"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." ~George Bernard Shaw

"Look at everything as though you were seeing it either for the first or last time." ~Betty Smith, A Tree Grows in Brooklyn


Monday, December 21, 2009

Cats from the Wilkins-Foster Compound

Our good friends Etta and Jeff have two lovely daughters
and two hilarious cats. Etta managed to catch both of
them while yawning.....take a look at these pics....
Ignatz mid yawn.............
Gracie behind Ignatz...almost looks like she's yelling at him...
That's it-just had to share Etta's pics...


Saturday, December 19, 2009

Dinner at the Burton's

Russell and I had a fun evening last night
at Rosie and Rays house. We ate and laughed and
drank some wine and laughed some more!
Scott and Cindy joined us and we all had
a great time......below are some wooden hand
carved Santas that Scott and Cindy made.
This year they were being sold at the
Real Mother Goose store in downtown Portland!
We are lucky to have a few....

Here's little Lily. She was found abandoned on the street
hungry, dirty and now very happy to be in such a good home.

Lily joins Tiger....they get along and play well together.
Merry Christmas everyone!

Friday, December 18, 2009

Zan and Auntie Kath make a T-shirt quilt

My sweetie pie niece Zan wanted help in making
a cozy quilt out of some of her favorite
and memorable T-shirts....
we really didn't have a plan...
but it turned out really cool...here are a few pics..

We are laying them out after having sewn a few pieces together..
this is after cutting the shirts into squares...
It's pretty random still....we learned a lot
about how to do this....and how NOT to do it!

But in the end we finished it and it looks great!
Yay Zan and Auntie Kath!

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Merry Merry Christmas!

Merry Merry Christmas.....

Have a very Meowy Merry Christmas!

Our neighbors cat Lucky loves to

visit us. Here he is behind our trio

of little Christmas Trees.....



Sunday, December 06, 2009

Annual Ross Griffin Christmas Gift Exchange Party -Part 1

Once again we kick off the Holiday Season
with Ross Griffin's Christmas Gift Exchange
We all make 8 handcrafted gifts and get together
at someone's home to eat, laugh,drink,laugh and
select 8 gifts to take home .
This year I hosted the party and we had a blast!
Be sure to read Part 2 after this to view the videos
I made during the party!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
Kathe Brady made these delectable Chocolate Chip cookies
wrapped up in a cute bowl
and topped with a hand quilted ornament
Before we began to choose our gifts-we had to place
all our goodies on or around the table.... The first item I chose was the lighted and decorated
little tree in the background.
Sheila Wilson brought the trees......
There were so many items to choose from....
it was difficult to choose.... Kathy Reilly made these quilted fish-they didn't last long! We all had such a good time- seeing friends we haven't seen since the last party....time flies...
Kathy R , sis-in-law Julie and Jeanie (sp?)
obviously having a great time!
Sheila making her choice....
Here I am with one of my selections-
Julie Reilly made these very clever carriers
for hot or cold dishes....
Linda Graham also chose one of the food carriers...
Nanette and Jeanie trying to choose....
Valerie looks over the gifts
while Becky selects one of Chris Nolde's grocery bags.
Valerie chose one of Linda Grahams knitted mufflers...
Chris Nolde and her food carrier....this was a
very popular gift....actually everyone's gifts were
so creative .... it made it hard to choose...
Jackie chose one of Chris Nolde's grocery bags... Valerie was inspired by her trip to Sweden-
she hand painted glass plates and made gingerbread
cookies using Swedish cookie cutters...cute little horses..
All in all - we all had a great time-thanks everyone !!!!

Annual Ross Griffin Christmas Gift Exchange Party-Part 2

Kathy Brady was the hit of the party

with her hula hoop demonstration!

Rosie had made excercise hula hoops

for the gift exchange - and wow!

Take a look at this little video!

Nannette shows all of us a new way to put on a muffler....

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!

Sunday, November 29, 2009

Leftovers from Mexico

Mexican leftovers??? Huh?
Thanksgiving has come and gone- but wait!
I have more photos from our Zihuatanejo vacation....
First- here's a lovely sunset photo taken by
the revered Don Roberto!
Our new friends Stan and Maggie left their
boogie boards with us...to pass onto
whoever we thought would get the best
use of them....but before they left-
Maggie got these great shots of us
playing on the boogie boards....Ready?
Set!
GO!
I am laughing so hard...so fun!

oooops........where'd I go?

Russell makes his landing.....

whew....do I have the WHOLE beach inside my suit?
We had a great time playing in the surf...
Thanks Stan and Maggie!!!
When we left we passed them on to Jose Luis
who runs a little rental shack next to the Catalina...
Next year we'll buy some the first day we arrive.....ole!

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Just Desserts and All That Other Nonsense....

It's Thanksgiving today and all I have to do

is make a few desserts for our friends Malia and Daniel

who have invited us over to have dinner with their family

(more photos on that later)

So, first I made a Tarte Tatin- French apple caramel tart...

Then the traditional Pumpkin Pie ....

....and I could NOT help myself-

I also made a Pear Caramel Gingerbread Cake...

whew....fun though!

Now- onto other just desserts....

While our chickens Moochy, Blondie

and Michelle spent time out in the rain....

they LOVE being out of the coop...and don't

try to convince them otherwise...


the local squirrel was helping himself to chicken feed...



Oodles of Bushtits were feasting on a little bit of

suet....need to go shopping for more tomorrow...


Russell was downstairs finishing the huge project

of installing a gas fireplace insert.

Other than getting some help moving the old wood

stove out and placing the new insert into it's place

Russell did it all himself-from hooking up the gas line,

installing the chimney liner and electrical connections required.

It took Russell about a week to complete and now the

city folks can come inspect his work.
Please note all the soot etc on his face....
Cinderfella????
Russell is amazing to me- he can do anything!

Below is a photo of the stove - what an improvement!

Looks great- will keep our downstairs warm

and no more hauling wood indoors...!


Friday, November 20, 2009

Vacation in Zihuatanejo Wrapup.....

It's been a few days since we got back home
and we've just now sort of settled down
to our old routines ....here are some goodby photos
of our time in Zihuatanejo....The mile long stretch of beach....dotted with restaurants
and mostly small hotels
Goodby to Illario as he checks on the hatching turtles..
they'll be released into the ocean as we are flying home..

One last drawing made for friends....

My last Jamon y Oaxacan Queso Omelet with Potato Patties

Saying goodbye to dear friends.......
we'll see them next year in Zihuatanejo-if not before!

Saying goodby to the infinity pool that we used after
hours of being in the ocean...

and look! We don't appear to be much worse for
all the cervesas and frioles consumed in the past 2 weeks!
Just a few hours after this photo we were on our
way home....had a great time- we'll be back!

Monday, November 16, 2009

Our last Sunday

Today was a very busy day as this weekend
is a 3 day holiday weekend.
Bus load after bus load came into town from all
over Mexico and boy did they all have fun!
On top of that a huge cruise ship came into the bay
and boat load after boat load of tourists were
left off at the port. A good day for all the
vendors and restaurants!
This view is from our palapa-its a bit blurry
but you can see all the people in the water...
I'd post more photos but the internet system here
is a bit cranky...

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Saturday Nov 14

This towel art is a very strange elephant...I think?
We think this bird is some sort of jay...
Russell with the Banderas Bay behind him...
our one fancy sit down dinner....



Sunset over Banderas Bay