Monday, December 5, 2016

Beginnings and Endings

I last posted on Friday. That evening we kicked off the Christmas activities by joining Jill and the kids at Clam Lights.
This is Seattle and we have water here, the salt waters from the vast inland sea we call Puget Sound. Naturally we have lighted boat parades. 
 I know these are blurry but it is the best my little Canon could do in low light. We were bundled up and hoping the rain would not return while we were out on the dock watching the boats. 


 Then we walked back into the park to enjoy the Clan Lights close up.

 Yep, those are the clams, because this light show is sponsored by Ivar's Acres of Clams Restaurants.
 These are not clams. Kinda' cool how the camera blurred the people not in our group, although Isaac is a bit ghost like.  

Saturday we attended an arts and crafts show called Tide Fest in Gig Harbor, where conveniently, Irene and Isaac were playing their last soccer matches of the season. We shopped, then went to two soccer games, then finished our shopping. 

Fortunately we stayed dry for most of both matches and were well bundled up against the cold. The Mud Dogs ended in a 4-4 tie. 

 We finished up Irene's game and then took her with us to Isaac's game, where it was the second half and Isaac was playing keeper. 

 Jill was on the sideline as an assistant coach. 

The Rockets won 6-4, a great finish for a team that was thrown together several months ago and lost badly at first. They really improved!

Tom and I went back to Tide Fest to make some gift purchases, and then we set off through heavy traffic and gathering darkness to our garden club party. We were planning to go home, change and get the food we were planning to take, but it was such slow going that we just went "come as you are", arriving only an hour and a half late. But they fed us and we had a good time. 

Sunday we got in a walk and then got busy putting up the tree and decorating it. We joked about having 40,000 ornaments, but I can't even guess at the real number. We have stuff on there from when the kids were babies, over 40 years of accumulation. 

Many of you have seen photos of this tree before. Each year we add a few from our travels, but I think we must stop even doing that now.  Or else get another tree. 

 Anybody else have bacon hanging near Krampus? 
 Or a roadrunner and an avocado near a Santa? 
 How about Mozart from Salzburg or a royal crown from Stockholm or an elf from the Black Forest or a Norwegian flag from Oslo or an Alaskan cruise ship or a skyline of Philadelphia? And so much more. 


 Sunday evening we hosted Irene while Jill and Isaac attended the NFL game at the stadium. The Seahawks overwhelmed the Panthers 40-7. We watched at home. 

This morning we cleaned house while it snowed outside. 

It wasn't cold enough to stick around, but now the temperature is dropping again and the forecast is for our first freezing temps tonight, with ice and possibly more snow by morning.

I went through my cookie recipes, wrote my shopping list and went to the store this afternoon. Tomorrow we'll be ready to stay inside and start baking. 

'Tis the busy season. 


21 comments:

  1. Your house looks very festive. We had snow today about like you had. We also looked at recipes today. ''Tis the season.

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  2. Your tree is amazing! The ornaments must bring back lots of memories as you hang each one. The Panthers should be ashamed of themselves. That score was unbelievable. Those last two pictures are beautiful.

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  3. Interesting to see all the boats lit up. I'm always amazed at how you continue outdoor activities even if it's raining. Wimps here head inside if it rains.

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  4. Your tree is amazing and definitely one-of-a-kind.
    Happy baking!!

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  5. Your tree is beautiful! I have not decorated at all yet, too busy everyday. We have two events tomorrow but the winter storm will probably keep us at home.

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  6. Cute running clams! Your tree is always a visual and memory-covered treat. My vote is for you to keep collecting and add another tree!

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  7. Oh, how I loved EVERYTHING about your post!!! Celebrations, family outings, decorations, traditions and lots of love sewn into the mix!
    I second the motion above! Buy another tree!!! Keep adding all your wonderful memories!!

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  8. I have a friend who has so many ornaments I think she has a tree in every room of her house. We got a few big fat flakes this morning but it was still above freezing so none stuck. Looking forward to frost tomorrow morning.

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  9. That is a real memory tree. I think you might need a second tree next year for sure.

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  10. I love your tree so many wonderful memories from Christmas's past and trips that you have a taken. A wonderful memory tree.

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  11. Love seeing your house each year. I miss seeing the boats and their lights. Used to take the kiddos to that park all the time. Wishing you a joyous Christmas.

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  12. I wish we'd been more conscientious about collecting ornaments from our travels. I have several but not enough. You tree is gorgeous, and the light show in the harbor: Wow!

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  13. I just made sugar free brownies for my poets Christmas party today. No snow here but cold temps. Your tree could be called decorations with a little bit of tree showing...lol!

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  14. such wonderful, wonderful photos! Thanks for sharing all of them!

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  15. You do have the most unusual ornaments ever. Maybe a small extra tree for now to catch the overflow.
    Envious of your snow and congrats to the Rockets.

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  16. Wow, that's a spectacular tree -so many memories in your decorations. The Ivar's lights are very impressive. Everything is looking a lot like Christmas - including the weather report!

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  17. Beautiful photos of you, your family, and your tree. Have a nice time baking.

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  18. Fantastic pictures of the lights, Linda. I loved the clams, and your tree is, as always, exceptional! I'm in Florida where the temperature is near 70 and sunny. Loving it. :-)

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  19. I love following your blog - in a way I get to "see" what is going on in Seattle and know what the weather and events are - since my daughter is now living there, happily and settled in. Mahalo for the beautiful pictures, game scores, and sharing your wonderful house with us.

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  20. What a schedule! I feel exhausted just reading about all your activities.

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  21. I love a light show and both of those were wonderful. Your tree looks great. So many memories - and so much unwrapping of ornaments.

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