Another year goes

 We celebrated Christmas across the pond in Victoria.  It's only 20 miles as the crow flies, but that puny crow couldn't carry both of us at the same time so we took the ferry.  It's tradition to have tea at Murchie's and I'm all about tradition.  Or is it that I'm all about ignoring tradition?  I forget.

The British Columbia Legislature Building gets dolled up for the holidays.

 Al aka Dick Button near the skating rink.  One little word (near not on) changes things so.

 The Gardens are decorated with the Twelve Days of Christmas, presented to you in no particular order.   Here are the ten lords (frog princes) a-leaping from behind the hedge.

Too bad that most of my evening shots can't possibly do justice to the stunning light show and the glory of the gardens by night.  You'll just have to go there yourself.

 Pipers Piping.

 Three French Hens.

 The sunken garden.

 Maids a-milking

 Ladies Dancing

Geese a-laying

 I couldn't leave you without food highlights.

Now let's all go clean up the Christmas leftovers, pack away the decorations, and get ready to welcome 2017.  May all your dreams be pleasant and all your wishes come true.

Blizzard

 A field just down the road a piece seems to be a stopping spot for a flock of trumpeter swans.  They are lovely, but we haven't been lucky enough to hear their songs.  The only music we've enjoyed has been from the high school holiday concerts and Celtic Christmas, which was pretty fun.  How can those girls move their Irish feet so quickly?  I can barely hobble to the cookie jar and they are dancing circles around the stage.  Without moving their arms.  Amazing.

 Of course, it's all about the food.  

We had another snowstorm.  I hope Santa won't be hindered by it.

May all your Christmas dreams come true.  All of them.   

Baby, It's a little bit cold outside

Hard to complain about temps in the upper 20s and low 30s when we look at the rest of the country.  The 347 snowflakes we saw last night barely count, but there actually was a little bit that lingered in other parts of town.

Hardly worth mentioning, but here it is.

 Al finished the ironing table.  It's grand!  I can get one entire width of fabric in one shot.  No fiddling with that narrow pointy old board.  Bring your tablecloths and come on over.

 This is what December in Sequim looks like.

  

We got a Christmas tree.  Will I have the energy to decorate it?

  It might require a party to have friends help with the lights.

And I hope you are all enjoying whatever holiday festivities and joy comes your way!

Not lost, just distracted

Oops, I kept forgetting to get back here, but you haven't missed much.  We have just been getting on with everyday life, keeping busy and getting projects done.  

 I seem to torture most African violets, but this one defied me.

Grandma would be so pleased.

 Al built me this perfect desk for the Patch, mostly with reclaimed pieces.  It's the same height as the big work table so it can be wheeled up for an extension.  Now I just have to file more of those clippings that I can't seem to avoid.  Will I ever knit all those sweaters or stitch all that needlepoint?  Maybe If I live to be 135.

 Cock your head to the right to see the ornament that Nicky gets to commemorate his graduation.

 And piano-playing Matthew.

 That amazing hubby is now building me an ironing table.  Here is the beginning.  Ain't he somethin'?

Yet another reason why Sequim is Paradise.  This hydrangea just won't quit, even no.

Thirty, count 'em Thirty

  

Feast your eyes on this glorious creation -  Al whipped up a bowl of borscht better than any we had in Poland.  Everything is enhanced with an egg or two.

 Helen and Gary came to visit and we took them on their first Walmart visit. 

 Can't get that in San Francisco. 

 The not-so-mighty Dungeness River. 

 I'll show it to you again in the spring when the snow melts in the mountains.  

 Thirty years ago we went to Golden Gate Park, Judge Dossee met us by the windmill, we said some stuff, slid rings on one another, went to lunch, then got on a 747 to Honolulu.  Upstairs in the fancy lounge.  Finally the "marry me, fly free" ploy worked.  Al thought he had done very well until he found out that more often than not we were left wistfully gazing out the window when a full airplane pulled away from the gate without us.  To celebrate we went to the Museum of Flight in Seattle to look at the first 747 to roll off the Boeing assembly line.   But this little airplane flirted with me on the way to the big one.

 You all know that I'm a sucker for a guy in a uniform.  Alas, this one has little interior substance.

 Go, Rosie, go!

I hope that she can always get him in First Class.

Foreign Travel

 Last week we traveled by ferry (after a pick-up at the airport) to Friday Harbor/San Juan Island to discover what we're lookin' at about 20 miles to the North, beyond the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Salish Sea.  There is an alpaca farm there so maybe if I get a much stronger telescope I'll be able to follow their rompings.  Maybe.

 This is looking South from the spot directly North of our house. 

 Maybe the fog gremlin can make it out but I can't.  Call Superman.

 Here comes the foreign part.  We took another ferry to Vancouver Island and visited the stunning Butchart Gardens, where everything is perfectly manicured (maybe not all of the visitors, but the plants are) and gorgeous.  The new goal is to return for Christmas and see how the elves decorate.

 It's good to dust off the passports once in a while.  

 Pat and Rhett are always fun and were our incentive for the journey.  

See you in September

 Never throw anything away.  This is what the selvedges from the edges of the fabric can become.  Look in the drawer for belt buckles that were leftover from some project years ago and there you have a pillow.  It was such an interesting project to sew all those little strips together and now I'm looking around for other places that just have to have something like it.

 The neighbor girls came over to make tic tac toe rocks. Self-contained it its own canvas bag.

  Clever, right?

 The whole time Al was deadheading his rosebush.

 And did such a good job that he got a piece of chocolate cake.  No, I didn't bake it.

 I would be way too impatient to fill all those layers.

But I did find time to make a pillow from ties that were no longer being used for neck adornment.  This was a wonderful batch from Uncle Robert so I went crazy deciding what went where.  I think it turned okay.  If the bright side gets too dizzying he can turn to the calmer side.