Another Halloween i nthe Neighborhood

Just another Halloween in the neighborhood.  We had trick or treaters, which means there is very little candy left. That's a good thing, we understand.

Day of the Dead Altar

One of the young adults, Josue, builds the altar for Day of the Dead every year at St. Louise.  Every year he takes a different approach.  This year he included sand paintings. The Young Adults today had quite a discussion on prayer and another on Halloween as seen through the eyes of US culture.  The keeper tried to tell them that besides the excess consumerism and consumption of sugar, most native born US people consider this a benign and silly holiday, and that Catholics celebrate it here, of course, always with a view to the upcoming holy days.

Eve of All-Hallow's Eve

After dinner we tried to watch two Netflix movies which were both too damaged to watch, so we set up the beginnings of our Altar for the Day of the Dead.  We will have to include the last harvester ant from our ant farm. He died last night. There were four who lasted a month longer than the rest.  They were the biggest, but now we will have to bury them and order more. We found out interesting things about the ants--they bury their dead and their food. It was more exciting to have an ant farm than a fish tank.

Cupcake

We don't know what came over her, maybe it is the congestion, or perhaps it was the 82 page annulment testimony she was translating all day, but the keeper went out and brought home something she used to love as a child.  She told us she was nostalgic.  But after a few bites she said that Hostess cupcakes taste as stale as they did 50 years ago.  She also said that we could store this remaining one until her 100th birthday and it would still taste the same.

A Night at the Opera

The keeper rushed in from her office and changed her clothes and fed us and then ran off to the opera. She and W had a nice dinner at Prelude and enjoyed the folks on either side of them--a young man taking his grandmother for a night out and an author with two professors who were taking her out fro a night in Seattle. She came home rather late but tried to tell us how bel canto works and how it's like wild soap opera.  She said that the Spanish diva singing Lucia warmed up and was great, and how much she loves Arthur Woodley's voice.  We were just happy to have her back with us. She is still coughing and showed us the silver flask which she carried in her purse, from which she  took swigs at emotional moments in  certain scenes.  She says it was only water. 

Noche de Alabanza

                             Young adult events  are very inclusive, age-wise, in our community!



What a Weekend! Happy Anniversary!

 The Keeper was gone all weekend.  She did sleep here.  But she finally did her preaching gig at the Spanish speaking charismatic prayer group on Friday eve.  They wanted her to preach for 60 minutes.  She lost her voice after a while.  She also confirmed her suspicion that this is not one of the spiritualities which speaks to her personally. 

 But that was merely a warm up for Saturday.  The Young Adult group had planned a one year anniversay party and labeled it as a Night of Praise and Song.  They had invited three different Christian music groups and a videographer who sells the tapes of the event.  They arranged  food--tamales--2 kinds, tacos--2 kinds, and fruit cups, and all kinds of Mexican drinks. They got out the invitations.  The keeper tried to reassure them that 50 people in attendance would be a success. 300 showed up.  It was an 8 hour marathon.  The group was thrilled and so proud of their work. The keeper was very proud of them but had completely lost her voice and was longing for a little Latin chant.

Lemmings at SAM

The keeper put on her jeans and headed out to hang with the Lemmings for a down day. They had reflective conversation and a walk to SAM to experience  the Picasso exhibit.  It was a spectacular show, she said.  We imagine that she will be going back.  Although SAM does not welcome felines, we highly recommend that other readers see this before it leaves in January.  This is the only museum on the west coast which is mounting this show.  http://www.seattleartmuseum.org/

Racing Around

The keeper keeps racing around from place to place, meeting to meeting, phone call to phone call. The other day she ate all three meals in transit in her car.  We told her that this was not a good way to live.  She said that this schedule will end soon. In the meantime while she was stuck at a light, a group of cyclists buzzed by.  She looked twice and found the cyclist in the photo pedalling happily along, above it all. We don't recommend this for long-term commuting.

Ghouls of Sheridan Heights

The  neighborhood is gearing up for Halloween again.  The keeper overheard a man from India quizzing the farmer at the farm stand,  "Tell me again what you do with all those pumpkins?  Aren't they for eating?" Nothing the farm stand clerk could say made sense.   The idea of decorating with pumpkins was not a popular one in India.

At the Lake

The keeper likes this pocket park at Lake Washington which is very hidden.  This summer when she first found it, there were children swimming, young men fishing, and picnickers.  Today the only swimmers were ducks, and the only noise came from the lawn crews and the geese.

A Long Walk Down to the Lake

The keeper made us stay inside and told us she was going for a walk down to the Lake.  We suggested that if she were more responsible she would stay home and prepare the homily in Spanish hat she is fretting about as well as the two classes.  She ignored us and headed out in the sun.  We imagine tonight may be a little frantic as she tries to become more responsible again.

Fall Colors

The selections this week from the CSA and the local farmers' market are sooo pretty!

A Night at Pomodoro

 The keeper has been particularly busy these weeks, not that we are complaining or anything.

Yesterday she ran off quite early to give a retreat and then rushed home to throw food at us before she ran out again to a wonderful get together with some dear old friends.  She told us that they go back a long way, to the 70's when they lived in Tacoma and had incredible adventures.  Not that they are not still having adventures.  You can check out one member of the group's adventures at You Tube: old-vs-navy.mp4.  They had a lovely evening which ended too quickly.

But the keeper still came home late and wouldn't play with us.

Autumn Light

The quality of the light tonight was remarkable, and when the keeper caught a glimpse of the moon rising in the hazy apricot sky between the silhouettes of the evergreens, she had to pull the car over to admire it. Her photos do not do it any of it justice.  We suggest that the readers go check it out for themselves before the rains come.

A Sunny October Day

It was sunny today.  We stayed in while the keeper flew out of here.  She has been gone so much, even on her days off she has other meetings for committees.  We think she is gone a little too much for our taste.  Cecil and I are getting along very well.  He is so polite, a true gentleman.
he also keeps me warm as the nights grow colder.

At St. Joseph Residence

Last night the keeper did not feed us on time.  Her excuse was that she was taking her dear friend K out to a belated birthday dinner.  It was a beautiful night and felt like early September.  They ended up at Endolyne Joes overlooking the Fauntleroy Dock. It was the end of the line of the old streetcar system. A good meal, a good evening. If you haven't had a chance to eat there, it's worth a try.

Down at the New Lake Union Park

 Last week the keeper and a friend explored the new park at South Lake Union.  They had to step carefully because about 100 geese had covered the new sidewalks and lawns with poop.  We doubt the geese will be around for too long.  However there is a heron who hangs out in the weeping willow trees.  We hope that this heron sticks around and is more protected than the heron which was shot at another park.  Herons mate for life. 

They also got to see all of the human activity on the lake--the seaplanes, the paddle wheeler with costumed crew, the kayaks, canoes, the rowboats, the sail boats, the wooden boats all polished and sleek, and of course the Chriscrafts sharing the same water. There is even boat which has ice cream cruises.

Fall is Damp

We could not go out to play today.  Rain.  The keeper had to spent the day working.  So we sat and stared at each other and slept.  By the time the keeper came home it was raining again.  The spiders even got wet.   We want you all to know that we are so sick and tired of the political ads on tv.  They are mean and getting meaner.

What We Do Grow

Somehow we can grow really neat spiders, whole towns of them.  And the big mushrooms, or toadstools, that look like cartoons are thriving in our yard.  But the vegetables, not so good. 

Finally, Some Vegetables

We will finally have some vegetables.  Alice tells me that tomatoes are a fruit.  The green peppers are actually coming in on the deck.  There was a lot of seed sown to get two peppers.

The Purple Fall