Sylvia's Scenario

I am thankful for so many things this year I don't know where to start.  First of all, I am thankful to be home again in Seattle.  Thankful of our cozy, comfortable house, fun neighborhood and beautiful views. Thankful for being close to at least one of my children...Nick can't be here, he is flying to Singapore for work again, as we speak.  He sent us this photo saying he is spending his Thanksgiving on a Boeing Dreamliner.    But I'm thankful that both my children are happy in their lives and that I am able to see Lauren on a regular basis.  I am thankful for the sun that shines in and warms up our house every morning (or at least most mornings so far that we've lived here).  And thankful to be able to watch the moon rise out our window - and last night was a gorgeous one.   I am thankful for being healthy and that I can enjoy all the beautiful nature around me and the beauty that this city has to offer. I am thankful for ou r ...

Our last minute Thanksgiving errands today found us out walking on the beach.  We couldn't resist.  With record high tide and the North Wind blowing for the second day in a row, we had to be a part of it. Yesterday was the highest tide of the year plus with gusts of wind up to 50 mph, it made for quite the scene. Alki Waves   The strong winds this afternoon created some amazing waves along Alki. Check out the video from Air 4 of the waves crashing onto shore.  Posted by KOMO News on Tuesday, November 24, 2015 It felt good to get out of the kitchen today and go for a walk on the beach, who could resist that? The wind is still blowing today, although not as strong, leaving the air crystal clear with spectacular mountain views. We think we might just make this a Pre-Thanksgiving tradition. Thanksgiving is all about being thankful, right? What better way than to make a trek down to Alki Beach and spend time at a place we are so thankful f...

I'm not hosting Thanksgiving this year so my duties are very scaled down as a guest.  I volunteered to bring the sweet potatoes,  Hernon Green Gelatin Salad , and the  pumpkin pie .   And just for fun, I'm bringing a cocktail beverage that was a hit at our house a couple years ago called  Hard Cider Sangria . My sister just remodeled her kitchen so she is eager to have her first big, family dinner at her house to test out her kitchen and I am more than happy to give her that opportunity!  So, I decided to check out recipes for the sweet potatoes because I always assigned those out for others to bring when I cooked Thanksgiving.  I found this recipe and I already know it's a keeper.  This recipe would be delicious even without the crust because the mixture made with this casserole is outstanding.  And you can even watch a video on how to make it because I got this recipe from  Chef John at his Food Wishes blog .  I like watching ...

Our little West Seattle neighborhood has a holiday theme called Hometown Holidays in the Junction .  As I previously mentioned, the  Junction  is 1-1/2 miles from our house that we will often walk to.  There is always a lot of activity happenin' at the Junction.  Yesterday, Bruce and I stopped in at True Value Hardware at the Junction and lo and behold, Santa!    We've been in this store a lot since moving here and I couldn't believe how they have transformed it for Christmas.  It was beautiful for just a hardware store.  Really?  There was refreshments, of course, and plenty for everyone.  I got some hot spiced cider and some popcorn...then I mostly watched Santa interact with all the kids (as Bruce shopped for a tarp). This Santa was so real looking. I am always intrigued with Santas who are real looking, what can I say. Even his voice... They had gift giving for everyone. You would spin the wheel ...

Today was a beautiful day to do errands.  I like to wait until a nice day to do errands because I love walking to stores around our neighborhood.  Of course, I often drive because of rainy, windy weather like we've have lately but today was beautiful so out I go!   Doing errands isn't any different than before, the usual... grocery store, post office, bank machine...the main difference from driving is that I have to carry everything when I walk so I can't do MAJOR grocery shopping like for Thanksgiving.  I have carried two heavy bags from the grocery store and my arms were about ready to fall off by the time I got home. So, I only walk if I need to buy a few things like today.  And if you don't bring your own shopping bags, you will be charged for bags so I have finally gotten into the habit of keeping shopping bags with me.   Our local shopping area is ~1/2 mile. If we walk to the movies at our local theater which we've done a couple times now, ...

After a year in the making, Bruce and I have finally made a decision about our trip to Italy.  Last year, Bruce received a Christmas gift for his 25 years with the Bratney Companies .  His gift was a trip to Italy. Bruce was in Italy for work in September 2014 and kept saying how much I would love it and he couldn't wait for me to go with him.  We even got Christmas gifts for our trip last year. We were initially going to go in the Spring but then we bought our house in Seattle.  And you know the rest of story. Our life has been all about re-establishing ourselves back in Seattle since April.  This month has really been our first month of feeling halfway back to normal.  But we have been talking about it all this time.  We decided on Rick Steve's Best of Italy   tours so we went out to Edmonds to visit his store.   We talked to a tour rep. and signed up for September 2016. Now we are so excited! There was so much neat st...