Kitchen Update

While Rick was home recuperating from knee replacement, he decided that he needed a project to keep him busy. We had been looking at some new tile and new paint, as well a new sink and such. He did a great job!! The wall color is a sage green and the dining room is a lighter shade.



Beginning the project meant taking down a row of tiles that were up there as a back splash and getting the walls ready for the new tile.



These are one type of glass tile that we chose to use. Sounded easier than it turned out to be but I think it looks great!



The dark green is in the kitchen and the lighter green is the dining room



My kitchen was pretty "tore up" for awhile but well worth it.





Getting the painting started. That is one job that Rick left for me since I told him he was not to try a ladder at this point in his rehab. He sat on a stool for a lot of it, but got quite a workout anyway.





The finished product on one side of the kitchen. We decided to use differently shaped glass tiles on the sink side.







Didn't take a picture of the new stainless steel sink or the brushed silver switch plate covers that really finished the look off. We're very happy with the result.

Clarity's visit to Portland in February 2012

While Clarity's mom went to Barrow to work, her daddy, Steve, and she came to Portland for a few days to visit.



Clarity explaining to Gran why just one sucker a day isn't really a good rule.





Playing with her new friends, mini rabbits and bears. She loved making up stories about them.





Clarity showed Papa how to play games on Gran's Kindle. He was pretty impressed.



The artist and her masterpieces. She loves crafting and is quite the painter.



Snack time - Love those strawberries.



Steve working on his handiwork - felting. He's very creative and I love getting things from him. See Clarity in the background working on her own crafts.





Went walking at the lake and the ducks followed Clarity all the way around. We thought we should call her the Duck Whisperer. It was had to believe that she could stand that still.





There had been lots of rain so there were great puddles to walk through and jump into. Love those boots!





Cassie kitty doesn't mind Clarity's attentions but Tiger isn't so thrilled. Although Clarity tried to make him warm up to her, it wasn't totally successful. He did come out from under the bed by the third day.









Taking the "world travelers" to the airport. Clarity is an old hand now and knows just what she needs to do. She packed her backpack very carefully so she could get all her favorite things in there. She was glad to get home to mama.

We had a great visit, went to do things, played and played, saw a play - "Snoopy the Musical" and went shopping for clothes. Clarity does like her clothes.

She'll be spending the next year in Alaska so if you ever get up her way, stop in and say "hi".

Christmas at Rockaway Beach, Oregon

The girls and I went to the beach ahead of everyone else and spent a day doing crafts and cooking. The girls made cards and we baked cookies and party mix. When evening came, we discovered that we didn't have much heat in the house so found blankets and curled up and watched a movie. We were happy to see papa the next day so he could build us a fire.

When Mike, Marsha and Cherylynn got there, we dragged out some games and had fun. We played Left-Right-Center and Mike couldn't figure out how he could still win when he was out of chips. It's a fun game for a group and if you play for money, it can be profitable, too.

We spent as much time as we could on the beach. It was pretty overcast and "drippy" but the tides were amazing and we did lots of walking, shell hunting and being silly. There's no such thing as a bad day at the beach.

Papa and the girls found perfect walking sticks and used them to check out unknown beach deposits and help them climb the giant trees on the beach. We watched the high tide move those giant logs and trees and it gave us all a new appreciation for the power of the ocean waves.

We did make a fast departure on Sunday when we watched the news and saw that they were predicting snow in the passes in the coast range. We loaded up in record time and had the house cleaned and locked up. We did run into lots of slush in the coast range and lots and lots of rain so it made it a slow trip home but we were glad to be back.

I think I can speak for everyone when I say that Christmas 2010 was a good one and that the beach was a great place to spend the time.

New flooring at the Partridge house

This is the new cork floor that Rick and I laid in my craft room. I love it! It's so warm and soft and made the room look so great I had to then paint. I still have two walls to finish but had to get ready for my company so will get to it later.

We had new carpet laid in the living room and our bedroom. It's so soft and a great color. It's called Glazed Donut. The carpet is called Smart Strand from Mohawk. It has a great stain guarantee and comes in so many colors. We sprung for really good pad and it just makes it so nice to come home to.

Since we had to move all the furniture out of four rooms, we had to pile it here and there. We were so glad to be able to move everything back where it belonged. I'm not good at living with dust and bare wood floors and all that commotion. I'm more into organized, clean and neat.  As you can see if you look closely at the desk, I made sure I had my computer handy at all times.  Don't know what I'd do without email and facebook.

This is the carpet in the family room. It is called pin dot and is a short nap with a loop design that looks like little boxes. It has the same great pad under it and the same warranty. I had already painted in this room so only did some touch up to make it look all clean and neat. Rick and I took up the old carpet and pad and then had to take out all the staples and such to make it nice and smooth. Was a lot of work, but well worth it.

This is my accent wall in the family room. I love suns and have had fun finding new and different ones. I love the clock - it fits right in.

Come over and see what we've done. I have a basket of socks and slippers by the front door so that when you take off your shoes - and you will take off your shoes - you can still be comfy.

My sister's visit and our trip to Newport

My sister, Karen,  came out to visit from North Dakota and we decided that we should spend time at the beach.  Then the weather decided to get unseasonably hot in the valley so we made the right decision.  We stayed in Newport and explored all it had to offer in four days.  Here we are at Yaquina Head on the cobble beach.  It's a really unique place with all the lava rocks being very rounded and black.  When the water recedes over the rocks, it makes an unusual sound - sorta like clapping.   The cobbles look like any ordinary beach rock except they are very black, very round and hard to walk on. As you can see it was a beautiful day to go exploring. 

Karen went up up to the top of the lighthouse.  I had done it once and didn't like the climb down so I just sucked up sun outside.  This is a view of the stairs that go to the top. 

We also went to Seal Rock to explore during a low tide.  It was a great day to see tide pools.  There was a little fog when we arrived but it quickly burned off and then returned later.  This is a picture of pelicans at a nesting rock out in the surf.  Couldn't get any closer but I think you can see how large they are.  There were also nesting Murres and seagulls.  Lots of noise and bird poop. The nesting season in nearly over so didn't see as many as there had been there, but it was still pretty impressive.  A guide at the lighthouse told us that Murre mothers hatch the babies and then kick them off the cliffs to their fathers below who take them to sea for the year.  Sounds like a good plan to me!

The tide was low enough that there were lots and lots of starfish to see and touch.  We really enjoyed looking at all the creatures that are generally underwater.  If you ever get the chance to go to Seal Rock during a low tide, it is a great area for tide pools because of all the rocks there.  Not much beach area usually but during low tide it's an amazing area.

Because it was such a low tide, there were mounds and mounds of mussels and barnacles uncovered.  We saw sand crabs, anemone, little fish that got caught in the pool, snails, and so many different types of seaweed - from the usual frond type to pink lacy and fronds that looked like swiss cheese, right down to the color.  It was a great chance for Karen to see what the ocean is like here.  We had a great morning exploring the tide pools.

After the tide started to come back in, we looked behind us and our rock area was covering up already. We had a good time laughing about a sneaker wave and where we'd run to if one came - funny but serious, too.

We had someone take our picture at Seal Rock.  As you can see, we are wearing jackets in almost all the pictures.  While Portland was suffering in the 90 degree heat, we were enjoying 70's.

The seals and sea lions on the board walks in Newport attract a lot of attention.  They're very big, very many and very loud.  Karen took some pictures and this one is very representative of the whole lot of them.  Newport has some neat shops and eateries on their Historic bay area.  We had wonderful fish tacos, fish and chips, bought glass and Newport candles.

We also spent time in Depoe Bay although it was windy and cool there, so we mostly shopped.  We ate at the Sea Hag.  Great fish and chips!  One thing we did was eat well.  We also found a great little wine shop at Nye Beach and bought some new wines and drank them on the beach.  Liked both bottles - either it was good wine or the beach made them so much better - we're not really sure.