2014 Annual Report

January 1, 2014: Celeblating the New Year in Washington State.

Patti and I have managed to keep up our good deed of walking the dogs every day, or one of them at least; we alternate day to day.  When both come, Lydia leads Daphne off into the woods on a critter chase.  On the walk I tend to get an ear worm in my brain, relieved only by the singing of "Yellow Submarine".  Lately it's been replaced by a new song.

(Why "Yellow Submarine" you may ask. Ma was always complaining about waking up in the middle of the night with "Yellow Submarine" (or the theme song from MASH) stuck in her brain. The only way she could remove it was to sing "My Wild Irish Rose" at the top of her lungs. I figured I'd use "Yellow Submarine" as a brain eraser - it works!)

Spring: Nature's way of telling you it's time to mow the lawn.

In May Patti winged off to Barcelona for a week of relaxing, drawing, and visiting with her friends Claire and Sara.  Here's the complete report.  And here are some of Patti's drawings from the trip.

Patti's been taking art classes at the Gage Academy in Seattle, enjoying them very much.  One day, while leaving her class along with other students, all laden with art supplies, she asked a guy who was empty-handed, "Aren't you traveling kind of light?".  He replied, "Well, a nude model doesn't need much junk."  I beg to differ.  More of Patti's drawings.

Once again this year Patti enjoyed various fun outings with the Garden Girls.

I took my own camping/photography trip, at the beginning of June, down into Eastern Oregon.

As ever, I spent a good deal of my time at the computer at one of my favorite hobbies: working on the family history.  It's amazing how much you can accumulate over the years; right now there are over 28,000 pages, including about 10,000 photos.  I've just scanned an old, damaged album of photos taken by my grandfather Earl Saunders.  Here're some pics from when he saw Mexican revolutionary hero Pancho Villa in 1914.  And this is a transcript  of my great grandmother Charlotte Barrett Blodget's (Richards) journal describing her trip back to America in 1874, at age 17.  I'll gladly send the latest copy of our Blodget/Richards/Folsom/Saunders family history to any relative who asks, please do.  Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to make it work on a tablet.

Here's a fisheye view of another one of my hobbies.  A close perusal will reveal what happens when you accidentally walk between a mother bear and her cubs.

Summer: Nature's way of telling you that you've put off mowing the lawn for too long, and now you'll have to wait until next spring.

Sienna and Kiara have gotten their first email accounts. Here's Kiara's first message, to Patti:
     Hi Grandma/Neuma!
     I got a email account!!!! email me when you wake up ok???? >=D

Our big vacation this year was a two-week trip up to Alaska in August.  We flew to Anchorage and rented a car and drove around south-central Alaska.  A pretty good vacation except for the near constant rain.  We'll probably go back some time for similar trip, perhaps this time in early June when the birding is at its peak (and so are the mosquitos).  Couldn't go in June this year due to more important affairs (the World Cup).

From Facebook:

Today Patti went with her friend Barbara Bush to a book signing by former President Carter.  While she was out I was hoping somebody would call for her and I could tell them, "Sorry, she's with Jimmy Carter and Barbara Bush".  Nobody rang.

DAMN OBAMACARE.  Just got news from Group Health (our medical insurance) that our rates are changing next year.  Right at that moment Patti called from Costco, wondering if there was anything to add to her shopping list.  I mentioned that our insurance premiums were going DOWN about $1200 next year, and she took that as a blank check for her shopping.  DAMN OBAMACARE.

I've scanned in a large aerial photo of Old Saybrook, taken some time ago. You can zoom in on a particular spot by clicking on the image.  And here's a series of photos of Saltus Drive and downtown Saybrook over the years.

Daphne meets our latest addition to the living room, Vincent van Goat.  (Thanks to Anne and Peter Barschall for liberating him from the Randolph cottage).

My major project around the house in 2014 was rebuilding the downstairs bathroom for a new washing machine and dryer, with an improved sink and counter. Unfortunately I chose to do it in August, with its great weather, which curtailed my hiking a little for the summer; I was having too much fun remodeling.  There are pictures from the hikes I did take in the Best Photos section.

Our trip to Alaska bumped my birding life list a bit, plus I ticked the famous Tundra Bean-goose just 10 minutes away from Kate's and Carol's in Neskowin, when we visited for Thanksgiving, as always great fun.  Both Daphne and Lydia made the trip, meeting up with best friend Boswell and new friend Holly.  Like all Labs, these four, of various colors, really had only one thing (the food) on their minds.  As did the humans.  Here's our semi-annual family picture.

2014's Family and Friends pictures.