I really like this new website. GOOD JOB, HENRIK! There are benefits hooking up with a techie. But really, this WordPress service is much easier to use than Joomla that we were using before. My sweetie is a genius.
Sundays at the Farmers Market
Henrik and I have been going to the West Seattle Farmers Market every Sunday morning. It’s a goofy little outing we look forward to now every week. We give ourselves $20 and search out the odd and bizarre. It’s amazing how much stuff you can buy for only $20. I added a Farmers Market article in my Seattle Avenue e-newsletter.
Kiwi has wings
On May 15 we lost Kiwi. She unexpectedly graduated to wings. I really miss her and still say her name by mistake when I’m talking to Kula. It’s really quiet around here without her constant licking and bumping into things. Our house is peaceful now but the peace accentuates the loud loss of her good spirit. She was a real trooper. A hero dog.
We finally did it!
No, I’m not talking about getting married. We already did that. And we had a very nice wedding night as well, so that’s not it either.
No, I’m talking about taking out boat out sailing. We originally had asked Mark to come along (but he was nowhere to be found) and have a look at the engine, because I suspected that it wouldn’t just work. And I was right. My guess is water in the carburettor, because it starts good and runs fine until you try to put it in idle, even after some warm-up time. Long before it hits idle it just dies. A bit of throttle and a pull on the starter rope has it going again, but it makes it so difficult to get the gears in when you have to do it at above idle.
Just when we were about to give up one of our boat neighbors, Greg, asked if we needed to borrow an engine. He had two extra, one 2 hp and one 8 hp. Although the 8 was more equal to what we have I opted for the 2 hp, simply because the weight. Greg brought it over in his dinghy, and we were ready to go.
Denice turned out to be a great sailor, 
although this was her first outing with a sailboat. The rather small engine meant that we set sails pretty early, and she turned out to be a natural at the helm. Probably better than me. We only sailed out to Hat Island and then turned around, but that ws still a few hours under sail. It was a great feeling.
I found a ripped seam in the foresail that need to get fixed, and the engine needs to be repaired as well, but the first week-end of summer we were on the water. Yay!
Video of the wedding ceremony
We captured our wedding on video tape, and although I know that most people will find this incredibly boring, I also suspect that there are a few people who might be interested in seeing it. If you continue and view the entire article (by clicking the read more link, or clicking on the article title above) you will be able to see it. Be aware that it’s almost 30 minutes long, though.
No more Kiwi
It’s a sad day when you have to put an animal down. Yesterday was one of those sad days here in our household. Kiwi, our old blue heeler, started being a bit subdued and preferred to lay outside and look at the grass growing. That was a big departure even from Sunday, when she was jumping up at me as usual when I got home. By Monday evening she was not eating, and only drinking limited amounts of water.
Tuesday morning when I woke up early there was foamy dog puke in at least six or seven places indoors, and I could tell she’d been outside as well. She was definitively subdued, but she managed to get in and out through the doggie door herself. By nine-ish she was just lying outside panting. We got a time with the vet at 11, but at 10 she started whining a bit, so we just got in the car, Denice driving and me in the back holding and looking after Kiwi. Traffic was bad and Denice was a bit stressed, and when we got close to the vet Kiwi started making noises of serious pain. Denice stepped on the accelerator and exited I-5, only to take the wrong exit.
At the vets’ Kiwi was almost completely unresponsive, and I carried her in, which gave her immediate access to the treatment room. They x-rayed here and Dr. McGill came and gave us the bad news that it looked like Kiwi had several growths on her liver, and that it had probably packed up altogether. Denice, as Kiwi’s mommy for about fifteen years, had to make the difficult decision to put Kiwi to sleep, but it was the right thing to do. Even if we had had surgery she would most likely never recover, and that would just prolong her suffering, assuming she even survived the surgery. Instead she was given some morphine to remove the pain, and then she was put down. It was sad to stand there and see her go, but at least she got to live a long happy life, and didn’t have to suffer for a long time.
After that the staff put her in the car, and I drove to Bill’s house with Denice in the back still holding Kiwi. As we arrived Bill was already digging a hole next to where Kiwi’s old friends Rocky, Kitty Boy and Aurora are already resting. We buried her draped in her favorite blanket, and after that Denice and I went downtown for our improvised wake, Indian buffet and a beer.
We’ll miss her.