept Here

So we decided it was good enough for us. Gorgeous grounds, restaurants, banquet/party facilities, (Claire is helping her friend plan a wedding so we checked out the options) pools, waterfalls with flames and infinity pool... spa, hotel rooms, condominiums starting at 2 million, you name it.

We had breakfast and hung out at the pool, played bocce and killed a little time until we were able to visit the Designer Showhouse, which will be my next set of pics.

Hotel Intercontinental Montelucia. Stay there some time!

So much to say, so many pictures to share...

Norris and I had a wonderful vacation in Arizona! I took tons of pictures!

We went through a fantastic Designer Showcase Home!($22,000,000 for just the house and you should have seen the furniture!) Claire put the whole thing together and it's pretty amazing! I have tons of pictures of that!

Lucy was adorable, and I have pictures of her! TJ was also adorable, but I don't have any pics, I don't think, oops!

We went to Tucson to stay with our friends (and Best Man!) Jim and Velma. We had a fabulous time, with nice nature walks, pool sitting, book reading and general hanging around, entertaining friends for dinner, and so forth. Just SUPER. I have lots of pictures from all of that.

BUT, the computer has been wonky, and my dear friend/client, Steven, the computer wizard, has talked me through a lot of fixes, so that's back. So, theoretically, I should be loading those pictures now.

But I just listed a new house and have been hustling around with all that, and I'm on my way out the door now to list another. I'm super-busy in the listing department, and dare I say, even have an offer sitting on my desk.

So, I'm too busy to play with pictures, but promise they'll be coming. Maybe tonight! LOST is on too!

My Monocle

Yesterday I got a monocle! Not really a monocle like in the pictures, but one nonetheless.

I got tired of putting on reading glasses every time I needed to be able to read a contract, or a book, or a recipe card. I couldn't even shop without putting glasses on and off!

So I got one contact lens.

Currently I wear it in my left eye, and am warming up to it slowly. It feels a little bit odd, like seeing only half the world at a time, but I'm told you get used to it. (for the record, I tried bifocal contact lenses in both eyes, and that was even worse)

If all else fails, watch for some swinging new glasses on a permanent basis!

Goodreads

I seem to do everything in streaks. A knitting binge, or a cooking extravaganza, or a book fixation. Then I taper off and ignore for a while, and do something else to the exclusion of all else.

Lately I've been into the recipes of my youth, and am actually sort of thinking about a cookbook of my mother's bar cookie recipes. They are "to die for," if you like that kind of food. Stay tuned for free samples.

Meanwhile, I was looking up the book babes, after reading the article in the Oregonian this morning. One thing led to another, and I was reminded of Calvin Trillin. His book about the death of his wife was one of the finest books I've ever read. It can be read in one sitting, and I highly recommend it!

I added it to my goodreads list this morning.

About Alice by Calvin Trillin

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
One of my favorite books - a beautiful love story. I've shared this book so many times that I've lost it. (I think Chrissy had it last)


View all my reviews.

Birthday Boy

Bean turned one on Valentine's day. I went to the dog boutique to get him some sort of dog cupcake, and they had a dog cookie decorating contest going on - so Bean and Boomer got Valentine's cookies. He obviously enjoyed it! (Peter had his own celebration in Eugene)

Bean also got a new collar to wear on game days.

Pam's Talent

While I was staying with my sister last week, I wandered into her sewing room and found this quilt fabric laid out. She was moving the squares around to make just the right combinations of Mary Engelbreit fabrics and it was fun trying to put the perfect contrasting center piece on each large block. After switching them around, we put them all back, having decided she had already done it perfectly.





















I knew her closet held the finished projects (those that hadn't already been given away. She has made many a quilt for friend and family, and the amount of work and her generosity are incredible) so I asked her to show me her stash. Look at the stack of quilts!





















I had to pull them out and play with them (and grab my camera!) Look at all the color combinations! And the stitching, if you can see it, is often in a shape that matches the quilt. (like snowflakes on a Christmas quilt, etc)




















I love the primary colors - and look at the stitching!

This one perfectly matches the colors in her hallway, and it hangs over the railing at the top of the stairs. (She gave me a Christmas quilt a couple of years ago in this same pattern)

These colors look so drab, thanks to my lousy photography skiills and the old camera that I take when I travel. But trust me, they're rich and gorgeous in person.

Pam's first quilt. I almost thought you could play checkers on it! It's a table runner - she makes all quilts in all sizes, from placemat to bed-sized quilts. Her house is filled with her handiwork, and it changes by season! (Whereas I'm lucky if I can find my two store bought valentine decortations)

I love all these bright ones! She's a fall colors girl, and I like them loud. No surprise there.

Valentine's day and Fourth of July!

Squirrels and pumpkins! All out of the softest flannel. This one is going to be so great when fall rolls around. (It's not done yet! She always has a few going at once.)




















Christmas - this one was so beautiful but it's another bad photo.

Look! One of the quilts has just gotten packed into my suitcase!!

And here it is, home in my living room! (And if you look closely, you'll see another of Pam's creations on my piano bench!) I told you she was generous!




















Actually, her biggest talent, even bigger than quilting (and putting up with me for all these years) is teaching kindergarten! For 32 years!!!

A few more pics for my fam...

Feel free to ignore this if you don't know the Brandstetters or the Rileys!




















Look at these adorable troublemakers! Nate is Joe all over again. (And since I hadn't seen the nieces and nephews in a few years, he was the biggest surprise!) Brent has the "I'm in college and I can get away with murder," look going, doesn't he?




















Here is my very oldest and dearest friend, Laura, and her husband John. I love them more than words can say! They were having the most stressful weekend ever and yet they came out to dinner with us during an ice storm!






















Only in Sparta will you find a 14 year old in the bar with her partying folks. Sophie drank POP, I tell ya! On the right is our new friend, Andrea, who is Joe's oldest friend Steve's girlfriend. It was a blast seeing them both and we laughed for hours on end! And Steve's lawyerly advice on what to do in case of a DUI was priceless!





















Here's Steve, with Laura and John & Bri. Andrea and Steve don't always dress like that in Sparta, although Steve is now very important, they had just come from a wedding.


























Our youngest niece, Sophie! Enjoying an amazing pasta dish - and she needed all those carbs because she went off to a big, important dance competition right after this trip. How'd it go, Soph?























Where's Heidi? Bummer, she couldn't come home from Hawaii to the 6 degree weather. We missed you, Heidi! See, you even made the family photos we took!





















Pam, Laura and Joe. Such a cute shot! Like father, like daughter!





















Cousin Kathy and her oldest and dearest, Julie. Julie is the younger sister to my other oldest and dearest friend, Betsy! Good old Sparta is one big circle! (It also helps that there were only 6,258 people in town when I was growing up! Now there are over nine thousand!)



















Here, Pam helps me to hold in my stomach for the picture.


























It was so good to see Steve again. These two have an incredible history. I'm afraid to hear it, LOL, but it should be written. I'm sure it would be a bestseller.

Brandstetter & Riley Reunion

The Brandstetters
Pam. Cary, Joe, Bri (in order of age! I'm second from the top)

















The kids (who were able to make it to Sparta)
Nate, Ben, Sophie, Laura, Brent

















Cousin Kevin, Pam, Connie, Sophie, Ben and Laura


















Bri and Kevin - looking at old family photos


















My old High School boyfriend, Jamie!
(who later became my cousin, LOL, when his mom married my uncle)

















Cousin Kathy, Pam and Bri


















Bri's ex-wife, Brent and Sophie's mom, Connie.
















Tish and Reenie, my cousins


















Tim, Tim and Bob, the cousins' husbands, all Sparta boys!


















Kevin and Tish (my godchild!)


















And a bunch of miscellaneous family shots.






















More photos to come, once I get home and have access to my photo reader...