December 2013

Hey Hi everyone :-)

It has been ages since writing but this month has been great.  The program I am taking at night is going very well and I am on a two week break while family and friends have been up visiting.  Been out walking with the pups two or three times a day, and at this moment typing quickly as Pearl is mewing for me to give her a back massage.   Yes, I am their slave. :-) So here are some pics.  Take a look while I get back to massaging the skinny white dog.  As you will see, lots of family, hanging out, which means lots of good food :-(, and a jaunt out for cc skiing, not to mention a really great Ukrainian theme dinner at Tanya and Tim's too.  Relishing my last day of rest though as I am back to work tomorrow. Hope you all are enjoying your winter too.

Love to all,
d :-)

It's Been A While!

Hi everyone :-)

Hope everything has been going good.  Time has flown by.  Been busy busy with my program - the one for working with children with learning disabilities and autism.  Really enjoying it, but not a lot of time for other stuff.  Most important things to mention is that the Bible studies are all doing well, and I really look forward to my Friday evenings and Sunday mornings.  Second, we had our first snow here on November 5, but rain ever since. :-(  The pups are all doing well, and being healthy.  Work is fine.  Still enjoying it.  Mmm...not much else so I will show you a couple pics. :-)

Harvey with his second favorite ball.  The first favorite is a Kong that squeaks.

Dad giving attention to his little cutey petuty Otto.

Pearl and Harvey were wrestling up a mess before this pic was taken.  They're not so good at fixing the blankets later.

Mom and dad and Tim really went to town one afternoon and restuccoed a section of mom and dad's place.

And this is what Harvey looks like every morning before I roll his furry body out of bed for breakfast.  Pearl is up waiting at the fridge - not so much him.

Okay, everyone take good care and hopefully I will have more exciting pics to share next time.  Love to all, d  :-)

We're Back!

Just got back from hiking trip to North Cascades and have attached a few pictures.  A few more will follow later.  Had such an excellent time.  Loved tenting.  And the views hiking could not be beat.  There are so many more trails and campgrounds I want to investigate there.  Several times I just stopped and thanked Jehovah God for being so creative and artistic in ability, because visually it was outstanding.

At one point, I was warned that a thunderstorm was coming with 60 mile per hour winds (100 km), so we hunkered down on the shores of Lake Chelan.  I have to say of all the places I visited on this trip, this was the one that captured my heart the most..close behind was Mazama...or maybe tied actually.  The hiking was incredible in both places, and each morning when I opened the tent door and saw the view it felt like my breath was being taken away - such a  gorgeous area in an awe inspiring way.  Gave me lots of moments for deep thought about where I have come from and where I am going as a person.  I highly recommend both places to anyone - Washington state so not too far.  You can see one of my hiking partners is enjoying his pillow time too, as well as the other one is collapsed on her pillow inside.

Cuddled In Our Tent Waiting For Thunder Storm

All is going great on our tenting adventure.  Found a wonderful campground in Winthrop that for $15 gives a grassy tent space with electricity and wifi.  $8 cheaper than State Park and much nicer.  I found the state park here kind of crazy - kids yelling and screaming and parents just ignoring it, and everyone jammed together.  At least at the private campgrounds the security people keep things nice for everyone.  However, there are some campgrounds that I HAVE TO come back and do.  The national park campgrounds are incredible and beautiful patrolled by rangers.  I stopped to do a hike at Colonial Creek Campground.  Outstandingly beautiful and the national park campgrounds are only $12 per night.  In fact for anyone who loves hiking and beauty the entire Highway 20 to eastern Washington is gorgeous with so many hikes and each one is better than the last.  I made it a goal to do at least one hike a day while on this journey and each one has just been wonderful.  Jehovah's artistic ability awes me.  Today we did two hikes in Mazama.  Totally stunning scenery.  Tomorrow we are driving back to do another because I could tell that Harvey was starting to get a bit slow by the end.  I forget sometimes that the little dude is a senior. At one point when the trail got close to the river instead of standing at the edge and licking he just walked right in up to his belly.  I have leads on them so there is never a worry that they would lose their footing.  Pearl did the same thing.  Anyway, tonight a thunderstorm is rolling through and we are prepared.  Tent is well covered and we are snuggled inside with a six inch mattress, goose down duvet, and wool blankets - should sleep right through it.  All is going well, and will probably stay here a couple more days because nice trails in Mazama that I really want to do.

Okay, til next time.:-)

Love to all,
d

Having An Awesome Time

Just a quick update.  We are having an awesome time.  Hidden Village in Lynden was excellent for the first night.  The beaches have been great, and today we hiked the Interurban Trail in Bellingham to Marine Park - great little perk for the dogs at the end because they can run in the park and on the beach.  Now time to go flop in the tent and catch up on some reading.  Pics will have to wait for the end because I forgot the camera card uploader. :-(  Each day we are hiking another trail, so the pups are sleeping VERY well at night.

Okay, gotta run.  And...the phone charger is not working so email or SKYPE are places to leave messages if necessary.

Love to all,
d  :-)

Hoorrrray! It is 2:20pm and We Are Going Camping!!!

Off for two weeks camping - glamping with the tent. :-)  Washington...pretty places... - one big circle.  Kayaking and hiking with the pups.  Should be lots of fun.  Will post pics.

Love to all,
d  :-)

Assembly

Well the assembly is over.  Really great.  Of course the full colour drama was the highlight.  And boy was it good.  Yes it was serious, but I always remember things better when there is some humor thrown in, and the brother that played Haman was a real character.  We had leaping and queen-wrestling, and jigging. :-)  It was just excellent - and in the end the lesson really got across to all of us watching.  And it was so funny.  This was the first time I couldn't tell who many of the ones playing the characters were because they body painted everyone and had fantastic wigs.  It was amazing how it changed their appearances.  Anyway, here are a couple pics.  I wish I had more to show but things were moving so fast a moments that unfortunately my camera blurred some good shots.  Anyway, hope all of you that have either attended, or will be attending soon will enjoy yours just as much.  And the last shot is the last shot of Tanya, Tim and the kids...minus the stray Brian...before they take off to hike the Grand Canyon.

Love to all,
d  :-)

Catching Up

Been a busy time here during the Spring.  Getting some nice hot weather now, but had to go through sheets of rain to get to it. :-(  Harvey and Pearl are doing wonderful.  I have lots of projects going on around my place and they are great supervisors, very watchful but say nothing.  Except for those moments when Harvey thinks I should take a break to throw a ball. :-)  Okay here are some pics of our weekend trip to the mountains.

 Matea and Philip - cutey twosome.

Guess who weren't allowed to mingle during the chili-contest,

 Lauren dirt-biking.

Marcelle and the smiliest kid in the world.  Really he must save his nasty moments for behind closed doors because when he is out and about, he literally smiles all the time. 

The chili judges.  

Dad and Keith cooking their chili.  Pretty yummy.  Liquor, lots of veggies, wild meat and coffee for their secret ingredient.

I Have Six Worms...

I have to share this.  My Friday night Bible study is with 4 families in China.  It is the parents and the children.  So at the end of the study I was telling them that after the study I will play with my dogs.  The kids were so excited to know that I have dogs because none of them do.  So I asked them if they have any pets.  Two families said no.  One boy piped in to say that he has 4 grey fish, and the last boy enthusiastically added that he had six worms that he loved.  The other kids were quick to laugh, but I reminded them all that EVERY pet is special in its own way. :-)  ...but in all of years of talking about pets to people, I have never had anyone tell me that he had pet worms, let alone that he loved them.  Very cute. :-)

It Snowed on April 29th!

We had some very nice weather earlier this week, not hot, but nice, around 70 degrees.  However, the last few days have been really cold and windy.  In fact last night when I was out checking the tie-downs on my awning I couldn't believe it when wet snow started coming down. :-(  Anyway, this morning when I was riding my motorcycle into work, doing my human-popsicle imitation, it was really pretty around the city. The snow line was so low that it just made everything look bright.  However, when I got to the college, the students were all moaning about not having enough warm clothes, but the ones that hadn't seen snow before were all happy.  I just reassured them that by the end of the week it will probably be warm again.  Let's hope...  :-)   All is good at school today.  I am teaching Debates and Discussion class right now, and the students are preparing to argue...Should Living Together Before Marriage Be Acceptable?  Will be interesting.

Everyone have a great day...and hope your morning wasn't quite as cold as here.

Love to all,
d

It's Finally Spring Here!

Hope everyone is doing great.  It is hard to believe but the snow is finally gone and it is starting to feel like Spring.  Nothing too exciting to share..work's great...Bible studies wonderful...thawing out from winter...so just going to show some pics of life around the lake.  Hope you enjoy them, and hope you are enjoying Spring where you are too. :-)

Today Was Just Great!

One of the things I like best about my work is that it is like walking into another country as soon as I enter the door every morning.  We have so many people from different countries at the college that really truly there is never a dull moment.  Here are some pics of the day.  I had a great time.  Wonderful food.  Salsa lessons from the Colombians and Brazilians.  Gangnam dancing with the Koreans...what more can a person ask for.  :-)  Hope you all enjoy the pics too. :-)

More Than A Little Fun Today

Friday is culture day at the college.  I have been assigned the Saudis - 10 of them.  They are awesome and today were practicing a dance that is common amongst all the tribes.  This is their first run through.  By Friday it should look great, especially with all of them wearing their thoubs.  Then after we will share a big Saudi meal - one of my favorite types of food!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week.

Love to all,  d :-)

Some Days

There are some days when I really consider working somewhere warm during the winter months - today is one of them.  Last night it dipped down to minus 16.  Very cold.  Everything was fine though and I got up and made breakfast at 5am.  Then I had a Bible study online.  That was great too.  Then I checked my water again, and it had frozen solid.  :-(  Actually, no problem because I took out my little heater outside and blasted some heat on a pipe and walah running water.  However, then the real problem started because once the pipe was unfrozen the connector coming into the rv was running water like a river.  I wish I could have gone back to bed and ignored it but there is no way.  First I had to get the snow shovel and chip and dig 18 inches of snow and ice off the pipe cover and lift it. Then I had to crawl into an 18 inch by 18 inch box and try to tighten the thing.  There was no way.  It started spraying water every which way so had to crawl out of the box and go turn the main water off.  It gets to the point where you just feel beaten down.  The temperature is so cold, the water has soaked your gloves and wringing them out over and over doesn't help, and then because your gloves are so wet and it is so cold the tools freeze to your hands so you can't put them down.  It was at that moment that I just sat and cried for a few minutes, just to get the frustration out.  It really is only those moments when I can see that a mate would be helpful - unless that person stood behind me and whined about the situation, then that would be even worse. :-/  ...Anyway, then I prayed for wisdom and reminded Jehovah I am all by myself trying my best, to do something that is beyond me...and also asked him to help me not voice the curse words running through my brain. :-(    Anyhoo...before my prayer I couldn't figure out how to seal the pipe because I couldn't find my pipe sealer goo.  Then I reminded myself I had a bottle of ultra polident for teeth in the cupboard so I went and got that and sprinkled it inside the pipe threads.  Then twisted and twisted and it sealed perfectly.  So now I am exhausted and cold and need to unthaw after two hours of that.  I am going to make some soup, warm up, and go enjoy the rest of my weekend. 

Love to all,
d  :-)