LaWathas Glass

Late August, 2009

The first signs of Fall are already appearing here on White Mud Lake (70 miles north of Spokane, WA). The shrubs are turning red, some of the leaves have a hint of color beginning to show. The nights are getting cooler- we already hit 39 degrees one morning last week. Before you know it the leaves will all turn color and fall to the ground- only to be buried in snow in December.

Where has the Summer gone? We’ve spent our Summer getting ready to sell the house, then when it sold in 5 days, we’ve spent the rest of the Summer in “hurry up and wait” mode, waiting for escrow to close. Our buyer has had one problem with banks after another (gotta love when the government shuts down a bank just a few days shy of closing!) First it was supposed to close July 30. Then September 7. Then August 15. Back to September 7. The latest update from the realtor is “It should be able to close next Friday”. That would be September 4. I’ll be happy if it closes on the 7th.

We’ve decided to postpone our plans to move to VA/WV. We’re still going to move there eventually, just not quite yet. We’ll make a little interim move to Liberty Lake, WA- which is just about 5 miles from my Mom’s house in Post Falls, ID. We may stay there another year or 2 or 3…. or we may decide to head East next Spring. We’ll see how we feel about it when the snow thaws.

In the meantime, I’m hoping for Summer to linger a little longer…

The pond - Now

When we first bought our home 4 years ago, there was a carved wooden sign stretched out between the driveway and the lake, that read “Lakeside Paradise”.  I loved the sign and made sure it conveyed with the property but Bill thought the sign was a bit corny and he took it down as soon as we moved in.

This place really is paradise this time of year, no doubt about it. The flowers are all in bloom, the birds are nesting in the birdhouses around the property, the deer feed along the fenceline, wanting to come sample the lilies and stonecrop but not daring while the dogs are out. The grass is green, the rainbird sprinkler tick-tick-tick-ticking to keep it that way. The pond is beautiful and it’s the most calming thing to just take a walk around it or have a seat next to it and watch the fish swimming around, and listen to the water cascading down the little waterfall. I could sit out there for hours at a time- if it weren’t for the pesky mosquitoes. ; ) But really, it is a lakeside paradise.  I’m going to miss it, at least the Summer version of it.

I don’t know where we’re going to end up- somewhere in VA or WV I’m pretty sure… but wherever we end up, guess who’s hoping to build another pond- another little bit of paradise?

Here’s what the pond looked like 4 years ago-

Before...

Well, that didn’t take long!  10 days from when we put up the for sale sign until we have a deal… the 5 acres in Blanchard is sold! (Actually, he contacted us within 30 minutes of posting the for sale sign up and said “let’s see if we can’t work something out” so I guess it really sold in 30 minutes, but it took another 10 days to agree on a price after some offers and counter-offers.)  Wow… I find that amazing in this economy.  Strange enough, our home in Post Falls sold in 5 days 4 years ago.  This parcel sold in 10 days.  Are we on a roll?  Does that mean we’ll sell our lake house in 15 days when we put it on the market next month?  I certainly hope so- that would be exciting!  I seriously doubt it will, but hey… you never know… all it takes is 1 person to fall in love with it and make an offer we can’t resist.

In the meantime, goodbye to Blanchard- our dream will now become someone else’s…

Here’s a shot Kevin (the soon to be new owner) took of our parcel from his ultralight aircraft… very cool!

Sold...

We’ve finally done it- we’ve taken the plunge and put up the for sale signs on our 5 acres in Blanchard, Idaho.  Yes, our minds are made up.  It’s time to let this dream become somebody else’s dream.  If anybody out there is looking for a beautiful piece of property with gorgeous views of Mt. Spokane and only 45 minutes to Coeur d’Alene, ID or 1 hr to Spokane, Wa- and only 15 minutes to Newport, WA, here it is. A little piece of paradise.  Live in the country yet be only a short drive to all the amenities of city life.  If you’re interested in buying a piece of the North Idaho lifestyle- leave a comment or drop me a line for more information.

Spring is definitely in full swing.  The days are warm, the nights are still cool (31 last night). It’s time to spend more time in the flowerbeds and less time online. That’s the theory, anyway… and easy to do on a beautiful day like today. I went out and took some pictures this morning, and then spend most of the day (so far) pulling weeds and putting down fresh bark. The flowerbeds are coming back to life- new flowers opening up everyday. I know I say this every season… but Spring really reallys my favorite season!

I took this shot while on a tall sailing ship sunset cruise in Key West, FL May 2008.

I was reading through Wendy Hearn: Metalwork, Fusing, Lampwork Beads blog, and she was participating in this idea.  It’s sort of like the One world One heart giveaway that I participated in earlier this year.  It sounds like fun, and I couldn’t resist, so I’m now participating as well.

Here’s the nitty gritty.

Creative people are adventurous!  So, if you’re creative and would like to participate, please send me a comment and the first five people will receive something (handmade by me!) from me in the mail.  In return, all you have to do is “pay it forward”- please see the rules, restrictions and limitations below.

Here are the rules, and happy posting!

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make. But I hope you will. This will be something made from the heart.

2. What I create will be just for you with love and good wishes. It will be made of actual materials, not of cyberspace.

3. It will be done this year (2009).

4. I will not give you any clue what it’s going to be!

5. In return, all you need to do is cut and paste this text on your Blog (from “Creative People are…” and create five things for the first 5 people to respond to your post.
6. Send your mailing address after I contact you.

IMPORTANT: This offer is null and void if you do not post on your own blog to pay this forward. Would love it if you could join in!!!

To help me in choosing what to make and send you, I will be reading through your blog to get an idea of your likes and dislikes so that I hope you get something that you will love!

So what are you waiting for?  Get that comment in before someone beats you to it!  It’s not everyday you get a free handmade gift in the mail. : )

Mmmm…. Mom’s Mocha Mug

Originally uploaded by lawatha

Surprise, surprise!

I received a package in the mail yesterday. I hadn’t ordered anything recently, so I had no idea what it was. I opened it up and found this wonderful coffee mug from Lori- complete with pictures of Lori, Chris, Allison, Casey and Bailey. So now I can enjoy my morning mocha and get to see all my *kids* in one spot each and every day.

Thanks, Lori- it’s a treasure!

Pictured in the background is “Miss Sylvia”, my ever-faithful espresso maker from Italy.  A couple of previous espresso makers lasted maybe a year before I wore them out.  This one is 4 years old and still going strong.  I adore Miss Sylvia!

April 2009

Originally uploaded by lawatha

This was definitely the Winter to beat all Winters here at White Mud Lake. We woke up to below zero temps more days than ever- we had more days where it never reached 20, let alone reach 32. We had snow on the ground nonstop from December 10 til sometime in April (We left the end of March so we missed the end of the snow). We had deeper snow accumulations than we’ve ever had. It was a crazy, mad Winter and I’m glad it’s gone.

I was going through some old photo albums recently and decided I would scan some of them to post on Flickr and keep a copy on my hard drive as backups in case anything ever happens to the photo albums.  Most likely tragedy will never strike, but you never know, and I would hate to lose all those pictures.

So anyway, I was finding lots of pictures to scan- pictures of the kids when they were young, pictures of me and my siblings when we were young, pictures I’ve taken, and pictures others have taken of me. I came across an envelope of pictures that had been with my Dad’s belongings.  Most of the pictures were duplicates of ones my Mom has- pictures I’ve seen over the years.  But one of them I had never seen before finding it with my Dad’s belongings a few years ago.  I pulled it out to look at it once again.  It’s a younger, blonder version of me, a little me, sitting on a boulder, arms folded across my chest, looking directly at my Dad taking the picture, standing at the base of the rock.  I look at it now and I can’t help but wonder what must have been going through my mind as I sat there having my picture taken by my Dad.  From the looks of it, I’d guess it was taken right around the time my Dad took off to chase his dreams of living in Alaska.  It might possibly have been on one of his first trips back to visit us. Either way, my guess is I was thinking that maybe if I was good, he’d stay.  If I wished it enough, it would happen.  Truth of the matter is, no matter how much I wished for it, no matter how much I willed it to happen, it was never enough to make my wishes come true.  Believe me, I tried. All my life, I’ve thought how much we missed out on by not having him around, by not getting to see him more than once every few years, and even then for only a day or two at a time… maybe a week if we were lucky.  I’ve felt like my Mom and us 4 kids got the short end of the stick.   But right now, looking through the photo albums, remembering all the highlights of our lives, I’m thinking that it wasn’t us who got the short end of the stick- it was my Dad.  Because of the choices he made, the life he chose to live, he missed out on seeing 4 beautiful kids grow in to wonderful adults.  He missed all of our high school graduations, he missed out on all of our weddings, he wasn’t around when his grandkids were born, was not even around when his great-grandkids were born.  I wish he would have been there to enjoy those moments with us, but for whatever reason, he chose not to.  One person who has been there for each of us, through all of life’s events, great and small… is my Mom.  Thank you Mom, for always being there for us.  You are loved and appreciated more than you’ll ever know.

Little Betty Jeanette sitting on the hood of the family car.

Playing Friz with Bill

Originally uploaded by lawatha

Casey is a 4 year old golden retriever. He truly is “the best dog ever”- at least the best dog we’ve ever had the pleasure to have be part of our family. He occasionally likes to grab tissues out of the bathroom though- that’s his one vice. So when I saw him heading in to the bathroom this morning, I told him to get out of there- *no*! This afternoon, I saw him heading back in there, and he was standing near the back corner of the bathroom, near the commode. I told him “No, Casey”…  He looked back at me, and stood his ground… refusing to get out. I said it again- “Casey- NO. Out!” He walked out, obviously disappointed in me, because I just wasn’t getting it. I thought he was wanting to raid the garbage can. I found out later, he had something else on his mind.

Tonight, I was sitting in the living room watching a tv show with a small segment about “unruly golden retrievers”. I couldn’t believe it- there is no such thing, really, is there? An unruly golden retriever? “Unruly golden retirever” seemed like kind of an exaggeration… because I’ve never seen a *bad* one. Well… Casey left the room, walked to our bedroom, came out, came back to me, panting… giving me that “I want to show you something” look. I thought he had to go outside, so I said “show me”, which usually he either goes to the door to be let out, or he goes and stands in front of the refrigerator, where the treats are perched up on top. Well, this time he didn’t go to the door, or to the refrigerator. He walked into our bedroom, and kept looking back at me before proceeding, to make sure I was following. He walked into our bathroom and went to the far corner, where he had been earlier. I thought this was pretty strange, he’s never done this before. He glanced back at me, and looked again in the far corner, behind the commode. I looked… and lo and behold… back behind the little trash can was his beloved ball! I know he didn’t want to risk knocking the garbage over and getting scolded, he wanted the ball, but didn’t know how to go about it without getting in trouble. Awwww… sweet Casey. I retrieved the ball for him and he and Bailey are playing “keep away” with it right now. He’s such a sweetheart.

The next time I see him walking in to the bathroom, I’m going to pay closer attention at what he’s trying to tell me.