Friday, April 20, 2007
Tulip Festival Street Fair 2007
The street fair is this weekend in Mount Vernon. The weather was pretty good and it was not as crowded as it will probably be there over the weekend, so Pat & I decided to take it in today. There are booths spread in a double row down the road for about 8 blocks of 1st Street in downtown plus a few others on some of the side streets. We walked northbound for the length of them on the right, then back on the other side, with a stop mid-way for lunch. I took along my camera and took a few photos and have about 4 of them ready to post here.
This is a scene showing one of the booths. Many were selling various crafts and art work, including photos. This one is a pretty good example of what they were.
This little Yorkie didn't seem to mind his outfit although I really think it was too warm for him to be dressed this way. He was one of a few dogs that were in attendance. All were well behaved and all were on leashes.
Another booth seen through some of the local city flower plantings. It isn't called the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival for no reason. There are tulips all over the place. The plants are grown for their bulbs that are then sold all over the world. The flowers are almost a waste product as far as the farmers are concerned. But, they are pretty.
I thought this wood carver was pretty good and his wife does the painting. They are entirely hand done, with lots to choose from. I picked this one because it was kind of pretty and it was in a good position to take a photo of it.
We didn't spend a lot of money but did buy a few ear rings, a sign for a gift, a bag of great tasting roasted cashew nuts and lunch. The weather forecast for tomorrow says we may have showers and it usually seems to rain on this event, so we may have picked the best day of all three to visit. It was fun and a nice break from my packing things at home. I also got a haircut, but not at the Street Fair. I have to get prettied up for next weekend!
This is a scene showing one of the booths. Many were selling various crafts and art work, including photos. This one is a pretty good example of what they were.
This little Yorkie didn't seem to mind his outfit although I really think it was too warm for him to be dressed this way. He was one of a few dogs that were in attendance. All were well behaved and all were on leashes.
Another booth seen through some of the local city flower plantings. It isn't called the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival for no reason. There are tulips all over the place. The plants are grown for their bulbs that are then sold all over the world. The flowers are almost a waste product as far as the farmers are concerned. But, they are pretty.
I thought this wood carver was pretty good and his wife does the painting. They are entirely hand done, with lots to choose from. I picked this one because it was kind of pretty and it was in a good position to take a photo of it.
We didn't spend a lot of money but did buy a few ear rings, a sign for a gift, a bag of great tasting roasted cashew nuts and lunch. The weather forecast for tomorrow says we may have showers and it usually seems to rain on this event, so we may have picked the best day of all three to visit. It was fun and a nice break from my packing things at home. I also got a haircut, but not at the Street Fair. I have to get prettied up for next weekend!
Labels: Festivals, Pat and I, Photos, Trips to see things
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Closer and closer
We enjoyed our trip to Federal Way for K's birthday party last Saturday. We went down early and met friends in Fife for lunch before the party, and then to the party. I thought I knew where the place was but couldn't find it where I thought it should have been. So I cheated and went into a gas station and asked. I thought it was on Pacific Highway South but it actually was on S 320th. So we were a bit later than planned but still made it.
On our way home we stopped at a big outlet mall in Marysville to look for a dress shirt for Pat's grandson to wear in the wedding. It is real hard to find anything in a dress shirt in the color we want in children's sizes, so we took a chance and bought the smallest adult one we could find. He is 13 so it might fit. We hope. When we left there the traffic was terrible, just trying to get to the freeway. An hour & a half later we stopped for dinner at a Chinese place at Smokey Point (4 miles away) in Arlington. From there on home was no problem. You ought to see rush hour on weekdays! It is nice to be retired.
I have gone over my house with both sons & M's wife looking at what things they want. I have been making pretty good progress on getting stuff to store packed and they are both taking some of what they want away now. I need to keep the house with beds, etc until after the wedding as family from out of town will be using them. We will go away for a short trip, just Pat and I, after the wedding but when we are back will then really get into cleaning out the place. I am allowed to hold a yard sale here in our park when you are moving so we will do that, then get everything cleaned up and list the house for sale. Some houses here have sold in just a few days and I kind of hope mine will go fast like that. You never know.
Nine days to go.
On our way home we stopped at a big outlet mall in Marysville to look for a dress shirt for Pat's grandson to wear in the wedding. It is real hard to find anything in a dress shirt in the color we want in children's sizes, so we took a chance and bought the smallest adult one we could find. He is 13 so it might fit. We hope. When we left there the traffic was terrible, just trying to get to the freeway. An hour & a half later we stopped for dinner at a Chinese place at Smokey Point (4 miles away) in Arlington. From there on home was no problem. You ought to see rush hour on weekdays! It is nice to be retired.
I have gone over my house with both sons & M's wife looking at what things they want. I have been making pretty good progress on getting stuff to store packed and they are both taking some of what they want away now. I need to keep the house with beds, etc until after the wedding as family from out of town will be using them. We will go away for a short trip, just Pat and I, after the wedding but when we are back will then really get into cleaning out the place. I am allowed to hold a yard sale here in our park when you are moving so we will do that, then get everything cleaned up and list the house for sale. Some houses here have sold in just a few days and I kind of hope mine will go fast like that. You never know.
Nine days to go.
Labels: Family, Grandkids, Wedding
Friday, April 13, 2007
BUSY, Busy, busy.....
I can't believe how many things there are for me to do and yet I am taking a few minutes to make a quick post to my blog. I just ordered some photos from Costco after uploading them from my archives. These will be to include in the wedding book that Pat's daughter, C, is making up for us. I know they won't all be included (31 of them) but it will give C some choices.
Tomorrow Pat & I go to Auburn for my grand daughter K's 10th birthday party. It should be fun and of course there will be the fun for me of introducing Pat to many relatives and friends who will also be there. We will try to meet a few people ahead of the 2pm party for lunch and maybe some after the party for dinner or mochas.
We met with our Priest again yesterday here in our park where we could walk through the service we are planning. We said the words to each other that we will officially say two weeks from tomorrow and they sound good. It looks like it will all work out fine, even if we have to go indoors because of bad weather. Now I just have to try to not make Pat laugh during the ceremony. It is easy to tickle her hand while I am holding it. But I think that might be a mistake to do at that time. I've been warned.
Tomorrow Pat & I go to Auburn for my grand daughter K's 10th birthday party. It should be fun and of course there will be the fun for me of introducing Pat to many relatives and friends who will also be there. We will try to meet a few people ahead of the 2pm party for lunch and maybe some after the party for dinner or mochas.
We met with our Priest again yesterday here in our park where we could walk through the service we are planning. We said the words to each other that we will officially say two weeks from tomorrow and they sound good. It looks like it will all work out fine, even if we have to go indoors because of bad weather. Now I just have to try to not make Pat laugh during the ceremony. It is easy to tickle her hand while I am holding it. But I think that might be a mistake to do at that time. I've been warned.
Labels: Grandkids, Pat and I, Wedding
Thursday, April 05, 2007
Our last Singles Club event?
Today was the monthly lunch gathering of the Singles Club of folks here in our park. It was an Easter themed potluck lunch in the clubhouse and Pat & I attended it. A friend there used my small camera to take a couple of photos of us- here is one of them:
We will be a married couple by the time of the next gathering of this group on the first Thursday of next month but they have said we can continue to go to their events as alumni. I kind of like that.
We have very spring like weather today, with a high temp in the mid 60s and it is supposed to be warmer tomorrow. I sure hope it will be this way for our wedding on Saturday the 28th!
We will be a married couple by the time of the next gathering of this group on the first Thursday of next month but they have said we can continue to go to their events as alumni. I kind of like that.
We have very spring like weather today, with a high temp in the mid 60s and it is supposed to be warmer tomorrow. I sure hope it will be this way for our wedding on Saturday the 28th!
Labels: Pat and I, Photos, Weather
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
A couple of photos
I have been sorting and boxing things to get ready to move things out of my house. But these two indoor plants bloomed at Pat's house and I figured if I was going to get photos of them I had better not delay too long. I really need to take some time one of these days and just go wandering with the camera again, but here are a couple of photos that are just photos of flowers.
This first one is her other Christmas cactus. I guess it rarely blooms so we were really surprised when this one came out. Both of these photos were taken with the 18 - 200mm zoom lens hand held on my Nikon D200 camera. I know it would be better with the tripod and a smaller f/stop for greater depth of field, but I need something quickly and the tripod was at my house.
I don't know what this flower is but it is tall and the leaves are long and pointy, kind of like palm leaves. It is very delicately colored and with it against the white wall & mini-blinds it doesn't exhibit a lot of contrast. But I kind of like the plant and the photo.
I have over five boxes of Wizard of Oz things that are Annie's collection, including a few first edition books from 1903 - 1904. I have found a heated storage locker that I can rent to store things in so will do that & move them to the house to sell on eBay or whatever. There are a lot of photos and photo albums that I want to scan and that will take time so rather than trying to take them all to Pat's house at once I will store them in the locker, then work on a box at a time. Digital images sure take up a lot less storage space!
This first one is her other Christmas cactus. I guess it rarely blooms so we were really surprised when this one came out. Both of these photos were taken with the 18 - 200mm zoom lens hand held on my Nikon D200 camera. I know it would be better with the tripod and a smaller f/stop for greater depth of field, but I need something quickly and the tripod was at my house.
I don't know what this flower is but it is tall and the leaves are long and pointy, kind of like palm leaves. It is very delicately colored and with it against the white wall & mini-blinds it doesn't exhibit a lot of contrast. But I kind of like the plant and the photo.
I have over five boxes of Wizard of Oz things that are Annie's collection, including a few first edition books from 1903 - 1904. I have found a heated storage locker that I can rent to store things in so will do that & move them to the house to sell on eBay or whatever. There are a lot of photos and photo albums that I want to scan and that will take time so rather than trying to take them all to Pat's house at once I will store them in the locker, then work on a box at a time. Digital images sure take up a lot less storage space!
Labels: Photos
