Back home from Borrego

It's been a very productive 2 weeks since we've been back. Weather has been nice - Easter weekend saw temps climb to the 70's. Our plants have definitely responded, daffodils have bloomed and the tulips are close to bloomimg as well. The flowering plums are bright pink, too bad they only last a few weeks.

Chris has been helping with getting the flower beds cleaned, I've fertilized the yards and edged them as well. I cleaned up the area west of the shop, trimmed up the cedar and outlined the cedar and contorted filbert with rocks. Working on the garden space, need to level it out and buy the manor stones to outline the area then buy the organic compost.



Grandma & Bob have been visiting the past couple of days, we are going over to Seattle to visit Ben's art show this evening. Thursday will be the first official men's club event of the 2013 golf season. I think being the President has helped me meet more members and let me into some of the close knit groups up at the golf course.

Riley and Carter have been great, they have been spending most of the day outdoors during this nice weather. I hope Riley takes it easy on our backyard plants this year.

Back from Borrego

I realized that a posting from Borrego got lost in the blogosphere? I need to catch up. We had a great time down south and would like to spend even more time there next year. The hang-up is the dogs, it has been hard to find a place that will rent to us with two large(r) dogs. I'll keep looking, there are a couple of promising leads.

The weather down south started off cooler than normal and ended up warmer than normal. It actually snowed one day in Florence while visiting Rick. As expected, he was a great host and had everything prepared for me in his motorhome. I really enjoy the relaxed atmosphere and the pool & spa in Florence. Golfing is at times a little difficult because of the popular time of the year, it can be difficult to get a tee time. We ended up playing 4 times during the 2 weeks and I enjoyed my trip there.

It was a great time in Borrego, it was good to see our neighbors again and the weather was fantastic with temps in the 90's as we were leaving. We stayed at the same home overlooking the 14th green at the De Anza Country Club with the mountains as a beautiful backdrop.

We really enjoyed the pool this year, we kept it heated the whole time and took full advantage of the warm water, cool drinks and sunny skies. Ben and Matt came down again driving in a cool Fiat. They were once again the celebrities, making dinner for everyone we had a great time with them.

My golf game wasn't as rusty as I thought it would be, I had a couple of shaky rounds but for the most part I was very consistent and played well - hope that continues when I go to South Carolina here in a couple of week.

Ben had just completed 12 paintings prior to coming down to Borrego and as soon as he got back he needed to set up for his show. It has been wildly successful, he has already sold 8 of the 12 paintings.

I've got more to tell but its 70 degrees here in Hoodsport on Easter Sunday and I need to get to the golf course.

Countdown to my trip - 2 weeks to go

Superbowl weekend, weather is real nice, it's Friday and I was able to work outside today, it felt great. I've been toying with the idea of going back to work, I've got a couple of unique opportunities but unsure if I'll act on either one.

Snow is still on the ground up at Cushman, with the weekend predicting to be nice and in the low 50's it might be enough to melt the remaining snow. If I were to guess I doubt that I will play any golf up there before I leave.

I also hung up my SW sign since I last posted to the blog.

I've slowly been preparing for the trip, bought a couple of shorts, a new golf hat at Salish Cliffs and I've been working through a checklist of things I need to do before leaving.

Brought in both generators today a sure bet that we'll lose power soon. the dogs have been great, I try hard to give them some exercise out in the front yard everyday, especially when the weather has been decent.

Chris and I have faithfully been walking on the treadmill down at the Hood Canal Fitness Club, we are now "one of the regulars that shows up on Mon - Wed & Fri. We have also been going to Eagle Creek on Thursday night for $1.00 Taco night, it's fun to get out at least once a week.

SF & Baltimore in the Superbowl, I think it will be a close game but these big events rarely live up to the hype.

Seahawks lose to Falcons - time to think about 2013

After a surprisingly good run at the end of the season, the Seahawk season just finished this afternoon with a close loss to the Atlanta Falcons. It was a fun run and very exciting for the Northwest. I've enjoyed having text wars with Jacob during the games. Chris and I went over to Jake and Em's dressed up in full Seahawk gear to watch them beat the Redskins last weekend.

Now that football has almost ran its course, I now need to move on to the events coming up.   I leave Feb 17th for a return trip to Arizona and Borrego Springs - its been unseasonably cold down there this year but I hope things will warm up in a month. Chris and I have been walking down at the Hood Canal Fitness Club 3x a week, it feels good to exercise and work up a lather again.

I'm starting to get involved in my new capacity as President of the 18 hole men's club at Lake Cushman. Haven't been able to play for a month because of snow up there but there are organizational things to do prior to the spring golf season. Since I'm gone for a month, I'm trying to get as many things lined up as I can before I leave.

I hope to get some burning done before I leave, we are scheduled to have a decent week of weather but it's bone-chilling cold. I tried yesterday to get a fire started and my neighbor Pat did as well without any luck. I might try to get my weed-burner fired up tomorrow to jump start a fire. Dennis and I discussed playing golf somewhere this week, we both have the bug to play and our local course is still snowed out.

I think my main spring tasks will be working on the lawn, working on my golf game, planning a garden this spring (a first for myself and Chris) and identifying plants for the hillside. I might tackle that project in small - easy to managed sections. I need to even out the drain field grass and overseed there, level out the new little section I planted on top of the cul-de-sac and reseed, and top dress the back and front lawns. We might move some of the plants out back that are too big for the spots they are in or to move them so Riley doesn't turn them to mulch. Finally, I will get together with Jake to help him redo his back yard. That should be easier to tackle then the major work we put into the front yard. Perhaps I'll come back in the fall and help him with painting the house - that will be a pretty big project.

I had the SW sign Jake gave me cleaned up and the neon tubing replaced. It is now ready and I can't wait to get it hung up in the shop.

Christmas is over bring on 2013

Had a wonderful christmas holiday. We were able to spend time with Ben & Matt, Jake & Em, had dinner with Merle and Donna. It definitely was a while christmas although it rained most of the day. Everyone was very generous with their gift giving. Nice Husky jacket from Jake & Em, Nice mid sleeve Salish Cliff wind/rain jacket from Chris. Headphones & a  really nice "go" coffee cup from Ben & Matt and a gift card from grandma. Most surprising gift was a neon Sherwin-Williams sign that Jacob restored himself. I'm working on tweaking the electrical stuff to make it easier to hang up in the shop.

Of course I ate too much and ate the wrong stuff as is the norm for the holiday.

Jake, Em & I watched the Hawks dismantle the niners on sunday night and that was a lot of fun to do that with them.

Merle and Donna are heading back south tomorrow, I'm a little jealous because it is so cold and wet here but it won't be long before I start getting ready for my own trip down south.

Week before Christmas, snowing almost every day

After LCMC closed the clubhouse on December 11, I played golf three or four times. I think the next golf will be down south with Rick. Today we really got hit, probably 4-6 inches, had to get the generators out and placed in the pump house and next to the house. The dogs are enjoying the snow, hard to play ball, the ball sinks into the snow and makes it difficult for Riley and Carter to find.

Todays our 32nd wedding anniversary, we want to have dinner tonight at Robin Hood to celebrate, I hope the snow changes to rain so we can get out of here.

We had Luella and Bob spend a few days last weekend, we have Ben & Matt coming over on Friday and Jake and Em are coming on Saturday to celebrate Christmas. Jake is bringing the standing rib roast, his contribution to the holiday.

Big day this coming Saturday!

What's the big date? Riley's birthday - he turns 1 on Dec 8. Today is Wednesday, nice day, I played 18 holes of golf just 2 weeks after the carpal tunnel surgery (got the stitches out on Monday). Played under control and despite pretty soggy conditions I shot an 80 and it certainly could have been lower if I putted a little better on the front nine 3 putting 3 straights holes after landing on each green in regulation. Needed a little more club then normal but I was quite surprised.

Cleaned out the culvert on lot 11 yesterday, no fun but was necessary. All the leaves and crap is going into the pipe that feeds into the property. Raked out all the leaves and other debris and built several small cofferdams.

The boys are being good, we are trying to get outside and get a good walk in on the nice days. Riley is leaving both christmas trees alone.

I've put together a new play list on Rhapsody as Dave Matthews, Graham Parker, Dwight Yoakum and new guy Phillip Phillips have new albums (do we still them albums?). I'm sure it will be part of the music I'll use on my trip down south (73 days & counting).

Saturday there is a Christmas party at the golf course, nice to hear that Dennis & Carletta are now planning on attending. They are having a raffle for a free membership, that would be nice to win! It should be fun after golfing there all year, we are getting to know quite a few of the members. The locals are all up in arms because the LCMC has made a decision to close the club house from Dec 11 - March 1 and the rates are going up.