Kaila and Polly

Here are a couple of my favorite family members!  Kaila is receiving her One Year Piano Study award from the Music Teacher's National Association (MTNA).  She has worked so hard this year learning to read music and play a variety of musical pieces.

Polly isn't usually far behind when Kai is here!

Following the Light

On these cold, late Autumn days, we take Polly the Dog into the woods to hike and to visit the horses.  Last week, the sun was bright and filtered the light through the forest trees.  It was a beautiful sight.  It's also good to feel the sun on your face, even if it's 40 degrees outside.

Mushrooms of the Northwest

Every day, Polly and I take a walk in the woods to stretch our legs and to savor the great outdoors.  It's hard to believe there is so much beauty where we live, and I only need to walk to the other side of my property's fence to be in the woods, walking to visit the horses.

It must be mushroom time now--I am noticing so much more of the natural world now that I am retired.

Aren't these beautiful?  Each one is so unique, and they are all growing in the same area.

Thanksgiving Tableau

Here is the scene inside the Duvall store for Thanksgiving.

A Duvall Christmas

I love to visit this shop in downtown Duvall when I come to town.  The scene that is in front of the store changes with the seasons, and it is so well done.  I love to take pictures to use in my photo greeting cards.

This really got me in the Christmas spirit!

Wight's Garden and Nursery in Lynnwood

On my way back from visiting my friend Holly last week, I stopped by Wight's in Lynnwood.  This was the favorite Christmas destination for my beloved Aunt Elsie, who passed away in 2008.  She would travel from Silverdale each year to shop there for Christmas.

Since it was a week day, there were very few people in the store.  I had a great time, just looking at everything, and getting ideas for decorating.

Here are some of the sights that greeted me!

Homespun Style Tree

Dicken's Theme

Miniature Snow Scene

Flamingo Madness!

Beautiful White Tree

Halloween!

The pumpkins were carved, my Halloween Brownies were baked, and the yard was decorated with scarecrows, pumpkins and wreaths.  It is such a colorful and festive time of the year!

Our neighbor Kelly came over in her Halloween costume (see below) and John hid behind our fence while Kelly rang our doorbell and yelled, "Trick or Treat"!  We had NO idea it was her!  John jumped out of his hiding place, and they laughed themselves silly after "tricking" us!!!  Such fun neighbors we have!

Kelly in disguise!

A New Chair for my Office

Our guest bedroom doubles as my office, so I've had fun this year decorating it and making it more comfortable now that I spend a lot of my time there keeping my piano studio business running.

I've never had a comfortable chair to read in, so we found this lovely turquoise armchair, which is small enough to fit in this very small room.  It's so cozy and inviting now, and Polly likes to sleep at my feet and keep me company.   My mom made the beautiful white afghan on the back of the chair.

Halloween Goblins

We bought two pumpkins a few weeks ago at the fruit stand in Clearview (Marshland Farms), and we got everything ready to carve them last week.  We are not terribly creative or talented in this area, but we made a concerted attempt to make something happy and smiling out of a vitamin-A packed vegetable!

Here are the pumpkins, carved and ready for Halloween night!

Christmas Cactus is Early This Year!

My Christmas Cactus didn't bloom at all last year, but this year it burst out into full bloom two months before Christmas!!  It is beautiful, though, and it's nice to have some color in the house now that most of the late summer and early fall flowers are done.