Author: Cat C L

Brrrrr, its cold. This is the coldest start to June the Seattle area has had in a long time like since 1891. We had snow in the passes last week and it now June 13 and where I live we didn’t hit 60 today even though they said it was supposed to be warmer. Well, technically they were correct. It was colder by about 5 degrees earlier this week, but it doesn’t rate warm yet. I’m still wearing polar fleece, you don’t see a lot of shorts and sandals, no tank tops yet but lots of jackets. I know summer starts next week, but we’re a bit late on the weather following it here. Its still cold. I know, its not like Seattle is known for warm hot weather, but a bit warmer here would be nice. Brrrr.

This week I had the funniest thing happen and I just had to write about it. I was working on my computer, doing school work. My husband was outside working. He calls me and tells me to bring my car keys and come outside immediately. I get worried if he asks for my car keys, he doesn’t drive my car much. Well, I get outside and find that a pair of wrens have built a nest in my car. They built it behind the front grill but in front of the radiator. It took them all of about 4 days to build it. But they did a good job. We ended up taking the car to the dealership to get the front grill off, just to be on the safe side. The service guys came out, didn’t understand that there was a bird nest behind the grill. As soon as they took the front grill off there was the bird nest taking up over 1/3 the space. It went half way up the front and then spread (think triangle shaped) to both sides of the radiator area. I’m sure my radiator was glad I got rid of it too. But I did end up with a pair of unhappy birds. Since then, if I’m not driving it, we have put a plastic garbage bag over the grill so we don’t get a new nest. Silly birds.

I know, its been a while since my last post. Its now the end of March.

In late Jan. through mid Feb. we were gone. Had a cruise, a trip to WA, then another cruise. We were gone almost a month. It was interesting living out of a suitcase that long. It was fun packing too. Cruises to warm places then a week and a half in WA with snow still melting. At least we had clothes in WA that took care of most of the cold. So it wasn’t too bad. The only bad part was I got sick the day after we landed in WA. That flu was the pits. It took a couple of weeks to get all the way over it. It just wanted to linger.

Then we got back to TX and had a business meeting. I was expecting a low key, casual meeting. Two days before the meeting they mention that all the men will be in suits – not exactly casual. I had to scramble a bit for clothes but the meeting was interesting and I’m glad I went. No I’m not a man, but the women were dressed for business too so I really couldn’t wear jeans and sneakers. Seemed a shame to me. I think it would have been more appropriate, but…

Now its the end of March, school starts on Monday, March 31 (online of course) and the weather here in TX is dreary. Its warm, about 70, but dreary. Its overcast, a bit humid, a slight breeze but not something cooling. I’m not sure if we’re going to get rain, but if we are I wish it would hurry up and come.

But in WA it is snowing at our house. I can watch the house on security cameras and its snowing. A bit late in the season for it, but none the less it is. And its cold enough for the snow to stick. They have said its about 15-20 degrees colder than normal which would explain the snow. But I’m sure everyone there is tired of it. We just had Easter and I’m sure it was cold Easter egg hunting for the kiddies. Not fun.

And a Happy Holiday to all out there in blogland. It is Christmas Eve. The weather here in San Antonio is actually kind of nice, for a change. Its been warm – high 70’s, just not Christmas weather to me. Today is supposed to stay in the mid to low 60’s. Much better weather.

We finished all our shopping. The only thing I need is a couple of potatoes for dinner tonight. I’m planning on making rock cornish game hens for the two of us. That, some risotto, and veggies. The potatoes I have probably shouldn’t be used, and I’m thinking of just doing without them. Risotto should be enough.

Tomorrow is Christmas day. We will be going to see family. We’re going out to eat which should be easier. Then we’ll go to one of the relatives to “open presents”. Not really my favorite part. I really kind of prefer to buy myself my own. I know that sounds horrible to most people. But part of the problem is I don’t really want much of anything and nobody really knows what I do want or would be thrilled with. And I’ve got lots of junk so I don’t need more of that.

But the good news is 32 days to the next cruise. I have one of those count down counters on my computer so I can keep track of how much time we have left. The next one goes to the Caribbean. Its sponsored by Scientific American magazine and I’m looking forward to this trip.

I’ve had one problem recently. It appears my meds are off. When you take heart medicine you really don’t want that to get off. Mine did and it hasn’t been pretty. But we’re getting better, slowly. We changed the meds and I feel better – no more heart palpitations. You’d think someone as young as me wouldn’t need these, but I do. No fun, but necessary.

Well, I am proud to say I made it through Thanksgiving. It was a success. My small turkey (looked like an oversized chicken) was just enough. No mashed potatoes but roasted potatoes and sweet potatoes did fine. Made a bit too much dressing, but that was all.

And now on to Xmas. I started my list of what to do for people. I haven’t finished it, but at least I have a starting point. This Xmas I think family will get together and go out to a buffet. That would be easier. And I don’t think anybody would mind.

We had to have thinning done on our trees once again. We had it done last year here in San Antonio. That was fortuitous since we had an ice storm last year. Many neighbors had tree limbs break, but we didn’t. But we knew more work needed to be done. Well, we had it done. They look better, and the yard is getting more sunlight.

But today is just typical San Antonio – 68 and a bit of sprinkles (more rain possible). I wish it was cooler, but no such luck. We have had a couple of cooler days, but not really much and it doesn’t last. The part I find so hard is that even the nights don’t really cool down much. There’s no opening windows at night to get a cool breeze, no such luck. Such is life here in San Antonio, TX.

Well its almost Thanksgiving. We made it to San Antonio and unfortunately had a relative pass away shortly after we got here. That was sad. But we also went on a cruise to the Panama Canal and that was good. I have pictures located here under MacMania 7 (http://web.mac.com/catsdance/iWeb/Home.html).

The cruise was on Holland America Cruise Lines. We left out of Ft. Lauderdale for the 10 day cruise. We stopped in Aruba, Curacao, the canal, Costa Rica then home we came. Aruba was different from what I expected. I always hear about it being a place for spring break so I expected it to be a bit larger, lots of beaches, etc. It was a bit smaller than I thought, and it had lots of beaches but it had a lot more too. We did and excursion to a butterfly farm which was great. We also went to an aloe farm, not quite as fun as the butterfly farm, then we went to the natural arches section of the island. I didn’t know about the natural arches area before going. We drove through a very desert-like area to get there. The natural arches area is on the shore – a very rocky area, not for swimming. It was very dramatic watching the waves break on this rocky region. But I liked it.

In Curacao we just walked around the town. Its a Dutch area and you can see that in lots of the architecture. But it was fun walking around and there’s lot of shopping.

The Panama Canal is fascinating. We went through the locks into the lake. It was a bit rainy and while on the lake you could watch the rain move. They had someone on the ship speaking and telling us information about the canal, the building of it, how its used today, info about ships going through it, etc. It was interesting. I’m glad we went there and next time (if we get the chance) I’ll try to get up earlier and be more awake.

In Costa Rica we did an excursion that had a train ride, went to a banana plantation, then did a boat ride. It was rainy and not quite as warm as expected. We had a guide who told us a lot about the area, the people, and was fun to listen to – Humberto. He was good. This excursion was through Holland America. Because it was rainy when we took the boat ride the river was very swollen and muddy. But between Humberto and the boat pilot we saw quite a few animals from the boat. It was I must say fun and fascinating. I enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. Sometimes you don’t know what to expect, but this one turned out great.

Now we’re home and getting ready for Thanksgiving. This year, I’m cooking it. Oh yeah, what fun, let’s see how I do. Turkey day cooking for just two.

Its hard to believe its almost Oct. Were does the time go. We’ve been busy. Its been a cool summer here in Seattle, at least a bit cooler then usual. But I think that’s better than sweating all summer. We did go spend a week in San Antonio and I’ll take a cooler climate happily.

What I do love is the first weekend in Oct. is Issaquah Salmon Days. Its a fun street fair kind of thing. Its all about the salmon that come up the creek into Issaquah. The town also has its own salmon hatchery so its a fun event to go to. It really only lasts the weekend, but its fun. So I’m looking forward to going to it.

Also this Oct. we are going to Las Vegas for a few days. We are meeting some of my family there. We’re got reservations for dinner and a show so that should be fun. I don’t do Vegas often so I’m looking forward to it.

And we’re going to the Seattle Opera for a Sunday matinee. That should be fun too. I’m looking forward to Oct.

We just spent two weeks out of the country. We did a cruise out of Copenhagen, Denmark. It was a 10 day cruise on Holland America. I enjoyed myself…A LOT! We flew into Copenhagen about 2 days before the cruise, then stayed 3 days after the cruise. We were lucky enough to find a direct flight from our area straight to Copenhagen. That made the trip a bit easier – no worry about connecting flights. But it was also harder – 9 hour flight. At least we could sleep through part of it. And I must say SAS business class (expensive) was worth it.

We actually did the cruise with a group of people all interested in Opera. It was a group of about 75 people, that was just our small group within the cruise ship. We met lots of people. It was a lot of fun. We had a couple of group meetings and learned about “divas”. We also had a couple of group excursions – in St. Petersburg, Russia to the Hermitage and to the Marinsky Opera house to see Tosca and an excursion in Helsinki, Finland to hear a recital at the opera house and to see the home of Jean Sibeius. Since I’m new to opera this was all new stuff for me, fun and interesting.

The cruise started in Copenhagen, then went to Tallin, Estonia. From there it was off to St. Petersburg where we had an overnight stay. We also went to Helsinki, Finland, Stockholm, Sweden, Arhus, Denmark, and Oslo, Norway. I’d never been to any of these stops so all of it was new and fascinating to me. I will say the people overall were friendly, helpful and wonderful to meet. I also tried new foods when I could. Some were interesting, fun but interesting.

I took a lot of pictures but still have load them, so it may be a while before I get them up.

07/22 Pictures are up.

We made it to WA. The weather had been cool which is so much nicer than San Antonio. Today was warmer, and we are expected to have a couple more warm days. But warm here is different. Its warm, 80’s but you have a cool feeling breeze along with it so it is so nice to be outside. Though of course you do need your sunscreen so you don’t get a sunburn. Today was so nice I grilled chicken for dinner on the deck.

When we got back to WA we had one of our decks replaced. It was noisy but worth it. We also replaced our cars, something we knew we needed to do. We also have spoken to a guy who will be replacing our retaining wall. They had hoped to start this week, but they needed to have lines marked. When you dig this kind of way, you have to know where things like underground power lines or water lines are. So we are waiting for them to come and do the marking. So they expect to start the retaining wall early next week.

We’re also getting ready for our cruise next month. It should be fun and I’m looking forward to it. We will be doing a 10 day cruise starting in Copenhagen, Denmark. I’ve never been there so I think it will be interesting. We leave for it shortly after my school class ends. Talk about good timing.

Its been some lovely spring days here. Today we had over 1″ of rain in about 20 minutes. Some thunder and lightning with it. Had a similar day last week. And we expect more of the same around Thursday. Lovely spring weather. At least the plants are getting well watered. And those plants are growing. That’s good. But man can it rain. Needless to say, with all this rain we are under flash flood watches. Last week we even had some short power outages. Such is life in San Antonio.

Here is a link to some birds in our backyard. I’m not sure what the yellow bird with the black back is, but he enjoys our yard. This is in Quicktime, no sound and lasts about 25 seconds.