the ranch

The other day we were invited to see Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs out at a beautiful art deco theater on a ranch.  

Not a regular cowhand ranch, although I believe there are cowhands kicking around somewhere...as well as horses and cattle. 

This ranch is an amazing piece of land and we saw about 1/64th of it.  

But what we did get to see, besides a free 3D movie in a plush theater, was great. 

The most wondrous private library, stellar views and vineyards.  

Jude had the privilege to play piano in the big house.  

This ranch belongs to a certain famous director...of StarWars fame.  

Are we lucky or what? 

Obviously we have a friend with hook up...thank you friends!

no-no

I just saw my first no hitter.

It's a magical season for the Giants!

Wahoo!

UK followup

This post is long overdue.

Suddenly I am swamped with this thing called life.

I am not on vacation.

On day 4 of the Cumbria Way, we walked from Stonewaithe to Keswick.

A lovely low level walk.

Actually, day 4 was the kinda day we expected the entire trip to be like.

Pretty, light rain, fields of livestock, other amblers and fairly even trails.

Day 4 was also the day we decided to take the bus on day 5.

Why?

Well, day 5 was forecasting rain and it was to be a 17 mile day over a fell (mountain).

No thanks.

We were weary.  We could have done it but since we were to be in a quaint town by a lake on the only day of the week that the bus was running.

We have no regrets about that decision. 

We could have hiked on day 5.

We agreed if we were ever to do the Cumbria Way again, which is not likely, then we would plan a rest day part way into the hike.

We met other hikers who had done just that.

We would also pack rain-gear...real rain-gear!

I am so grateful for such an amazing opportunity.

A journey to be shared with my mom and sisters.

This is a kissing gate...metal and wooden gates were scattered all over the hiking trails and fields.

Ingenious design...someday when I have a farm I will utilize such brilliance.

The Lake district is truly an beautiful part of the world and I hope to take my children there some day...to hike even!

Day 6 was the best weather day...of course our final day...Caldbeck to Carlisle.

We did it.

We hiked somewhere around the 65 mile mark over 6 days (5 hiking days).

We were thrilled to see the end marker, take a photo and get our shoes off.

I happy to report, I did not get a blister...I suffered other unmentionable physical ailments instead.

We did it!

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My sister, Sara blogged about the adventure too, check it out.

Our B&B in Carlisle, in which we watched Jamie Oliver on the telly.

We love Jamie Oliver, don't you?

There wasn't much time to explore Carlisle but this was near the castle.

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For more photos check out our Picasa Album.

ci link

Goodbuthard, a new friend, posted a video of Michael Chorost explaining his cochlear implant...worth the 4 minutes...a great explanation.

By the way, Delia says her ci sounds "normal" when she puts it on. 

 It's all she has ever known...normal to her.

life update

For the past few months my life has swung wildly out of balance.

All my own doing of course.

When I lean towards the obsessive end of things the other things in my life get off kilter and lately for me I have had an unhealthy obsession with all things in the house hunting, house decorating, HGTV department.

It's kinda a long and somewhat boring story but when I put my all into something I tend to go a little overboard...if you have ever attended a birthday party at my house then you know what I am talking about.

Take the past couple of days as example...I happened upon a tv stand at Cost Plus and got a really great deal and I have hated our old beat up corner unit for ages...this simple purchased has spurred a major purge and clean out around here.

I have rearranged the living room, sorted books, cleaned out Delia's closet, dropped several bags off at Goodwill, sold a couple kids toys and gave goodies to friends.

Today, I stripped our bedroom, spackled, taped and primed the room for painting...I also did the same thing to our bathroom (including yanking a big ugly 3 way mirror vanity off the wall) and then I decided to end the evening by bathing the dog.

You see, when the husband is away (with the son) then I get busy.

Of course, the house is in a major upheaval but I am trying bloom where I am planted if you get the drift.

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In other news, Lucy is SICK...again.  I think we might have gotten the puppy with the weakest immune system...in the past 3 months Lucy's sickness have included fungal ear infection, tumor on her fore paw and now she has demodectic mange (see her forehead in the photo) and a small growth on her shoulder that we need to keep an eye on.  The vet said she is likely to outgrow these issues...I hope so because otherwise this is going to be one expensive dog.  Truly, it is hard to know where to draw the line.

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I know, I know, I need to post the photos from the final 3 days of the hiking tour...I will I promise...this week...after the painting projects are complete...okay, maybe before.

have you seen the "fallen princesses" project?

or what about the ferris wheel wedding?

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via howaboutorange  and youaremyfav

dinner and lunch

is it okay to eat half a container for dinner one night 

and

eat the other half for lunch the following day?

...

only 5 ingredients.

...

delish.

to hear

a summer afternoon.

dad (sporting his daughter's guitar) and delia (sporting roller skates)

...

sometimes, i forget about the miracle.

the miracle of bionic hearing.

amazing but true.

for so many years, i fretted about what delia could or could not hear.

i worried about speech therapy, loud restaurants and background music.

all valid things to think about when raising a deaf child in a hearing world.

a deaf child with an implant.

now, years later, i take many of the early worries for granted.

i rely on delia to tell me if and when she can not hear.

this is not to say i don't worry about her hearing.

because, trust me, i do.

but, yesterday, when delia and i were in the electronics department at our local target, several aisles over from the tv's, delia looked at me and said, "do you hear that mom? kai-lan is on the tv."

wow.

amazing hearing.

we had not passed by the tv's and she had no visual cues and over the din of the store she could identify the kids program kai-lan.  i know the voice is distinctive but she rarely watches it.

i was blown away.

i, of course, gave her a big high 5.

that bionic ear was working...really working.

the fourth follow up

I promised more photos, didn't I?

A beautiful day for a ball game.

Where is the fog?

Play ball!

A forever Giants fan.

Perhaps this should be yearly tradition...

a family day at the ballpark on the Fourth of July!

Eat some ice cream!

Save some for later!