I hope 2017 brings you everything you want and if it
brings you surprises, I hope you are ready for them.
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| Baby It Is Cold Out There |
Our Northeast Corner of Kirkland:
I finally did a little visiting the neighbors. I baked some chocolate brownies (thanks
Suzanne for the good idea) and went visiting.
At one house I found that my neighbor had hurt her back and couldn’t
carry in her groceries from the car, so I was able to help and at another house
I sat and visited with a man who worked for Boeing for 50 years, he said Boeing
was making prop planes when he started working there. He is a deep thinker, raised Lutheran and a
man of faith but very interested in science and how the two can come together. He was watching a documentary on what we
know about Mars when I showed up. There
is also a cute little family down a few houses that has a little boy and girl
that are so precious and cute. I can’t
wait until spring when I can sit on the front porch and watch them play…. They were learning to ride bicycles just before
the cold weather set in.
Events and Happenings:
Bill and I celebrated the New Year with a kiss at midnight, we
were in bed with colds and we woke up to a few blasts in the neighborhood. I think fireworks are illegal in the city but
I guess that doesn’t matter much on New Year’s Eve. On New Year’s Day we watched the Seahawks win
a very close game against the 49ers.
What I did not watch and I really can’t remember ever missing is the
Rose Bowl Parade. I think I slept
through it so obviously my cold was still taking its toll. On my bucket list is spending the week ahead
of New Years helping on a float for the parade. I am fine watching the Parade on television but
I would really love to work on and touch all those flowers. (I want to “smell the roses, up close and
personal.)
Now the Seahawks are in the playoffs and I am excited and nervous
at the same time. They have been playing
much better and I appreciate what they bring to the community. The individual players seem community
oriented, they visit the hospitals and schools and senior centers. Many of the players are advocates for
education and fitness and team work. I
hate the injuries but the sport isn’t going away anytime soon and for now I am watching. When it is no longer on public television,
free with an antenna, I will not be watching, just like I am not watching a lot
of college ball that is only on ESPN.
For me, there are other choices I make with my dollars, I really do not
spend much time watching television.
When we travel I do watch the TLC network.
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| Bill and CeLinda We rarely take photos of the two of us together, |
We
have watched several movies lately, I
may have been the last person to see “Sully”
but it was amazing and well done.
I loved it. We also saw Boyhood; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boyhood_(film) I thought it was a very interesting
film. It is almost 3 hours long and Bill
and I took a couple of intermissions during the movie. It was filmed, with all the same actors and
actresses over a 10 year period, sometimes a character turns away and then
turns back to the camera and you can tell that time has gone by. It is a different kind of time travel much
like life that just flies by sometimes.
Around the house: Bill loves working on projects and recently he decided it was time to change the light bulbs in the TV room from compact florescence bulbs to new LED ones, of course. He is busy around the house all the time and occasionally he calls me in to help. This is always interesting and I have lots of stories along this line. He was having a bit of trouble getting a hold of the bulbs that were in the ceiling securely and he almost dropped the first bulb. My job was to catch the falling bulbs if they lost their suction to the removal tool. I had a laundry basket with a couple of towels in it to soften the bounce. I did catch a couple but it actually caused anxiety, the type that affects my Addison’s. I didn’t want to be the one responsible for the broken glass…….
In My Travels: we are starting to look ahead. I think we have done enough adjusting to the new place and things are working pretty well so it is time to start thinking about having some adventures. We read this article in the local newspaper and now we want to do something like it.
http://dereklow.co/across-the-usa-by-train-for-just-213/
Bill and I have explored San Francisco and Salt Lake City and Denver but from about Lincoln Nebraska on towards the east coast I have not experienced “middle America” (with the exception of the three years I lived in Cincinnati and I did explore some gliderports then) and we want to make stops and explore along the way visiting friends and family too.
Bill and I also hope to go to the Oregon Country Fair again this
year. We had such fun last year. I enjoyed the people, the costumes, the
music, the arts and crafts, the food, the glow light parade and really just
being in such strange and beautiful surroundings for a few days. It is a bit surreal. Now that we have been and know what we are
getting into we want more of the experience…..
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| For more Photos: http://www.ravelry.com/projects/celindak/robin-romper-test |
My Latest Knitting was a test knit for a friend who will be publishing the pattern soon. It is called Robins Romper, here are some photos of mine. I didn’t have a baby handy to model it. If you want to knit it the pattern will be on Ravelry around Valentines.
In the Kitchen: Last summer my mom was looking for her pear cake recipe, we all loved it growing up. I finally found it and I am going to share it with you…. Save it for summer, you will love it.
Emma's Pear Cake
This recipe makes 3 small loaf pans on 1 bundt cake
4 cups chopped pears
2 cups sugar
Mix the pears and sugar together and let stand for 15 or 20
minutes
In a large bowl mix the dry ingredients:
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
1teaspoon baking powder
½
teaspoon butter flavoring
1
cup chopped nuts
3
cups sifted flour
¼
teaspoon nutmeg
½
teaspoon baking soda
Then
mix by hand adding the liquid ingredients:
¾
cup vegetable oil
1
teaspoon vanilla
2
eggs, beaten
Pour
into the greased pans you choose to use and bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
to 1 hour. Checking for doneness by
sticking a toothpick in and if it comes out clean, the cake is done.
This
recipe was on 3 post-it notes and I am glad to finally have it down in a safe
place. Bon Appetite.
Until next time: Thank you for reading. I have so enjoyed your emails and
messages back. I love staying in touch with each of you.
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write me at:celindakot@gmail.com
