Hello Friends and Family! Our fall flew by before we even knew it. Of course, much time was taken with our new sailboat. There was lots of moving in activities and finding just the right place for all things boaty. Imanaged a trip to Ashland with friend Debbie Miller on Sept 16-17. It was a fun beginning for me since I took the train to Portland and then we drove from there. I splurged while we were in Ashland and became a sustaining member so we get early tickets. Debbie and I are already making plans for next year.
Oct 8-15.October raced towards us and our week of sightseeing in Washington DC was soon with us. On Oct 8 we flew out of SeaTac into Baltimore. Libby went off to her seminar on Wednesday and we continued our visit to everything we could fit into one week. We saw wonderful monuments(Washington, Lincoln, Vietnam, Korean, WWII), even better museums (Natural History, Air and Space, Art), and of course, the Washington Cathedral, the Episcopal Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul. We were there in the choir stalls for an Evensong with the men and boys choir singing-WOW! That was a highlight of the trip. The weather was perfect, and although we had expected cooler weather with changing leaves,it was warm and clear.
Oct 20-22.We were home one week when I left to visit friends in Mendocino. I flew out on Kenmore Air out of Oak Harbor, getting a bird's eye view of the islands in Puget Sound and the shoreline of the Seattle area. The weather continued for my trip with perfect sunsets and great clear sun for the whole weekend in California.
Oct 27-28.We were home during the next week, and then we left for our Diocesan Conference at SeaTac. A first for us, it was an event both moving and enlightening. The music was wonderful; the speakers were riveting(especially the priest from St Paul's in New Orleans who shared about the devastation in his parish and neighborhood); the reports were humorous; the fellowship with new friends and old was heart warming. This past Saturday the new Presiding Bishop was installed at the National Cathedral and it was really cool to see the place we had just visited being used for something so significant.
In the middle of all this we had the kitchen counter people in to give us an estimate on new countertips, and we will have them on Wednesday, Nov 8. (Yipee!) And, Jim has covered the yucky wallpaper in the hallway with beadboard, making it look like an entirely new space. (With 8 doors, it needed remodeling!) We are continuting our remodel of the ktichen in small bits. Updates as we go along.
We are making plans for Thanksgiving and having the group here this year. Libby will be over from West Seattle, Missy and Scott fly in from Chino Hills, and Brett and Kathryn will come from Hawaii, too. We have invited Amanda and Toby from Illinois, but not confirmation on that yet. Jim and I are moving onto the boat for the weekend!
(I am knitting gifts for Christmas. I purchased yarn in Ashland and found another yarn shop on a visit to LaConner, only 25 minutes away. I started a scarf featured in Mason Dixon, but I am working hard on gifts right now and it is on hold. I've been on a yarn diet except for Ashland; so far so good.)
Hope this catches us all up with the Wagners and our activities. Rainy and windy today inthe Northwest, but Jim and a friend are off to the Seahawks game! We can only hope they do better than the last two weeks. Cheers to everyone! The Whidbey Wagners
