Thursday, February 27, 2014

An Interesting Night at St. James

Last night we had a dress rehearsal. Tonight we have a dress rehearsal with audience.
Music  was great but the placement of people, places and things still needs work.
It reminded me of patches ready for a crazy quilt. Not sure what goes where and such.
If I hadn't been in Great Music before I may be concerned, but somehow, with the work of many people, it comes together and is great.
The added plus was a special guest, a homeless man sleeping in the back pew. He was snoring peacefully as though the church was a quiet haven. Music soothes the mind and soul.
Hope he went to the soup kitchen this morning for breakfast.

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Spring Blooms





Time to prepare the table

The weather was mild this afternoon so I decided to work outside for a bit.
As I was cutting off the dry stems I realized that I was preparing the table for the deer who would devour the new shoots as soon as they were beautiful.
The Hellebores are already in beautiful bloom.  The deer don't bother with Hellebores.
Euphorbia is another story. As I cut them back, I realized it would be for naught.
I was only able to fill one wheelbarrow. Maybe next time I'll manage two.
Walking around the yard I spotted flat spaces under the trees that looked inhabited.
I would love to have cameras placed in the yard to see what goes on at night. I'm sure we would see wild life that we don't see during the day. I guess I should respect their privacy.
 


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Happy Birthday John..February 21

It seems like only yesterday!  Or was it 52 years ago?   Whatever, it was a happy day!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Apology Accepted

Today before practice I managed to explain the situation with our truck last Thursday.
I apologized for being rude and had some unexpected results. Chuck sighed and kissed my hand.
Several commented that I wasn't rude. So it's as I always say but don't always follow, worry is a waste of time.
I must admit that the person whose car was near my truck looked at me in a rather scary way. I think she has decided never to park anywhere near me.

Friday, February 14, 2014

A Moment to Remember..A lesson learned.

Last night after our Great Music practice I scurried off to the truck so I could get home in time for my favorite program "Elementary".
As I backed out of the parking place and turned the truck to head out of there, I found that I hadn't backed out far enough. So I put the car in gear let off the clutch and realized I was going forward. I tried again and decided I was way too close to Emmys car to try again. So, I stopped and asked her if she could drive around.  She has a bug so it looked as if she had room. "Don't hit my car", she said. I told her I wouldn't hit her car , that is why I was stopped. I explained that I was having trouble getting the clutch into reverse. So as Emmy valiantly attempted to drive out of her spot, people started appearing at my window asking if I needed help, " Are you stuck? " Is there something wrong" People are wondering?"  By this time I was irritated with the situation and showed another side of my otherwise perfect demeanor!  " I know what I'm doing!"   My answer to the" people are wondering" comment was, " Let them wonder"!   How rude. Shame on me. They were only trying to help.

Not than any of them look at my blog, still I feel compelled to apologize to Emmy, Chuck, Michelle and all the drivers whose way I had blocked.
Sorry people.
The ending is happy. Emmy drove  around, no damage was done to her car, only to my ego.

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Soccer Memories

This morning Joe and I watched a movie called "Soccer Dog".  It reminded me of my father who loved soccer. He played what they called semi-pro. I know he wasn't paid but they were sponsored by local businesses. He lived in Georgetown. I remember one team was called Georgetown Merchants.  I found an old soccer shirt with Rosaia  Brothers Florists so he must have played for them as well. The Georgetown Merchant Team won the Seattle Soccer Championship for the  1928-29 season. In those days this was a big deal.
 This was before I was born but he played for many years after that as I remember being with him at a game or practice. I recall climbing up and down the seats.
Not exactly the Olympics or Super Bowl but still a good memory.

 
John Torlai (my Dad) is in the front row of players, 4th. from the left.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

The MacKenzie Tree House

A friend of mine just sent  photos of Engineering Marvels. Among the photos, there is a tree house by Pete Nelson. His name was not on it but I recognized it from his Tree Masters show. Why is this of interest to me?
Years ago, our son John and his friend Pete, were trying to make a living building play houses and tree houses.
KIRO wanted to film the building of  one. It was scheduled for a job they were doing in Mercer Island.
After a storm, the family backed out...so John called to see if we would let them build one on our property. After much thought ( I was afraid it would ruin  the trees) and persuasion, we gave permission, and KIRO was here with a film crew.
 It has given us much pleasure over the years. We have a guest book signed by anyone who climbed the ladder to the tree house.
John helped Pete build several  but decided to go a different route. Pete stayed with his dream
and is still building ...You can hardly call them tree houses, but technically, I guess you can.

His show Tree Masters is on the discovery channel. Pete travels all over the world building all varieties of tree houses. There is one that has a sauna. Whatever people want he builds.
I am posting a photo of our humble tree house.
If you would like to see Pete in action with his team watch Tree Masters. It is an interesting show.
He lives in Fall city with his family. They have built many on their property which you can rent for
a wedding, a vacation.

Our son John is wearing suspenders. This is not the team for our  tree house but a more elaborate
dream of Pete and his customer.

I wasn't sure I had the permission to reveal this wonderful news. But it was brought to my attention.
One of our Grandsons was conceived in the tree house. I hope he doesn't read this!



 This is ours!