Lucky Girl Am I !

Have you ever owned something that you liked so much that all you could do was to stare at it and touch it and admire it? A few weeks back Marge over at Road Sage had a giveaway and I won! It's one of her handmade totes and I got to choose the color and it arrived today. It is as lovely as I knew it would be but it is so special to me because of where it came from and who made it. Marge has been an inspiration for me for a long time now and she has stuck with me through thick and thin. Thank you Marge, for everything. I LOVE IT and YOU too!

A Picnic in the Park

Haleigh and I took advantage of this fine weather and had a picnic in the park. We packed a basket with bologna on white bread with mayo, some dill pickles and our favorite chips, some iced raspberry green tea (which is our favorite at the moment) and off we went. Oh, and also Pumpkin chocolate chip muffins.
We made daisy chains (which she taught me to do by the way) and read poetry and sang and she serenaded me with her harmonica. And we were visited by squirrels.












And we laughed and we giggled and had such a good time.

That Darn Curiosity Plague

The weather has been so nice this week. It's funny to me because it's been nearly eighty degrees and people think it is HOT! I'm not so far from memories of Georgia's hot days to even think that. Hot is when it is 96 degrees and the humidity is way up there and you can bake cookies on the hood of your car around four o'clock in the afternoon.

Because it has been so nice we take advantage of it when we can and eat supper on the deck. We are enjoying the new plants, the new grass, the bird feeders and all that we are surrounded with.

Occasionally a neighbor cat will happen by, creeping through the yard. Tonight, just as I put a bite of cole slaw in my mouth a solid black cat passed through the yard and without missing a beat Haleigh proclaims, "That's a black cat, I thought curiosity killed all of those!" I nearly choked. She is so funny sometimes I can't stand it! None of us said anything, she just said it so seriously!

I also got to attend my first school function with her this week. Her school performed a musical called "Go Galileo" and it was so cute and she did great. And I was one proud Grandma sitting there watching her sing and dance her little heart out.

Adventures in the Backyard

Amy and Matthew went to the book store and bought books. They bought this one for me. So, I've read a lot of it today outside on the deck over looking the backyard.
They also bought this book....
....because Amy bought these....


And we are doing a lot of this. We have to be able to idenify the birds!




While at the ocean this past weekend we collected rocks. This is our white collection along with one small black pebble.

Doesn't it look so very Zen? I arranged them on a tray.

I'm going to keep them on my window sill. For inspiration.
Matthew also found this stone. It is heart shaped, can you tell? A Stone Heart and a sign to us.
He decided to put it in Amy's Flower Bed. I like that a lot.
The simple things in life are the best! They are what make me smile. They make me know like is worth living.

Here are two quotes from my new book.

"Even when he travels far, he is not separate from his own true nature." (Tao Te Ching)

"The motion of nature is cyclic and returning." (Tao Te Ching)

Down on the River

This is the lodge we stayed at this past weekend. There was a river running right beside it. There was a wood burning stove and a cute little old Hotpoint fridge. Also a Mr.Coffee and a Blender straight out of the sixties. The beds were wonderful and the view was great. There was a little wagon in the shelter to carry your stuff up to the room.
It was just perfect.

Rest in Peace my son. You are loved and missed every second of every day.
June 28, 1977-May 22,2008

A Surprise Hike

Matthew was off yesterday and so he asked me if instead of taking my regular walk which is around and around the park I wanted to go on another little hike. So that is what we did. This trail leads to a beach, a rocky secluded one and the tide was going to be out that afternoon so he says, "We'll take our rubber boots."
The weather was not so great all day but if there's one thing I've learned about Washington it is not to let the weather stop your plans. It could be pouring down rain one minute and the sun shining the next. So the fact that it rained on us the whole drive to a town called Seabec didn't bother me too much.
I got to use my new backpack for the first time. It is wonderful, very comfortable. It is amazing what you can put in there and carry on your back, even put a pair of rubber boots in a little elastic section! It was still raining as we parked but after a little while it slowed down enough for us to start and we could see blue sky ahead through the trail.
The rain just made all the wild plants so much greener and more fragrant. It made the broken limps look like polished wood. There were wild Rhododendrons, wild ferns and about a million other things I have no idea what was. The trail there was mostly down hill and when we reached the beach it was just beautiful. We couldn't really see the mountains in the background but the fog was pretty and we had a good time uncovering little crabs from under rocks, picking up shells and rocks.
I learned the hard way that the mud in places is like quick sand and so we laughed as the mud sucked my boots in and I just stepped right out of them, getting my socks socked and muddy!
The hike back was completely uphill and I huffed and puffed but made it back up and this morning I am feeling those muscles that got a work out. I loved it once again.
This one is called Guillemot Cove Nature Reserve.

Change

I still wonder who I am these days. I know the world is always changing and circumstances change and yes, even people change. But I still am having trouble recognizing myself these days.
I'm a bit in the dumps today and that always causes me to think way too much. It'll pass I know, I just have my days where I begin to wonder what in the world I'm doing! The whole purpose of this time right now is for me to just live one day at a time and to get my mind straight again. But I feel very insignificant, like I'm not contributing anything to the world or to anyone.
Just one of those days.

Happy Sunday

Yesterday was a good day and we enjoyed the parade. We all got to go even though one of us had to work.

The weather here is suppose to be nice again today.
Hope your day is a good one.
Love,
Robbin

Breakfast Served at Six Thirty

Today we are going to a parade. And not just any parade. It is an Armed Forces Day Parade and here in Bremerton it is the largest and longest running one in the country. There's a bunch of marching units and bands and even Pearl Harbor Survivors! How cool is that?
Haleigh, Amy and I will just walk to the parade, it starts at ten. I've not seen a parade in years and I'm sure I've never seen one this big before in person ever.
Matthew has to work but he'll be there too, working.
Haleigh woke up very early this morning and woke up the household around six thirty, making me a breakfast of toast, whether I was ready or not, lol. It is funny to me and I got up and made coffee to get the toast down with. She is excited about he parade too.
AND then there's the weather. It is just beautiful and should be that way the whole weekend. One of those days where Mt. Rainier shows its whole self in all its glory.
I hope you have a good weekend wherever you may be.
Love,
Robbin

Fish, It's what's for Dinner!

One of our goals since I've moved here is to eat as healthy as we can. And part of that is a rule that we have fish twice a week. Fish is just not my favorite thing and the truth is if it taste like fish, well, I don't really care for it.

Living out here is a little different in that you can get really fresh fish, and fresh of course is the answer. Fresh fish doesn't taste like the Mullet fish of my childhood that my father insisted we had once a week. Mullet that was not fresh and came from who knew where, and was drenched in corn meal and deep fried and left the house smelling so fishy that the cats would go crazy outside wanting to come in. In fact this could be the reason I don't care for fish.

But Amy does a good job and I can eat even the Salmon she cooks. But so far my favorite is the Halibut. Last night we had Cod with a beautiful relish she made with cherry tomatoes and kalamata olives. It made such a pretty plate in fact that when Matthew helped his plate, I had to make him wait for me to get a picture!

We're also into Couscous which is what is our side dish up there along with the squash. It is really good and something different and goes great with the fish.

A SOD Story Part Two

He worked and worked........
and watered and watered........
.........and TADA, we have grass!
And it looks great!

A Sod Story of the Back Yard

The back yard has been a true work in progress every since the kids first moved here. They've fought a big blackberry bush and thought it had won but finally Amy thinks it is gone. They've thrown rocks out, they've stacked rocks, they've had dirt hauled in and Matthew has learned the art of dirt tamping. And now finally they are ready to get some grass.
The sod came this morning and I'm excited. I've never seen anyone lay sod before, I've never experienced an instant yard. So these are the before pictures....

This is the sod, patiently waiting on its new home.

And these are pictures of our little salad garden which Amy is in charge of. We have high hopes!

And a very pretty Rhododendron in the corner of the yard.

Matthew got off early to work on the yard and I'll have "after" pictures too.
Hope your day is a good one!

I'm A Winner!

I've had a good day. Matthew and I got my car license plates. I made two batches of muffins, one banana nut and one apple. I walked two and half miles on my walk today. We didn't have to cook tonight, we had left over vegetable soup we made yesterday. And then we watched American Idol. The best part of my day was that I won a Tote Bag from my blogging friend Marge, here. I am so very excited. I'll post pictures of it when I get it, I can't wait!
Thank you Marge.
And so I am ready now to retire to my room and read.
Hope your week is going well,
Love,
Robbin

Surprise!

Haleigh and Amy surprised me this morning with a Mother's Day's Gift. They know me so well, and know just the sort of things I love.



And so I put them to use right away. Thank you both, I love you.

I hope your heart was full of love and light today as mine has been.