Field Trip: Christmas Shops

Monday our destination was the suburbs of Lynnwood and Woodinville, north of Seattle. We took some of "the ladies" to see two nurseries that have amazing Christmas shops.

The first stop was Wights in Lynnwood. I'm not sure how many themed trees they have, but it's dozens. And then around each tree are display after display of the featured ornaments.

It was hard to resist, and we didn't, coming away with a few more ornaments for us and some to give away.

After lunch at a nearby Olive garden, we were off to the Poinsettia Festival at Molbaks in Woodinville.

Molbaks also has a huge gift shop where more shopping was done.

It was a fun day and our guests were most appreciative that Tom was once again willing to do the driving. And me too. I am very lucky to have him as my partner.

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.

Jack Frost Nipping at Your Nose

We are getting what we here in Seattle call an "arctic blast". That means temps are dipping below freezing at night and may not even rise to freezing several days this week. The wonderful thing is that it is clear and dry!

I'm glad the garden has been put to bed for the winter so we can enjoy the blanket of frost.

Clam Lights

Ivar Haglund is a Seattle legend. He was famous for his Acres of Clams seafood restaurants and his love for publicity stunts. While he is gone, his chain of eateries is going strong, and his company still sponsors local events.

Clam Lights kicked off tonight on the southern shore of Lake Washington at Coulon Park in Renton. A high school choir sang, and then the mayor of Renton pushed the button to light the display.

A friendly clam came.

More clams.

Shortly after, a parade of lighted boats cruised by as spectators stood out on the pier to watch.

Looking back from out on the water, the reflections added to the light show.

Season's Greetings to you too.

Oh Christmas Tree!

Even though we live in the great Pacific Northwest, our tree comes out of a box. We used to go out every year to a U-Cut lot somewhere up in the hills, have the traditional argument over which was the best tree, and bring it home on top of the car. We'd keep it in a bucket of water until about a week before Christmas before bringing it in and decorating it. Trees dry out fast in the warm, dry environment of the house. But then the kids developed allergies and the tree made them sneeze, and they weren't enjoying the tree trek so much, so finally we went artificial. We still have that same tree. Each branch has to be fluffed and attached separately. It takes a while. It's showing some wear, but when it's all together it still looks good. And we can have it up all month! Our ornaments are a trip down memory lane. They are collections we have been gathering for 40 years. Most recent is the collection of travel souvenirs. We try to buy an ornament for each major location we have visited. The felt ornaments mixed in are ones I made more that thirty years ago, when we didn't have much else to put on our tree. Of course the Santa collection extends to the tree and has its own section. There is a big section devoted to birds. And the kids' collections, of course. For years Jill collected horses and Jake collected pigs. This included a number of ornaments, which have their place on the tree.

And gardening and other hobbies, like sewing, are represented in their section.

Our tree is even a little buggy.

Last year we pulled out all of the Winnie The Pooh characters Tom's mother made for her grandchildren when they were small. They are real treasures. We'll have them out again for now, but since Santa is coming to our house this year, they'll have to move aside Christmas eve.

From the steady stream if packages being delivered to our door, I'm thinking we'll need all of the space for presents.

Baking and More

I baked some cookies today, with a bit of help from Tom. These are last year's photos, but they look the same this year. They'll be packed away in the freezer, awaiting festivities.

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I also did some online shopping. I found some very cute Little People Christmas play sets at www.fisher-price.com , at much better prices than Amazon, and free shipping! I love shopping on line! I went a little nuts. But, oh, what fun we'll have.

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I have been hearing and seeing comments about making Christmas simpler, not enjoying all the shopping, or the music, or the commercialism, or whatever. That's fine. But obviously I'm not there yet. There was a time when the kids were grown up that the magic disappeared for a while, but it came back with the grandchildren, a son-in-law who loves it all, and a daughter who has rediscovered the magic through her children.

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However you feel about the holidays, and whatever you do, I hope you will find your own personal JOY, and maybe even a little MAGIC.

Shopping and Dropping

We made the rounds today, from REI to the mall to IKEA and even the shop at the Museum of Flight. We have just about completed our shopping. We will be attending an arts fair in Gig Harbor this weekend, and then I plan to be done! We were tired by the time we got back home. I got things put away and sat down to catch up with the mail, a new Christmas book I bought, the newspaper, and to just put my feet up. I tried to listen to the President's speech. I want to support his decision to add troops in order to get out sooner. I want us out! But, alas, I mostly dozed off. Oh well, I'm sure the pundits will fill me in on what I missed. The nay sayers are already out naying, braying like so many stubborn mules, or should I say asses? I do know Dick Cheney is one of those afore mentioned critters. That he has the audacity to criticize the current President, who is trying to fix all of Cheney's messes, amazes and angers me. I'm doing my best to help the economy. Shop till you drop!

Field Trip

We had a great field trip today. We showed the breakfast club ladies how to ride the light rail into downtown. We got off at Westlake Center and exited into Nordstroms. There we "shopped" for handbags, enjoying the hundreds and even thousands one can spend on a "purse". As we worked our way to the upper floors, we contemplated the fashions as they might look on "mature, full figured" women. Not so good. We crossed over the sky bridge to Pacific Place and explored several levels. I had a chance to do a little serious shopping and crossed several items off of my list. We reached the top level in time for lunch at a brew pub. Tom had beer. We ladies did not. But brew pubs always have good food. Later we retraced out steps and actually went outside to cross the street to Westlake Center. We found some fun shops where we bought stocking stuffers and just enjoyed the merchandise. About 3:00 we were back on the train headed south. It was a fun and relaxing day. I have no photos because I purposely left my camera home. It felt freer to just participate and not record everything. Tomorrow, back to work.

Deck the Halls

We had a lovely Thanksgiving Day with my family. And on that day the decorating began. My sister Laurie had wreath makings gathered - greens, frames, bows and glittery things. Each household came away with a start on making the season merry and bright. - Then on Friday while many were out shopping, we got busy here at home. I cleaned off shelves and dusted off beams. Tom took advantage of dry weather to start the process of getting the lights done. He finished this morning and they look so bright and sparkly! - Those shelves I cleared off, the ones that were displaying my pottery collection, now are full of my Santa collection, of which this is just a very small part. This afternoon we worked together on the garlands on the beams. - The kitchen eating area garlands are decked with felt gingerbread men and patchwork ornaments I made many years ago. I haven't had them up for a few years, but this year we're going all out. The decorations in the dining room have a Scandinavian theme, with hearts and straw snowflakes.

We still have a bit more to do, and later in the week we'll put up the tree. That will take hours.

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While this was going on, I have been in communication with my daughter, my son-in-law and my son, through phone calls, secret emails, and texts, going over the wish lists we published just before Thanksgiving. We're claiming dibs, getting advice, checking on sizes, explaining the unclear. I've done quite a bit of shopping on line, and actually did go to one store Friday evening for one purchase.

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But the reason for going all out on the decorations? My grandchildren are coming to me here in Seattle for Christmas this year instead of us going to Colorado. Daughter Jill has informed me that we must put up every decoration we ever used in the years she was living here.

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We're doing it, and gladly, for good reason. Isaac and Irene have never seen them.

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But now we're tired, so we're taking a day off. Tomorrow we're taking a field trip. Some of the breakfast ladies are joining us to ride the new light rail downtown to have lunch at Nordstroms and check out Westlake Center and Pacific Place. While we might make a purchase of two, this is not a serious shopping trip. We're just going to have fun.

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Oh, and I got my fruit cake baked today, too.

Happy Thanksgiving

The pies are baked; blackberry, pumpkin and blueberry. Check.

The pumpkin cupcakes are cooling, awaiting a swirl of cream cheese frosting. Check.

The kitchen is cleaned up - again.

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Tomorrow I will be fortunate in sharing Thanksgiving with three of my four siblings, my mother, one of my children, a nephew and his young children, and assorted in-laws. We will go over the river and through the woods. The table will be well laden and we will be thankful for each other while missing those who are not with us.

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Wherever you are,

And with whomever you may be,

I hope you'll have blessings to count

On this Thanksgiving Day.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!