Winey

Who dosent love a drop of wine from time to time, especially in the company of lovely friends...and so it began, one grey Saturday afternoon, our merry band (Mr Big, Tadpole, Ronnie and Johnny) headed out in our old explorer for the wild Skagit Valley.  Who knew? There are hidden vineyards and wineries a plenty and some delightful drops of wine to be had.

First stop was Carpenter Creek Winery.  The first thing that greeted us was a row of beautiful rainbow flags, so we knew that this was going to be a fun place to go.  The flags lined the driveway to the tasting room and filled our eyes with happy colors.  The next thing that greeted us was Jeff, the vitner and all round wonderful fellow.  Here is Jeff in the tasting room with his delicious wines:

Jeff even gave us a behind the scenes looksie into the art of making this yummy wine, look at what

ONE TONNE of merlot grapes looks like with two lovely boys....Johnny and Tadpole :

 imagine what a lovely time it would be having access to all these barrells

I chose a riesling which is utterly scrumptious

Of course - with all that hard work behind the scenes it was time to sup a little more vino with Jeff - here's my empty glass

Sadly it was time to move on...we loved Carpenter Winery and will be there again sometime soon!!

Next stop - was Pasek Wineries in Conway.  Yes this is a wine shop at a gas station, yes most of their wine is made from fruit - but as you can see, their complementary wine tasting (10 bottles strong INCLUDING port) was quite delicimo and ... they had wine cracker mmmkay?

and lookie here - someone seems quite happy about the fruit wine selections, in fact, if I am not mistaken this is a drunk smile John Jensen

no man left behind was our motto this day and yet, look who was last.  None other than Mr Tadpole, refreshed and bright after his 10th glass of fruit wine

We were quite hungry after the first two wineries so we skipped across the road to world famous Conway Pub.  I liked their sign (and the sign below) and so I was excited at what might lay ahead

as you can see, its no enchanted forest - but cozy enough and I LOVED that the waitresses screamed across the room at the patrons.  That just added a certain gen a say qua to the place.  There were dude sitting across from us in full camo gear which added to the excitement - they are there in the photos but you cant see them.  They are in camo.  Pretty much the perfect outfit for a pub dont you think?

Here is Ronnie.  He's shy - unless he's dancing

Here's me and my boi.  The lighting was interesting at the Conway Pub so sorry about the photos

and me with Johnnie - though we were drinking diet fizzy at this point, we both were still proudly wearing the drunk smile as you can see

So return to the conway pub?  I dont think so.  Food was mmmeeehm.  Nothing to blog about.  Still friends, a quick trip to the fish shop and we were off to our next stop a winery slash glass blowing joint.  This should be interesting.......and it was!

I dont remember this chicas name but she was very sweet, as was the huckleberry wine that we had there.  Dont you think those things on the wall behind her with the tails look like giant colored sperm?

Did I mention I really REALLY liked the huckleberry wine? By the way - my hands arent actually the size of snausages - its just that they are right close to the camera...really, they arent the ham hocks they appear to be

The glass was really pretty here - I loved that you could drink wine, listen to a little Jimmy Buffet, be warmed by the kilns on a cold day and see a masterpiece made

Sadly - we had places to go and wine to guzzle so it was onwards to....highland cattle?

Yup - these little chicklets were hanging around and were quite interested in our aucspicious arrival as you can see. A short drive down the road and we were here.  Eagle Winery - Tad and Ronnie's Fav.

I liked the people here, they were very sweet, but the fruit flies buzzing around the tasting room took away my amor a little, I battled through though and I have to say the rose from here was outstanding.  So elegant and delicate and a perfect celebration wine.  I enjoyed it so much I forgot to snap a pic - just pretend this is rose and not something else:

WHAT?

YES!!!  Free suprise Dave Matthews Concert in Bellevue AND its snowing...could life get any better? Love you Dave, see you in a couple of hours Tiger!

http://bellevue.komonews.com/content/dave-matthews-hold-surprise-concert-new-microsoft-store-tonight

Wrapping ideer

It was Miss Mac's 18th Birthday this weekend - I was excited to shop for her giftie - but what to get an 18 year old these days - they have everything.  We settled on a lovely silver necklace that had three tiny charms - a compass (to guide thee), a heart (to remind the wearer you love them) and a tiny little rectangle charm that says "to thine own self be true".  We think this is a wonderful quote to live your life by and so we were thrilled to find something that had this line on it.  I forgot to buy wrapping paper and only had tissue - I thought this turned out nice AND think I will go this route again.....

Take a 5 layers of tissue (at least 5 times larger than the package)
Fold the tissue over like you are making a fan
Smooth out the tissue layers and place your box in the center
Roll the tissue around the box
Pull the excess up around the top
Tie tightly with a ribbon
Carefully pull out each sheet to make petals...bobs your uncle, pretty as a picture gifty.

Decorating Time

As you can see its that time of the year, the most wonderful time, when "The Man Tree" is re-erected in all its glory and my neighbors bring their favorite men to decorate it.  As you can see, I have put the angel on the top of the tree - Mr Big, and then slightly below him Jeffrey Dean Morgan ffffwaaaaa!

Currently the man tree is amoungst a forest of hand crafted tree ala Kirsten Clark, my neighbor.  These are on loan for the purpose of this installation.

Speaking of neighbors...Miss Carrie Hollingshead one such person.  She is such a delight and makes me laugh every day PLUS she is always giving me fun things to include in my whitty repitoire.  She is the maker of such hilarious terms as "Bon Chance" ... (good luck/fortune in French) best said WITHOUT the French accent for maximum yuks, also "Lo cenento mucho" is her's too, again, without the Spanish accent, used when you are sarcastically saying you are sorry.

Carrie is a fan of Qdoba - here she is eating the worlds most delectable guac just a scant few hours ago:

She is hanging over my cubie wall here - note the patriotic placement of the NZ flag - which is her typical stance.  You know what else I noticed while looking at this picture? Dang those are white toothy pegs you have there madam.  Do you use whitener for that all American smile??

I had to have a mini-family meeting this morning.  Present was me, Betty and Lucy.

The meeting was quick and I got right to the point.  The barking.  Dudes - it has to stop, especially because you are actually barking at NO-THING.  I actually told them as they were listening intently that I would consider a shock therapy collar for them....I know, I know, its a cruel mean way to stop them barking and I probably would'nt do it (probably) ... but I hoped that mentioning this in my stern voice in our family meeting would be enough to stop them, so here's hoping.

Sorry you haven't heard much from me friends, Mr Big and I are STILL working on the stair pro-jay..still.

We mostly have the upstairs landing done - just a couple of little touchups required and we will be completely done.  Tonight I will be employing my little known talent ... BALANCE.  Believe me, it will come in quite handing while I am procariously balancing between to ladders "tight rope style" with a wet roller in one hand and paint laden brush in the other as I attempt to finish up painting the ceiling (a 10 footer).  Luckily for me this is simply the precurser to doing it again later this weekend when I paint the wall leading up the to ceiling.  Just in case anything happens to me while I do this just remember - I've always loved you.

Monday

Well the weekend went by in a snap sadly.  Plus, day light savings ended.  Usually I would be welcoming the extra hour of sleep but honestly friends, it always plays havoc with the temple that is my body.  So Im going to try and get to bed early every night this week...once the laundry is done...once the painting is done....once the blogging is done...once my craft projects are done.  I promise to report back re this.

Speaking of craft pro-jays - my work place is a varitable hive of crafting - case in point, the wall of my cubie happens to find me neighbors with the delightful Miss Kirsten Clark.  Kirsten is just to dang handy - look at what she whipped up in a jiffy recently:

Yup - you are seeing it right.  Styrofoam cones with ribbons of all manner of colors.  Arent these lovely?

One cubie over is the daytime abode of Unnamed Friend.  She is currently knitting a man-scarf for her beau.  I took this picture purposefully to preseve her anonimity - lookey at how clever she is with her knitting.  She started this scarf earlier today - and after only a few hours of the needles shaka-laking.

SHAZAM. Man-scarf. 

 

and now here is a christmas ornament I whipped up for a thanksgiving gift for one of the sister-in-laws (whomevers house it ends up being at).  Its a huge styro ball with petals made from individually cut circles pinned on.  Pretty nifty.  My plan was to make several but it was much more involved and exhausting than I planned it would be so I present - limited edition christmas orney, and by limited edition I mean this is the one and only.

Time for me to ship out and start painting the upstairs landing.....

Oops  - I nearly forgot to be thankful

For Sunday

I was grateful Mr Big's incredible drive in getting the stairs to almost completion and working all weekend to do so

I am grateful we FINALLY got the invitations out for the upcoming party

For Today

I'm grateful just for the day in general - it was a goodie!

Photo Challenge

Its time for another happy entry into the photo challenge at http://www.iheartfaces.com/.  This weeks challenge is "celebrating fall" and I thought about how I celebrate fall....laugh as you may, one of the things I do to celebrate fall (actually, truth be known celebrate is the week description of what I do its really more REVEL!! I heart fall)....anyhoo, what I do to celebrate is retreat.  To home.  Surrounding myself with family and with warmth.  Its a time for introspection and for planning...and more.

Anyhoo - here is my humble entry into the world of the photo challenge.  This was taken with tiltshift generator effect on....MY iPhone 4.  I wasnt intending that this would be the camera d'jour for this weeks challenge but Im in love with this picture and it really embodies the colors of the season and my home.

Grateful for technology

I am sooo grateful to Steve Jobs and his team of incredibles creating the iPhone...of which, I am now in receipt of (thanks Mr Big, what a splendid treat).

Honestly friends, I never thought I was a gadget geek, but this is totally TOTALLY freakin cool.

Check out the pictures taken on my iPhone 4 with the Hipstamatic Camera - the first one is taken looking down on my cubie desk

This one WAS a little shrine, I really dont know what it is now (maybe a dumping ground) as you can see - there is a lovely GQ style photo of Alexander Skarsgard (what a delicious scrumptious morsel you are Alex.  I would not kick you out of bed for eating crackers).....a beautiful buddha from Mr Big (supposed to bring calm presence and serenity to ones work space), my self-awarded-award for improvement, a lovely owl candle holder AND>......smurfette, who of course is always face down because (shhhhh) she's a drinker.  And anyone worth their salt as a drinker knows that drinking and high heel wearing don't mix.

and one taken with the TiltShiftGenerator App
This is taken from the window by my desk - look how pretty the trees are, delightful!

IM. IN. HEAVENNNNNNNNN

Plus - guess what else.  Its ALREADY making me loose weight.  I know I know, hard to imagine but Yesssss - there is a wonderful app you can download where you enter your current weight (not so svelt), your current height (just perfect) and your dream goal weight and dream goal weight achieve date and it works out 1. How many calories you have to eat a day to loose weight at the correct rate per week AND has a handy dandy food journal with hundreds of thousands of foods that you can enter so you can count calories.  You are correct.  You must get this gadget, and soon.

The best thing about me, is you

Ricky Martin, you are a treasure!!  Thanks to Oprah I have been reminded of my amour for you - and seeing you with your children just did me in.  Mickey - thanks for the heads up to listen to the song he and a-songs- best- friend-Joss-Stone sang on Miss Oprahs show.... and I dedicate this to Mr Big.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfAxO83FDXA

Rainbow

What a delight to wake up this morning - so many things to be thankful for.

1.  Gary has today and tomorrow off so he was next to me

2. When I open the curtains a light breeze was making all the fallen leaves dance all over the street - it was so beautiful!!!

3. The morning was filled with the colors of fall and .... sunshine so when I went downstairs imagine my surprise to find

4. RAINBOWS everywhere in my kitchen!!

and all from this little crystal ball which I will name as my fifth thing I am thankful for today

Oh Happy Day

Though I was given express permission from sonny-jim to be excited and blog about it I think I should show some restraint here - I don't want to embarass poor Elliott with any over exuberant blog, long winded, yet entertaining as it might be...but I do want to express that I love being a parent at times like this - when BIG life moments happen like the announcement "I have a girlfriend" followed by a schmirk, a giggle and rosacea...Im so delighted to be present when things like that happen, and it brings back memories of being that age and feeling amour for, what was, the three top men for me - Richard Merrill, Kent Kilbride and who could forget Brett Searsby?  Sadly they were blind to my charms (their loss, jerks) but I do remember how it felt, to feel like that for the first time.  But I digress dear reader - Im starting the rambling I promised I would'nt so nuf said as I bid you all adieu and end with a cheers, to Elliott.  Im not sure whether I am allowed to publish a picture of the new couple so I chose to preserve their privacy with a seasonal decoration.

J'dour!!!

Oh how I love me some new ideeers!  Mr Big and I are currently in planning decor 5 for our boudair so Im spending the moments in between being a blogger/insurance agent/remodeller/wife extraordinaire/ etc looking for fabulous ways to inexpensively decorate this space - lookey here is this wonderous idea for housing pictures of wonderful people and places!!  I say BON-JOUR to these ideas, coming to a bedroom and stairwell and home near you!

thanks for the inspiration http://wenderful.com/ !

A month of thankfulness

November heralds all sorts of delights which I have chronicled previously.  One of the other lovely things about November is that in America there is a lovely tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving.

Coincidentally, I was readying the blog of Miss Lisa Sorbe.  I started following Lisa's blog on the recommendation of one of the worlds delicious morsels: one Kathy Williamson.  Kathy is one of those people that you instantly want to know when you see her - she's very ethereal in her look.  Beautiful face, long silver hair, elfin features - but the best part about her is her shiny light, you'll have to meet her one day so you know what I mean.  Anyhoo, I'm glad to know her for lots of reasons, but also because she introduced me to Lisa's (I think a rellie or friend of hers) blog which is really well written and though provoking....which brings me to her post from today which I am taking the libery of recycling AND bringing into my own realm:  Thanks Lisa for being so inspirational!

For obvious reasons, being thankful is so important. So, with November upon us and the delicious Thanksgiving holiday just around the corner, I've decided to dedicate this entire month to being as thankful as I can possibly be. A post for every day of the month, honoring something (or someone!) in my life that I truly appreciate.


(great idea right!)

Firstly, I have to pay hommage to Mr Big.  We had a discussion on the way to work this morning where he again reiterated that he always wants to do everything he can to make sure I get everything I want in life.  Really, Im not making that up, and he was sincere.  Isnt this every persons dream to have a partner in life that is so thoughtful of your needs?  Together we co-create a life that is something special.  I was blessed the day we found one another and am blessed that our love for one another continues to florish.  I am thankful for you Gary and to coin the song - "you're the best thing that ever hap hun hunned - to mee hee youre the worl huh hurld"

Oh cool, upon re-reading this I've actually counted 3 blessings already
1.  Gary
2.  Lisa Sorbe's wisdom
3.  Kathy Williamson
Yes!! Im on my way, there's no stopping me now!!
4.  My blossoming relationship with my sister Shona.  Shona writes the best emails ever, they are always packed full of news which I love and thrive on.  Living abroad is wonderful, and America is very much my home now, but its so hard to live away from your family.  Being able to communicate instantaneously with Shona through email is a blessing indeed.  She and Les (husband) and Laurie (neice/daughter) are hopefully coming next Christmas ... cant wait to have them here!

Wednesday

Hello lovely ones - I hope your week is going well.  I have to say, that while my week is going well Im so tired.  Not sleepy - completely spent and fatigued tired.   Needing a holiday tired.  And sadly - this means I have been pretty unproductive round Castle Allen this week.  On Sunday afternoon I had it all mapped out - Monday Mr Big would beat me home and tape off the walls, Monday night I would paint the ceilings, Tuesday we would tape off the ceilings, Thursday I would paint the walls....  we did acheive one thing, the tape was brought out from the garage.  Period.  And now we find ourselves here, at Wednesday, with no paint up.  Guess what we will be doing this weekend?

Sundays Happenings

I woke up with a headache, and that really REALLY should have been the que to simply roll over and go back to dreams, but alas - there was work to be done.  Shiza, I hate work.....still, Project Oakes must charge on and so we find ourselves still working on the stairs.  This time we roped in expert help in the shape and form of Brother Patrick (plus, good fortune was shining on us and my dear neice Miss Makena came along for the ride and the majesty that is plastering)

Brother Pat is an expect drywaller and I think that you have been introduced to him previously as we carolled him into painting the girlies room early last spring.  (Cottage Stone, its a beautiful color)...anyhoo, I digress - though Pat is talented in many things he really is an expert drywaller and plasterer.  The stairwell project had to come to a screaming halt before any painting started because there was all manner of scraps and nicks in the plasterwork of the stairwell and this was mostly due to the fact that it is narrow as hell ( in fact, so narrow that you can't get a queen size base to a bed up there but that's a story for another day) and as furniture has been moved up and down it over the last century damage has naturally occured. 

Before we started the real work at hand we chatted for a time about whether a particular wall was load bearing and whether it should come down.  Not sometime in the future friends - oh no, today - see, when brother and tools and a projay get together this is EXACTLY the sort of thing that happens.  My contribution to this discussion was rapid shaking of my head and runaway bride eyes at Mr Big...fortunatly he got the picture and the wall is still standing, for now.  Pat checked in again "are you sure - I have the sawz-all here....." Neigh brother Pat, neigh.

Pat did however put our curiosity at rest one and for all in the question that had been burning since we purchased our home a year ago (today)...what IS that weird box at the bottom of the stairs.  A tap here - a chisel there....

Plaster rains down....

and now in bigger pieces....."you can patch this hole....right Pat?"

these handtools just arent cutting through.......

DRUMROLL PLEASE.....I can now reveal what was sealed in this box, for perhaps the last billion years...duh - duh - duh - da DA DAAAAAA.....

Insulation and a load bearing beam.  Damnit.  No lost treasure from the civil war, no long forgotten jewels, unless you call insulation a treasure because this box is stuffed to the gunnels with it.  I had hoped to make our riches from the contents of this box or at the very least have enough in there to finance the purchase of the teacup pig Barron Von Snout that i have so yearned for.  Sadly readers there will be no pig purchases, there will not even be a fond farewell to the box - it must remain there (in the place of what would have been a lovely pendant light).

Onward though, Pat patched all the walls, they are now ready for painting this week.  While he and Mr Big where working I made soup for lunch - this was a new receipe which I was semi concerned about but it ended up delicious!  Kale and Chorizo Potato Soup.

Kale is a much maligned veggie - I love the look of it more than anything, specially its afro curliness.

plus - what's not to love about sausages??  Anyone who knows me knows I's a fan of the sausage

Once Pat and Nenna left it was time for our seventeenth thousanth trip to Lowes for paint and the like.  The previous owner was quite fastidious god bless him.  All the paint for the house is clearly labelled so we simply took the old can to Lowes with us for them to make more of the same and to shake the old paint so we could use that too.  We were ably assisted by unnamed painter person who was utterly fasinating to me - wholly and soley because she had the biggest arse I have ever seen and somehow, she had encased it in jeggings.  Aparently the jeans were brand new so it was a sad day when she was hammering the lid shut on the can and our green paint splattered all over her ample derriere and the ground.  NEVER FEAR - water was nearby and she was cleaned up in a jiffy.  We really needed coffee after that harrowing experience and so we headed straight for Starbucks and a grande Americano, whipped cream and one splenda please.  While we were waiting the lifetime it took for them to pull the espresso what should I spy?  HOLIDAY CUPS thats what!

What a complete delight!  The message says "our friends think of us an an odd couple but we only think it's odd when we are apart" sccccchweetles.  What a darling message plus snowflake PLUS a dove PLUS snowiness. Ahhhh - it just made it taste all the better.  Thanks Starbucks!

Oh - I nearly forgot - I wanted to show you one of my favorite things - my raggy rose broach.  I know I look like a crazy woman, I always do when I take my on photo at arms length.  I think that the arms length is part of the issue - my arms are about as long as a penguins.  Nuf said. I present to you awesome rose pin on old navy sweater.  I really should have been wearing lippie in the picture

A thespian in the family!

It was indeed a great honor to be able to see Elliott, 16, do such a fantastic job as the lead in his play today.  I think he was so brave getting up there in front of a bunch of people at the North Shore Performing Arts Center in Bothell and was completely entertaining in the best of ways.  His group was called "the Rude Mechanicals" (origins of this name are unknown at this time....) and here is a photo of the merry band

and here is the man himself, resplendent in guyliner

Here is the theater.  This is the High School Campus theater - pretty cool huh!

Elliott's group was a part of Drama Fest and all the plays were produced by students

Here is his mention in the program, perhaps the beginning of a big career??  It would be great to be supported in our old age by a son who was a movie/tv/broadway acktorrrr!

OK - I got to admit, the pictures in the auditorium suck eggs - you arent allowed to use a flash in there PLUS I dont have a tripod...sooo result = not my best work, never mind, at least we have a representation of his first lead in a play, forever in the history books!

The play was at an end and it was time for Elliott to skip (aaaaaaaaaaaa - almost entirely my favorite part!) onto the stage WITH a sprite and take a well deserved bow while we hooped and hollered in the crowd in admiration for his MAD acting skills.  We were so proud of you El, can't wait for the next show!

On the way home Mr Big took me to his business park, not romantic typically...but check out these GOBSMACKING colors on the autumnal display!!!!

Jalapeno Chips

Its Saturday Morning here at Castle Allen - Mr Big is being his typical wonderful self and has already done a bunch, gone to the emmissions test station (first in line as predicted, Dora passed with flying colors!), got new tabs for the car (again, first in line) and now he is on the third leg of the lawns, attempting to beat the rain...I on the other hand have been a schlumper.

As you might have guessed Im blogging - 2nd, the only thing Ive achieved is to shower, dress (twice) and am sitting listening to Adele and waiting to be picked up and taken to brunch and the casino to celebrate unnamed friends birthday.  Its 10.30am and Im starved, so I ate what any person about to go out to brunch would stuff down their biscuit shoot - Jalapeno Chips.  And they are mighty MIGHTY fine friends.

Though I feel guilty about not doing much more than make my self delectable I have to admit its been quite a delightful morning - I woke without an alarm at 8am and the sun was streaming into our boudair.  When I opened the blinds the sun had set all the colors in the autumn trees all kind of wonderful - amber, crimson, red leaves were almost shimmering in the light breeze.  Kids where being swung on swings and whizzed around the round about.  I love our hood.

Wreath!

Im on hold with the help desk at my work as I type this - and what do you think the most perfect hold music would be for an insurance company?   "Hang on, help is on its way" - sure, but ours has "You are so beautiful to me, Joe Cocker..... don't know how that translates to what we do, but I love that song and I got to listen to it in its entireity thanks to the awesome response time.

Anyhoo you may ask yourself - has akeewee girl gone bonkers?  Why is she entitling this rambling Wreath!  Friends, I'm crazy for wreaths.  Not that you would know it looking at my home, we only have one autumn wreath up right now - but that is soon to be remedied!  Wreath number two is about to be started - check out this wonderous one from Mary Janes and Galoshes

Its destined for the girlies bedroom - isnt it adorable?  All you need is a wreath form, a million lunch sacks and a round (with scalloped edge) punch and voila, wreath.  Here are the instructions: http://www.maryjanesandgaloshes.com/2010/02/butterfly-wreath-think-spring.html