Oktoberfest in September

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There's a pretty cool place near us called the Rexville Grocery.
They often have events such as wine, cheese or beer tastings featuring local producers.

Last weekend, they put on an Oktoberfest, just a little bit early.

They had the requisite band.


and food....

and beer, of course (tragically unphotographed).







Hey - who is that serving the beer?


Indeed, it is DanA MacDonald.
Step out from behind the counter so I can get a better photo, please.



























The event drew the young.......






























And those who were once young......




That couple danced more than anyone else there.

And it was the best bratwurst I've had in a long time.
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Lopez Island

A weekend of predicted clouds and showers turned out to be rather nice instead.
Seizing the opportunity, we set out to Anacortes and boarded the official Reading Family ferry.



We wanted to finally make it over to Lopez Island for the 14th Lopez Island Studio Tour.
This year, 25 artists opened their studios and displayed the works to anyone who made the tour.

We hit at least 18 of them and possibly more.

Some favorites were:

Christa Malay

Her studio was spare but beautifully situated with one of may ponds we would see this day.

What may have been Lydia's favorite was a stop at Cross Bywater Studio, a lovely home on the water featuring two artists. I managed to photograph the view from their deck.


Mary Bywater Cross is a quilter with a unique perspective, along with an ability to use wool as her quilting material.

Barbara Nepom does contemporary wall quilts.


My favorites were:

Steven Hill who has a national reputation and has shown in NYC several times. He travels to Italy, Croatia and France for two months each year to paint.

and David Svilar, a young photographer.
We bought this photo, which was taken at Agate Beach at the southernmost part of the island.


But the most interesting part of the visit to his studio was what I spotted in the living room.


Yes!! The identical rocker that we bought on the East Coast in the early 1970's!! I pointed it out to Lydia and headed over to David Svilar to ask if I could photograph it. Of course, Lydia said "I nursed four babies in an identical rocker!" David said that his mother had mentioned to him that she had nursed HIM in that very rocker. It turns out that the house we were in belonged to his parents, who were in the next room. Lydia and his mother had a grand conversation about rockers and babies nursed in them.

There were many other studios that we visited that you can use the link to peruse.

At the suggestions of David Svilar, we decided to drive down to Agate Beach to see what we could see.

On the way, I saw a sign that made me think we were lost.


As it turned out, we were NOT on the Main Line and were indeed headed in the right direction.







































Lydia went searching for agate.




































Alas, "Agate Beach" did not live up to its name. At least not for us. We did run into a woman who had some small success.

It's a great spot nonetheless.




We found a nice place to sit outside with a glass of Madeleine Angevine from Lopez Island Vineyards and some fish and chips.


The sun went down, the clouds moved in and jackets and fleece were required.
But we had squeezed out every last drop of sunshine from the day and headed home happy indeed.
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An Even Better Sunset

And we didn't have to travel for this one.

Right from our own deck.

Deck, Interrupted

OK, I know we started the deck and never finished and many of you have waited without breathing for an update.

Please exhale.

There was much to do.

First, the deck needed to be cleaned. But, before it could be cleaned it needed to be washed.

Make sense?


So Lydia washed and prepped so that we could apply the deck cleaner.


Steph stopped by to "help".


While I did the tedious brush work (steps and edges), Lydia rolled along with the easy part.



We were going great, but then......


...the rains came.

Also, we had "painted ourselves into a corner".


Always wondered where that expression came from......

So we had to wait for another, sunny day.

And that day was today.








And after all these exciting things, it is time to rest.

Except for David, who is always looking for the next project.




Gutters cleaned, front and back.
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Chasing Sunset

Summer is nearly over and the days seem noticeably shorter one by one.
The sun was descending quickly tonight and it was just too lovely to watch from home.
The only thing to do was to pack a picnic with some sandwiches, chips, cheese and wine and head up to Chuckanut Drive to watch the show.

The sun was perilously low when we finally arrived at our spot.


The reflected light on the madrona trees is always special to me.


I never get tired of the view from here.


We settled down with our bounty and watched the show.



It did not disappoint......