Christmas Concert

James surprised Tess with tickets to a Trans Siberian Orchestra concert at Key Arena (great present, James!) Their review was thumbs up all the way. Listening to their Christmas music always gets me in the spirit of season.

Thanksgiving Traditions

Traditions. I wrote about family traditions last summer when I was feeling the effects of traditions changing. Change makes most people feel a bit discombobulated (did you know that is a real word that spell check can correct? I never knew!).

Thanksgiving has always been at Grandma and Grandpa's but last year Pat and Linda hosted a blending of her family and his. They combined relatives and cuisine for a twist on the classic Thanksgiving meal. The time together was great fun, deliciously diverse and voted a resounding success by the guests. There was talk of this being our new Turkey Day tradition (which pleased Grandma greatly; she said she was ready to hand over the hostess reins :))

Thanksgiving 2010 at Pat and Linda's Home

Pat and Linda opted not to host the festivities again this year as they would be spending it with Linda's family. That meant the hunt was on for a Turkey Day 2011 location. As much as Joc loved the idea of playing hostess, their small apartment wasn't an option.

I offered my house; but we acknowledged it is seating challenged, kitchen cramped and canine corrupt. Glenna offered her house; but it was determined two turkey dinners in three days was too much to expect of one person (us on Thursday and the whole Diefendorf clan on Saturday).

James voted for dinner at Red Robin. Papa said Chinese take-out sounded deelish. Just typing their suggestions cracks me up :-)

Grandma said her house made the most sense and we should just move it back there (hard to argue with such a wise woman!). We agreed to her plan if she would promise to simply set the table, cook the turkey and let the rest of us bring everything else. She agreed.

• Tess made 3 different dessert bars that quickly disappeared; many before dinner :)
• I brought sweet potatoes, veggie appetizer and green salad 
• Glenna contributed fruit, twice-baked potatoes and pies (mmmmmmm)
• Jocelyn provided a green bean casserole, and her mother-in-law's broccoli salad and corn biscuits
• Grandma cooked the turkey, stuffing and gravy (the stuffing and gravy sorta went with the turkey prep)
• Grandpa served his infamous shrimp cocktail. I mean seriously, what would Thanksgiving or Christmas be without Grandpa's shrimp cocktail? Grandpa of course complained about the shrimp not being quite the right size or flavor ;) but I didn't see anyone else complaining and there were but a small handful left at the end of the night. 

It ended up being a cozy group of 11: Grandma, Grandpa, David, Glenna, Tyler, Jocelyn, James, Tess, Daniel, John and me. We were in touch with our out-of-town kids Anna, Ben and Shannon via texts and calls - which is always great fun! We missed having Pat and Linda there. It left us feeling a bit discombobulated.

Daniel assured Grandma he was still the same sweet and wonderful little boy under all that hair. She said she'd watch and see :)

Tess' jaw was locked up and she was on meds to relax the muscles and ease the pain...can you tell :)

This picture was taken before Tess' meds kicked in.  LoL - she is a trooper!

Recently it was noted that I'm not featured in these posts. Of course not. Why do you think I do the post? I don't like to be featured :) But when Glenna said, "You'll be just like Aunt Jody and we will think you were adopted too!" I decided a self portrait now and again was in order. 

Grandma lamented that she didn't set two tables in the family room so we could all be together. She thinks she'll try it for Christmas.

Joc preparing her broccoli salad in the silver bowl Aunt Jody gave her.  This is her mother-in-law's recipe that the adult table proclaimed a winner - not sure how the kids feel about it ;)

I didn't realize how monochromatic our meal was until I looked at this photo. We needed a parsley garnish to liven up the presentation - where is Martha Stewart when you need her :)

James and Joc stopping at the salad bar on their way to the table. 

Uncle David had the honor of carving the bird (and nibbling on all the tasty tidbits as he was going :)) The turkey was fall-off-the-bone tender making it difficult for David to slice nice neat pieces for the serving platter. But in the end he won the battle!

All five kids (kids. hahaha. not so much so) cleared the tables and loaded the dishwasher. Grandma, Glenna and I did pots and pans and put away food. Many hands make light work (as Mother used to say!).

After dinner Tyler, Joc and James played a new favorite board game in the Marth household called Settlers of Catan. James dominates most of the time but Tess, John and I are getting stronger at game strategy and make him work for his wins!

John, Daniel and Grandpa wrestled the Christmas tree out of the carport storage. After finding the right plastic and plywood base, up went the tree. A lot of the pre-strung lights have long since burned out so Glenna strung lots and lots of new white lights to fill in the dark gaps. Grandma smiled when it was all done. She does love the tradition of getting her tree up on this day.

Grandpa cracked us up. He didn't like that the new lights saying they were much brighter. He kept suggesting ways to tone them down. Next time we go there I won't be surprised if they are all wrapped in tissue paper to mute their glow :D  

I didn't have any snapshots of papa (must have been too busy chatting - who me? no way!) so I asked papa to smile. Papa was being papa and this is what he provided for me to photograph. I think all of you who know him will agree...oh, so papa!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ONE AND ALL!!

I am so thankful to have a family that loves me unconditionally...even when we are driving each other nuts :) YOU complete me!

WtB Stage II

Winterizing the Beach is done for 2011. 

You can still go out for a day or two but if old man winter hits us with a one-two punch we are ready; no frozen pipes for us!

Papa and I were supposed to pick up G&G this morning for a day trip to the beach. Sadly Grandpa called to say their heater wouldn't come on so they'd called a repairman and needed to stay home. Bummer. 

(The good news? The repairman had them up and running and toasty warm before days end.)

Papa and I found ourselves once again riding the ferry on a gorgeous fall morning. The water was crystal clear, the Olympic mountains were brilliant white snow-capped peaks set against a sharp blue sky and our 40 minute wait on the Fauntleroy dock was pure relaxation. Ahhhhhh the perks of heading to paradise.

We swept all three roofs.
There are more leaves yet to fall...if we get to them GREAT. If we don't at least Jocelyn and I won't have such hard jobs next spring :)

We winterized the pump.

Red in-line valve closed; check. Pipes wrapped; check. Antifreeze poured; check. Buckets of water filled for flushing toilets; check. The pump is shut down for the winter; yup!

The pump, the holding tank and all pipes are wrapped in insulated materials that will withstand oodles of cold. Next spring when it is time to open the red valve and let the poopy water once again flow to the poopy toilets all we have to do is unwrap the pump. The holding tank and pipes can remain covered indefinitely. Clever new winterizing system, don't you think?

Pump is covered in a white insulated blanket lightly secured with black duct tape (so it is easy to remove). Pipes are covered in black insulated foam secured with lots of turquoise duct tape (so it will last a long time).

Holding tank is covered in a white insulated blanket secured with lots of turquoise duct tape (so it will last a long time) and bungee'd  to the wall (so it doesn't fall down, of course).

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The boys dock looked askew; a closer inspection revealed that it was just fine. The 12 ft tide was allowing the dock to float free while the logs securing it in place remained grounded in the sand.   

I love this dock for reasons too numerous to name. But I really love it at a super high tide like today. It just looks different when surrounded by water; so substantial and real...and I know the hands that built it :)

Winterizing the Beach: Stage I

Papa and I made a quick (albeit chilly) trip to the beach to start the winterizing process.

We left Saturday afternoon right after my trip to Molbak's with the intention of catching the 5:05 ferry. But someone (ahem, I won't mention names but let's just say it wasn't me) read the schedule wrong and there was no 5:05 ferry. So we sat on the dock and waited for the 6:40 ferry LoL! In fairness to the reader...each and every one of us have read the schedule wrong at one time or another. I'm just thrilled it wasn't me this time ;)

As we came down the road in the pitch black we tried to remember the last time one of us arrived at the cabin in the dark; we decided it had been too long ago to recall.  I did mention how nice it would be if the flood lights on the side of the little cabin would come on automatically when we arrived. But someone (I think this particular someone is me) thought the light sensor was unnecessary. Might have to re-think that when our electrician comes back for a few odd jobs in the spring.

It was about 37 degrees outside and 32 degrees inside. Seriously cold any way you look at it. We stoked up the fire and kept it roaring, left the sliding door between the bedroom and kitchen closed, covered the double door in a wool blanket and cooked a pizza in the oven (leaving the oven door open afterward) before the thermometer registered 50 degrees inside. After a couple more hours of a roaring fire and me getting my butt kicked at Rummicube and Phase Ten the thermometer registered a balmy 60 degrees. That meant it was time to open the sliding door and let some of the heat escape into the bedroom.

Yes, he is in shorts and sandals. No brains, no feeling. Or is it no feeling, no brains? Either way, he is a silly person.

The next day we raked and raked and raked and raked (and by we, I mean he) all of the leaves from the Gard's garage to the bottom of the stairs next to the big cabin. It was a huge job but now the road is passable (instead of slippery as snot - eeeeew, gross analogy but true!)

Along with raking the leaves, we weatherproofed the doors. All cracks are stuffed with plastic bags and there is a rolled up blanket (covered in plastic of course) at the bottom of each door. Heavy wool blankets are in place to stem the tide of cold air. So the next time someone goes out there for the night the inside of the house will hopefully be warmer than the outside air hahah!

James and Tess did a good job securing the dock. Even after a couple of high, high tides and storms, it is still securely in place. Speaking of storms....what the heck is the Caley boat still doing out?

The Caley boat looked like it was listing a wee bit.
Been there, done that. Hope they fare better!

We drained all the pipes and shut off the water for the winter. Grandpa and papa will head out there on the next dry day to wrap the pump and put anti-freeze in the toilets and perform any other winterizing task that needs doing.

If you look closely you can see the last of the water trickling out of the spigot next to the  porch.

The heron was most entertaining. He kept opening his wet wings wide to dry them in the light breeze. Every time I grabbed my camera to snap a photo he tucked his wings back down by his side and stood motionless. I did manage to snap a shot of him taking off...but that wasn't nearly as entertaining as his wing drying capers.

They're baaaaaaaaack!

The fall colors were still beautiful and G&G's pampas grass was absolutely stunning. We thoroughly enjoyed our gorgeous day in paradise. Wish you were all there with us!