Merry Christmas!
We started 2024 at home the way we do, but soon after the decorations came down, we took Jan and Dick to Kauai. Both of them love the Garden Isle, and we all had a great time. Throughout the year, Robin spent hours patiently planning a great series of trips.
In February, we drove up to Eureka to celebrate Andrew’s birthday. We got in a little yard work too.
In March, Wendy came to recuperate from surgery to repair a very bad break. She stayed with us until mid-June, getting PT visits, and getting around with a walker.
Robin planted her usual garden of annuals, and this year, we got lots of basil, lovage, tomatoes, tomatillos.
In April, we returned to Turkey to see places besides Tangiers and Istanbul. We found a great itinerary that took us to Cappadocia, Konya, Antalya, Kekova, Pamukkale, Troy, Izmir, and Gallipoli.
In May, the Healdsburg Ukulele club put on an ambitious Beatles show at the Plaza stage. We really worked hard to improve our performances.
Our summer stay at the cottage in Seaside was a bit longer than usual. We planted trees, and painted all the things. The highlight for us, of course, was last half of our stay when we had visits from Dad & Midori, Tammy & Andrew, and John & Michelle Simmer.
In September, we toured Albania. Interesting culture, and beautiful scenery.
In fall, Steve took on more musical direction duties at the Healdsburg Ukulele Club. The club upped its game this year, thanks to the efforts of ambitious new members. We plan to hire a professional vocal coach/music director next year so we can continue to improve our performances.
Also in fall, Jan came to stay with us a while to recuperate. We might be getting the hang of running a one bed post-acute hospital. We have our fingers crossed that we can retire from that business.
In December, we started to get into shape for a trip slated for early ’26. We both hiked over a thousand miles in 2024, but most of those miles were flat. Next year, we’re going to tackle hiking up steep hills at altitude so we can make the trek up to see the mountain gorillas in Uganda.
Cheers,
Robin and Steve
This year’s first attempt at setting the Thanksgiving table, before
we knew that five guests were unable to come on account of Covid.
We had a spell of beautiful weather after three days of hard rain,
and flooding.
The view outside our dining room window, November 23rd, 2024
The weather was breathtaking on our hike at Foothill Regional Park on
November 15th.
We made an old favorite pizza - prosciutto, chevre, pecans, apples,
and arugula. Yum!
Jan came over for another masterpiece by Robin.
We visited Albania and Kosovo in late September - early October
Our neighborhood is crazy for Halloween, and the first displays to go
up went up on Labor Day!
Sunset as seen from the new walkway from Avenue U, Seaside,
Oregon
Tammy and Andrew came to visit us in Seaside. For the first time in a
long while, we toured Astoria on foot. Pictured: Flavel House
Once again Michelle and John Simmer came to the cottage for another
gourmet cookoff.
Dick and Midoria came to visit the cottage this summer. 
This summer, we waded along the beach a dozen times. The water was
warmer this year than we ever remember.
Our neighbor’s kid mashed Robin’s Solara. It took weeks to get
repaired. In fact the job got done just before we returned home.
We stopped in Eureka on the way up to Seaside. Always happy to check
in on Andrew and Tammy.
This is typical Robin - she overheard a woman admiring her Nordic
Trekking poles, and immediately caught up with her and gave her an extra
pair.
The Healdsburg Ukulele Club played for the local farm team - The
Healdsburg Prunepackers
We helped Kaia celebrate her promotion to middle school. She showed
us her medal.
The Healdsburg Ukulele Club played the Plaza on Sunday, May 26th. We
played a mostly Beatles set to polite applause.
Our Queen Anne cherry tree is pumping so much we invited the 4 Ks,
Dad and Midori over to pick. Our child labor worked hard.
Robin has started planting the herbs Tammy and Andrew gave her for
her birthday. Check out the great labels, too.
We celebrated Tammy’s birthday with a delicious lunch at Little Saint
in Healdsburg
We celebrated Tammy’s birthday before she left for home
Wendy is still recuperating at our house
Robin’s birthday dinner was outside this year.
Susan gave Robin a heliconia for her birthday, and it goes perfectly
in the entry way.
We returned to Turkey in April
We also visited Georgia and Armenia
Robin sitting down to enjoy a new favorite she made: Lemony Shrimp
& Bean Stew
We had an Easter Brunch, complete with mimosas
Robin spent a happy afternoon planting and feeding
Suddenly, our Japanese Maple went boom!
It’s now a birthday tradition. Dad gets 6 pounds of lemon
drops.
This $9 olive tree, was snapped in half by a big buck back in Corte
Madera. We dug it up, potted it, duct-taped it back together, took it
with us to Windsor. Now, 11 years later, we got our first crop of
olives. They are curing now 
Wendy is recuperating at our house after badly breaking her leg on
the job.
Our kitchen table has become a nursery for garden herbs. That’s “Four
Bean Chili” in the foreground. The recipe can be found over in
Recipes.
We all went on an expedition to Elk Grove to buy Wendy a car. She got
a great deal, but it took all day.
We feasted at Thai Orchid for Andrew’s Birthday.
We went back to Kauai in January
Not even eight months after our first roofing contractor tried to fix
the garage leak it came back with the heavy rains, but our neighbor
found a great roofer who promptly fixed it.