Random Whatevers

Yup, those are my thoughts today. It is raining outside and it is so beautiful! The dust is gone and the new leaves and colors are so vibrant! On the other hand, the flooding by the door is worse than ever. Jon's smashing of the concrete is definitely not one of his most favorite things to do. More of it is removed, but not enough yet!

Last Thursday we had a Scout Court of Honor. Jon will advance at the next one, he has to do one more campout to complete one of the ranks. I was kinda damp at this ceremony. I had been drinking one of those sugar free carbonated water drinks and I am ALWAYS careful when I open them..except once this evening and it literally exploded all over the table and myself. I was very thankful that my camera was put away and the liquid was sugar free. The funniest thing, as it happened I had two split second thoughts. The first was that I wish I could see it (like in a photo) and the second was 'it really does make a 'sploosh' sound!!!'

I also learned that even though my camera is good with batteries and I had spares, it is best to have spares that are not already dead. Thus, the camera was not working very well when I took the shots upstairs! I need to get good rechargable ones.

On Wednesday night, we found our water line that had been missing. This is for the UGS. When the addition was put on, the start to the system was dug up. Since it was getting to be spring, we thought it might be good to find it. Well, we did. It reminded us of Beverly Hill Billies, but alas there was no black gold, just muddy water. On the other hand, it was great to finally find it. Steve had dug out a great deal of dirt in the back yard and we were starting to despair!!! Now, of course, the hole will fill with water for a little while. One thing about rain over here, it never lasts long, but it dries up very fast!

And then, here is the school here. Well, outside of it anyway. I understand why they have two mascots, but really. In the grand scale of life, wouldn't the tiger wipe out the cute little scotty dog? (Ages ago two schools merged and when they became one they kept both mascots). Personally, I like the idea of a tiger in a kilt, but I might be the only one! If you look close you will see a metal scotty dog and the larger tiger. On their new reader board, though, there is a guy with bagpipes. He is a figure you see a lot of here.

OK, so much for random. Next on the agenda are dishes and laundry! LOL. Just finished reading Just Ella and Palace of Mirrors by Haddix. VERY good reads.

Dear Tony....

I love my new camera! It is the most awesome thing I have ever used!!! We took it to Tillamook this weekend. It was a sad/glad weekend. I will post more on that later, but for now, I am sending you a note full of photos!

You know we stayed with David and Wendy..here is Jet working on his truck. He went racing on Sunday morning.

This flag one was taken while I was trying to figure out how to shoot moving objects. Later we went to Short Beach, Radar Beach, or 100 step beach with Anita and took lots of pictures there. I think the moving water came out pretty well!
At the beach we found a mama crab. Anita said the goo stuff was babies.(Does God not have a sense of humor???) She was supposed to be running and she did for a while!

Dad found this cool mussel thing and then Anita insisted that we needed a picture of the two of us..I hate being in photos! The driftwood we were sitting on made me taller, though! LOL.

On Sunday, Linds was baptized!! Very cool to be there for that!

On the way home we stopped at Arlington, of course. It was so fun to use my new camera there! I took a photo of a fish (we are not sure what the fish was!) and ducks. I liked the mama duck ones! I used my telephoto option to capture her. I hope that she is left alone for the duration of incubation. She was awful close to the path, but very far from the water.

Then, we got back to the house. It is very warm (a bank temp thing in Pendleton read 86 degrees!!!) and Teddy seems glad to see us. He stayed with grandma.

We miss you tons and I hope everyone has enjoyed reading your letter!!! Mum.

April Showers...

It is an old saying, but oh so true. April showers bring May flowers. We have had snow and rain and April first it was horrid! Everyone celebrated getting their snow tires off by sliding all over the place!!! In between the icky stuff we have had some fairly nice days. Which were very handy for getting stuff done. Another saying is that a picture is worth a thousand words, so here are some pictures with more than a few words to explain them!!!

First: What do you see here? Jon said that it looked like the alien material off of the modern War of the Worlds movie.

Next is the water problem out our back door. When it rains we get water, lots of water. These photos are after much of it has dried. The first is from inside the house and the second is from outside the house. Kinda funny, when we lived in Tillamook our house NEVER flooded. Here we get water inside whenever it rains or we get snow.

We finally got started on taking out the sidewalk (that is what the green spray painted line is for, we are taking it out in that area first and then the rest of it in a large section. Steve will repave it when it gets warmer. (now it slopes toward the house).

My garden was also worked on. OK, it will be a garden someday. The stairway to nowhere was moved 3 times. I had it near one of the length wise boards on the fence and Moses managed to use the stairs and the board to help him over the fence to the other side! This area is more work for him. He has to kind of go around and then over and he has already gotten stuck between the slats when he did it! (It was very funny as he was trying to be tough and was growling at a cat in the other yard while he was stuck.) The walk way thing will be where the bridge from Music Man will go and the green fencing stuff is going to be a water feature of some sort. WE have also marked off the veggie garden area and planted a western red cedar and put in the silver posts (really an old shower curtain rod) for my sweet peas.

Note, the stairs are the ones I dropped on my foot and left me a very purpley bruise that has merged into greens and yellows! Nice and Eastery, which brings us to the lovely flower that Jon made me for Easter. It is HUGE and heavy and, as Jon said, will never need pulled. It is supposed to be a dandelion, as they are one of my favorite flowers and not one of Steve's. (the smaller yellow one I bought in Tillamook).

More eclectic reading for April. Garden books, Mercedes Lackey, ect. And that brings us up to date with notes in a minor key!!!

Spring, sprang, sproing.

Yup, we did have spring and then it vanished. We do have some crocus trying to insist that the days are getting warmer, but we got some snow which makes it hard to believe. But, because of the snow, I was able to get a photo of my border made of International Harvester roatary hoe wheels. I will put up a photo of them on a rig this summer when we can get to the Mtn Ranch where there is one parked. Anyway, this side of the garden hasn't any rocks for decor, so I thought these might look nice. They do, however, they blend in very well, which makes them hard to see. They are also very heavy and fall over, so I need to come up with some sort of idea to hold them up. The tines stick in the dirt, but I can't put them in far enough without losing the idea of the sea stars.

Before the snow, we did have some excitement from home. Mum, for her birthday, got a volcano! Visit this site for some great photos. http://www.avo.alaska.edu/ I particularly like the lightning one from March 27, 2009. You click the information for Redoubt and then images and then you have to choose the date. It is cumbersome, but as you travel through the net you will see some excellant photos of Mt. Redoubt and the ash clouds. Along with mum, an Oregon friend had a birthday, too. Here is the cake I made them.... Happy Birthday, Mum and Jennifer!

There was going to be a heart of candles on the side, but didn't get that far!!!! LOL. Chocolate fudge and chocolate chips and chocolate fudge frosting. Gotta love Pillsbury!!!

And last but not least, my crocus! I can't wait til they start to multiply!

Doing some eclectic reading..just picking up any old book when I finish one and need a new one!

Spring! or the Pros and Cons of weed barrier.

It has been lovely this week. In spite of the fact that Jon started out this week by being very sick, things are much better now. It has been nice and spring like and stuff has been popping out like crazy. I first had to read The Secret Garden (In honor of spring and Mrs. Downs!) and while I was doing that, I decided to edge our front sidewalk. You know, our sidewalk is bigger than I thought! And it has a mess of cracking that needs fixed, but I am so glad I planted the bulbs back as far as I did, without the grass, they are much closer to the sidewalk!

Moses saw me taking a photo and wanted something from me and Max is just a scaredy cat and likes to hide under the porch. I also fixed the edges around my gardens that fell over this winter. They need something else, but I am not sure what. They are not entirely even, but they ARE upright!

In the back yard we had a problem. Weed barrier is very good to keep out the weeds and for growth of large worms, but not so good for plants that like to spread.

I had a bunch of iris that I discovered were growing on TOP of the barrier, so I divided them and replanted them. I should have done it last fall, but was not paying attention. I also found something that looks like a calla lily. There were two trying to grow through the barrier

I felt so sorry for them, that I moved them, too. And then after school, Jon and I went out and got me a 'fence'. I will show you a more completed picture of that particular yard arrangement later.

Am now reading Alaska books. Read House Upon a Rock, even if it is a bit early for it and am on Watch for a Tall White Sail.

In like a Lamb/Lion?

So, what is your verdict? I was thinking it was a bit more lamb like and then we got snow! It was a very big surprise, but it did make the flowers stand out better!

I like seeing how these brave yellow pieces of the sun show up in the most unlikely places. In Tillamook I have photos of them shining forth, covered in snow. And then there is my favorite memory picture from after a flood and there were bright spots of color reflecting in the muddy water just inches below the bloom. They are spring. So, it is on the way...as slow as it seems over here in the NW.

Also was able to get a couple of fun cat photos. They held their wrestling move long enough for one shot, but not two! the little paper ball is one of Moses toys, but they were wrestling because Moses jumped Maxwell. He does that often.

We spent today traveling to a place near La Grande. I had gone up that direction last spring with Karen H and it was a lot different. Now there is snow and it was really cold. We got to go to a gun show and saw some friends. For me, that was the VERY best part, seeing Donnie and Noelle, I mean. We spent time with them eating at a fun restaurant and it was wonderful. (They were in Baker for a basket ball tourney. ) We have photos of Steve and Jon with the new loot. However, as Steve had changed and his shirt was dirty, I will not post the photos here for anyone to see. Those who are interested can email me, if I don't email you first! And I will send the pictures to everyone..Not ANYONE, but everyone!!! (A semantic distinction.) Below is Tony's newest toy. I do not know what it is other than a german something or other. And there you go.

Reading some new Mercedes Lackey books!

Dumpster Diving

One of our neighbor's was in the process of moving to a much smaller house. The lady was older and newly single, so the house was basically stripped of all the belongings and they were tossed. After several days, Jon was about to go bonkers seeing all that stuff ready to be picked up by the garbage truck, so he and Steve did an after dark visit. It was amazing. This garbage crate was over full and the two managed to find several interesting items.

I particularly liked this shelf unit. Steve liked this stereo Jon brought home for his room and Jon likes the little crossbow, which reminds me a great deal of Disney's Three Musketeers (non animated one). All in all, it reminded me of a great old children's book called Junk Day on Juniper Street. Which is actually what happens in July during Caledonian Days. Every yard has a sale going on!!!

They also found a smaller working bike with gears, a hand held dirt devil with all the recharger stuff that is practically perfect, and assorted other items. I don't understand why they did not just call Salvation Army and tell them to come out at a certain time for a pick up. (was this a sign or our times? When one tosses instead of passing it on? Landfills r Us?) They tossed furniture, bed frames..one that was very pretty out of black colored metal, but I had no real use for. On further reflection, it would have been neat for my yard. I have always wanted a garden bed! Ah, well...maybe another time.

Later in the week we had snow again. It was really pretty and I decided that my weather rock mom sent needs another legend. If rock is covered in white crystals, you've got snow!

I guess if I could not have snow for my birthday, at least I got some for my niece's birthdays! Which are days apart at the END of Feb. Now for spring, right?

Have 3 more Anne books to read and then off to springier books. Unless I am wishful thinking!

It's raining!

Yup, as I write this I am listening to the rain fall on the roof. Note, that reminds me of a song from college..The raindrops fall upon the roof....sigh...

Let's see. Since my last missive what have we done? Oh, Jon was a part of a Pipes and Drums thing at the HS. Steve always goes to the games (I don't, just because I figure it is fun for him to meet all the kids he used to go to school with!) and so he took pictures of our boy. I also tend to stay home because Jon plays for a short time and I find it hard to spend 4 dollars to only get to see Jon for a few minutes. I may go next year.



(I had to 'fix' this first photo cuz it was in the gym..)

Later this month I had my Sunday school class practice some first aid with the story of the good Samaritan. I think the boys had fun and I deduced that if I am ever in an accident, not to call the boys. They re enacted the story from start to finish four times, including trussing up a victim, in a little over 15 minutes. On the other hand, they would get the job done fast!



Reading lots of Anne McCaffrey books.

Happy Belated Birthday to my baby....

I was going to do what Noelle did and post a baby photo of Jon, but I am not sure where the cutest one is...I will keep looking. And I still cannot find the instruction CD for the scanner, so need to get pictures put on a disk at a store. As I said, stay tuned! Anyway, here is our celebration of his 15th birthday. NOTE: he did NOT get his permit yet..I am not sure if this is good or bad!
Here is Moses fleeing from Nana's present in the hands of Jon. Moses did try to stalk it a few times!

Here he is blowing out his candles. (On a interesting note, he plays a bari sax very well and STILL managed to leave one candle burning!)

The second photo is a new shirt that Nana sent. We all thought it would be large, but as you can see, it is not bad at all! He also got a watch that is totally cool!!!!!!!! It is on a carabiner thing, and I hope that is the right word, and hooks on his belt loop. Tony had one like it, but not quite.

Books being read: Anne McCaffrey! It is my February read..well, except for Feb 14 when Tracy and I read The Blue Castle.

the end of January....

The end of January was beautiful..we had freezing fog, which is very pretty. After that there was a day of soft, fluffy magical snow. It made the world even more beautiful than it was before! Moses on the other hand, was not as impressed. He decided to climb a tree and got stuck. Needless to say, he got down by himself..after I hauled the ladder out and over to the tree. The snow and frost vanished fairly rapidly and left us with spring.

The tree across the road and one near a friend's house.

I wanted snow for my birthday, but it did not happen. Oh, well...I did find a couple of teeny tiny daffodil spears sticking up through the hard ground and if I can't have snow, I will take daffodils!

Finally got to read The History of the Snowman by Bob Eckstien. You MUST find it and read it. It is a wonderfully intellectual and fun read.