Family weekend and Halloween

We've had two busy weekends, separated by a hurricane.  Crazy!

Two weekends ago was Family Weekend at the College of Wooster.  Maggie went down Friday afternoon to stay overnight in the dorm with her big sister Anna.  The rest of us followed on Saturday afternoon.  It was rainy and cold, but we managed to time our walks between rain showers.  

Here, we even caught the halftime show at the football game: marching band, pipes and drums, and Scottish highland dancers.

In the art building, they had crayons.  Made in the shape of cows.  I kid you not.

Siblings seeing the sights.

Monday following, the remnants of hurricane Sandy swept through, amplified by a nor'easter.  The combined effect was a mess in Cleveland as with many parts east of here.  Our home was spared the worst, but with power out and wires down in much of the city, Halloween trick-or-treating was postponed to Sunday.

Our little goblin didn't seem to mind.  This year, Grandma sent TWO costumes.  Here's Black Bart.

And for going out on a cold and rainy evening, the Fireman outfit was just the ticket!

Easter 2012

We were a threesome for Easter this year, and the Bunny himself took advantage of some fine weather to leave a few droppings, er, I mean Easter Eggs in the yard for Sam to find.  Sam enjoyed the hunt very much!

There were an even dozen in all that Mr. Hippity Hoppity secreted away in the yard.

They contained sweet goodies as well as a few Matchbox cars.  Later in the day we enjoyed watching the professional bicycle racers ride from Paris to Roubaix, took a somewhat shorter ride ourselves, and had a yummy dinner and rhubarb pie for dessert. Hooray for Easter!

Seattle getaway

Just a couple of photos from our 36 hour long date night in Seattle this week.


Sadly it was lashing rain on Monday night, so I did not get photos of our supper meal at Le Pichet.  The bourguinonne sauce on the root vegetable main dish Kim had was life changingly good.  I had a super tasty selection of charcuterie as a starter and ling cod main dish with pistou sauce that was very tasty.  And wine, most notably a chewy red from Bergerac.  Super dinner.  No pictures.


I did take a few photos on Tuesday.  Mostly food.


Our lunch at Serious Pie was a no brainer.  Their yukon gold/rosemary pizza is to die for.  That's a 3.14 Ale next to it, a joint project between Serious Pie and Elliot Bay Brewery.  3.14?  Pie?  Get it?

We strolled through Pike Place Market- how couldn't we?- and just had to stop at Beecher's Cheese.  Here's just one portion of their selection.  You might notice a dark, grape ash Tomme (goat's milk, soft cheese) in the middle there made by Quillisascut in Oregon, and redolent of some that I enjoyed in France with Anna last summer.  Yep, that's the one we got.  Very delicious.

And here is a festive holiday arrangement of peppers by another vendor.

We did non-food things too: strolled the massive REI flagship store, and even popped across to Feathered Friends, from whom I bought my down sleeping bag some 15 years ago.  Took in a movie at the fantastic Cinerama Theater.  Our favorite Hotel Ändra kept us comfortable overnight.  Cool and modern stationer Paperhaus had some tempting wares.  And we saw the new (to us) location of Elliott Bay Books, no longer in Pioneer Square but near Broadway now.  Finally, coffee with Kim former schoolmate, house mate and dear friend Sara before catching the ferry back to Bremerton.

We had a super time!

A PNW New Year

Here's a photo-dump of what we've been up to since Christmas on our Pacific Northwest holiday.

Kim and I enjoyed a nice kayak outing.  Just above the trees you can see the snow-capped Olympic mountains peeking out.

On the go!

Sam and I had a vehicular outing as well, on Grandpa Doug's tractor.

Yet another vehicle: ferry boat!  Sam enjoyed spotting the gulls.

The girls out on deck as we approach the Emerald City.

 Pop and Sam out on the beach at low tide.

 At the Experience Music Project in Seattle.  A Gehry designed building, Space Needle behind.

Inside, marveling at the massive guitar fountain.

A clear view of the Olympic mountains, from Seabeck, across the Hood Canal.

Morning sunrise across Dyes Inlet, Rainier peeking out.  Fire on the mountain!

Pacific Northwest Christmas

We are celebrating our holidays in the beautiful Pacific Northwest. Above is the tree and the gifts before bedlam ensued on Christmas morning.

Anna and Sam were ready to celebrate!

On Christmas Eve, Mount Rainier came out of hiding, and was bathed in late afternoon sunshine.

Maggie helped her little brother with his stocking on Christmas morning.

Christmas morning there was a beautiful red sunrise (which happened well after the gift unwrapping began.)

Number One gift this year was a die-cast Kubota tractor for Sam, just like Grandpa Doug's full sized one.  After opening this one, all else was mere gravy.

No offense, Aunt Jane, I love the sweater, I just don't like having clothes pulled on over my head with people watching.

Lad and Grandpa comparing gifts.

This present was nearly bigger than Aunt Dorothy.

Anna loves Christmas!

A group photo with matching t-shirts.

Followed by obligatory FUNNY FACE!

Holidays are here!

I've been terribly lazy in updating the blog, so I thought the best excuse to post would be to share a few holiday pictures.

First, our holiday family portrait.  We took this in the lobby of the Cleveland Institute of Music, where Maggie performed her end-of-semester prep orchestra concert just over a week ago.

Here are the three kids- Anna, Sam, and Maggie.

We had birthdays this month too.  Here are the three birthday girls!

And there was another holiday just about a month ago too!  We shared a wonderful Thanksgiving with my sisters and their families in sunny and warm Smyrna, Georgia.  Sam loved having the attention of cousins, uncles, and definitely aunties.

All our best wishes to friends and family for a wonderful holiday season, be it Solstice, Hanukkah, or Christmas.

Weekend update

It has been a busy weekend of fun and chores. Photographic evidence:

We've got other plans for Memorial Day weekend, so geranium planting came early. I wrote about why we plant geraniums last year.

Here we are weeding. It was a very wet spring here (to say the least) so the daffodils did very well. Usually they are dried out by now.

Sam wasn't sure how to respond to the grass on his feet. He'd hold them up to keep them from being tickled. He didn't mind crawling in it though.

At Alger, the lad got his first taste of dirt. It may look like chocolate, but it is definitely not chocolate.

It was hot work, so we soothed our bellies and memories with a trip to Malley's.

This is not dirt, it is chocolate.

Sunday morning, video chat to France wasn't working, but Sam was happy to see the sun after morning rain showers.

Rainy morning meant time for me in the shop. This is my current project, a glass-door bookcase in cherry. The top-to-sides dovetails are done!

A First Mother's Day

Kim experienced her first Mother's Day today. With small Sammy, it couldn't have been better.

The two Claspy men took her to Le Petit Triangle Cafe in Ohio City, which has, in two visits, become a favorite.

Here, Sam toasts his mother on her day. (Kir Royale for her, l'eau minerale for him)

(and yes, he loves his mummy.)

Our entrees arrive, and the lad and his mom tuck in. Boeuf Bourguignon for Kim, roast duck breast for Dad. Both were outstanding.

Happy Mother's Day!

My Favorite Moms

OK, Mother's Day is coming up on Sunday, so I thought I'd share a few pictures.

In digging through some scans of slides, I came across this one. Must have been Mother's Day at some point back in the early or mid 1950s. But as I looked at it, I realized that these wonderful ladies are the most important moms I had in my life as a boy growing up. The group includes my dad's three sisters, Nancy, Nadine (the two on the left- no idea which is which :-) and Lois in the pixie cut. My mom is front and center, with my Grandmother Claspy behind her, and my Grandmother Hoffman on the right. They are on the steps of 4032, the home in which my grandparents Claspy raised their four children and a whole brood of grandchildren.

I got started with this when some friends on facebook changed their profile picture to one of their mother, so I thought I'd follow suit. I used a crop of this picture of Mom from 1958, taken in a greenhouse in Columbus, right around the time my dad finished his graduate degree in physics. She rocked those cat-eye glasses for another decade plus after this shot was taken.

And of course, my sweetie, who also just happens to be a mom extraordinaire!

YAY for moms!

Leprechaun

Sammy tipped his cap to me this morning and said

"Beannachtaí na Féile Pádraig oraibh!"

Back atcha, little leprechaun!