Weekend Fun

Saturday we spent most of the day in Gig Harbor. This is a small bay on a peninsula in Puget Sound, across the Narrows Bridge from Tacoma, . Every year the high school puts on a very high quality arts and crafts sale called Tide Fest. The gyms are filled with vendors from all over the northwest, and the student organizations have food booths. We did some good shopping there, had lunch, and met up with friends and Tom's sister, Jan, who was the principal there before she retired. After leaving Tide Fest, we did some looking in the new Uptown Center, but it's the old village down by the harbor that I like best. My favorite stop is the Beach Basket Christmas Shop, where we managed to find more ornaments we "needed" and more to give away.

As darkness fell, the town sparkled with lights.

And so did boats at the docks.

We attended the tree lighting ceremony, and then had dinner at the Tides, a favorite local watering hole.

On Sunday we baked some more cookies, watched the Seahawks finally win one, and then attended an open house.

Dale and Betty Parkhurst live in north Seattle in the same home where they raised their family. For years they have decorated their home and opened it to others. We attended an open house many years ago when our kids were young, but haven't been since. Dale and Tom are related, second cousins once removed is what we figured out. We decided it was time to reappear.

This couple is seriously into decorating. I think they said they have 67 trees of various sizes this year. In addition they have an extensive collection of nativity scenes, a Santa collection, and another of reindeer. With the lights inside and outside the living room is a sparkly wonderland, and everything is color coordinated. Betty changes the color scheme every year, so she stores everything by color.

The bedroom goes Victorian.

The den is aglow in white and crystal.

The kitchen is Santa Claus Land.

This cluster of nine trees in the dining room is devoted to the grandchildren and the children they sponsor in far off lands.

Dale and Betty are button collectors. This tree is decked out in ornaments made of buttons.

We had a very pleasant visit while enjoying the beauty of all that glittered around us.