Deck

We have all had a very busy day here. Alice and I mostly observed.  But first, Cristina came and she wants the keeper to partner with her in her cleaning business. We both wanted to shout,  "Don't you want a partner who has some cleaning skills?"  But we couldn't get the words to form.

Then ML came and the deck got restarted. So we had the saw and hammer outside, and all the cleaning sounds inside. That made us all very happy. The keeper put on her headphones and worked at her desk all day. Then Jesus came with a hosta plant he had salvaged from one of his other yard jobs, so we all helped him find a nice place for it in the shade. Finally, we all just kicked back. She had the usual  G &T with popcorn. We had eel and seaweed stew. We know there will be grilled chicken and veggies later.

Mud

This afternoon it hailed, it rained, it turned our unfinished deck area into a muddy mess. Cecil loves the mud and he came back into the house so proud of  his muddy face and paws. He left muddy little souvenirs on every surface his came into contact with. The keeper chased after him with an old washcloth and eventually cleaned him up.

To Vashon

This morning we all woke up early to make sure that the keeper got out of the house in time to catch the ferry to Vashon where she is leading a retreat for a school faculty. We hear she made the boat. It is damp and misty, we hear.

Hoping for Packages

The keeper was all over town today. But when she came home near our dinner time, she let us  sit on the front porch. She had been hoping that some packages, mostly books,  would arrive. She is anxious to receive an old movie she loved as a child which she found at Amazon. It's called The Horsemasters, about a group of  college students who study equitation in England. After seeing the movie she applied to the famous school, but she was only 12 and they wouldn't take her till she was 18. By the time she reached the magic age she had moved on to other fascinations. 

Perspective and Catastrophe

You've been reading about our deck frustrations, but we have been working on putting them in proper perspective We have a house while many have no roof. Then yesterday the headlines sealed it. The Beast, the freight train that so many Central Americans hop as they seek passage to El Norte, derailed, killing hundreds of men, women and children, who were only trying to find a life worth living. Rest in Peace, fierce pilgrims, nameless and unmourned. May God raise you up into the dignity you deserved in this life.

New Pen?

Yesterday the keeper took all of her pent up energy and focused on the side yard, trimming all the sea grass and the flower bushes. She was a tornado, not stopping even as the warm rain soaked us all. She found all kinds of surprises hiding in the too tall sea grass. One of them was a pen she loved and thought she had lost forever. It was not one of her fancy pens. but she liked it a lot. She lost it almost two years ago. She bought a replacement. But she acted like it was Christmas when she realized it worked perfectly.

The Eye

This morning we all got up early so the keeper could spend more time at the eye doctor.

It appears that from all the tests that there is some concern about eye pressure. So she came home with a tiny bottle of drops.  When she asked the doctor if were any side effects,  he told her the biggest one was that it made eyelashes grow longer and thicker. She thought that was a great trade off.  We told her that getting old does have some positive surprises.

Bounty

Sun

She would fill our house with sunflowers year round.

LFP Sunday Market

Post- Cathedral today, she swung over to LFP and the market to pick up blueberries and sunflowers, as per usual. But she was hungry, and went after a very delicious falafel, French macaroons, and coconut coffee sherbet. And a few vegetables and fruits.  She also brought us our new favorite seaweed and eel stew.

Meanwhile, Back to the Deck

Meanwhile, Alice took up her spot on the construction project which hasn't seen a lot of action.

Catch of the Day

She finally returned to us with some bags which she poured out to show us... We were impressed by her frugality--- napkins a la De Ruta, lots of inks, more linen to wear and some silver. Nothing for us, however. No fish, no pan au chocolat, no treats. She told us that she was the treat. Very funny, keeper!

A Visit to an Old Friend

L

She gave up waiting for those little doughnuts dripping fat. She gave up waiting for piroski, for pan au chocolat, for Bolivian food on a flower laden deck. She headed to another source of comfort,

 DeLaurenti's, where she admired all the oils, the vinegars, the salts, the pastas, the chocolates.

And landed a window seat whereupon she happily stuffed herself with pizza and macaroons while watching all the tourists in every manner of dress, shape, ethnicity, and taste.

Seattle Tourist

She left us mid morning with a flurry. She headed downtown, but not to her usual spots. She really headed downtown and parked in a real downtown parking lot. And she played tourist. She made her regular stops...to talk pens, inks, fine papers,, to check out fine end of summer clothes, but she wanted to hang out at Pike Place. So she explored nooks and crannies since all the spots where she wanted to buy little things had long lines of real tourists.

Wild Blackberries

As she was walking home  up from the lake she kept smelling the blackberries ripening in the sun amid the ever so crisp grasses and the dust. She told us it reminded her of many summers long ago on Evergreen Highway where the berry vines covered every available empty lot and how in August their fragrance just overwhelmed. We asked her if she picked any for her mother. She said her mother didn't like them but they picked them for other mothers. But the favorite part came when they would pick an extra bowl, smash them, and cover themselves with the purple berry pulp, which would not come off easily, at least for a week. No one's mother liked that.
This afternoon she walked across the street and harvested 2 pints in 10 minutes. We doubt she will be applying the purple body mash though, on her or us.

Stillness

There is something very serene about the pier at Log Boom Park. Except on the Fourth of July.

Found on the BG Trail

The morning promised heat, sun, and so we encouraged the keeper to go back to her Camino-style  walking habit, so she listened to us, and walked almost all the way to the end of Kenmore. She was thinking of an hour walk, but 2 hours and 40 minutes later she returned. She made a water and almond stop on the way back at LFP.  But she returned with tales of found objects...including an abandoned shirt most likely from Hempfest. She left it for someone else who might appreciate it more.

Holding Out for Chicken

Yes, she gave us that Turkey Salmon stuff in gravy. Cecil ate it. But I was alert and saw the chicken breasts defrosting. I decided to wait her out. She took forever. But after it sat in the marinade it sat on the grill. I took up the perch on the counter and waited. Cecil had already gone to bed when I started my dinner. She gave me pieces which were perfect and juicy and warm. There may be gelato before she sleeps. Staycation means good food for those who wait.

That New Chair

Here I am in the new chair. You wouldn't know it is new because the keeper threw a sheet over it so I wouldn't sneeze all over it. I hope that when you all come over she will let you see it  and even sit on it. It is very comfortable.

Interrupted Sustained Silent Reading

Alice here: I know there was a lot of Pink Martini in those earphones today, at least when she was gardening. 

And I felt it important to interrupt her reading. She  took my favorite chair away. Why? I know I have clawed it and been sick in it. And that the cleaners can't get the stains out of the silk. But it was my chair! Now there is a new one, all nice, and she covered it up so I can't see it what I am sleeping on or mess it up for awhile. But it smells like store, not home. She refused to pay attention to me when I sneezed all over her book.  She just kept on reading and laughing and responding to her friends' emails and texts, laughing some more at the silly Paris stories. I went in and sneezed on the uncovered part of the chair. I wonder when she will notice.

Uninterrupted Sustained Silent Reading

We had a great afternoon... Like a family camping out in our own backyard. All the deck furniture and plants and pieces are strewn all over the back yard. It is a chaos, and the keeper says we are like gypsies. For the second afternoon in a row, the keeper set up her outdoor library and read. She told us about how when she was teaching, she would have the whole school enter into this thing called USSR, uninterrupted sustained silent reading..all the students, the teachers, the staff, had to be reading for 20 minutes to a half hour almost every day. 

We don't think her reading was as silent as it should have been. She is reading a book called " Paris in Love" and she laughed a lot, and even snorted a few times.  Then she got caught up in some funny emails, it seems. Alice and I only read the sky, the bird song, the squirrel chatter, and the laughter coming from the keeper. She had her earphones on so we missed the Bach. At least she told us it was Bach. Alice thinks she detected a little Pink Martini once in awhile.

Aren't I Splendid in This Grass?

What a day! Alice and I got to spend the whole day outside! I lounged in the grass until the keeper got back from that activity called errands which includes bringing in big bags of stuff. Today there were calla lilies, Popsicles, some stuff for her office, and a new chair!! The chair did not come in a bag though. She said it wasn't new, but almost, and a very good brand. So we noticed that she wrestled it in, and covered it immediately so Alice wouldn't sneeze all over it. Then we watched her wrestle the old chair with its beautiful silk upholstery which Alice ruined into the back of the RAV. She took it later to Goodwill, and they actually took it, no questions asked! 

And Meanwhile, Back at the Cottage. . .

We witnessed the framing of part of the deck!!!!! They also laid out the firepit area.

When she came home, we knew she would be happy.

The Feast

Some slaved over the grills and firepit with the lamb kebabs and the salmon. Others worked the kitchen with appetizers and desserts.

A Pool

Marygrace swam in 84 degree water!

Everyone Looked So Irish

Well, almost everyone! The keeper said she was asked any number of times if she was some long lost cousin they had never met. She made new  friends and had a great time with old ones. And saw folks from days of  former parishes.

A Kaleidoscope of Guests

And the setting was incredible, on a cliff over the Sound.

Happy Birthday, Jack!!

This morning she left us with some friends and headed up to Camano for a 90th birthday bash. The birthday boy was in great form.

And Now There Is None

We forgot to mention that yesterday while the keeper was out and about away from us, the hot tub disappeared. It was not a pretty ending, but the evidence has been removed and all that remains is the slab which now becomes the base for the fire pit. We promised. Marilu we wouldn't tell anyone, not even the keeper, the details of its final removal.  She got home late enough not to notice last night and we had to prompt her to look out the window this morning. She was very happy.

To Fisherman's Wharf

We were hoping to go outside and take in all the fragrance of the new rain. But it was not to be. 

She left us to meet a friend who is back from graduate studies in NYC for a few weeks. The friend helped her look for new chairs for our living room ---it seems we have shredded two of them beyond the bounds of respectability. It appears that nothing suitable was found. Then they headed to the wharf for lunch to a 50's diner for hamburgers. She was trying o explain to us that this is what you do on a staycation. We are learning that the "stay" portion doesn't mean she stays home with us.

Well Done, Good and Faithful Servant!

Give Keith a rest from his labors, for his good deeds accompany him!

This evening the keeper headed off to her former former parish to celebrate the life of remarkable man, Keith. She told us that Keith was a Suffering Servant, a wounded warrior who worked for peace, and made of his life, with all of its struggles and joys, a work of healing for others as counselor and pastoral care minister especially for those on the margins. He was a parishioner of hers in two parishes, and sure enough, they reconnected at the Cathedral. He was grounded in prayer, in Eucharist, and compassion. In fact, last weekend he had ushered at St. T's.  But this week he was the one ushered into the arms of God where there is no more pain, no more sorrow, where all the tears are wiped away.