saying farewell to a super woman

July 7^th:

Another Pulali day! All though just one night and two days. Originally I was going to be here on my own, but the plans changed and mom and dad tagged along. But their tagging along meant that they had to over pack. Lotsa food and all that jazz. So we didn’t leave till 4:40ish. In the meanwhile I drew some portraits and helped dad get one of the boats off the boat trailer. It was a rainy icky day. Yesterday was so hot.

The ride over was decent enough. I spent the rest of the afternoon with my cousin Averie, who is leaving for Cape Verde by way of the Peace Corps in a few weeks. She is a super woman. Making me have thoughts about trying to sign up. We visited with Kirie and Mark for a while as well. And then the dinner hour rolled around and I headed back to the Pulali house for chicken and corn. Ma and pa are watching a movie I have no interest in, so I’m on my computer and going to watch something or other.

Today’s Portrait Is: Olivia Wilde

July 8^th:

The day started out quite bright and warm. Ma made French toast for breakfast and we enjoyed it out doors. After that, Dad got the raft on the boat trailer and we three went down to the boat launch to launch it. Mom and I were the boat towers. We were in the little dingy with the outboard motor and towed the Pulali raft behind it, going very verrrry slow. If it went too fast, the vibration from the motor rattled us.

We snacked a bit. I had some soup at Celia's and then all of us (Ma, Pa, Celia, Averie, and I) settled in for some beach relaxing. We caught a marginal amount of sun, and then it went cloudy. And then it went windy. Totally not good swimming weather. Dad swam, the loony that he is. I changed back into clothes.

It was then that I gave my final hugs to Averie, who has joined the Peace Corps and is off to Cape Verde for 27 months! Super woman, that one is.

After that, we packed up our stuff from the night stay and headed off to Mats Mats. We got some gas and some food at QFC and then it was dinner with the grandparents! It was a belated birthday for Eleanor. The steak was delicious and Holly was really well behaved. The cake that followed was very rich. At around 8ish, we headed back to Seabeck. It was a quick unpacking. The weekend is upon us now. I don't know what exactly we have planned.

Today's Portrait is: Joel McHale.

sweatin'

If I continue to set an alarm, I'll maintain some semblance of a sleep schedule.

Got up before 10. Had some oatmeal and toast. Ma went to work, dad worked on the pieces for a grape arbor. Drew a bit. Watched telly. Didn't get up to much. Dad made burgers for lunch. Yum! After that I helped him assemble the grape arbor. Lots of holding of beams in the hot sun. Nailing boards to different boards. Dad milled the cedar from our property. It is a nice looking arbor. Strong design. It should look good as the grapes grow up it. Now they won't wrangle the plants around them.

Ma came home right as we finished. I just realized I didn't really eat a dinner. Had a bowl of ice cream with So You Think You Can Dance though. Mmm. It was a good show. Voted this time around. Tomorrow I am going to Pulali to see Averie before she is off to Cape Verde (Peace Corps).

It is warm.

Todays Portrait Is: Jennifer Morrison.

the do nothing days commence

Set my alarm, though I hit the snooze a bazillion times. By the time I finally got downstairs for breakfast, ma was long gone at work and dad was on an errand. So I did my laundry and watched TV and sat on the lawnchair and read all day. Had some macaroni and cheese. Oh I cut my bangs yesterday. They were quite long and I chopped them short once again. I do look better with bangs.

Ma came home. Dinner was a lovely salad with ice cream for dessert. We three watched The Hudsucker Proxy, though Dad went to bed part of the way through. It is a charming odd little movie. Tomorrow I shall draw portraits. Do something with my day.

Todays Portrait Is: Jesse Spencer.

boom

Normally, in the Pacific Northwest, summer doesn't get really nice till the fifth. Imagine our surprise when today turned out to be really nice!

Had my usual toast and tea. Ma, Pa, and I played bocce on the lawn and then I rolled around with Holly for a bit. I'm getting really attached to that dog. If she didn't smell, I would have have her at the end of my bed.

Made myself a sandwich for lunch. Mmm. After lounging about and watching stuff, at 5:45ish I went over to Chris's house for the Fourth of July festivities. We swung by the Chevron and picked up some oil for the deep fryer and I got a nice beer for myself. Dark was a ways away, but Jason (Chris's sister Beth's boyfriend) made some lovely hot dogs, which we enjoyed with our respective beers. But soon night fell and people around the lake started shooting off their fire works. Some were large and some were okay. It was a good selection. Chris, being the fantastic singer that he is, sung the national anthem. Some people nearby applauded. It was a nice night.

Todays Portrait Is: Omar Epps.

First Weekend of July

June 30^th:

Set my alarm a little earlier and got up before noon. Hurrah! I resolved the problems my blog was having and got it up, as well as some more portraits. I packed up clothing for the weekend, and art supplies. The art stuff takes up more room than my clothes, ha. Ma was nagging me and I got all ready to go, but of course there was much stuff the parents needed to do. I helped Dad haul some bricks onto the truck bed. Then we hauled the doggie up and into her kennel. She was coming along with us on this weekend expedition.

We got some fast food in town on the way to Pulali Point. The weather as dreadfully chilly. I only brought my sweater. I was wanting warmth and sun and swimming. Now I need more layers. Boo! I helped the parents move some stones and switch out a light. Some spiders kept me away from certain areas. Then I stoked a fire in the fireplace and settled in to read. Someone has to watch the fire place, ya know. We took a soda break and watched some Horatio Hornblower. Dinner was chicken and rice for me, lasagna for ma and pa, broccoli for one and all. We watched the results show of So You Think You Can Dance. I’m not attached to any of the dancers yet.

After that, we went over to Celia’s place to look at the developments. Some nice new windows were put in, and her cat Lou Lou is HUUUUGE. A few years ago the kitty nearly starved itself to death. Her spirited puppy Corby has also grown sizably. I am randomly allergic to certain pets. Robin’s dog Emma? Yeah, totally. Holly, Corby, Lou Lou, Panda, Teddy, Miss Pie (Celia’s other cats)? Nope. Hmmm.

Today’s Portrait Is: Rachel Hagara

July 1^st:

Ma and pa let me sleep in. How nice. In the morning, Ma, Pa, and Celia were clam digging on the Pulali beach. A nice low tide. On a public beach you can only take 10 pounds of clams, or so. Here we can be as gluttonous as we see fit. After clamming, we had bacon and eggs and toast. Mmm. After that we went to get dirt from a dirt farm. The dirt is for some of the plant beds. We will unload the dirt tomorrow. Lunch was hot dogs and s’mores. That was followed with a quick swim in chilly waters. I paddled on a paddle board. Did not want to submerge fully. It was much warmer today, and sunny, but not that warm or sunny.

We showered off and got the fire pit stoked and the grill going. I read my book. I haven’t gone through a book this fast in ages. Wild Cards, edited by George RR Martin. Quite good. I haven’t had the time to read for pleasure in ages. Normally I do the audiobook thing, or the research material things. Dinner was clams followed with burgers followed by mushy rice and vegetables. I had the first two. Celia joined us. Having a fire pit up at the house is nice. Normally we have a beach fire, which is nice, but since the sea wall washed away it isn’t so nice to sit down there. Anyway, ma and pa have made so many changes to Grandma and Grandpa Pedersen’s house at Pulali. Good changes.

After dinner we finished the episode of Horatio Hornblower that we started last night. Good watching. Tomorrow will be more manual labor and more clams.

Today’s Portrait Is: Hugh Laurie

July 2^nd:

Dad made shape pancakes for breakfast! One was shaped like a clam. After that, Pa and I headed down the beach to go clam digging. We ran into Kirie and Mark and Paul and Debbie and chatted a bit, before going along our way. We didn’t have as much luck today and Ma and Pa had yesterday, still we brought up some good clams; steamer and butter.

After that I helped with some manual labor. Hauling dirt around and dragging branches. Pa and I headed down to enjoy the beach in those precious times before the tide has come up and the shadow casts over the beach. I didn’t swim, just read. I found out that about 40 pages of my book were misprinted. I’ll read them somehow, either by borrowing another copy or acquiring some pages through the internet. Still, bummer that paid for material isn’t good. Anywaaay. Caught some sun but didn’t burn. Ma came down and sunbathed a bit. Pa cut his hand on some mussels. A pretty big cut too. But we patched it up and put a plastic glove over the bandage. He cleaned clams and I read. When Ma came up from the beach, I hauled the remaining dirt out of the truck bed. We arrived at Whitney’s Nursery about eight minutes after in closed. So we visited Grandma and Grandpa Pedersen’s grave and swung by Yelvik’s and picked up some stuff.

Dinner was a feast! Clams! Celia’s tomato, sausage, chicken stew! Claw chowder! Garlic bread! S’mores! MMM! So good. I made a nice fire in the fire pit to accompany the meal. I’m designated pyro girl it would seem. After dinner we took a walk (we four, Celia being the fourth) and pruned the trail a bit. And followed that up with a full episode of Horatio Hornblower. Such a damn good show. We should get the DVDs. Tomorrow is more labor and then we head home.

Today’s Portrait Is: Robert Sean Leonard

July 3^rd:

Breakfast was two fried eggs and three halves of toast with a glass of orange juice. Mmm! I walked over to Celia’s after that and hung out with her and ma for a while. Back at the house I sat and read for a while until it was time to head to Whitney’s to pick up flowers for the garden by the garage. Ma let me pick out a color scheme and I went with pink and reds. Got plenty of pretty plants and promptly placed them in the ground. That was the last Pulali task before we packed the truck up and headed home. It was a nice trip. Didn’t go on the internet once, even though I had the option to do so over at Celia’s. I’m liking reducing the multitasking I have become prone to doing. Internet breeds doing lots of things, and slowing down is nice.

Back at home, it was a quick unpack. I went about my Internet rounds. A nice salad was enjoyed for dinner. I watched about a third of Paint Your Wagon. July isn’t burdened with as many plans as June was. Hmmm.

Today’s Portrait Is: Lisa Edelstein