Shirley

HAPPENINGS

2012-02-01T16:30:00.000-08:00

Today Erik left to go on his Mission. There are pictures on Facebook with Erik and his Mom and Erik and Jennie.

This morning I got a call from David in Alaska telling us that Sequim was on the National news. A friend of his down here told him about it. Donna and I hadn't listened to the news. Last night about 6pm, a 40 ft boat exploded at the John Wayne Marina. The man on board was 78 and has life threating injures. Burns and broken bones.A couple that were two slips away were able to get him out of the debris. The man is in Harborview Hospital in serious condition. The explosion ripped the boat into pieces and was powerful enough to damage boats up to 75 yards away. It is unclear what caused the explosion. I saw the pictures on the news. It is a miracle he got out alive.

The picture is Donna's new Fish tank. She bought a bigger one Friday and it has a bowed front. It looks very nice. Donna wanted to add more fish so we went to the Pet store. I bought 3 Neon fish and she bought a different color Guppie than the one she already had. The Neon fish are very small but very colorful. They are Blue and flash through the tank and look so nice. We bought them Monday and after they were in the tank the other fish were chasing the Neon fish. By Tuesday evening we could no longer find even any scrap of the three fish. So today we went back to the Pet Store with a sample of the water from the tank and our receipt. (The fish are guaranteed for 30 days.) We picked out 3 more Neon fish. I thought maybe we shouldn't try them again but Donna really liked them. I just checked on them again a few minutes ago and so far they are doing fine. The other fish are ignoring them which is a good sign.

Rachel and Daryl have some nice kitty pictures on their blog.

STILL CATCHING UP

2012-01-21T10:39:00.000-08:00

I was trying to remember everything to write about and I forgot one of the most important. Erik, Debbie and Kent came to Sequim on Saturday, January 14th. It was going to be the last time I got a chance to see Erik before he goes on his Mission. They had not been over since the downstairs was done. We went to see Marge and Harry so Debbie could meet Harry and congratulate them on their upcoming wedding. We had a nice visit. We had lunch at the Chinese Garden. I am so glad they came on Saturday because it started snowing on Sunday.

Of course we all know that things got really bad before all the snow and ice was over.

HUMMING BIRD FEEDER

2012-01-19T21:54:00.000-08:00

Even though there is a lot of snow and it has been very cold, I have a Hummingbird that comes everyday to the feeder. The last few days he has been coming by three or four times. We have not had it bad here. I, of course, do not go out into the snow. Donna and laif went to the store today and I had them get me a couple of things. We have a lot of snow but we have not lost power and so far have not had the really icy conditions that I have been watching on the news. Dan said he has been without power for a day and a half. Debbie, who is in Connecticut, says they do not have power at their house. Hopefully it will be restored before she comes back tomorrow.

WINTER IS HERE - NOT MY FAVORITE SEASON

2012-01-18T14:03:00.001-08:00

I know I have not written on my blog since the middle of December. My last post was about my quilt. I will try to fill in what has been happening and try to keep up with things from now on. David came down from Ketchikan before Thanksgiving. The weather was good all through the time he was here until he got ready to go back to Renton on January 15th to get ready to get his plane on Tuesday, the 17th. He had a 7am flight to Ketchikan and Debbie had a 7am flight to Connecticut. They got to the airport OK and I have talked to David twice since he got back. Anyway, since the weather had been good, I was able to go to the Troller's Expo in Seattle with him and I even got to sit in on his meeting. One of his friends told me I should be very proud of him because he has done so much to help the Trollers. We were able to visit some of his friends around Port Townsend too.

I will backtrack now and fill you in on what was happening with David and me. On Thursday, December 22nd, David and I went to Debbie's for the Christmas Eve finale. We took my car with David being my chauffer, of course. Debbie had her usual very nice Christmas Eve party. We had a great time.

Now the trama part--David got very sick with the flu on Christmas Day. We were staying at Debbie's until Wednesday anyway so I could go to the Temple for Erik. By Wednesday David was OK so we took off in the morning to go back to Sequim. I was feeling just fine Wednesday and we had a good trip back to Sequim.

On Thursday, December 29th, I got sick early in the morning. I was so sick I could not eat or drink anything which turned out to be bad. I dehydrated and about 6pm I was in the bathroom and I remember yelling for David and I passed out. David called 911 and they took me to the hospital in Port Angeles. David said my face was whiter than my hair. Anyway, as soon as they put the IV on me in the ambulance I started doing Ok. I was just in the emergency for a couple of hours. I was sick with a fever for 4 days but now I am fine.

Donna and Laif had gone to Portland and then to Pullman so they missed all the Trama and the flu germs.

Now for some good news--Last night, January 17th, Marge Otte and Harry Thompson got married at the Fifth Avenue Senior Living Center. It was just a small gathering. The activity director's husband is a Minister. It was such a joy to see them get married. They both looked very happy.

Talking about Wedding Bells--My son Richard is getting married on February 18th. Richard and his fiance, Joan, came to Sequim, Monday, Martin Luther King Day so we could meet her. The 16th is also Richard's birthday. Joan seems like a very nice person. She is a registered Nurse. They are going to get married in Spokane where Joan's sister lives.

AT LAST--MY NEW QUILT IS FINISHED

2011-12-15T14:38:00.000-08:00

You can tell that I love bold colors. Donna and I spent many hours on this quilt. In the picture below I pulled up the edge of the quilt so that you can see the reverse side. The quilt looks so much nicer using this material instead of muslin.

Other than getting through Thanksgiving and other things that go along with this season, everything is going well. I did go to a nice dinner party that my home teachers invited me to. There were just people they home teach. It was a nice gathering.

David will be back from Alaska tomorrow. We will be going over to Debbie's for Christmas Eve. My car once again will have to cross the water and go on the freeway. David is a good driver so I trust we will be fine.

QUILTING RETREAT AND MORE

2011-11-12T13:25:00.000-08:00

This is the new quilt top I made at the quilting retreat with Donna's help. The quilt will probably not be done until after the first of the year. We have to have space to set up the quilting frame. It will give us something to do after the holidays are over. David is here now and except for a couple of trips back to Alaska, he will be here until the middle of January. Thanksgiving will be wall to wall people. It will be fun. I like living this way much better than being in an Assisted Living Center. My sister, Elsie, loves living in her Assisted Living center in Lake Stevens. Those places are made for people like her.
Now on to other happenings. We were coming back from the Quilting Retreat on Sunday, Nov.6th. I had decided we could use my new car to go to the retreat. It was dark when we were getting back and we heard a rock hit the car. It did not really sound that bad but the next morning there was a large crack in the windshield. I just bought the car in July so that was upsetting. We got the glass replaced at the Auto glass place here in Sequim. I only had a $50. deductable on my insurance. This is only the second new car I ever bought. My other new car was the Kia Rio. It was only a little over two months old when it had a mishap. In November we had a bad wind storm that year and half our roof blew off the house. I always parked the car in the garage but I had to park it in the carport because we needed the driveway to the garage for the big dumpster to put all the shingles, etc in. We had a very icy New Year's eve that year and during the night someone took out part of our chain-link fence and part of the fence fell on the side of the car. It left a huge scratch that had to be fixed. Body work is so expensive but the insurance covered most of it. Then after we moved to Merrill Gardens my Kia was parked in their parking garage and a lady backed into it. Not a lot of damage but it did have to have body work again. All the eight years I drove the Kia I did not even get one ding in my windshield though.
Donna and Laif bought an auxilary heat pump for the downstairs. The installers came yesterday. One person put the unit in and the other was the electrician who had to do all the wiring. Yesterday was a miserable, cold day. It poured rain from time to time making it worse. Anyway, the guys were supposed to be here at 8am and were not able to get here until about 10:30. When Donna ordered the unit they said it would take 3 hours to install it but it ended up taking almost 6 hours. They had problems with wiring for one. The guy who was installing the unit had to leave for awhile because he had an appointment at 1pm. The truck he had was a large and tall truck. He drove it down the driveway so he wouldn't have to carry the units so far. When he was going back up the driveway he took out some of the the trim from the house that hangs over which was a pretty good size piece. I think I saw two big pieces on top of the garbage can. Donna said he was just about a quarter of an inch from taking out the gutter. Of course, they are going to fix it. He says it will look just like new when it is done. I hope so. Donna and Laif were not too happy about it. David missed all the excitement. I was going to go with him to see one of his friends in Port Haddock but I didn't want to go because the weather was so miserable so I just let him use my car.
The happy ending to yesterday is that everything is working great and it is so comfortable downstairs I can hardly believe it. This auxilary heat pump is supposed to take very little electricity. Last winter I just wore sweaters and used my electric throw to keep my legs and feet warm. I'm not even wearing a sweater now.
I think I will even be able to raise the dough for Cinnamon rolls downstairs, which I found out people are expecting me to make for Thanksgiving.

QUILTING RETREAT

2011-11-03T10:49:00.000-07:00

Donna and I are leaving for the Quilting Retreat Friday. My arm is still bothering me quite a bit but I am still excited about going. David is down from Ketchikan and is staying with Debbie and Kent. We will be picking him up Sunday on our way back from the Retreat. I have been doing some reading on "Distal biceps tendon rupture". I am doing my best to exercise my arm. Turning my arm so that my palm is upward is painful right now. As far as I can tell from reading I will never have full strength in my arm. I wasn't planning on signing up for Tennis anyway so I guess everything will work out. I have a bruise right over my bicep area. I did not hit my arm on anything. My muscle is bruised on the inside but shows on my arm.

We are going to drive my car to the Retreat. I guess I should use it some. It is 218 miles to the Retreat. The Retreat is at the Best Western Parkersville Inn is in Washougal, WA. It is on the Washington side of the Columbia River aways from Vancouver, WA.

BOTTOM PICTURE--ME IN A SLING

2011-10-29T20:16:00.000-07:00

I got my new desk and my new recliner Thursday. Today I decided I wanted my floor lamp by my new recliner so I managed to get myself into trouble. The outlet is behind the desk and I was having trouble plugging it in and I stretched my left arm so far trying to plug the lamp in that I heard a snap in my arm and immediately had terrible pain when I tried to move my arm. Donna took me to the emergency room of the hospital in Port Angeles. I have a Distal biceps tendon rupture. I need to wear this sling for a few days. My arm hurts anytime I move it. I did get pain pills. My arm will heal on its on and as soon as possible I will have to work on my range of motion but I am supposed to rest it for 2or 3days. Fortunately it was my left arm.

I don't really like the lamp that I have by the chair and will be getting a better looking one later. I think I will let someone help me plug it in.

Our quilting retreat is next weekend and also David is coming in from Ketchikan next week too so my arm better get better soon.

CABINETS AND COUNTERTOPS

2011-10-07T15:05:00.000-07:00

Today I have a complete kitchen! Beautiful kitchen cabinets and a gorgeous countertop. We looked at so many colors of Corian it made my head spin. Finally we all decided on this color and it turned out so great. The burners on my stove are a gray which goes just perfect with the countertop.

I AM STILL AROUND

2011-09-18T09:41:00.000-07:00

I will take more pictures after the cabinets are put in and the countertops are in. I have lots of things to do yet.

Dust

and

dust

and

dust

and put all my little things back in order.

I know I have not written on my blog since our trip. So much has been going on. We just got back from our trip and Donna and Laif decided to go ahead and get the sheetrocking and painting done downstairs. What a job to get ready for it. All the furniture and all the stuff I have been accumulating had to be moved. Laif did a great job on figuring out where everything would go. The worker was going to start the day after Labor Day. Dan and Heidi decided to come to visit over the Labor Day weekend. At that point we could still get to the beds. They stayed Sunday and Sunday night. We had a real nice visit. I was so happy to have them visit.

Finally all the work is done and Friday night I finally got to sleep downstairs again. Saturday Donna and Laif moved my furniture back in. Laif is putting up the kitchen cabinets. They look so nice. I was moving one of my small cabinets back into the bathroom and I dropped it on my left toe. It is all bruised and swollen. I haven't been able to wear my shoes yet. It seems to be better today. I have too much to do so whether it hurts or not I am going to have to get busy and straighten things up down here.

THIS IS IT-OUR LAST DAY

2011-08-22T16:31:00.000-07:00

We have had such a nice time here in Atlanta with Diane. I am anxious to get home but I will miss Diane too. These last two days especially have been tiring. When you are talking temperatures 95 to 98 it is hard to walk anywhere. I have held up amazingly well for all the things we have done here.
This morning Donna and I took the Marta. We had to take two trains. The trains come every few minutes so it is not a problem.
We met Diane for lunch in the State Building. There is a large cafeteria with several restaurants. After lunch Diane took us up to see her office. She is on the 19th floor. What a wonderful view of the city you get. You can see the Capitol close up.
We took the Marta back to the apts. and both of us were almost to the collapsing point. After a short nap we revived pretty much.
Today I said goodbye to the little Kia Blueberry. I have a new car waiting for me at home. I almost forgot what it looks like. We have been gone for two weeks.
Now I have to get everything packed up. We will be leaving around 8am to get on the Marta. We just walk out the front door of Diane's apts. and cross the street to get on the Marta. I hope I can manage to drag my suitcase. Maybe someone feel sorry for me and help. Donna will have her hands full. Diane can't help because she has to leave on an earlier train because she has a meeting in the morning. The Marta takes us right into the airport. It is the last stop. Once we are there we will be fine as we are going to have our bags checked.
The happiest part of all-----WE WERE ABLE TO UPGRADE TO FIRST CLASS.
When we get to Sea-Tac Airport we will be going right to Sequim on The Rocket transit which will take us right to our door. Our neighbors, Marge and George will have dinner ready for us.

A NICE SUNDAY

2011-08-21T17:24:00.000-07:00

Pictures from the Coca-Cola Museum. We met the Coca-Cola bear. Diane and I having our picture taken with the Coca-Cola bear yesterday.

We went to the Atlanta Ward with Diane. We met a few people. Everyone was friendly. Diane taught the Relief Society lesson.

After Church we had lunch and then went to the Historical Museum. We spent a long time there and still did not see everything. I spent most of my time going through the Civil War displays and watching the short films.

We didn't see a lot more. It got up to 96 degrees today and Diane's apt. felt the best. Diane had bought a bookcase and Donna helped her put it together.

Tomorrow will be our last day as we are leaving early Tuesday morning to catch our plane back home.

SHOPPING AT THE MALL

2011-08-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

CNN Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia We walked around in the CNN Building for a while yesterday. We did not take the tour. The buildings are really fascinating.
Today we were going to go to the Zoo but in 95 degree weather it wasn't going to happen so we went to a Mall instead. We went to the Perimeter Mall. It is a large Mall too. We also went to Target and I got my hair cut at "Great Clips". You notice we just went to air conditioned "Sites".
We drove past the Atlanta Temple today. There was a distribution center there so we all bought a new temple dress. I don't get to the temple much anymore but I will be ready if I ever get a chance.
We are going to Church tomorrow. Diane is going to be giving the Relief Society Lesson.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF SUMMER

2011-08-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today while Diane was at work Donna and I went to the Aquarium. It is the largest Aquarium in the world. We spent a long time there. It is a fascinating place. I bought an umbrella stroller
to use as a walker. I would never have been able to walk as long as I did without it. By afternoon Donna and I were getting hot and tired. We had left the Aquarium and we planned to meet Diane at the "World of Coca-Cola"'. I asked Donna what she thought it would cost for three people to go back to the apartment by Taxi. Donna said get me an aid-car and there will only be two for the Taxi. After we took the tour through the "World of Coca-Cola" we did take a taxi to the Marta station. Donna and I really don't do well in 90 degree temperature.
The "World of Coca-Cola was very interesting to see. We saw a short film and had a tour then we were on our own. Everyone got a souvenir bottle of Coca-Cola when they left.
I think tomorrow we might go to the Zoo. I will see if I can manage that.

STILL IN ATLANTA

2011-08-19T06:24:00.000-07:00

After Diane got home from work we went to Target and then the Lenox Mall. The Mall has four stories. It is a huge mall and had a Marriott hotel attached. We ate at the California Pizza. I was really tired when we got back. As I said before I love the heat but this heat in Atlanta gets to me.

Today Donna and I are going to the Aquarium. Diane has been there. It is supposed to be a really large one. We are meeting Diane after work and going to the "World of Coke"

HERE WE ARE IN ATLANTA, GEORGIA

2011-08-18T12:46:00.000-07:00

We made it into Atlanta about 11pm.last night. As we approached the city there were six freeways. We were looking up at these tall buildings all lit up. I felt like a small cartoon character in a special effects movie. The apartment building that Diane lives in is very nice. It is huge. There are four separate buildings in this complex all very large. Our GPS guided us to one on the back side but thanks to the world of cell phones Diane guided us in. It is very difficult to find something in the dark when you have never been there.
As I said, the apartment building is very nice and very secure. You can't even get into the building without a key or the parking garage either.
I guess because I am the mother and probably because I am old I got special treatment. Diane gave me her bed. Diane bought two single air mattresses for her and Donna. Diane's "bed" is actually a queen-size air mattress and is almost the height of a regular bed. I was so impressed. It is extremely comfortable. I slept so good on it.
Diane's apt. is a one bedroom and very roomy. It has a large bedroom and front room and a very nice kitchen and bath. The bathtub is a garden tub which was a little bit of a challenge for me but I managed.
We met Diane for lunch. Donna and I took the Marta. As we were standing by the ticket machine trying to figure out what to do a nice policeman came to help us and even took us to the right place to wait for the train. Either Atlanta is the safest city in the nation or the most dangerous. There are policemen everywhere. You cannot walk a block without seeing a policeman. Everyone is so friendly here. We had to ask questions of a couple of people. We did meet up with Diane and had lunch at "Waffle House".
I love the hot Summer days but the heat here in Atlanta is almost too much. Donna and I were going to go shopping when Diane went back to work but we went home and took naps. We had already walked quite a bit. We decided to wait until Diane got home.
Diane is home now so I guess we will go shopping. Right now the temperature is 91 degrees but according to weather site it feels like 95.

GETTING CLOSER TO ATLANTA

2011-08-16T18:03:00.001-07:00

Laura and Almanzo's Rocky Ridge Farm in Mansville, Missouri We finally got to the Rocky Ridge Farm. We thought we would just be there a short time and then be on our way to Paducah, Tennessee but we ended up staying there 3 hours. We had so much to see and also one of the ladies guides you through the house and the Rock house which Rose had built for more modern living for them. Laura and Almanzo lived in the Rock house for 9 years then moved back into Rocky Ridge. Both houses are on the same property. I loved the Rocky Ridge home best but Donna liked the Rock house best. There were so many things to see. Pa's original fiddle is there. Someone there plays it on regular basis. We had just learned in Church awhile back how a fiddle has to be played or it will "die". I cannot describe how beautiful the property is. Almanzo built buildings, made furniture. The house was built mostly from rocks and wood on the property.
We are staying in a hotel tonight in Poplar Bluff and will be in Paducah tomorrow and probably quite aways beyond. ATLANTA HERE WE COME.

WORKING OUR WAY TO ATLANTA

2011-08-16T06:40:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we did not go to the same place as we planned. It rained all the way from St. Joseph to Branson (about 120 miles). we did not go to Springfield. We went to Branson instead. We went to the Fantasic Caves which is a ride through cave. At first I wasn't going to go but Donna talked me into it. I am so glad. It was such an awesome sight. The guide told us so much about the history of the caves. After that we booked a room in Branson and then we went to the live play "Sheperd of the Hills" which has been performing there for 51 years. It was great. It did not follow the story the same as the John Wayne movie. It was probably closer to how the author wrote it. I enjoyed it very much. It was 81 degrees when we got into Branson. The play lasted until after ten and it was still very warm outside. There was a funny incident during the play. The actor was saying something about how he could not believe an uneducated girl from the hills would not go with him, and a lady in the audience called out to him. He started laughing and forgot his lines, it took him a while to get back into character. He said he did not think this was an interactive play, all the time trying to remember where he was. It was fun. He said "I can't remember my next line". Anyway, the show finally went on, and it was great. Donna talked to a couple of the actors, and they said that they were some of the "new ones", as they had only been in the play for 10 and 12 years, and some of them have been in the play for 30 or more years.

KANSAS AND MISSOURI

2011-08-14T20:29:00.000-07:00

Great Platte River Road Monument and Museum. We spent a long time here this morning.

This is the part of the river where the different pioneers took off to the West. This is where the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail and the California trail converged. The museum had some of the Mormon history as well. There was so much to see. The displays started with the mountain men and the pioneers and right up to the cars. This is also along the Lincoln Highway. The Lincoln Highway was the first highway across the continental United States.

On facebook I said we were in Hiawatha, Missouri. That was wrong. We were in Hiawatha, Kansas. We did not go very far into Kansas and would have not gone into Kansas at all if we had not had trouble trying to get across the river. We were able to access a bridge from Hiawatha and crossed the river and then we were in Missouri. Even the big trucks were using this detour. We are spending the night in St. Joseph, Missouri. The reason we had trouble crossing is that many things were damaged from the bad flooding they had this last Spring. Even now we saw where some water was over the roads. Some of the bridges were closed for repairs.

Tomorrow we will probably go into Springfield, Missouri and probably be able to see the Wilder Farm in Mansfield, Missouri.

We are having a great time. This is a trip of a lifetime for me.

GOOD MORNING FROM SUNNY NEBRASKA

2011-08-14T05:10:00.000-07:00

The pictures above are of the restored cabins I took when we went to Fort Bridger. Cabins like these in the 30's and 40's were where people stayed when traveling. These cabins are on the Lincoln Highway.

These are just like the cabins that my mother, dad, my sister and I stayed in when moving from Helena, Montana to Washington. You can see there is a little opening right next to each cabin for you to park your car. We had a new 1932 Chevrolet. The cars were not very wide then so the opening was not large, just enough room to park the car and get out. In the bottom picture you can see the "bathroom facilities". There was no water in the cabin. You had to go to an outside water faucet to get water. My mother was thrilled at one of the cabins we stayed at because the water faucet was right outside the door.
Yesterday I drove most of the day. Donna had not slept well the night before. We were in Wyoming and climbed to very high elevations. Donna is still having headaches from her Concussion and then the high elevations made her Asthma worse. We stopped at a Reststop up in the mountains because she was having trouble with her breathing and she needed to use her Asthma machine. Someone at the reststop told Donna they had to call an aid car for someone who was having trouble breathing.

I guess my lungs must be pretty good. I am so very fortunate to be in good health. My only "problem" is old age. I am so glad I can get around as well as I do. I am really enjoying this trip. I will have lots of good memories.

Anyway, we are through the mountains so Donna should do OK the rest of the way except for the heat. At least we have an air conditioned car which my parents did not have.

I can hardly believe that I have been doing all this freeway driving. The speed limit most of the way is 75. There are so many trucks I have to keep passing and a lot of the time I am close to 80 or above. You have to keep your speed up because everyone goes so fast. So this also a new experience for me and Donna says I am doing really well. I feel I am too and for me who would rather have someone else drive I am really enjoying it.

WE ARE IN NEBRASKA

2011-08-13T20:44:00.000-07:00

One more post tonight. This is the house on the Bill Cody ranch in North Platte. We couldn't go through it as they are working on the flood damage. This not the house he lived in but the house he used for entertaining. It is very large. Bill Cody made a lot of money from his Wild West Shows.
The other site we saw was the original Pony Express station in Gothenburg, Nebraska. It is the original building but was moved to the site where we saw it. Each rider rode 10 hours at a time and then had to change riders and horses in two minutes all along the way.
Tonight we are staying in a Comfort Inn in Kearney, Nebraska. Kearney is pronounced Karney. Tomorrow we push on to Lincoln, Nebraska and then onto Kansas City, Missouri and maybe further--we'll see.

HEADING FOR CHEYENNE THIS MORNING

2011-08-13T06:34:00.000-07:00

We reached the Continental Divide yesterday. We will be passing over it one more time. We are headed for Cheyenne this morning and then go as far as we can toward Lincoln, Nebraska, For two women alone we are doing good. The little Kia has been doing well too. The temperature has stayed good even up the high hills. In the picture if it looks like we are in the middle of nowhere--we are.

ON OUR WAY TO CHEYENNE, WYOMING

2011-08-12T19:55:00.000-07:00

Fort Bridger in Wyoming. We left the hotel in Unitah, Utah and we thought possibly we would make it to Cheyenne, Wyoming. We made a few stops and by the time we got into Laramie it was 6:30pm so we just decided to spend the night here. We are in a Quality Inn. I drove about half the day. Through the mountains and through construction. When there was no construction the speed limit was 75. I even got the Kia up over 80 a few times. There are miles and miles of Sagebrush. We finally got to Little America. It was like an Oasis in the desert. We ate lunch there. There is a hotel there. Also green lawn and trees and picnic area. We went to Fort Bridger and spent a little time there and stopped at a couple of more Fort sites.
I wanted to tell you about the square cows I saw. I had been seeing cows out in the fields and one evening when it was getting dusk I saw these black "cows" spread out over the field. I said to Donna there are some more cows. She said those are pretty square cows. What I saw was actually bales of hay so now when we see bales of hay Donna says there are some more square cows.

WINDY MORNING

2011-08-12T06:50:00.000-07:00

Shoshone Falls near Twin Lakes, Idaho. It is called the Niagara Falls of the West. The wind is blowing so hard this morning. We are going to have to go across the mountains this morning. Hope my baby car doesn't blow us too bad. Sorry--I said my car. It is Diane's car which we are trying to get to Atlanta in one piece.
Yesterday we went to Jennie's so we could see Jennie, Mike, Erik (who is staying there until Sunday)and the babies and Donna had not seen the house yet. Jennie made us a really nice dinner.
We stayed at a Best Western last night. At 11pm we had to change rooms because a little kid was running back and forth over our heads in the room above. We did get a good night's sleep after we got settled in.

WE ARE ON OUR WAY TO ATLANTA, GEORGIA

2011-08-11T05:23:00.000-07:00

We left yesterday Wed. morning August 10th from Renton, WA and even with several stops we made it to Boise, Idaho. We are at a Best Western Inn. I woke up about 5:30 Mountain time and am working on my PC in the dark waiting for Donna to wake up. I have not taken many pictures yet. I left my camera in the car last night so will have to put pictures on next time.
We will probably go into Salt Lake today because Donna wants to see Jennie and the babies and their house. I am not sure how far we will get today but will keep you posted.
So far we are doing good considering that I am 83 and that Donna is recovering from a concussion from having a 10 lb. door closure fall on her head from the last hotel she stayed at.

ALL THAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING SO FAR

2011-08-09T01:01:00.000-07:00

We spent August 6th and 7th at Jennie and Mike house in Farmington (near Salt Lake). Jennie's beautiful kitchen. The whole house is very big and very impressive.

A tender moment with Kent and Debbie and their newest granddaughter, Addie.

The nice garden that Mike's parents have put in. Everything seems to grow so well in this area.

While we were visiting with Jennie and Mike, Donna and Laif were in eastern Washington and Idaho visiting with their grandchildren. They had gone to Silverwood and also had been celebrating Donna's birthday. As they were leaving the hotel Donna went out the door and the magnetic door opener fell and hit her on the head. The workman had been working on the door and it wasn't fastened down and it fell on Donna's head. She had to go to the ER. She has a Concussion. She had a cat scan and has no bleeding inside but she was in a lot of pain and she still has been having headaches. The part that hit her head they figured weighed about 10 lbs. It is a miracle that it wasn't worse or had hit one of the little ones. The hotel will be paying for the medical and I hope they will do more for her.
Of course this would happen right before our road trip. I was afraid we would not be able to do our trip but Donna says she will be fine. I may be doing more driving than I figured on.

We just got home from Renton this morning and are getting things ready to put in the Kia. We will be going back to Renton tomorrow evening and then take off on our road trip Wednesday morning, the 10th.

I will definitely keep an eye on Donna. I was doing some reading about concussions. The headaches can last for three weeks or more and some people get disoriented. Donna is a strong person and I know we will be watched over by our guardian angels so I know everything will be OK.

We will keep you posted as we travel along. Donna hasn't seen Addie yet so we will be meeting up with Jennie in Ogden and probably have lunch together. We will be spending the night in Ogden.

Above is a picture of Steven and Janet's children that we watched while Janet was at Cub Scout Day camp with David. We were in Portland on July 31 st and August 1st.

SUMMER IN THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST, AT LAST

2011-08-04T09:47:00.001-07:00

I just wanted to do a short post. We have a busy Summer planned. Donna and I went to Portland on July 31st so that we could watch Janet and Steven's children while Janet was at Cub day camp with David. We left on the 2nd to go to Renton (where I am now). Yesterday Donna and I just ran around and did a little shopping. Early this morning Donna and Laif flew to Spokane to spend time with Michael, Rachel and their children. They will be going to Silverwood for one day. Saturday morning is my flight to Salt Lake for the blessing of Jennie's new baby, Addie. I will be back on Sunday. Donna will be picking me up Monday morning and we will have to get the Kia all packed and be ready in a day and a half to start our road trip to Atlanta.

I am going to keep a diary along the way and take pictures. I will post on my blog along the way too. I know we will find lots of hot weather.

GETTING READY FOR TWO TRIPS

2011-07-28T20:40:00.000-07:00

We are trying to get things ready for two separate trips, but yesterday Donna wanted us to drop everything and go to Carrie Blake Park. It was such a beautiful day. Donna fixed us a nice picnic lunch. We just sat and enjoyed our lunch and watched all the ducks.
After we ate, we took a short walk in the park. You can't walk all the trails right now because the park is under construction for Soccer fields.

I think we have things pretty much organized for our trips. We got the paperwork done on the Kia so now the Kia is officially Diane's.

Actually I am going to be making three trips. Sunday, the 31st, Donna and I will be all packed to drive to Portland. We will eat lunch after Church and head to Portland. We are going to take care of the girls and Christopher while Janet goes with David to the Cub day camp. We will be heading for Debbie's on the second of August. Donna and I will be at Debbie's until the 4th, then Donna and Laif will head to Silverwood. I will be going to Salt Lake with Debbie, Kent and Erik on the 6th for Addie's blessing. Kent and I will come back to Renton on the 7th . Erik is staying in Salt Lake for a few days and Debbie has to fly out for work. Then on the 8th Donna will be picking me up and we will be heading back to Sequim. In the evening of the 9th we will be heading over to Renton again after Donna's meetings. This time we will have the Kia and we will be leaving Renton for our road trip to Atlanta on the morning of the 10th. Hopefully, we will be in Atlanta on the 19th or 20th. We will be flying back on the 23rd.

This is going to be a lot of traveling for me. I am looking forward to it and I hope I can keep my energy up.

Donna has still been having a lot of pain in her thumb so yesterday after our picnic lunch she went to the doctor for a Cortizone shot. She has to keep her hands working. We will have lots of driving. We have a couple sites picked out that we want to see on the way. We will probably see a few more things. Donna got some maps from AAA that shows different sites along the way.

Wish us luck on our big adventure.

SEEING THE USA IN MY KIA RIO

2011-07-20T11:17:00.000-07:00

No-These are not pictures of my Kia Rio. These are pictures of my brand new Toyota Corolla.

I can hear all of you sighing and saying "why does she need a new car". Well, I just wanted a new car. Yesterday after we went visiting teaching we took my car to Port Angeles so my car could get some exercise. I said to Donna why don't we just look at new cars. I didn't really intend to buy anything. I just wanted to look. This is the first car I looked at. I took it for a test drive. It is so quiet and rides so nice and the seats are so comfortable. We looked at some Nissans and some Fords and some Volkswagons and some Hondas but in the end I came back to this one.

Then I still couldn't decide about buying a car because I was afraid it might cause hard feelings no matter whether I gave the Kia to someone in the family or sold it. Donna who always thinks I should spend money said Diane needs a car more than anyone else right now. I called and asked Diane IF I bought a new car would she like my Kia Rio and she said she would.

So--I bought the car and drove it home and Donna drove my Kia. This sounds quite simple so far,right, but since Diane lives in Atlanta we were going to have to get the Kia to her so it was no longer simple.

We are finally working on our road trip to Atlanta in my Kia. I know that it is a long way and especially in my little Kia. Donna told me yesterday that she has always wanted to do a road trip and this will be the ultimate road trip. We plan on a week to get to Atlanta. We are going to stop along the way if we see something interesting. We are going to Mansville, Missouri for sure to see the Rocky Ridge farm that Laura and Almanzo built and lived there until they passed away. Many of the original possessions are in the house including Pa's fiddle.

We will have a weekend with Diane and also Monday so that we can get my car transferred to her.

We will fly from Atlanta on Tuesday, August 23rd and will arrive at Sea-Tac at 1 pm. Then we will be taking the Rocket shuttle from Sea-Tac at 3pm and it will take us right to our door in Sequim. I don't know just when we will actually get home because there will be other passengers on the bus to drop off.

I am going to the baby blessing for Jennie's new baby on August 6th in Salt Lake. It seems like a lot of traveling in a short time. We already spent a week in Cancun. Baby blessings are special and I am looking forward to going.

Donna and I were up until one am this morning working on details for our trip. I am going to bed now and get some sleep.

SUN IN CANCUN

2011-07-17T17:28:00.000-07:00

I have been waiting to get some Summer pictures in Sequim. I will just use one of my Cancun pictures to remind me that the sun is still out there somewhere. This is a picture of our last full day in Cancun. For lunch we were just being lazy. We didn't go to the dining room. We just sat by the pool enjoying the sun and ordered lunch brought to us. By the pool they keep coming around taking drink and food orders.

I know I have not posted anything since our trip so I thought I better put a few words on. We got back from our trip on June 30th and July lst Steven, Janet and their children came to spend the fourth of July. They left on the 5th. It was so nice to visit with them.

Things are somewhat back to normal, whatever that means. There is always something going on here. Donna had to make a couple of trips to a specialist about her thumb. She now has a special made guard for her to keep her thumb in the right position. She has Degenerative Arthritis in her right thumb. Donna also got sick after we got back from Cancun so had to go to the doctor for antibiotics. She was actually starting to get sick before we left. That girl has more problems. She is much better now.

Friday was the start of the Lavender Festival. I went with Donna Friday morning to the park where she had to make announcements at the park. (Not on the radio). I walked around and looked at some of the booths. It was very nice Friday morning but by afternoon it was starting to rain. It rained on Saturday and even rained some today after Church.

Probably the most exciting thing that has happened was that the Ross store here finally opened. We went to the soft opening Friday evening. The grand opening was Saturday. I am really glad we went on Friday. Of course, I found some things I really "needed".

Of course, the most exciting thing of all is that Jennie had her baby girl. She now has two beautiful daughters. I am going down with Debbie, Kent, and Erik on August 6th for the blessing.

EL REY RUINS IN CANCUN

2011-07-01T17:43:00.001-07:00

This is a picture of me with my taxi driver, Alfonso. He was so nice. We had him the day before when he drove us around to see some of the city. Alfonso works out of the hotel so I asked for him to take us to the Ruins. At the ruins, they let him in free to walk around with me. A picture of an Iguana. There are hundreds of them. They are very tame. They are fed by the museum keepers but if I had known we could have brought food for them too.

Another picture of the ruins. I walked quite a bit of the field. The grass is easy to walk on and besides Alfonso helped me everywhere.

Picture of the ruins. It was such a neat experience to walk here. It was just like you could feel how it was like for the ancient people who lived here. It is so close to the water I am sure they did a lot of fishing and also since the climate is warm all year around I am sure they grew crops.

Donna climbed clear to the top of the bigger wall here. She was having a little trouble coming down but Alfonso went right up to help her. Donna is at the top in the white top and blue pants.

Below is an article I got off the internet about the El Rey Ruins.

One of the most breath-taking sites in Cancun is within walking distance of most of the popular hotels. Amidst Cancun's bustling hotel zone are the ruins of of El Rey. Remains of an ancient civilization that used to be where the hotels now stand. Because they are so close to the hotels, it is almost unthinkable to leave Cancun without visiting these ruins. The most startling thing you will find when you get to this "Little Escape" from modern culture is the literally hundreds of Iguanas sunbathing among the stones. This is their Island paradise in the sea of traffic and tourism that is the Cancun hotel zone. Unfortunately, when the hotels were built, these Lizards lost their natural habitat. The El Rey Ruins became their new home. The Park workers feed the Iguanas, so they are quite tame. El Rey is extremely small. There are no large Pyramids to be found and explored here. However, there are large platforms and also round columns that Archeologists believe once held up large roofs.

SUNSHINE-Beautiful Sunshine

2011-06-28T14:55:00.000-07:00

Today has been absolutely wonderful. It must be in the eighties but there is a nice breeze. We went out on the deck chairs this morning. You have to go out early to get a the best deck chairs. We had breakfast and I have been in the deck chair most of the day except for lunch. Donna went swimming and had a massage on the beach. Her neck had a kink in it from sleeping wrong, she thinks.

Yesterday was a very stormy day. If you think it rains in Seattle you should see it here. The wind blows so hard and the rain just comes down in sheets. We did take a taxi yesterday before it started raining so hard. We just paid the driver to take us around for two hours so we could see some of the city. We did go by the small tombs but didn't get out. Everything was pretty wet and muddy. Tomorrow we might get the taxi and just go out to the small tombs.

Yesterday we decided to eat at the little cafe down on the beach. It was between storms. We thought it was clearing up but we were wrong. We just started eating and the sky opened up. The waiter had to move our table back and then the water started covering the floor. We had both come down in our tennis shoes (big mistake) so we took off our shoes. The waitress gave us an umbrella and Donna kept our shoes under the umbrella and guarded them with her life. If our shoes had gotten wet, they would mold before they ever got dry. It was a long way back to the hotel and I was not covered very much with the umbrella. I was soaked clear through. My clothes were dripping. I was not uncomfortable because the rain was so warm. Donna saved our shoes and that was what was important.

Dinner was in the convention room last night. It was a cowboy theme and there was a nice show after dinner.

Tonight we go to the fancy dining room. You have to make reservations. Our dinner time is 7pm. Everyone says the food is great. We have to wear dresses or nice slacks. Donna and I are wearing dresses and our nice sandals. Again we have to go outside to get to this restaurant, but you eat inside. I hope the weather holds because if we get caught in a storm we will look like drowned rats.

I can hardly believe tomorrow will be our last full day. We have to leave Thursday morning. Even with the storms this has been a great vacation. This is a real tropical paradise. It is warm all year around. The water is so blue and I will always remember how the sand feels. It is like walking in talcum powder.

What to do when it is raining

2011-06-26T17:45:00.000-07:00

I decided to stay in the room and read my Kindle, and Donna thought that she would like to go check out the gym.`

She started down the stairs...
and kept going - 67 stairs in all!
After 20 minutes on the treadmill, it was back up all 67 steps, across the entry to the hotel, back across the lobby, and finally to the elevators to our room. I think the stairs would have been a good enough workout.

Trouble in Paradise

2011-06-26T14:52:00.000-07:00

I am enjoying the sun and reading my kindle

After a rainy night the day started off with sunshine. We went out to the pool area, read, and took a nap. Donna woke me from a sound sleep to tell me it was raining. I was already getting wet!

Donna took a video yesterday, of the rain when it started. After a very rainy night, we thought we would be able to enjoy the sunshine, but as you can see below, the sun did not stay around long enough.

I am not sure this video really shows how stormy it is.

Donna talked to a gentleman that said he has been coming off and on for over 20 years at this time of the year, and this is only the second time he has seen weather like this.

It is hard to explain how humid it is here. Our hotel has beautiful marble floors, but they tend to be cold. If you open the patio door for even just a moment, the moisture in the air condenses and the floor is covered with water. The stafff is busy all day long drying the floors to prevent the marble from being so slippery. Our clothes will not dry in our room.

We are really having a good time, and Donna was busy swimming in the rain and the wind. She said that once she was wet, the rain did not make any difference. The water is really warm, and the pool was not very crowded.

It is still paradise in Cancun.

Found Summer!

2011-06-25T13:48:00.000-07:00

After a long flight to Cancun, we arrived at our beautiful hotel. I did very well on the plane, and I am really walking better than I thought that I would.

We checked out the Hotel, and then we had a Caribbean buffet for dinner. Room service is included in our package, but so far we have not used it. We went to the bar and had diet cokes. The waiter kept asking us if we wanted Tequila, but we decided to pass. :)

Yesterday, Donna tormented me by making me walk all the way to the ocean. The sand was very, very soft, and felt good under my feet. Then she made me stand near the water, and a big wave came up over my feet, and I hollered.

This morning, after sleeping in leisurely, we went to breakfast. There was too much to choose from, but we made decisions and enjoyed.

After breakfast, we went to the pool area, and read, slept and soaked in the sun. Donna went in the pool several times, and I even went in the Hot tub. which was not hot, but just a nice whirlpool. Then it was time for lunch - what a busy day! After lunch it rained on us, but it was a very warm rain. We did have to stop reading so that our kindles would not get wet. Such challenges.

Because of the wonderful technology we have, Donna has been able to talk to Laif in Egypt, and Debbie, Jennie & Sophie in SLC, and then Richard in Renton.

There is a Mayan ruin a little less than 1 mile from our hotel, and we will take a taxi to see it. It is right on the hotel strip, Donna saw it on the way to the hotel. It will be easier for me to take the taxi, and Debbie remembers how much I loved the taxis in Washington DC.

We are getting ready to back downstairs to read and enjoy the sun. Then it will be time for dinner. We will check in later to let you know how our day is going.

PACKED AND READY TO GO

2011-06-23T08:58:00.000-07:00

We are all packed and ready for our trip. Donna had a half day of school today. She should be home at least by noon. We will be spending the night at Debbie's and then going to the airport Friday. It will be a very short night. We have to be at the airport about 3:30am. I am really looking forward to it. We will park in the airport which will make it much easier on me. I am not going to take my walker so we will see how that goes. Donna is my paid assistant so it is her job to take care of me.

Jennie made a comment on my last blog about how good it was that I am still so active. I know I have slowed down a lot but when I really think about it I am so lucky that I can still do so much. I never dreamed I would be taking vacations. For years I never had the money to go anywhere and after that I spent years being a caregiver. I am not complaining. I really have had a good life and have lived to see grandchildren and great-grandchildren. My next great-granddaughter will be Jennie's. I am sure she will be just as cute as Sophie.

So we are off to the land of sunshine. It will be in the eighties all week. There is a chance of some rain or thunderstorms. If it rains it will feel like a warm shower since even the night temperatures will be between 75 and 78 degrees. I LOVE warm climates.

My story is that when the stork was delivering me he was on the way to California but got lost and dropped me off in Montana. Washington is a whole lot better than Montana. I guess I will just have to visit warm climates when I get a chance. If everything works out for Diane in Atlanta we are planning on visiting her.

GRADUATION PARTY FOR ERIK

2011-06-21T09:36:00.001-07:00

Finally I am writing again. It has been so hectic around here for weeks. Last Saturday we went to Erik's graduation party in Renton. Debbie and Kent do just a great job entertaining. Steven and Janet and their children were there too. There must have been close to 50 people at the party. Now "little" Erik is all grown up and will be heading to college in the Fall and then off on a mission. It was so nice to see everyone. We had a very nice time. Now I am madly trying to get things ready for our trip to Cancun. Donna has been having school and meetings and today a picnic so I am trying to get the things ready that I can. Laif is in Egypt on business. Donna and Laif having been skyping back and forth. Laif says the Mediterran sea is just absolutely beautiful. Donna and I are leaving for Cancun on June 24th and will be back the 30th. Then Steven and Janet and their children will be up here July lst and stay until the 5th.

JUST CATCHING UP ON WHAT IS HAPPENING

2011-06-09T18:37:00.000-07:00

The top picture is one I took of a Sunset and near the top is a tiny black dot which is a Helicopter. The picture below is of a wild canary on the right hand corner of the planter. There is a pair of them that come almost daily. Also, almost daily, a beautiful Hummingbird comes by. He takes a sip or two out of the feeder several times and then is off.

Last week I was really sick with Bronchitis. I went to the doctor and she gave me antibiotics and cough syrup. It is always the same. My lungs are clear. It just settles in my Bronchial tubes. I didn't use to get it but about the last 3 years I keep getting it. Other than that I really don't have any problems.

Yesterday Donna went on a whale watching cruise with some of her school kids. She had to drive to Port Townsend. When she was ready to go home she had such a painful thumb on her right hand that she couldn't even turn the car on or put the car in gear. She managed with her left hand. By the time she got home it was too late to go to the doctor.

Today Donna had school and she did manage to get a substitute to come in at 10:00am. I had to get up at 6am to take her to school and then I picked her up a little after 10 and she had a doctor appointment at 11am. The doctor gave her a cortisone shot and then a perscription to help with the pain. She had a blood test to see if it might be Gout and also an x-ray. The doctor thinks it is probably just Arthritis but Donna is going to be seeing a hand specialist.

Donna had a meeting at the Church this evening. Her thumb is feeling better. I was going to take her but she said she could drive. She still used her left hand to start the car and put it in gear. At least it is Thursday and now Laif will be able to take care of her.

Yesterday was such a beautiful day here. I got really ambitious. I went to Penney's to get a perm. Afterward I stopped at the shoe store in the same shopping area and bought another pair of everyday shoes and a very comfortable pair of sandals for our trip to Cancun.

WARM AND SUNNY VACATION PLAN

2011-05-17T10:00:00.000-07:00

Donna and I were planning to take a vacation to the Midwest in August to see the Rocky Ridge home of Laura and Almanzo Wilder. We had seen all the other sites when we went there a couple of years ago. On our trip there we saw so much. All the Laura Ingalls sites, Mount Rushmore, Wall Drugs, the Corn Palace and also after Laif joined us we saw the hometown of Walt Disney and the Mark Twain sites.

While Donna and Laif were gone this last weekend, I spent hours pouring over the towns in the midwest close to Mansfield, Missouri where the Rocky Ridge farm is. Mansfield is absolutely in the middle of nowhere. It is fairly close to Springfield, Missouri . There is an airport there and then you would have to drive there. Kansas City and St. Louis are quite a distance. Even in those cities there was not much that interested us. There is Branson but I don't want to go there. It is called the Las Vegas of the midwest. The shows are so expensive and except for one show the others did not interest me. Now we have completely changed our plans.

After more time pouring over places to go and even thinking maybe Hawaii, we finally decided on Cancun, Mexico.

We booked an all-inclusive vacation package from Costco. It is one of their buyer's choice packages. All is included----airfare, hotel, all meals, transportation to and from the hotel. We will have an ocean view. The pictures of the resort look wonderful.

We will be leaving on June 24th and coming back on June 30th. The flight is what will really be hard on me because I think it is about a seven or eight hour flight. On the way to Cancun we will have a stop-over in Phoenix and on the way back we will have a stop-over in Charlotte, NC. The main thing I must do is get up and walk at least every two hours. Donna said she will see that I do. Hopefully I will sleep a lot.

One other problem we will have to work out is that our flight from Sea-Tac to Cancun is very early. Our flight leaves at 5:15 am but Donna says we will have to be there at 4:15 because it is an international flight.

In case you are wondering how we changed from August to June is that Laif will be leaving for Egypt for work on the 19th of June and won't be getting back until about the same time as us. Donna only has a short day of school on the 23rd and then she is through with school for the Summer. Donna thought this would be a good time to go.

We will get all the details worked out and in the meantime I am so looking forward to a warm sunny place. Donna said it is exactly what she wants to do too. We will spend a lot of time in beach chairs. There are pools by the hotel and also hot tubs. Donna can go swimming and I can do the hot tub. There are places to shop.

We were thinking about taking the Myan Ruin trip but it is an all day trip. From 7am to 7pm. I am not sure we want to do that. We just like the idea of a very relaxing vacation.

FRIDAY, THE 13th

2011-05-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a good Friday, the 13th. Myself, I have never had bad luck on Friday, the 13th. We did have a calf born on a Friday, the 13th. He was mean and always tried to attack people. He would put his head down and butt you as hard as he could. I am sure Dan and Darrell remember when our big black Lab saved them from the calf. The calf was charging, ready to attack when our Lab went for it's throat to make it back off. I think that calf would have been mean no matter what day it had been born.

In case you are worried about Friday, the 13th' there is only one this year.

Fear of Friday, the 13th may be the biggest superstition of all time. In a report done in 2004, between $800 to $900 Million dollars are lost each Friday, the 13th as a result of people avoiding travel, wedding plans, moving and so on.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt would not travel on the 13th of any month and would never host 13 guests at a meal.

CINCO DE MAYO DAY

2011-05-05T11:05:00.000-07:00

Cinco De Mayo day--another gloomy day for us. Today is Cinco De Mayo day. It is just another cloudy day here. We had such a gorgeous day yesterday. It would be nice to have a week or two of nice days.

My subject today is the weather-------On the KOMO weather on the Internet today there is an article about Seattle weather in April. The caption says " SEATTLE SETS A RECORD FOR THE COLDEST APRIL ON RECORD"

In addition to setting the temperature record, we were high on the charts for it being the wettest April on record. The month tallied 4.47" of rain--good for the fourth-wettest April on record behind 1991 (6.53"), 1996 (5.37") and 1993 (4.54").

Overall Spring has been gloomy---When you combine our record chilly April and our fairly chilly March, we find that 2011 is the seventh-coldest March-April on record with an average high of 52.0 degrees. The record is 1955 at 49.5 degrees, which featured the coldest March on record. (In fact, 1955 was the coldest overall year at Sea-Tac Airport) 1955 was the 25th wettest March-April, so while it was certainly colder then, it wasn't nearly as wet as this stretch. 2011 wins for the gloomier Spring.

Now that it is May, I hope to see a lot of sunshine. I did see a beautiful Hummingbird a couple ot times so that is a good sign.

IT DOES NOT FEEL LIKE MAY

2011-05-03T10:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, finally I am back. I just got lazy about posting. Rachel does such a fantastic job because she has so much to write about all the time. If it was not for the calendar I wouldn't know it was May. It feels more like March. We did have a nice weekend. I guess we just have to enjoy the few sunny days we get. Maybe we will have a hot summer. That would be great for me.

I did have a nice trip over to Debbie's on Friday, April 29th. Diane came over to help Donna with Calculus. (I am not sure I spelled that right not to mention that kind of Math is way beyond me.) Anyway Donna needs to brush up on it because she is going to be taking a test for it to help her for teaching. Diane and Donna worked the whole day on it.

So, anyway, I had all three of my girls together. It was so nice to see Kent and Erik too. I went with Debbie, Kent and Erik when they went to clean the Church building. I have nice memories of that building. Clayton so enjoyed going to Church. While Clayton was still alive, we read from the Book of Mormon almost everyday. In the earlier years we went to the Temple a lot. We would always stop and visit Jack and Ina Sparks on our way back.

This month is always a little hard for me. I can hardly believe how long Clayton has been gone. He died May 16,2008. All the men I have been married to are gone. Dave Thompson died September 3, 1994 and Dave Otte died on May 8, 2001. Dave Otte and Clayton shared the same birthday--August 2nd (not the same year) and they both died in the month of May.

Now enough about the past.-----I am still here and though I miss everyone who has gone before me I am here for some reason so I do my best to enjoy life. I know that I will be with my loved ones again someday.

I have so much to be thankful for. I have a nice place to live and I still enjoy life and I am in good health. I have so many comforts in life. I have lived to see all my children grow up and to see grandchildren and great-grandchildren. I have had hard times but all in all I am having a good life.

I have a friend in the Church who is Donna's assistant in the library and also she is our visiting teacher. Her name is Eloise and she is such a nice person. Sunday I found out we have something it common. Donna had been teasing me and had turned my salt and pepper shakers around and was putting my TV remote at an angle. I can only stand it for so long. Laif happened to mention how Donna had been tormenting me with the remote and Eloise said she is the same way. She says she has to have everything lined up. It always makes me feel better when I find someone else who is like me. We are the normal ones, don't you agree?

BUSY WEEKEND

2011-04-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

My new Dinette set. I was going to wait to buy a new table but this lovely set was on sale and I couldn't help myself. We had a busy weekend. Richard had come over Thursday. Friday we were gone all day. Richard had some business to take care of in Tacoma so Donna took us. It poured rain the whole day. We did stop and have some Mexican food. Saturday Debbie, Kent and Erik came to visit. It was so nice to have them come over. We had lunch at the Chinese place near Penney's. My dinette set was being delivered around 2pm so we had to get back and wait for that. We played Uno until the furniture came. Debbie, Kent and Erik and Richard, of course, were here when the furniture came. It was a very nice day for me to have everyone here. Richard repotted my Snake plant. Laif was able to get rid of the old carpeting since Richard was here with the van and they could take it to the dump. Now I have to tell you about me. I cannot be trusted alone. Like I wrote on my earlier blog my bedroom furniture was being delivered on Thursday. Donna and Laif did not get back from Disneyland until late the night before my bedroom furniture was to be delivered so I had been moving everything out of both bedrooms that I could. I moved two big storage bins from the guest bedroom that were real heavy. (Donna had told me not to but I figured I could do it OK) I felt the muscle in my right leg actually pull. So immediately I started taking Advil but, of course, being the sensible person I always am I kept moving stuff. Actually by Friday my leg was doing good. Then Friday evening while I was starting to get ready for bed I caught my foot in the cord of my electric blanket. I was trying not to fall so I seemed to be going one way and my leg wanted to go another way. My leg hurt so bad when I had to get up or down. I was mad because I knew Debbie and them were coming over Saturday. They got to hear me moan and groan. So I was back on the Advil routine and by Sunday afternoon my leg was doing good. So Sunday evening I was sitting on the couch upstairs watching TV with Donna. Richard and laif had both left. I suddenly got a horrible spasm in my leg. The pain was so bad I could not move my leg at all without screaming. I am so glad Richard and Laif had left because I would not have wanted them to hear me screaming. Donna put a heating pad on my leg and finally after about a half hour I was able to move my leg. I had to sleep upstairs because I could not do the stairs. Now this morning I am doing much better. My leg is very sore and it still hurts to get up and down but I can at least get around. I am resting my leg today. Tomorrow Donna will be at school and I will have to drive by myself to the dentist. Donna said she should send me back to Debbie but she thinks my warranty is up.

BEDROOM FURNITURE

2011-03-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

I finally got my new bedroom furniture today. The furniture was supposed to be delivered Wednesday but the store was short of help. So finally this afternoon my beautiful furniture was delivered. I decided to buy a chair for my bedroom. I picked out this rocking chair. It fits in so well with the furniture. Now the rest of the evening I will be putting things away.

I just as well tell the rest. I went and bought a nice dining room set at the same furniture store. (5th Ave. furniture) It is real nice looking. I wasn't going to buy one so soon but it was on sale.

It will be delivered Saturday. The owner there is so nice. He is not going to charge me for delivery Saturday.

I know I will have lots to cover when the rest of the sheet rocking is done. I will cope with that when the time comes.

Richard came over last night. He is staying the weekend. It turned out good that he did. He took my old table and chairs to the Goodwill. Also I think he is going to help Laif take some old carpet to the dump. Richard will be able to help me repot my Snake plant. It is very heavy for Donna and me. Donna was going to ask Laif to help so I am very happy that Richard can help with that. I think he came over for a mini vacation and we are making him work.

ADDITION TO PREVIOUS BLOG

2011-03-26T10:21:00.000-07:00

I have been putting clothes back in my closet all morning and when I went upstairs Donna said she had been talking to Debbie and telling her I was going to get new furniture. She was under the impression that I had just bought new furniture, which is somewhat correct. I had forgotten when I was in Renton that I showed Debbie and Kent the nightstands that I had bought. They were the black/brown which is very popular right now. I had already looked at the furniture store here in Sequim and had planned on buying a dresser and a chest of drawers in the same color. I didn't want to buy them until we got the carpet in. I went to the store on Thursday to buy them. They had already sold the dresser and I would have had to wait two weeks. Waiting is not my thing. I started looking around at the other sets. Now I am completely into another color. The set I am getting is a beautiful wood. You will see when I put the pictures on. Now I have two night stands left over. Fortunately they are more like end tables. I am sure Donna or I will find somewhere to put them. The furniture I did buy is much better quality than what I was going to buy so actually I am happy they did not have the dresser.

NEW CARPETING

2011-03-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

We got new carpeting in the two bedrooms downstairs yesterday. It is a little darker than what the sample looked like but since I keep the doors closed most of the time it really doesn't matter. The carpet and padding feel so nice under my feet. Of course all these changes make more work for Laif. He had to shorten my closet doors. Also, we bought the baseboard to go around both rooms and that was a lot of work for Laif. That entailed cutting and nailing. My room is completely finished now. There is not much left to do in the second bedroom. I had moved all the small things out of both bedrooms before the carpet layers came but Laif had to move the beds, chests, etc.

I will be posting on my blog Wednesday so you can see my new bedroom furniture. I could not bring myself to put used furniture on my new carpet. I bought a new dresser with mirror, a chest of drawers and two night stands from the 5th Avenue furniture store here in Sequim. The pieces are real wood. They will be delivered Wednesday morning. I am keeping my same bed. The headboard and footboard that goes with the furniture is just too much for the size of the bedroom. That is the reason I did not bring the big bed I had bought when we moved to Merrill Gardens.

Do you think I am a shopaholic? Are there shopaholic meetings that I should attend?

COMPANY

2011-03-20T16:13:00.001-07:00

We had company Thursday and Friday. Darrell came over from Vashon Island and Michael, Rachel, Noah, Hazel and Olive came over the same time. It is nice when family can get together.

You probably notice that my Cat Palm is now upstairs. Donna wanted it in that corner. The Palm was a little bit of a nuisance downstairs anyway because the basement floor slopes. I had it in front of the sliding glass door and it would walk to the sliding glass door and when you opened the door the leaves would follow you out. My Snake Plant will follow you too, but it is not quite so big and I have it not quite so close to the door.

Now Donna and Laif are gone to Disneyland and will not be back until Wednesday night. Friday we are getting the carpet in the bedrooms downstairs.

REMEMBER TO READ LABELS

2011-03-16T19:40:00.000-07:00

Japanese Cherry Blossom Shower Cream from Bed and Bath. My story about this product follows below.

I bought some Sconces to go with my mirror. Next week we will be getting carpet in the bedrooms.
About reading labels---Donna gave me the Bed and Bath Cherry Blossom cream awhile back. We did not read the label. We both thought it was body cream. I always use lots of creams. I just started using it a couple of weeks ago and one morning I woke up with a bad rash and welts on my neck. The cream was the only thing different that I had done. We figured I must be very sensitive to the cream. I bought some Lubiderm cream to use on my neck and shoulders and the rash cleared right up. I always hate to waste things so I decided the cream would be OK for my arms and legs. Wrong decision. My arms broke out in a bad rash. Donna took the cream upstairs so I wouldn't be tempted to use it again. After she got it upstairs she noticed that the label said Japanese Cherry Blossom Shower Cream. You are supposed to wash it off in the shower, not leave it on your skin all day.

I have to laugh when I think back about it. I thought it was very thick cream but it smelled so nice. Lesson learned----always read labels and directions.

MY MIRROR STORY

2011-03-10T21:09:00.000-08:00

I took the picture of this oval mirror at night so it didn't turn out as well as if I had taken it during the day. You will notice this mirror is over my dresser. This is a rectangular mirror over the same dresser. You want to know why? Story follows below.

I have two new night stands by my bed. They match my bed much better. The color is Black/Brown, which seems a very popular color at this time.

Below is a nice end table that Donna had in the second bedroom downstairs. We are in the process of fixing up the second bedroom. I put the end table out in the front room and bought a small touch-on lamp at Wal-Mart and a nice candle to decorate it. I love touch-on lamps.

The mirror story--- I wanted a mirror to go over my dresser. Donna and I went to Home Depot and I picked out this very nice rectangular mirror. When we got the mirror home, there were small streaks in the mirror that just would not come off. It seemed to be a defect in the glass. Today we took the mirror back to Home Depot. We went back to the mirror section and there were two more of the same mirror and they too had streaks that would not come out.

I decided to get the oval mirror. It has the same design around the edge. The glass in the mirror was fine. The glass in the oval mirror was much clearer than the glass in the rectangular mirror was. I liked the rectangular shape a little better but I could not stand to have flaws in the mirror.

In the near future there will be another change downstairs. We are getting carpet in both bedrooms. We have the estimate already. Tuesday we will have Home Depot carpet workers come out and measure.

After the carpeting is in, I am going to buy a new dresser and a new chest of drawers for my room in the Black/Brown color. Donna wants the dresser that is in my room now to go into the second bedroom.

MINI VACATION

2011-03-08T13:56:00.000-08:00

Water spraying over the bridge. The wind was blowing so hard that Donna had a hard time steering her big car.You can see the waves in this picture. It was a little scary but it was amazing to watch.

On our way to the bridge and the ferry, there were branches hitting the car. They sounded like rocks. We were held up by a fallen tree. A couple of guys got out of their cars and pulled the tree to the side of the road. The branch you see below is what we saw all the way.

My Snake plants looks like it is going to flower. It is rare that the Snake plant will bloom when it is indoors. My Palm plant did well while I was gone too but a little Mini Rose that Donna bought me completely died. I should have set it outside.

I had a mini vacation at Debbie's house. Donna took me over there on Wednesday, the 2nd, and we came back on Sunday, the 6th. Donna had a teaching convention at Ocean Shores and we thought that would be a good time for me to have a little vacation. As you can see from the pictures we got caught in a wind storm. With the downed tree we missed one ferry. At least we got to Debbie's safely. I had a good time. Diane took me to the Sewing Expo at the Puyallup Fairgrounds on Thursday. I really enjoyed that. There were so many things to see. We had dinner with Richard at Red Robin when we got back from the expo. Before we went to the expo, Diane took us to Rachel and Daryl's house and I got to hold darling little Harper.

Friday afternoon Debbie, Kent, Erik and I all went to a show at the Landing. We ate at Red Robin. Two days in a row I ate a Hamburger. I don't eat hamburgers very often. I seldom eat beef but they did taste good.

Saturday Debbie, Kent, Erik and I all went to Woodland Park Zoo. I had not been there for years. It was fun. It was a little cool but the sun was out and it made walking around cheerful. It is nice all the habitats there are there for the animals. It is so different than it was years ago.

Then Sunday we went to Harper's blessing and we headed back to Sequim in the afternoon because Donna had an 8am meeting for school on Monday. The days went by too fast.

WINTER IN FULL FORCE

2011-02-25T17:05:00.000-08:00

Snow on the deck. We got about 5 inches of snow. Laif came home Thursday afternoon and didn't quite make it up the hill and had to put on chains. Donna stood on the snowy deck to take this picture of him chaining up.

Richard came over Wednesday afternoon and stayed until Thursday. Here he is fixing dinner for Donna and me. Donna was sick with Sinus and I don't know what all else. She was really sick. I had Bronchitis. I didn't get near as sick as she did. We both ended up going to the doctor Monday. It was nice to have Richard fix us dinner. We had a nice visit. I worried when he went back Thursday as it was still snowing but he made it OK. He is a good driver.

Picture of snow in the back yard. Today has been sunny all day but very cold. The high only got 28 degrees here. One more night of real cold air and then it is supposed to change.

Donna and Laif went shopping and I gave them a small list of things I needed. Safeway has fresh strawberries. Laif and I both love strawberries. He got some and I got some. Maybe eating strawberries will make me think of Spring.

NEW THINGS FOR DOWNSTAIRS

2011-02-12T15:46:00.000-08:00

My new Cat Palm (Chamaedorea Cataractarum). Home Depot had a special sale for $10 each. I will see how it goes. They are more work and need a lot of watering but I will have to be careful that it doesn't get root rot. A lady was buying two of them and said hers only last about 6 months. She also was buying a Snake plant and had not had one before so I was able to tell her how to take care of it. They are practically maintenance free as I mentioned before. I have never had a Cat Palm before so I will see how it goes. They prefer medium light and do not like full sun. I have my Snake plant on one side of the sliding glass door and my Cat Palm on the other side.

My Snake plant is doing extremely well downstairs.

This is a picture of my new mini-blind in my bedroom and a valance I made for it. Donna measured and cut it with her fancy little cutting tool and I sewed the whole thing myself. In order to have the valance in one piece, I had to make a French seam. I did that on my cafe curtain also. Donna was working on her quilt and I was working on my valance so both of our sewing machines were humming away.

I had originally gone to Costco to buy a light-weight Hoover windtunnel upright vacuum. The vacuum here in the house is too hard for me to drag around. I use all my energy dragging it around and don't have enough energy left to vacuum. Costco didn't have the one I wanted so we went to Home Depot. They did have the one I wanted but on the way out of the store I saw these beautiful Cat Palms. So I just had to buy one and also a rolling plant stand to put it on. I have a rolling stand for my Snake Plant too. Donna was trying to figure out how we were going to get it home. Donna put it on the floor in back of the car and I sat and kept watch on it so it did not tip over. It took up half of the back seat area. It is as tall as my Snake plant but much bushier.

My vacuum works great. I wanted it because there are no bags to worry about and you never have to replace the filter. The filter is washable. Also it has a setting for wood floors.

We went to the Church building for a Valentine dinner which is a fund raiser for Girls camp. Donna and Laif took off for Portland right after the dinner so Eloise and her husband took me home. Eloise and I have to work in the library Sunday by ourselves. This morning Eloise called to see how I was doing. She seemed concerned about me being alone. I assured her I was fine. I get along fine by myself. Always have my cell phone and try to be careful what I do.

One other thing Donna said I have to tell you is that I now can go up and down curbs without holding onto anything. I have been working on going up a curb without hanging on and finally got that down. I have not been able to get down off a curb without hanging on even if it is just someone's finger. I know Debbie is very aware of how I am on curbs. So, anyway, Donna has been trying to work with me but I just couldn't put my foot down by myself. I know you are all probably laughing by now. I would get to a curb and I would absolutely freeze. Anyway a couple of weeks ago Donna and Laif were both at church trying to tell me I could do it but I stood there and looked at the curb which seemed to grow taller everytime I looked at it and I said "I can't" so they helped me down. When I got home I realized how silly this whole thing is and how embarrasing. Donna put me in training. Everywhere we went, I had to go up and down curbs. I panicked a few times and did the finger hold but she made me get up and do it again. I know it was all in my head. I finally have been able to conquer my fear somewhat. I think the fear will always be there but Donna is very proud of the progress I have made. I have gone up and down off the curbs a couple of dozen times at least. I just walk up to the curb and put my foot down, if I don't just do it without thinking about it I will freeze. I am still in too good of health to handicap myself with that silly fear.

CAFE CURTAINS

2011-02-01T16:21:00.001-08:00

I know I haven't written anything for awhile. I have been busy crocheting on an Afghan and reading my Kindle. I didn't think I would like the Kindle that much but it is so great. Now Donna reads books off my kindle on her phone and her netbook. I have read ahead two books for the bookclub and now I am reading "Wuthering Heights". I have only seen the movie and never read the book. It has so much more material in it and carries on into the next generation.

As you can see from the top picture, I finally have my Cafe curtains up on the downstairs window by my table. I just got the instructions off the Internet. Donna did the measuring and cutting and I did the sewing. We just got them hung up last night.

I cleaned and polished up the hutch. You might not be able to tell too well by the picture but on the lower shelf I have a three piece ceramic canister set. On either side of the canisters, are some mugs with a Sunflower design. On the center shelf I put some plates with the Sunflower design. The plates and mugs are from an eight piece place setting that I got from Penneys. The set has 8 salad plates, 8 dinner plates, 8 soup bowls and 8 mugs. I got them at half price. The set was only $40. We were looking at Wal-Mart and comparable sets were $40. for a 4 piece set. The canisters were on close out for $20. Originally $80. I ordered the dishes and the canister set at the same time because Penneys was doing free shipping.

The top shelf has an old clock of Donna's. It is a nice clock and probably still runs but Donna can't find the key. Also I kept the two cute touch-on lamps Donna had. Also a couple of figurines of Donna's and the little gold clock that was my mother's and a little fur seal that Richard got me years ago from Alaska.

CHANGES

2011-01-17T15:17:00.000-08:00

I now have a refrigerator-freezer with icemaker downstairs. I still have my small refrigerator which will be handy for pop and other small things. My Snake plant keeps growing even though most of the time it has low light. It is supposed to grow faster in bright light but it is growing plenty tall as is. Measuring from the tallest leaf, my plant is now 58 inches tall. Donna noticed that my pot is starting to bulge so I guess I will have to repot it in a couple of months or so.

I have shown this lower picture before. This was how big the plant was when I bought it.

Snake plants like to be root bound. You are not supposed to repot them until the pot starts to crack or bulge and repot them only in Spring or Summer. You can take leaves and start new plants or take the "pups" from the roots and start new ones. You do need to give them new soil at least every three years.

SNOW ON SUNDAY

2011-01-11T10:18:00.001-08:00

It started snowing about midnight on Sunday. Donna and Laif went to Church but came home early. They said they hardly made it up the hill. We got about 3 inches of snow. Now this is Tuesday, the 11th, and we are supposed to get snow this afternoon. Laif went to Renton Sunday afternoon but came home this morning. Donna and Laif bought a new refrigerator and it will be delivered Friday. I am getting their old one. So now I will have an icemaker. I will still keep my small refrigerator. I was checking the dimensons on my small refrigerator to try to decide where to put it. Just for the heck of it, I started reading the reviews on it. It had lots of bad reviews. Most people said it gave out in less than 2 years. Mine is a little over two years and is still going. It is a Frigidare that I bought at Lowe's in Renton. Richard brought it up to the house for me. Other problems that most people complained about was that the freezer stays so cold that your icecream is like a rock and you have to set it out for awhile before you can scoop it out. I do have that problem. I tried turning the thermostat down but then it gets too warm in the refrigerator. I, myself, do not really have any complaints about it. It has been a real good refrigerator for me. I will see how long it keeps going.

NEW FURNITURE

2011-01-06T09:30:00.000-08:00

I am very happy with my new couch and chair. As you can see from the picture with Donna, we are under construction again. Laif, bless his heart, has been working hours putting up sheetrock. Already I can tell the difference. It is making it warmer and lighter downstairs. I feel like a queen in my little castle downstairs.

A few days ago, a 82 year old man drove his SUV through the front door at our Safeway. Fortunately no one was hurt. He said he stepped on the gas pedal instead of the brake. The door has been replaced but the window was still boarded up yesterday. I hate reading stories like that. I am alert enough (I tell myself) not to let that happen to me. Young or old, driving is a serious responsibility.

UPDATE

2010-12-31T09:02:00.000-08:00

A picture of a Sunrise that I took in November 2009 at Debbie's houseNot too much going on. On Christmas Eve, Donna fixed a nice dinner. We had Marge and George, Marge Otte, Kyle, and Mars and her daughter, Zoey. Mars husband did not feel up to coming. At the present time Mars and her family are living in a tent. I hope things get better for them as winter has just started.

On Christmas Day the weather was great. It was sunny but not real cold. Marge, George, Donna, Laif and I, and of course Misty, all walked at Carrie Blake Park.

I have finally decided to get busy and do a couple of projects. My new couch and chair are coming tomorrow. I have started a nice Afghan to throw over it. It is a beautiful pattern and it is in three shades of pink--light to dark-- and it will take me awhile to get it done. Also I bought some pretty yellow fabric with small red apples on it. I am going to make a Cafe curtain for the window at the far end of downstairs. I think I told Debbie kitchen window but it is actually in the dining area.

Also I finally broke down and bought a Kindle reader. I had been wavering back and forth about it for so long. I would tell myself it would be nice and then I would tell myself I didn't need it. But finally due to a generous gift from my wonderful Grandson, Kyle, I finally broke down and ordered it. I have it already. It came yesterday. I absolutely love it. I have ordered the new John Grisham book I have been wanting and also the LDS scriptures. A lot of the books are very reasonable. Some are free, some only 99 cents, a lot for $3.00 and then the others like $9.00 and up. I will just have to watch I don't get carried away ordering books. It will hold 3,500 books. Thanks again Kyle for giving me that little nudge I needed to make up my mind. Already I just love the Kindle.

CHRISTMAS PARTY

2010-12-23T10:13:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures I took at Debbie's at our family Christmas Party. We had our party on the 18th this year. Everyone seemed to have a great time. I so enjoyed seeing all the grandchildren, spouses and great-grandchildren. Donna, Laif and I got to Debbie's Saturday morning. When we arrived, we found the power had been off since midnight. That was very frustrating for Debbie as she always works so hard doing this party every year. Laif and Kent rented a generator and got that hooked up and wouldn't you know the power was back on a short time later. Everything worked out fine. The food was wonderful. Debbie made it a fun time for everyone. She is a great hostess.

RAINBOW IN THE MORNING

2010-12-14T09:36:00.000-08:00

I caught this rainbow this morning. It was a complete rainbow but I couldn't get the whole circle in my camera from where I was standing on the deck. It was an amazing sight. The downtown was bathed in bright sunshine and up on the hill where I took the picture, it was raining.

A few weeks ago I got a bone density test. I had never had a complete bone density test before. I have had the ones where you put your foot in a tub. Anyway, I am so pleased that my test turned out normal. I am at low risk for fracture. Of course I still have to keep taking calcium with Vitamin D and exercising. I won't need another test for 2-3 years. I am so fortunate.

I saw pictures on TV of the terrible storm that went through last night. One lady was killed from a falling tree. We did not get that. We had some rain. When I talked to Debbie she told me it was real bad in Renton. Transformers were blowing and the wind and rain were really bad and they lost power for awhile. Debbie said you could hear the storm coming.

BEHIND IN MY POSTING

2010-12-09T17:10:00.000-08:00

David was down from Alaska for a month so we did a lot of running around. We had a nice Thanksgiving. We had lots of company which was nice. Now Christmas is just around the corner. My new couch and chair should be delivered on January 1st. I can hardly wait.

I had a Hummingbird visit my feeder. It was a male one. It was a beautiful green one. I see that the syrup is going down in the feeder so I guess they are coming around. I probably would see them more if I spend all day downstairs.

HUMMINGBIRDS

Hummingbirds have long lifespans for organisms with rapid metabolisms. Among the better-known North American species, the average lifespan is 3 to 5 years. The Rufous Hummingbird is one of several species that breed in Western North America and are wintering in increasing numbers rather than in tropical Mexico. Thanks in part to artificial feeders and winter-blooming gardens, Hummingbirds are surviving Northern winters and even returning to the same garden year after year. The Rufous Hummingbird nests farther North than any other species and must tolerate temperatures below freezing on its breeding grounds. This cold hardiness enables it to survive temperatures well below freezing, provided that adequate shelter and feeders are available.

SNOW, SNOW AND MORE SNOW

2010-11-22T14:46:00.001-08:00

We really got hit with the snow. As I am writing this Donna, Laif, Michael, Rachel and children are out shopping. They have been gone a couple of hours. David and I, who seem to be the only intelligent people here, are hunkered down in the warm house watching the snow. David went out and took some pictures for me of the snow. It looks like we have about 5 inches now. The wind is starting to pick up and is blowing the snow around. Aren't these nice pictures of the kids? Noah has the nicest smile.

FIRST SNOW

2010-11-20T18:57:00.001-08:00

The first snow here in Sequim. It did not last long. Today was a good day to stay in. I baked Pecan rolls. It is the first time I have made them in many years. Everyone thought they were great. It was my practice run. I will be baking some for Thanksgiving. Apparently I am "volunteering" to make the dinner rolls too.

NEW FLOOR

2010-11-18T15:32:00.001-08:00

I just love the new floor! I am going to look into buying a new couch but not until after the first of the year. The floor looks so nice and I want a nice looking couch to go on it.

QUILTING RETREAT

2010-11-18T08:57:00.000-08:00

Just a few pictures from our quilting retreat we went to the first weekend of November. It was a lot of fun. Bottom picture is Donna and Debbie in Debbie's kitchen doing some preparation for the Retreat. It was great to have a girls weekend.

NEW QUILT AND NEW KITCHEN FLOOR

2010-11-12T08:10:00.000-08:00

The quilt I made for the back of my couch at the Quilting Retreat. This couch is the same old couch that Clayton and I had. I have no idea how old it is. I think about getting another one from time to time. Maybe I should take lessons from Rachel about couches.

This is my new kitchen floor. Laif is doing his part in recycling. This flooring is from Debbie's house. We are going to continue with the flooring throughout the room. That was my idea. I have never really liked carpeting in the main living area.

Another view of the floor. Laif worked really hard the weekend we girls went to the Quilting Retreat to get this done. He had to move a lot of things to put it in and move them all back.

Donna, Debbie, Diane and I all had a great time at the Quilting Retreat. Next time the retreat will be in a different location. The retreat will still be near the Columbia River Gorge but on the Washington side instead of the Oregon side. The hotel we stayed at and where the retreats have been for years are turning their conference room into a breakfast room. The breakfast room they have now is quite small.

Look on Facebook at Columbia Gorge Retreats and you will see a picture of everyone that was at the Retreat. Debbie, Donna and Diane got new nicknames at the Retreat. Everyone called them the "D" sisters.

OCTOBER IS ALMOST GONE

2010-10-30T11:44:00.000-07:00

I took this picture of a rainbow just after a shower. We have been having such nice fall days here. This is a picture of Daryl, Rachel and Avery in their Halloween costumes from Halloween of 2009 I took at Debbie's house. How fast a year goes by.

On the left under my desk is a small step-on garbage can that I bought at the Wal-Mart grand opening in Port Angeles. I just bought it because it was so cute. It is only 10 inches tall. You can see that it is smaller than my paper shredder on the other side.

The grand opening of the Wal-Mart in Port Angeles was October 27th. Apparently other Wal-Marts were opening that same day. We spent quite awhile there. Donna and I both got our hair cut. Haircuts were only $10 for the 27th and 28th. Besides the haircut, I managed to spend over $100. Some things I needed, some things I would not have bought if I hadn't gone there. We did all our shopping there and even ate our lunch at Subway in the Wal-Mart. It was neat to find everything in one place.

Yesterday was an absolutely beautiful day. I got up early and went to Seattle with Donna so she could get her knee checked. She is doing fine. She did have a topical infection and so she has antibiotic pills for that. We went over on the Kingston-Edmonds ferry and came back on that ferry too. Donna was going to drive around but the traffic did not sound good. It was dark when we left and it was dark by the time we actually got home. We went to Frys in Renton because Donna needed to buy a laptop. Her laptop (which she said had been the bottom of the line) was dying slowly. We didn't really have time to go visit anyone. We spent so much time looking at laptops that by the time we got through it was time to head for the ferry.

Even though it was late when we got back to Sequim, Donna wanted to check out to see if the Taco Bell had opened yet. It was open. There was a long line of cars in the drivethru and also inside was packed. We waited in line and got an order for us and for Laif. I guess grand openings are real excitement for small towns.

Tomorrow is Halloween so Happy Halloween to everyone.

JOHN WAYNE MARINA

2010-10-24T16:24:00.000-07:00

Finally I am remembering to put on the pictures I took at John Wayne Marina Park. I took these last Tuesday. The weather was just great. This is a beautiful park to walk in. We walk a lot with our neighbors, George and Marge and, of course, the star of the family, Misty. Misty is such a nice friendly dog and well behaved.

JUST CATCHING UP, AGAIN

2010-10-24T15:32:00.000-07:00

Donna didn't go to Church today because she had her knee surgery Friday so Laif, Eloise and I took care of the Library. Today was the Primary Program. How wonderful it is to watch the children.

I had sent for a new bedskirt for my bed. I had this cheap one from Wal-Mart that did not look good at all. The one I left at Debbie's would not have worked either because I decided that was not the color I wanted even though it was a nice one I got from Penney's. The color of the new one I got is called "Merlot" which is the popular color this year. I put the bedskirt on by myself. I had already planned out how to do it. The mattress that I have on my bed is much lighter than the one I had in Renton. I just moved the nightstand and leaned the mattress on the closet doors. It was more work making the bed than putting the skirt on. I didn't want to ask Laif. He has been working so hard downstairs putting LOTS of lights in for me and Donna was laid up with her knee.

I forgot to mention that I bought a new electric blanket (also in Merlot) because they had a huge sale on bedding and shipping was only $4.99. It is Penney's top of the line blanket. I saved $119.00. I bought the blanket for probably one of the silliest reasons you will ever hear. I bought it because it has stand-up controllers rather than the ones that lay down. Also you can see the numbers better. As it turns out, I am glad I did. The blanket is so nice and so soft. I have been wanting the new blanket ever since I saw it on line at Penney's. With my other electric blanket I had to turn it clear up to high to keep warm in the basement. With my new one I stay very warm on 5 or 6. It goes up to 9 and then high. The first night I set it for 8 and I woke up in a sweat and had to turn it down. I put the old one on the bed in the other bedroom downstairs.

BEAUTIFUL FALL DAYS

2010-10-21T10:41:00.001-07:00

My plant that was supposed to attract Hummingbirds. I only saw one Hummingbird all Summer. The plant, however, is doing great. It is one that should be able to winter over. If it gets too cold, you are supposed to cover it with plastic wrap. We will see what happens. The beautiful plants that I put in the planters that Richard made me finally died. I put in these Asters. I have never grown Asters before. They are Perennials and are supposed to withstand temperatures down to -30 degrees. So if all that is true they should bloom again next year.

A closer up picture of the Asters. Purple was the only color they had at Home Depot. Wal-Mart had some plants but they already looked half dead.

Donna and I spent all day yesterday in the beautiful sunshine shopping for items to put in our jar for the Quilting retreat. It was in the low sixties both yesterday and the day before. Just gorgeous weather. Tuesday after Donna was through with her classes, we went walking with George, Marge and Misty at John Wayne Marina. I will put a picture of Misty on my next blog.
I went to the eye doctor for my check-up on Monday. I am doing real good. I have one more appointment on November 1st. The doctor thinks my eyes will be settled in by then and that I can finally get some glasses.

A BREEZY SUNDAY

2010-10-10T15:47:00.000-07:00

It has been windy all day here. It rained most of the night. I am glad it had stopped raining before I went to Church.
I thought I better write something since I have not written in so long. Nothing real exciting to write about. My eyes are doing good but it looks like it will be a month before I get glasses. I got my flu shot Saturday at Walgreen's. A lady was waiting for a prescription and was telling me all about herself. She has Arthritis really bad. She had been on Naproxen for sometime and it finally caused internal bleeding so she was in the hospital. After she got out of the hospital she fell and broke her arm. She said she doesn't really know what the doctor is going to suggest for her Arthritis. She says she has so much pain that some days she can hardly walk. I didn't even mention my eye surgery. Sometimes I need to hear those stories so I know I am still doing good. I do fuss about being old but I have nothing to complain about really.
Wednesday Donna said she was taking me for an eye test. At first I didn't know what she was talking about because I didn't have one scheduled. Then I realized she meant the SARC pool because she wanted to see if I could read the numbers on the key and the locker. At first I did my usual fussing because we had not been there for awhile. The SARC center was closed awhile in September and also I was getting my cataract surgery done. We did go and I cannot believe that I could not read those big numbers before my surgery. The numbers are tone on tone and I just couldn't see them. They were so easy to read Wednesday. The Catract surgery is amazing.
The one fun thing we did this month was go to the Fall Stash Dash (Quilting shops). On Saturday, October 2nd, Donna, Marge (our neighbor) and I all went. We left at about 10am and did not get back until around 7pm. The weather was great and we just had a great time. We went to seven stores. We went to Port Townsend, Paulsbo, Bainbridge Island, Kingston, Silverdale, Port Gamble and Sequim. We had lunch in Kingston. At each store you get your "passport book" stamped. You sign up for drawings and you get a free "fat quarter" which is a quilting square. Each store gives you part of the directions for making a quilt from the fat quarters. Donna got the directions but we are saving our fat quarters for our Quilting Retreat in November.
Most days I am still walking with George and Marge and Donna if she isn't teaching. We have to take Missy for a walk. Missy gets excited about seeing me now. I have been walking the parks without my walker. I am still a little leary about walking up and down the hills by the house without a walker. I will work on that.

WHERE THE DEER AND THE ANTELOPE PLAY

2010-09-24T20:05:00.000-07:00

My second post today. I came downstairs a little after seven this evening. There were three deer in Donna and Laif's backyard. I grabbed my downstairs camera. In the top picture I was able to get a good shot of the smaller deer. The other two were larger and moving fast. They hopped the fence leaving the little one behind. Laif came down to help him out and he ran up to the front of the house. By that time the other two were in the neighbor's yard across the street. I think they all got together again. In the picture below are all three deer but they are hard to spot. It was getting dark.

All three are in the bottom picture also.

It is nice to have a camera handy. You never know when you might see something interesting.

If you click onto the last two pictures you can see the deer pretty well.

FALL IS HERE--WHAT HAPPENED TO SUMMER?

2010-09-24T14:57:00.000-07:00

I have not written anything for awhile. I had the surgery on my right eye on the 13th and will have my left eye done Monday. I am really looking forward to it this time because now I know what a difference it makes in my vision.

I am putting this picture of my Snake plant on so that you can see how much it has grown. On the left you can see that the leaves do not come up to the tieback on the curtain. On the right they have grown past the tieback. I just love these plants. You hardly ever have to water them. You don't want to repot them. The roots like to be crowded. If you repot them, you can kill them. Other than that, they are almost impossible to kill. The plant is a lot larger than the picture shows when you see it in my room.

ONE MORE PICTURE

2010-09-14T15:39:00.001-07:00

Just one more picture from my trip with Debbie. On our last day we had breakfast in Gilroy (Garlic Capitol of the World). We ate breakfast at Minis. We really pigged out. We had huge bowls of Oatmeal, toast. A huge muffin that we shared. We also wanted Strawberry-Banana Smoothies. We did not realize how huge they were. They were delicious.
I had my Cataract surgery Monday on my right eye. It went just fine. Today I went back for the day after checkup. The doctor says my eye looks great. Hopefully I will be a little more relaxed when I get my left eye done. I didn't really think I was that nervous when I went in yesterday but when the nurse took my blood pressure it was 180/77. I was shocked. My blood pressure usually runs around 128/70. I said to the nurse I was probably going to have a heart attack. She said "no you aren't" because we don't have time for that kind of paperwork. Anyway, by the time I was relaxed with the IV, my blood pressure was down to 135/72. The real nuisance about this kind of surgery is the eye drops. Three different kinds. I have the chart they gave me to keep track of when and which drops to take. I am doing eye drops 4 times a day. It will be at least a month of drops by the time I get the other eye done.

Anyway, the good news is that I can see so much better. The colors are so vivid and I can see things at a distance and really make them out. I am sure now that I can tell the difference between a tractor and a red flowering bush and I am sure I will be able to see a Squirrel on a tree. It just opens up a new world when you can see good.

Donna and I are going to Relief Society tonight. The meeting is about food preservation, canning, etc. Donna and I are supposed to answer questions about canning. I have canned thousands of jars of food over the years. I started canning on a Kerosene stove when we lived in Moses Lake.

WILDLIFE AT HEARST RANCH

2010-09-11T14:09:00.000-07:00

This is the only wildlife I was able to see on our tour. We were boarding the bus to go back to the Visitor Center and one of the guides saw this Tarantula. The guides were so excited because it was the first Tarantula of the season. The guide said this one was a male and that it was out hunting for a female. I was so excited too because I have never seen a Tarantula except in pictures. It was so neat to see. Debbie, bless her heart, got off the bus and took a picture for me. There is supposed to be Bears. Zebras run with the Black Angus beef. We didn't see any. The guide says the Zebras are a little further South.We went on the Garden tour in the evening. All kinds of flowers, shrubs, orange, lime and lemon trees too.

How would you like to work in this kitchen?

Yesterday afternoon I went to the Puyallup Fair with Donna and Laif. I wasn't going to go but Donna talked me into it. I am glad I went because I really did enjoy myself. We all had to have Scones, of course. We were at the Fair for 5 hours. I did something I didn't think I would be able to do. I did not take my walker. I got along really well. My feet got tired from walking so far but your feet always get tired walking at the Fair. I think from walking around in California gave me the courage to do it.

Monday is my cataract surgery for my right eye. I am beginning to feel more relaxed about it. I know I need it done.

HEARST CASTLE

2010-09-09T09:46:00.001-07:00

Just a few pictures from our tour of the Hearst Ranch. Hearst referred to it as "the ranch in San Simeon." Hearst is still a working ranch and has been since 1865. To fulfill Hearst's dream for the site, he hired California Architect Julia Morgan.She designed the Mediterranean Revival Style Estate over twenty-eight years, from 1919-1947. The Neptune pool ranges in depth from three feet to ten feet. It holds 345,000 gallons of water. It was heated year-round to the mid-70's. and is still filtered using a sand filtering system. Stairs lead up to the bath house, containing seventeen dressing rooms. On the rooftop Neptune Terrace you have an expansive view of the 250,000-acre ranch W.R. Hearst owned. There are Tennis courts, guest cottages and on and on.

HILLS IN SAN FRANCISCO

2010-09-08T14:58:00.000-07:00

Oakland Bridge A street in San Francisco. I took a lot of pictures from the window of our car.

The pictures below are of Lombard Street in San Franciso. Lombard Street is an east-west street in San Francisco. It is famous for having a steep one-block section that consists of tight hairpin turns. It felt like a roller-coaster ride.

Today is a beautiful day in Sequim. I went downtown while Donna was at the school to get out in the sun.

SAN FRANCISCO

2010-09-07T12:14:00.000-07:00

Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco. We went early before it was too crowded. It is such an interesting place.

I never thought I would ever see San Francisco. We had great weather on our trip.

From the picture it looks like crabs and lobsters but the figures are Sourdough bread. Last picture shows where the Sourdough bread is made. People line up in front of the windows to watch the bread being made, including us.

I hardly ever eat any kind of fish and the Fisherman's Wharf has crabs and lobsters and all other kinds of stuff I don't eat. On one street we found a store that had icecream so Debbie and I had icecream cones for a second breakfast.

SUNNY CALIFORNIA

2010-09-06T16:00:00.000-07:00

Picture of Palm trees from the patio in the hotel we stayed in Thursday night, Sept. 2nd. We sat out on the patio watching the Palm trees sway in the breeze. We got to our hotel about 6pm and it was 85 degrees. I just loved it.

Debbie took me on a mini vacation to California. We flew into the San Jose Airport. It is a relatively small airport. We left Sea-Tac Airport Thursday afternoon. We spent Thursday night, Friday, Saturday and we came back on Sunday,the fifth. Our main goal was to see the Hearst Castle in San Simeon. We got to see quite a few things starting out with San Francisco. We rented a car. That kind of travel is so much easier for me. Our rental car was a Kia Soul. As most of you know, I have a Kia Rio but this car had a lot more Chipmunks under the hood than mine does. I took a lot of pictures. I will pick out a few of the best or interesting over the next few days and tell you about them. It was so sweet of Debbie to take me because she is so busy at work or flying to some warehouse. We had a real nice time.

WEATHER CHANGE

2010-08-31T14:11:00.000-07:00

My candles and my new tray. Sometimes you really find neat stuff at Thriftshops.

Another picture of my coffee table that Darrell made me. I am turning into such a shopping monster. The table is so beautiful but I just had to put something on it but did not want to cover up too much of the wood. I got three candle holders and three blue candles from Wal-Mart. I found a very nice gilded gold tray at the Goodwill that was just the right size. Then at Wal-Mart I spotted the two blue pillows I put on either end of the couch. Someday I may replace the couch. Clayton had the couch when we got married and we were married 13 years and I have no idea how long he had it before that. I am sure a long time. In the meantime, I am going to, hopefully, with some help, make a small quilt to go over the back to make it look a little better. Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day. Now today it has been raining off and on all day. It really feels cold today because the weather has been so good up to now.

Thursday Debbie and I are taking our trip. Maybe we will have some nice weather in California. I hope so. No matter what the weather, it will just be fun being with Debbie.

Last evening, my neighbor, Marge and I went to a Arbonne home party. Donna couldn't go because she had to be on the radio. It is a good thing we went because Marge and I were the only ones there.

The Arbonne company has Cosmetics, skin and body care and health products. I ordered some shower gel and some every day conditioner for my hair. The cosmetics are WAY to expensive. We had a nice time and the hostess was very nice.

VISITORS

2010-08-29T09:51:00.001-07:00

Heather, my granddaughter, her husband, Kyle and my son, Darrell all came to visit yesterday.

This is the beautiful coffee table that Darrell made for me. He does beautiful work. The wood is so beautiful too.

The old TV has now become an end table. I have a blue tablecloth on it and my "Little House" collector books which I got last year when Donna and I were in the midwest.

We had a very nice visit and the weather was great. I took everyone to the 101 Cafe for lunch. Kyle has never been on the Penisula before and he could hardly stop watching the view from our deck. Heather and Kyle want to come again sometime and go to Victoria.

ANOTHER INTERESTING DAY

2010-08-28T11:32:00.000-07:00

My Snake plant if really growing. My new Entertainment center. It is really part of the bedroom collection but I love it. My Tivo and my DVD player are right under the TV. Holes were already there for connections. I love drawers to keep things in.

Laif working on the plumbing problem.

The old TV set-up. When I moved here we didn't have to move anything away from the wall, we just put my TV right on top of the old one so no one knew about the leak. Laif is glad I bought it so the leak was discovered.Friday was another interesting day----I have been wanting a new cabinet for my TV for sometime now. I have been shopping off and on for one. Laif brought the truck home this weekend so Donna said it would be a good time to get one. I bought it from Costco and it is an Entertaiment Dresser. Costco was having a closeout on this particular style and there was only one left so I bought it Thursday night.

Friday morning Laif and Donna went to put the new entertaiment center in for me. They pulled out the old TV and low and behold a copper pipe was leaking behind the old TV and stand they had there. (Donna says I have to quit buying things because they always find something wrong with the house.) Last time it was the gas leak.

As it turns out, Laif was glad I bought it because apparently it has been leaking since last winter when they didn't take the hose off their sprinkler control and it froze. The only reason the basement didn't have any water in it except in the corner where the old TV was is because the basement slopes and the water was running into the gravel outside. Donna said she always wondered why that part of the gravel was wet.

Since the floor is cement and the carpet in that corner was just in sections, it was easy to remove that part of the carpet and padding and dry it out. It was good, however, that Laif had not put any sheetrock on that part of the wall because the wood behind it and the insulation were wet and there was already mold.

Now on to another problem---I am going to have to have Cataract Surgery for my right eye on Sept. 13th and my left eye on September 27th. Dr. Niemeyer here in Sequim at the Northwest Eye Surgery is doing it. Everyone I have spoken to about hilm says he is wonderful and real caring. I have even talked to patients of his.

So yesterday was my evaluation and I finally got to meet Dr. Niemeyer. I really liked him. He says I am an excellent candidate for the surgery. He said my eyes are really good. He said he hopes his eyes are as good as mine when he is my age. Dr. Niemeyer said he has already done 1,000 cataract surgeries so far this year. I'm thinking there must be a lot of old people here.

It is going to cost over $8,000 dollars to have both my eyes done but my insurance will pay for it. I have to put some antibiotic drops in my eyes for 3 days before my surgery. The drops cost $144.99 but I only had to pay one dollar.

Bless Clayton for the wonderful insurance I have. He worked so hard for at least 30 years as a Longshoreman, the last 25 years with the Union. He liked working hard and always talked so highly about his job. I am so blessed to have been a part of his life. He was a dear, kind man and he liked everyone.

WALK IN THE PARK

2010-08-25T16:52:00.001-07:00

Yesterday and today both have been beautiful days. Yesterday Donna had a meeting for her Home Schooling that took most of the day. After she got back, we went to the Railroad Bridge Park. This is a beautiful park and is so easy to walk in. After we took our walk, we went to Applebee's for dinner.

Today I went to the doctor. I have to start with new doctors since I changed medical plans. I am still under the Longshoreman's, just their other plan. I went to get prescriptions for the two meds I take. Of course, once you go to the doctor you have to be checked out for everything. I had a very nice doctor and she took a lot of time with me. My records from Group Health had already been sent over. Except for my two bouts with Bronchitis and my pulled muscle, my chart is pretty blank. So I had to be checked over and I had to have a Tetanus shot. Anyway, the doctor said and I quote--"You are in amazingly good health."

I did have one little shock--I have shrunk. I used to be 5ft 3inches and now I am 5ft, 1 and a half inches. At least I am not bent over yet. I am going to get a bone scan, probably after my trip with Debbie. The doctor says the ones where you just have your foot tested are not very accurate.

So my next challenge is my eyes. I will be having the evaluation for my cataracts on Friday. I won't be having surgery until after my trip. I am trying not to stress about it. I am so fortunate to be in good health.

BIRDS

2010-08-21T15:02:00.000-07:00

You will have to look hard to see this, but between the three stones and the wood post is a beautiful Wild Canary. Donna took this picture of a bird sitting on the third cement block from the left.

I don't think I took a picture of my table since I bought a new tablecloth for it.

About the birds--I have seen a lot of the Wild Canaries (Goldfinches) since I have been here. I have not seen the Hummingbird for some time. I was so excited by seeing the Hummingbird that I had to run out and buy a Hummingbird feeder and the nice plant that is supposed to attract Hummingbirds. I know I have shown the pictures on that. I will keep watching. Maybe I will see some other birds with my downstairs camera and I am still waiting for the deer to walk down the street so I can catch them with my upstairs camera.

Yesterday afternoon we went to the Clallam County Fair. It was a nice little fair. We ate our "dinner" there. I had a Taco and a Root Beer float. We had Scones too but they are not near as good as the Scones at the Puyallup fair are. After we left the fair, Donna wanted to stop at Wal-Mart. Wal-mart is closing out their fabrics. All the fabrics are 75% off. Donna picked out some nice fabrics. It took a long time to get waited on because even though Donna was second in line to get her fabrics measured, the lady ahead of her was buying lots of fabrics and ribbons. By that time two more ladies were waiting. It is certainly a good deal for people that are into sewing. We had a nice time.

I just noticed, if you click on to enlarge the picture, you can see the birds pretty well.

SUMMER DAY IN THE PARK WITH FAMILY

2010-08-16T09:48:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday we spent the day by Lake Washington in Renton. It was a beautiful day and we had a spot under some shade trees. Most of the people went out on Donna's and Laif's boat.

Everyone seemed to have a good time. I took more pictures but I just put a few on right now.

An interesting little happening--Kyle and Erik left to go to Kyle's house to play a game for the evening. I asked them what they were going to play and they said "Dungeons and Dragons". I almost fell over from shock when they said that. Just the day before, Friday, I just finished reading a true crime story involving that game. Up until I read the book I had never even heard of the game.

The book was "Cruel Doubt" by Joe McGinnis. The murder happened in 1988 in North Carolina. Chris Pritchard plotted with two of his friends to murder his step-father, Leith Von Stein and his mother for a $2 million dollar fortune. Leith Von Stein was killed and Chris Pritchard's mother was seriously injured but did recover. Anyway, according to author Joe McGinnis and author Jerry Bledsoe, the murder was a result of role playing of the Dungeons and Dragons and the authors played up the role-playing angle claiming the game was a feeding program for occultism and witchcraft.

As it turns out only 2 murders have been loosely associated with the game. I just thought it was so weird that I just finished reading that book and the book really does convince you that the murder was a result of the game. I am sure now that the boys in the plot must already had some mental problems.

Kyle and Erik explained a little of the game to me. So continue your fun guys and enjoy.

Talking about shocks, today I had my eye exam and my cataracts in both eyes have finally got into my line of vision. I have known for awhile that I am not seeing as good as I have been. my lenses for my glasses have not changed, the cataracts are interfering with my sight. Anyway, the bottom line is that I am going to have to have Cataract surgery. I was shaking all morning thinking about it. My neighbor, Marge, had hers done with the same eye surgeon that will do mine. Marge said it is an easy surgery and that I will be surprised how well I will see. Marge Otte had cataract surgery not too long ago and she too says I will see so much better.

LUNCHEON

2010-08-07T09:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Donna and Laif went to Victoria, BC. It was our day to serve lunch to the Missionaries so I told Donna and Laif to go enjoy themselves and I would do the lunch. Actually, I really enjoyed doing it. How fortunate I am to still be able to get around so well. I ended up going to the store twice yesterday and then in the evening, George, Marge and Misty and I all walked around Kerry Blake Park. The weather was just great. I found some nice place mats and some luncheon plates to serve the food on.

At the present time we have three sister missionaries. We had a very nice visit. I showed them my apt. downstairs. They thought it was so nice and so roomy.

MYSTERY OF THE DISAPPEARING POST

2010-08-06T15:27:00.000-07:00

This is CATCHING UP--PART THREE Dan's shop

Dan and Donna. I love to have pictures of my children together.

The house Dan and Heidi live in

Dan and Heidi in the shop. They love what they are doing.

In case you wondered what happened to my original "CATCHING UP--PART THREE. " The post had an accident. I wanted to edit one of the pictures on my blog. Donna was helping me and we thought we were figuring it out and then someway the delete button wiped the whole thing out, not just the picture.

So now you are probably seeing some different pictures than what I had on originally. I was not sure anyone had noticed the blog was missing but Richard skyped me today and said "what happened to your post from Dan's place".
Warning to all--don't push the delete button unless you really mean it.

CATCHING UP--PART TWO

2010-08-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to put a few more pictures on from our "baby sitting " trip to Portland. We just had a great time. Steven and Janet are such wonderful people. On Our last day, Steven and Janet took us to a nice Mexican Restaurant. The children were so well behaved.

Sweet picture of Grandma and Katie snuggling.

Two tired girls after a long busy day. Both Anna and Katie were so good for us and so much fun.

CATCHING UP--PART ONE

2010-08-01T18:29:00.001-07:00

Although I missed taking pictures of the deer walking down the road, Donna and laif had spotted these Elk off 101. Donna said they had been close to the road but by the time Donna and I got back, the Elk had moved further from the highway. It was neat to see a herd of Elk. My new set of pans. Saga of my pans beneath these pictures.*

Picture of Richard when he visited before we went to Portland

* I started out deciding that I needed a nice small fry pan and a nice saucepan for my kitchen. Then I looked on the Penney's website .(for me that is my danger territory because I always see something I like)
Anyway on the website there was a 13 piece copper pan set. It was an online set only. It was regularly $749 but was on sale for $249. I went to Penney's in Sequim and ordered it so I would not have to pay shipping. I kept checking on line and found it was backordered even though when I ordered it in the store it said in stock. The next time I looked the order had been cancelled. I went to Penney's again and again it said the pans were in stock so the clerk re-ordered them for me. The next day I found on line that they were on back order and would not be here until August 13th.

In the meantime, Donna and I went to Costco and looked at pans. Richard and I had looked at them when he was here but at that time I had my heart set on the copper ones. I did end up buying the Kirkland 13 piece stainless steel set for $170. These are very nice pans.They are 18/10 stainless steel copper-bonded 5-ply base construction consisting of two layers of stainless steel, two layers of aluminum and a copper core. If you ever need a set these are just great and very beautiful.
So, after I bought the pans I went back across the street to Penney's and cancelled the order. The clerk checked again and said it showed the pans were in stock but she saw when she looked at my order it was backordered. She called and told them I just didn't want them. I keep checking just to be sure it doesn't show up on my credit card. Everything seems to be OK. I have ordered so many things from Penney's over the years and never had any problem.

I will keep ordering. I love Penney's too much to stop.

Fun time in Portland

2010-07-31T18:57:00.000-07:00

We spent Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in Portland. Janet was helping with the Cub Scout Day Camp for two days. Donna and I spent Monday and Tuesday with Anna and Katie. We had a great time. It was over 90 degrees Monday and Tuesday. Real Summer weather. On Tuesday night Janet and Steven took us all to a Mexican Restaurant. It was hard to leave but we had to go. We had so much going on, as usual. Wednesday morning we went to Graham to see Heidi and Dan, then Donna had to be in Sequim by 5pm for her massage and then she was on the radio station from 7 to 9 pm. Also the Saturday before we left, Richard came over to visit and stayed overnight. We had a nice time. If Donna and I hadn't had to go to Portland Sunday we could have visited longer. I have a nice picture I took of Richard but I will have to put it on my next blog. I have an upstairs computer (my laptop) and a downstairs computer. Now I have an upstairs camera and a downstairs camera. I have the picture of Richard and of my pans downstairs so will show them on my next blog. Are you wondering why I have an upstairs camera and a downstairs camera?
A few days ago 2 deer were walking down the street actually going quite slowly but I only had one camera and the camera was downstairs. There was no way I could get downstairs and back fast enough to get their picture.
Now when they come back again I am prepared.

Back yard

2010-07-31T14:23:00.001-07:00

Donna and Laif had sod put in their backyard yesterday. I had taken pictures of it and a few minutes ago Donna called and asked me to put a picture on. I am so far behind on my blogging again but this is a special request so will do this first. The grass looks really nice. I am in charge of keeping it wet.
I went to the big weekend sale that Penney's is having. I bought some clothes and a smaller purse. I saved $76.57. I had a 15% off coupon too.
Today was a new first for me. I had my lunch in my own "apartment". Now I found out something else I need. I need to buy me a toaster.

On my next blog I will show you my new pans. I will have to see if I remember how to cook.

The other exciting thing is that I am going to take a trip with Debbie over the Labor Day weekend to San Jose and see the Hearst castle. We will rent a car. It will just be a short trip so we will see whatever we can fit in.

Another week half over

2010-07-21T18:59:00.000-07:00

My new pet basket. I better not get any more animals as it seems to be overflowing.

Donna picking peas from her little garden. It was surprising how many she got. We had them with our dinner Sunday. I took this picture from our deck of the new patio that George and Marge are having put in.

Another fairly busy week so far. Monday Donna and I went to Water Aerobics. We went to the Goodwill and Donna found a cute basket for my animals. It is a basket for a real puppy. Now my pets don't have to sleep on the floor.

Tuesday Donna had to take her car to Price Ford in Port Angeles so they could see what was wrong with the lumbar system in the driver's seat. Donna and Laif have to take it in Friday so that the mechanic will have time to work on it. We went to Swain's so I could buy a watering wand for my plant out back. They were half price. I had never been in there before. It is quite an unusual store.

You can see my plant next to my Hummingbird feeder in the second picture. It is hard to tell from the picture but it has red flowers that Hummingbirds are supposed to like. The flowers are almost a bell shape so that the Hummingbirds can get the nectar out. We will see how that goes.

We went to the Water Aerobics again this morning and I drove my car because Donna had an appointment with her eye doctor afterward and she was not going to be able to drive after her eyes were dialated.

We walked at Railroad Park today for nearly an hour. Almost every day we walk somewhere. It is sure hard work trying to keep healthy. I do feel better getting more exercise but I get tired too.

Janet is helping with Cub Scout Day camp Monday and Tuesday. Donna and I are going to drive there Sunday. We will be watching the girls. It should be fun.

CATCHING UP

2010-07-16T09:51:00.000-07:00

Donna and Laif's 2008 Grand Marquis Donna made the rolls and I baked them in my gas oven.

Rolls baking. This oven heated to 400 degrees in

8 minutes. The rolls browned better than in

Donna's electric oven in the same amount of time.

First I wanted to mention that I spent last weekend with Debbie, Kent and Erik. I had a very nice time. Debbie and I went to the Temple Saturday morning. Saturday afternoon we went to the movie and later on that evening we went to Southcenter. Sunday we went to Church. Debbie was leading the music, also substituting in Primary and then went to Young Women's(her new calling). I followed her around. I didn't want to miss any time with her over the weekend. I did get to visit with the ladies I always sat with.

Donna came to pick me up Monday morning. We stopped at Penney's in Silverdale to look at dresses for Olive's blessing. We didn't buy it because I had a coupon for $10 off and Donna had a coupon for 15% off at home. We were going to go to Silverdale again on Thursday so that we could pick Laif up in Paulsbo after his work.

We went to the Social Security office in Port Angeles on Tuesday so I could put in a change of address. I was able to change my address on everything but that. I kept trying on line but it wouldn't go through. I had to take a number at the office but since I was the only one in line I got to go right up.

On the way back Donna spotted the Grand Marquis at the Price Ford dealer. They have been looking for awhile. Their Grand Marquis is a 2000 with lots of miles but is still running good but they wanted a newer one. This is the last year that the Grand Marquis is being made. The 2008 that I have a picture of above was the only one on the lot and the price had just been lowered so it was not going to last. (As a matter of fact it was pictured in their big ad today--probably couldn't pull it in time). Donna filled out all the paperwork and they even delivered the car Wednesday. Donna called Laif on the cell phone several times and also he got to see it on the Price Ford Website.

So now to Thursday. Since Donna had to go to Paulsbo to pick up Laif, we decided to make it a big shopping day. We took Marge Swift with us. We started out with the Grand opening of the new Goodwill store in Sequim. I think everybody in Sequim was there. We just walked through the crowd looking at what was there. The store is large and everything is well arranged. We didn't try to buy anything because the check-out lines were so long. We will check it out again when the grand opening is over. I took the coupons from Penney's with me. Donna picked out a beautiful dress. It was $60 but I had a coupon for $10 off and they let her use her 15% one off too so that really helped.

After that we ate lunch and Marge had a doctor appointment in Silverdale at 2:15. After Marge's appointment we did a little more looking at stores until it was time to pick up Laif. He seemed pleased with the car and drove us home. I sat in the back with Marge after we picked up Laif. The seats are leather and they have a lumbar support. I felt a lot more comfortable in the back.

This morning Donna and Laif are going to the Price Ford dealer so Laif can fill out his part of the papers and so they can do that necessary thing like paying on it.

SUN AND SHOPPING LIFT MY SPIRITS

2010-07-09T09:20:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Sunset on a July evening. Everyday the scene changes here. I thought I would write a few more words before we take off this afternoon. As you can tell, I am still enjoying our great weather. This is day three of wonderful weather.
Donna says that something happens to me when the sun is out. I walk better and am in a happy mood. I must have a sun activated battery inside.
Donna and Laif got someone out to fix their heat pump. Now I will have to be sure I don't freeze down here.
I read that it is supposed to be 90 degrees in Renton so I am sure I will be toasty over there.

GLORIOUS SUMMER!

2010-07-08T17:11:00.001-07:00

July 20, 2009. A Barbecue in celebration on reaching 10,000 miles on my 2003 Kia Rio. Donna is manning the barbecue. Notice how dry the lawn is. We had a hot summer. I just loved this picture of Richard. He has had a wonderful smile from the time he was born.

People hovering around the kitchen where Debbie is fixing delicious food.

My car's special cake for it 10,000 miles. As of today, my car has 12,385 miles.

Today is such a beautiful sunny day. I did not take any pictures today but I wanted to show a picture of Summer. I looked back and found these July pictures. I cannot remember the occasion exactly except we had several people over for a barbecue and I thought it was an ideal time to celebrate my first 10,000 miles on my car.

Today was not supposed to be a day of running around but it was anyway. We went to finish up my Temple recommend and the only other thing on the trip was to buy milk.
Then we ended up buying a doorbell and a faucet for my sink. We came home and had lunch and after lunch Marge decided she needed some material for her quilting project at a quilt store. We stopped at McDonald's and had icecream cones; then we went to Joann's Fabric so Marge could buy more stuff. After that we went to Penney's in Sequim so Donna could buy some outfits for little Olive. I bought a new purse. I had a purse that I just bought at Penney's last month. The handle started shedding little black pieces on my arm. I showed the clerk. I did not have my receipt but she gave me $8. credit which in turn I used to buy outfits for Olive. I like dealing with Penney's. The clerks all treat you so well.

Donna told the clerk about her granddaughter, Olive, and the clerk said "What a darling name". Good choice, Michael and Rachel.

Finally we got back home and Donna is upstairs cooking dinner and I am down in the basement which is extremely comfortable. Donna says something must be wrong with her air conditioner because she can't get it under 81 degrees.

I hope our Summer lasts a few more days.

Tomorrow is the day I am going to Renton to visit Debbie, Kent and Erik and Donna and Laif are going to Pullman.

That's all for now.

SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF SUMMER

2010-07-07T12:01:00.000-07:00

Summer at last! A glorious day without a cloud in the sky. How I love Summer! Donna mowing the back yard while I sit on the deck enjoying the sun.

It is busy in George and Marge's yard too. Pepper is removing dirt to put in a patio for them and also getting rid of some shrub cover that is overtaking the yard.

There is nothing more glorious than a Summer day and all the activities that go with it. I read in the paper this morning that it was 103 degrees in New York and 102 degrees in Philadelphia. That might be a little too hot even for me.

Last night Donna and I went to the Book Club. It was a beautiful evening. I did have to walk way down the hill. Afterward I had to go way up the hill. It was a little tiring but I made it, using my walker, of course. Donna certainly sees to it that I do not lack for exercise.

Donna had to get up early to fill in at the radio station. She was on from 7am to 9am. She has a staff meeting at the station this afternoon.

Trip to Portland

2010-07-06T10:06:00.000-07:00

It seems all I have been doing lately is traveling. First we spent the two days in Renton getting Diane ready for her interview and celebrating Kyle's birthday. We got back late on Thursday and then left Friday to go to Portland. This coming weekend Donna and Laif will be flying to Pullman to see their new granddaughter, Olive. I will get to ride to Renton with Donna and Laif to spend the weekend with Debbie. I am excited about that. I have been hoping I would be able to spend time with her. I guess she still likes me even though I moved out.

I just put on a few pictures. The one with the kids flopped on my bed in the hotel room is when Janet brought them over to swim in the hotel pool.
The picture on the bottom is of Steven and Janet practicing for their musical number for the 4th of July musical program at Church. Their Church is from 1pm to 4pm and then we had to go back for the program at 6:30. It was a long day but worth it. The program was great.

Janet and Steven fixed a nice barbecue on the 3rd and the 4th.

I really enjoyed the trip but I was pretty wiped out by the last day. On the last day we went to Cannon Beach so David could fly the kite that Donna and Laif gave him for his birthday and then we went to Clatsop State Park. I have really been getting exercise.

Today Mountain Propane is here to run a new gas line to Donna and Laif's fireplace. Laif said it was a good thing I bought the appliances and that we found out about the leak . If the leak had not been detected it would have been a disaster waiting to happen. "Alls well that ends well".

Diane dressed for her interview

2010-07-02T11:37:00.000-07:00

I have lots to write about but for now I just wanted to let you know what is going on with Diane. Wednesday we went to Southcenter to get some new outfits and a couple of pair of shoes for Diane. Diane was having an interview with Car Toys on Thursday. Thursday morning she came over to Debbie's so Donna could get her all fixed up for her interview. Diane wore this outfit with gray shoes that matched the outfit. Donna had fixed Diane's hair real nice.

Donna drove us into Seattle so that helped Diane be more relaxed. The place is on the top of Queen Anne Hill. I have never been so up close to the radio towers before.

Anyway, the good news is that DIANE GOT THE JOB! Yeah for her. Diane is very good at her work. I am sure she will do fine. She starts Tuesday at 8am. It is a contract job but who knows, it may turn out to be more.

An interesting note--There was a man that was being interviewed at 2pm and Diane was 2:15. Diane was a few minutes early and the man that was being interviewed before Diane was a few minutes late because he couldn't figure out the phone system. (You had to call on the phone to let them know you were there) Diane showed him how it worked. Donna and I had seen him go in and come out. He was not in there very long. Diane was in about half an hour.

I cannot believe what a mess the traffic is in Seattle. Diane is going to try to car pool.

We are getting ready to go to Portland this afternoon. David is being baptized Saturday. Also we are waiting for the stork to arrive at Michael and Rachel's house. Depending on how things go we may have to drive to Pullman and leave Donna over there.

Today's happenings

2010-06-28T21:53:00.000-07:00

This is Donna taking a break from all the work inside the closet. As you can see the closet turned out great. I am so lucky to have such great kids to help me.

This morning we went to SARC. We did not do the Aerobics but Donna made me walk around in the pool and she did a few laps of swimming and then we got in the Hot tub.

A while back my whole closet shelf which had places on it to hang clothes fell down from being overloaded. So today Donna decided she could fix it but do it different than it was . We got a closet organizer. Donna being the capable person she is, planned how she could fix it. We actually ended up making three trips to Home Depot besides a trip to Costco.

Anyway after many hours of work, the closet is finally done. George came over to help and it saved Donna some work. George and Marge are such good neighbors. While George and Donna were working on the closet, Marge, Missy and I went for a walk. It has been a busy day.

Here are some pictures of Donna's project. It turned out so well. She should be very proud of her achievement.

Wedding Reception

2010-06-28T21:35:00.000-07:00

Saturday Donna, Laif and I went to Olympia for Heather's Reception. It was very nice. Diane and Richard were able to come too. The weather was very nice too. Here are a few pictures. It was nice to see Darrell, Richard and Diane. I don't see them often enough. Heather was very happy to see us.

Interesting Day

2010-06-22T18:46:00.000-07:00

Have you ever had one of those days where the day should go along just as planned but did not?
Today was one of those days. Donna had a dentist appointment this morning to have a crown put on, Mountain Propane was scheduled to install the gas line for my range and dryer, The Craft Group of about 7 women were coming at 1pm, Donna planned to go to the opening of IHOP with Marge, George and me and then she had to be on the radio at 7pm. This sounded pretty routine for Donna---but then it turned out different than planned.

To begin with Donna called me from the dentist office that I had to come and get her. When she got up from the chair after getting her crown her back went out and she could hardly move. I had to drive to the dentist office to get her. Thanks to my GPS with the address I was able to find it. I think her back went out because she had moved a bunch of boxes this morning to make room for the man from the gas company to be able to work. At that point I should have known this was not going to be a good day. After I picked her up we had to go to Safeway to buy some treats for the ladies that were coming at 1pm. We didn't do any other shopping because I was the one who had to carry the bags up the stairs.

Back to the gas line installation----The service man arrived at 9:30 so Donna was able to tell him just where Laif wanted the line run before she took off for the dentist. Everything seemed to be going smoothly. The service man had arranged for a helper to install the conversion kit. It turned out that they did not have to unstack the washer and dryer and they only had to take the front off to put the conversion kit in. Everything sounds good so far---right?

Like I said the serviceman got here at 9:30 but he did not leave until 4:45. After everything was all hooked up he detected a gas leak. It seemed to be a small leak but he couldn't find it, He checked his fittings on the range and dryer and could find nothing wrong. He checked the fireplace too. Donna said if it was a small leak maybe it would be OK until he came back but he said he could not leave until he found it or he could lose his license. His gas detector went out on him so he had to call someone to come out with a detector which he said was the big gun. He finally found the leak in the attic where the pipe to Donna's fireplace ran. Apparently it should not have gone through there in the first place. The leak is in the pipe itself. Just another thing their builder did not do right. All he could do today was just turn the propane tank off. Tomorrow he will come out and give Donna an estimate on how much it will cost to put the new line in. It will not run through the attic because that would entail tearing out walls. The seviceman said gas was building up in the attic and he said it must have been about 140 degrees in the attic.

So at 1pm, all the ladies came for the Craft meeting. So we are all sitting in the house with a gas leak. We did have doors open. The gas leak must have been going on for sometime. If I hadn't bought the appliances we would not have known about it until maybe something happened. Donna called Laif and I am sure he is probably still groaning. So far I have been a lot of trouble.

Richard skyped me while the meeting was on. He was at Dan's and Heidi's. I was telling him about my day. I got to say hi to Dan and Heidi. I just so love Skype.

Debbie called me on her way home from work and I told her about my day. I said watch the Five o'clock news in case the house blows up. She is leaving for Conneticut tomorrow for work and then on the weekend will meet Kent and Erik so they can have a week's vacation in New York.

We left about 5pm to go to the opening of IHOP. Afterward George and Marge dropped Donna off at her car and then she had to go to the radio station. Tomorrow Randy is coming to work on the plumbing. I have a feeling that the boxes Donna moved this morning will have to be moved again so Randy can work on the plumbing. Pepper should be here so maybe we can get him to move them.

The good news is that today is just about over and tomorrow will be a new page in my book of life. Good or bad, everyday is a new page in our book of life. I do love life. I look forward to seeing what will happen next.