A House is not a Home

But it will be in September when we return from Alaska and move in!
I'm in a tizzy of excitement.  Last Thursday morning we went out driving around with a list of available properties near Sequim, met our brand new realtor at 2:30, put in a bid at 5:30 and on Friday at 5:30 accepted the counter offer!  Most people just don't haul off and buy a house on the spur of the moment, but it seemed to be calling to us and there are so many omens that make it perfect serendipity.  It even has a space to park Homer (when we aren't traveling in it, of course.) 

How about that?

Not Much

The lilacs around here were stunning for a couple of weeks but have already begun to fade.

Remember the gorgeous cherry trees in blossom?

After a rain and wind storm.

Just ordinary life around here with very little to report.
  It was a super Saturday night with the Olympic Express Big Band at a local bar.  Amazing how only fifteen people can make such good music - but things happen early here.  They played from 5:30 until 8:30.  Really.  At 6:00 the place was packed but by 8:00 nearly everyone was gone.  A couple of new restaurants are staying open past 9:00, looking for late action, but this is a town that retires before summer sunset.
 It's a drastic change from the old days when Al would pick me up from work at 10 and we'd go for dinner.
 Now it's strangely comforting to be old fogies and in our jammies before 9.  Is that bad?

Another beautiful day

After a fun weekend with Doug and Carol (AHS class of '66) we went to the Sequim Band Concert in the park.  They are very talented and a local guy wrote a new march to celebrate the Centennial, which was impressive.  We wanted an encore, but alas, when they're finished, they are finished.

 

 

Without Beth I'd still be trying to cram my chair in that little bag.

Monday was the perfect day to clean the roof.  It's always something.
Al says he has to go back up there to do some caulking around vents.
  What a guy!

Only ten days left in Sequim before we head to Canada and Alaska.
Get Homer all ready for the trip and back in the routine of moving frequently.   

Amsterdam last September

The first thing we did in Amsterdam was run right into the big museums to see the Dutch Masters.
No cigars in sight, but this grandfather clock by Maarten Bass intrigued me to no end.
What do you think? 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It truly looks like there really is a guy in there, constantly erasing the hands to draw new ones every minute.  I was kind of disappointed to learn that it is a video on a continuous 12-hour loop. 
But it's still very clever and fascinating to watch.

Don't axe me how they do this.

After the parade on Saturday we went to the logging show.
 Neither of us understand the rules but these guys are tough!
Turns out that most of them don't work in the logging industry - they do this for fun!

One event involves climbing up a tree and back down as fast as possible.

 

 

This is something about how quickly you can hack a log in half.

These guys haul their saws up the tree and slice a chunk off the top.

 

Might as well enjoy the view from 50 feet in the sky.

 

These guys whip the chain saw straight down then back up.  Fast!

 

 

 

 

This guy is 71 years old and got the job done quite nicely.

Get off the float and bestow your royalty on loggers.

 

Could you hit that bullseye?

Parade

The 118th Sequim Irrigation Festival parade was on Saturday. 
Welcome to America! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our neighbor Janice is full of information about Sequim so kept us entertained during the lulls.

 

 

 

Friday we went to the High School performance of Footloose and Saturday evening was the Port Angeles Chamber Symphony with an all Mozart concert.
No time to loll around but I seem to be getting fat anyway.