April Animals on the Ranch!

Look at all these cute critters! As cute as they are, however, I was annoyed. They also decided to nibble on my golden willow tree sticks that survived from our move from Tillamook! We had stuck them in a bucket with water and finally gotten around to planting them up on the ranch this spring. Unfortunately, the deer REALLY liked the coastal treats. This last weekend the guys went up and put some wire around a few. Hopefully, those ones will survive. Jon took scads of deer pictures (as usual) and we especially liked this one of the deer jumping the fence.


The mountain creeks were running nicely this April and tree frogs were everywhere! They found this adorable green one as well as a darker brown one.


More deer! It is too early to tell if any of the ones they saw were bucks, but I am pretty sure that come October the ranch will be devoid of white and black tails! That is the way deer season works!

Next up, pictures of the ranch at the END of April and flowers in the year. Jon got some of the cutest chipmunk photos, but you will have to wait for those!

winter/spring..whatever!

Spring means snow, right? Well, we got a skiff here in April and it was NOT fair! The daffodils wouldn't lift their heads and even Moses was not impressed. He was seriously looking for that door into summer and this one was NOT it! (actually, I think the daffs are ones that keep their heads down as they still have not lifted them!)

For the WMHS band auction I had Jon make another flower. I really wish I could keep this one, but we needed to give it to the band fund. I added one of my cement leaves and we call it Garden Stuff. This one has petals made of kitchen knives and leaves made of a spatula and a spoon. It is VERY clever. I hope people like it. I think we'll make more and see if they sell during Caledonian yard sale day! That is the problem with creating things, you just want to KEEP them!

Maxwell, today, found that door into summer. It was not very warm out in the yard, but on the top of the lawn mower in a sun puddle he was very content! Jon said he couldn't mow the lawn since Max was sleeping. I told him to move Max and mow anyway. The front eventually got cut.

Am reading Alcott, Eight Cousins and Rose in Bloom.

Rainbows and Chocolate

Sometimes you have to really look for the rainbows, but when you find them they are amazing! I always wonder about what might be at the end of the rainbow and I have never found a 'pot of gold'. but it doesn't matter. The promise of a rainbow is much more awesome than gold!

It is even better than chocolate, which is a debatable point, I am sure! We had our annual Princess Party at church and I was asked to bring in my chocolate fountain. It is such a fun party tool and I made certain to let parents know if their little girls in their pretty frilly and lacy dresses ended up with a coating of chocolate, to use a product designed to remove oil. Fountain chocolate has a LOT of oil in it! We also learned how much fun this type of chocolate is as a lip gloss. Many young girls really like chocolate. (can you say, understatement??)

I also did something different this year when it came to tidying up. This year I brought the fountain home in order to dismantle and clean it, rather than doing it at the church. It was MUCH easier, but I did think the cleaning tips in the directions left out some very important hints. (If you are a fan of Willy Wonka, you will also realise that they leave out scenes of cleaning in the chocolate factory. This, I feel is not fair!!!) So, if you have a fountain of your own or are thinking of getting one, please refer to these extra notes when the party is over. (I have used my fountain several times and felt it was time to write this information down for sharing.)



1. You need at least 2 empty sinks and a LOT of hot water. 2. You need two people to take apart the fountain when it is all messy with the melted chocolate. One person must hold the bowl of the fountain in place as the second person untwists things. (This is a VERY messy job.) 3. All the fountain bits for my fountain (except the electric base) are dishwasher safe, but to make sure it is all very clean I suggest running the bits through the dishwasher twice after rinsing them off completely. (I realise this is not an energy efficient idea, however it eliminates the grossness of wiping chocolate residue off your stuff after it is clean when you are ready to use it again) 4. When you remove the first layer of leftover chocolate, do not use a sink of soapy warm water as you actually end up with a larger mess than you started with. Also, do NOT use the little sprayer thingy that is often attached to a sink. Warm water and chocolate and oil can go a very long way when sprayed. Trust me! 5. When scraping together the chocolate to toss, I use an old plastic container with a lid. The chocolate does not compost well and attracts many critters who are better off not knowing how yummy chocolate is, just throw it away. (NOTE-fountain chocolate is not reusable. However, with our 'kid' parties, we serve them the warm chocolate in little cups, thus keeping our chocolate very clean and crumb and germ free. This allows me to actually retain the chocolate for another use, but it is not a practice that is naturally followed..as much as it kills you to toss the used chocolate, you must do it!!!!!)

If you follow these tips, you will have a much more enjoyable time using your fountain and you will refrain from adding to Craig's List after it's first use.

advice for the last days of March..or anytime, for that matter.

Our shower is finished! This is great cause for rejoicing as it was taken apart the 6th or so of this month and driving several blocks for a shower is kind of a pain. Now, don't get me wrong, I was very glad we had water in our house and the chance to go somewhere to shower. But, it is so nice to be able to shower, put your bathrobe on, and walk to your bedroom to get dressed!

At any rate, since I felt I had cause for a celebration, I decided to 'use' a salt body scrub packet that I have had around for ages. It was an organic mix of fragrant oils and sea salt and looked festive. I carefully read the packet and it suggested that you should not get the mixture in any sores or do any shaving prior to use. I was good with that. Not rubbing salt in wounds was one of those mantras you learn at your mother's knee along with hot stuff burns and don't spit into the wind. (ok, that last might have been from Jim Croce, but you get the picture)

As I mixed the salt and oils as directed I realised that I had clipped a hangnail on my finger a tad too short. Ouch! Then, I started applying the paste to the skin. Yes, it did smell nice, but I had not known that 'wounds' could also be scratches along my arms and legs from working in the garden (I had just done that) and all the teeny holes in my tummy where I had been taking my insulin shots were also areas in which salt should not be scrubbed. Needless to say, it was all a rather stinging experience. In my haste to remove the organic sea salt, I had also forgotten the bit of advice on the packet that suggested that the oils may cause tub to become slippery. Thankfully, I did not slide much and in spite of feeling like an Olympic speed skater for a milli second or two, I survived.

All in all, I have come to the conclusion that one should not just read the directions to things carefully, but one should also heed them in their entirety. Although, in heeding directions you can lose a great many interesting experiences. Not necessarily exciting, but definitely interesting.

Am reading Hidden Harbor by Katherine Pinkerton as I have just finished House Upon a Rock by Elsa Pederson concerning the Alaskan earthquake of 1964.

Seattle or Bust! (in a walnut shell, rather less than more!)

The YD youth from our church left our small sleepy town in two vehicles just a little after 8am on Friday. We had no idea what was in store for us! As we drove through the mountains we go to see lots of snow and it was beautiful!


Then, we arrived in Seattle. Our first glimpse of the Space Needle was as thrilling as seeing snow! Kids in both rigs were snapping photos of this amazing bit of the NW. We had quite a bit of time to kill before the conference started, so after playing around the best fountain I have EVER seen, they participated in a brief round of laser tag at the foot of the Space Needle.

Afterwards, we were introduced to Dare 2 Share and the Blaze conference at the Key Arena. We did NOT get dinner that night, but we did see a great deal of down town Seattle! (The one way streets and a statue of a naked man and boy in a waterfront fountain traumatised our girls as we drove past more than once!) I think we got back to the church where we were staying around 12:30 am!!! We also learned that the Space Needle is a terrific landmark. The next morning we got up and found a much needed breakfast before another day at the Key Arena. On this day one of the things we did was visit a school. Ours was under construction, but it was neat we got to be 'on the ground floor' so to speak. We visited the school and talked about the trash around them and how it symbolised the world moving in on it. After we picked up the visible trash and talked to people about Jesus, we walked around the school praying for the facility, the students, and the faculty. It was a humbling experience.

After more lessons and music at the conference, we went back to the church (once again losing our way and seeing some incredible lights at the Seaport) and talked about how we would live the cause in our town and schools.

The next day was Sunday. We ate breakfast at Beth's (highlighted in Man VS Food) and not only was it excellent, it was probably the best meal we ate the entire weekend! Because it was so filling, we had to work off some calories in a nearby park. Afterwards, we went to the morning service at the Greenwood Christian Church and toddled off to the zoo. It was a good end to a full weekend of learning and growing. Jon took several videos during our vist along with scads of photos. This particular video we call 'don't tap on the glass'.

For more on Dare 2 Share visit http://dare2share.org/ you will be glad you did!

The trip home was pretty uneventful and the view of the Space Needle as we left the city was met with relief!

Where in the World is Sasquatch?

There are just some things I don't understand. Power tools and stuff like that are one thing, but then there are others. Like people who don't use their blinkers because they are a)pointing that direction anyway or b)in a right hand turn lane so everyone should know they are going right. Or perhaps those people who create signs like those photographed by Kanga in their blog Living the Travel Channel. Or even people who need to sue a furniture company because they broke their ankle tripping over a kid in a crowded store (their OWN kid). But, today, the one thing I have found that is just wrong is truly head shaking.

I am on the creation end of the program for our Cub Scout Day Camp this year and thought it would be fun to have Sasquatch visit prior to our Sasquatch Egg Hunt. (watermelons) I know that there is at least one Sasquatch around cuz he hangs out with Umatilla County Commish, Bill Hansell. So, I called and after a bit of searching learned something that is just not right. This particular Sasquatch is not only a member of the Oregon National Gaurd, but he got DEPLOYED! Yes, you read that right. There is a NW Sasquatch now serving overseas somewhere in our armed forces. I only hope that as he wanders around with his M4 that he doesn't forget his forest home and his friends in the land of Lewis and Clark. He may now resemble Chewbacca from Star Wars, but he still belongs to those of us in Oregon and Washington. As anyone who has seen Harry and the Henderson's knows, living legends don't show up all that often and we need him to help remind us that mysteries and things that go bump in the night are not all scary.

So, God keep you Mr. Sasquatch and may He bring you home safely.

Looking for the Sunset

Jon has been playing with the camera again. Which is quite alright as he has taken some amazing shots of our Father's world. (note: that is a wonderful song, by the way This is My Father's World) Anyway, we were cleaning up the little house in anticipation of guests and he decided to hang around outside and shoot birds. Thankfully, as it was in town, he used the camera. He caught a cowbird and a robin in the yard. And then he asked if we could take pictures of the sunset. As it was just before 5pm, I was a tad skeptical. The sun has been setting later and we'd be getting home after 6, but it would also count as driving time, so we set off.

We found this red tail hawk who was perched minding his own hawking business until he was chased away by some smaller birds. Mobbing is so not nice!!! After we lost him in the sky we saw that next to the road was a ditch full of cat tails and red wing black birds! The male was most interesting as it is courting time and he was showing off a LOT.

The camera did decide that the windmill was more entertaining than the bird and focused on that instead! We thought it was a cool picture even if it was not what Jon was 'aiming' for! And as we looked back we saw Athena! This shot is practically the entire city. Pretty nifty, huh?

We were trying to reach an area that Jon prefers for sunset photos, but he did stop to take this one across the ditch. The sun kind of melted away for the rest of his photo shoot, though. So, we'll wander out on the next sunny day to see what we can find!

Reading March books. Finished The Secret Garden and am doing Brian Jacques. Redwall books are such FUN reads!!!!!! Eulalia!

Springing up with MORE Bdays!

Steve is working on the windows! This one was framed in and is awaiting the final touches (paint and caulking). He is also working on my gardening shelves and the rails on the steps going outside in the basement! Whoo HOO!

As for me, I cleaned up this part of the yard that has not been touched since we moved here. We think the previous people kept critters in here as it is all fenced in with sturdy hog wire. I tidied it and we hope to use it as a pen for Teddy when we have visitors. The second photo is the debris I pulled up! It really was a bit of a mess.

Almost as big as SPRING is our school here. Speaking of schools, congratulations to THS's Freshmen who won the charity drive for 2010!!!! That was an amazing amount of monies all the classes raised! $63,269 goes to Doernbecher Children's Hospital this year and the rest of the funds goes to scholarships and such. THS also won in the Cowapa League and WMHS won in their league!!! http://wmhs.athwest.k12.or.us/ I am not sure exactly how to imbed links, but this is where you can go to see a pipes band video. Jon is in the VERY back with his baritone.

And SPRING! Crocus are all over the place! I have quite a few and then I found these teeny tiny purple ones. I have seen yellow ones around town, too! Very sweet. I also have these tiny white flowers that I cannot remember what they are blooming. I am going to look and see if I wrote it down anywhere. The tag is broken in half...right under where the name of the plant is! I even saw a robin today on our back fence!

And last, but not least, today is JaLeen's Bday (she is 5) and Jacit's is on Sunday, I think, (and she'll be 21). The pink cake is supposed to have chocolate chips in it..they sank and the chocolate frosting is way too much. Steve says it will really help tone the strawberry down on the cake and Jon tried a bit and said it was not too bad at all! (he was a tad skeptical of having a pink cake!) I was going to send it to JaLeen for her bday (the mix), but didn't get that far yet. So, made a cake for her and her sis instead! So Happy Birthday to my nieces!!!!

Am almost done with my Anne books and will read Farewell, My Subaru (recommended by Kym) next. Jon LOVED it! Also will get out some of my Brian Jacques books.

Sixteen years

I have been thinking a lot about that wonderful song from Fiddler on the Roof called Sunrise, Sunset. Those years do seem to move rather swiftly, don't they? sigh.

Sixteen years ago Jonathan was born. He was over 9 lbs (no, I cannot remember what he weighed or measured without looking, but I do remember one of the books Cyndi loaned me that day-a Star Trek cook book!) and had a lot of tubes attached to him due to my blood sugars being too high the previous day. Steve and Tony came AFTER Jon was born and the Calvert family (Terry, Cyndi, and Ryan) visited, but it was a most excellent Friday. And yes, Jon is fairly loving and giving. (remember that rhyme: Friday's child is loving and giving) He often surprises me with something he has done or made. (ok, sometimes the things he has done are not the BEST surprises, but they almost always make me laugh!) When he was very small he would bring me English Daisies or dandelions wrapped in a leaf and tied with a bit of grass. Now he brings me flowers made of metal!

We had a party yesterday with Gma and Gpa because Jon has Scouts on Thursday. Naturally, we had pizza and cake and ice cream. I did offer salad, which Jon reluctantly ate. His cake had the traditional 16 candles and he said I spaced them out too far..he couldn't blow them all out at once!!!! (if you see the little 'candle holders' they are actually those tiny 100 cal cookies! Pretty cute, huh?) You would think a bari sax player could handle a few candles! He had an illuminating evening, anyway. He got several flashlights!

At school today one of his teachers played happy birthday on an app for him, he sat around and bled (his words-they also sang to him and gave him a birthday red cross pin), and he took cupcakes to Scouts tonight. Chocolate with home made chocolate frosting, of course. He ended the evening with an episode of Burn Notice. He is a great fan of Michael Weston's!

As for me, am diving into my McCaffrey books. Started with Restoree and am doing the Pegasus ones. Which if you think about it, kick off all the rest of the books because they learn to colonize space in this trio and most of the rest of the books are in space.

Thoughts On February

February is one of the best months of the year, hands down. It is the shortest month of the year and that is always a cheerful thing. It is also unique in that it is the only month that gets an extra day every four years. And the very best part of February is that no matter how the ground hog calls it, spring is coming!!! I love how February is often full of the destruction of winter with a tempestuous March just around the corner. It makes spring seem that much more vibrant after the last ditch effort of snow, ice, and cold. Especially if the month starts with snow!

February is a month full of important birthdays. Well, besides the obvious ones we celebrate for Lincoln and Washington there are many more. For instance, there is Bill Mumy, Don Everly, Clark Gable, Me, Farrah Fawcett, Norman Rockwell, Rosa Parks, Charles Lindburgh, Jonathan, Red Buttons, Ronald Reagan, Sarah Palin, Sonny Bono, Jacit, JaLeen, Cyndi Calvert and Steve Irwin. I used to share my birthday with a little boy...well, since we are the same age, I guess that is not the right phrase! Anyway, we had a birthday or two together when we lived in Homer. I wonder where Jimmy is today?

This last week, I looked in the mirror and had to laugh. (Which really didn't seem to help much.) I noticed more wrinkles than I have ever seen before (someone once told me that EO was bad on your skin!)! I am not sure if they are wrinkles or impressions left by leather stamps or laugh lines. I think I'll go with laugh lines. I like the idea of the amusing parts of life being etched on my skin. OK, I don't LIKE it, but it is more bearable! I also saw a few more sparkly strands on my head. Growing up in Alaska, when you saw white on top of the mountains we called it termination dust and winter was on the way. OUCH! I am not going to try to dye them away, but it is a bit distressing. Not as distressing as the distinct touch of gravity I found about my person. No, it was not the solemn staid kind that ones gains over time to show maturity. It was more of the kind discovered by our hero, Sir Isaac Newton, that pulls, distends, and distorts. As I survey the ravages of this rather interesting law, I show profound skepticism on how exercise can put things back the way they were. Is exercise not more pulling, distorting, and distending only in other ways? Definitely needs more thought.

February also has great holidays in it. I mean, really, how awesome is a holiday that celebrates a day dedicated to a rodent weatherman??? I love Ground Hog's Day (the movie, too!). Then, we get the President's birthdays (2 of my favorite movie scenes from Bing Crosby's Holiday Inn!) and to top off the whole month there is Valentine's Day. I ADORE Valentine's Day! It is such a cheerful, fun, happy holiday. Even when you are sad, seeing silly overblown hearts can make you smile. Especially if they are sitting with overstuffed bears holding candy. When the boys were small, I used to make heart biscuits for dinner and stick Valentine's in their lunches. They grew out of that, but I still love hearts. I wear heart earrings every day I can in February and my favorite pairs are the ones that look like tiny conversation hearts.

Romance and relationships are the highlight in this month and because of this I have a certain bunch of books I like to read. This confuses many people because the author is not a typical romance author. In fact, she is a SF Fantasy writer. Mostly just SF, but if you devote a few days to her works you will soon realise how all of her books deal with strong relationships of some kind. Now, I have not read many of the books Todd has written, but Anne Mc Caffrey is a beautiful read for February. The Killashandra trio ties music and sound and light and memories into a very colorful saga that may make you cry. The brainship stories (and the ones others have written with her) describe relationships that exist beyond the known stars. Sassinak and Generation Warriors highlight relationships that change an entire solar system and more! Then, there are the books Anne is most famous for, Pern. The love the riders have for their dragons, the passion the people of Pern have to survive, and the intensity of their relationships that exist in these novels is incredible! Go ahead and try one! I do read another author in February. On the 14th I read The Blue Castle by LM Montgomery. A friend of mine and I used to borrow it from the library tag team. Then, I bought it in a used book sale and got a copy for her on Valentine's day. So, that is my Valentine's Day read.

Speaking of LM Montgomery she put a phrase in one of her Anne books that I loved. She said that 'amethysts looked like the souls of violets'.. Or something like that!!! This is one of the other super awesome things about February, the color purple (NOT the movie). My all time favorite gem is an amethyst, with opals coming in on a close second. When I was a teen I went to an amethyst mine with my grandma and mom. (I won't inflict any pix on you of that time as the teen in the photos was VERY late 70's!) However, the place was amazing!!! Granted, not all amethysts are purple, but the majority of them are.

So, on this eve of January, I welcome you all into February! As the days grow longer in this shortest of months may they glow with snow and sun and the promise of spring.

Something about Snow, Winter, and Camping

It was not a nice looking day around 10am on Saturday morning, but packs were packed and cars were loaded and off they went! It may not be a Great Adventure, but it would be interesting!

They found a site and proceeded to set up camp. Digging the firepit was the worst part of the whole campout. Well, that and having the wind blow the rainfly partially off the tent at 2am! (Jon suggested that the pit took more calories to make than they had in dinner.) All in all, the set up took them pretty much the entire day! Last year the snow was about 15 ft deep, this year it was a little more than 5. So, in that light, things were easier. However, it did snow on them and rain and blow. Maybe it was going to be an adventure!

Sunday they did lots of snow things. Jon learned how to snowshoe. He said it wasn't that hard, just a LOT of work. You had to be very deliberate about how you walked. Some of the guys went sledding, too. If we ever learn how to post videos, we'll share those. Someone had made a giant snowman and left it as a sentinal on the hill. Not sure what the Scout is discussing with him here, but it makes a good photo.

Jon also found this very wierd thing that no one could identify. So, of course, Jon had to photograph it! He took at least 500 pictures this weekend plus videos. I am sure if you visit, Jon would be glad to share them with you!

Monday morning they loaded back up and came home. Minutes from their sojourn in the snow, the landscape was bare and blue. It is good to have him home and after washing all his camping clothes the house is almost back to normal. And as Jon listened to the wind this evening, he remarked that he was very glad to have a roof over his head! His final thoughts are that it was more of learning experience than an adventure. Which in the long run, is the best thing anyway!

Blue Skies and Rainbows

Winter seems to be over. For the moment! We have had warmer weather this last week and even rainbows! I am pretty sure I heard birdsong this morning that sounded like robins and the bulbs are poking their wee little green heads up from the cold earth. However, it is still mid Jan and there is still the rest of this month and all of Feb before we finally reach March. Even if it is very windy outside and our grill blew over! We thought that was rather strange as it is next to the house and very heavy.

Read Julie/Julia and it was interesting. Finally got all the Inkheart books and am now reading those. The movie of the latter was great fun and I wanted to read the books over, especially as I never did read Inkdeath!