December 21 (days start to get longer tomorrow)

Tried to publish a new post last week but the web site wasn't working right and I lost my thoughts. Just a couple of days until Christmas. All is good, I've just been through a busy patch at work. Last Saturday was our "Sip & Shop" turn out was great and we generated a big night in sales, Merle bought his new clubs from me on Monday and yesterday we finished our transaction with Shelton High School (15 golf bags). On top of all that we had a employee luncheon on Wednesday, and I had 2 budget meetings this week. Wednesday night we were invited down to Holiday Beach for their Christmas party, it was a lot of fun and we met some nice people there. Pat & Patty, Dennis & Carletta, Merle & Donna and Chris & I represented Holiday View II.

Weather has continued to be mild but we did get some snow on Friday morning, more up at the course than here at home. Plan to relax this weekend, Jake & Em are coming over tomorrow for a couple of days & Ben & Matt will be coming over on Christmas. They have purchased a room for Chris and myself on my birthday at the hotel where their condo is, I'm sure we'll go out to dinner and have a fun night in Seattle.

Chris has a new car, she sold her car to Jake and after a couple of weeks of looking around she found an Audi Allroad that I'm not suppose to call a station wagon but it is. It's a nice car and fits her needs. Jake is really happy to get rid of his Jeep and upgrade to the Lexus. It worked out for everyone.

Riley and Carter are good, I think they miss being outside as much as they were in the summer but I get out there with them as much as possible and Chris walks Riley to the mailbox if the weather cooperates. Riley will get a workout when Tucker shows up on Sunday, they play really well together and while Carter seems a little jealous, I think he also appreciates the break from full time Riley watch.

I promised myself not to post much about our finances but as I look back on this in the future this will have been a very important year for us. The market was strong and our investments even outpaced that growth. Getting the job at the golf course not only keeps me very busy but helps us sustain our money in the market. Getting ready to turn 59 in a couple of days, next summer will be an important milestone when I turn 59 1/2.

Thinking about 2014, I want to do some work inside the clubhouse, we need to do quite a few things outside such as moving plants that have gotten to big, we need to bark, I want to have someone edge the backyard around the fence to make things easier to mow and begin to work on the hillside plantings.

Each year I wonder what changes will happen and I'm always surprised how things change when I look back. I'm enclosing a couple of photo's I took on my way in to work. One is a bald eagle sitting on a post at the end of the dock at Holiday Beach, it won't show up to well because of the distance but I have it as my screen saver on my computer and it's awesome when blown up. The other is a pack of seals (do seals run in packs?) laying out on the deck at the Glen Ayre dock. We live in an amazing place, I never take it for granted.

Catching Up (again)

It's October 12 and it's been another 3 months since my last blog, I need to make this more of a priority.
It's been a good summer, of course I worked at the golf course and now that it has slowed I have more time to concentrate on some projects around the house. I just purchased 8 burning bush plant that I intend to transplant up on the rock wall in the back tomorrow. Can't do it today because I had a quarterly report to the board this morning and the Huskies play the Ducks in about 2 hours.

Chris just got back from Italy, she had a great time with Carole, our neighbor. She just got back and got word that her mom had a stroke. As it is turning out, we don't think she did which is great but she's still under observation in Portland.

The dogs have been good, they have adjusted to my work schedule and enjoy being outdoors. Riley is just about ready to turn 2 years old already but thankfully, he still acts and looks like a puppy!

The neighbors are getting in the heading down south mode. Donna and Merle leave next week. We've had a great summer having dinner or drinks on numerous occasions and Thursday nights at Eagle Creek for $1 taco's.

My golf game has been amazingly consistent this summer despite not playing nearly as much as I had the year before. Got my handicap down to an 11 and it's been there for at least the past 2 months. Got some new sticks a couple of weeks ago, one of the benefits of running a golf course is the PUD the equipment vendors extend to us. Haven't got to play with them but a couple times but I like the feel.

Didn't take any vacations but I'll be heading down to Borrego in March for a month. Got a chance to play golf with Jacob twice and he was nice enough to let me win but it won't be much longer, his game is good and he continues to improve.

Ben & Matt have been extremely busy, they are buying a condo downtown Seattle, they are in California this weekend bottling their wine, they both are prospering at work, they both got promoted, Ben is flying to New York after the weekend to open a new Starbucks concept store in Manhattan (a tea store). He was also commissioned by the winery to do 3 paintings. I include them in the blog.

At work I'm in the middle of budget time, it will be interesting to see if the board will want me to continue as a salaried manager, our golf course is subsidised by the lot owners and while I'm accomplishing the goals set for me, it hasn't translated into additional revenue. Should be an interesting couple of weeks.

July 12 - I can't believe it's been over 3 months since my last posting!

So much has changed since my last posting which highlighted my return from Ariz & Calif. Biggest change is my returning to work. Not to get into all the details but I was hired to run the pro-shop at my local golf course. I've been itching to do something a little more productive and I kind of fell into this. I actually interrupted my vacation down south to come up and interview for the position. I originally wasn't selected but when the original candidate withdrew from consideration the LCMC called me to see if I was still interested.



I was hired back on April 24. Just 2 weeks into the job I was promoted to Golf Course Manager now in charge of both the pro-shop & the maintenance shop. I've really enjoyed the challenges so far and my hard work seems to be netting results and positive responses from the golfers as well as the board of directors at LCMC.

I reunited with my friends for one last trip to South Carolina for golf, we had a great time, weather was really nice and it was fun to have warmer & longer days.




Ben had another art show and he was very successful selling his paintings. We attended his show with Chris's mom & Bob.

Back home, Chris & I planted a garden and Chris just harvested some onions and radishes yesterday. Chris has been fantastic, really helping our with the yard duties. We haven't made any significant changes to the yard except for the garden project & changes with the sprinkler system replacing some heads and adding a 2nd control box to spread out the watering intervals.

Because of work, I wasn't able to spend a week with Jake like I did the year before. I was really looking forward to helping him with his back yard. Still, we got out a couple of Thursdays ago and golfed 54 holes at Trophy Lake in Port Orchard, weather hadn't turned nice yet but we enjoyed each others company for the day, Jake loves golf and is very good when he's under control.

Ben & Matt have been really busy, the past 2 weeks they have been in Hawaii enjoying a much needed vacation as well as reuniting with Matt's parents who returned from a 1 1/2 teaching assignment in Africa.

Carter and Riley have been great, Riley has been much better with the plants this year. Might have something to do with spraying "deer stop" on the plants, doesn't just keep the deer away!

That's it for now, I need to get back into the swing of posting more often.

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.