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Thursday, July 28, 2011

Attic Antics

We installed our new vent pipe this morning using two connectors and aluminum tape. Our new pair of tin snips came in handy.

Kathy attached the wiring to our new range hood with little difficulty.

Dropping the cover down through the ceiling proved to be more tricky than we thought and not a lot of fun, particularly as the temperature rose as the morning progressed - darn, we finally have a beautiful sunny day and we're up in the attic.



Still, the end result looks good and all systems are go on the hood.


We installed our new window yesterday and spent the rest of working day replacing the siding we'd removed.


Time for a break.

Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Hanging The Hood

Our kitchen renovation continues apace. Sweeping aside Brian's misgivings, Kathy decided we could hang our new 48 inch hood by ourselves.

And so we did.




A good day.

Seoul-Full Memories Of Our Night Dining Tour

Back in April we visited Seoul with Tom and Ellyn. One of the highlights was the Night Dining Tour.

Now our touring companions that evening, Mark, Stacie and Evan, have forwarded a a brief video of our tour to host Daniel, who's posted it at his own site, Seoul Eats.

It's enough to make us look for a return trip. Thanks for the memories, Mark.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

A Wonderful Wenatchee Weekend

It's always a special treat for us to see all seven of our grandchildren in one place at one time, and this weekend was one of those occasions.

We enjoyed a family celebration of Riley's fourth birthday, with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents coming from all over.

Lots of food and lots of fun for everybody.

Today we get to play with Riley and Blane before we drive home while their parents take a break to see the latest Harry Potter movie.

The temperature is supposed to top out in the mid 90s (F) today, quite a change from the coastal weather we've been getting used to, so we're fortunate to be in an air conditioned house with a couple of big oak trees shading the back yard.

A couple more hours of fun with grandkids for us before getting back to that kitchen renovation that will resume in earnest Monday.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Our Kitchen Renovation: Feet Of Agility

Eventually our new range hood will go there but Kathy has to make room for it first.

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Sand Dollar Park Lives Up To Its Name

Even on a slightly rainy Sunday in Birch Bay Village with Jake and Taegan.





Travel Photos: Bizarre Destinations?

We scanned quickly through this collection of photos of "bizarre and unusual" destinations.

The only one that we've definitely visited is no. 25, the Waitomo Glowworm Cave in New Zealand.

There are still a lot of places to see that we haven't yet seen.

In the meantime, there's a kitchen to be put back together.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

If You Can't Stand The Heat...

Get out of our kitchen.

While others are traveling to Rome and various other exotic locations, we're in the middle of renovating our kitchen with new countertops and a new cooktop.

We've just about finished destroying the old kitchen. We hope soon to get to the more enjoyable parts of the project.



Sunday, July 10, 2011

Time For A Train Trip?

We two have never taken a long train ride together. Back in 1954 Brian went on a long train journey with his mother, grandmother, and brother for the purpose of attending an uncle's funeral in a small Ontario town.

We rode from California to Chicago on the Overland Limited, a first class experience with a dining car in which Brian still remembers eating lamb chops with the little frilled chop holders.

We sat through an eight-hour layover in Chicago before traveling onward on one or two more trains up through Toronto. During that layover Brian watched a man see his wife off on a train trip with hugs and kisses before walking away. About a half hour later he returned quite intoxicated. We young children had never seen anybody drunk before and don't know to this day whether the man was mourning or celebrating his wife's departure. A plain clothes policeman grabbed him by the arm and escorted him away. What an exciting place to be!

Brian remembers a relative picking us up in his little car and driving us a relatively few miles to the small town of Iroquois Ontario. You could do that in those days, as you still can today in much of Europe.

On our return trip we took the Canadian Pacific all the way from Toronto to Vancouver. A highlight was the observation car. What a trip for a nine-year-old to experience. Brian remembers that a Coke in the bar car cost 15 cents, which was too expensive to consider buying back then.

In 1976, 22 years later, we and some other adult chaperones transported about 50 members of Brian's high school band between Hope B.C. and Saskatoon Saskatchewan by train. That was an exciting trip but a lot of work as well.

Reading this account of a family's train trip in the Wall Street Journal got us thinking about that long train trip again. The catch is that trains tend to be very expensive, at least if one buys up to private sleeping accommodations.

Of course, there are various luxury train rides around the world that we keep our eyes on. Australia has The Ghan, South Africa The Blue Train, and India the Rajdhani Express. There are others of course, including the most famous of them all, the Orient Express. Another that fascinates us is China's Qinghai-Tibet Train. That one might even be affordable.

For those of us who grew up as recently as the 1950s, when train travel was still glamorous, the sound of a train whistle will always be an alluring one.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Cousins In The Crowd

Four of our seven grandchildren made the Blaine Independence Day Parade. Below are (left to right) Taegan, Jake, and Riley waiting for the parade to start, with Jake protectively holding his young cousin's hand.

Canada Day At Harrison Hot Springs

It was as close to a perfect weekend as two grandparents could imagine, a family event with our three children, their spouses, and our seven grandchildren all enjoying perfect weather July 1-4 2011.

We stayed at the Harrison Beach Hotel and enjoyed the beach, the parade, the fireworks, and all of the good food that everybody brought along. The weather turned out to be absolutely perfect July 2, with games and boat rides in a little inflatable.



With so many things to do, sometimes here's still nothing more fun than digging holes in the sand...











Watching a parade is fun. Watching the people who watch the parade is too...









And there's a fabulous fireworks show to end the day, with a beautiful view from Karen's and Chuck's large balcony on the second floor of the hotel.