New Mailbox

This post is especially for Kay. She has been contemplating a new mailbox for a long time now, so I thought I'd share our process. Returning from a walk together last Friday, I said to Tom, "We really have to do something about that mailbox." It and the neighbor's were mounted on a wooden post that was about to topple over. The neighbor had recently moved out and the house is in the care of a house sitter, who is not using it. We had talked about getting a locking mailbox, because we've had trouble with mail tampering, and also we often go to Whidbey or some other place for one or two nights, and with a locking mailbox we would not have to have the post office hold the mail. We were not home on Saturday. On Sunday, while I was on the computer, Tom went to Lowes, bought a mailbox and a mounting post, and some cement. By the afternoon he had it installed except for some bolt tightening, which he needed me to help with. We finished it first thing this morning, and received mail in it today. He removed the old box and propped the neighbors up a bit for now. A new owner will have to decide what they want to do.

My Computer Had Laryngitis

I was looking forward to spending some quality time with my computer this morning. The emails were pouring in. A young friend had just given me access to shared files on his server to download music free through iTunes. And I had lots of blogs to read and respond too. And then I discovered that my computer had lost it's voice. My keyboard didn't work. It felt just like losing your voice with a bad case of laryngitis, with people talking to you and you not able to talk back. It after restarting the machine and trying several things, that I decided it must be the connection, mostly because I kept getting caught up on the keyboard cable with my foot and giving it a good yank. Not good. So off to Best Buy we went, to visit the Geek Squad. The bad news - the keyboard worked just fine. That means it was the CPU port that was bad. The good news - the fix. An adaptor for the keyboard cable, and a USB extender, so we can plug in one more USB device, and reorganize all of the stuff already plugged in or waiting its turn to be plugged in. And or course, the fixer. Thanks, Tom. I have my voice back!

Saturday Photography

Today was photography day.

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We began by attending a Nikon class at Lincoln Square in Bellevue. We were to meet in a conference room on the second floor, near The Lucky Strike, a bowling alley. This is not your typical bowling alley.

I'm glad I had spent time playing with the new camera, because the class was fast and would have been overwhelming otherwise. It turned out to be only 90 minutes, but I guess you can't expect too much for "free".

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Our intent was to cross the sky bridge over to Bellevue Square, a large shopping mall, to find lunch. But first we explored our surroundings a bit, and of course, everything seemed suited to photography.

The escalators

Wall art

A bar sign

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And then we came to the atrium entrance to the sky bridge, and found a two story waterfall on the right, and a three tier Dale Chihuly chandelier over the door!

The water falls on glass from here...

to here.

And the Chihuly glass is amazing.

Remember, you can click to enlarge. I encourage it so you can get the full effect of color and form.

After lunch we headed outdoors, into the sunshine, to take more photos. But that will have to be another chapter.....or two.

Knowing Where To Look, Or Ask

We got off to a slow start this morning. I was awake during the night, so I was glad that sleep revisited me, and I didn't get up until 8:30. Tom helped me re-tape my foot yesterday. Today I had set aside time to contact doctors. I emailed my Group Health primary care physician, updating her on my visits to my referred podiatrist. I continued to play telephone tag with the podiatrist. I sure love being able to use email. My primary care doc responded within several hours. Then I pursued the night splint the podiatrist had recommended. He wrote me a prescription, but when I took it to the Group Health pharmacy last week, they told me I could order it but it wasn't covered by my insurance policy. It is a $100 item, so I put it off. Today I pursued it, and this time I talked to the right person, a very nice lady at the GH Take Care Store. I scanned and emailed my prescription, she checked my coverage and called me back to arrange for me to pick up the splint at the local clinic, no shipping charges, for a total cost of $20. It pays to talk to the right person! Then I was wondering where my eBay purchase was. It was over two weeks ago that I made the purchase so it should have arrived. I wandered around the computer, striking out at emailing the seller, until finally I went to the right place, My eBay, and found the tracking number. The USPS has had it somewhere in Seattle since the 15th and today was the last day of the window for delivery. Good, now I had the right information, finally. "Hmmm, I thought, "I don't think we ever got any mail yesterday. Could it be that there is a package on the front porch?" Eureka! It was a bit cold and damp, but there it was. When we gave Isaac and Irene a puppet stage for Christmas, I also gave them lots of animal puppets, including a lion and a mouse, and I demonstrated the Aesop's fable story. Irene said she knew that story. It was on PBS Kids, on the computer! Sure enough, she showed me the little animated version, modernized with the mouse and the lion going grocery shopping. I wanted them to have a collection of the fables in a more original version. Shopping on line, I found this 2000 edition, which seemed to be just what I wanted. It was out of stock at Amazon and book stores, but I located a copy on eBay for only $7.00, brand new. I just had to find the right place to shop, and finally the right place to find it upon delivery! Tom declared that it was too cold to work outside today. He says he has standards, and those standards include not going outside to work in the yard when it's below 40 degrees, especially when it's spitting rain. At 39.8, now at 3:30, it's the warmest it's been all day. So this afternoon, while I was doing my workout on the stationary bike, he has been searching for information via Ancestry.com. He just extended his contract with them to search in Canadian records. He reports he didn't find any new information today. But eventually he will. You just have to know where to look.

But Soft....

"What light through yonder window breaks?" "It is the east," IT IS THE SUN! Well, yes, we can get a little nutty here in the Pacific Northwest when the sun shines through our windows first thing in the morning. - After taking that photo through the window, I took the camera with me when I walked down the driveway to get the paper. Is that blue sky reflecting in the mud puddle? The tops of the trees light up. And I see my shadow! Unlike the groundhog, I don't run back in my house. This is a good thing. And it doesn't mean winter is over. It's 37 degrees out there. But it does mean people will come out of their houses and offices. They will look for their lost sunglasses. They will drink hot coffee on the sidewalk. - I'm headed for the grocery store. Then we're going out to lunch with retired teacher friends. Then this afternoon I plan to walk in the sunshine. - Have a good day!

Sarah Palin Battle Hymn

Here's a little gift for all you Sarah lovers out there. Enjoy! :-)

A Walk Through the Winter Garden

I'll be doing my exercise today on the stationary bike, since I have been out walking the past few days, and don't want to stress my foot too much. So to get my time outside today I took the new camera out for a walk around the yard. I found Tom in the garage workshop finishing a piece of glass art we made as a Christmas gift. We forgot to leave the bottom of the "fountain" open ended to slip over a post, so he added another layer.

Outside I began my tour. I found bulbs emerging from the soil.

Primroses were coming into bloom, but struggling to keep ahead of the slugs. Those darn critters apparently never get too cold to chew.

A garden seat in a mossy bower.

The tree trunk has a blanket of moss.

The path to the Secret Garden has a moss carpet.

Moss adorns the branches.

Hellebore flower heads are emerging. It's time to cut off the old foliage.

Tom will look at this and see things that need pruning. It's about time to start that annual process.

Winter is green here.

Buds are swelling on the red flowering currant.

An early pulmonaria.

Fat buds are emerging in the hydrangeas.

And tiny leaves on the dwarf barberry.

Sarcococca blooms.

In the last two days the Witch Hazel has opened up.

Ivory Prince Hellebore seems to be coming back strong.

Snowdrops are ready to pop.

A viburnum cluster is confused. It's way too early for it.

Candy tuft has been blooming all winter.

Moss creeps everywhere. You gotta' keep moving or it will grow between your toes.