Tom and Patti Saunders
Dog's Breath Acres 2005 Annual Report
2005 Annual Report
Patti and I are just back from another fine Thanksgiving down on the Oregon coast with Kate and Carol and Ger and Ken, and I suppose it's a good time to figure out what we were up to this last year. Here at Dog's Breath Acres there haven't been any major projects, for a change, just some more maintenance, as the place settles into middle age, slowly approaching "fixer up" status. Patti also spends a whole lot of time doing maintenance, mostly on me, but also on her newest obsession, her blog "Some Snohomish Women".
We spent much time again this with our grandchildren, Kiara and Sienna, ages 3 and 1 right now. We take care of Kiara every Tuesday in an effort to help out sleep-deprived Mike, who works at night and watches the kids during the day, while Allison is off at her job. Our other kids, Scott and Joelene, continue to work in Hartford; Scott graduated from his Internal Medicine residency in June (and gave the graduation speech) and will be Chief Resident this year, while Joelene finishes up her ObGyn residency. He will be starting out his Cardiology residency (and none too soon, for me (see below)) next year.
Patti's New Orleans siblings all survived Katrina to some extent. Her brother Lynn lives across Lake Pontchartrain in Mandeville, Louisiana, and her niece Erin, with three kids and husband, has a large old house in New Orleans itself. All headed out of town for higher ground before the storm hit. Lynn, who's an architect, built his house on stilts, so it survived the flooding, but a falling tree did some damage, not too bad though, he says. Erin's house missed the flooding and survived, but she's still in New Hampshire, living at her husband's parents, while her kids go to school there. Just when they all will return to New Orleans is unknown.
Pets Reggie and Phoebe are doing well, although Reggie is also approaching fixer up status himself. Unfortunately Cryptoleucus succumbed to FIV quite suddenly this fall, most of us will miss him (Phoebe never really liked him too much). The neighborhood coyotes have woken us up far too many times, and we often see them in the yard. There were a few interesting new yard birds this year: a hermit thrush, a slate-colored junco and a white-throated sparrow (both rare out here), and a pair of red crossbills who spent a few weeks visiting our feeders. My Life List grows more slowly each year, with just four new ones in 2005: a Crissal Thrasher down in the Mojave Desert, a visiting Falcated Duck in Oregon (conveniently next to the freeway on our drive back from California), and a Rock Sandpiper and a highly advertised Temminck's Stint out by the ocean.
In June Patti and her friend Barbara spent a couple of weeks over in Germany and the Czech Republic. Here's her short report:
Companions of avid hikers and campers will know how much I enjoyed this women’s trip -- for frequent stops for ice cream, comfortable lodgings, restaurants, shopping and just lingering over coffee. Recommended: Czech Republic - In Cesky Krumlov, World Heritage Site, enjoy Piazza D’Oro Café behind Hotel Leonardo for Pizza, stay at Hotel Leonardo. On the way to/from Cesky Krumlov on Highway 39 about 3 kilometers from E55 grab lunch and beer with the locals at Cesky Mlyn Pension and Restaurant. We liked Smetana-Vysehrad Hotel in Karlovy Vary, and dinner with beer in a nearby park outdoor café. The Prague Symphony and Dvorak, the Jewish Museum in Prague, Prague Castle, anywhere in Prague. Germany - Metropolitan church of Our Lady in Munich, Munich Residence, Rothenburg - any beer garden, Garmish - the Philosophers Walk, Freiburg -coffee and cake at Oberkirch’s and the farmer's market for honey, toys, soap, and all of Heidelburg.
In June, Kate and Ger spend a few days here at Dog's Breath Acres (slightly disrupted by my hospital stay) while they ran their Lewis Creek Glassworks booth at the nearby Edmunds Arts and Crafts Show. Here's a picture of cousins Kristi and Alden at the show.
I only got in about half my usual hiking mileage this year, thanks to our various vacations and some iffy weather. Oh, and also the aforementioned hospital stay (one day) to have some stents put into my heart; we're all on our way to fixer up status.