Skywatch Friday - Sunset

Had some really beautiful sunsets lately and I am really loving the sight of them framed by all the tall trees. Unfortunately they are taken with my cellphone camera, which tends to be a little frustrating as it is rather limited. I so need a decent camera!! :-)

Go to SKYWATCH for views of the sky from all over the world !

Camera Critters - Young Mandy

Meet my other baby ... my 10 pound, Italian Greyhound/Jack Russell Terrier minx. She is also affectionately known as the 'California Diva Dog' and she has the personality to match :-)

She can be found, almost every evening, anxiously peering out the window, waiting for Daddy to come home from work. She seems to be able to sense when he should be arriving ..

Ok, Mum ...enough with poking that thing in my face...I'm trying to sleep here!!!!

You Speak English, I Speak English ...with a different accent..

I have come to the conclusion that Americans, when listening to me speak, do not listen for context. If they did, then surely they would understand what I was trying to say, as we all speak the English language, correct ?

Apparently though, that is not the case, as I have this pesky thing called an accent. It makes my vowels sound a little different. I causes frustrating conversations like this, which took place in a local store around Christmas time...

Me ..... 'Hi, do you have any cake tins?'
Them ..'Sorry, what is it you are looking for?'
Me ..... ' A cake tin for keeping a cake in.'

(At this point, if they were listening for context one would think they would have understood that I wanted a tin to keep a cake in. But no..)

Them ..'I'm sorry, I don't know what a cake ten is!'
Me ......'I don't want a cake ten ... I want a cake tin, one that has a lid and I can keep my Christmas cake in.'
Them ..'Could you spell it please'
Me ......'T_I_N !'
Them ..'Oh, you mean tins..yes, they are over there.'

ARGHHHHHHH !!!

Then there was the time I went looking for a tin to cook my cake in. I did remember that here in the US, they are called 'cake pans'. Simple, right? Noooooooo ...because when I inquired where the cake pans were in, I was directed to the aisle that had the gel pens that you could use to decorate cakes with. Apparently they heard 'Cake Pen'...

I need to do another post on having my English corrected and being told that since I am in America I need to speak American...LOL

Monday Mellow Yellows - Garden Yellow

Now that I am back to blogging, I was really excited to see that one of my favourite memes, has been continued :-)Thank you Gemma !! Monday is certainly brighter with a bit of yellow :-)

Morning harvest of yellow tomatoes, squash and pepper, from my garden. This growing year, in my part of WA, we have had lots of sun and only a little rain, so it's been a good year for tomatoes. I swear the darn things are procreating overnight, like rabbits, as this is my usual morning yield of yellows, plus the same of reds. Keeping busy freezing and preserving :-)

MONDAY MELLOW YELLOWS

Camera Critters - Water Fun

Been a couple of years since I posted to Camera Critters, so glad to see it hasn't disappeared :-) Misty , our Lab/Blue Heeler cross, has been convinced for ages, that immersing herself in water is a VERY BAD THING !!! No amount of gentle persuasion on our part was going to change her mind. It was definitely a case of 'If us dogs were meant to swim, then we would have been given gills and webbed feet', as far as she was concerned. That was until we moved up to WA and took her to one of the salt water inlet parks in Olympia. The pictures say it better than words do :-)

Happy puppy = water + big stick + Mum & Dad getting exhausted throwing it :-) Also Saturday Critters

Skywatch - Life in WA

Moved up to Washington State just over a year ago. Feels very much like I moved home to New Zealand. I love the green, the trees and YES, even the rain !! It's lovely to have four distinct seasons again. Sure we do have more than our share of rainy and cloudy days, however it gives you an appreciation of the sun, when it decides to appear. Despite what many will tell you, the sun does makes it's appearance quite frequently :-) I love this time of the year, early Autumn, when you wake up to a foggy landscape, however by midmorning it has burnt off to reveal blue skies and soft sunshine. I need to get my SLR sorted out, because there are pictures just aching to be taken!!!

A little church in the small town of Roy, just a couple of miles from where I live. Love the green and the blue skies..

The local bar and dancehall in Roy ... it's only open a certain times of the year, such as the Roy Rodeo..

Mt Rainier on a clear day with blue sky and a couple of tiny clouds :-) Rainier is a active stratovolcano and is overdue for an eruption. It is also considered one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes, being one of the 17 volcanoes that are on the Decades Volcano list. I live fairly close to the mountain, however, from looking at the maps of where the lahars will go when the mountain erupts again, it looks as though I should be safe. One has to think positively, correct? :-)

Go to SKYWATCH for views of the sky from all over the world !

I'M BAAAAAAACK !!! :-)

Well... I must say it's been a little while ...about two years since I've updated my blog. Made the big move up to Washington State in April 2013. Reminds me a lot of New Zealand... green .. trees... water and it rains a bit. Contrary to what they tell you, it doesn't rain all the time and the sunny days are absolutely gorgeous. Both of our furbabies are loving it up here. Misty, our Lab/Blue Heeler cross as decided that she likes the water after all. We took them out to Priest Point Park in Olympia and Misty did not want to come out of the water.

Mandy, our Minature Italian Greyhound/Jack Russell Terrier was not so keen on the wet stuff :-) I've been a little isolated, as we do live out in a rural area and our only car was a manual, which despite many lessons, I am unable to drive. However, we recently replaced it with an automatic, which I can drive. Of course, there is that little matter of figuring out what side of the road I should be on, but I'm getting the hang of that...LOL. There is quite a community of Kiwis, Aussies and Brits in the area, so I'm finding it easier to get food products from those countries. There is also a NZ group that meets a number of times a year for a Hangi and other activities. I've also found a Fish 'n Chip shop in Sequim (about a 1 1/2 hr drive from us, that is owned by a New Zealander ...so you know that they are fish 'n chips like I'm used to back home. They also sell pies and sausage rolls :-) Planning om making a trip over there very soon!!

MmmmmmmmmMmmmmmm !!! I'm also told it's for sale. Cheers...