The Heir and The Spare

The cats (the real ones, not the three little kittens) had a cold and sneezed on my sister. So Karen got the cold and had it all of last week. I tried very hard to follow precautions. Nonetheless, my brother got the cold on Thursday and I woke up with it on Saturday. Saturday was the day that the three little kittens came over to go to the festival. It wasn't a great time to be sick, but I was. I went to bed after the kittens went home and slept through most of Sunday and very late today. I woke up after noon feeling greasy and smelly because I sweat out my fever overnight.

After showering I decided that my grungy bed linens needed a good wash too, so I changed them and put fresh linens and a clean quilt on my bed. I no sooner had the bed made than Max (the cat looking at the camera) decided it was safe to take a nap on it. And since he'd made himself comfortable by the window, Ghost had no choice but to take up residence in the center of the bed. They are comfortably napping free from my grungy cold germs. I on the other hand am still washing the other set of linens and wishing that I had room to curl up too.

As a side note. On Friday, thinking that I had dodged the cold I got my flu shot. So now Karen is convinced it caused me to come down with the cold. I just don't understand the thinking. Now in her mind, the flu vaccine not only causes the flu, it causes colds too. Never mind that the whole household came down with the cold sans the vaccine. I just have to wonder.

And in case you were wondering, I did suggest that it might not be a good idea to have the three little kittens over on Saturday. But no one was having any of that. I'm sure they come up against worse germs every day at school.

Thank goodness for ginger tea and honey. I think I can cope.

Three Little Kittens

There are three little girls who visit our household regularly. Their mother is my nieces ex-lover, and they came to view my sister as a grandparent. Their father and the other grandparents choose not to participate in their lives and my sister is more than happy to fill in the gap. Fortunately for them neither my niece nor their mother see any reason to deprive them of the one grandparent who chooses to be there for them. So the three little kittens still visit often.

They came to visit on Saturday to go to the Main Street Festival with us. Karen particularly wanted to take them because the last time they visited we were in the park and a private party had a bouncy house set up, but the girls were not invited to the party. I hate to have to be the one to tell a kid that they can't play with the others. The festival offered a bouncy house and this was the opportunity to make it up to them.

My sister went to pick them up early in the day, but when they got here they didn't want to leave. They wanted to do the things that they can do here that they can't at home, which is watch TV, eat ice cream and take a bath. They do not have a television service at home. They have a shower, but no tub and their freezer is too small for tub of ice cream. My sister provides a constant selection of new books, puzzles and art supplies for them, that they enjoy. And my brother made them a swing and bought them bikes and a wagon to play in the yard with. So they like to be here...a lot. It was just as well, because it was the middle of the afternoon by the time we made it to the festival. All the other kids had come early and gone home for naps by the time we got there. The three kittens had the bouncy house and all the games, face painters and sand crafts to themselves.

We let them play until they tired out and then treated them to a lemonade and a cupcake. I tell you, I need to start a bakery. The baker charged us five dollars each for the cupcakes It was nothing fancier than piped icing with a mallow cream pumpkin on top. The cupcake itself was dry and the icing was way too sweet. There was nothing about it that was worth the price. If you think of it, there are 24 cupcakes to a batch of cake batter. So if you do the math that's $120 for a cake. A decent cake mix and the frosting might have cost me $10. A whole bag of the pumpkins can be had anywhere for $2.50. The girls could have had a tray full of cupcakes for less than the 3 we bought.

 But here's the truth about it, he didn't have his prices listed. And if he did I would never have offered them to the girls to begin with. You can be sure that I will never stop at his booth at another festival. Even if he'd sold them for $3 each, I wouldn't have been so offended by his price and would treat the girls whenever he was around. His greed has lost me as a future customer both at festivals and in his store. I'm sure that I'm not the only person who feels this way.

My niece works in a bakery, and my sister used to do catering. I am seriously considering renting a booth at future festivals to give him a run for his money. Two and a half to three dollars is a fair price. And I'm very confident that I can make a better cake and my icing will at least have flavor beyond sweetness. I really think that I can do better. I might even call my booth "A Better Slice of Cake"

#OverProtectiveness

My brother got a package in the mail yesterday. I'm kind of surprised because he doesn't shop, not even online. But I suppose this was something that had been bothering him. If he had told me what he was going to do, I would have told him not to. He's been concerned about my safety on the bike and the safety of my sister while she is out after dark. He bought us stun guns. They are more like heavy duty stun flashlights. Really, just hitting someone with this thing will cause damage without discharging it. But it's discharge is fearsome. I don't know what to think about this. He was so proud of himself, I hate to say something negative about it to him. What's more, my sister is actually excited about hers. And he also bought one for our niece and his daughter. Serial killers in the PNW should be wary of people sporting flashlights. They may be more potent than they appear.

After I received my unexpected gift, I was off to the evening version of Sit and Knit. I had planned to ride my bike, which unsettled my brother. It would be dark for my half mile ride home. He insisted that I take his van. Dinner took a bit longer to prep than I had anticipated, so I took him up on it just to not be late. I like this group more than I liked the afternoon group. There was no assortment of fake service dogs peeing on the floor. And the conversation was more of normal things, children's homework woes and car mechanics, etc. Unfortunately this group only meets every other week.

Jen (the owner of the knit shop) signed me up to help the store with a Yarn Crawl that is happening the first weekend of October. I'm not getting paid, per se, but I can taste the wines and will get the patterns and mini skeins that will be given to participants. Also, I will be able to meet a lot of people in the crafting community in the area. I'm hoping that there will be more people like the ones who are in the evening group than the morning group.

Blustery Day

The weather has definitely changed, and I did not sleep well last night. So the blustery weather lulled me all day. I did nothing of use. Mainly I watched the rain outside my window and drank some ginger peach tea that I bought at Pike Place Market at the beginning of the summer.

The weather reminds me that I haven't gotten my flu shot this year. I mentioned it to my sister and she rather proudly told me that she and my brother never get one. If I have to sit through one more person telling me that lie story about the shot giving them the flu I think I'm going to scream. A dead virus did not give you a live infection, period. If nothing else, all those chemicals everyone goes on and on about should kill anything nasty lurking in the syringe. Give it up. Tell me why you really don't want the vaccine. Is it that you enjoy having the flu every year? Please just admit that you don't like being stuck with needles and we can both walk away from it with our pride intact. Tomorrow my task list includes finding a pharmacy that will give me the shot and returning the 7th season of "Game of Thrones to the library. I'm glad that I tested out my rain poncho. I will need it while I am out and about.

I will probably try to attend the Sit and Knit session at A Little Knitty, the yarn shop that I have been going on and on about. I have made friends with Jen, the owner and I think I'd like to give it another go. If for no other reason than to encourage the new found friendship. Hopefully I can find a few other friends while I'm there.

Speaking of friends, I've just received news that 2 more of my breast cancer support group friends have died. One from an apparent heart attack and the other from treatment related cancer.  Years ago I was close to both Kathy and Rosemarie. Though I lost contact with them, it still makes me sad. There are so few of us who remain from that group that held my hand while I went through treatment.

Early Morning

It is the early morning. Last night was the first chilly night of the season.  The temperature went down into the lower 50's. For the first time since I arrived in June all the doors and windows were shut, the fans had been turned off. Princess Pippi slept on my quilt. She wasn't interested in spending the night out chasing mice. Soon, the heater will have to be turned on.

Last night we filled the house with light and celebration. It was my niece's 24th birthday. My sister and I agreed that from our experience, it is the first real year of adulthood for most American kids.  I know that all these transitions are hard for my sister. I went through it 3 times already. But for my sister, it is the barring jolt of the first time, and the emotional sting of the empty nest all at once. But last night we had my niece, her two life long friends, a partner and a child all over to celebrate with us. They are all vegetarians, so I made vegetable soup and French bread. My sister brought home a beautiful cake and some ice cream. There was a party, but mainly it was just a room full of people who deeply care about each other.

Interurben Trail

Saturday started with a visit from my niece. She comes over quite often and it always is a welcome change of pace here. We have been wanting to try out a local café in town called Zola's. So we went there for lunch. I am really so glad that we did. This is a restaurant that I will be frequenting. It's like an unscaled Starbucks with much better food and minus the smell of burnt coffee. I got a nice bowl of ham and bean soup and a pot of tea. It was delicious. The best thing is this place is about a half mile from home and on my way to the knitting store. While we were there a family came in who were vlogging their day out and about. I did not recognize them, so I'm pretty sure that I have never seen their vlog, but they were all dressed out in hip clothes and had a fantastic camera. I like watching family vlogs on YouTube, but still they seemed a bit silly to me, walking around with a large camera pointed at themselves. I wondered what they seemed like to others who may not have understood what they were doing. 

After our outing I decided that I'd needed to get some exercise so I took my bike out for what I thought was going to be a short ride. Then, since it was a good chance to see if the new rain poncho I bought myself was going to be an acceptable solution to riding in rain showers, I decided to try to find the bike trail I'd been looking for. The problem was that I'd been looking for it near the Transit station. But the trail is actually about a quarter of a mile from there beside a different set of railroad tracks. I decided to take the trail south a bit to see if I could find the Outlet Mall. It was a fairly easy ride, but I wonder about the wisdom of it's use. The trail, though well maintained, seems to be a corridor for homeless campsites. While I was on it, it was well travelled, but I'm leery of using it after dark. It's too bad really, because the trail offers bike access to several of the nearby towns. A Google search doesn't really show much crime reported on the trail, and one person on a forum put it intellectually, "Most homeless don't want to mess with others because they know that reported crime will cause them to have to move." I'm glad I found the trail, and I will continue to use it in day time hours until I feel more certain of it.

My ride on Saturday had me riding about 10 miles all totaled. And yesterday I was a bit lazy, though I did give the dog a walk. My sister wanted me to go shopping with her and it yielded a revelation to me. Since I've gotten here both my brother and sister have been offering advice: "Stay off of the alley ways." "Don't go on Auburn Way, Main Street, etc." "Avoid the underpasses" Then I noticed that while driving, she was going in circles around town. I do believe that she wanted to think that some of the stores in the area are much farther away than they really are. I was a bit put off by that, but I do know she means well. I can see the benefit of caution.

Today I decided that I did need to get out a bit. I rode over to Safeway, about a half mile away and picked up some bread and items to make soup this evening. While I was riding I noticed this tree. So much of this area is forested with evergreens that I don't see many signs of fall. This was the first that I have noticed turning for fall. There are other signs that Autumn will be on us soon, birds flocking and squirrels harvesting the seeds from the beautiful sunflowers that I have enjoyed watching all summer. But this is the first solid sign that I've seen that it is here. I thought about calling Beverly to send me pictures of the beautiful fiery foliage that Atlanta can have, but then remembered that they are still at least a month out, and are having temperatures in the 90's.

I have been warned that there are more warm days ahead, but it's kind of hard to believe when I'm looking at scenes like this.

Pseudo Autumn

It was 2:30 pm and a yellow jacket flew into my room. It was looking of a supply of nectar to ensure survival for the hive through the winter. In the south they get mean this time of year and will sting without being provoked. I'm not sure if that holds true here, but I don't want to find out the hard way. So I put away some essential oil soaps that I bought earlier in the week and opened the window wider to let it find it's way out.

As thoughts do, mine have a way of intertwining in ways that probably makes sense only to me. I realized that I had not eaten anything since 8:00 pm yesterday, and while I wasn't really hungry it isn't wise to go so long without food with diabetes. I suppose it was the influence of seeing the bee that reminded me of the honey cake still sitting in the refrigerator. I cut a large slice even though it isn't the best cake I've ever had. After eating it I realized that I didn't check my blood sugar before I ate it, so I don't know how bad such a large shot of sugar is going to be. I have gotten very sloppy in my management.  It was 154 an hour after eating the cake, so I'm not too worried.

The temperature yesterday got back up to 80 F, but wasn't too unbearable because of a nice breeze. I decided to go out for a spin on my bike. It wasn't too bad considering the weather and getting myself lost in neighborhoods that I've never been to before. Overall, the experience has given me new confidence that I can find my way home. Though I'll admit I considered flagging down a police office to ask for assistance. I have found that Waze does not work very well if you are a pedestrian. I think that the satellite isn't sensitive enough to tell you are moving if you are travelling below a certain speed limit. Anyway, the screen is difficult to see when I'm outside. Today only got up to 61 and was overcast. The weather stations say that this is the last gasp of summer and fall has arrived, but my sister says not to trust it. She says that it can get quite warm sometimes if  October. It seems weather is fickle no matter where you live. 

There is a pedestrian and bike trail in the area. So far I have been unable to find a point to get on it. I was looking for it yesterday when I went out. If I could find it, other than on a map, I will have a reasonably flat access to most of the towns nearby. I plan to keep looking. but I did not today and I was glad for it. About 20 minutes after I thought about going out it started raining hard. It did so for about 45 minutes and then stopped. 

My sister and I went out to the grocery store afterward. Then we took the dog out for a walk. He wasn't behaving very well today, wanting to pull on the leash and go to areas that we didn't want to walk him. We brought him home and he immediately went to his bed and dug himself under his blanket to mope about the shortness of his walk this evening. That only lasted as long as it took my brother to go to the local Pick-Quick to get burgers for dinner. The dog loves hamburgers and fries. It is one of his favorite things. 

We spent the evening watching a show on Netflix called "The Family". As a Christian Democrat, I find the show very unsettling. It speaks about how a secret cult wrapped in Christian teachings has been controlling Washington DC for decades. It's good to know about, but I'm not sure what can be done about it. Now I just want to do something mindless for the rest of the evening. 

Why Blame The Honey Cake

When we got home from Sumner the other day I was so disappointed by being taken to a Russian grocery store rather than a tea room that I tossed the honey cake I bought there into the fridge and made pot roast for supper. Hey, I just wanted to sip tea and eat cake away from the dog and the cats demanding their portion. The cake sat in the fridge for a while until this morning I was looking for a little something to go with my morning tea and remembered the cake. It tastes like a store bought cake. I wonder if my assessment isn't tainted by the disappointment I felt at not getting tea the other day. I don't really think so. I will avoid the store going forward.

The local knitting store has a Sit and Knit session every Wednesday. It had been my intention to join them and make friends there, but that backfired on me on my first visit. I went in and introduced myself. Immediately, a woman who looked uncannily like Big Delores from the movie "Hope Floats" started lecturing me about the evil racism of the south. Noting that there were no Muckleshoot women in the group, I felt like calling her out on it. But what would that accomplish? Delores was sitting in a scooter and sometime during the group I noticed a rather timid chihuahua was hiding behind her enormous legs. Any first impression break I was cutting her evaporated when I spied him.  He immediately went under the table and pissed on the floor. Of course Delores did not offer to get off the scooter and clean it up. One of the other women in the group did that for her. I have been using the experience to avoid going back to the group, though I really would like to be part of the rest of it.

This morning I thought I'd give the group another try. Maybe Big Delores would have other plans. I loaded up my current knitting project and headed toward town on my bike. But the morning was beautiful and I decided that I didn't really want to spend the morning cooped up inside. I rode around a little bit, visited my favorite thrift shops and then decided to stop by the knit shop to take a look. I went in and sure enough Big Delores was sitting in her spot. I assume the dog was with her too. Rather than join the group, I looked around the store and bought three skeins of a dark teal blue, cotton

and wool blend yarn. I'm not really certain what I will make with it. I'm thinking maybe a shawl. But I have a lot of yarn that I have earmarked for scarves and shawls. I'm sure that it will tell me what it wants to be when the time comes. Socks maybe, but the yarn isn't really stretchy enough for socks. 

After leaving the yarn store I rode around a bit more and then stopped in the Habitat for Humanity store to see if I could find some new blinds for my window. The cats have torn one of them up so badly that I took it down and threw it away. I didn't find anything that would work. I will just have to bite the bullet and pay full price for some at Target or Walmart.  Goodwill is next to the Habitat store, so I looked in there too. Goodwill in Washington seems to have forgotten that they are selling the second had crap that people donate after they failed to sell it at the neighborhood yard sale. They want to charge a lot for it. I looked at the price they are charging for an ironing board. My sister had bought the same one at Walmart a few days ago and they are asking $2 more than the brand new one cost. I guess there's a recycled premium on it. 

I did find a quilt that is in very good condition for my niece. She doesn't live here, but she does have a bed for when she stays over. It is covered with random throws, and she doesn't have a proper blanket for it. Her birthday is Monday so I hope she likes her present. 

I got home to find new neighbors moving into the house across the street. One of the room mates there moved out over the weekend and now a couple is moving in. I hope they will be nice. They have a large Class C RV that they have parked on the street outside of our house. Maybe they will move that soon.

Now I am exhausted and ready for bed. I hope I won't bee too sore tomorrow after all the riding around today.

I

It's Raining

It started raining on Saturday night with an unusual (I'm told) thunderstorm. It really was a magnificent storm. The weathermen are saying that it broke records for the number of lightning strikes. And the thunder was loud. My brother and I watched it from a covered patio. We had a long talk, and about more than distant memories. He can be such a goof ball that I forget that he really is a deep thinker. He has unique perspectives on things.

The rain has brought cool temperatures with it. Instead of the mid to high 80's that we had been experiencing, we are having temperatures in the 60's and low 70's. I am wearing a flannel shirt, and smile when I think of the 90 something degree heat I'd be in if I hadn't moved across the country. The calendar is telling me that it's time for fall and for once, the weather is cooperating.

I'm looking forward to the festivals that are coming up. The summer was filled with them. There was some kind of community event planned for every weekend. And not only in Auburn, but all the surrounding towns.

My sister got home from work yesterday and once again she started telling me about the crazy haunted antique store that she went to in a nearby town. We decided to go there so she could show it to me. She's right. The place is called The Whistle Stop Antiques and it definitely has a creepy feeling to it. Something about the store shouts at you "Don't come in here!" When you walk in. And it doesn't ever feel comfortable once you are walking around inside. I was only in there for a few minutes before I had to leave. Karen left with me, and unlike her, she didn't feel the need to make a purchase before she left. Nothing from that store needs to make it's way into our home.

We went down the street to a store that sold mainly kitchen items, fancy soaps and small curio items. Karen liked the Le Creuset dutch ovens until she saw the price on them. She was mollified when I told her that Pioneer Woman had a line that was maybe a tenth of the price and was just as pretty. I may get her one for Christmas. I bought some cookie cutters and a few soaps and we left.

On our way back to the car we passed a storefront that I found intriguing. It's called the Heritage Quest Research Library. Imagine if the genealogy room of your local library was as large as a Main Street store and also had charts and trained researchers available. This one was impressive. But the ladies there wouldn't let me peek at the books. I wasn't sure if any of them would help me. If the materials available are mainly for the local area, then they are no use to me. My brother and sister and I are anomalies here. The rest of the family is from the east coast. It is those records that I need to access. I signed their guest book and took some informational pamphlets about the library home with me. I found out by reading them that I could have paid $15 for a one day pass and used the library. I'm thinking of taking the Sounder back to the town and spend the day in there.

Before we left Karen wanted to get tea at a German bakery that she had frequented. But when we got to the place we found a notice that the owners had retired and closed the shop. Am I the only one who thinks it's odd that they wouldn't have sold the business before just closing it all together? Instead she said we could get something at a Russian bakery on the way home. Thinking that I was going to a tearoom, I was disappointed to find that the Russian Bakery is really a Russian grocery store with a large in-house bakery. Buying a honey cake and taking it home to have with my own tea was just not what I had in mind. I was disappointed. And that is not even to say that I've never really been a fan of Russian food. I cooked a roast when I got home and had an American supper rather than tea. Karen had tea with cheese and crackers. She doesn't really eat suppers, even if I make them vegetarian for her.

Now I need to get dressed and return some books to the Library. I've been reading Edward Rutherford's "New York" I enjoyed "London" and "The Princes of Ireland" but never really got into the story of this one. I may check it out again later when the nights come sooner and I am in more of a mood to read.

Journeys End

When I was a kid, I always drew pictures of houses as having two windows set on either side of a door. I thought living in a house like Timmy's in the show Lassie, or Gidget, with windows that were not blocked by screens would be so cool. I could stick my head all the way out the window.

My new home is like that. The front of the house is a door and two windows. There are no screens on any door or window in the house. Surprisingly I find that most disturbing. While the area isn't overrun with flying roaches, there are bees, flies and mosquitos that are abundant, as well as many varieties of moths. Also, our four cats wander in and out of any open passage way that they find. They can and do scare me awake if my windows are left open enough to allow them passage. I thought the no screen thing was a lot cooler when I was a kid.

The house is a bungalow type style. It is located at the end of the street next to the rail tracks and interstate. In a weird way, it gives us a lot of privacy. Not many people come down this way. And when they do, the are either coming to see us, or they don't belong here and we know to keep an eye on them. The house across the street and the house next door actually face to a cross street. We are bordered by their back and side yards. Our front garden is the only one that faces the street on this block.

The rail road is noisy. But I have found that I do not mind the noise so much, nor the noise from the highway. I can only guess that comes from spending my earliest years living on Army bases. They aren't known for being places of peace and solitude. Besides, I slip my hearing aids out of my ears and I only hear a rumble of the actual noise.

The town is almost out of a screenplay. It is quaint and has the ability to be travelled by bike and by foot. It's charming. But most of the store fronts are taken up by business which aren't all that interesting to me, gyms, physical training, nail salons and coffee shops. There are also an abundance of physical therapist, chiropractors, herbalist, acupuncturist and psychics of all manner. Quirky, your name is Auburn.

In the vein of quirky, there is a disproportionate amount of the population walking around with "service dogs".  They get the quotation marks because as far as I can tell, most of these people when questioned, "Is that a service dog?" will answer yes. But when asked "What task does it preform for you?" don't seem to know that is an acceptable question and don't know how to answer it. "Service Animals" can be seen everywhere. In Georgia I may have seen one a month, if that. Here they are a regular part of any outing.

I was told that it always rains here. While it may be cloudy for parts of any day, in the past three months I can't claim to have felt rain-bound.  Most days seem to be sunny for parts of every day also. I have been able to get out and about almost every day.

At first, getting up and getting myself out on that fancy bike I bought last spring was a near impossibility. I did not feel stable on it. I feared that it wouldn't stop when I needed it too. I feared looking ridiculous if I toppled it over like at two year old. I can say that I have completely overcome those fears. I have gotten stronger while riding and I am a lot more bold in venturing out, even to roads where I might not totally feel are bike friendly. There are a lot of bikers here. There are a lot of pedestrians here. In the very least, I'm not the only one they will be gunning for. But everything is so close by here. With-in easy walking and biking distance is every kind of convenience that I could want, parks, libraries, museums, theaters, shops, bars and restaurants. Even casinos! Though I do not have any plans of visiting them. There is a hospital here, and all the doctors to run it. I still need to get on it, but have enjoyed my medical free summer.

Nature here is breath taking. I asked my niece, who grew up here if she still sees the overwhelming beauty of this place or is she so used to it, that her brain doesn't register it. She said that she thinks that sadly the latter is true. But I am not like that yet. when I round a corner and Mt. Rainer is in the distance, it grabs my attention. It is incredible. Last week we were on a road that I'd not been on before and I glanced over the side of a bridge. I was so amazed by the sight that I saw I gasped and said "Oh my" out loud.  Unfortunately, we were on a narrow bridge and there was no room to pull over, or even to stop beyond the bridge and be safe walking back. The view looked down into a mountain gorge and there was a waterfall to the side. How unfortunate that there was not a scenic view pull over on the bridge, but you can't make the whole state a scenic view stop.

Then we go around the corner and come face to face with this. Again, I gasped and warned my sister that there was a deer near the road. But this one was magnificent. Clearly it was the largest deer that I've ever seen. I even asked my sister if it might be a kind of moose or elk. It was at least that big. That brush that it was in was chest level for me. I'd say his head level, sans the antlers was seven and a half feet tall. I wasn't the only one in awe of him. My sister pulled the car over and several other cars pulled over too. He posed nicely for those of us who wanted pictures. He didn't even spook when a police car turned on lights and sirens to be official when investigating what had so much attention. He politely stayed in the culvert, chomping on brush.

This place is incredible.