Betsy Blog

Happy New Year 2009!

2009-01-02T14:14:00.000-08:00

For Christmas I got a Lefse making set (I love it!). I am delighted that I can carry on my family tradition of Lefse making. I just hope that I can make it more than twice a year. So far I'm off to a good start!

The process seemed to work well in my kitchen.

Lefse grill, lefse flipper, rolling pin and board.

My Grandma Sebe always had nice linens for her set, which my lil'sis has now. I improvised with the next best thing, bandannas!

This first batch was tiny, only 12 pieces of lefse. It was a good start though, now I'll be ready for the real deal where I usually make several dozen!

Want some?

I said YES!

2008-07-07T11:58:00.000-07:00

During what I thought was one of our routine backpacking trips, this one to the Hoh Rainforest over the 4th of July weekend, Birddog popped the question. This picture is literally moments after he asked me to marry him. No faking those cheesy smiles, the elation on our faces is true love at its finest, even with my amazing outfit!
What the heck? A real ring? For me? Silvery, shiny, diamondy, pinky sized, bling-bling, cuteness. I'll let you in on the juicy details...it's a kinda long, but it's a doosey!

The Beginning of Birddog & Bits...

It was 6 years ago that Birddog and I first visited the Hoh. It was in March 2002 during our Spring Break trip from the University of Minnesota. We were just friends at that point, really just friends. We met earlier that fall through COA (Center for Outdoor Adventure), our schools volunteer trip leading organization, we were both adventure guides. We ended up having several classes together too, same major; Outdoor Recreation Education. So we got to talking about Spring Break. I told him my plans of visiting my brother in Seattle, and we decided to go together. Yeah!

During our trip to Seattle we planned to backpack in the Hoh Rain Forest on the Olympic coast. It ended up being a little more cold and wet than we anticipated. Not being entirely prepared with rain gear or snow pants (maybe subconsciously on purpose) we spent most of the 3 days in the tent listening to the heavy wet snow plop down through the trees and land on the tent. We had some great adventures leaping through the snow covered forest and across downed trees. We even came across a herd of Roosevelt Elk! The days were short, wet and cold. We ended up spending lots of 'quality' time in the tent trying to keep warm and keeping busy... I taught him how to knit and he taught me to crochet! We also played lots of cribbage and had a disco party with our headlamps and the infamous "Hoh Rag". During that trip we nick-named it that area the Hoh 'Snow' Forest, what a cool place. Looking back on it now, it's easy to say our first trip to the Hoh is where we fell in love.

Since that first cold wet trip, we had always talked about another trip to the Hoh 'Snow' Forest, only next time we'd go during the summer months. So time came and our backpack trip was planned for this July, and in my mind it was just one of the regular fun trips we do.

So it began; Birddog & Bits' second backpacking trip to the Hoh...

The trip was planned to include climbing Mt. Olympus, a 20 mile hike in and up to the top of the 8,000 foot peak. We had packed our helmets, rope, cramp-ons, ice axes, regular gear and good food.

Day one; fun, beautiful, exhausting, and worth it. Dinner was on the gravel bar of the Hoh River, so peaceful.

Day two; long, uphill, rainy, and cold, but still beautiful. Half a mile before our base camp destination, I was contemplating turning around. We just got done zig-zagging through downed trees; a mess leftover from a late season avalanche. It was drizzling harder and next up was a steep snowfield to cross and an even steeper chossey, slippery rock slope to get down first. And to top it off Birddog, whom hiked ahead of me, saw an adult Black Bear come out of the woods and cross the snowfield. Just as I got to him the bear had vanished and a giant tire sized boulder came crashing down the snowfield we intended to cross. My nerves were at wits end, my body was cold and sore, and my mind was not liking the idea of death by boulder nor bear.

Birddog to the rescue! With his determination and skill he crossed first and came back to take my pack, so I could make the crossing quickly with a steadier foot. I felt better once on the other side of danger and knowing we were moments away from our site. Birddog carried his pack and mine through the snowpacked trail. He's such a nicey! He always knows the right things to say and do, to keep my spirits up. We made it to the Glacier Meadows base camp. There were about 3 or 4 other parties up there, all intending or have already attempted to summit Mt. Olympus.

It was cold, I was hungry and tired. We made hot drinks, Birdy set up the tent on the open snow field, then later moved it to a more secluded "drier" spot by a creek. We made another delicious dinner all the while it was still drizzling.

It wasn't really a wet drizzle more like a super fine moist cloudy mist. Anyway, I was full but still chilled. I climbed in the tent and into my sleeping bag; all bundled up in my purple puffy down jacket, neck gator, long underwear, mittens and my balaclava- black head & neck cover, super warm!

Finally warmed up I began to read my little book while Birdy cleaned up camp, thanks Birddog! He hung the food bag on a bear line, cleaned up the dishes and stove, and as he came to the tent I realized I didn't have any water left. I asked him to refill my water. This seemingly easy task meant more than just turning on a spigot and getting a drink. He had to get the water pump and watter bottle, trek down to the creek, find a deep enough spot to pump the water through the filter, put the pump and its parts back, and scamper back up to the tent. He did all that for me!

As he opened the tent to hand me my water I leaned forward to let him in too. As he crawled in to the tent he said he brought me something and handed me a deteriorating plastic bag from the Dollar Tree store. I didn't understand where this tattered bag came from and asked him "really?" He said "yes, I brought this gift for you". I thought for sure he just found this bag down by the creek and he wanted to show me something crude inside. As I carefully opened the bag I pulled out a gift wrapped package. Still unsure, but not doubting him as much I opened it and pulled out a book. On the cover of this book was a picture of us. As I flipped through the pages my heart fluttered. He had made me a personal album from our trips and experiences together. Every picture was of the two of us! It was the sweetest thing, and to think that he carried this gift 20 miles in and about 6,000 feet up.

Totally surprised and with warm fuzzies in my chest I turned to him to thank him. At that moment he handed me another little gift. A small golden brown box with a satin bow. I eagerly took it from him and said "and you brought me chocolates!?" As I shook the box, I noticed the look in his eyes, they didn't say chocolate. The noise from inside didn't sound like chocolate either. As I anxiously untied the bow I was thinking, no way, he got me diamond earrings! I had talked about getting diamond earrings many months ago and I couldn't believe he remembered.

When I opened the box instead of finding diamond earrings, I found a precious sparkley diamond ring. With wide eyes and in shock, I turned to look at my Birddog and he asked me to be his wife. My head was turning from him to the ring and back to him again. It may have taken a few moments for my answer, but of course I said "YES!"

I took the ring out of its box, and placed it on my finger. It was a bit too small for my ring finger, but it fit nicely on my pinky. With tear welled eyes and a smile bigger than the sea, I said "YES!"

I still couldn't believe what was happening way out there in the wilderness, days away from civilization, all bundled up in my warm things, Birddog asked me to marry him! How crazy strange, unreal, fantastic, romantic, unexpected, thoughtful, best moment of my life! So perfect, in the Hoh with my best friend Birdy, sweaty and dirty, and perfectly warm from the inside and out. We've had some really great times in our tents, but this one topped them all!

So it was late, we were engaged, and I had that beautiful ring on my finger. I couldn't sleep. I took pictures, a quick movie, and kept flashing my big rock all around the tent.

I had to check out every angle of my new piece of jewelry. Bling Bling! I have a diamond ring! So after a few hours I must have worn myself out flashing my hand all over the land and I drifted off to sleep. Snuggling through our puffy down sleeping bags we slept right through the alarm clock that was supposed to get us up early for our ascent of Mt. Olympus.

Day three: The drizzle stopped, the sun broke through, I slept in late, I had a diamond ring on my finger, and my fiance' brought me mocha in bed. We enjoyed the morning, packed up for a day hike to the Mt. Olympus Buena Vista. I took several dozen photos of my new ring!

I guess since there wasn't anyone to show it to, I had to capture the moment to share with others later. The hike up was wonderful. Great views and a greater realization that the ascent to the summit was way burlier than either of us imagined. It will best be left for a trip back with Joe.

I put my ring back in the box so it wouldn't get lost, dirty or damaged on our hike back down.

The hike down was way easier. Maybe I was still high from the night before and didn't really notice the difficulty.

Once we got to our gravel bar spot we set up camp, did a quick and dirty dip in the river- burrr it was cold!

We made our last delicious dinner and started a camp fire.
We enjoyed the night and held on to the moment of being in the Hoh together.

Day four: Another beautiful day! Easy in the beginning then half way through, extreme pain. My legs, knees, and feet were jacked. Sore, puffy and swollen, and blistered. It hurt, it hurt really bad, but at least I had a little bit of shiny love on my finger-Bling Bling! I don't know how, but I powered through the 9 mile day making it back to the truck just in time to enjoy my shiny new bling bling and to give my ballooning knees a break. Once we made it to cell phone range we made many calls to the family to share the news. Birdy got me an ice pack and we made it to the Bainbridge Island Ferry just before sundown. Such a perfect day to end an amazing and life changing backpacking trip.

So what did you do over the 4th?

Who's your Papa?

2008-04-02T08:15:00.001-07:00

He Is!!!

Meet Papa, our newest foster dog from the Seattle Animal Shelter. This two year old boy is a quiet, friendly guy who likes...

to cuddle...

and snuggle...

walk through the parks...

play fetch...

and tell bedtime stories!

Papa was a stray dog, found with his lady friend who shortly after gave birth to 11 puppies! Papa has left his legacy and has recently been fixed. He is strong, energetic, curious, and loving. His new forever home should be with a family that is willing to be patient as he learns confidence and new commands. Please visit the Seattle Animal Shelter website to learn more about Papa or to schedule a time to meet him. Be sure to tell your family, friends and neighbors about Papa. Who's your daddy?

Fizz, Fizzle, Fizzy!

2008-03-05T10:20:00.000-08:00

This is one of the best dogs ever, Fizz. She is a 2 year old black lab/border collie mix. We picked her up from the Seattle Animal Shelter the same day Lil'Shamu got adopted, we didn't need any break after the 3 day fostering of our lil chihuahua pig mix. Fizz came into our home as a foster dog and was only inches away from becoming a permanent part of our family. We saw her grow so much in the few weeks we fostered her. Birddogs brother, "Biker T", also had a chance to enjoy the wonders of this fun, energetic, snuggly, obedient, friendly, and smart bundle of joy.

After Fizz became more confidant with herself and her new surroundings, she must have developed a bit of separation anxiety along the way. Our neighbors informed us of her consistent barking and wining during the day. We tried toys, peanut butter, lots of exercise, pigs ears, bones, old t-shirts and nothing seemed to work. We even tried DAP, a pheromone from lactating canines, it has an 80% success rate at putting dogs at ease. DAP didn't do a darn thing for Fizz.

As much as we wanted to keep Fizzle, we knew we were not the right home for her. She'll need someone who can work with her during the day and coax her out of her separation issues. Sadly we brought her back to the shelter where she'll be until the right person sees the wonderful potential she has and brings her into their family and into her new forever home.

Fizzy will be missed, greatly missed. Please consider taking her as your own, we'll doggy sit any time for you!
Check out the Seattle Animal Shelter for details.

She's found a forever home!

2008-02-27T08:28:00.000-08:00

Lil Shamu has been adopted. Acutally she was only with us for 2 nights and 3 days, our fastest ever adoption. She is a cutie and will be missed, but she has moved into a family with caring parents and other canine siblings. We will always remember our little pig whale puppy-dog Lil' Shamu!

Chilly Hilly Willy McNilly

2008-02-24T00:44:00.000-08:00

Our sweet ride on a even sweeter day!
Biker-T joined us from Florida and man we were eating his dust the whole day, and they don't even have hills in Florida.

No flats for me this year, YEAH BABY! The sun was warm and it was super beautiful and a perfect day to ride 33 miles around Bainbridge Island. A great day followed by a delicious Bucca dinner!
check out Cascade Bicycle Club for more fun rides.

Enjoy the pics!

She Can Be Yours!

2008-02-17T18:37:00.000-08:00

Little Shamu is looking for a great family who will give her lots of snuggles and love.

This 10 year old Chihuahua enjoys leasurly walks, watching movies on your lap, and she is especially fond of her new pink bed!

Little Shamu is a cutie-pie. She'll be going on an excercise regime to help her shed a few pounds.

Little Shamu is adoptable through the Seattle Animal Shelter
To learn a bit more about Chihuahuas click this.

Super Awesome!

2007-12-25T21:07:00.001-08:00

Happy Halloween

2007-10-31T11:57:00.000-07:00

So much candy for Halloween, my teeth hurt!

I was going to be a Spider, a Ghost, Cinderella, or a Baker...
I couldn't decide.... so I looked online and a few hours later (into the wee hours of Halloween) I became a...
Knights Templar! or Joan of Arc if you wish.

Ta Da! My favorite part was the cape. Birddog made the little money sash-coin purse, a perfect touch for the costume.
This is the a perfect example on how being a pack-rat pays off. I was able to dig through my fabric stash and make this authentic costume in the middle of the night! I wore to work the entire day, had so much fun with other Halloween friendlies. I think I'll try to wear the cape a few times again this year....
I'll be Super Bits!

Never stop creating!
Oh, another super creation...

These are the Neicies. Birdy's mom made these amazing costumes. I think I'll be in line for her creations next year! I love the Pirate, such a cutie! RRRRRR!

In Loving Memory - Blazer

2007-09-10T10:03:00.000-07:00

Lend Me a Pup

I will lend to you for awhile,

a pup, God said,

For you to love him while he lives

and mourn for him when he's dead.

Maybe for twelve or fourteen years,

or maybe two or three

But will you, 'till I call him back,

take care of him for me.

He'll bring his charms to gladden you

and (should his stay be brief)

you'll always have his memories

as solace for your grief.

I cannot promise he will stay,

since all from earth return

But there are lessons taught below

I want this pup to learn.

I've looked the whole world over

in search of teachers true

And from the folk that crowd's life's land

I have chosen you.

Now will you give him all your love

Nor think the labour vain,

Nor hate me when I come to take my Pup back again.

I fancied that I heard them say

"Dear Lord Thy Will be Done,"

For all the joys this Pup will bring,

the risk of grief we'll run.

We'll shelter him with tenderness

we'll love him while we may

And for the happiness we've known forever grateful stay!

But should you call him back

much sooner than we've planned,

We'll brave the bitter grief that comes,

and try to understand.

If, by our love, we've managed,

your wishes to achieve!

In memory of him we loved,

to help us while we grieve,

When our faithful bundle departs this world of strife,

We'll have yet another Pup and love him all his life.

author unknown

I'll Make You Famous!

2007-08-25T15:41:00.001-07:00

Professioanl Photographers, Birddog and Paulie, captured every moment in what was the BEST vacation ever!

Minneapolis meets Seattle! Paulie and Kato (finally) came out for a long tour of the finest features in the North West.

"May I have another please"?
Kato and Paulie found the wines at Harbinger Winery to be delicious and even more delicious. Sip after Sip, the flavors kept tantalizing our tongues and teasing our minds as the refills were mere drops. We savored the moment, and thanks to our Minneapolis duo, we savored it even longer and enjoyed the bottle given to us as a gift. Thank you!

A hop, skip and a jump; beauty at our fingertips. Washington has some of the best places to visit, as long as you don't mind a few hours in your car (or in our case being crammed into the jump-seats in the back of our truck). After our wine tour we headed to Salt Creek Recreation Area, a few miles west of Port Angeles.

Thanks to the local grocery store for the cheap car camping essentials! And thanks to Mother Nature for providing such a beautiful place to party! Fun was had as we explored the sea creatures at low tide, watched a family of otters swim and play, relaxed with the sun set, enjoyed bonfire S'mores, cozied into sleeping bags with a canopy of stars, and got rudely waken up a dozen million times by a trio of raccoons eating through our loot. Good stories, bad animals.

"The Buena Vista" of Seattle. Paulie and Kato fit right into this Seattle scene.

Another great Seattle destination, Golden Gardens. There is no better place to hang out with friends, play games, enjoy tastey beverages, and get your grove on!

"Let's Boogie"!

"Oh Baby"!

I know what you did last summer...

2007-08-25T14:41:00.001-07:00

Fun filled family summer vacation to the East Coast!

The Niecies in New York City, Central Park. ~August 2007~

She's all bagged up! Our commute on the subway was busy busy.

Hello NEW YORK!

Kiddie-Cam. This crumpled license plate photo was taken by a little one. They have such a unique and raw eye for photography.

Like the doggy photo here, New Yorks furry friends. The niecies were so intrigued, I was too.

Hands on learning at the Natural History Museum with Izzy and Uncle Birddog.

Bucket gets techy.

The beatufil pearl, AJ.

Izzy the indoor rock climber.

We brought out our climbing gear to show the nieces one of our hobbies.

They were all jazzed up climbing up the rock wall, but once they reached the top,about 60 feet, they did not want to repel down. I totally know the terror they were experiencing. Luckily for them (and always for me too) Birddog to the rescue. He free climbed up and slowly talked them through the moves to get back down. Ben, Steph, and Birdy's Mom all got to try rock climbing. GREAT JOB EVERYONE! And thanks to Birdy's Dad for finding us a Super Awesome picnic table for lunch!

New Jersey was HOT. We found a sweet piece of heaven at the beach, Asbury Park.

Boogie down time!

We had a super fun time in the ocean, I didn't want to leave. Boogie boarding, body surfing, gaging on salt water, crab digging, relaxing with a cool ocean breeze, a sweet summer salvation!

Seattle to Portland - STP 2007

2007-07-14T12:27:00.000-07:00

Captain America & Birddog

Bits, Red Hot, & The Fire Cracker.

We met up at the U of Washington at 6:30am for the start of our 200 mile long bike ride to Portland Oregon. We weren't alone, there were a total of 9,000 riders including one skateboarder.

Bike on! Portland or Bust! We busted a few times...

1st flat: Captain America, at mile .4

2ndflat: Captain Amercia, at mile 48

3rd flat: Red Hot, at mile 88

During our third tire change I checked in with our support crew, Sweet Mamma & Gamebro, they were in Chehalis setting up the tents for us. What a great feeling it was to pull into camp after biking 109 miles to see our tents up, bottles of cold water, giant bottles of Gatorade, chilled beer, candy bars, chips and our bike team sweaty, hot, tired, hungry, hurt'n, all with smiles from ear to ear. Biking is a good thing, our support crew was a GREAT thing!

Biker Bits shadow art.

Captain America & Bits sharing the road.

Peloton: Captain America leading the way.

Birddog tries to eat the largest egg in the world in Winlock.

"The Bridge" Welcome to Oregon!
not so fast. Birddogs bike broke 12 miles from our finish line in Portland. Bummer. or Not a bummer? McGyverbits to the rescue; electrical tape, twist ties, 2 spare tubes and a tow.

look closely and you'll see the spare tube stretching from my bike, I pulled Birdy 8 miles to the finish line! I did need his help getting up those 2 crazy hills, what up wit the hills Portland?

Tow-tally cool. We had a great welcoming committee at the finish line!

Unbelievable! 200 miles-We Did It!!!! We might even do it again next year. Fire Cracker and Birddog will ride to Portland in One Day! I say why hurry a such a nice ride? Captain America, Red Hot, myself and a few other biker buds will enjoy the 2 day ride, and even sleep in a tent again maybe?!

look here for more STP information from the Cascade Bicycle Club, you can do it too!!!

Flying Wheels Fun

2007-06-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

Enjoy a slide show of the coolest bikers in town!

For more info on the Flying Wheels Summer Century click here.
We rode 67 miles! There was lots of food and water, good company, perfect weather, great scenery, challenging hills, and my wonderful bicycle! Fun Fun- Let's Bike! Next year we'll do the whole 100! (maybe?)

Who Knew?

2007-06-11T12:00:00.001-07:00

54 Mile Loop around Lake Washington, No Sweat!

This is Me and the Bird at mile 20, all smiles. We stopped to throw down an ewey goowey energy gel pack.

This cute little 1 oz. Package is chock full with calories, sodium, potassium, carbs, a bit of sugar, Vitamins C & E, and a smidge of calcium, this one was Tri-Berry. Awesome! They are nasty and just about make me gag, but they have a surprisingly wonderful effect on my body. I’ve tried several flavors and I will keep trying more. I’m glad I don’t like them, otherwise I’d be sucking them down like candy, and I don’t need to be doing that, now do I? They are a nice addition to power bars. Something about having to chew through a full, dry, hearty, thick nut bar doesn’t sit well on a long bike ride. These lil’packs of energy might not taste good to my mouth, but it does a body good.

Birddog likes it. He'll inhale any flavor he can, yum yum, yak.

Our ride was great. We started at about 3pm, biked north on the Birk Gilman trail, hooked over and up Juanita Drive into Kirkland, our old stomping grounds. Strange thing happened in Kirkland too. We were biking along and all of the sudden we were passed by a super speed racer whizzing by us on his bike. It ended up being our friend Seth. He's one of those crazy extreme bikers and FAST! A quick Hello and he was off.
We continued on our route, strange route too, and almost ended up on the 405 highway in Bellevue. Oops, reverse, back on the right path. At about mile 30 I bonked. I wanted to be off my bike and back home already. I was out of water, the fountains at the park we stopped at were all shut off, I choked down a power bar, I was tired, and just drained of energy. I was ticked-pissed and wanted to cry.
Birddog to the rescue, I don't know how he does it, but he makes everything OK. It's his smiles, his silly jokes, and his good attitude toward our adventures. A mile or so later, we came up to the "real" rest stop just as a Spirit of Washington dinner train tooted by. I started waving at the passengers in the rail cars, my arm falalling back and forth, I managed to get a few waves in return. My spirits were lifted and Birdy grabbed my water bottle and dashed to the drinking fountains. I peddled ahead, he will always catch up to me, and feverishly chugged down the precious water when he returned. We continued around the Boeing small plane field, and at about mile 38 I got my second wind, thanks to the flat roads and talking about rock climbing in New Jersey this summer with our little nieces!
The rest of the ride was good. The day was warm, mostly sunny with a few clouds, the headwinds didn't slow us down too much, traffic wasn't terrible, I didn't get any flat tires, I was able to preserver despite my emotional breakdown to our long ride ahead. We went through the I-90 bike tunnel, for me it was the first time, very cool. I kept the mileage count down and before we knew it at mile 52 we were in Pioneer Square downtown Seattle at 7pm.

A good ride I tell ya and Thank Goodness for the Bus Gods, bus #2 saved me from the ride back up to Queen Anne hill.
We'll do the ride again real soon. This time I'll bring more water and more food, not just those delicious gel packs.

Climbing Mt. Erie after the Tulip Festival

2007-04-30T16:46:00.000-07:00

Birdy is enjoying the view of Anacortes from Mt. Erie.

Birddog clipped in hang'n out.

This was the second pitch, there could have been one or two more, but I had to put my foot down and say "let's go back down". It was way too exposed for me to keep climbing. Freeky Deeky. See me clinging to the tree, I was praying that its roots went deep into the rock. I need to work my way up to the level of craziness that rock climbing requires. I'll try again next time.

Photo opp., just before we belay otta here.

Our weekend hosts in La Conner, Aunt Marion and Uncle Sam, did not join us climbing, but they did make sure we ate like "rock" stars. Salmon, baked potatoes and string beans for dinner, apple crumble for dessert. Our choice for breakfast, Me- brown sugar & oatmeal, Birdy- eggs, bacon, & toast. Aunt Marion even packed a sack lunch for us to carry up the mountain, Turkey Pastrami sandwiches with chips. Super lovely wonderful, we can't wait to visit again soon.

Tulip Festival 2007

2007-04-29T16:39:00.000-07:00

Tulip Angel Boy

There were rows and rows...

fields of plenty,

long stemmed ...

and one lonely tulip.

Birddog has a fun slide show of the festival on his blog, click here to check it out. We also went rock climbing, more photos on the slide show.

Love Your Mother

2007-04-22T16:30:00.000-07:00

Mt. Saint Helen's Earth Day 2007

We headed out early early in the morning of Sunday, April 22 to join the Washington Trail Association (WTA) for Earth Day trail maintenance at Mt. St. Helen's.

Look Out- He's Got an Axe! and a shovel and some sheers.

Gett'n Diggy With It!
I enjoyed the demolition of the trail. Swinging my big heavy tools, chopping out solid hunks of soil. I really got in touch with the earth on Earth Day.

After about 1.5 hours of work, we saw progress, but progress in the wrong direction. Birdy and I both felt that our efforts should have been used on different projects. We weren't pleased with the idea of widening the trail, it looked perfectly fine to begin with. The volunteer staff for WTA didn't really know what she was doing, it didn't seem that out of the 20 people out that day no one really knew what was going on.
Lack of planning and direction on their part. Bummer for us, we thought we were going out to do some good, I feel that we sort of did some good by volunteering, but what we actually did was make a nice scenic trail look twice as wide in one small section.
It was our first time with WTA, now we have a better understanding on what should be going into trial maintenance, we'll do better next time.

The most exciting part of our trip was on the way back home. When we jumped into the truck at the trial head parking lot we saw our gas light was on, yup our tank was EMPTY. Earlier in the morning on our way to the mountain I noticed our gas was getting low. Someone decided we didn't need to stop and fill up for gas because he didn't want to be late for the WTA trail safety talk. Always ready for a Birddog adventure.

We had about 25 miles to the nearest gas station, or that's what we thought. Birddog remembered our drive was mostly up hill, so we could just roll all the way back down. Around every corner and every long stretch along the mountain I kept reminding him that I'd be waiting for him in the truck while he walked for gas. We were both nervous. We tried turning off the engine on a big downhill, NOT RECOMMENDED.

We thought we could save some gas fumes, instead the steering wheel got stiff and the brakes barely worked. Forget that idea. At mile 25 our minds lifted, but around the corner was a barn, not a gas station. At least we were near civilization, we could hop on a horse and ride bare back to the Pump'n'Go. I don't know how, but we ended up going about 30 miles after our tank read Empty. I think the Mountain Gods did appreciate our attempts to save the land!

I got two wheels and I pedal hard

2007-04-16T23:00:00.000-07:00

Today my eyes burn, but yesterday was fun.

We went on a Sunday ride to the Redhook Brewery in Woodenville, 46 miles round trip. We tried to make it in time for the beer tour, but we got a little lost on the way and we were 10 minutes late. No biggy, we'll just have to try again. A good excuse to ride is the reward of better beer.

Bits zoom zoom

Birddog glub glub

The Sammamish River trail, and the Burke Gilman trail made this ride easy, well moderately easy, actually very flat, beatiful, wide, popular, and easy. The last 8 miles home made me feel like a Rock Star, or was it a Snail?

scenic photo stop

I wish I could call the Ghost Busters and get my eyeballs Slimed. That cold- wet- gooey- slimy stuff would feel fantastic on my eyes today. Do I need special contacts? different sunglasses? bike goggles? or is that just a nice bike ride for ya?

Fun fun, I'd do it tomorrow, but oh yea I gotta work.

Birdy Birthday Surprise

2007-03-26T23:04:00.000-07:00

I planned a surprise weekend getaway for Birddog's 27th B-day. Skiing, soaking in hot springs, snuggle camping in the back of the truck, cheap food and cheaper wine was my weekend birthday gift for Birddog, all to be enjoyed in the fancy and foreign British Columbia. Oh and not to mention the new pets!
The truck was supposed to be packed and ready to go when I picked him up from work on Saturday night. Oops... so much to do, where did the time go?

We found a baby sitter for the newest members of our family: Shiner, Chubs, and the Red Tail Sisters. I found this large glass at an estate sale and new Birdy had to have fish for his birthday. Its a tragedy and a sad story but out of the 4 fish, only the two Red Tail Sisters are still with us. We are crossing our fingers that these lil wee ones will make it more than one week.

I needed Birdy's help to pack, he is the bestest Get Out Quick packer I know, I couldn't have done it without him. Without giving away too much information on our trip, I said pack for skiing. So as fast as "we" (read I, because I am the pokey one) could, we tossed in our sleeping bags and pads, cross country & telemark skis, poles, books, camp stove, some food, a lantern, warm things and lots of knitting. We've been on a few trips to know what needs to happen and we made it out of the house by 9pm. I drove the whole night

which is most impressive as I barely make it 25 minutes on the road before I start to get sleepy and need a new driver.
Needless to say I did have some help, we got coffees to keep the night going, triple shots mocha and vanilla late. WHOAAAA! can you say HELLO CANADA, I LOVE YOU. We got pulled into immigration. It must have been my good looks or the caffeine twitches in my face, or it could have been the fact that when the Canadian Customs Official asked "do you have any alcohol in the car?" I replied "no. I mean yes, only 3 bottles of beer." I guess I was supposed to remember that beer is alcohol, silly Bits- coffee coffee coffeeeee.

We were interrogated, (not really) they couldn't find any dirt on us good'ol young Americans (yes, I'm still young). I had to make things up when they were asking us where we were going, what were we going to do, where are we going to stay, blah blah blah. I didn't want Birdy to know the "plan".
When I kept telling everyone (all the Canadians) we were going to Hope, they looked at me funny and asked "WHY?" "What are you going to do there?" Really that was a town name that stuck out to me because on the map I was looking at it had the biggest and boldest letters, HOPE. No other reason than all the other town names had 9 or more letters and most likely they had to be smaller and so they didn't stand out on the map. It made it interesting anyway. Either it was a training night for new staff, or they thought we looked familiar from Canadians Most Wanted, it took them forever to do whatever it was they were doing. After roaming around the Immigration office (that had buckets all over the floor catching raindrops from the leaky roof), twiddling our thumbs, flipping through brochures, and using all my good caffeine indoors, they let us go.
After a short while on the road, I had to let Birdy in on the plan, skiing at Manning Park. I couldn't have figured out the roads without him. Signs? What signs? I didn't see a sign. Something about me and driving. I'm a good driver, it just takes me twice as long to get places, I never see the signage??
So we drove and drove trying to find a Provencal Park to pull into and stretch out in the back of our truck.

After driving about 25-30 miles per hour for the last hour and through slushy, snow packed, swervey curvy roads we pulled into Manning Park just after 1am. Sweet! All we had to do was unload the back, roll out our sleeping bags and rest our weary heads. Morning came much to soon. Our alarm clock was exhaust fumes (death) and 4 screeching girls (a rooster would have been better) trying to get their car out of the snow pack. They left, not soon enough, and shortly after the park ranger came. We lucked out, he didn't charge us for sleeping in the parking lot. Our sweet little truckie, 4 wheel drive baby, drove off with out a problem. We skipped out making oatmeal and cowboy coffee and headed to the ski hill.
We were stoked! The day was bright, the snow was white, Birdy's birthday was DINO MITE!
At the chalet we got coffee, ate some cheese sticks (that is the breakfast of Champions, err...I mean ski bums) and strapped on our skis and had some fun.

We were in some awesome pow pow powder for the first half of the day. Sweet skiing. Manning Park is a little place, but barely anyone was out. Tele skiing is not easy, that's why I have the pretty skis, to keep my mind of the difficult stuff. Oh I just take time off, plop back into the snow, prop my skis up, look at the pretty flowers and great bold colors, catch my breath, take pictures, and jump up and get back into the craziness of it all. I love my new skis and boots (Thanks Birdy-xoxox).

A quick lunch in the chalet, well not too quick,I had to knit and take a nap, and then we headed back out to rip it up. We put in a full, fun and hard day on the mountain. We got personally invited back next February for the 2nd ever Manning Park Tele Ski Festival. Sounds fun, we just might make it back, eh?

I wish there were some awesome hot springs pics and stories to share, the only awesome story is that Harrison Hot Springs Sucks. We were looking forward to the therapeutic waters, soaking our tired bodies and relaxing int the hot springs. We quickly turned (ran) away when we found out that the hot springs is a public pool filled with people. It was like the YMCA pool on a family swim night, not what I had in mind. We'll have to stick to the hot springs that require a back pack and a 12 mile hike. So we decided to drive to Vancouver.

Beautiful drive on highway 7. Not having a clue on where to go in the big city, we almost stopped at Denny's for dinner. We found a Boston Pizza, and saddled up with the locals and watched the Chinooks vs Colorado Hockey game. USA -USA, we won. Not that I cared, but I would have liked to be in town when a Canadian team won, maybe next time. And maybe next time we'll go to Denny's, the pizza was ok, but we could have eaten 5 meals at Denny's for the price of our medium pizza. Not feeling the Canadian vibe so much, I drove south, with the Birddog navigator as co-pilot.

We headed out of Canada and back to the U.S.A. pulled into Birch Bay State Park, just south of the border.

We got a good nights rest and even slept through the Ranger dude slipping a "to be paid" ticket under our windshield. $19.00 smackers to sleep in the park. Yikers! It was a decent park, flush toilets and a shower (not that we used it), but not worth the $19 US, I was expecting maybe $9 bucks. I guess I'm a living in the past. So we woke up, packed up, paid up, and hit the road to Bellingham. We had a yummy breakfast Little Cheerful, super great place, good vibes. We went to the Mad Hatter thrift store, nothing there for me this time. Of course we stopped at the LYS (local yarn shop), NW Handspun Yarns, cute shop and super friendly staff and customers! Birdy got some new CD's for his b-day and we jammed out to some Blue Grass, Modest Mouse, and Pantera all the way back to Seattle.

After a little nap and Birdy fixing his bicycle breaks, we biked Downtown to catch a birthday flick. We saw Shooter and Breach. Shooter was good, Breach was so so. It was late and rainy when we got out of the movies, so we hopped on the bus and headed home. We were both exhausted after our 500 mile Birdy Birthday Adventure and happily passed out in our bed.

Fun Fun- I love my Birddog!

Bye Bye Stoney

2007-03-24T11:38:00.000-07:00

Yellowstone was adopted, sniffle sniffle sob sob, but really YEAH! Our 5 weeks with this cutie will be cherished. He was a super cute, friendly, energetic and lovable pup, not to mention he was also great at opening mail. We held out, screened several families and feel that Yellowstone now has the family he truly deserves. If we only had our own yard, he would have been ours!

We will try to hold off on fostering another doggy for a little while. Instead we'll try to do foster doggy sitting. We already have a returning dog, Sam, we'll be taking care of in May while his owners are taking a vacation. Fun Fun BARK BARK ARFF!

Chilly Hilly Ride On - Ride On!

2007-02-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

Great day for a bike ride. Rainy, wet, cold, thousands of bikes, tons of hills... I loved it!
Our friends Joe and Kristy met up at our house at 8am and we biked down to the ferry where we met up with more friends, Emily, Daphne, and Seth. We had a good'ol gang of bikers to encourage each other for the 33 miles ahead of us. The ferry was packed with bikes. I mean packed. It was awesome to see all the people who turned out on such a cold, dreary and wet day.

For the love of bikes, there were thousands of bikes and bikers packed on the ferry. Everyone headed over to Bainbridge Island to participate in the 33rd annual Chilly Hilly bike ride. I was proud to be a part of the event. Biking promotes a healthy lifestyle, a environmentally friendly way to travel and commute, and a community of common interest.

Besides the few crazy people on the ride, everyone was in good spirits. My spirits were almost shattered as I ended up with 3 flat tires. Yes three. I know, bummer for me. Within the first 2 miles I had to pull over and pump, change tubes, apply patches, pump and pump pump pump. Luckily on the third flat I noticed a tiny piece of glass embedded in the tire. Thanks Emily and Birddog for the technical support. After that, it was smooth riding! Well smooth up up up and down down down and up up up. The hills were leg burners. It was GREAT!

After our 4 hour, 33 mile ride a few headed home and the hard core stayed on the island to shop. Yes the wonderful Churchmouse Yarn and Teas and Esther's Fabric shop were hit long and hard by the bikers. We also enjoyed a good rest stop at the Black Bird Bakery-yum!

The day after the ride my neck is sore, my bum is tender and my thighs feel like lead. I can't wait till next year, maybe I will have better luck with only one flat tire!

Waiting for pictures from our photo gurus Seth and Daphne!
Bike on friends- Bike On!

P.S.

Special Thanks to Megan for her amazing bicycle donation last fall. I couldn't have done it without you!

Hello My Name is Yellowstone

2007-02-20T22:23:00.000-08:00

I am a 2 year old Yellow Lab. I might not look like I'm two, but I have the energy of a young pup, don't let my size fool you. This is my trip to Rialto Beach, on the Olympic coast of Washington. We had fun in the wet wet rain.

I got to climb all over logs and run around the beach for hours.

The tide was high, the waves were fierce and I almost got gobbled up by the surf. I'm so fast, that wouldn't happen, I hope!

After the long trip and the fun time at the beach I was happy to relax in the truck... ssshhh beauty rest in action.

Yellowstone, or "Stoney" the wonder Lab, is available for adoption through the Seattle Animal Shelter. He is a good, very good, dog. Sit and Stay are easy for him and he'll be working on some other fantastic skills -tricks- soon. If you like to hike, camp, swim, run and be cuddled, Yellowstone is your boy! click here for a link to Yellowstone's online bio.

Seattle Sundy-Training Day

2007-02-11T18:53:00.000-08:00

We headed out late in the morning from Queen Anne and biked to the Ballard Locks. We were going to the Value Village in North Seattle to look at a couch, someone had gotten there before us, no new couch. After a few rounds at the thrift store we started to head back south for our ride over to West Seattle.

Slow Go-
I got a flat tire, bummer.

I looked across the street and there were flat tires everywhere. What is with the roads today?

Birddog to the rescue!
I am stuck on band aides, cuz band aides saved my day!

We had a nice ride through the Seattle sculpture garden. There were tons of people out on this beautiful Sunday! We even saw a giant rainbow!

We made it to West Seattle and stopped over at Sam's house to see Broham and their new Frasselpants, 6 month old ferret.
We actually biked to Alki Beach and couldn't move another muscle. Broham picked us up and was our hero as he drove us home too! It was raining and even though I wanted to complete the training circuit for today, I totally appreciated the ride. Thanks for the ride Sam-Bro!

Our distance traveled today= 26 miles. Click here and look for the Neighborhood Names of our bike ride, Queen Anne- central left side of map, to Ballard- North of Queen Anne, to Green Wood- (value village) top of map, and then down to Alki- West Seattle lower left .

We are training for the Chilly Hilly on Sunday, Feb 25. It's a 33 mile ride around Bainbridge Island. Sweet-Sweet. My butt is sore. My legs feel like jelly noodle butter. My shoulders are tweaked, my back is tight, but it was worth the distance. Riding around with Birdy is a true adventure. If I only had my camera out when he took a head dive over his handle bars and missed a rock wall by one inch. He walked away with his handle bars sideways, his bike light blinking and a bloody scratch on his palm- Tough guy.

Anyone want to join the Chilly Hilly? It'll be all fun and games with this crew! See ya there!

Bye Bye Lil'Buddy

2007-02-05T19:21:00.000-08:00

My Knitting Buddy, foster doggy Sam, was adopted last week!

He was the best dog yet! Super cute, cuddly and will be loved by a new family in Seattle.
For more information on nice dogs like Sam looking for a home, visit Seattle Animal Shelter. There are big eyes and soft hearts who need you!

Can You FEEL the Magic?

2007-01-21T20:41:00.000-08:00

Scuba Girl- AJ

Bucket Head-Kennedy

Sweet Lips- Izzy

OH Mickey You're so Fine, You're so fine you blow my mind, Hey Mickey! Hey Mickey!

The Disney vacation was a Christmas gift from the Real Mickey Mouse, Birdy's dad.

This gang was trouble...

You can see the trouble running through these minds. Birdy's Brothers- TJ and Ben, The Nieces-AJ, Kennedy, & Izzy

Disney World 2007
A crazy fun filled 6 days of Mickey and his pals. When the Griggs do Disney, the Griggs do Disney RIGHT!
The Disney Polynesian Resort was the best place for our group of 10.

The Le Cirque du Soleil was my all time favorite! I couldn't believe I was there, in person, watching it with my very own eyes. The music was exquisite. The physical talent was astounding. And the colorful dramatic performance put together brought tears to my eyes. FANTASTIC! I just hope to find myself at another performance this lifetime.

We also visited Disney's Magic Kingdom, Epcot, MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom. How did we fit it all into one week, I don't remember?
Birddogs dad, Big Bird- just kidding- Curt, has been planning this fabulous family vacation for over one year. Birdy's mom- Sweety Bird- just kidding- Chari, was our tour director. She made sure we saw all the Disney princess and made it on all the best rides (4 times on the Mount Everest Roller coaster, 3 times on Space mountain and 2 times on Rock'n Roller and the Tower of Terror-Sweet!)

It rained, but not on our Parade! We found Mickey Ponchos to keep us dry and kept on stomping through the wonderful world of Disney!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PETUNA ROSE!

2007-01-14T19:39:00.000-08:00

Our friend Mputela turned 39! Check out his Disco Party Shirt- Sweet!
The party people from left to right: Christine, Joe, Kristy, Mputela, Birddog and Bits.

we had a bowling extravaganza in his honor

The cake was chocolate chocolate delicious yum!
The hand knit hat was thick thick warm, too big oops!

Mr. Birthday Boy was a show off with all his Strikes. I made up a secrete hand shake for his knock downs!

Getting off to a Yummy 2007!

2007-01-01T14:00:00.000-08:00

Birdy made me french toast for breakfast and....

he's making apple pie for second breakfast!

last night he made beef stew in the crock pot, silly me forgot to capture the scrumptious tender yum yum on camera.

Happy New Year 2007!

2007-01-01T12:41:00.000-08:00

Ka-Bang! HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Is 2007 going to be just as fun?

Who are they?

Total explotion on the Space Needle

New Years in Seattle!
Goodbye 2006
Hello 2007!!!!

Orcas Island Christmas 2006

2006-12-25T11:41:00.000-08:00

Birdy, Bits, RB, Timo- Thank you Santa!

Whirlwind of lights, Timo sets the stage for the holiday festival.

Uncle Sam and Aunt Marion- Merry Christmas!

The Christmas Gang!
Uncle Sam, Timo, Dave, Birdy
Bits, RB, Auntie Becky, K-Mom, Aunt Marion
WE had fun, we had food, we danced, we sang, sat and laughed.
Thank you Mom for a wonderful holiday!
Merry Christmas!

Christmas Splendor

2006-12-24T14:17:00.000-08:00

Our Deer Harbor holiday house was perfect. It matched my moms style to a T. It was Big, Spacious, Clean, Contemporary with a slight cabin touch of perfection. She was happy and we were even happier. We had a fridge filled with food and another fridge filled with beer and champagne. We had a hot tub, ping pong table, fireplace, stereo system that channeled into every room, cozy couches and chairs to relax and lounge in, and a stunning view from dusk till dawn!

Hello My Name is Sam!

2006-12-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

This is Sam, a 5 year old Labrador/German Shepherd mix. He is so sweet, cute, and a well behaved quiet guy. He is our current foster doggie that is looking for a forever home. We are giving him a break from the Seattle Animal Shelter, he's been there for one month, much too long. It's taking him a little bit to warm up to the camera, so keep checking back for Sam's photo portfolio.

He likes to gaze out the window checking out the happenings in town.

And he REALLY likes tummy rubs. Oooohhh feels so good, Thank You!

To read more about Sam check out his bio on Pet Finder, he might be the perfect pet for you!

Hold on Tight

2006-12-05T14:30:00.000-08:00


a quick ride on an auto-rickshaw through India. October 2006

A Trekking We Will Go...

2006-11-29T02:39:00.000-08:00

Our trek started out at 4:30 am November 9, 2006. We woke up, packed, had breakfast and left our hotel by 5 am. We drove through the dark streets of Kathmandu, rolling past only a few people as they were early risers on their way to pray, to work and to who knows where so darn early.
At about 5:15 we arrived at the airport, still dark and quite chilly. We waited over an hour for our "guide" to show up. Not knowing if we were going to trek it alone or what, we checked our luggage through and proceeded into the terminal. Preparing ourselves for the unknown, we decided that we could make it work if our guide ditches us. Just as our plane was scheduled to take off at 6:30, our guide waltzes over to us like he's been waiting for us the whole time- whatever.
As it turns out we didn't depart until 9:00 am, the runway was socked in with clouds and fog. As soon as the pilots got permission to fly, we stuffed cotton balls in our ears and we were up up and away with Agni Airlines! The tiny 15 passenger airplane was quite a thrill. We didn't fly high enough for the cabin to be pressurized, the view was amazing. At times I thought the wing was going to hit the mountains.

We landed in Lukla on the most unique airstrip- not only was it tiny, it was slanted upward to help the plane slow down.

We started trekking after a quick cup of tea. The sidewalks and trails were full of trekkers, yaks, porters, dogs, more yaks and more trekkers. We definitely were not alone on this trip.

Our first day, maybe 3 miles, from Lukla (2886 meters) to Phakding (2640 meters) was nice and easy- down hill. We crossed several rivers on bridges some new and some not so new- they were all wobbly and very very high.

We slept at the Namaste Lodge- basically a shanty hotel with cardboard box like rooms.
And little did I know, it was going to be the last "western" style toilet I'd see for many many days.

Nepal

2006-11-27T14:03:00.000-08:00

Goyko, Nepal- 4750 meters high.

Lake Dudh Pokhari in Goyko. The water looked tropical, but it sure didn't feel like it. Cha Cha coldie.

Yak Yak Yak- check out the crazy horns!

My best bud- Portermon. He carried my bag for 11 days, I love him!!!

This little man is the one and only Birddog- King of Adventures!
Gokyo

gotta run to the Seahawks vs. Packers football game - Monday Night Football Baby! YEAH!!!!
more on Nepal later

Last Day in India

2006-11-25T08:09:00.000-08:00

This was actually our second day in India, but I couldn't get any other pictures online.

We'll be home Sunday, November 26 about 4pm. More pictures and stories soon!!!
xoxo
b

Nepal Trek

2006-11-08T08:26:00.000-08:00

Namaste!

I have a quick second before the computer room closes

We are headed on our trek tomorrow (Nov 9) morning with Sherpa Trekking Service in Kathmandu, Nepal www.sts.com.np

we are doing the Gokyo trek (close to Everest region- I think?) through Nov 22
for you map junkies....
we will fly to Lukla
trek to Phakding on the first day
Nov 10- Namache
Nov 11- Namache Bazaar rest day
Nov 12- Trek to Dole
Nov 13- trek to Machhermo
Nov 14- Trek to Gokyo
Nov 15- Gokyo rest day, explore
Nov 16- Trek to Dole
Nov 17 Trek to Phortse
Nov 18- Trek to Tengboche
Nov 19- Trek to Namche
Nov 20- Trek to Phakding
Nov 21 Trek to Lukla
Nov 22 Lukla flight to Kathmandu

we are staying in a very nice hotel Tibet Guest House

Kyle and I both got a little sicky yesterday. Let's just say we are very familiar with where the bathrooms are.
I think the fresh Nepal mountain air will clear us right up.
more later
Namaste!

India's new nickname= SLOW

2006-11-01T08:13:00.000-08:00

Monkey see, Monkey do

the pace and progress in this large country is at a different pace than I'm used to.
even the internet, and food, and everything except the driving-HONK HONK!

We woke up at 5:45am and got out the door at 6am to trek up a 800ft hill to Sirvati Temple. The streets were busy with people going one way and another to different temples to chant and pray. Our hike up was peaceful and we made it to the top to watch the sunrise. Beatuful. And full of monkeys.

more sooner

check out Birddog Adventures blog - sweet!

Good Morning Sunshine! Pushkar, Rajasthan India 1/Nov/2006

Open Up and Say India

2006-10-31T01:08:00.000-08:00

We just finished our two-night three-day camel safari in the desert of Rajasthan India. It was awesome. We each took turns riding a camel and being pulled on the back of a cart pulled by a camel. We had a cook, a young man (18 yrs) spoke a tiny bit of English and a desert camel man (about 60 yrs old) who old who spoke no English. We slept under the stars and moon on the sand with dogs and dung beetles. We ate traditional Indian cuisine cooked over a small fire, mostly veggies and chapatti. We drank Indian tea-black tea, fresh cow milk and lots of sugar.
On our travels we were invited into a few village homes. One house (hut) was made from cow dung and sand, very solid structure with thatch rooftops. The women made us a drink called Lassi- partially churned cow milk, sort of like a yogurt, very fresh and tart a little scary, but I’m still feeling great.

The desert safari was a nice change of pace from the busy cities. Even the smaller towns are busy with motorcycles, auto rickshaws, camels, cows, dogs and tons of people.

We are now in Pushkar at the camel festival. Another busy busy place. We are staying at the most wonderful hotel called 7th Heaven (not cheesy like the t.v. show). Very nice and peaceful, with wonderful views. We saw monkeys this morning.

India is big and there is so much to explore. The computers are slow, I’ll try to get more on later.
India Rules!

look at Kyle's blog for more travel photos

Oooh La La!

2006-10-20T08:05:00.000-07:00

this was our room in Paris. Hot butt kyle was checking out the view of the Eiffel tower from our window. Tiny hotel, but it was ok.

Look Out Seattle- Amy's Here!

2006-09-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

My step-sister Amy arrived in Seattle on Wednesday. She flew from China to Japan to San Fransisco and finally Seattle. Not knowing what she looked like I made a sign and took it to the airport. I didn't know if she spoke English or if she even read English so I took a crash course online and made a translation just incase. I found out her Chinese name is Jinhua and her American name is Amy.

She fits right in here in Seattle. Her English is very good. We found this Chinese influence at a bus stop and she translated it for me. She is teaching us Chinese too, we need to practice - a lot.

We took a quick walk down on the pier. Beautiful night for Fish n Chips and a latte.

Amy knew this place, even China has Starbucks.

We are so lucky to have finally met our newest addion to the family. Amy is learning how Americans make breakfast- cereal, and in return she is teaching me Chinese cooking- "real cooked food".

Weekend What Nots

2006-09-24T12:52:00.000-07:00

Sad Day, Bird-dog had to give up his sewing machine. Our neighbor asked for it back. She was kind enough to let us borrow it for several months. In that time, I made a few hats and two skirts and Kyle had made himself a backpack, me mittens, he hemmed many of my pants, and he finished one pack for me.

Yeah! Good job Birdy! This is the day pack he made for me. We got home from work at about 1:30am on Sunday morning and he stayed up to finish before he had to give the machine back. Thanks Sweetie. We'll be looking for a new/used sewing machine soon so that he can keep producing his wonderful creations.

We found an Estate Sale on Saturday and picked out a few nice additions to our tiny apartment.
Here he is lounging in our new bed. He is anxious for a sweater that fits and functions, he's ripp'n out an old sweater I made him in Alaska. If he was only 100 pounds heavier it might have fit. So we'll see what I whip up this time, at least I know what a pattern is now!

Another Estate Sale Beauty. Too bad my house is so small. It will have to wait until we move, someday in the future, or not.

Also this is the yarn ready to have a big DO-OVER.

goodness gracious great big ball of yarn.

Crafty Kids

2006-09-20T15:27:00.000-07:00

A few nights ago Emily came over and we did what we do best, Knit.

Maxing Relaxing working on my Manos Shrug. Brianna, the foster doggie was hanging out with us too, she's awesome! Do you want to adopt her?

This is my hunka hunka love making me a backpack for India.

Well hello there Miss Thang! Emily is working on a super cabley cute sweater for her cousins baby.

She Knits - She Scores! yea-hoo! a finished project.
Manos del Uruguay Wool, lovey lovey LOVE IT!
Shrugs are still super strange, but they make my arms cozy warm!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TIMO!

2006-09-13T16:10:00.000-07:00

My big brother Tim came over for his birthday dinner!

Super styling birthday cake, Lil'Cuties soy mint ice-cream sandwich, 3 big tall candles for the 33 year old. Brianna wanted some b-day fun too!

We're all smiles after the tasty dinner I made for my broham. Bacon wrapped scallops, grilled swordfish, roasted asparagus and mushrooms, brown rice, a giant organic salad, and rosemary bread with artichoke-spinach dip.

Say CHEESE~
I love you bro!

Happy Birthday RB!

2006-08-27T12:03:00.000-07:00

Happy 28th Birthday lil' Sis!
Birthday Morning at Hyas Lake

My sister, RLA, came to Seattle to celebrate her birthday burly style- a 3 day backpacking trip to Hyas Lake in Central Washington.

"Oh a hiking we will go!"

Rbinator in the Mountains!

We hiked and we hiked and made it to beautiful Tuck Lake for lunch and had a wonderful day exploring the area.

Bits, Bird-dog, RB and Brianna the wonder dog at Hyas Lake.

The Gang's All Here! Family b-day party for RB-1. Bird-dog w/Brianna, Rla, Timo, King John, Cuz Lo, & Bits.

Hip Hop hurray It's Her Birthday! Laura made a wonderful chocolate cake, YUM.

Take Me Home

2006-08-12T11:33:00.000-07:00

Say hello to Brianna, a 4 year old Boxer mix breed.

She's available for adoption from the Seattle Animal Shelter

She is very well trained.

She enjoys the comforts of home: lounging around on the couch & cuddling in bed. She does know better and will quickly jump down when told to.

She is a great fetcher and loves to play tug of war.

Brianna is attentive, active, house broken, affectionate and wants to be a part of your life! She is up to date on her shots and she is spayed.
Currently, Brianna is in a foster home staying with me and Bird-dog in Queen Anne.
Contact the Seattle Animal Shelter for information on adoption.

Wanna go for a walk!

Worms Eat My Garbage!

2006-08-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Karen, a friend at the Yarn Barn, gave me her old -apartment size-worm composting bin. Her enthusiastic approach in explaining and handling the worms got me very excited to try it out.

It is quite small. I was expecting something large, stinky and grotesque.
As it turns out the bin is kinda cute and I think I saw baby worms already. They will eat our left over waste from fruits and vegies, and turn it into nutrient rich compost soil for my plants!

I still have not gotten the courage to actually touch the stuff.
Keep trying, it's only a worm.

Thanks lil'wormies for reducing my garbage waste and making me wonderful soil!

NO fuss, NO Muss. I'll keep posting on how it's all going. So far so good!
Check this our for some more info on Worm Composting.

The Wedding, My Dad and Step-Mom!

2006-07-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

David & Sui Ru Seberson, July 11, 2006

Cutting the cake, the Chinese words say " Double Happiness"

The Newly Weds! Reception at Uncle Chucks & Aunt Sherry's house in Albert Lea, MN.

A Feast! Sui Ru cooked a wonderful dinner.
Delicious, authentic, healthy and "Real" Chinese food!
YUMMY.

Yes, I can work the chop sticks. Tricky fingers!

Chinese dessert, Watermelon. Traditionally Chinese have fresh fruit for dessert. YUM.

Truck Camping 101

2006-07-06T18:41:00.000-07:00

We headed out of town for July 4th, 2006.

Monday night we "loaded" our truck with the essentials and drove to Leavenworth, WA- about 2.5 hours east of Seattle. We arrived at this sweet camp site just after midnight and set up our tent in the cool darkness of the woods. This is always one of my favorite things about camping, waking up the next morning being able to actually see where you ended up.

This time the night was a little more than we anticipated. After filling our tent with sleeping bags and pillows (gotta love car camping!) we fell asleep... almost. There was a crazy storm brewing in those mountains. Bone crushing thunder and alien like lightning surrounded us. The thunder was so loud we were sure the mountains were crumbling. The lightning was so bright and scary we thought aliens were zapping the ground for specimens. Being too tired to move, but to scared sleep our first night was a little restless.

Night #2, slept much better.
Purple lounge chairs (I love car camping!) boat drinks, a bottle of wine, Phase 10 and popcorn (thanks Aunt Dawn!)
We slowly built a warm cozy fire that almost got out of control. Not really, that's Kyle's trick photography, sweet.

The popcorn maker had it's first night out!

YUM!

Rock'n 4th

2006-07-04T18:25:00.000-07:00

Get a day off- and off we go!

Gear-dog, Safety First.

Kyle lead climbing, tricky crack.

YES! I made it!

What goes up must come down.
Rappeling off the climb, yikes, I love it!

The Face

2006-07-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Game Works

2006-06-30T22:07:00.000-07:00

TJ showed us his Game Power at Game Works in Seattle

Bird-dog and Bits virtual fight, of course I won!

Switch stance brothers face of Street style skating.

Chari chomps away at the ghosts.

Puget Sound Sailing

2006-06-29T16:03:00.000-07:00

Smooth Sailing in Seattle's Puget Sound

Our 2 hour tour was calm, beautiful, and relaxing.
We enjoyed a Chardonnay and Merlot from the Columbia Winery
and a cheese party pack from QFC!

Stellaronni!

The Spirit of Washington

2006-06-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Kyle, TJ, Chari, Curt and Betsy went on a tipsy train ride from Renton to Woodenville's Columbia Winery.

Chari and Kyle, toot toot!
Curt and Kyle love the train!

Chari enjoys a few barrels of wine.

Smiley Happy Faces, the train ride was fun!

Louis Little Bus Ride

2006-06-26T09:48:00.000-07:00

Monday morning walk down to lower Queen Anne. Easy ride back up Queen Anne Hill, bus #2-Thank YOU.

Louis was a favorite of everyone in town.

Where did they get those cheap sunglasses?

Mt. Baring, Washington 6125 feet

2006-06-11T11:36:00.000-07:00

Bird-dog & Bits Sunday Hike
the summit!

6 hours up, up, and up-
Kyle Kicking steps!

Birds eye view on top of the world!

Here I am boot skiing down the mountain, all of the sudden I wipe out and slide uncontrollably down hill. Frantically I tried to dig my pole into the snow and jam my boots in... Finally I self arrest and saved myself! Wowzer.

3 hours down-down-down
Vegie Belay!

Dread Knatty Dread Doll

2006-05-17T15:46:00.000-07:00

It's Finally Here!
Knit Your Very Own Dready Doll

Make a Knitty Bits Betsy Doll for yourself or loved ones.

Sweet Sweet
Knit On!

Happy Easter

2006-04-16T17:11:00.000-07:00

Easter day! Adventure Style

Frisbee Golf at Lake Stevens

This is Tim surfing through a bog and finding my frisbee.

Bowling at the Garage-Let's go Turkey!

Indoor rock climbing at Stone Gardens!

Emma Rose Orthel

2006-03-29T00:07:00.000-08:00

Little Miss Early Bird arrived on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 9:30pm

6 weeks early

Angie and her daughter, 20 hours old.

Bird Dog's Big Birthday Adventure

2006-03-28T10:51:00.000-08:00

Kyle and coffee at Alice Lake
Squamish, B.C Canada

Bouldering Birthday Boy Birdy
"Sugar Cube" bagged it!

Sweet Skiing at Whistler

Tyroleon Traverse, Bits dangles across Green River!

Laughing Crack 5.7, Lead Climbed by Kyle

Bits finds an easy way up, but couldn't get down, too scary.

Camping in Alice Lake Provincial Park
gotta love the tent toots!

Happy Birthday Birdy

2006-03-26T12:04:00.000-08:00

~March 26, 2006~
Kyle's Golden Birthday, 26 years old!

Knitty Bits

2006-03-18T22:10:00.000-08:00

created for Baby-G Orthel

Grandam's In Town 3/12/06

2006-03-18T21:43:00.000-08:00

Uh Oh, Grandma broke her foot. Don't worry, Knitty Bits to the rescue!. Now her lil' toes will be nice and warm: )

Sunny Day Stroll

Washington Family

2006-03-08T13:59:00.000-08:00

March 2006

My Grandma came to town. She's staying in Tacoma with my Aunt & Uncle and cousins.
In the picture: Grandma (Gloria), lil'cousin (Olivia), brother (Tim), and me (Bits).
We went on a nice walk, I taught some knitting, we played DDR and cribbage, and had a wonderful potato bar and fruit salad for dinner.

More family fun next Sunday.

New Years 2006 White Pass, Washington

2006-03-07T17:20:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 31, 2005 -
Wednesday, January 4, 2006

beautiful white, silent delight, solitude blissful, nippy chills, wondering-not lost,

falling down-skis off,

snow snow let it snow, see ya next year!

-birddog & bits

Rottie and Hottie

2006-03-07T13:39:00.000-08:00

Here goes round two!
Let's see if I can put up a picture of my best bud Birddog and Hannah bobanna.

Let's Go Fly a Kite

2006-03-06T10:22:00.000-08:00

Kite Festival Long Beach Washington 2005

Yummy

2006-03-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

girl scout cookies are good,
Thank You Katie

Friday, March 3, 2006 Blog Day

2006-03-03T13:32:00.000-08:00

Today starts the Betsy Blog.
Yes, you got it, a blog for Bits!

Keep you're eyes on Betsy Blog, it shall take it's shape soon!!!

Happy Knitting
dread natty dread
-b