Thanksgiving

A delicious meal made by Nana and Grampy with sweet potatoes supplied by us. I am not sure I can say for certain which was my favorite dish because they were all so good but I am thinking the apple and pumpkin pies this year were especially good.

A very reluctant attempt to perform a Thanksgiving song learned in school.

Day after Thanksgiving hike down to Stavis Bay. This hike was not as peaceful as it appears. We took a few christmas pictures down here but C was not in the mood. He yelled quite often between photo shoots - "you made me walk all the way down here just to take some stupid pictures". Not a fun hike.

Hot chocolate later after our hike and a chilly boat ride.

The collection grows

Sea urchins - from St. John's trunk beach, melting in with my collection of shells, rocks, urchins, glass, crab claws found on beaches around the world, the states and in our own back yard. My sister-in-law made us a beautiful plate as a wedding gift and I place these treasures there. The urchins I think are my favorite. I traveled to Maui with my sister and parents when I was very small, probably 3 or 4. Of the many memories I have of that trip, the one that I come back to most is of a sea urchin shell my dad found while snorkling off the beach. He brought it up from the beach and placed it on a table near the pool we were swimming in. It looked so delicate, white and perfectly symmetrical. He told me to leave it there while I swam so that it wouldn't break. Soon after, while we were swimming the wind picked up and blew the urchin away. I must have been heartbroken that we couldn't find it because I still am thrilled everytime I find one.

A question for you

How do you know you are in paradise?

::Palm trees on your ferry boat:

::White sandy beach and moorage space just outside your condominium

::Iguanas - everywhere.

::turquoise seas, warm enough to swim in day or night.

Enjoy.

The reason I have not written

Is because I have been in (or preparing to go to) St. Thomas US Virgin Islands. Well actually this is St. John one of the nearby islands and this is Trunk Bay, one of National Geographic's best beaches. Unbelievable. This day (Thursday) was the highlight of our 5 days away. One half of St. John is a US National Park and the beaches are spectacular and the crowds minimal. The water is warm enough (70 or so degrees) the sun was very intense (70 sunblock) and the heat very hot.

There is much more to tell about this trip - but we'll save that for later. Enjoy the pictures.

Chilly evening at the beach

We had a day off from school in honor of our countries veteran's. A busy day ended with a late afternoon request that landed us at the beach. But we didn't stay long. See those toes - very cold. The owners of those toes were admonished to keep their shoes on. I had on polartec, rain jacket, rain pants and boots and I was still a little chilly. One shot I could not get was of what I am guessing was a "baitball" 100 ft or so from the shore. The seal lions were swimming in circles surfacing and diving making a commotion and I can only guess that they had found a school of fish and were eating to their hearts content. The only thing missing from the activity were the seagulls so it may have been a small school of larger fish. Often we see salmon jumping around there so maybe it was a good group of salmon. Good video clip anyway.

Hope and reminder

November is one of the wettest months in the NW. Rain, day in and out. And we've had a few deluges so far. Last week we had an entire day of unprecedented rain, wind and several thunderstorms. I thought we were in the Midwest or on the East Coast. (except for the fact that is was very cold here instead of the summery humidity that causes their lightening storms) Anyway, the lightening lit the entire house, the thunder rattled the walls and woke everyone from their deep slumber. The wind and rain were so hard I swear I felt a faint spray blowing through our nice new weather and waterproof south facing french doors. It was a hurricane, it was a typhoon, no it was November!

That was last week. This week - I am planting a reminder that after every winter, no matter how rainy and cold, comes spring. These are a few crocuses - the last of the 100 or so bulbs I have planted this fall. I hope they survive the squirrels, raccoons and rain.

Sunday morning walk. Little M has a pair of walking legs. She walked nearly a mile, then a stop with sis and dad for hot cocoa and a little later took a long long late morning early afternoon nap.

WIP and spectacular fall color

This is what sitting around eating bon bons looks like around here. This is another project which has been waiting to be started. I finally got it going and now I can't wait to see it finished. Which is really how I get stuff done. When the inspiration hits and I finally take the dive into starting whatever it is that has inspired me, it is very hard to put the project aside and focus on the other important things I have to do. This project will be completed probably before Thanksgiving, but I won't share until after christmas - I don't want to spoil the surprise!

A fall evening walk just before dinner. But, as I write we have tremendous gusts of wind (and torrents of rain) so I am sure these leaves will not be there in the morning.