Whew! made it through this one

We weathered this storm and are ready for the next. Yesterday our generator arrived so we will have a way to heat the house and run the fridge. Now you watch and see, the power will probably not go out for the rest of the winter, BUT, we are prepared.

Today we will head up island to do some shopping, and afterwards enjoy dinner and conversation with some friends at a nice restaurant, before returning home. Rocket says shopping is a good thing, as he is down to almost the last few bites of his special cat food, which we can't buy here on the south end of the island.

The outdoor thermometer says it is 40 degrees and the snow is melting at a very fast rate. Our road out to the main one is still icy, but I am sure the main road up and down the island is probably bare and wet.

You all have a great day.

Why I haven't been around the last two days

On Monday morning I was up around 7am and knowing that the power could go off due to branches breaking off under the weight of the snow we had, and falling across the power lines, I decided it would be a good thing to be prepared.

I made coffee and filled a couple of thermos bottles and whipped up some soup and put in another thermos and had no sooner put the dishes in the sink when the power went off. Good planning Keewee I said to myself, we will be Ok for a few hours we have hot soup and coffee, and a big propane heater to keep us warm.

I also had a feeling my boss would call and say the spa would be closed for the day, and to stay at home, she did, and I was only too happy to stay off the icy roads.

I went out doors and filled the bird feeders just before it started to snow again.

By mid morning there was about 2 inches of snow on the ground.

A couple of hours later there was plenty of snow on the road into our place.

From the front deck, and some more snow, I just know the power will be back on soon.

Late afternoon, even more snow.

Getting towards evening on Monday and still no power, and more snow, grumble mumble. I don't mind the snow, what I do mind is that we do not have any power.

Tuesday dawned sunny but very cold, and still no stinkin' power. This was getting to be very tiresome even though we had food and were somewhat warm. This power outage has been one of the worst in years. Usually the power would be off one or two hours.

Th only time I went outside today, was to feed the birds, and as I stepped out the front door this little woodpecker was so busy finding his breakfast, that he let me get very close to take his picture.

The power finally came back on at 8:08pm this evening. I did the *Happy dance* 36 hours with no power when it is very cold is no fun.

A day in the life of Keewee

Give me a show of hands of all of you who sometimes don't know what to blog about. Yep, I see all those hands. I also have felt a lack of creativity for the last few days. I suppose we can always blog about the weather.

I am looking out of the den window at the weather here on the south end of Whidbey Island. It is lousy, rain/snow shower mix, with a very cold wind whipping the last of the leaves from the trees.

It certainly is a good day to stay indoors, though I do see the bird feeders are empty, and just because it is cold, and I really do not want to go outside, the birds need to eat too, so I will brave the cold long enough to get the feeders filled for our regular visitors.

Rocket, our cat, wants the feeders filled too. His favorite past time is to sit by the window watching the birds squabble over the seed, and the rabbits who eat any seed which has fallen to the ground.

You all have a good Sunday, and stay dry and warm.

UPDATE 2:42pm

Here is what we are seeing NOW.

I wonder how much snow we will have by morning.

Leftover Turkey

Turkey Bacon Pie

1 piecrust, pre-made or make your own
1 8oz. cream cheese - cubed
enough cut up cooked turkey to fill crust halfway.
3-5 slices crisp cooked bacon, crumbled
1/2 cup heavy cream
5 eggs
2 cans diced chiles
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Brush piecrust with melted butter, then spread cubed cream cheese over crust.
Placed cut up turkey and bacon in crust.

Beat eggs and cream then add the chilis, and a little salt and pepper.
pour over turkey

Top with the grated cheese.
I also grate some Parmigiano Reggiano over the top, to give it a little more zing!

Bake 425F for 10 minutes 20 minutes 350F or until egg has set.

Serve with a nice salad.

True Or False?

One year at Thanksgiving, my mom went to my sister's house for the traditional feast. Knowing how gullible my sister is, my mom decided to play a trick. To get my sister out of the house, mom asked her to get something for her at the store.

When my sister left, my mom took the turkey out of the oven, removed the stuffing, stuffed a Cornish hen, inserted it into the turkey, and re-stuffed the turkey. She then put the bird back in the oven.

When it was time for dinner, my sister pulled the turkey out of the oven and proceeded to remove the stuffing. When her serving spoon hit something, she reached in and pulled out the little bird. With a look of total shock on her face, my mother exclaimed, "Patsy, you've cooked a pregnant bird!" At this horrifying news, my sister started to cry.

It took the family two hours to convince Patsy that turkeys don't get pregnant...THEY LAY EGGS!

Yep...SHE'S BLOND!

Thanks to our friend Frank

Ulla Taylor's pavement art

For nearly two decades, Melbourne-based Ulla Taylor has been scrawling on the footpaths of the world... creating amazing pavement art frescos as a "Screever", or street artist. A leading exponent of this ancient artform, Ulla has won prizes for her chalky artistry, and inspired thousands of people across the world to view their dull footpaths from a new perspective.

Beer-B-Q Links

Your friends and family are at your home on Thanksgiving day and you are looking for easy to fix snacks to keep them going before dinner is served.

2-3 lbs. Little Smokies
1 1/2 cans beer
1 (280z.) jar B-B-Q sauce
1 tbsp. prepared mustard
1/4 cup white vinegar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp. ketchup

Place Smokies and beer in a skillet, cover and simmer 10 minutes.

Drain Smokies and place in crockpot. ( I keep the 1/2 can beer aside to use if the sauce becomes a little too thick) or drink it. I hate to see anything go to waste.

Mix B-B-Q sauce, mustard, vinegar, brown sugar and ketchup and pour over Smokies.
(I preheat this mixture (in a glass bowl) in the microwave for about a minute to give it a head start)

Turn cooker to low, and provide your guests with toothpics to eat the Smokies.

Happy snacking.

For those of you in other countries who do not know what Little Smokies are: they are small cocktail sausages.

Here are some more recipes:

Little Smokies in orange sauce

Little Smokies in Chili and grape sauce

Little Smokies Appetizers

The second of many more hikes

Yesterday was a beautiful calm morning after the storm on Tuesday and power outage we had experienced all Wednesday. I was ready to get out for my second hike with the Senior Striders.

The Senior Striders gathered at the Bayview Senior Center before driving to The Chinook Conference and Retreat Center for our hike on the trails through this beautiful area. (stay on the link for the retreat center for a minute to enjoy the slide show of this lovely facility)

The wind has blown many of the leaves from the trees before they could show their fall beauty

Suzie, Cheryl, Helen, Carmi, Joyce
There were a number of fallen trees, a couple of them across the trail.

Our new Sanctuary has been described by one poetic guest as a place "where the echoes of the forest meet the stillness of the heart and the spaciousness of Spirit." Master crafted from sustainably harvested regional timber, and designed for sacred space, this 1450 sq. ft. building encourages inner stillness and mindfulness. Appropriate uses for the Sanctuary include sacred gathering, services or ritual, music, prayer, or meditation.

Inside the sanctury is this amazing wall screening the entry into the inner sanctury.
It is cut from one log.

The labyrinth.
OOPS! sorry I had my camera set on macro .

One of the many kinds of fungi growing in the woods.

Walking and chatting. Chatting and walking. We have a lot of fun walking the trails and getting to know a little about each other.

The ferns in this area are so beautiful. You find the very large clumps of tough looking ferns growing alongside the trails and these delicate ferns snd with moss growing on the tree trunks.

I eagerly look forward to each Thursday morning to see where we will be exploring next. We are indeed blessed to live on beautiful Whidbey Island.

We made it through this one.

It is warmer in the house this morning, a far cry from yesterday.

I woke yesterday morning around 6:30 am and turned over to look at the clock, it was black, no lit numbers at all, I could hear the willow tree slapping the house as it was being blown around in the gusty wind, and the rain was pelting the metal roof. Only one conclusion to be drawn, THE POWER WAS OFF.

I was due to be at work at 9:30 so decided to pull the covers up over my head and stay warm until the power came back on and I could get ready for work. I snuggled under the covers and waited for some sign of returning power. From my warm nest I heard the muffled sound of the phone ringing, my boss called to tell me to stay home, she would go down to the spa and call any clients on the books and reschedule them. After a couple of hours she called back to tell me the spa would be closed for the day.

We stayed snuggled under the covers until about 11:30 before hunger drove us towards the kitchen. I had a Sterno cooker up in one of the top cupboards and dragged it down, heated some water and made a pot of coffee. I filled a thermos with extra coffee and settled down with a book.

Mr.C went out to his workshop and brought in a large propane heater and fired it up. It has the roar of a jet engine but oh! the wonderful warmth it put out, in a matter of minutes the chill was off the air and not much longer we turned it off until the house cooled to where we needed more heat.

So we did make it through the day, with plenty of hot coffee, munchies and warmth, it was kinda like camping out.

Emergency room

The other day, I needed to go to the hospital emergency room.

Not wanting to sit there for 4 hours, I put on my old Army fatigues and Stuck a patch that I had downloaded off the Internet onto the front of my Shirt.

When I went into the ER, I noticed that 3/4 of the people got up and left. I guess they decided that they weren't that sick after all.

Here's the patch. Feel free to use it the next time you're in need of Quicker emergency service.



Thanks to Roxie for this one.

Last pin shoot of the season

Yesterday was the last scheduled bowling pin match of the year at Central Whidbey Sportsman's Assn. in Coupeville, Washington. My shooting of late has not been as I would have wished, but I was feeling a little burned out after a long shooting season, and was ready for a break. I went to the match with an attitude of, this is the last match of the year, get it done, and go home.

We started with all shooters shooting four qualifying tables of five pins per table against the clock to determine first round matchups, I qualified pretty near last.

After qualifying we started the single elimination matches. The qualifying process ensured that your first round opponent will be of a skill level similar to your own skills. You must win two out of three tables against your opponent to advance to the next round, otherwise you are out!

First I came up against LouG and thought "I am toast, I will be relegated to spectator" and would have been if Lou hadn't had, a misfire or jam. As good fortune would have it, I advanced to the next stage, and waited with held breath to see who I would be up against next.

Mr.C and Rainy were up next and Rainy scored this round. Next Mr. C came up against Tony and this time was victorious. Dang, that meant he and I would be competitors, I really would be TOAST!

I walked up to the shooting station, set my gun, clips and extra ammo down and waited for the command, "shooters load and make ready, ready on the left, ready on the right" beeep went the timer, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.
Cheers, Yahoos, Whistles, hand clapping from the spectators, and my jaw dropped as I realized I had taken the first table from my honey Mr.C.


As I was getting ready to compete against Mr.C, I said to myself, "Oh well, here goes," and shot as fast as I could and prayed I could be accurate, and at least make a halfway decent show of it, and not be too embarrased.
OMG I could not believe this had happened, if you have ever seen how fast Mr. C shoots, then you would know why I was in shock, he hadn't had a missfire, gun jam or anything.

OK, so the first round was just a fluke, we had one more table of five pin tops to shoot, this time I knew I was going to have my behind kicked BIG TIME !
"shooters load and make ready, ready on the left, ready on the right" beeep went the timer, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

Someone should have had a camera to record the look on my face, I won this table too. Holy cow, how on earth did I manage that!!!!!? Now I am really in shock.


Winning my match against Mr.C put me against Rainy who had been shooting very well all day.
"shooters load and make ready, ready on the left, ready on the right" beeep went the timer, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang.

The first table, I narrowly lost and knew I had better concentrate harder if I stood a chance of getting the second table.

As you see in the picture of the second table we shot, Rainy has four pins still on the table, the fifth just going over the edge. I had shot two off and was going for the third and fourth which I managed to shoot off the table. By this time Rainy had caught up to me and we were both aiming at the last pin. S**T the light in my optical sight disappeared. Rainy beat me fair and square.

What a way to end the season. I fully expected to go home feeling just as dissapointed as I have for the last few matches, instead I came home feeling more confident and ready to put more effort into next year's matches, Gee I may even practice a little more. Mr. C mumbles at me, " I don't how you manage to shoot so well with the LITTLE bit of practice you do"
Natural talent EH, Giggle!!

Bacon,& Egg pie

• one 400 gram / 14 oz packet of puff or flaky pastry
• 4 to 6 rashers (slices) of bacon * British bacon is much
  
• leaner than you get here, so find the leanest bacon you can, or as I do, substitute smoked ham slices.
  
• 6 eggs
• ½ cup of frozen peas (optional)
  
• ½ cup of frozen corn kernels (optional)
  
• 2 large tomatoes (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 200°C, 400°F or gas mark 6. Roll out the pastry to fit the bottom of a pie or flan dish and put aside enough to cover the dish. Remove the rind and any excess fat from the bacon. Lay the bacon on top of the pastry in the dish. Break each egg into a cup and pour over the bacon. Pierce each yolk with a fork, spreading the egg around to cover the whole pie base. Sprinkle the frozen vegetables over the egg and slice the tomatoes and arrange neatly. Season and cover securely with the pastry lid, crimping the edges. Pierce the pastry lid with a fork or knife to let any steam escape while the pie is cooking. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the egg has set. Serve warm or cold.

(Serves 4 to 6)

Variations: add some of your favorite grated cheese, or finely sliced green onion.

My Mother cooked bacon and egg pie quite often. We would usually take it on picnics have it for Brunch, or it would be served for supper when the folks would have friends over to play cards.
I did not have time to bake a pie for a picture so borrowed this from www.realpatisserie.co.uk
and of course mine looks just as nice.

Thursday's Adventure

This morning at 9:15 I boarded the ferry, Klickitat, at Keystone for the trip across to Port townsend. I joined a group called Senior Striders, who go on a hike every Thursday morning, to very interesting places.

Port Townsend is called The city of dreams, and is one of the finest examples of a Victorian seaport in the USA.

These vessels were in drydock undergoing repairs and maintenance.





As we walked past this vessel, Joyce pointed out to me the name and where it came from painted on the stern.
It was from New Zealand, a very long way from home.








Even though the day was cool and overcast at times, we enjoyed our walk around this wonderful historic town.

This sure is a postcard perfect scene of part of the old harbor.








Cal, Gillian, Suzie, Carmi, Joyce, Arlene

We strolled through a lovely park, and noted how perfect a place it would be for a summer's picnic.




As we walked the streets Of Port Townsend, we came across this very creative fence.




One section of the fence was embellished with all kinds of wooden kitchen utensils, and perhaps a few other kinds as well.

I did not want to hold the group up by going closer and investigating some more.



Now was the time for coffee and a snack. OH BOY!!! did this cosy little coffee shop ever have the best food to choose from.

All kinds of pastries, Suzie gave me a taste of her cinnamon twist, I could tell it was made with real butter, and lots of it too.

There were soups, scones to make you drool, and very yummy biscotti. I chose an almond anise biscotti to dunk in my coffee. It was sooooo delicious.

There were also many other delicious goodies in their display case.


After our rest at the coffee shop, we continued on with a stroll through The Palace Hotel, also known as The Palace of Sweets, as it was operated as a brothel.

This is Marie's Suite, who was the Madame of the house.



Check out the gold clawed bathtub.

Can't you see the ladies, of yesteryear, (if you can call them ladies) reclining in this tub?





Another of the richly decorated rooms, Housekeeping had not remade the bed yet.










Looking down at the lobby from the second floor.

You can almost picture people from the Victorian era walking the staircase, or sitting on the antique furniture.

There certainly is quite an atmosphere in this lobby.







The lobby as seen, as you enter the front door of the hotel.

They say the hotel is haunted, we did not see any evidence of such, but I could definitely feel all the many years of history, so to speak.

Perhaps Marie was observing us strolling around her brothel, Errr, Ummm, hotel.







Looking back on Port Townsend from the Klickitat as we left for home.

What an adventure we had today. I am eagerly looking forward to next Thursday to go on another adventure with the Senior Striders.

November 1st 4:45pm

I snapped this beautiful picture of the sunset on the 1st of November. I have kept it for such a time as this, and that is, when I have had a very busy day, and I really do not have anything to say, like today.

So you all enjoy the lovely sunset and have a wonderful day.

First day of rest

Early this morning as I opened the front door to check on the weather, a Chinese Pheasant was about 12 feet from the front step.
I knew I had startled him but decided to grab my camera anyway. As I re-opened the front door the Pheasant was still close by, but this time he did not care for the interuption to his foraging for breakfast, and hurried off across the pasture towards the neighbors.
I did manage to snap one rather blurry picture as he dashed away.
I just love the bright colors of the Pheasant's plumage, a very elegant looking bird, but they have a very *hard on the ears* harsh cry.

Now I am going to enjoy the first of my six days away from my job, by snuggling into my favorite chair with a good book.