Wintry weather calls for hearty food. The first crockpot beef goulash with mashed potatoes of the season was perfect for watching the snow and wind blow around on Monday night. Looks like lots more of these meals to come this winter.
As I head into week two of recovery, I have no shortage of elementary school-style activities to keep me occupied. My fabulous co-workers were so kind to provide coloring books, crayons, puzzles and paper dolls for my crafting pleasure. I think I may even crack open that glow-in-the-dark jigsaw puzzle tonight. 
Jim & Danielle came out for a visit that took us to Orcas Island. The weather a little different than Maui as it rained like cats and dogs much of the time, but also broke apart and gave us some welcomed sunshine and nifty fog that clung to the Sound. Naturally, we got a few days of power shopping and dining under our belts in Seattle before setting sail to the Island. What a great, easy going time we had!
When you dog sit one of the sweetest dogs on earth (Hardy), you receive the coolest gifts in thanks. Hardy's parents, Michael & Brennan, know us well enough to give the gift of fresh and safe food storage! The timing couldn't have been better since, just today, Colby participated in the second annual sausage making festival. This time he came home with 12 lbs of spicy italian sausage. 
This Saturday the clouds parted and we had one day (out of 12 consecutive days of rain) to make some progress on our raised beds. We have devised a plan to keep the nasty neighborhood cats out of our veggie garden by draping bird netting over the hoops. And speaking of hoops...it seemed like a good time to take the hula hoops out for a spin!
Well, my ski buddy Adam and I had planned to do some backcountry skiing and snowboarding up at the old Mt. Pilchuck ski area last weekend, and we took off from Seattle early Saturday morning with visions of spring t-shirt skiing (it was sunny and 60 degrees last weekend). However, as we approached the parking area we noticed things looking pretty green where we expected to be linking turns. Tough sledding for sure. So we ditched the downhill gear and strapped our snowshoes onto our packs and headed up the trail -- in the summer there is a hiking trail to the summit and a fire lookout tower. About halfway up the trail we finally hit the snow, and switched to snowshoes for the final ascent. Couldn't have been a nicer day with 360 degree viewed of the Cascade mountains from Mt. Baker to Mt. Rainier from the lookout. Looks like the end of ski season means the beginning of hiking season, which is just fine with me.
Nothing says "Happy Anniversary" like a 1980's cabaret/theater production! Colby and I celebrated our anniversary a little early by taking in a show with good friends this weekend. The Soft Rock Kid was full of 8o's music and dancing that followed (very loosely) a Karate Kid story line. This was such an original idea for a show - singing and dancing and jokes about the 80's. It was all I could do not to run on the stage and join the Freedom Dancers. If only I had a pair of leg warmers in my purse.
SausageFest 2010 was a huge success -- 50 lbs of pork shoulder cut up, ground, and stuffed into casings. Italian sausage, Hungarian paprika sausage, Southwestern green chile, and British bangers. Lots of sausage and lots of beer on a 56 degree Feb. 6 day in Seattle. Couldn't be much better.
