Holiday!

We headed off to the ocean for our (almost) annual Darwin Day adventure.  Last year we missed it, due to the dreaded broken leg.  It would have been just silly to go to the coast and sit in a cottage and do nothing, when we could do the same thing at home for free!

Much different this year, since Michael can get around fairly well.  Not 100%, but much better.  It was really nice to get away for a couple of days.  I'm working through the photos, so it will be a couple of days before I do my full write up, but in the meantime here are a couple of photos from the trip.

Syd got to run free on the beach a few times, and he really enjoyed it.  Especially when he discovered the dead crabs, and ate lots of crab legs.  Naughty dog!

I'm happy to report it didn't mess his guts up too much, and I did not have to get up and walk him in the middle of the night as I had feared I might.

Whew!

Things started out a bit rainy and wet.

It was what we expected though.  The winds were wild on the first night!

Gorgeous day!

After many days of gloomy gloom, the skies cleared up today and we had SUNSHINE!  It was a truly wonderful thing.  Even better, I had the day off work so we could get out and enjoy it.

We decided to go for a walk without Syd.  It's great to take him out, but it's not always the most relaxing thing and I pretty much have no freedom to take pictures or enjoy the scenery.  Plus, we wanted to go to Ebey's Landing, and that walk just isn't a good one for Syd.  TOO LONG.  He's pretty much good for only a couple of miles, and this walk is 3.5 miles.

TOO LONG.

Michael wasn't sure if he'd be able to make the whole hike, as it was the first time he'd tried anything so long his he broke his leg.  I'm happy to report he made it just fine!  He was quite pleased, though he's paying the price now.

The hike starts out with a bang and a big set of stairs.

Then it levels out for a bit as we cross the prairie and head for the bluff.

It was a bit chilly out there, but by the time we got to the top of the hill I had to take my sweatshirt off.  I could pretend it was spring!  The climb up to the trees is the most difficult part of the hike.  It's actually quite steep at the end.

 The trees on the bluff have a lot of character, after many years of high winds blowing off the water.  We haven't hiked here so early before, and I noticed the branches were much more visible and eye-catching with less grass and other vegetation blocking them.

The trail down to the beach is steep and changes often as people take different routes and cause erosion.  I've always liked this sign at the bottom of the trail.

Hiking only!

I was hoping to find some tidbit of beach debris to bring home, but everything was too big or too embedded in the sand to move.  Michael found a hat on a stick, which quickly became a hat on his head.

It's quite nice!

I'd like to have more days like today.  It was so nice!  I'm ready for spring now.

A good start...

We had a nice day today, to start off 2014.

Okay, well... it wasn't all good.  The cat peed on Syd's blanket this morning and it still smells funky - right next to my chair at the computer.  Yay.  I'm going to give it another good clean in that spot tomorrow.  Bad Kitty.

We decided we really needed to get out of the house, so we went for a drive.  We headed east to Sedro Wooley, then turned north on HWY 9 until we hit the Mount Baker highway.  We came back through Bellingham, with a stop for lunch at Pho 99.  Despite the nice sights, I took very few photos.  There's not always a good place to stop when you want to snap photo!  No pullouts by the old car junkyards!  I did, however, get a couple of shots of the Twin Sisters mountains.

These are classic shots, because there is pretty much just ONE place to stop and take a photo.










We also stopped at one of the sleaziest AM/PMs in the world, in Sedro Wooley.  Michael spotted a drug deal in the parking lot, and several of the clientèle looked very dodgy.  We used the bathroom there, and bought beef jerky.  It was a thrill!

I had originally planned for us to try a different restaurant in Bellingham, Cafe Rumba.  It sounds very good - Peruvian food, and many 5 star reviews on Yelp!  But alas, they were closed today.  Fortunately our favorite Phở restaurant was open - Phở 99!   Not tragic to have to eat there...

Four more days off, and lots to do.  Better get some sleep.

One last Christmas post...

The day is winding down, and I've got the last of my whiskey sitting in front of me.  It's been a nice, quiet day here with Michael and the dog.  Two long walks - in daylight!  I've been scanning some funny old books and have more to do before the night is over.

This has to be my favorite picture of all the silly vintage shots I found this year.  She's so dressed up, so gleeful over that cat clock, and there's a clown and a vaguely creepy doll in the picture!

I was going to write about the sad scourge of deflated inflatable decorations, but just can't be bothered at this point.  Maybe next year.  But here's a picture!

And one more - there's a group on Flickr just for these photos!






And with that, folks, this holiday is a wrap!

Pictures with Santa

There's nothing quite like the annual visit to sit on Santa's lap and let him know what you'd like for Christmas.  Photos are taken, and you have a lovely record of your chat with Old St. Nick.

It's a great idea - in theory.  In reality, well - that's another story.

That boy is remarkably calm, all things considered.

This poor lad, on the other hand, knows that something is HORRIBLY WRONG.

Sometimes, the children are not amused.

But then they grow up, and the tears fade.

At last, nobody is afraid of Santa.

Santa, on the other hand, is considering a new line of work.

Slacking!

All right, I've been slacking off the last few days.  We've had some beautiful morning skies, which I normally don't have a chance to take photos of.  I made it home from the dog walk the other day in time to grab some photos.

Oooooooh!





Then it snowed.  The first time in almost two years!





Fortunately it was my day off, so I didn't have to worry at all about going in to work.  The roads weren't too bad, mostly it was slush.  I was glad it snowed, and glad it went away fairly quickly.

We drove past one of my favorite decorations here in town - Santa held captive!  He's been strapped to this chimney every year since at least 2007 (when I took this first photo of him).





I'd hate to see what they do to him the rest of the year...

Hot mama!

There's nothing quite like a sexy Christmas tree lady!

Maybe a  sexy Christmas tree blob.

Oh YEAH...

Zealous!

Some people around here are REALLY into the Christmas thing.  Lots of people put up trees, lights, and a smattering of outdoor decorations.

Then there are those that go above and beyond.

Sometimes, it's a matter of quantity.  There used to be a house here in town with so many lights in their yard you could see the glow from blocks away.  They had the lights, and painted plywood cutouts of every Christmas character you could think of.  Unfortunately, people grow old and die, and their yards no longer glow each year.

There is a house here in town that strives for the quantity prize.  They go crazy for lots of holidays, but Christmas is the big show each year.  The newspaper even published a story about them the other day!  Anyhow, I drove by the other day and I think they were just setting things up.  It was still looking a little sparse.




They even change it up every so often - here's a couple of pictures from 2009!









Santa on a pole!


Sometimes it's not quantity that counts, but enthusiasm.  This next fellow wins that prize in my book.





That's right.  A Christmas tree in the back of a truck.  There's even music!  He dashes around town, and I even saw him off-island the other day!

Such holiday cheer.

Or maybe insanity.

Black Santa

I have complete and utter proof that Megyn Kelly is WRONG!  She has obviously never been to Voodoo Donuts in Portland!





She can take her little narrow world view and climb back under a rock.  Everyone else with a narrow world view can head under there too.

Can't be havin' no black people in positions of power, now, can we?  Nope.  It's only those good white folks that can lay claim to pop culture icons.

Sorry honeypie, you're wrong.  W.R.O.N.G.

Santa can be anything, or anybody you want.

Santa is mythical, you know?  Stick a Santa hat on something and you're good to go!

Really!  Who cares what color he is, or anything else?

We tried we said we'd keep in touch!

I love this song.

No pretty video to watch, just listen and enjoy.

This is one of my top two Christmas songs.  You'll just have to be patient for the other one!

I'm not a total scrooge, you know.

:P

Art?

I'm a bit tired tonight and feeling a bit lazy... it's a busy week for me, but I still wanted to post some sort of Christmas joy.  I was searching for "bad Christmas art" (no quotes - I always feel as if I should put quotes around what I'm searching when I mention it, but want to specify I did not use the quotes while searching - it's a librarian thing).

ANYHOW, anyhow, anyhow...

I came across this lovely sight.

That's not art!  That's frightening!  What's wrong with you people?

Tiki Santas - that's sort of bad.  Certainly not good.

Oh no.  This is really not good.

Whooops!  Sorry ladies!

I think it's time for us to move along.

G'night!

Neighborhood lights!

The holiday spirit has hit and many people in the neighborhood are putting up lights both inside and out.  I took a little stroll around the block last night to try and capture some of the highlights.  I took my "good" camera (an SLR) in hopes of getting a few good shots.  I'm not very skilled with the settings, and low light photography can be a challenge.

No problem!

Just wiggle the camera around, and everything becomes ART!











Ooooooh... Aaaaaahhhhhhh...

I'm not sure I'm a big fan of the new LED lights though.  They have such a cold feel, as opposed to the old lights.  One neighbor put some of those up, and it looks really nice.  They lined a fence, and the glow shines on a big oak tree.





Such a cozy warm feeling!  never mind the neighbor was putting them up in 19 degree weather the other night when we walked by.  What a trooper!

There's one more very special light display - small, yet very, um, uh... take a look yourself.





She's such a nice little old lady, I'm sure she has no idea.

Or maybe she does.

Tasteless...

This might be one of the worst things I've ever seen.

This was actually being promoted as an advertising scheme in 2010, in the UK.

Christmas also starts with CHRIS - the name of my brother and countless other people who don't freak out over the holiday.  Dare I say Chris comes before Christ?

I do.

Santa baby

Ho ho ho, here comes Santa...

Followed by a night of nightmares.

Ring-a-ding.

Local decor

I've been out and about the last couple of days, and managed to snap some photos of local Christmas decorations.  Lots of people are finally getting their lights out - I even saw a guy putting his lights up tonight in 19 degree weather!  Dedication.

Last night, we headed over to Anacortes for a friend's art show and dinner out.  Anacortes has a bit more going for it than my town, Oak Harbor.  For one, it has several art galleries so they can actually have a Friday night art walk!  And plenty of shops the go all out for the holidays.

First, we have the white flocked tree with pink lights.  Very nice.





Next, we have the distant lingerie mannequin, holding the lights as if she was the one decorating the tree.  You're not fooling me, toots!  Nice robe, though.




More art than "decoration," but I liked this little snowman that looked like he was trying to get the attention of the people across the gallery.  "Let me OUTTTTTT!"





Today I had a putter around downtown.  Overall, it was pretty lame.  The highlight was wandering through the antique shop and taking photos of creepy dolls.  You know how it is.

I did see a couple of little things, plus somebody decorating one of the taverns!  I always like their getup - it includes music playing outside.





Here's a cute little Rudolph figure!




And a nice little snowman ornament.  With a glitter broom!




Not everything out there is to be mocked.  Just most of it.  ;-)