October flies by

I didn't mean to skip the whole month of October without an entry.  Lots of things happened of interest.  Getting back in the swing of things after the Sicilian trip took awhile.  I hosted a couple dinner parties with a Sicilian theme--complete with cannoli which you can actually buy here on the island.  I also got busy with both the Textile Guild and the Soroptimist becoming the San Juan Island Rep for the former and the Mentor Program administrator for the latter.  I painted the kitchen.  We picked all the apples. And we hosted several visitors.

But the big events in October had to do with family.  I got to babysit the four year old twins Iliana and Lenora for a few days while their parents and baby Audrey were on a business trip.  We went on field trips to the beach and worked on crafts and watched a lot of movies.  When their parents returned three days later, they stayed on for a few days to celebrate an early Thanksgiving with the Barreca Family.  Sometimes referred to as "Thankstween" and rotated through the family, this year it was my turn to host with help from my nearby sister Rosalie.  Twenty-five people for dinner, two turkeys, five desserts and lots of jamming from the musicians in the family.  Barreca Family Jam Session

We went to a Halloween Party.  I was an owl.  Roger had a hatchet in his head/hat.  We joined a team for Trivia Night on Thursday nights at a local restaurant, and our team won first prize one week.  The questions can be very hard.  But Roger's expertise in musical history came through with Peter Townsend as an answer.  No one else knew who coined the phrase "power pop". 

The first of November, Roger drove down to Auburn to help his dad through cataract surgery.  Al is staying with us for the month so we can help put drops in his eyes twice a day.  He seems to be settling in nicely.  In fact, he's putting a satellite dish on his r.v. this very evening so he can watch his shows.

Roger and I are milling some logs into tapered posts for our carport.  This takes a lot of measuring.  I'm hoping my carport will be ready sometime in 2011 or 2012 (at the rate we're going).

And this past weekend, I got to go to Camp Orkila, which is a big YMCA camp on Orcas Island, for a San Juan County Textile Guild Retreat.  Three days of hanging out with knitters, weavers, felters, spinners, and basketweavers.  We had several workshops, I spent days ahead of time sorting out buttons from my mother and mother-in-law's collections so I could braid a button bracelet.  But I also reserved time to hike all around the camp.    It reminded me of my old CYO summer camp days.

Gosh, looking back on it all, we did get a few things done.

Late Summer into Autumn

It's been awhile and I feel like I've been around the world since last I wrote.  Wait!  I have!

But let me start where I left off.  The San Juan County Fair.  Great, as usual.  Roger won several ribbons for his garlic, chard, apples, and runner beans.  I won some lesser ribbons for a couple baskets.  Our friends came up and the band Clumsy Lovers from Canada were really hot.

The week after the Fair,We attended my brother Marc's investiture as a Federal Bankruptcy Judge.  Most of the family came for the ceremony and the party afterwards.  Highlights were Dad placing the judicial robe on Marc and Emily's tribute to her dad.

 We left for Twisp in the Methow Valley directly from Seattle.  Here we visited with friends of our friend Liz who promised us that we had much in common.  She was right.  The trip over North Cascades Pass was beautiful in both directions.  Cascadian Farms had great blueberries and raspberry ice cream.  We hiked near Sun Mountain, attended the farmers market, windowshopped in Twisp and Winthrop.  Meanwhile, Suzie got to play with their dog Frida.  Fun was had by all. 

Meanwhile, Roger's brother Eric brought Al back up to stay with us for another week.  I spent the time packing and preparing for my trip back to Sicily, this time with my dad, brother Joe, and his wife Cheryl.  We took Al back to Auburn on Monday, and I left for Italy on Tuesday.

We stayed the whole time in Castelbuono, the ancestral town of my grandparents. We were met by relatives I had come to know a year ago when I was there visiting with my sister Jeannette. They wined and dined us, and showed us the villa and orchards where my grandfather worked before he shipped out to America at the start of the last century. We also visited Mt. Etna and saw the sights along the Tyrrhenian Coast.

For more, click this link:  Pictures from trip to Sicily 2010

The trip back was long and arduous.  (hint, don't believe Travelocity and never travel through Chicago if you can help it)  We had a great time and I'm very glad to be home.  Time to settle in for a cozy Autumn.