Happy Halloween!!

Dakota and Lenny are dressed for the occasion and ready to great trick-or-treaters.

Pumpkins are positioned on the porch.

Thanks to the wonderful weather we had lots of little munchkins dressed up as ghouls, ghosts, goblins, princesses, skeletons, Superman, soldiers, yodelers and more. This is good because now there is only a small bowl of temptation leftover on the counter :)

Changing Seasons (new pics)

I updated the photos because the previous ones taken with my phone were pretty lame :} That phone is so old they don't even make cases for it anymore LoL!

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Shannon told me the thing she misses most is changing seasons.

I've long heard that people who come from climates with summer, winter, spring and fall really notice it when those distinct seasons are gone. I can see that. My favorite season is a toss up between spring and fall; not too hot, not too cold and everything undergoing change and excitement.

In honor of one of my favorite seasons here are a few snapshots from around town of fall foliage

Pumpkin Carving 101

Step 1: 

Decide which side of your perfect pumpkin you will use for carving

Step 2: 

Print out (or think up) a design that WoWs you

Step 3: 

Begin the fun or sketching and carving (or dremmeling-yikes) and remember to keep tasty treats like candy corn and pigs in a blanket handy

Take a peak at the Pumpkin Carving Photo Album to see the finished masterpieces!

A trip to the beach with G&G

Lenny, Dakota and I met Grandpa and Glenna at the beach last week to enjoy a couple days of sunshine.

Oh, you thought I meant Grandpa and Grandma, didn't you? Sadly Grandma was busy with the gardener coming on Monday, a book club luncheon at her house on Tuesday and walking group on Wednesday. The good news is the gardener made a nice dent in the work, the quiche she served for lunch came out divine and it didn't rain on her walk. Doesn't get much better than that (unless you're at the beach :))

The days were beautiful but chilly. Fall is quickly slipping into winter (so not ready for that to happen). Grandpa wasn't too bothered by the cold. We kept hand-warmers in his pockets, space heaters in the bathroom and bedroom, fires blazing and we even made up a real bed with blankets and an electric sheet.

Who needs to go to Palm Desert when you have a vacation spot such as this? 

Tuesday night the thermometer inside the little cabin read close to 80 degrees. Lenny was hoping to catch a cool breeze on his belly. Dakota had long since retired to the bedroom :) and Grandpa was as happy as a clam! 

After getting the fire started Wednesday morning, Grandpa sat down to enjoy a hot cup of Starbucks coffee (it wasn't decaf - don't tell Grandma!).

Besides sitting around cogitating and logicating we did manage to accomplish a few things. Hmmmm. That might be stretching the truth a bit. Let me try again....we did manage to accomplish a couple things :)

For my money, it was a perfect visit. But all good things must come to an end and it was time to pack up and head home (note dogs in the following pics-they are not getting left behind).

Glenna is the master packer. I absolutely love my 4Runner but I must confess, I  do miss the spaciousness of a van.

Calling Grandma and letting her know we are on our way.

We all needed a soda for the road.

Bags are packed, tailgates are closed. Time to load the dogs and head out just as soon as we answer a few questions: "Did you lock the sleeping cabin?" "Yup." "Did you turn off the pump?" "Yup." "How about Aunt Dorothy's?" "Yup."

You thought that was Grandpa didn't you? No. It was Glenna and me :) 

The timing of our departure was perfect. You could see the wind rustling through the trees as we drove up our road and see the rain on our heals as we headed to the ferry. 

As Grandma loves to say, "Another no-fun weekend in paradise!"

Who knew hanging out with Glenna and Grandpa could be so exhausting :) They slept like this all the way home.

Who's Been Digging in Our Yard?

Upon arrival at the beach last week we bumped into a mystery...equipment tracks, locator paint and a repaired paving stone...

Equipment tracks in the turn-around

Equipment tracks heading down our walk-way...and by the looks of it, he just barely fit

The turns chewed up the grass. Hey, we have a freshly thatched yard :)

The corner paving stone was in desperate need of repair as it had completely slid out of place. Not any more - thanks guys (whoever you are).

Sammy's rose bush narrowly escaped flattening. Whew! 

Another churned up turn

We thought it was safe to guess our mystery equipment was a backhoe given the size and amount of displaced sand

It appears they were looking for the broken cable at the foot of our bulkhead (ya, the one we all know about). If they had asked we could have saved them a lot of work...but where's the fun in that ;)

Locator paint starts at the power pole...

...works its way down the road...

...across the path and over Ben's driftwood hole...

...down the beach...

...and stops here...

...at Rock's house!

His phone, Internet and TV had gone out on Monday...Qwest repaired it Tuesday morning - just moments before we arrived. Darn, could have been fun to watch.

Mystery solved by the HDM detective agency

Someone is Catching Fish

Even if it isn't us...Grandpa, Glenna and I spent a couple of beautiful days at the beach last week. All day long, right up until dusk was closing in, we watched a fleet of fishing boats cast their nets. We weren't seeing massive overflowing nets being pulled up but they must have been getting enough to make it worth their while.

There were about a half dozen fishing boats, a few tenders and a reconnaissance boat that appeared to be the chief organizer. He was sort of like the sheep dog herding his flock ;)