Take Me out to the Ball Game

Buy me some peanuts and crackerjacks...and we ate and ate. Safeco Field in Seattle was pretty full today. Lots of Canadians in for the series between the Blue Jays and the Mariners. Parking was a nightmare and little Kat hung in there for the long boring wait in the line ups til we got to a parking lot and into the stadium. Then she came alive. At the seventh inning stretch she sang the whole song and she sang for her Mariners and she knew Itchiro and where he stood and she knew Junior and how he saved the day at the bottom of the ninth and brought two players home with his home run when the bases were loaded. She high fived everyone and cheered and cheered. On the way back to the car she scored a couple of players cards and was duly complimented for being so cute.

Wings, Rockies and River

We were invited by a very lovely couple who are not only clients but also very dear friends to accept their hospitality and join them for a couple of days of birding at their home in Edgewater. So off we went, through 90 kilometer an hour winds and pelting horizontal snow we drove to Edgewater. We were greeted by our lovely golden retriever hostess Summer and her little buddy Petey. Petey moved so fast I couldn't get a decent photos but Summer obliged and showed us her view.

That is an osprey on the tree branch.

Old Ginger hung in there for the walks and didn't slow down much. For an old lady dog she is always up for an adventure. We were glad that Ginger and Petey and Summer got along so well.This was the first time they had met each other. They are all such happy and well balanced dogs that it was easy for them to just be themselves.

We trudged around the town on lovely walks through misty rain but not unpleasant temps. This little mountain town is certainly more that just the sign on the highway. Quaint old buildings and enthusiastic residents keeping their chins up despite the lumber mill closing and the real estate market crash make this a very special place.

Apparently the music scene is jumpin' here.

We are looking forward to the opening of Petey's Place, an old fashioned hotdog/ice cream stand which will open at the end of the month on Victoria Day weekend. The little snack bar wagon is brightly painted and reminds me of a circus car, looking cheerfully optimistic waiting for the sounds of mustard being slathered on hotdogs and hamburgers.

Bring on summer. We are all absolutely fed up with winter and snow and the derisive snickering of our coastal buddies who are basking in green and flower petals.

Mum and Dad Pics

I just got an hilarious e-mail from Barry. While I consider how to tell the story here are two pictures that he down loaded from his camera, taken Feb 20th Mum's birthday.

Twitching

We are looking forward to doing some twitching in Edgewater next week. We are going to visit some friends who are studious birders and no doubt will clue us in on the local feathered tourists and residents. Sadly most of my bird books have grown legs and left home and the only ones I have left will clearly identify me as an amateur. My binoculars have one working eye and my spotting scope I am told is laughable.

There will be lectures both formal and casual and hikes and sleeping. That I am told is the itinerary and that suits me fine. I am looking forward to a couple of days with a limited list of activities. Can't wait to see some green and hear the birds.

When we get home I will have Erin's celebratory steak and lobster b- day dinner to prepare. That will follow her actual birthday party which is coincidentally on Mother's Day at the Milk Tiger. That will be fun, we enjoy their friends and good music is promised on that occasion.

Then the next week it is off to PoCo for some hard sloggin' elder care. I hope I can get them out to do some activities or even just watch others do activities that are not involved with doctors and illness. They need to get their heads out of that mind set. It is hard to do when every other day you have to drive to the hospital but while Dad is in renal I hope I can get Mum out to do a bit of shopping for herself.

Man! that was a blizzard

Its over now but for posterity's sake I will record that the past 24 hours was snow hell. The flag on the green behind our house was bent over horizontal from the wind. The groundskeepers are out there right now changing the hole location and placing in a temporary flag. It is so soggy!

Last night's charitable event held at a huge sports bar to raise money for a fellow worker with kidney cancer was a roaring success. Ashley kindly donated two large porcelain bowls. They were quite popular and sold for way more than she could have fetched for them at one of her sales.

I guess we were swept up in the moment.

There were some interesting prizes other than the usual ones like golf course prizes, weekends at someones' cottage, or paintings, golf clubs, jewelry, art mani-pedicures, and spa packages. This is what I thought was weird... shadow boxes of giant tarantulas and cockroaches and stuffed or dehydrated bats.

I was grossed out. I thought that we were not supposed to donate crap that we cleaned out of the attic. But, this was taken out of one freaky attic. More surprising were the people who wanted those grisly things....people that at first glance you wouldn't think were in a coven or a weird cult. They played hard for them too; writing their names down on the silent auction sheets and then lurking close by as someone else sidled up looking over their shoulders and put their names down taking the bids higher and higher.

The person who got them on the last bid was thrilled, outing herself and jumping up and down.

It was so warm down in Fish Creek Park today. Very quiet except for the songs on the birds and the water rushing through the openings in the beaver dam. I could have fallen asleep. A lovely day to walk with our old girl. She can go just so far and then she wants to come home thank you very much.

Blog on Baby

My baby is blogging. My older daughter Ashley the mad potter is a blogger you can find her on the side bar and now my younger daughter is writing Letters to Nora. You gotta check it out.
http://dearmissephron.blogspot.com/
She will also be on the side bar.