Seattle Self-Portraits

My sister, Anoli, is in town and no visit is complete without a trip over the Sound to Seattle.  We decided to take in some of the touristy sites - again, you kind of have to when you are visiting Seattle - and have some fun with the iPhone at the same time.  I call my series, "Seattle Self-Portraits."  Please excuse the poor iPhone photo quality on some of these.

Arriving by Ferry

Pike Place Market

Original Starbucks (with freaky sunbeam in the photo)

At the famous landmark, the Space Needle

At the top of the Space Needle

Funny how in every picture we are standing on the same side of each other.  That was not planned.

And now for a few non-self-portraits, like the actual view from the Space Needle.

We split a yummy crêpe at this place in the Market.

Anoli was taking pictures of the flowers just as I bent down to smell some.  It's like Where's Waldo....can you find me?

Saw the fish getting thrown at Pike Place Fish Company.  They are actually only throwing a bag of mussels here, but we did see them lob a huge halibut over a little old lady.

Finally, we tried on some overly large sunglasses.  Anoli is embracing her inner diva.  I'm channeling my mom, circa 1984.  Love you, mom!

Dog (or Cat) of the Day

I haven't been very good about showing pics of my dogs (and sometimes cats) of the day.  Remember that these are animals that were (most have been adopted by now) up for adoption at the humane society that I volunteer at a couple times a week.

Here's one of my favorites, Bentley, who weighed in close to 150 pounds.  This was one huge boy.  He was picked up by a mastiff rescue group.

Shayanne, who at less than 1 year old, just had too much puppy energy for her former family.  She was adopted out within a few days of being at the shelter.  She was beautiful.

Oops...can't remember this guy's name, but I just love his ears!  He also was adopted some time ago.

How about some 3-week-old kittens?  Kittens who are younger than 6 months usually go to a foster home since they have special requirements and need proper socialization.  These kittens in particular were at risk for becoming feral, but with the right foster home, they will become wonderful pets in the future.

If I had the room to take in a huge dog, this Saint Bernard would be living with me.  She was a sweetie!!

Marlee, an 8-month-old boxer puppy was too much work with younger children in the home.  Purebreds like this, especially younger ones, get adopted quickly.  Isn't she a cutie??  I love her coloring.  What a happy dog.

Eight!

Guess who turned 8 this week?

Sadie Sue, my sun-worshiping goddess.  I love when you find the sun spots in the house and plop yourself in them for hours.

Sadie, AKA Ghandi or Bones, who chooses when to eat and when to turn your nose.  Sometimes you drive me crazy with your picky eating habits, but I know you'll always listen when there's a treat involved.

And, you put up with Gunnar, even though I know he bothers you sometimes.  Thanks for putting up with him. He loves to follow you and do what you do.

But, it's okay to show him who's boss every once in awhile.

Sadie, you have taught us so much about Italian Greyhounds.  We will always have a special place in our hearts for this wonderful breed.  You demonstrate that IGs can be friendly, social dogs.  Thanks for being such an awesome breed ambassador.

You're our brown-eyed girl.

You might be gray, but we know there's a puppy spirit still in you.

And many years left.

Happy birthday, sweet girl, we love you!

*There are lots of birthdays this week of people who we love very much, including my grandfather, Mike, and Marc!  Happy birthday to you all!

Home Projects, Coffee, and Poulsbo

I enjoyed a much needed visit from Mike and Jess this weekend.  Mike just returned from an overseas deployment with the Army and volunteered to help me with some home projects that have been on the to-do list.  The trip started out with a massive shopping trip to Home Depot.

Some of the projects were simple, but not jobs I wanted to tackle, like replacing my outdoor security lights.  Here's the new, fresh, non-rusty light.  

Or hanging some bulletin boards and shelves in our home office in our bedroom.  These had to be even and straight and I didn't trust myself with this task, but I knew that Mike would place them perfectly on the wall.  See? 

I'm not quite sure what will be placed here yet, but slowly the "office" is taking shape.

Other projects took longer and were more involved, like replacing my laundry room shelf.  My laundry room used to have a wire shelf above the washer and dryer that looked similar to this:

 I despised this shelf.  Not only was the shelf ugly, but it was placed way too high.  I practically had to climb on top on the washer to reach the soap.  This just wouldn't do, so I asked Mike if he would build a wooden shelf to place in this space instead.  Now, I have a beautiful wooden shelf that is sturdy and more my height.  No more climbing the appliances. 

I'm planning on painting this room in the very near future and getting some cute baskets for the shelf, so a better pic will be coming shortly.

The biggest project in terms of work and "wow" factor was the installation of recessed lights in the dining area.  Before Noa left for his deployment, he replaced the existing light with a beautiful (and more "us") pendant light with a drum shade.  I loved it, but the light fixture did not provide as much light as the old one.  

Mike added a splitter (I think that's what it's called) to the pendant light, but I still wanted some more lighting options.  So, we decided to go forward with the installation of four recessed lights.  This isn't the  neatest project - look at all that insulation!  Mike was able to bag all of it up and place it back in the attic, so that we didn't have to throw it away....smart guy!

This picture cracks me up.  While Mike is slaving away, Jess and I are goofing around in the background.  Can you spot us in the mirror?

To give you some reference, here's the dining area when we bought the house (sans furniture).

And, here it is today.  It's still a work in progress.  The table and chairs will be replaced, as will the rug (I know that it's too small).  But, it's almost done!!  I love the recessed lights.  And bonus: they are on dimmers, so I can give the space some mood lighting if I want.

The weekend wasn't all about work though.  We ate at some fabulous restaurants, played games, laughed, laughed, and laughed, and spent time in little ol'Poulsbo.  One of my new favorite hang-outs is Poulsbohemian Coffeehouse, which is located downtown and less than 10 minutes from my house.  They are locally owned and have some great views of Liberty Bay.  Plus, the coffee is yummy!

We walked around by the bay and downtown.  The weather cooperated....somewhat.  :)

Mike and Jess....thanks for your visit.  Although short, it was fun, memorable, and just what I needed.  Mike, I so appreciate all the work you did around here.  The house looks so much better because of you!   Jess, a visit from you is always time I treasure.   Love you both....come on over anytime.  Hopefully next time, Noa will be here!

Sun Sitting

I bought a new rug for the kitchen.  It's a little bigger than the last one, which is great for the dogs.  They love to sit in the sun from the skylight, but they hate sitting or laying on the wood floors.  Now they can lounge in comfort.  

Working on the Weekend

This weekend's weather was absolutely beautiful and the yard beckoned me outside.  Not only did the lawn need to get mowed, but my garden boxes and backyard were looking scraggly.  Weeds were creeping out and needed to get pulled.  So, I grabbed my garden bucket, gloves and got to work.  

Here are the "before" pics.  This is the side area to the right when you exit the slider doors.  Notice the dead plants up top and the weeds poking out down below.

This garden box had new growth and old growth that needed to go.  There's also a combination of pebbles and mulch in here on the topsoil.  I'm not really sure what I'm going to do with that.  Rake it out?  Add more?  Hmmmm....

This poor pot had cracked and only grass and weeds were poking through.

Now, for the "afters."  This area is already looking better, although I need to figure out the little sprinkler system set up on the top part.  Plus, some of those reddish plants are growing, while others were dead and withered.  I need to find out what they are, replace the dead ones, and figure out what else I can plant in there.  Also, there is a lot of mulch on top like the other garden box.  

As you can see, I didn't get to the area behind it (near the gravel part...thankfully, the camera didn't quite capture the weed epidemic going on over there).  I'll get to that area eventually.  One step at a time, my friends.  One step at a time.

And, now a much cleaner garden box.

Here's a new pot with fresh flowers planted.  They are White Nemesia, Yellow African Daisies, and Dusseldorf Pride Sea Pink.  I chose these very carefully and thoughtfully.  Okay, not really.  I just went to Lowe's, read the tags and thought, "yup, these look good and they like sun, so I'll take 'em."  Now, I need to buy some more flowers, since I found a second pot in the shed.  I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that they'll survive.  

And here's a complete look of the newly weeded area, including the long garden box that was also cleared out.  And, yes, I realize the porch is in sad shape.  I'm not fixing that on my own, so maybe when Noa comes back, we'll tackle that project together.  It needs a new paint job in a bad way.

You may have noticed my little helpers.  The back fence isn't installed yet, but I couldn't deny the gorgeous weather to my furkids.  So, when I found a tie-out stake from the previous owners in the shed, I bought some cord attachments, and the dogs were able to "help" me all afternoon.  Which of course means this: wrestle time!!  Bite your brother's head!

Or sniff the grass for something gross to roll in!  Better yet, roll in it and then eat it!!

Or run like crazy towards the lady with that clicky black thing.  She's always putting that in our face.  It must mean she wants doggie kisses.

I still have areas of the yard, where I just don't quite know how to approach it.  Like this area behind the garage.  You can see that there are septic covers, the air conditioning unit, a storage unit, and strange soil.  Do I just weed this area?  Seed it?  Add gravel?  I just don't know.

This mystery plant grows along the shed (you can also see it in the photo above on the right side) and I don't know if it's a weed or if it's supposed to be there.  If it is a weed, it sure is pretty! 

I found some fun, bright red planters to liven up my front door.  I hope to add a few more things in the front to make the entrance cheerful and fresh.  I think these are a good start.