Hail Storm!

I had a crushing headache yesterday afternoon so I took a pill and laid down for a bit.  I woke to a deep rumbling and thought there was large machinery working nearby - until it was accompanied by a brilliant flash of lightening.  We then were treated to a huge hail storm.  This is what it looked like. This is the first of it, the second video is at the tail end.  It lasted about 5 minutes.

The hail stones were pretty big (and of course you can hear the din they made on the metal roof of the patio!

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Need I say anything? I believe you can see these larger if you click on them.



















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Colour My Roots or...

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My friend Rose loaned me som craft booklets from the 1940's, this is one of the ads inside. Interesting. I'll post a few more in the next days.


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New Blogger Looks & A Character

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Meet Vince. Vince is what we all refer to as a "Character" because he does not fit into 'the box'. Vince is even the more so because he's not what we would call one of the formal working class as he does not have an official job. On the other hand he's not what we sometime refer to ( in the kindest most innocent way) - a bum, because Vince has a place to live (I've been told) but he supports himself by collecting bottles and cans. He has this amazing system set up. He has a train of four or five carts chained together which he pulls with his bike. He uses each cart for a different thing. As you can see he has a helper along this time - and he's posing for you.

We need the Vinces of the world. I personally appreciate he keeps our streets clean and makes some cash at it too. He works very hard for a guy with no job. Harder than some guys who have real jobs, in fact.

Does YOUR town have character you can share with us on your blog?

Also, I'm impressed and so happy with these beautiful changes to Blogger - loads of fabulous backgrounds to choose from. I wonder if it will be like a closet of new clothes... I might want to change every day.


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Birthday Cupcakes!

It's my friend Melanie's birthday today and so I made a batch of these Chai Cup-Cakes. We will let you know how they taste.

Mmmmfffftppphhhhh..... Thffiihvhh ghurjvv ddffdf...
Cough, clearing of throat - they are GOOD! Link to follow next post. With birthday girl photos.

Well I CAN'T leave ya hangin'... here's the link so you can bake yourself happy right away.

Chai Honey Cup Cakes





-- Post From My iPhone

TMI

I was assaulted yesterday.

Thre weapon?









No, not the tack, Silly - that's to hold the photo on the page! I was savagely attacked with a cookie, more to the point a hand, mashing said cookie all over my visage.

I must blushingly admit I pushed my assailant/husband into it by relentlessly bugging him so om should not feel TOO indignant for me.

Besides my bruised pride I suffered only a minor laceration to my bottom lip. The bedspread and carpet though, I fear, did not fare so well.

Though this was a fairly traumatic incident I am still at this very moment planning more ways to pester my handsome husband. This time I will make sure there is no food involved.

Any suggestions?


-- Post From My iPhone

Hiding Out

My dear, sweet, wonderful, lovely friend Angie asked me if we really need to "Hide Out"... Wondering whether we are recluse paranoid persons or just get our thrills feeling we are 'stealing' time away from the daily routines in life. Well Angie -Pangie, I don't have a CLUE what you mean. *snort!*







(

Pictures NOT taken at the Husky Diner last night of these two persons in disguise...)

-- Post From My iPhone

More Campin'

Well, this is the last day of camping. Right - it LOOKS nice but it's really windy and cold!





And what's invisible to you is the fact it rained ALL night and that my Mr is fighting a sinus infection/cold so the cold temperatures were not doing much for his sickness situation. You also can't tell that we were woken several times in the night, once by an all out battle between four racoons! Yes, seems we left something edible out and they discovered it. Mr got soaked rounding it all up.





Here's our VW Seb dressed up for our trip home. We stopped and had lunch at Lake Lenore - at the trailhead to the caves, which we have been to before. Mr visited them again while I fixed sandwhiches and promptly upended one on the rocks while transporting it to the table.





Such a pretty view with all the wildflowers. Did I mention we also ate a TON of fruit as we can't bring it back across the border. Crazy, I swear I ate a half a watermelon, pineapple, kiwi and orange. Just couldn't jusify throwing it out.





I love the open road which cuts through the rocks in some places then drops back down to the flat areas. Here we go!









Love the open spaces.





We stop roadside to snap photos of Steamboat Rock - sure, NOW it's all nice and sunny and calm, but it won't last.





Reflections of clouds in the water.





So I get side-tracked taking reflection photos.





On both sides of the road.





And the weather began to deteriorate as the afternoon wore on and we pushed Seb forward, homeward.

We arrived to our own home-sweet-home well after dark and enjoyed a nice warm night in our own bed. Sigh.

And since then we've been spring break fugitives hiding out. We don't answer the phone and you can call us anti-social even but it's a wonderful week we are having just staying home and doing the things we normally don't get to, and sometimes doing nothing at all. Things will get back to normal soon enough.

Do YOU ever hide out in your own home?

-- Post From My iPhone

Spring Break - more adventures!

On Saturday, we stopped in at an antiques store in Soap Lake.

 

Ok, I know the first question you will be asking is - "Is there really SOAP in Soap Lake?"  Well, I won't make it easy for you but will provide you with a link so that you can find out for yourself.  If you click on my photo you will be taken to some information about this fascinating little town.   I will say though, that one time when my Mr. and I were going through the lake was down and the nice black mud was there - and I OH SO wanted to go and slather in my swimsuit (there were others doing the same) but my Mr. just could not even bear the thought of it - and said with a resounding "UGH!" that I was welcome to go do it on my own, but what's the fun in that?  I was really looking forward to bombing him with mud-balls but he robbed me of the thrill. 

Anyways... 

Like I said we stopped in at this cool little Antiques store and this is some of what we saw.

 

I like to imagine the stories behind some of these wonderful old items - this was probably a much loved friend to some little girl, now this doll hangs among spurs and metal bits and longs for some little girl or a collector to come adopt her again.

 

 

My Mr. hunkered down and browsed some of the old music books.   As you can see, there is not much room to navigate this place and it would take weeks to fully explore and appreciate all that is in this shop.  I have to be very careful in places like these or I get hung up by my purse strings and haul merchandise around off my bag as if it were an anchor!   My Mr. spends a lot of time GASPING and trying to keep me from breaking things.  Well, he does not ever claim to call me Miss Delicate.

 

 

I pressed my nose against this cabinet for a while, relishing in the incongruity of porcelain dolls in lace and frills right alongside African carvings of fierce looking faces. 

 

Ah - THAT'S where all those nice BIG ice cream scoops migrate to.   No wonder all I can ever find in the store are these little ones that serve out a ball of ice-cream the size of a walnut or an egg.  Sheesh, when I want a scoop of ice-cream I want a decent one! 

 

How I would love to see this machine in action.  It is a Cherry Stoner. 

And this, a Butter Cutter.  Can you imagine? 

 

I am SURE this is a toy of some sorts.  Just caught my eye is all. 

Imagine this lil guy has been ridden in his time! 

Skeleton keys - remember those?  Airplane earrings anyone?  Whatever you can think of, this store had it all.

What an interesting old lamp with a STEEL shade!

But if I could have chosen, could have afforded or justified it, THIS is what I would have bought!  Believe it or not, this is a LAMP!  Really - I believe the light would shine out of the eyes.  Something worth saving for, perhaps? 

Well, now you have been on my little tour - I'll be adding just a tad more Spring Break camp-trip photos in the next day or so.  In the meantime, don't be forgetting to stop by JanMary's blog (from Ireland, no less!) and join in her wonderful St. Patrick's Day Carnival, you could win some fabulous prizes.   Just click on the shamrock to be scooted there directly.

 

Spring Break Get-Away

It is Spring Break for my Mr. (and most schools at this time) so we decided to pack up Seb, our VW Van and head out on the road. Thankfully it's an early spring this year. We decided to head across the USA border (not a bog deal as we live five minutes from it).





We stayed our first night at one of our very favorite places - Steamboat Rock State Park, Washington. Though there was no snow, and also even though you cannot see from this photo - the wind was constant and bitter. We were the only campers, and no wonder!






But we stayed warm and snuggly inside for dinner with our trusty propane Mr. Buddy propane heater which also works wonderfully as a flat-bread warmer.

We decided it was just too cold and windy to hike the top of Steamboat and simply THREW everything into Seb, in the fashion of the Beverly Hillbillies, and drove down the road a bit to another place we enjoy - Sun Valley State Park.






Good thing we did not get stopped LOL! We do NOT live like this!

We chose a nice sheltered site here, sparing us some, not all, of the rain and cool temperatures.

We went for a three + hour hike through the desert today (March 12)  and I decided to bring you along with us.






Spring has forced the green to the surface so early! We enjoyed our liesurly walk through the sagebrush, rabbitbrush and antelope brush.

While my Mr. Took some panoramic shots I got down and kissed the dirt to capture these yellow lilies already out in profusion.










And the lichen in almost florescent colours upon the brush - shielding a  bright orangey-yellow lily below.












I don't know the name of this plant but it resembles some sort of wild rhubarb. Already it's about eight inches high.






The trail went around a large formation and then up and over.






Mr. Waits in the shelter of the rock face for me to follow - the trail winds down from here.






We followed the trail down to this little fishing lake, and then along it's shore. Luckily, other than a few spacklings of rain, we remain dry and relatively comfortable.






I am fascinated with some of the formations - they make me think it could be prehisoric times.






And the I especially like the texture of this almost luminescent green lichen!






More to follow... :)

-- Post From My iPhone