Happy birthday to Norma Jean

Sisters with preferred drinks, 1995 and 2012

Today my sister Norma Jean has a birthday! I know we all have one, but the two of us are not even three years apart in age and have always sort of been there for each other. Not necessarily in the same town, but sometimes we are actually in the same place at the same time. I'm hoping again this December I'll get to be there with her; I try to visit once a year.

Her late husband Pete took that first picture of us, when we were visiting family at Thanksgiving in Texas. They lived in Florida and I lived in Colorado. Our brother Buz took the second picture, with the two of us (actually all of us) having aged a few years as well as illustrating how we changed from our preferred beer to red wine.

The one constant as we have moved through our days is that we still like to quaff a brewski or a bottle of merlot when we're together. So tonight, after I finish this very tardy blog post, I'm going to raise my glass to her. Happy birthday, dear sis!
:-)

Enticing Tuesday

My neighbor's porch

Okay, I know it's late for this post. I was sitting next door at Lynn's enjoying a glass of wine with these lovely ladies (who had just returned from a walk) when I realized that I had forgotten my Tuesday post!

It was partly because today was the first session of a new yoga semester, and once I returned home I decided to run some errands. And then before I knew it, the entire afternoon had passed me by. These ladies were drinking their wine and I decided to join them to tell the story of my friend Ronni, who posted her first aprè-operation post yesterday: a mere four days after a 14-hour surgery, she wrote this post for her devoted followers, of which I am one.

And now it's after 5:00pm here in Washington state, and I'm enjoying the last of my own wine before settling down to write a quick-and-dirty post for you. Today has been incredibly perfect, weather-wise: it's not even 70°F outside, with a light breeze, making me think that heaven could not be more perfect than this. I wish I could send this to you via blog post, but you'll have to use your imagination,  I suspect. What's your weather like?
:-)

Thanksgiving Day 2016

Gene, Leo, and Robert at Starbucks

When I woke this morning and went out to start my Thanksgiving Day, I knew I needed coffee first thing. (I admit to my addictions.) Since Avellino's is closed for the day, I headed over to the local Starbucks, because I knew they would be open. And who showed up but three of my regular Avellino visitors, Gene, Leo, and Robert. I couldn't stay to visit for long, however, because I had signed up to attend a special Gratitude yoga class.

Ingela at Yoga Northwest

Ingela, the founder of Yoga Northwest, an Iyengar style yoga studio, hosted a special yoga class today to benefit the Lighthouse Mission, where a meal costs $2.05 per person, and we donated at least $20 each for the class, all of which goes to the Mission. The studio was packed, and we then had Ingela's instruction for an hour and a half before heading back to our own homes, families, and dinner preparations. As I told Ingela, I had avoided taking her class, because I heard she is very hard. But I really enjoyed her instruction and won't shy away any longer.

My plate for our own special meal

For our own Thanksgiving meal, we were gifted with some of the best sockeye salmon I have ever tasted, from my fisherman friend Gene, along with new potatoes which, to my surprise, are purple, along with a complete roasted romanesco cauliflower, a delicata squash casserole, kale salad and bruschetta garlic bread from the Great Harvest Bread Company.

Me getting ready to toast our incredible feast

As I got ready to toast our scrumptious meal, SG captured this picture of me. He's got one of those iPhone6s phones, which actually (in regular picture mode) captured several frames of me lifting my glass of wine and smiling. This is the only one that came forward, though. I wish all of you, all my dear friends, the very best of days, and please accept my thanks for being such good, good friends. Blessings all around as I hoist my glass to toast a great year ahead.
:-)

Another hot spell ramping up

A neighbor's grape arbor

We have just finished a wonderful cool period, with the temperatures during the day not making it much past 70 (21C) in the heat of the day, with wonderful cool nights allowing for comfortable sleep. And we even got a third of an inch of rain Friday night here in Bellingham, which was also delightful, after having been in a prolonged drought. But it was short-lived. Starting today, when the clouds clear off, we won't be seeing any more of them for quite awhile. A high-pressure ridge is building over the area, so here we go again.

Every morning when I walk to the bus, I pass these grapes and have watched them develop. They are not seedless and will turn deep burgundy colored before they are ripe. But this year the neighbors will have a bumper crop, the most I've seen in the seven years I've been watching. I stole a few once, and they are tart and filled with seeds (maybe Concord?) and very delicious. Of course, anything stolen tastes better, doesn't it?

My tomatoes are still green but some of my neighbors' cherry tomatoes are ripe enough to be quite delicious indeed. And my friend John tells me that his sweet corn is not too far from being ready to eat. I'll be the benefactor of as much as I want! It's getting to be that time of the year when harvesting the fruits of our labors is in sight. I've eaten broccoli and kohlrabi, as well as lettuce and spicy salad greens from my own garden since June, but those fruits that require a whole season are coming along nicely. Oh, is there anything better than food from your own garden? Or an unsuspecting neighbor's?
:-)

Virtual toast

A Christmas toast

On Wednesday, Norma Jean and I shared a virtual toast to the holiday on video chat. Once I'm down there in Florida visiting, we will do this every evening at 5:00pm. I know her glass looks huge, but it's not, really. We both measure out exactly 8 ounces of wine for our evening repast, and once it's gone, it's over until the next evening. I know a serving is supposed to be 5 ounces, but it's not quite enough for me! This is perhaps not a small serving, but it has grown to be my usual daily portion, and so far my liver enzymes seems up to the task.

The widget that I use on my blogs to search for previous posts is broken. When I tried to use it to find that Christmas Eve post last week, I saw that it wasn't working and went over to my other blog to discover that it doesn't work over there, either. It's annoying because I use that feature all the time to link to previous posts over the years.

There is a website for Blogger called "Something Is Broken" and I found that this has been a problem for many other bloggers for a few months now. It might have been broken for that long, too, but there doesn't seem to be anything to do about it except remove it for the time being. Then I discovered another similar code that works somewhat; it links all the posts with the search word in it, instead of just a few lines. I've replaced the broken one with the substitute for now. If you use it and wonder how to get out of it once you've used it, I found that clicking on the banner will take you back. Sigh. It is free, after all, but sometimes Blogger can be a real pain.

My internal clock is kind of screwed up, since Christmas (and, soon, New Years) falls right in the middle of the week, so when I wake up I must puzzle for a minute or two as to what day of the week it is. Tomorrow is Sunday, though, and I'll be heading off to the movies with my friend Judy. Her family is gone and it's time for us to catch up!
:-)

First post from sunny Florida

I took this picture from Norma Jean's backyard this morning. Notice the trees, a kind we just don't see much of in Washington state. We haven't seen this much blue sky lately, either. It was very cold last night, for Florida at least (41 deg F), but when the sun came up, it warmed up quickly and is now in the mid-70s, just about perfect.

Norma Jean used her recently purchased Vitamix to make a wonderful smoothie for our lunch today. She uses raw kale, acai juice, flax seed, frozen mixed fruit, and yogurt; it was absolutely delicious and incredibly nutritious. We'll be having this often, since it's her usual lunch fare. We walked somewhere between five and six miles this morning on the streets near her home in Betmar Acres, a 55-and-over mobile home retirement community. She walked more slowly than she usually does, to allow her elder sister to keep up.

We went to the health food store and then to the liquor store to stock up on red wine. We saw this bottle and couldn't resist buying it, since Norma Jean is the middle sister of our original three siblings. (When I was sixteen our parents decided to have another three children in quick succession. The last two were born after I left home.)

I'm a little tired from the travel and the three-hour time difference between Pacific and Eastern Standard Time. I used that as an excuse to keep Norma Jean from going even farther this morning. Tomorrow we'll go a shorter distance but at HER pace. I'll get a good night's sleep so I'll be ready.
:-)

We have arrived

Sister Norma Jean, brother Buz and Pixie the pup

It's later in the afternoon, after a day spent shopping for Thanksgiving goodies and stuff for the birthday party tonight. We learned yesterday that my sister Markee (who lives in Canada) arrived earlier today, so now all six of us are in the same place. Tonight we will go to my niece's house and we will see everyone! I am very excited.

I arrived late yesterday, met by Buz and Norma Jean. We stopped at Whole Foods and got some pizza and other goodies and came back home (to Buz and Phyllis' home, that is) to celebrate the first leg of our trip being finished. It was quite the trip through the security line in Seattle for me, since I had to have my bag searched. The TSA agent asked if I had any weapons or sharp objects in there, and I said no. I couldn't imagine what it was that alerted them. He opened the bag and went immediately to the object in question:

The killer rye bread

This loaf of bread is so dense that it looked like a weapon! Perhaps a brick? It's so solid that I suspect I could use it to defend myself. After he pulled it out of the suitcase, he ran it separately through the scanner and then re-scanned the bag. Finally through! The flight itself was uneventful, and the only problem I had last night was having more than one glass of wine.

This morning Norma Jean and I went out to the local park, and I felt much better after a brisk walk in the sunshine. I have realized that my capacity for alcohol has diminished considerably over the years. Now I am feeling quite well, ready for a party, but I think I will be much less cavalier about how much I imbibe. In fact, maybe I'll be the designated driver tonight.
:-)