Month: September 2025

Gone Fish’n

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

What do you do when you have a ton of boxes to unpack and a new home to decorate? Go fishing. We have been working really hard for the last several weeks and we were both ready for a break. I am not crazy about fishing, but Mr. U enjoys it, and I love being on the water. So, we decided to ignore the garage that is stuffed with every item we did not think we could part with (even after multiple downsizing efforts) and fired up the boat. We threw in the poles, a cooler and some very disgusting maggots that I refused to allow in the cooler, and off we went.

Kokanee are a small type of freshwater sockeye salmon that exist in many lakes in the PNW and down into California. There are particular times of the year that the kokanee fish are biting, and fishermen are abuzz when it occurs. They discuss bait, the best spots to find them and the depth of water the fish are at. Then they adjust their downriggers to that depth. Don’t ask me how I know… I would rather be lying in the boat reading. However, I support the fishing effort because these small pink flesh fish are delicious to eat.

The calm before the fish started really biting.

The afternoon was pretty quiet with only a few bites, which was perfect for me to read and sip a cold drink. But once the sun moved down low in the sky, the fish really started biting. I am the official netter, so unfortunately that kept me busy. Well, that and trying to take pictures, which Mr. U did not really appreciate while he was trying to pull fish into the boat. (When my family complains about me taking too many photos, I always remind them that they will cherish them later.)

It is not easy netting a fish and taking a picture at the same time. At least I did not drop my phone in the water.

Kokanee are excellent to eat and bonus that they are high in omega-3. They have a delicate pink meat and no fishy taste. The size of the fish varies from year to year. Part of the reason we made a point to go out this year was that they were pulling in large fish, running from 10-14 inches. Other years they have been much smaller, in which case Mr. U has smoked them. The smoked fish are a wonderful addition to a charcuterie tray or in a smoked salmon dip with crackers. The fish we caught this year were good size, so we grilled them. Delicious, healthy and low calorie. A trifecta food!

Grilled up a couple fish for dinner and the rest went in the freezer.

So glad we jumped on the impulse to go fishing on a Sunday afternoon. Yes, there were numerous other things we should have been doing but heck, we are retired, so we can always unpack boxes tomorrow. What is a weekend???

Cheers to the retirement years!

The gentle rocking from the waves made it difficult to get a clear picture, but it was a beautiful evening.

Welcome to Bobville

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

I have passed this house thousands of times on my way to and from work, the grocery store or carting kids to school and practices. It was a mild curiosity, but life was busy, and so I barely noticed the city growing behind the house. But grow it did. First a few store fronts and then bigger, larger buildings, all shielded behind a modest home in the country. The city behind the house appeared to have fully formed on its own. My curiosity grew. What was it and how was it used? Who were the creative minds behind this land of Oz? It turns out that the mastermind behind Bobville is, well…Bob. No surprise there.

Meet Bob

Bob and his lovely wife Linda.

Over 24 years ago I was sitting at home on a lovely fall morning when I heard a gentle knock on our door. This always gives a bit of a start when you live a quarter mile up a private gravel driveway. My fears quickly dissipated when I opened the door to a quiet older gentleman with a warm smile and his friendly furry side kick. Turns out he was our neighbor (I use that term loosely since a neighbor is anyone within a two-mile radius when you live in the country). He introduced himself as Bob and welcomed us to the neighborhood. He asked if he could walk on our property with his dog, as he had done for years prior to our moving here. He was also wondering if he could cut down a dead tree on our property to use for firewood. Well, of course he could.

Every fall after that I would receive that same gentle knock on the door. He would stop by and ask if he could cut down a dead tree again this year. We would chat briefly and then he was on his way. A few days later I would hear his chainsaw and marvel at his energy. But still, he was just a quiet blip in my very busy life, as neighbors often are.

Fast forward 24 years and we are preparing to move to our new home. I had not seen Bob cutting firewood for a couple of years. One day he was out on his 4-wheeler and stopped to chat. He said it was getting too hard to gather firewood and his dog passed a few years ago. Sadly, I had to let him know that we would be leaving and he would have to check with the new owners to use the property. But before we moved, I would love to bring my grandkids down to his place to see the curious little village behind it. He was delighted and we arranged a date.

Several weeks ago, we were in the throes of preparing to move, living amongst boxes and trying to remember where things were. I did not really have time to keep my date to go see Bob. If it wasn’t for my two oldest grands coming over, I probably would have cancelled. Son #4 also happened to stop by that evening, so we climbed on the 4-wheelers and headed down the road to visit Bobville. I am so glad that we did.

Bobville

Welcome to Bobville.

We were enchanted the minute we walked into the backyard of Bob’s home. He, and his lovely wife Linda, created this entire village with their own two hands and hearts. They are true artists. Bob explained that it started in 2000 when they built a couple of store fronts. One thing led to another, and they just kept adding buildings. Smaller replicas of a western town. Bob built the structures and Linda scoured estate sales and flea markets finding unique treasures to give the interiors authenticity. She added her own art and a village was formed. Come and take the tour of Bobville with me.

The Cantina
What is a western town without a train station? This one had a caboose connected to it. Bob filled in with some history for the kids, explaining that the caboose served as the living quarters for the train crew.
No western village is complete without a bar. This one had some shady characters in the loft having a good time.
My favorite building was the little white church. They have had eight couples get married there.
Of course, you have to have a cemetery with a few interesting gravestones.

Thank you, Bob

Sometimes people come into your life, and you feel the brief wisp of angel wings in their presence. You just know, deep down in your knower, that they are placed on this earth to make it a better place. A gentler world. They soften the edges of these often-harsh times. They create beauty and wonder and calm in their wake. They leave the world better than they found it. Bob is one of those people. I feel so fortunate to have had him be a very small part of my life living up on the hill.

Ode to Summer of 2025

Posted on by The Retired Alchemist

And in the blink of an eye, the greenery outside is shifting to gold and variegated shades of brown. The beans and peas in the garden are long gone, while the tomatoes are plump and juicy and the pumpkins are turning orange. Kids are gathering their school supplies and finding out who their teachers will be. The sun is setting lower in the sky as summer gives way to autumn. I am ready because in some ways, it has been the summer of our discontent.

I spent way too much time this summer keeping our home clean and “show ready” to sell. I am quite sure that I appeared to be a homeless person as I stored our dirty laundry basket and shoes, etc., in my car (because no one wants to see dirty laundry when looking to buy a house.) After several showings, we got a solid offer at the end of the summer. It turned out to be perfect timing since the closing date was three days after our move in date for our new home. I guess I wasted a lot of precious worry time on this. (A post on the new place will be coming.)

A lovely couple about our age bought our home. I always thought it would be a young couple with a family that would move in here. It just goes to show that life is never what you expect. After the offer was made, they came out to see the tractor, as they were interested in buying it too. We enjoyed a glass of wine and a toast to their new home as we sat out on the patio. This was while the house was still pending, with several inspections yet to be done. The four of us had a good chuckle knowing that our realtors would probably not approve of this get together prior to the sale going through. Boomers… always breaking the rules.

Summer highlights in pictures

This is an obligatory post. Kind of like the short essay you had to write when you returned to school every fall. The essay that was written in response to the prompt, “what I did last summer.” While it has not been your typical easy going, relaxing summer, we did squeeze in some fun things along the way. We tried to stay close to home since we needed to keep the house up and there were constant decisions on the new build. We had a great builder, but it is still imperative to keep a close eye on the building process to ensure it looks like you expected. While this is fun and exciting, it is also mentally and emotionally exhausting to me. This is definitely our last build. Next stop, the nursing home.

Instead of the essay, I thought I would tell what I did last summer in pictures. Besides, a picture is worth a thousand word, right? So fair warning – photo bomb ahead.

The only thing that makes a summer concert better is when it is out on a boat.
Snuck away for a beautiful night in Seattle to see a Mariner’s game.
My friend and I spent a lovely afternoon trying our hands at watercolor painting. You are never to old to learn something new.
We celebrated our granddaughter’s second birthday and enjoyed time with her and her new little brother.
We took our oldest two grands camping for a couple of days. The weather was not great so instead of swimming we rode bikes and played lots of camp games.
We got a couple nights of gorgeous sunsets at the campground.
And it would not be summer without a trip to Arbor Crest Winery with my sister and her family.
Good wine, good music, good company and good views.
The state fair is fun for all ages, from my two-year-old granddaughter to my 98-year-old dad. Honestly, who doesn’t love a delicious elephant ear?
The finale of summer is our annual extended family campout over Labor Day weekend that son #2 and our niece organize for us every year. So nice to pass the scheduling baton on to the younger generation.
The adults did a lot of campfire sitting while the kids played games and built this fort that kept them entertained for hours.
Son #2 and my BIL won the annual corn hole tournament this year.
The campout culminates with the nominations and vote on the “knuckle head” and “knot head” awards.

But mostly, I just spend this summer cleaning and packing up our stuff.

Welcome back

If you are reading this, I would like to say thank you for coming back after I took the summer off from blogging. I know that long stretches without a post can be the death of a blog. And if you are a new reader, I would like to welcome you. While writing seems to be stuck deep in my DNA, it is the readers that give me the energy. So, thank you again for following along. I hope that you had a wonderful summer!