RELAXING AFTER A BUSY DAY

Donna took this picture and wanted me to put it on my blog.  I am not sure how relaxed Laif is but the children look very relaxed watching a movie in the bedroom.

This morning Donna and Laif took the children to I-Hop for breakfast.  After that they went swimming at SARC.

Laif watched David, Anna and Katie while Donna, Christopher and I went to the Quilt Show downtown.  We saw some amazing quilts.  We were there about an hour and a half.  I pushed Christopher in his stroller. He was really good.  Christopher just loves to say "bye" to everyone that goes by him. He is such an adorable little boy.

PUTTING GROCERIES AWAY

I went shopping at Safeway this morning.  When I got back David, Anna and Katie took my groceries into the house and downstairs for me.  This is how they stacked them.  Two bags on top of the toilet tissue.  Then Christopher wanted to get into the act and he brought me each item out of the bags one by one for me to put away.  He was so cute.

RAINY MORNING

This morning is a little rainy so everyone is hunkered down watching TV.  I thought I would capture the upstairs scene.  Everyone was contently watching TV upstairs until they saw me and then they all wanted to come downstairs and watch my TV. The last picture is where we are now. We are watching the "My Little Pony" series on Netflix.  David, Anna and Katie are so well behaved downstairs.  It is so nice to have them down here. It is so amazing that I have lived long enough to be a Great-Grandmother. Donna went to the store with Christopher so we are here alone. She asked if I would be OK with the kids.  I said yes but I also said she did not have an all day pass to be gone.

ENJOYING BEING DOWNSTAIRS

My downstairs apartment has been very popular the last few days.  David is playing his Harmonica for me.  We have been visiting, watching movies on Netflix.  It gives me a little time to work on my Counted Cross stitch while still enjoying Great-grandchildren.
   Yesterday we went shopping and also had a nice walk in Carrie Blake Park with George and Marge and Misty.  The children all got to take turns walking Misty.
    Today we went to the Library and outside there was a Juggling show for the children.  It was really pretty good and all the children seemed to enjoy it.  There were quite a few children there with adults, of course.
     Today and yesterday we had very nice weather.
   

STRANGE WEATHER

Yesterday was a beautiful warm Summer day.  Donna and I were wearing sandals and we were enjoying all the sunshine.  We even treated ourselves to Pedicures.  During the night it started raining and we had thunder and lighting all through the night.  This morning we were still having some rain and also thunder and lighting all through the day.  Late this afternoon the Marine air came in.  I cannot even see downtown Sequim.  It is 8:30 pm and I can still hear the thunder occasionally off in the distance.  I am glad I have my Ottlight because at least I can work on my counted cross stitch to cheer me up.  This is the strangest July day I can ever remember.  I know it is Friday the 13th but I doubt that has anything to do with the weather.  Well, it is July and I trust that Summer will return.

I LOVE SUMMER!

We had another beautiful day on Wednesday. Donna and I went to Railroad Bridge Park.  The park is so beautiful. We walked quite aways.  By the time I checked my Fitbit before bedtime, I had walked 2.92 miles between walking around the house and walking in the park. Donna wanted to check out the trails down to the places near the river where people were having picnics.  Donna is planning to take the grandchildren there one day next week.  The weather forecast looks good for all next week. David, Anna, Katie and Christopher will be here for a week starting Friday.

AFTERNOON AT THE PARK

Yesterday was such a beautiful day. Donna and I bought a Subway sandwich and went to Carrie Blake Park.

We walked around the park after we ate.  It is around a mile.  Just a few of the pictures Donna and I took.

Beautiful Poppies

Donna set my camera on automatic and got both of us in this picture.  Also Donna walked up close enough to this bench to take a picture of this Butterfly.

We had such a nice relaxing afternoon.  In the Pacific Northwest we need to take advantage of the nice sunny days.

I am still enjoying my Fitbit .( My exercise tracker.)I am finding that I am more active than I thought I was. I still walk up and down the hill a lot.  You get little awards along the way.  Last week I got my badge for walking 50 miles since I got my Fitbit. I think that is pretty good for me.

TRIP TO MARYSVILLE

Tuesday Donna and I went to Marysville to visit my sister, Elsie.  She lives in the Windsor Apts. for Seniors.

Elsie and Donna in Elsie's apt.  The apt is much larger than the previous one she lived in and it is less expensive than the one in Lake Stevens where she was.  We had a very nice visit.  Elsie is looking much better than the last time I saw her.  Her other place was getting pretty depressing for her because so many of the residents had memory problems.  We were very happy to see each other.  Donna told Elsie some of the memories of times we went to Elsie's house when she was young.  Donna remembered the huge bowl of Potato salad she always made and some other things.  I could tell she was very pleased that Donna remembered those things.

SUNNY DAYS

Wednesday and Thursday were just such beautiful days here.  Donna and I spent all day Wednesday going to the Quilting Shop Hop.  We took my car.  I now have almost 3,000 miles on it.  We had a nice time going  to the different shops.  There was a long list of shops but we covered 6 shops and that took a long time.  We went to Port Townsend, Silverdale, Port Gamble, Port Angeles, Poulsbo and Kingston.  Donna found a really nice kit for a wall hanging. It has birds and bird houses on it.  She is still trying to decide what kind of quilt to make for the quilting retreat we are going to in October.  The picture above is the one I made last year. This year I think I will just take a smaller counted-cross stitch picture to work on.  I am still working on the large Autumn one that I bought in May.  I have done quite a bit on it but there is still way, way more work before it will be finished.  Even after the cross-stitching is done there is still all the outlining to do. I am sure at the Quilting retreat I will be helping with Donna's quilt. Usually I do a lot of ironing and sewing squares together.

Thursday Donna decided she wanted to make some Strawberry Jam.  She wanted to pick the berries herself.  We took my car again.  My car always needs exercise. I feel kind of silly being so fussy but I had her put towels down in the trunk and on the front seat of the car. At times my OCD rears it's ugly head. I sat in my car and read my Kindle.  I am way past bending over and picking berries.  She got a lot of berries picked in an hour's time.  Donna bought a  Presto canner at Wal-mart. It was really nice for the jam.  Now she can can fruit or vegetables or meat if she wants to.  

I did help with the Strawberry jam.  I got the berries ready for Donna to smash up.  I even helped stir the jam.  You have to be so careful you don't burn yourself.  Also we made 2 loaves of bread.  Donna just bought some new yeast and the dough was rising really fast.  The loaves came out huge.  The fresh bread was so good with the fresh Strawberry jam.  

Tuesday we are going to Marysville to see my sister, Elsie.  I have not seen her for quite awhile.  We write back and forth all the time.  She loves letters.  Once when I called her I had not written for awhile and she said it was nice to talk to me but she missed my letters so now I try to write often.

NEW REFRIGERATOR

Donna and Laif's old refrigerator that I had downstairs finally gave out.  It was only about 7 years old.  The new ones apparently do not last as long.  With all the energy saving refrigerators, the compressors are smaller and run almost constantly to keep an even temperature.  The appliance man that installed my new Whirlpool refrigerator was not very impressed by the Maytag that Donna and Laif had.  He said Maytag makes great designs but the refrigerators themselves were not the best. Whirlpool now has Maytag . Anyway, my new refrigerator is doing great.  It has a really nice ice bin.  You can see how much ice there is when you open the door and also the ice bin tips and lifts out very easily.  Besides the water filter this refrigerator has an air filter that keeps the refrigerator constantly fresh.  It is more powerful than 15 boxes of baking soda. The refrigerator is really keeping my food cold and the freezer is working great.  I think the other refrigerator had been going bad for awhile.

Sunday was Father's Day.  Marge
and Harry invited Laif, Donna and me to the
Fifth Avenue, where they 
live for a nice Father's Day
Dinner. 


My father has been gone now for 52 years. He was a very caring father to my sister and I and treated our mother so well.  Growing up we always had him around all the time.  My parents were such hard workers. My mother kept our house so nice.  We always had big gardens.  One thing we did a lot after supper and the dishes were done was all four of us would play Bingo at the kitchen table. That probably sounds dull to the younger generation but we loved doing it.

UPDATING MY BLOG

I am sorry that I have not written lately.  Not that things haven't been happening, but I just haven't taken the time to write.  I think I left off where Richard and Joan were going to Atlanta.  They made it fine but unfortunately they had an accident on the way back home. Their van and pickup was totaled but the good news is that no one was seriously injured and the pets were OK too.

Rachel is such a good blogger.  I just enjoy all her pictures of their goings on and the great pictures of the children.

Darrell is in Atlanta and has been helping Diane with her house.  Diane said he is such a hard worker and has done a lot.  Diane's ward had a work party for her Saturday.  They filled 18 bags with grass and debris from the lawn and worked on the bushes.  Also helped on the house.  It is so great to belong to a Church that helps people so much.  I remember years ago when we were building a house in Bonney Lake that a lot of the guys from the Priesthood came out and put our roof on.

I bought myself a new toy.  I just could not resist.  One of my visiting teachers had one and she showed it to me and I could not get it out of my mind.  It was $100 so I hesitated a little but then decided I was worth it.

OK, you are wondering what it is.  It is called a Fitbit.  You will have to look it up on line to see just what all it does.  There is a video for you to watch.  Just Google Fitbit. I took this picture but you really can't tell too much. On the left is the docking station, in the center is the tracker which you can carry in your pocket or clip onto your clothing.  On the right is a velcro wristband that you wear at night to track your sleep.  The tracker is very small.  It is only slightly over 2 inches.  Anyway this wonderful gadget tracks all your steps which it turns into miles, it counts "floors" which is counted on stairs you climb or hills you climb.  A lot of days I get 14 floors in because I walk up our steep hill. The velcro band has a slot to hold your tracker.  You just write down when you go to bed and when you get up.  The tracker will tell you how long you are in bed and how long you actually slept.  Also it tells how many times you wake up.  When you log it in there is a graph that shows your sleep pattern and also shows your sleep efficiency. The tracker keeps track of your activity during the day and shows how many calories you have burned.  Also you can put your weight on  it  if you want to and you can put in what you eat.

Another fun part is that all you have to do is walk by the tracking station by your computer and everything automatically downloads. You do have to put your weight on and put in the times you go to sleep and when you wake up.

You get e-mails congratulating you when you meet a milestone in any of the activities.  I got a surprise this morning because I didn't realize that they send you weekly progress reports.  My report for last week was
                            23,534 steps (9.67 miles)
                            44 floors climbed
                            12,219 calories burned
                            Average sleep duration--6hrs and 39 min.
How happy I am to have lived to see this wonderful electronic era.

A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT

I need to catch up on my blog. So much has been going on.  Above is my new Ottlite lamp.  It is just amazing for needlework and small  print.  The picture above I took with all the lights off and you can see how bright it is.  It is just like working in the sunlight.  On the left is a picture of the counted cross stitch project I am doing.  It is a beautiful Autumn scene.  It will be 14" x 11" when it is done and will probably take me six months or more.  I have not done a large counted cross stitch picture in years.


I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day yesterday.  The weather was absolutely beautiful. I am so thankful I have lived to enjoy the wonderful technology we have today.  Erik was able to Skype on Mother's Day and Debbie set up a group skype.  It was just amazing. Kent was in Renton, Debbie and Jennie were in Salt Lake, Erik was in Sacramento and Donna, Laif and I were in Sequim.  We could see each other and talk to each other. It was just absolutely amazing.  Erik looks so good.  He seems to really be enjoying his Mission.

I am sure everyone knows that Michael and Rachel have their new baby girl, Eleanor, who was born in April.  The other exciting news is that Michael has graduated and the same weekend Eleanor was blessed.  Michael will be going to BYU in Provo for two years to work on getting his Masters in Electrical engineering.

The other news is that my son, Richard, and his wife Joan are being modern day pioneers.  They are on their way to Atlanta, GA to spend a month so that Richard can help Diane with some projects in her house she just bought there.  I think I already mentioned that she paid $33,000 for it including closing costs.

The reason I say they are modern day pioneers is that they are traveling in Richard's van with 5 dogs and 2 cats and towing a pickup truck full of tools. Diane said she talked to Richard and Joan yesterday and they were in Iowa.  They only had one problem so far that I know of.  Richard called me a couple of days ago and they were in Rapid City, South Dakota. The towing chain had broke but they got it fixed.  Since they had spent six hours in Rapid City over the towing problem, they thought they would go to Mount Rushmore.  I hope they did.  That was one of the sights that really impressed me when Donna and I went to the mid-west.

My leg is doing much better.  I can go up and down stairs without pain now.  My right leg is still pretty weak and the therapist still wants me to use a cane.  It does help to distribute the weight better.  It is easier to walk outdoors with a cane.  Who knows, at my age I might be using it the rest of my life but there are worse things.  At least I can still walk and take care of myself and do my housework so I really don't have anything to complain about.

BEFORE THE REMODEL

I can hardly remember how my downstairs used to look. Notice how much my Snake Plant has grown.  I started working on this blog earlier today.  Some how I got a couple of pictures on and even got a comment from Rachel and now those pictures have disappeared from my blog.  Now it is so nice downstairs.  Not much else going on.  Had my physical therapy yesterday.  My leg was really sore today but I am much better.  I have an idea this is going to be a lifetime job keeping my legs working right. I am sure I will have to keep doing the exercises forever.  Whatever I can do to keep on my feet I will.

MORE THERAPY

I had another physical therapy session today.  I think this is my 6th one.  I have always in my mind questioned things like Chiropractors, massage therapists, and physical therapists wondering if they really help people..  It seems like for a couple of days after a session I hurt worse but today it was like I had a breakthrough.  Shelia, the therapist, still did this pushing, stretching etc. but today it did not hurt as bad.  I have not only the weakness in my right leg but in the thigh of my right leg I have a mass that is like scar tissue and she is working on getting that broken up.  After the pushing and moving my leg around she took me to the exercise room and I was on a step-on for 10 minutes.  It is kind of like being on an exercise bike but your legs just go back and forth on the pedals.  The reason I said it was like a breakthrough is that today  I could really feel my leg loosening up and it did not hurt when I stepped down.  I could feel my leg was much more relaxed.  Sheila said my leg is a little stronger. I am still using the belt but the time might come when I don't need to.  I told her I have an exercise bike and she said by all means use it but not overdo. Anyway, I just wanted to share this news.  I guess there is still hope for old people like me.

PHYSICAL THERAPY

Today I saw the physical therapist.  She claims the problem is still my sacroiliac nerve and that I have probably had this problem for some time.  She said my right leg is very weak.  That is the reason I limp.  I have been making my right leg do all the work.  I had another deep tissue massage and then she did a lot of pushing on my leg.  Now that I am home it is really hurting.  I have an exercise that I have to do at least three times a day.  She will add another one Friday. Also she wants me to use my cane and get the weight off the right leg.  She claims the limp will get better if I do that.  Of course, the thing  we are all supposed to do is walk tall, suck in your stomach. So much to remember.  She claims I am not to old to make my legs stronger.  She still wants me to wear the belt for awhile yet.  I will have to admit that my leg is doing much better even though it is sore where she did all the pushing.

EASTER

George and Marge took me to the "Old Mill" for an Easter breakfast brunch.  We had to wait awhile but it was very nice.  When we got back, there were two deer in the yard pruning Donna's Rose bushes.
     It was very nice to get out.  I have been putting up with pain in my right leg.  I had actually made an appointment with the doctor for Monday but Donna called and got an appointment for me for Thursday.  It was so bad I could hardly walk.  Donna arranged for Eloise (my visiting teaching companion) to take me to the doctor.  It is good she did that.  I always hate to bother other people so that was why I wanted to wait until Monday when Donna was back.  The doctor thought it was my Sciatica. I had to make an appointment with a Physical Therapist and they were able to get me in Friday.  Marge took me.  The Therapist after doing many painful things to my leg said it was my Sacroiliac joint.  He gave me a deep heat massage.  That really felt good.  Also he let me use his loaner Sacroiliac belt.  I went into the the Therapist using my cane and after he put the belt on I was amazed at how it almost immediately stopped the pain. He wants me to wear it until I have my next appointment (Tuesday) and if it has been helping he will sell me one at cost.  He says that is the only product he sells his patients.  I see there are a lot of them on line.  That belt really helps.  Even when I take it off at night I am not having near as much pain so maybe I am healing.  The Therapist said I should wear it at night too if I can but I found I can't.  I am one of those people who can't sleep if there is a wrinkle in my sheet.
        I had a doctor Thursday I had not seen before.  She was looking over my chart and said "You're 84" and I said "Yes".  She said "You are in such good health."  It struck me funny because I am sitting there in all this pain.
        In case you are wondering what a Sacroiliac belt is--it is stretchy material with Velcro straps.  You put it on so that the bottom of the belt is resting right on top of your thigh bones and around your buttocks.
        Of course, I am sure everyone knows by now that Michael and Rachel have an adorable new baby girl.  You can see the darling pictures on Rachel's blog.

          I hope everyone is having a Happy Easter.

CATCHING UP ON A RAINY DAY

Pictures we took last Summer on our way to Atlanta in the Kia Rio.  We stopped to see these sites on the Lincoln Highway.  Imagine driving all the way from New York to San Francisco in a Model T Ford.  We have such comfortable cars now and of course much better roads.

It has been in the 80's all week in Atlanta, while we have rain. I talked to Diane a couple of days ago.  She said the pollen count is as high as it has been in 30 years.  Diane said the little Kia Rio is covered yellow from all the pollen.  I had read before that if you have allergies that Atlanta is one of the worst cities to live in.

Diane seems to be doing real well in Atlanta.  Diane bought a house in Atlanta.  She paid cash.  She paid $33,000 including closing costs.  Isn't that amazing.  The house does need some work she said  but apparently nothing major.  She said it has a brand new roof, which is a real plus.  The previous owner did take out the air conditioning unit so that will probably set her back around $4000. at least.  But she only has a month and a half on her rental unit so then she will have money to make repairs. It is a four bedroom house.  I want her to put some pictures on Facebook so everyone can see the house.

Nothing exciting going on here.  We are all waiting to hear from Rachel about when Eleanor will make her debut.

EARLY SPRING

Just some more pictures from our little trip to Forks.  We saw a lot of logging trucks but of course, logging is not like it used to be.

On to my topic of an early Spring.  This is an educational topic I am putting on my blog. (I will probably bore everyone but I found this article very interesting)  How I love the Internet!  If I had to have looked this up in the library like we used to, it would take a long time.

Did anyone notice that Spring came early this year?
       Welcome to the earliest start of Spring since 1896.
Every leap year, the Spring will get roughly 30-45 minutes earlier until it peaks at 2096 when Spring will arrive on March 19--at 7:02 am (Pacific Daylight time)
         Why?  It's due to the same reasons we have leap years--the exact length of a year isn't a nice round number.  The length of a year is 365.2422days--or about 11minutes and 14 seconds short of 365 days and exactly 6 hours.
           By adjusting for leap year every four years, it averages out to 365.25 days.  The earliest season start times occur on leap year (because what is March 19 this year would be March 20 in non-leap years.)  Each year after a leap year, the start time of the season gets roughly 6 hours later until the next leap year pulls it back 24 hours.
          But since .25 isn't the same as .2422, the season start times drift just a little earlier each year due to this minor error.
           Remember back in 2000 when there was talk about how it was a rare leap year because usually we don't do a leap year in years divisible by 100, unless it is divisible by 400.  For example--we didn't do leap years in 1700, 1800, or 1900 but we did in 2000 (divisible by 400) but we won't in 2100.  That correction gets us closer to 365.2422.
            So in 1896, we had a Spring start time at 6:23 on March 19 (Pacific Standard Time) because they hadn't thought of Pacific Daylight Time yet)  Spring came about 6 hours later each year but in 1900--when there was no leap year, because 1900 divided by 400 requires decimal points, the Spring start time just kept getting 6 hours later until 1904 when it finally got pushed back 24 hours due to leap year.
            But in 2000, we didn't skip the leap year reset, so the Spring start time will keep getting earlier each leap year until 2096 because in 2100, we won't do a leap year, in essence allowing the Spring start time to keep pushing back another full day on our calendar.
             It's not until we complete the entire 400 year cycle that the equinox start times truly reset and the drift starts over.
             But in the meantime, enjoy this early start to Spring!  Just don't pay attention to the fact that this drift also means Autumn begins a bit earlier as well.

TRIP IN MY CAR

Downtown Forks

We had Icecream cones at this little shop.

Yesterday was such a nice day and Donna had worked on her school work all morning and about noon she decided she wanted to goof off. I have been wanting to put a few more miles on my car and give it a little more exercise than just running to Safeway.  We decided to go to Forks.  I had never been there.  It is a long way.  It was sunny when we left Sequim but as we got nearer Forks the weather really changed. There was even a little snow mixed with rain.  After we went to Forks, Donna wanted to go to La Push.  She had never been there.  It was only another 14 miles to La Push.  La Push is right on the Ocean.  It was really cold and windy there.  Donna got out of the car and took some pictures of the ocean.  My car had gone to La Push last winter with David. David went to look at a boat for a friend of his.  I was going to go but that day it was pouring rain and the wind was blowing so I told him to go without me.  That was the same day that we got the auxilary heat pump in and the worker took off part of the roof.

     Anyway,  we were able to drive right up by the Ocean.  What an amazing sight! We both had such an enjoyable trip.

I was looking through my older pictures.  I found this one of a sunset I took while I was still in Renton at Debbie's.  It made my day more cheerful looking at it.  We have had so many cloudy days lately. I love pictures of sunrises and sunsets.

 

My car is now 8 months old.  I only have 2300 miles on it but because of the age I wanted it checked.  I don't need an oil change yet.  My oil is like new,  He said come back in another 1,000 miles and have it checked again.  When I do get it changed I will have the Mobil 1 put in.  

I haven't much interesting going on in my life so I have to keep up with what others are doing.  Rachel and Michael will be having their baby girl in a couple of weeks or sometime in that time period.  That is really exciting.  

The other interesting news is that Diane bought a 4 bedroom house in Atlanta, Georgia.  She paid cash for it.  $33,000 including closing costs.  She says it has a brand new roof, which is a big plus.  The house needs some work.  She used some of her retirement money to buy it.  I think that it was a wise thing to do.  Property is like money in the bank and she can spend money on fixing it up instead of having to pay rent.

Lately I have gotten interested in reading World War II stories.  I read the "Winds of War" by Herman Wouk. It is a very long book but so interesting and so well written.  I watched the Ministries starring Robert Mitchum. If you have Netflix you can watch it on Netflix.  I know all this is history for most of you.  I was in high school when the war started so there were no history books about the war yet.

I have all my books on my Kindle. I just love the Kindle.  I can carry this "library" with me anywhere.

SNOW

I was surprised to wake up to snow this morning.  It was so clear and cold when I went to bed.  Although  all day yesterday the wind was blowing hard.  I guess it was bringing in the snow.  As you can see from the picture, there is not much snow so I expect it will be gone by afternoon.

The second picture is a counted cross-stitch I am working on.  I always seem to have to keep my mind and my hands busy.

Donna has been pestering me to write on my blog.  I have not been too good at keeping it up lately.  I will try to do better.  Maybe I can make myself some notes of things that go on during the day and maybe I will have something to write about.

We are having Book Club tonight.  I have been upstairs straightening around.  I always feel you have to straighten things up when you know people are coming.  Clayton and Richard used to tease me about rushing around and straightening up and dusting before the cleaning lady came at Merrill Gardens.

One time when the head housekeeper was short on help she called to ask if she could skip my apt. that week.  She said I always kept mine so nice.

Noah and Hazel slept in the guest room downstairs and Olive slept upstairs while Michael and Rachel were on their "Babymoon".  We just had to take these adorable pictures of Noah and Hazel.  Donna and Laif apparently wore them out because they went right to sleep the first night downstairs.

HAPPENINGS

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

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.