Chapter 199: hApPy bIrThDay Kyanne & Jenna!

This week I open with a big Happy Birthday shout out to two of my favorite folks with two of my favorite pictures, both taken at Jenna's wedding. I hope you have a great birthday Kyanne and Jenna!

Monday I went to visit Eleanor...and of course Eileen...in Des Moines. On the way home I stopped at a Goodwill store that is not on my usual thrift store trapline. 

                         trap·line  (trpln) n.

                                          1. A route or circuit along which a series of animal traps is set.

                                                        2. The traps set along such a route or circuit. 

I don't know why non-trapline thrift stores are so appealing to me, but they are. I've currently got my crosshairs set for another Crock-Pot crock for my empty Crock-Pot carcass. I can't get a whole new Crock-Pot because I have a nice divided crock for this pot that I really like. 

Anyway, I stopped to see what there was to see and I found a set of large (As it turns out, very large) plastic storage drawers for $2! Using my eyecrometer and quick calculations in the store, I determined that it would fit in the trunk of the convertible without any problem at all. Perhaps my eyecrometer was off, perhaps my quick calculations were too quick, or perhaps...and most likely...the trunk was made too small to easily accommodate the drawer set. So I stuck it in the front seat and tied it down with the two scarves I carry in the car and off we went.

Someone pleeeease help me! I'm trapped in this house with crazy people that feed me, walk me and take me to the beach. It's horrible. Let me ouuuttt! Helllp!

This coleus in my courtyard is going crazy. Check out the size of the leaves on this thing! They are quite literally larger than my hand. Must be some super radionic chemicals in that new hose I've been using to water it.

When the girls were small, we all went to co-op preschool where the parents learned to be parents and the kids learned to be kids and after 7 years we all graduated with honors. Every summer Meri, one of the moms in our group rounds up as many of us as she can and we meet at Kent Station. There were 7 of us this year. It was always the joke that us 3 pictured below towered over the other moms. I'm wearing 3" heels and Shirley, on the left, is wearing flat sandals. She's even taller than I am. It's always been fun to get together and we've compared our kid's travel, college graduation, business cards, wedding and now grandchildren pictures. 

Bob needed new shoes so we convertibled our way to North Bend Outlet mall to have a look around. He found exactly what he wanted and they just happened to be Margaritaville brand. Anyone that knows Bob knows he loves Jimmy Buffet and Margaritaville. Anyway, I digress. The point here the shoe box top. Look at that, it's a beautiful piece of art as is the sole of the shoes each with it's own map if Key West on the bottom.   

Since it was such a nice day, we took a drive to Tacoma to the Point Defiance Park to do the Five Mile Drive. It's earned a 5 star rating from Yelp. It's always a fun drive with and with an almost 337 degree view from the lookout points it's beautiful as well.  This is the Owen's Beach Promenade.

Afterwards we went to Steamer's Seafood Cafe' for lunch and I tried to get something other than my usual Narrows Bridges. After putting this picture into the blog, I realized that there is a teeny bit of bridge in the picture after all. Old habits are hard to break.

On the way home, Mt. Rainier was playing hide 'n seek in the clouds. Can you tell which one is the mountain?

Ok, folks. RestoCat has pointed out to me that the project is almost done, and you, his loyal readers are just going to have to find something useful and productive to do the the time you've been squandered here with him.

One of the last things we have to do is order the floor mats for the Jag. Bob wanted to get the real coco floor mats that stylin' exotic cars of the period were all rockin'. Below is a description if you are not familiar with them. 

Coco Car Floor Mats

Description:  If you owned a Porsche or BMW back in the 1960s, you probably remember Coco Mats. Made from coconut husk fibers, they were the floor mats for sporty cars. Now you can add that same sporty flair to virtually any kind of vehicle. Our custom-fit Coco Mats are subtly updated with vinyl edging and a non-slip, nibbed backing. These custom-made floor mats are manufactured in the USA from imported coco material. Guaranteed for life.

The floor mat company sent us a pattern that we were to try in the car and make any changes necessary for a custom fit then return the pattern for production. Here RestoCat trims the pattern before we send it back.

This is a sample of the color and style we are ordering for the Jag. 

Thursday was a very nice day so I decided to take the Jag out for a photo shoot. It was going to be hard to find a nice spot that worked with the angle of the sun to show the car off well. We started off at the park without much luck as far as I'm concerned.

A little bit of pasture and barbed wire action...

...and rustic fences didn't turn it's crank either. It's strange that the car is a different color in every picture. 

Now we're talking. I parked in front of a house and got a nice picture with a complementary background. 

While I was running around taking pictures, the man of the house came out to see why I was poaching his parking spot. I told him I was using his flowers for a backdrop and he was very excited. He didn't speak much English and was proudly telling me "I grow! I grow!" then he motioned that he wanted to be in a picture. He pushed through the flowers, did an exaggerated slicking down of his hair and posed for this picture with a huge smile of his face.

Next we were off for one of my favorite Mt. Rainier viewpoints. Crack! Another home run!

And here's an artsy-fartsy photo to close out the photo shoot.