Sunday, December 26, 2010
12:57 am
Oh my, Oh my, my dear blog, how I have mistreated you and neglected you! I will get busy and update you and give you pretty new pictures this week!
Again, I am sooo sorry for falling behing on your upkeep.
Yours truly,
Tracy
Ocean Shores, WA
my favorite place
Monday, December 27, 2010
Monday, November 15, 2010
Spooky time!
Saturday, October 30th was our annual Halloween party. Didn't have as big of a crowd this year as usual, but we had a great time. The weather was literally frightful! Rainy and cold, Jason (aka:Napoleon Dynomite) could hardly keep the bon fire going, he kept having to dry the benches off by the heat of the fire. He was very deligent about it.
We had great food, Mark smoked some pork butt and we made pulled pork sandwiches -- awesome job as always. He sure likes his smoker! I decided to forgo my traditional black spider bread bowl for the spinach dip this year and made a pumpkin instead -- atleast it was supposed to look like a pumpkin, umm it kinda did. The spinach dip tasted good at least. I had some guest coming who aren't beef/pork/chicken eaters so I made a couple of salmon fillets, some peel and eat shrimp and a few more goodies that I thought they might like. My sis Diana brought asparagus wrapped in phyllo dough and baked - OMG, they were delicious, as were Aunt Mary's cake pops! So much good stuff, everyone seemed to enjoy the food and decorations.
We drew numbers for door prizes, plus we had a first place costume winner for the guys and the gals -- that was a real hoot! First place for the ladies went to friend Kelly, she was a "wet t-shirt" contest winner, she had the sash and all! Very funny. Her hubby Mat came as a "Happy Camper" with his "morning wood" camp tshirt and I'll let you guess what other "special features" his costume had -- toooo funny! I don't know where they found those costumes, but no wanted Mat to stand behind them! First place for the guys went to my Jason aka: Napoleon Dynomite! People get such a kick out of him doing his impersonation - it just cracks me up! and he's so into it! Niece Corina had Jason call her son Tony to talk to him like Napoleon, I think little Tony thinks its real, I'm not sure, but he gets such a kick out of it. Corina came as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz -- she even brought her little dog Ceasar to play Toto's part -- she was sooo cute and Ceasar did his part well.
We did a first this year our friends Greg and Lorri brought their kareoke machine. I sang one song with my daughter Kristin and that was one song to many for me -- there's not enough booze in this town to make me sound good. But is was fun and it was fun watching and listening to others, there were some talented people and some, well we'll just say not as talented to be polite. But it was a lot of fun, Greg even did a couple of Elvis tunes for me -- GREAT job Greg!
I had a lot of fun planning the party, making the invites, decorating the house and making all the food and goodies. I get such a kick out of seeing adults giggle and laugh at my holiday creations. Afterall who wouldn't want to eat a peanut butter rat or a coconut skull? Quite tasty if I say so myself.
I hope everyone had a good time and for those that missed it -- all I can say is you should of been here!
Happy Fall!
We had great food, Mark smoked some pork butt and we made pulled pork sandwiches -- awesome job as always. He sure likes his smoker! I decided to forgo my traditional black spider bread bowl for the spinach dip this year and made a pumpkin instead -- atleast it was supposed to look like a pumpkin, umm it kinda did. The spinach dip tasted good at least. I had some guest coming who aren't beef/pork/chicken eaters so I made a couple of salmon fillets, some peel and eat shrimp and a few more goodies that I thought they might like. My sis Diana brought asparagus wrapped in phyllo dough and baked - OMG, they were delicious, as were Aunt Mary's cake pops! So much good stuff, everyone seemed to enjoy the food and decorations.
We drew numbers for door prizes, plus we had a first place costume winner for the guys and the gals -- that was a real hoot! First place for the ladies went to friend Kelly, she was a "wet t-shirt" contest winner, she had the sash and all! Very funny. Her hubby Mat came as a "Happy Camper" with his "morning wood" camp tshirt and I'll let you guess what other "special features" his costume had -- toooo funny! I don't know where they found those costumes, but no wanted Mat to stand behind them! First place for the guys went to my Jason aka: Napoleon Dynomite! People get such a kick out of him doing his impersonation - it just cracks me up! and he's so into it! Niece Corina had Jason call her son Tony to talk to him like Napoleon, I think little Tony thinks its real, I'm not sure, but he gets such a kick out of it. Corina came as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz -- she even brought her little dog Ceasar to play Toto's part -- she was sooo cute and Ceasar did his part well.
We did a first this year our friends Greg and Lorri brought their kareoke machine. I sang one song with my daughter Kristin and that was one song to many for me -- there's not enough booze in this town to make me sound good. But is was fun and it was fun watching and listening to others, there were some talented people and some, well we'll just say not as talented to be polite. But it was a lot of fun, Greg even did a couple of Elvis tunes for me -- GREAT job Greg!
I had a lot of fun planning the party, making the invites, decorating the house and making all the food and goodies. I get such a kick out of seeing adults giggle and laugh at my holiday creations. Afterall who wouldn't want to eat a peanut butter rat or a coconut skull? Quite tasty if I say so myself.
I hope everyone had a good time and for those that missed it -- all I can say is you should of been here!
Happy Fall!
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Fall is here!
Wow I have been amis in taking care of my blog, the blog police have summoned me to update this thing!
There's just been so many things happening since my last update. What can I say I've been busy.
It is that time of year for the Craft Bazaars. I've done several over the last few months -- boy has the economy destroyed the craft selling bus. While attending several local Farmers Markets I received mass raves about my hand crafts, but the sales few and far between. People came to buy produce and flowers from the local farmers, many not even peeking a look at the craft booths - it was if they didn't look, then they wouldn't want. Which don't get me wrong is great for the farmers, but what about us starving artist??? Well I may not look like I'm exactly starving but I have bills to pay toooo. All in all Mark and I met a lot of nice people, enjoyed our time together and went home to get ready for the next one.
So I am dedicating this blog update to my efforts of my hands in the crafts that I make. Enjoy and let me know if you wanna buy anything! LOL.
There's just been so many things happening since my last update. What can I say I've been busy.
It is that time of year for the Craft Bazaars. I've done several over the last few months -- boy has the economy destroyed the craft selling bus. While attending several local Farmers Markets I received mass raves about my hand crafts, but the sales few and far between. People came to buy produce and flowers from the local farmers, many not even peeking a look at the craft booths - it was if they didn't look, then they wouldn't want. Which don't get me wrong is great for the farmers, but what about us starving artist??? Well I may not look like I'm exactly starving but I have bills to pay toooo. All in all Mark and I met a lot of nice people, enjoyed our time together and went home to get ready for the next one.
So I am dedicating this blog update to my efforts of my hands in the crafts that I make. Enjoy and let me know if you wanna buy anything! LOL.
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Girls roadtrip!
Got back from Lake Kachess, did laundry and went to bed. Got up at 3am to get ready for my sister Diana and my ROAD TRIP to Reno. I'm such a bad passenger, I can never stay a wake for very long in the car. I tried my best and managed to keep her company most of the time, I think??? LOL. She did let me drive for a bit though, her HHR was very comfortable to drive, really easy to see out of -- a little lower to the ground than I'm used to though.
Just this side of Eureka, CA I spotted a large billboard boasting about a "Liquor Expo". That woke us both up -- could this be a discount liquor store?? Of course it was, exit 766. They did have some great prices! But they were out of an item that Diana was on the search for -- Pinnacle brand, Whipped Cream flavored Vodka. They said they should have some in on Thursday night. That was enough to tell us that we were stopping back by on our way home!
We encountered several spots of summer road construction, that alone added about 90 minutes to our travels and yes we did crank out the Elvis CD.
Gave my a chance to scope out some huge pinecones -- oh what I could have done with them!!! A little glu, some glitter, oh the possibilities!
After a long almost 15 hours of driving -- 2 bladders over 50 -- not a good combo for a road trip. We finally arrived in Reno. Many areas looked the same, but they have cleaned it up a lot as well. Lots of new strips malls and business' besides casino's.
We got checked in, went to the room, our room was really nice - fantastic view, thought we'd rest up a bit. A bit was about it, we were too excited! We went down and signed up for the players club card, got our coupons and discounts and we were off. I think Diana got great happiness in letting me know we both could be in the "Nifty Fifty" Club - wow gee thanks. But it was worth it. The first night we didn't do to bad in fact Diana was up about $100 or more. She pretty much played on the casino's money most of the time. Me not so much. I was up and down - but having fun!
We did a lot of looking around, hit some antique places, Costco, Sam's and of course the infamous Ben's discount liquor store. Actually of all the booze shopping we did Costco had some of the best prices. Even with all of our intown purchases we did of course stop back by the Liquor Expo on the way home. And YES they did get some of the Pinnacle in -- wow is it tasty! Plus it was almost half the price it is up here.
We had a good time, it went way faster than we thought it would, we never even got a chance to sit by the pool, but it was a little cool and windy, so no big deal. We had our Awful Awful burger at the Nugget hole in the wall and as usual were entertained by the cooks.
It's getting to be about that time when my eyelids are suffering from sever lid droopage. So i'll close for tonight and post pics tomorrow night.
Remember -- it's all in a day!
Just this side of Eureka, CA I spotted a large billboard boasting about a "Liquor Expo". That woke us both up -- could this be a discount liquor store?? Of course it was, exit 766. They did have some great prices! But they were out of an item that Diana was on the search for -- Pinnacle brand, Whipped Cream flavored Vodka. They said they should have some in on Thursday night. That was enough to tell us that we were stopping back by on our way home!
We encountered several spots of summer road construction, that alone added about 90 minutes to our travels and yes we did crank out the Elvis CD.
Gave my a chance to scope out some huge pinecones -- oh what I could have done with them!!! A little glu, some glitter, oh the possibilities!
After a long almost 15 hours of driving -- 2 bladders over 50 -- not a good combo for a road trip. We finally arrived in Reno. Many areas looked the same, but they have cleaned it up a lot as well. Lots of new strips malls and business' besides casino's.
We got checked in, went to the room, our room was really nice - fantastic view, thought we'd rest up a bit. A bit was about it, we were too excited! We went down and signed up for the players club card, got our coupons and discounts and we were off. I think Diana got great happiness in letting me know we both could be in the "Nifty Fifty" Club - wow gee thanks. But it was worth it. The first night we didn't do to bad in fact Diana was up about $100 or more. She pretty much played on the casino's money most of the time. Me not so much. I was up and down - but having fun!
We did a lot of looking around, hit some antique places, Costco, Sam's and of course the infamous Ben's discount liquor store. Actually of all the booze shopping we did Costco had some of the best prices. Even with all of our intown purchases we did of course stop back by the Liquor Expo on the way home. And YES they did get some of the Pinnacle in -- wow is it tasty! Plus it was almost half the price it is up here.
We had a good time, it went way faster than we thought it would, we never even got a chance to sit by the pool, but it was a little cool and windy, so no big deal. We had our Awful Awful burger at the Nugget hole in the wall and as usual were entertained by the cooks.
It's getting to be about that time when my eyelids are suffering from sever lid droopage. So i'll close for tonight and post pics tomorrow night.
Remember -- it's all in a day!
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
Labor Day Weekend in the mountains!
Well ok let's think, we're in Covington, there's lots of gas stations here, right. Yeah GAS stations! After winding our 20 ft truck with an atttached 21 ft trailer through construction, narrow roads and traffic our 3rd stop was a winner, they had diesle!!!
Ok back on the road on our merry little way, finally!
We arrived at the Kachess Lake Campground about 1:30 pm. It was warm out, sunny and quiet. Mark and I had set the trailer up, leveled it, put the slideout in place, lawn chairs set up and were having margaritas and munchies by 2:15. Now it's time to relax! Mark's content peering through his spotting scope at the mountain side hoping to see some form of wild animal and I'm reclined in my chair with my pillow ready for a nap. Wow life is good!
As I lay there in my lawn chair I start looking around at the flora and fona around our home for the weekend. When we first arrived everything just looked green. I hadn't noticed anything spectacular. But now that I have settled in, I'm seeing it all. The vine maple are already starting to change colors, they are beautiful shades of oranges and reds and bright vibrant greens. There's still huckleberries on the bushes - Mark and I picked a few over the weekend while out walking, good but not too sweet this year. The place is alive with critters, the cute one's like the chipmunks that are scurrying about and the not so cute ones like the pre-historic looking black beattles that are making a strange clicking noise - YUK. These creatures are huge! I got a pic of one on a log with the tip of my foot close by for measurement purposes. ICKY!!!
Mark and I got in a few hands of Kings Corner and just enjoyed our first day in camp. Our friends Tim and Carol and their family didn't make it up till after dark. Mark and I gave up and went to bed about 10pm. Apparently our "FRIENDS" came to visit around midnight and I guess attempted to wake us up, but it didn't work -- too much fresh air for us I guess. We all met up the next morning after breakfast.
Saturday was cooler and late afternoon the wind started in, then the drizzle started in the middle of the night. Good thing we had gotten our walks and exploring done earlier in the day. By Sunday morning our friends were ready to call it quits and they packed up and headed home. But we stayed and enjoyed what turned out to be a really nice day on Sunday.
I walked down to the small boat launch and walked out on the little penisula and took some pics of the lake and hillsides. It really is a beautiful area and it's so quiet, other than the laughter and yells of the other nearby campers.
Thursday, September 2, 2010
The Big Weekend!
It's Thursday night about 9pm. Tomorrow we head out for a long weekend of fun -- just like thousands of other families. I've been to the grocery store 3 times today to get everything I think I need. In my efforts of slimming Mark and my bodies down I have forgone all the typical camping treats - NO DUMP CAKE this trip. But wait I will have home baked goodies! I have 2 new recipes for low-fat and low-sugar goodies! YUMMY!!! Atleast that's what the article in the magazine said they were, yeah right.
The first recipe I tried is for a delicious looking brownie, black bean brownies that is. Well what can I say, they smelled like brownies while baking, they even look like brownies as they cool on the counter, in all of their chocolatey looking goodness and with the perfectly placed pecan halves slightly nestled down into the batter how could they not be out of this world??? But then there's the taste, that's a matter of opinion. They're not baaaad, a little dry, need more cocoa powder and have that funny after taste from the fake sugar. I like brownies with frosting and there's none here, these definately could improve with a nice thick layer of chocolate or cream cheese frosting, but then I guess they wouldn't be as figure friendly. Damm! Maybe add raisin's?
The second recipe is for coconut macaroons. Ding Ding we have a winner! These are also made with the fake sugar, but it's taste is not as noticable. They also have plain Greek yogurt in them, which I thought was wierd, but they're quite tasty. Got Mark's approval so I'll definatley be making these again, but I think I'll try using the Vanilla or Honey flavored Greek yogurt and see how that taste.
I'm sure we'll survive the long weekend with out a bunch of junk, I know my body will feel better for it. Even though I have taken off 10 of the 14 lbs I put back on, once I get the other 4 off -- I still have a lot further to go. Maybe I should make a blog just about my weight loss? It might help me stay on track better and maybe help someone else too?
I am looking forward to the weekend. I plan on giving my friend Carol a painting lesson and I'll be working on some small items for up coming shows as well. Fall is coming soon, I need to get painting, plus I have a show in September for the Olympia Bird Fanciers so I really need to design some bird stuff. I'll post more about that another day.
As always, it's all in a day!
Tracy
The first recipe I tried is for a delicious looking brownie, black bean brownies that is. Well what can I say, they smelled like brownies while baking, they even look like brownies as they cool on the counter, in all of their chocolatey looking goodness and with the perfectly placed pecan halves slightly nestled down into the batter how could they not be out of this world??? But then there's the taste, that's a matter of opinion. They're not baaaad, a little dry, need more cocoa powder and have that funny after taste from the fake sugar. I like brownies with frosting and there's none here, these definately could improve with a nice thick layer of chocolate or cream cheese frosting, but then I guess they wouldn't be as figure friendly. Damm! Maybe add raisin's?
The second recipe is for coconut macaroons. Ding Ding we have a winner! These are also made with the fake sugar, but it's taste is not as noticable. They also have plain Greek yogurt in them, which I thought was wierd, but they're quite tasty. Got Mark's approval so I'll definatley be making these again, but I think I'll try using the Vanilla or Honey flavored Greek yogurt and see how that taste.
I'm sure we'll survive the long weekend with out a bunch of junk, I know my body will feel better for it. Even though I have taken off 10 of the 14 lbs I put back on, once I get the other 4 off -- I still have a lot further to go. Maybe I should make a blog just about my weight loss? It might help me stay on track better and maybe help someone else too?
I am looking forward to the weekend. I plan on giving my friend Carol a painting lesson and I'll be working on some small items for up coming shows as well. Fall is coming soon, I need to get painting, plus I have a show in September for the Olympia Bird Fanciers so I really need to design some bird stuff. I'll post more about that another day.
As always, it's all in a day!
Tracy
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Tracy Wickham-Hobbs
Can't believe the school year is about to start. I'm sure glad I don't have any school aged kids to have to go back to school shopping for. I don't know how parents do it these days???
We're heading east for the Labor Day weekend. Mark and I are joining our long time friends Tim and Carol and their family up at Lake Kachess. We're looking forward to going there, as we've never camped there before. Mark and I both love that area, we camped in the Lake Easton area quite a bit when we were first married. Love the Turtle campground across the highway from the Lake Easton State Park. I will post pics of our trip when I get back!
Living La Vita Reno!!! That's right - I'm going to Reno, the BIGGEST little city in the west! Get back from camping Monday night and head out Tuesday morning (really early) with my sister Diana for a girls ROAD TRIP! We'll be driving in style in her newly purchased HHR! I better pack the Elvis CD's, LOL! She's looking forward to sunnin' by the pool and maybe I'll get some design sketching done for some fall glass paint designs?? Stay tuned for pictures (maybe) of this trip too.
Guess I'd better figure out how to post pictures!
TTTL,
Tracy
We're heading east for the Labor Day weekend. Mark and I are joining our long time friends Tim and Carol and their family up at Lake Kachess. We're looking forward to going there, as we've never camped there before. Mark and I both love that area, we camped in the Lake Easton area quite a bit when we were first married. Love the Turtle campground across the highway from the Lake Easton State Park. I will post pics of our trip when I get back!
Living La Vita Reno!!! That's right - I'm going to Reno, the BIGGEST little city in the west! Get back from camping Monday night and head out Tuesday morning (really early) with my sister Diana for a girls ROAD TRIP! We'll be driving in style in her newly purchased HHR! I better pack the Elvis CD's, LOL! She's looking forward to sunnin' by the pool and maybe I'll get some design sketching done for some fall glass paint designs?? Stay tuned for pictures (maybe) of this trip too.
Guess I'd better figure out how to post pictures!
TTTL,
Tracy
Tracy Wickham-Hobbs
Wow! I'm entering the world of technology -- I'm Blogging! Who'd of thunk it!! Ha ha ha!
This is my first attempt at this new stuff and I must say thanks to my good friend Tanya for giving a non-techy patient guidedance!
I hope to use this as a tool to keep in touch with people and let them in on my life's going on's.
Ta Ta till later!
Tracy
This is my first attempt at this new stuff and I must say thanks to my good friend Tanya for giving a non-techy patient guidedance!
I hope to use this as a tool to keep in touch with people and let them in on my life's going on's.
Ta Ta till later!
Tracy
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