Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM

August 22, 2013

August Miscellany

August has been a month of visitors!!!!  I've been so busy seeing people that time is flying by.  As mentioned previously, Diane & the kids were up from Maryland.  Then my dear friend Mary flew out from Idaho, so Marsha & I picked her up at the airport.  Then Russell, Marsha, Mary & her mom Frannie and another SHS friend, Lynn, & I had lunch at Taverna that week.  The following week my friend Karen came down from Maine and we met up in Plymouth.  Then my stepson & his girlfriend drove out from Ohio, and another Deadhead friend of mine, Lianne, was down on the Cape for a week so we got together too!

My mom also had visitors for a couple of weeks:  Her friend Grace, who she met in First Grade in the early 30s, and their friend Betty with whom they worked in NYC in the 40s.  Left to right:  Betty, mom, Grace's daughter Maureen and Grace.

So pleasantly surprised to see this brand of cherries at the local Stop & Shop.  Eastern Washington has the best apples, cherries, onions.


One day I came back from my errands and saw a large pawprint on my new chair!  Really?  REALLY?  2 beds, a couch and a crate, and Sagan sits in my new chair?!  So I started doing this when I leave the house for any extended period of time.

And when I come home, it looks like this.

Now he's just being brazen about it, sitting there when I'm home!  "Iz on yer chair, doin yer crafts!! Just keepin it warm for you mama!"

The Psychedelic Cupcake Factory was at it again!  This time Val & I used the new set of food dyes I just picked up.  We went with red, purple, black, blue and green.  

Black & red!!! OMG!

We did the cupcake whoopie pies again.  I love the patterns inside each one!



Good god I need sunglasses.

Yum.

'Oh HAI!  Whatcha doin'?'

Oh yeah, we finally decided that the time had come to say goodbye to an old friend.  Russell's poor old truck that has sat in the yard undriven for nearly two years now.  He used it a few times when we first moved in, when we were emptying out his storage unit.  Last time we were in it, the brakes went out as we entered the Buzzards Bay rotary.  Thankfully there was no traffic but it was a hairy ride home, that last mile or so.  To be honest, I was sad to see it go! But alas, it was time.  We didn't want to sink anymore money into it to fix it and it couldn't sit there & rust indefinitely, so it was carted off by a junk car buyer.

Beautiful first quarter moon....although I've always called this a half moon.

My 'little' love bug with his love bug toy.  He's starting to get grey on his muzzle.  I still refer to him as 'puppy' though.  It's so endearing when he's running around with this, or any stuffy, in his mouth!!!  

And I leave you with one more pic cause it's just so darn adorable.  My stepson Jeff, his fiancee' Casi and my sweet Bear, all smiles like the proud papa he is.

Russell was on the road but I took them to lunch the day before they left.

It occurred to me a few days ago that I've probably socialized & gone sightseeing more in the last 2-3 months than I did in all my years in Washington....or at least in the last 6 years I lived there.  It really is great to be back! 

9 comments:

  1. You have been busy!! All that socializing and cupcake making. I have never seen such cool cupcakes! How in the world do you get them to turn out like that? Too cool JoJo!

    Kathy
    http://gigglingtruckerswife.blogspot.com

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  2. Sounds like you are having a busy summer. Visitors are fun, but it can get tiring. No one has visited us this summer, but we've been gone a lot too.

    The cupcakes are blinding, but they sure look pretty. Psychedelic for sure.

    Lee
    A Faraway View

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  3. Lovely photos and so many memories :) Those colours on the cupcakes - red food colouring always used to turn my eldest boy when he was young into the Tazmanian Devil - but it'd be worth the risk! They are fab :)
    Suzanne @ Suzannes Tribe

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  4. You've been a busy girl. Those are totally Dead Head cupcakes...OMG they're colorful! That must have been a fun project. My condolences on the truck...
    Tina @ Life is Good

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  5. Even more than the psychedelic cupcakes, I'm impressed that your mom has maintained a friendship since the 30s. Wow. That's touching.

    Have a great Friday and weekend, JoJo.

    xoRobyn

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  6. Anonymous2:07 PM

    Those are some funky cup cakes!

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  7. I've noticed that your summer has been a whirlwind of sightseeing. I was wondering if you were always so adventuresome and was feeling like a slug in comparison.
    Those cupcakes? What else can I say but Whoa!

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  8. Elizabeth, yes I am adventuresome and I love to take sightseeing junkets and day trips. I just didn't do it much in Washington State b/c of the horrible traffic and long distances to see anything.

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  9. I don't think I could eat such bright cakes!

    Can't believe your mother has friends from the 1930s that she still sees - I thought my friend from 53 years ago was good going.

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