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| The outside vendors at today's Farmers' Market |
You might notice in the above picture that the pavement is a bit on the wet side: we were forecast to have heavy rain all day long, and when I first woke up, that's what it was doing outside. Buckets of the stuff, and I thought drat, it's Saturday, the walk with the ladies. I waffled about whether to go or not, but finally put on all my rain gear and went. By the time we met (19 of us), the rain had stopped. We did our usual five-mile walk and headed back to the coffee shop.
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| My coffee and Peggy's scone |
Then I headed to the market, just to see it for the last time this year, as it will close at 3:00pm today and not re-open until April. There is a slight chance they may do what they did last year and have one Saturday a month, but the number of vendors will be down to just a few. I visited my friend Margo, who makes the wonderful batik designs, and she was busy helping customers buy some last-minute gifts. I am rarely without some Margo scarf or hanky.
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| Margo and customer |
I have bought lots from her and if I were visiting my family this year, I'd be buying some gifts here, but we're staying home and not traveling anywhere farther than downtown Bellingham. Margo was at Leo's birthday party a couple of nights ago, as we celebrated his sixth birthday. We sang "Happy Birthday" to him (there were probably two dozen adults and Leo) and this is what he did:
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| Leo being bashful |
I think it might have been just a little overwhelming for him, and as he opened presents and got more and more excited, I realized he was probably more than a little overstimulated. I caught this wonderful picture of him as he blew out his candles:
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| The raspberries on the cake spell out "6" |
He loves ice cream cakes, and his mom (holding the cake) always makes one for him. I feel so happy to be included in this circle of friends, all because of the coffee shop we frequent. He takes the place of a grandchild in my heart, and I love him just as much as if he were my own.
All these pictures were taken with my new iPhone 6, and I'm very pleased with them. I keep forgetting about the "burst" mode that allows you to hold down the button and take numerous pictures all at once, and then choose the one(s) you like and get rid of the rest. I was just lucky I got this one right at the moment he was blowing out the candles.
And now the rain is drumming hard on the roof, and I am very glad it didn't do this while we were walking this morning! Life is good, and I hope you all have your chores and shopping finished for the coming holiday, so you can sit back and relax. I'm happy to be done, with only a few things to wrap and deliver.
:-)
wow, 19 of you showed up to walk, even with rains coming down! glad it didn't rain during your walk, but it still shows how hardy you all are. :) and devoted. cute little leo. NOW he gets bashful! :)
ReplyDeleteAwww. Leo is such a cutie.
ReplyDeleteLove that you walked anyway - and, as usual, envy you your rain.
I hope your Christmas is love and laughter filled.
You and your fellow walkers are such a dedicated group of ladies, rain, snow, or sunshine makes little difference as long as the hike is accomplished. You make me smile with your 'we shall no be defeated' attitude. Winston Churchill would have been proud :)
ReplyDeleteSweet Leo, he had a wonderful birthday !
~Jo
You've got it right. we have to have young friends. They help to keep us in the game. Some of my young friends are getting older and I will have to look for younger ones.
ReplyDeleteYour iPhone does take wonderful photos. Maria wanted David to use her iPhone camera, but he couldn't get the hang of it, unfortunately. All of the photos were blurry. That's what happens when we use a regular camera.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Leo!
Aloha from Hawaii.
Happy Birthday to Leo...hard to believe he is six! he is lucky to have you in his life:)
ReplyDeleteSix can be a tough birthday, esp. if 20 adults are there. I'd be on that rug too . . . but I am impressed that he rallied for the cake!
ReplyDeleteIt even has a burst feature? Sigh.... I've been badgering Art about the iPhone 6, but so far he's not budging. Not to worry. He'll weaken eventually. Hmmm... should I drop my iPhone 4s... by accident, I mean. :- )
ReplyDeleteIt's very late Saturday night/Sunday morning but I can't sleep so I'm catching up. Rain kept me in doors this morning and then we traveled south to a funeral, the husband of a good friend, before joining Jill and the kids at sister-in-law Jan's place near Gig Harbor for a family evening. We were going to the Tacoma boat parade, but it was raining just too hard, so we stayed in and played games and ate.
ReplyDeleteNow I need a good walk, but it's almost 2:00 AM. .
Happy 6th Birthday Leo.I can understand walking in the rain, because I walk. I am laughing and I know you will smile - my young sweet neighbour, half adopted 8 year old Matt came to the house the other day in the rain and tapped lightly on the door. He asked me if I wanted to come out and play in the rain with him. I asked what we would do and after much shoe shuffling he looked at me with those huge blue eyes and said "I dunnoo, maybe we could walk to the coffee shop and have Hot Chocolate. Mum gave me $5 so you don't have to pay". ha,ha .....Of course I went. Matt has just started skating this year ( a late bloomer) and of course the other kids were much better having been skating for at least 2 years longer than him. He started in September and has just started catching on to how hockey is played. His Mum, Dad and I went to his game yesterday and his skating has improved so much since 3 months ago. I have gone to his practices and games, taken some photos for his Mum and we all cheered through all the loses; however, yesterday, Matt skated down the ice and passed the puck awkwardly to another child who skated across the net and passed the puck back to Matt. Matt slammed it into the corner of the net. WAHOO - everybody stood up and cheered for Matt and the other boy. Now, apparently Matt has been following the Toronto Maple Leafs Hockey Club and when he scored the goal, he kinda hippity hopped and went down on one knee and put his hands up in the air. Everybody cheered and clapped. ha,ha He was one happy little boy at the end of the game, so you know it, right - we went to the coffee shop and had hot chocolate and treats. Thats my story DJan. I have a question. Does Margo have a website? Have a wonderful day and yes, I have all my shopping done, wrapped and delivered - aah :)
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading about your hikes and last night I happened to see on PBS a program about the island Shikoku. It's a 700 mile trek that was so interesting to me that I thought you might enjoy it too. Here is the site:
ReplyDeletewww.pbs.org/sacredjourneys.
I haven't watched any of the other selections on the site but I will!
That's a long time to be without your market. I have done all the shopping except for the fresh food and presents are now wrapped and under the tree. Time to relax with a drink I think.
ReplyDeleteGlad you got out, despite the rain! Yeah, it was pouring all day here in Portland, too. Poor little Leo.....sometimes birthdays get overwhelming to little guys.
ReplyDeleteIt takes a village.... :):):)
ReplyDeleteI will even miss the market.
You really do have a coffee-shop-family. Much love there.
You are evidently all like minded for 19 of you to show up considering the forecast. How nice you salvaged a great day. Leo is so cute and all boy to hide like that. You are both lucky to have each other.
ReplyDeleteIt is all rain and fog here too. Depressing! But the ole yule log, presents and holiday cheer (and spirits) should perk me up this week. Happy holidays Djan!
ReplyDeleteThat leo is a cutie! Happy holidays to you, DJan.
ReplyDeletesounds like you gave leo a nice birthday...ha...even if it made him curl into the foetal position...lol...will miss the market...but like all of us, it needs its rest as well..and our anticipation of its return makes it all the more....
ReplyDelete