2013: 02 08 - Drain

Remember my utterly fascinating and riveting series on manhole covers?  I now have many people noticing various manhole covers - everywhere.  I snapped a picture of this one on our recent trip to Issaquah (Seattle) to see the kids.  This was in the parking lot of the strip center in Bellevue, WA where we went to a bridal shop.  I loved it.  Succinct and to the point.  It is a drain.

2013: 02 07 - Sunset

Gorgeous sunset tonight.  It feels like spring is just around the corner although we will probably get another blast of winter.

2013: 02 06 - Sally

It was a gorgeous day today, warm and sunny, and not like early February at all.  I decided to go for a walk and felt sorry for the Dumb Butt so I took her.  (Ray can't walk that much yet.)  Very quickly, it was more like Sally was taking me for a walk.  That is me, on the other end of the leash (out of the picture) at Cherokee Park, near the house. 

2013: 02 05 - Goodbye, Wound Clinic

Ray has finally been release from the Wound Clinic, after six months!  Today was his last appointment to have his foot checked.  The skin is very thin, but at least it is healed over.  The doc told us to not swim for about two weeks to let the foot toughen up.  But he is released!  Of course, he has been release before and it re-opened.  This time, we will be more careful about watching it.

2013: 02 04 - Quilting at Church

Today was the first day in three months that I have been home to go to Quilters at church.  I hauled my machine to church so that I could sew on the quilt while the others quilted on the quilt in progress.  I think that this is also the first time that I have turned on my machine in three months.  It was great to sew again, and the group is perfectly happy to let me sew on the quilt.

2013: 02 03 - Safari motorcycles

Today, we went to the annual Safari Club Expo at the OP Convention Center.  We went specifically to look for and talk to outfitters about taking a safari to Africa next year.  But something shiny caught Ray's eye.  There, with the other 4-wheelers and hunting jeeps, was a bike and sidecar.  This is a Ural which he explained was a Russian motorcycle that is copied from a 1939 BMW motorcycle and was introduced to the Red Army in 1942.  This is a 2012 bike, and was used commonly in WWII.  Oh yeah, we found a couple of safari's that looked like what Ray was looking for.

2013: 02 02 - Hot Dish

The inspiration for today's entry comes courtesy of Grey's Anatomy.  Christina, one of the main characters, is currently in Minnesota.  One of her patient's family brought her a 'Hot Dish' casserole.  Ray looked it up on the internet and found the recipe.  It is basically hamburger, cream of mushroom soup, cheese, and tater tots.  It wasn't all that good so we decided that the recipe was not a keeper.  Funny, but not a keeper.

2013: 02 01 - Mt. Ranier

When we fly to or from Seattle, I always try to sit on the side of the airplane where we have a chance to see Mt. Ranier (center mountain).  You typically fly close enough to Mt. Ranier that it looks you could toss a ball from the end of the wing and hit the mountain.  I took this on our way home from Seattle, connecting in Denver.  It has to be a reallly clear day to be able to see the other mountains which it was today.  Mt. St. Helens is on the right.  You can always tell Mt. St. Helens because of the distinctive blown out north side of the mountain.  Rarely can you see Mt. Hood (on the left) all the way in Oregon.  A little bit later, we could see a fourth mountain which we think was Mt. Adams, also in Oregon.

2013: 01 31 - Ellie models

David's youngest sister, Elianna, is in college in Seattle.  We have pre-scouted a bunch of dresses.  Today, we picked up Ellie and took her with us for the shopping.  She agrees that this might be The Dress.  It is a fun dress that the girls might actually wear again.  Love the socks.

2013: 01 30 - Flowers match?

Today we were wise enough to bring the sample flowers to 'try out' with the dresses.  (We forgot them yesterday.)  This might be The Dress.  After making 300 embroidered flowers, YES, it is important that they look decent with the bridesmaid dresses.

2013: 01 29 - Bridal Salons

Today, we are visiting bridal salons to look at bridesmaid dresses.  Everything is 'by appointment only' probably because they only have one area with mirrors and pedestals.  The girls pick out dresses and make Susan try them on.  My job is to take pictures and agree to everything.  Dad's job is to visit with everyone.

2013: 01 28 - MOB shopping

One of the major purposes of our trip to Seattle this week is to do some wedding shopping.  I thought that we were just going to look for bridesmaid dresses.  Susan took us to downtown Seattle and our first store was Nordstrom's which is the flagship store in the entire chain.  Our first stop was a department for me where I found multiple things to choose from.  This one will probably be my mother-of-the-bride dress unless it is the same color as the bridesmaid dresses.  Then, I will go with choice number 2.  You cannot imagine how happy I was to find a MOB dress on the first day that I looked!  It took me three months to find a dress for Susan's wedding.

2013: 01 27 - Fish

We ate brunch today at a place called Wild Fin.  As we were leaving I noticed this 'unusual' sculpture that I think is a fish.  Good food; wierd sculpture.

2013: 01 26 - On the road again, Phoenix

To post or not to post, in 2013.  This blog may turn into Pic-A-Day every once in awhile.  It will just depend on what catches my fancy.  I learned that this actually takes quite a bit of time.  If it is fun, I will do it.  If it becomes a burden, I am not so vain as to continue to do it.  But, mostly, it amuses me.

So, what is this?  We were stuck in the Phoenix airport on our 3 hour layover on the way from KC to Seattle.  This is actually a lamp at the entry of the restaurant area in Terminal D.  Ray and I looked at it for quite a while trying to decide what it is.  He thought it looked like a giant seed, like an apple seed.  I thought it looked like just a sculpture of plant reed-like leaves bent into a shape.  Who knows what it is supposed to be.  It is a lamp.