How Would You Like to Be - Princess for a Day? Not you, sir...

You gotta hand it to the Brits.  They do the "let's play dress-up" gig better than anyone else and nothing provides a better opportunity to pull out the stops than a royal wedding.  By the time I went to bed last night the television was awash in prenuptial events of one sort or another.  Kinda like the pregame shows on Super Sunday.  Truly a spectacle.

I went to bed and read a book.  The royal thing is just not my gig...although there was a time when I did like to play dress-up.

 Princess Elmo

Cousin Jan and I try out the Landed Gentry look

 Hmmm....I was going to make a big deal about this...thought it would be really funny...but I've already lost interest.  Oh well...

In other news I've been beavering away at spring clean-up the past couple of days.  I power washed mom's trailer which turned out to be more of a chore than I thought - I spent a good part of two days at the task.  Lots of green slime on the north side of the place.  Yet another joy of living in a rain forest. 

Also did some more birding out North Douglas; but the tide was too high for waders or ducks and it was pretty much a bust.  

And I washed my car...a job that I really dislike for some reason or another.  Still once a year whether it needs it or not...

Well, it's cloudy this morning with a few sprinkles.  I was going to clean out the flowerbeds at auntie's; but I think I'll wait for a little warmer weather.  Guess I'll go for a good long workout.

Have a great weekend everybody!

Cabin Fever

Three days stuck at home with the crud...by yesterday afternoon I was going stir-crazy.  Weasled my way over to the club for a low-profile workout on the treadmill.  Felt much better after a little exercise.  This morning dawned mostly clear and I was feeling much improved.  Went over to mom's for coffee (don't think I'm contagious any longer) and then headed out North Douglas for a little birding.

Quite a bit of activity at Fish Creek.  Song Sparrows galore.  Lots of Ruby-Crowned Kinglets and Pine Siskins.  A large number of ducks - mostly mallards and Barrow's Goldeneye; but also a pair of Common Mergansers that I carefully stalked for a half-hour or so with some success.

 A pair of Common Mergansers at Fish Creek

 The Merganser couple were very photogenic

 A Song Sparrow peeps out of a Spruce tree

And just before I got back to the car I spotted this fella who I chased around the perimeter of the parking lot for 20 minutes or so.  Not a great pic - but not too bad. - I consider this engagement to be a draw...

A Red-Breasted Sapsucker

Happy Easter to all my Christian friends.

A Nasty Bug

Ugh.  I've been sick for a couple of days.  I believe it's the same respiratory bug that laid auntie low a few weeks ago.  Serious wheezing and rattling in my chest.  It hurts when I cough. I'm guessing I caught it from one of the lads who installed mom's new pellet stove.  I noticed he was sniffling and coughing.  Sure hope mom and Linda don't get it...

Otherwise it's been a good week.  Amanda left on Wednesday and I cooked supper at mom's on Tuesday which was quite fun.  I made seafood fettuccine, stuffed mushrooms, asparagus in a vinaigrette and a strawberry mousse for dessert.  It seemed to be well received.  Amanda is always amused by Aunt Emilie and Tuesday night was no exception.  And she had a nice visit with mom.

I think Amanda enjoyed her stay.  Lots of excitement downtown with the folk festival.  She is considering moving back to Juneau this fall after her stint at the Painted Turtle in Cali.  She said that she was trying to look at Juneau through the eyes of a potential resident.  It was my impression that what she saw was distinctly a mixed bag.  Too much drinking and other substance abuse by her old friends.  And I think she believes we all dress and look kinda seedy.  No argument there.

On the other hand, she is confident that she could get a decent job with a decent salary and benefits here in Juneau.  And she very much wants to settle down after years of changing jobs and/or moving every six months or so.  Again, I certainly understand.

Bottom line:  the jury is still out...

I've been watching a lot of TV the past couple of days as I sniffle away on the couch.  A couple of fun food fight shows last night featuring a couple of Portland chefs whose food I have enjoyed immensely.  Naomi Pomeroy is featured on Top Chef Masters and Vitaly Paley opened up a can of whup-ass on Iron Chef Garces on Iron Chef America.

Here's a story from Oregon Live about Chef Pomeroy. 

A belated Happy Birthday to my ol' pal John Chapman - and a pic from a trip we took with our dads to Lake Hasselborg back in the day.

John and his dad Jerry on Lake Hasselborg back in the late 60's.

 

Just Dance

A very fine weekend.  The weather was quite nice - chilly in the wind - but lots of sun.  The grass is beginning to green-up on the sides of Egan Drive.  Crocus are blooming in yards.

Went for a walk out North Douglas on Saturday and out to the Boy Scout Camp yesterday.  Joan and Maddy the Shih Tzu were my partners both days and Alison joined us yesterday.  Maddy is getting the hang of this walkies thing - discovering her inner dog.  She's much more confident outdoors than she used to be and seems genuinely glad to see me when I show up at the house to collect them.  Woof!

The birding is still a little sparse although there are a number of migrant geese and ducks around.  And on the way back from Eagle River we stopped at Amalga Harbor where there were three pair of swans in the still partially frozen salt chuck.  Also a bunch of common mergansers and a real surprise - a land otter that had hauled out on the ice.  Unfortunately the distance was too great for decent pics although Alison's spotting scope provided a fine view.

 Alison and her nifty new spotting scope

 Song Sparrow at Fish Creek

Barrow's Goldeneye on the Eagle River estuary

In other news, Amanda has been dancing up a storm all week at the folk festival.  She said her feet were bruised after a dance-a-thon the other night.  Big fun!  Last evening she and I joined David and Cathy Bohna for supper at the Island Pub.  Tonight I think we'll go to Zephyr and tomorrow night she will come to mom's for supper.

Life is good.

Spring Chores Begin

Well, a half-way decent day yesterday - think it got up to 52 or so.  And even a little sun.  Looks OK this morning too. 

Yesterday I inaugurated the Spring Clean-up season by helping Eric stack over a cord of wood.  It felt good to be doing something out of doors.  Today, weather permitting, I'm going to sweep mom's roof.  Oh boy!  It's still a letter early for actual gardening stuff; but the day is not far off.

Amanda arrived on Tuesday afternoon.  She's staying at her friend Kira's for a couple of days and has a room at the Baranof for tonight and tomorrow.  Downtown should be abuzz this weekend with the folk festival in full swing.  I'm hopeful that Amanda can find the time for a couple of dining events - won't be up to PDX standards, of course, but should be fun nonetheless.  Might try Zephyr tonight...

I took mom to the orthopod again yesterday.  The steroids have been of limited value so we're going to try some physical therapy next.  Unfortunately, there is a month-long wait list to get into the therapist.  Stay tuned...

I was rummaging around in my recent pics and found a couple of tweety bird shots that are OK...Pine Siskins which are very common year 'round in this burg.  They are the classic of the type the Harrigan girls call LBBs - Little Brown Birds.  Indeed lots of tweeters are now arriving in mass.  There are a bunch of robins flying around this morning.  Need to get out North Douglas and check-out the Fish Creek bird situation.  Should be a gizzillion ducks.

 Pine Siskins were regular guests at my bird feeder this winter

 Also lots of the lil' buggers on the dike trail by the airport

I've also been playing around with some of the filters in Photoshop.  Kinda like this one - it's a shot of a seiner sailing by the little island in front of Auke Bay a few weeks ago.

Photoshop Fun!

Well, there you have it, gang!

Happy Birthday to Roy

I was honored to be invited to the elder Rickey's 89th birthday party yesterday.  Conceived as a semi-outdoor event - BBQ ribs and a fire pit.  It snowed off-and-on all day....  Still, I did manage a half-hour or so huddled around the fire.

Indeed it is snowing again this morning...although looking up now it appears to have turned to rain.  Came down pretty good for an hour or so though; there's about an inch of the white stuff on the deck at the moment.  Sigh...

Otherwise another sedate week for the most part.  Been doing lots of catch-up bookkeeping and today I will do my taxes as well as Linda's and mom's.

Mom had an injection again last week for the arthritis in her back.  Helped for a couple of days but yesterday she said it was not as good as the day before - so we'll see.  They won't be able to give her any more steroids for a few months so I expect that next week's appointment will involve a discussion of possible surgical procedures.  If she decides that back surgery is something she wants to do I hope she will consider going down below for the procedure.  I think her doc here is capable; but I am sure that he does not do nearly as many procedures as a specialist in Seattle or Portland - and it strikes me that this is an area where experience would count a great deal.  We'll see...

So, without further ado, a couple of pics from yesterday's event.  The Rickeys are a notoriously camera-shy lot - so this is all you get!

Grill Master Doug knows his stuff

Lisa and Roy open presents

Later gang!

A Dash of This; A Pinch of That

Sorry about the infrequent posting; but I just have not had a lot of stuff happening that is blog worthy.  So...don't get your hopes up for this one...but here we go.

We'll start with the weather.  After a great and fairly warm previous week, the temperature has cooled a bit -  low-30's at night and low 40's during the day.  And we're finally getting a little rain.  The snow in mom's yard is almost gone and as soon as it disappears from the flower beds you can see little green things beginning to appear.

Auntie's yard has been bare for over a week and the Japanese Iris are popping-up all over.  This morning I planted a bag of 30 pink tulip bulbs under the eaves in auntie's front yard.  Cousin Sandra bought them last fall but they never got poked in the ground.  They are well sprouted so I'm hopeful they will actually bloom this spring.  Time will tell.

Emilie continues her slow recovery from the serious chest cold she has been fighting for over two weeks.  I've been popping-in on her regularly to see how she's doing.  I know she is doing better because she is not allowing me to do her dishes - a task that I do not perform to her standards, i.e., I only wash and dry them as opposed to soaking them in bleach, washing them twice, and then running them through the dishwasher.  Nuff said.

I played cards last Sunday with the Rickey Tribe and did quite well.  Indeed I've been doing well fairly regularly of late.  I fear retribution.

I walked the airport dike trail three or four times last week - a couple of times with Joan and Maddy and once with Dougie and Alison.  Lots of boids showing-up; but I was unable to get any decent pics.  They're elusive little buggers.  I'm looking forward to hiking some other trails as the snow and ice recedes.  The Boy Scout Camp and Dredge Lake trails might be doable in a week or so - particularly if we get some serious rain.  Both are good birding areas.

The perimeter of the house is now secured for bear season.  I emptied my bird feeder on the hillside out back and the landlord has moved the garbage into the garbage pillbox. 

We ran out of firewood at mom's about two weeks ago.  Mom was contemplating going to a pellet stove; but she has now changed her mind.  At cocktails the other day, Eric turned me on to a pressed wood product from Idaho for sale at a local establishment which may provide a stop-gap solution to the no wood problem until I can lay-up six or eight cords and let them season for the summer.  Mom is subjecting the aforementioned product to rigorous testing and, if it proves satisfactory, I will acquire a pallet of the stuff.

I've done a fair amount of baking and some cooking.  Indeed, I have the stockpot at work this afternoon.  I was out of both homemade chicken stock and beef stock and that problem is now resolved.  Auntie has been kept nourished with chicken soup and zucchini bread.  Mom is due for a Chunky Apple Walnut Cake and is lobbying for seafood fettuccine which I plan to accommodate on Tuesday.  I am contemplating the purchase of a decent grill which I could outstation at mom's.

Got an exciting email from my dear friend Martha Stewart, currently of the Shenandoah Valley, but soon to be a resident of Whidbey Island.  She and her partner are buying a very nice place complete with orchard, and more importantly, guest room.  Excellent!

I'm counting the days 'til daughter Amanda arrives - ten, to be exact.  She has re-upped with the Painted Turtle Camp in Cali for the summer.  And she is contemplating a return to Juneau in the fall for full-time employment.  I can't wait to see her!

Well, there you have it kids.