Mummy, can I pet the horses? said my daughter as we crossed the road to the center of the town of Leavenworth. We had decided to spend a few hours in a nearby town, for a change of scenery. The horses in the road were attached to carts that were well...
I did a really unpleasant thing the day before yesterday. It was totally necessary; in fact, it was a service to my family. There is the most delicious yet simple meal that is very traditional around this area, but to make it requires getting your ha...
Just opposite where we live is a cherry orchard. It must be about four or five acres. In the late winter or early spring, the trees get pruned. Excess branches are cut off in order to make the trees more productive. That system works, and is understo...
A strange type of creature has been appearing in Wenatchee recently. Apparently, it comes out when the weather gets nice. It is very tall, furry, and generally has a smile on its face. Unlike most other animals, it likes to be close to people and tra...
The financial crisis has hit Wenatchee quite hard in the past year or so. Businesses have closed, some people have lost their homes or jobs, or both. Everyone seems to be more careful about spending, and it has become normal to be frugal, or very car...
Ah, Spring is here, and we are back to the normal good weather activities. This weekend, we had a couple of the kids' friends over for a 'sleep-over'. You can probably tell by the name what a sleep-over is: the kids come and play in the evening and e...
I got a phone call from my husband the other day, Hey babe, can you take the car to get the oil changed please? It's overdue. As he works forty-five minutes from town, he rarely has time to run those errands back in Wenatchee, so he gets his secretar...
I was just listening to a Swiss podcast about health. The presenters were talking about free radicals and how to fight them. They first of all listed all the situations in life that cause free radicals to be produced in our bodies: emotional and phys...
Do you have photos around your house? Perhaps photos of family and friends? I have been in some people's houses where there are photos in every room. The fridge, in the kitchen, is a place where a lot of people place photos of loved ones or fond memo...
During the weekend, I took my two youngest children to the park. My youngest son had insisted for the best part of half a day, that we go fishing. It's not exactly the right season for catching a fish, but for 'messing about on the water' it is just...
I have been making excuses recently, to avoid doing some gardening. I have had pots of plants ready to plant for at least a week. I even put them right on the spots where I intended to plant them, but they sat there for a long time. Every time I happ...
Baseball season is here, and even though it is chilly, we gather our troops and head off for the baseball field. Everyone who has a child involved in the sport knows that this time of year is very changeable when it comes to the weather. You have to...
The Wenatchee golf club is a place that was introduced to me by my in-laws. For quite a few years now, they have played golf several times a week, and also enjoyed the club's other facilities. I don't golf, or at least not yet, but I have become fami...
Before I start this podcast, I'd like to let you know that I have corrected a mistake I made on yesterday's podcast about cherry blossoms in Japan. The photo I included was actually of dog wood blossoms. I didn't realise at the time, but I have corre...
This podcast was inspired by Kimiyo from Japan who recently E-mailed me a photograph of the cherry blossoms on the street where she lives. She told me that, at the moment, the wave of blossoms is moving through Japan, and so she decided to capture it...
