Exciting News

We had another dry day, and almost sunny this morning. Tom and I went for a walk in the neighborhood. But that's not the exciting news. When I checked e-mail first thing this morning, I found a blog comment from someone unexpected. In 2006 Tom and I traveled in Scandinavia. We both have ancestors from Norway and Sweden, and Tom has done extensive genealogy. Before we left he tried to make contact in some of the villages where forebears had lived. Just before we left we heard from a contact who had located some distant cousins of mine still living in the ancestral villages. We set up a meeting. I will never forget that afternoon. Yvonne Nonis is a fourth cousin related through my paternal great grandfather. We met at her house in Skamhed, outside Dala-Jarna in central Sweden. She and her son Fredrik, who was fluent in English, escorted us through the old village. Many of the buildings there were 150 - 200 years old. This field is the site where my great-great grandmother lived. This stream was the source of their household water. I get chills still thinking about my connection to that beautiful village. When we got back to Yvonne's house, more cousins arrived. May-Gull Larsson and Inga-Britt Hagstrom, cousins to each other, but not related to Yvonne, are my third cousins, related through my great grandfather. Here are Yvonne and her husband Rolf with a couple who were friends with May-Gull and were chauffeuring them around in their car. Here is Yvonne with her son Fredrik. And here are cousins May-Gull and Inga-Britt. We have sent Christmas cards and letters each December, and several times we have received cards back form May-Gull. I treasure them. And then, this morning, there was Inga-Britt commenting on my blog! I had included my blog address in my letter, and it just so happens that Inga-Britt is a blogger too, now, so she looked me up when our letter finally arrived there this week! - You will find Inga-Britt at http://tegeltak.blogspot.com. Her blog is written in Swedish, of course, and I can only make out a few words, but I can read her photos. She is a very talented fiber artist. In fact, I must tell you a story about her. After gathering at Yvonne's house, we were suddenly being rushed away on another tour, so suddenly that I did not bring my camera! I so regret not having photos, but the pictures are clear in my memory. Inga-Britt and May-Gull took us to the church that was the family church of my ancestors. Then they took us to Inga-Britt's grandmother's house. Inga-Britt had recently lost her mother, so it was painful to be in a house full of memories, but inside were her looms, and samples of her weaving. Tom's mother was a weaver, so we knew what to look for and we could tell she was very expert. We made approving comments and showed great interest, and were very touched by her sharing this special place. It was getting late, and Yvonne offered us dinner, but before Inga-Britt left us, she said we must stop at her home. She had something for us. So after dinner Yvonne and Fredrik showed us the way. Inga-Britt's house is in a dramatic setting, on the bank of a wide river that was in it's spring flood stage. It was June, and daylight went on forever. She invited us inside her home and showed us three woven table runners and said we must choose one. I was so thrilled I was almost speechless. And this is what I choose.

It just so happens that when I put away my Christmas runner last weekend, I selected Inga-Britt's runner to place on my dining room table, remembering the day I received it.

And now, today, there she is on my computer!

Getting Outside

Being outside in the fresh air and natural light is important to me, so I was happy for a dry day. I spent about an hour raking leaves back into the beds and cleaning up edges. The ground birds and squirrels like to dig and scratch for goodies and scatter the leaves. These Juncos seemed to like it that I stirred things up a bit and were right there to hunt and peck. I took time out to rest on this bench and listen to the birds sing. They were flitting everywhere, also enjoying a dry day.

Then I took my snippers and basket and strolled through the yard, looking for material to make a winter bouquet.

At the same time, Tom was working on the roof and in the front of the house, finally getting the Christmas lights down.

The bush tits and chickadees were busy at the bird feeders. The chickadees scolded when Tom got too near, but the fearless bush tits were diving all around him, especially as he worked on the tree where they sit and wait their turn at the feeders.

We have both black capped and chestnut backed chickadees, but they are hard to capture in pics because they do not sit at the feeders. Instead they land, snatch, and instantly fly off to eat.

Serger update: I just watched the instruction DVD that came with my machine, and I suddenly feel much more confident. It also gave my back a chance to have some "recliner therapy" after the morning's work. I think I'll go play around with it and see what I can do.

Liquid Air

I got a nice facial when I went down the driveway to get the paper this morning. We're having what we like to call "liquid air". It's foggy, with a steady mist/drizzle, but mild at 45 degrees. I stayed out to take a few pics.

We do have a lot of the big gray here, but we also have green!

The raindrops hang from the branches of the Japanese maple.

A euphoria is bejeweled.

Not so inviting for lunch on the patio.

And speaking of the newspaper, it was maybe the thinnest yet. Obviously this is not a shopping day. It's clear the news is the least part of a newspaper.

My New Toy

This is the new serger that Tom surprised me with as a Christmas gift. I was completely blown away. After things settled down and the kids were gone, I got it out of the box. Then I looked at the instruction manual. Then I felt completely intimidated. Today I took my sewing machine in for service and took along my new serger to say "help". It's great to have the support of a sewing shop for machine service, advice, and instruction. Sally is wonderful. She showed me how to thread the machine and gave me a bit of instruction so I can at least try it out. And then I signed up for "learning your machine" classes. My first class is Saturday. Before then I will practice threading, and maybe a few simple procedures. What will I do with my new toy? That's one of the things I hope to learn. I've never had a serger before. But I do know it can save me time and effort with sewing projects. And I have a feeling I will be making some fan flags for Jake for the next Sounders season. Thankfully, Tom bought an extended warranty and service package, so if I break it, we've got it covered! Wish me luck.

A New Year

A new year, and time to take advantage of dry Sunday mornings for destination walks. This morning we headed to the Des Moines Marina, on Puget Sound, south of Sea-Tac airport. A weak winter sun was shining. This time of the year the sky and water often blend in shades of gray. Although void of color, it was clam and quiet, mild and serene. We walked out on the fishing pier.

There were some interesting water fowl to watch, like these mergansers.

Cormorants were sitting and sunning and fishing.

As we watched this one came up with an eel! It struggled with it's catch, then swallowed it whole. I don't know if the eel was dead when it went down. It may have wiggled and jiggled tickled inside it. The cormorant did some wiggling and jiggling itself for a while.

This is a Common Goldeneye.

A stream flows through a ravine and out into the sound here. We had planned to walk the trail along it, but it was closed for reconstruction.

The snow berries add winter interest.

There were quite a few Surf Scoters.

This seemed to be a lone little grebe.

Overhead, a Great Blue Heron sat, perched on a condo building, taking it all in.

Was this a "Who has bigger wings?" contest? The totem pole wins.

There were fishers on the dock and on the water.

But not much boat action today.

Since the trail was closed, we drove a bit farther south to Salt Water State Park. Also a stream filled ravine, the water cascaded to the sound.

It was quiet and peaceful, so unlike a busy summer day.

There really is beauty in gray.

This afternoon I watched the Seahawks play their last game of the season. It's hard to believe football is over for another year. I always miss it. Of course, if the team's record weren't a dismal 5 - 11, we could be in the playoffs for a while yet. Oh, well, there's always next year.

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After the game I finished taking down Christmas, packing up my Santa collection. Now my shelves are empty until I get my pottery back on them.

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It really does feel like a new year.

Twenty Ten

According to news sources, there is a debate about what to call this new year. Since I am known to have an opinion on most everything, especially if there is a rational, logical course of thinking, I'm weighing in. Like a good teacher, I look at past practices, and then determine if there is a need to change. An important date in history, soon after going to four digits, is 1066. Did you learn it as one thousand sixty-six of ten sixty-six? Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 1492. That's fourteen ninety-two, not one thousand, four hundred ninety-two. The long way throws off the meter and besides, it reminds me of having to write out a big check. I hate that! It's hard to fit on the line and it reminds me of the big number I'm spending. I was born in nineteen forty-four. When were you? Oh, sure, the year 2000 threw us off, and twenty-oh-one seemed awkward. Besides saying "two thousand" was a novelty. But we're so over that now. I'm all for efficiency, and I see no reason to abandon past practice. I'm saying "twenty ten". How about you?

01-01-10

So far this has been a great year! I had my first night without pain, and enjoyed lazing around in bed a little longer this morning. My exercise-and-recliner therapy is working! Then I checked at my neighborhood Safeway store, and yes, indeed, they did have fresh crab on sale! Each December we can usually count on two to four dungeness crab feeds, when the fresh catch comes in and the price falls from $7.00 a pound to $3 to $4 a pound. Today it was $3.49. And so I made my first purchase of the new year. What's Blooming January 1, 2010 Each year on January 1, I go out with my camera to record what's blooming in the yard. The answer this year was "not much", due to the week of constant below freezing temps in early December. Often we go through December without a hard freeze, and I have roses and fuchsias blooming. Today I found: Perennial candy tuft Basket of gold Winter Jasmine

A few primroses

And the buds of the sarcococca are beginning to swell, among the shiny black berries. Soon the front yard will be perfumed with a delicious vanilla scent.

A few violas are holding on in a planter with flowering kale on the front porch. They'll perk up if our 50 degree temps hold.

And the sun just found a hole in the clouds and is shining on me through the window.

I'm loving this day!