High Desert Living

Zabriko - Part 1

2010-01-30T14:40:00.000-08:00

This was the focus of the entire trip. The money raised in the past year went to provide clean water to the "area" of Zabriko. I say "area" because kids walk for miles to attend school there, and the people walk for miles to get clean water. The huts are very spread out. There is a small, central area with a couple dozen huts, but most are a distance.

Before I begin, let me show you the only icky bug I saw during my whole stay at the MPP compound. I stepped on another one the night before, but this guy was huge! Note the comparison to the door hinge...........
For those who haven't seen one before - it's a cockroach.............
And speaking of bugs, they weren't the hug, icky kind, but they were not at all pleasant. I'm speaking of my very rude awakening the morning we went to Zabriko. Because it was so warm at night, I had been sleeping with just a sheet covering me. I got up, shook out my shoes (of course!) and moved something at the end of my bed. It's 5:30 AM - early start - so I am using a flashlight to find my stuff. When I moved the "something", the whole end of the bed came alive! Tiny fire ants - EVERYWHERE!!! I screamed. I threw the "something" to the floor that I thought they had congregated in/on. Don't even remember now what it was. I looked back at the bed, thinking I had moved the problem to the floor - but NO! They were in my daypack! GROSS! I threw that to the floor. Pulled out the insides - a bag containing my snacks! Of course. The ONLY food that I had brought from home! No candy, though. Some individually packaged bags of Veggie Sticks and a zip lok bag of peanuts. That's what they liked. I had some packaged peanut bars and some gum, but they weren't interested in those things. I dumped the backpack out and shook it out - outside - as well as I could, then repacked it for today's trip. Swept the bag of nuts and Veggie Sticks outside with all the ants that would go along.
Mark had arrived to pick us up, but he wouldn't be able to go with us to Zabriko because his baby daughter, Keila, was sick and he and his wife, Jenny, were going to take her to the hospital. He had rented a truck for his trip so we could use his truck for the rough road. The truck he rented, however, had 2 flat tires, so they were being fixed. We had some breakfast, then went with Mark to Hinche to meet Fines, the driver, and drop off Mark. We dropped a couple of Papay residents for market. Even so early, town is very busy.
We picked up Pauleon, then Reynauld - our interpreter - at their homes in town. Reynauld is almost finished getting his law degree at a local university and works as a teacher at a school - but doesn't get paid.... This is Reynauld coming out of his home.Then, off toward Zabriko, which is SW of Hinche. Yes - this is the road - through the river, up the other side
down a dirt road and across the river again..........
Then south on a dirt road, passing many small settlements. This is now several miles from town. People are on their way to market, to school, to get water, to trade with neighbors.......
After several miles of road that was totally impassible the last time Susan was there because it was the "wet" season, we finally headed up the trail. Remember, the people in the area may walk this trail daily or at least several times a week.
One of the huts along the way, just down a narrow trail off the main trail.This guy is at least a mile from the nearest water, yet he is planting sweet potatoes on this rocky hillside. He will carry the buckets of water.
This is how they trap all the water possible for the crops, by building a little dam with rocks on the downhill side of the planting. After about 2 1/2 miles of trail - up and down, over hills, across streams, all in what was now getting to be the heat of the day, we finally started down the hill into Zabriko - school (left) and market (right). I expected to get photos of the market on the way out, but we stayed too long............ This is Pauleon, the MPP water engineer, and a local man on the left.Our little church in Central Oregon contributed to the Drink Water For Life campaign and we figured it was about enough to purchase this special pipe to bring the water across the river to the 3rd tap. Pauleon proudly watches as his project is completed. More about this later.
This is tap #2 - by one of the 2 schools in the community. Before we hiked up to the spring, we sat under the granary at Faustin's home. He is the MPP representative for the community. This woman is preparing congo beans - for our lunch later. We were served some of the good, traditional Haitian bread and some sweet coffee.
This chicken was tied to the ladder to the granary. Would be later decapitated and cleaned for lunch. Talk about fresh!! They are loading goods to take down to the truck so we can take them in to town when we go out.
But the load kept falling off. They laughed and started over. Finally got it to stay and the load was at the truck when we hiked out later.This is Faustin. Nicest guy and a great smile!!
Following our snack, we headed up to see the spring and the reservoir. I said "up" didn't I? It was all up - about 1/2 - 3/4 miles. On the way, saw these people going to their huts which are spread out. There are also various crops planted on any flat or almost flat areas. Finally - the reservoir - 4400 gallons of good, clean water.
GOOD, CLEAN WATER!!!
I'll take a break for now - more to come.

St. Joseph Home for Boys and Port au Prince, Haiti

2010-01-17T15:10:00.000-08:00

Little did I know when I left Haiti less than 4 weeks ago that this place that I had come to love so much
would become thisIn 1985, Michael Geilenfeld, a former Brother with Mother Teresa's order, with $1000 in his pocket, established a home for 5 orphans in Port au Prince. Less than a quarter century later, it had grown tremendously. The St Joseph's Home for Boys family now included Trinity House and Wings of Hope as well as an arts center, an outreach school in conjunction with Trinity House and the Resurrection Dance Theater. Michael's dream came crashing down on January 12th when the earthquake hit Haiti.
A graduate of the the St Joe's program and now it's director, Bill Nathan was in the chapel on the 6th floor, preparing for evening chapel when the quake began. He was able to jump to the rooftop of a nearby building, but sustained serious injuries. The boys were mostly outdoors and all escaped without serious injuries. Bill was flown to a hospital in Fort Lauderdale yesterday which I understand was documented on television, though I have yet to see it.

Rather than continue my blog posting in chronological order, I have decided to jump ahead and show you some of my impressions of Port au Prince. We were able to spend 3 days in one of the guest rooms at St Joe's. Below, Michael got up early on our last morning there to prepare our breakfast and see us off. We had to leave for the airport at 6:15 AM.
This was the sitting area outside our room. The stairs led to a stage area for the dance theater, then up to the chapel, then up to the rooftop garden sitting areas with a fantastic view of the city.
Many of the guest rooms had been furnished by former guests. They were all beautiful and unique. Though there was no running water and sporadic electricity, St Joe's was rated as THE best place to stay in Haiti by several travel guides.
From the St Joe's Facebook page dated December 26th:

With the 25th anniversary of St. Joseph's coming up in January, we are remodeling and updating the home. There are lots of new colors on the walls, new furniture, new rooms and lots of surprises.

Now it looks like this:
This is where we ate most of our meals:

Art was displayed throughout the building, much of it done by the boys in the arts program. We were fortunate to attend one of their church services on the Sunday morning that we were there. The boys did the whole service. Bill Nathan is in the center, playing the drum.

There was also chapel most mornings and evenings.Views of the city from the rooftop garden

The clouds building foretold the rain we had that afternoon and evening. They collected the rainwater to use for washing and flushing
Sunday afternoon, the Resurrection Dance Theater performed for us as well as some of the kids from Wings - a home for mentally and physically challenged children who had been orphaned or abandoned.
The dance skit below portrayed the life on the streets of Didi, one of the boys.
These are all of the boys who performed for us that day, joined by Steve - in the blue shirt - one of the residents of Wings.
Steve is joined by Pierre, another Wings kid, in the dance finale
joined by ALL the guests! What a wonderful celebration!
On Monday, we went up to Wings, which is about an hour drive from St Joe's, farther up in the hills. I am not sure which portions of Wings were damaged in the quake. The photo below is looking toward the guest rooms and day areas.
This is where the previous photo was taken from
Some of the kids at Wings.
The kids at Wings were giving out treats to the children of the neighborhood the day we were there. From a Facebook post:

The highlight of today was not decorating the tree at Wings, although that was great and I'll post photos later. The highlight of the day was the Wings kids setting up a table at the front of the house and giving cookies they made and toys to the kids of the neighborhood. It was wonderful! Bravo to KC and the Wings education staff for teaching the Wings kids that the gift is in the giving.

This little Wings guy was enjoying his sucker!
My heart is heavy as I think of them trying to make some sense out of what has happened. With St Joe's uninhabitable, the boys have moved to the only stable portion of the Wings facility which means there are around 65 living in a very small space. They are very lucky that they are all together, of course.

What follows is a brief tour of Port au Prince. We were able to accompany some other guests at St Joe's on a shopping trip, of sorts, to an artists coop and to the metalworking district. I was only able to take photos of the city from the window of the van, usually while we were moving. One really can't say, "stop a minute so I can take a picture"!!

Market area street scene..........
This is what we would think of as a homeless camp. Some tarps strung up from trees provides shelter from the hot sun. Most cooking is done outdoors using charcoal or wood fires. Very common sight in the city. These people most likely were unhurt in the quake.Retail establishments
More market area. It seemed as though market was every day, somewhere, although there may have been specific areas set up on certain days for larger markets.
As you can see, people spend a lot of time outside. It was lucky that the quake happened just before 5:00, it was still light out and most people were not in their homes.
We visited the metal working area where there are more than 60 artisans selling their creations. They took old oil drums, removed the ends and flatened them out. They then cut them into shapes and hammered designs into them. This man supports his family with his trade.This boy is hammering a design into a piece.
Some of the homes we saw on the hillside on our way to the Wings facility, which is located near Fermathe.
Laundry day - is every day! Imagine doing your laundry this way! Cold water, scrubbing hard, line drying. Yet, everyone I saw was clean.
More homes - these are more upper middle class. Few homes like these. The really upper class homes were enclosed by walls topped with razorwire. My understanding of the rich in Port au Prince - is not very good. I didn't meet any, don't know of any, just heard of them.
Nuff said.
That's it for today. If anyone has questions, I would be happy to address them from what I know. I will be returning when I can - right now, non essential, non medical, and non trained in disaster relief people are not needed - or allowed. Understandable! When allowed, I will be there to help, I hope.

NOTE- the "after" photos are from St Joseph's facebook or the heartswithhaiti.org site. If you wish to donate to the rebuilding of the home and Michael's successful program, the Hearts With Haiti site has a secure donation area.

BREAKING NEWS: From the St Joe's facebook post:

GREAT NEWS!!! A structural engineer from CA showed up at SJ today. The art center where they are now living is perfectly fine and totally solid! The three floors of SJ we are going in and out of are structurally sound enough for us to do that safely. PRAISE GOD!!!

Haiti - part 2

2010-01-08T16:23:00.000-08:00

At 6:30 one morning, after eating our usual yummy breakfast, (the best peanut butter I have ever had..)
Mark picked us up, then at least a dozen people piled in the back of his truck and we set off for Hinche. The group of people were going to town to register to vote in the coming election! Town was busy, as it always was, though even busier on market days. They may be working on this street, but I'm not sure. It didn't seem to change.
One has to be quite assertive to maneuver on the streets. Lots of horn honking, but people are amazingly nice - they just move out of the way or wait. I never once saw "road rage" and in our society, it would have been all over!!
The white building in the background is the funeral home - there is a hearse parked behind the fence/gate. I would say that 90% of the clothing is used and from the US - I doubt that this guy is a Sixers fan........ He was helping to unload a large truck into the smaller wagons.
Next, we went out to one of Mark's MPP projects at Colladere. By the way, in Haitian it is:
“Mouvman Peyizan Papay,” or “Farmer’s Movement of Papaye.” There was a link in the previous post which explains the history of MPP.
Shown in the photo below, much of their vegetable crops are grown in tires, which offer several solutions to problems. It is easier to work with and amend the soil, it gets the crops off the ground so they are not eaten by marauding goats, chickens, or other animals, and it provides a good use for them rather than tossing them! Also, it is much easier to work at that height! In the back at the left is Amaranth, the leaves of which are used like spinach.These are Moringa trees which have small, but extremely nutritious leaves. The trees grow very fast, have an edible pod, and the roots can also be eaten, somewhat like horseradish. Unfortunately, they are a tropical species, so I can't grow them here in Central Oregon.
Shown in the photos below is how they prepare the tires for use as containers. It is important to turn them inside out. Small sticks are woven across the bottom, then sand, then their planting soil mixture. They utilize a lot of manure for fertilizer, also. Chicken, goat, bat guano, etc.
This is how they process the sugar cane. Sometimes, cows or oxen are used to turn the press, but usually, it is people powered. The stalks are shoved into the press and the juices extracted, then placed into a very large "pot", of sorts, which is cooked down. The wood fired stove is visible in the background on the left. While they make molasses, rum is also being made for export. In fact, one of the world's most famous, Rhum Barbancourt, comes from Haiti. They were selling it at the duty free store at the airport - $57 American - too rich for my blood! I think the box contained 2 or 3 bottles, but I still passed.
From Colladere, we drove to Twa Woch, another village in the hills. Susan had been there on her first trip in June. At that time, this was their school. Keep in mind that tuition is required to attend school - it can range from $50 a year to hundreds. I would guess that this school is in the $50 range.
We met with members of the community to discuss their water problem. They have 2 taps - 1 is dry and the other is "heavy" - their description. One of the current goals is to get good water for them again. While Susan was there before, she asked what the kids would like and they said something to do outside of school - something to play with. She brought a large box of things - games, projects, various toys. But the most popular, probably, were the soccer balls - 1 for the boys and 1 for the girls.
I took lots of photos there, but thought this family was pretty cute. I got lots of smiles out of these kids.This guy, however, wasn't so sure about me.......... But I love the photo. We really didn't have a chance to interact with the people as we had things to accomplish and an interpreter who, shall we say, embellished or misunderstood much of the discussion.......This is where I will leave off for today. I'm still working on the photos.
More later!!

Happy New Year and the Haiti update begins

2010-01-01T21:25:00.001-08:00

I know you're all waiting for photos of my recent trip to Haiti, so here are a few teasers. I have 860 images to go through, so be patient. Also, a lot of information to sort out.
For those who don't know the story, I accepted the challenge, so to speak, from a fellow student at NHTS, Susan Smith, to go with her to document some of the problems faced by the people of the Central Plateau of Haiti. The main focus is clean water - learn more at the website. I knew that the conditions were primitive, but I was not prepared. Most people, on their first trip out of the country, would not pick Haiti, I believe. But that is what I did. Got my passport, shots and anti-Malaria meds, and a high efficiency filtering water bottle so that I could safely drink the water.
We left Portland a bit before 10PM on December 14th and arrived, after 2 plane changes and many security checks, in Port au Prince a little after noon on the 15th. I'd like to say I got to sleep on the long leg of the trip, but a crying baby didn't allow me that luxury.
We were picked up at the airport by Mark, an agronomist who works with MPP and is a Presbyterian missionary.
We had an over-priced lunch in a restaurant that had guards in the parking lot with rifles, and then headed out on the long trek to Hinche. These are some common scenes along the road.
In the photo above, notice the people in the upper part of the truck. I wonder how they keep so many vehicles on the road - they are all very over loaded.
We stopped about half way to our destination for something cold to drink. This is a community which has some electricity because it is located below the dam on Lake Peligre, so that is the only reason we got cold pop.
We took the time to briefly stop at Zanmi Lasante, Paul Farmer's Partners in Health complex in Cange. We were able to speak with the man in charge of their water resource projects in that area, but everyone else had gone home for the day. We hoped to get back, but just not enough time!
The clinic in Cange is quite large and very well kept. We saw many people who were staying there waiting to be seen the next day.
For some good news about AIDS in Haiti, go here.

This is the community of Cange, along the "highway". Small concentrations of dwellings line the roads, but there are trails to many more that are located away from the road. The people walk, sometimes for miles, to fill their buckets with water at the wells. The water is much better than that they would get from an uncapped spring or the streams in the area. After a long drive, and well after dark, we arrived at the MPP compound at Papaye. Needless to say, we were tired! The MPP cooks had some food waiting for us, thank goodness. Just some Haitian bread and Laughing Cow cheese, but it was good!! We headed for bed early!
Up the next morning, I took a few photos of the complex.
This is where the MPP representatives have quarterly 2 day meetings and a big get together yearly for 5 days to evaluate the year's progress and make plans for the next year. When we left, they were just beginning the big meeting.
This is our home-sweet-home. Just a plain cement block building. There is very little built with wood because the country has been so deforested.
Here is a common breakfast. Fresh roasted Haitian coffee, small loaves of Haitian bread, yummy fresh peanut butter, bananas right off the tree and a cracker like thing which I was told was made from yucca - it was quite good, I thought.This is one of the MPP workers roasting something - I'm not sure what. Everything is done over a fire, which is why there is are no trees in the mountains!!
And these guys are juicing grapefruits for our breakfast. All that work for just a little juice for us. On the far right, you can barely see a guy using a huge mortar/pestle to grind some sort of a grain. The MPP complex has a series of reservoirs to contain the rain water in the wet season (roughly June through October) which is used for irrigating the vegetables. They also contain Tilapia fish to help control the mosquitoes. More later..............

Kind of catching up.......

2009-11-05T11:35:00.000-08:00

Following the reunion, we felt the need to "get away" We had no destination in mind, really, just headed East, out of Prineville into the Ochocos. Nice weather, looking to see some new territory. And, we did. Good thing it was a nice, sunny day. We covered a lot of territory - probably passed up a few better camp sites, but finally ended up in a small USFS campground along the Crooked River near the headwaters. No fish, unfortunately. But it was relaxing. Abbey really enjoyed being out - she got to sit for hours at the base of pine trees waiting for the chipmonks to reappear! There was a group camped at the other end of the place, I went down to pay and had Abbey with me. I went over to talk to 3 women who were sitting around, they had a couple of dogs - I asked if they were friendly, then took Abbey over to meet them - she and one of the other dogs did the growly thing with their tails wagging - I wasn't worried, but the lady freaked out and said "get her away - I don't want a fight". Now, if you know Abbey, you know she's not a fighter - the dogs were just talking. But, I took her away and went back to our end of the campground and never went walking back there again!
Dean and I both got a lot of reading done. And our new solar panels worked great for charging the batteries so Dean could use his breathing machine at night. When it got dark, we could still stay up reading, too!
Dean spent a lot of time working on his carving, too. I took this photo to send in to Deschutes for their website where they post photos of people, in mostly exotic places, with their brew.
Here are a couple of his boots - his carving specialty.When we returned home, Dean headed for his workshop and I haven't seen him much since. He and his brother, Larry, are going to have tables at a couple of bazaars - trying to makes a few extra $$$. I will post more photos of Dean's work, but here are a few of his things.

This table full has grown a lot since I took this photo. More to come.

Dona Nobis Pacem

2009-11-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

The Flory Family Reunion

2009-10-20T16:40:00.000-07:00

Much of Dean's family gathered over the long Labor Day weekend for the first time in many, many years. 3 of his 4 siblings and the children and grandchildren of 2 of them were able to come. Much time was spent just hanging around and catching up. The house wasn't big enough for everyone, so we had people in tents, in our trailer, in the loft. We were crowded, but we had fun!!

L to R are Amanda, Jeremy, husband of Tamara who is holding little Maggie, Karen, mother of Amanda, Tamara and Matthew, Shannon, Bonnie, the youngster of the family, Karen's friend, Nora, and Matthew.A lot of time was spent watching the babies do cute baby things!
Here is Tamara and Maggie
and Karen doing Grandma duties with Mattu - his name is really Matthew, like his father's, but he's been nick named Mattu...... or Matt 2
More chatting - Dean, Karen holding Mattu, Matthew's wife, Amy, Matthew taking photos, and Shannon
Amanda's husband Nathan picked some or our fresh hops to take back to a brewer friend
This is Gary, Dean's middle son, who was able to spend the weekend with us. Unfortunately, his wife Teresa couldn't make it because she was taking care of Gary's mother, Dianne who recently had a stroke. Gary is a long haul trucker and was able to get a load to Bend so he could be with us. Also in the photo is Gary's buddy, Charlie, who keeps him company. A really sweet dog.
Another "sitting around" photo. Too bad it's not closer. Clockwise from lower left is Dean's granddaughter and Gary's daughter, Nikki, Karen, Bonnie, Larry and Carol, their granddaughter Cassie, her mother, Angie, and her husband, Martin, Dean, Nora, and Amanda.
Little Mattu held his bottle all by himself for the first time, so I had to document the occasion!!
Tamara, Karen, Dean and Matthew are going through a box of old family photos and momentos
Maggie is such a happy little girl - she was always smiling!
Proud Daddy Matthew
Amy and Matthew - and little Mattu, barely visible
Tamara and Maggie
Carol, Larry, Cassie, Angie, Martin, Dean, and Nora
Grandma Karen and Mattu

Great uncle Larry had to hang out with Mattu, too!
We all had a great weekend - sorry that everyone couldn't be here, but you just can't come up with a date that fits for all. Maybe next time!

OK - here goes!!!

2009-10-06T17:28:00.001-07:00

Obviously, I haven't posted in quite a while.
Understatement.
That said, you, dear reader/s, will understand if it takes more than one post to catch up.
Right?
Chronologically, I will begin with the double rainbow - and, yes, it really did look just like this!
This was the view to the S/SE from the deck.
We had some pretty strange weather all summer. Monster wind storms that laid the corn out horizontally, gully washers, then drought for, like, 3 months.
During the drought period, we had some gravel delivered and Phil, from down the street, spread and compacted it for us. Dean, on one of those 100º+ days, sat supervising, while Phil works. Of course, we paid him for his efforts.
One of the highlights of the summer was the arrival of The Divine Ms K - aka Kerrita. Haven't seen her in a few years since she abandoned us and went east - to teach - college kids......
K and I shared in the experience of accompanying 11 of our church's teens to Tennessee for a combination world wide gathering of youth and mission trip to the "hollers". We had fun. I think the kids did, too!
Anyway, we didn't have much time to catch up properly, but we did have a good time! Here she is, loving our little piece of heaven, overlooking the Deschutes River. Don't tell her I said so, but I really think she wants to come back to this area...
The next big, fun event of the summer (well, actually, the END of summer.....) was our camping trip with some special ranch friends to Hosmer Lake. Here is Kymberli, Gloria, and Larry.And Dean, Gloria, and LarryWe ate well on this trip. Really well.
I wish I had taken photos of Kymberli and Jim's solar oven. We had part of our main meal each day from their oven. Amazing! Cod in a yummy lemongrass concoction, quinoa with herbs and stuff, blackeyed peas. Yummy.
We did not go hungry. Believe me!!
Here's Gloria preparing the salmon for the fire - under the supervision of chef Jim
Sitting around the fire - waiting.... Kymberli (probably checking on Kona, their dog...), Jim, Larry P, Gloria, Carol and Larry - Dean's brother and wife came up to join us. Speaking of dogs, we had 3 who had never met before and they got along wonderfully. The "older" dogs, Abbey and Luke (Gloria's border collie) were quite tolerant of the puppy - Kona. They all were well mannered.Veggie kabobs and salmon......... Can't you just smell it cooking??More veggies in the cast iron skillet - never too many veggies!
The satisfied group. I took several photos - you know how groups are? Someone is always looking away, closed their eyes, something! This was the best of the bunch.
Dean fed the camp robbers - as if they needed it. He was just having fun.

Abbey spent much of her time chasing the chipmunks - we don't worry that she would ever catch one, though! She thinks she has one treed - the monk thinks it has outsmarted Abbey - guess who was right?
A weekend of food, games and a bit of wine...
Poor Gloria - she had to leave early because she got a phone call that guests she was expecting were arriving early....... She hated to go - we hated to see her go
So, we just spent the last day sitting around drinking our woes away......
Not really.
But it was a great photo of Larry - staged, can you tell????

We went kayaking, introduced Kymberli and Jim to inflatables - couldn't get them out! Jim tried to catch one of those huge Atlantic Salmon - only place in the Western US where they're found - but it's the wrong time of year to catch much of anything.
We went hiking, Larry P went hiking - farther - and bicycling, we had some fantastic conversations, learned to play some new games.
We had a great trip. Of course. Great scenery, great food, GREAT company.
Hosmer Lake with Mt Bachelor in the background

My BAD!

2009-10-01T13:36:00.001-07:00

Blogging is hard work. I used to know that. But lately, I haven't been very good, have I?
Things have been uber busy around here. We did a comping long weekend with friends before the final push for Dean's family reunion which was here at our house over Labor Day weekend. More prep work than either of us anticipated. Next time, it will be a camping weekend!!
I've also gotten myself involved in a few rather time consuming activities, one of which is being the secretary for our Lions Club. So, long story short - I just haven't taken the time to get my photos ready to post. But I will. Really, I will. Within days. Really!

Cooler?

2009-07-30T13:23:00.000-07:00

I know it is supposed to be cooler in the Portland/Vancouver area today, and I am happy for them - although when it gets above 90º it is just HOT! Here, however, it doesn't seem to be "cooling down" yet. There were some big thunderheads last night, but nothing materialized - thank goodness. The fire season could be horrible this year!

I had the most fun this past weekend! I got to go on a camp out with a bunch of adult Girl Scouts!
Here are a few photos that show the fun we had!

Janet and Nancy
Nikki, Barb, and Marian trying to keep out of the sun!
We spent a good deal of time on Saturday sitting with our feet in the kiddie pool - which was filled with water balloons - for water fights and for the balloon toss. No one minded getting wet!
Especially our hostess - Ginger - who found her own way of cooling off.
She filled her hat with water and really felt good!
Cooking was all done outdoors - in Girl Scout tradition. Good food, good fun, good company!
Mary and Barb are making pancakes for breakfast on Saturday morning.
Did I say good food? Saturday dinner also included salmon. Yum! Breakfast was a casserole and muffins, both cooked in dutch ovens. Also eggs, fruit, and more.
You really can't tell, but Janet is attempting to play badminton. Nice form! Big tourney!Fran and Janet in the shade. Denise crawled into her sleeping bad inside out and folded in half the wrong way..........
Ginger's yard is wonderful and full of surprises. An imaginative way to use her fruit tree prunings and old wine bottles.More wine bottles used as a garden border.
We learned how to make leaf castings from Pat. She demo'd and I was so taken that I have already attempted one at home. This is one of Pat's leaves - beautiful, isn't it?
On to another subject. A few people have asked about the progress on Shannon's "cabin". It is pretty much finished and he is enjoying having his own "space" although it has been incredibly hot out there the past few days.
This is his vanity/kitchen combo area.
The garden is doing well in the heat - here are the gourds - climbing up on the deck. I hope we get a few different gourds this year - they may have been planted too late.
This is the largest lavender I had seen - until I saw Ginger's.
The hops have outgrown the strings we put up for them to climb on. I'm going to try to make some hop infused hummus like they have at Deschutes pub in Bend.
A closer photo of the hop buds. It's our first experience with hops - we'll see!

Oh, to be "Young @ Heart"

2009-07-28T09:06:00.000-07:00

Watched this movie last night and I highly recommend it.

It's all relative.........

2009-07-22T20:32:00.000-07:00

Son Gary and his wife, Teresa are in town for a few days and I forgot to take pictures (I know - bad, bad!!) last night when they were here with granddaughter Nikki and Teresa's son, but I remembered tonight when Gary came out.

Shannon, Dean and Gary enjoying the cool-er evening breeze out on the deck.

We've been trying to stay cool and, for the most part, succeeding. Been doing outside work in the morning before it is too warm. Painted siding yesterday for the greenhouse and for the "guest house" formerly known as the shed. Hard to get motivated when it's warm like it has been. Unusual - even for over here! Laundry hung on the line is dry in minutes. Garden is growing, but needs a LOT of water.

As I sit here at my computer, I am noticing the photo of the Tibetan prayer flags above my screen and my 2 sets of prayer flags hanging above me - and I wonder if we'll see peace in my lifetime. I hope so, but when in recent memory has there been a period without war somewhere? I did my service and sermon on prayer Sunday and although many of us engage some kind of prayer in our daily life, it is ultimately we ourselves who provide the answers. We are given the "tools" to achieve our hopes and dreams - how many of us actually use our "tools" in the ways that are best?

Too Blankin' Hot to Post

2009-07-17T08:09:00.000-07:00

106º here yesterday and supposed to be about the same today. A bit too much for me - Lori, I'm glad you 2 missed it! Our house is super insulated and I usually brag about how cool it stays on the hot days, but it got up to 76º inside yesterday - which isn't really hot, but...... Then it didn't cool down much over night, so only have it down to 70º this morning. It's the in and out all day that warms it up - hope to keep that to a minimum today. Did the watering already this morning, poor garden!

Yesterday, our neighbor's car wouldn't start, so he came to get Dean to help. It was really corroded battery terminals - the guys cleaned them, but it had been too long. He ended up having to get a new battery and everything was fixed. He came over with a check for $50 - Dean wouldn't take it, said that's what neighbors do for each other, but he insisted. Guess he's not used to having neighborly neighbors.

From the Garden

2009-07-12T13:07:00.000-07:00

If you know me at all, you know that I love to cook. And using things from the garden is just an extra special treat. The first thing ready from the garden this season is the swiss chard and last year I tried this recipe which was a hit.

Baked Pork Chops with Swiss Chard
1 lb Swiss chard, cut crosswise in 1” pcs 3 T olive oil
1/2 t salt pepper
4 pork chops, ~ 1” thick 1 1/2 T grtd Parmesan
2 oz grated fontina or mozzarella, about 1/2 c
Heat 450°. Oil 8-by-12 dish. In bowl, toss chard w 1 T oil, 1/4 t salt, 1/4 t pepper. Arrange in dish. Rub chops w 1 T oil, 1/4 t salt, 1/8 t pepper. Put on top of chard. Drizzle 1 T oil over chard, around chops. Sprinkle cheeses over chard, around chops. Bake til chops just done, ~ 18 min. Let stand 5 min before serving. Serves 4

It was wonderful again, so I thought I would share. Use as much of the chard as you want to - it cooks up a lot. I turned my chops about three quarters of the way through the cooking because my chops - from Costco - were really thick. They were moist and tasty and the chard was delicious.

The zucchini is coming on, the strawberries, too, but hope I can get to them before the mysterious "critter". The corn is about waist high, the bush beans and tomatoes are flowering. Let the bounty begin!

The exciting happening of the week occurred on Friday when former blogger friend Lori and her partner Shari dropped by.

I say "former blogger friend" because now that we've actually met - face to face - I feel I can call her "friend" now. What a joy it was to chat with them for a while. They are on a road trip through Oregon - came from Sacramento to Bend the first day, then up to Bonneville Hot Springs to spend Friday night in luxury! Wow - am I jealous! Then, they're heading over to Astoria and down the coast. I sure hope that they are able to spend a night at my favorite beach spot - the Sylvia Beach Hotel in Newport.

I just had to put this photo in

We've been plagued with flies this year in the garage and some of them make it into the house when a door is left open :>) Dean's solution was to suck them up in the vacuum. Pretty funny to see - use your imagination!

Shannon and Dean have been working on the "guest house" formerly known as a shed. I think that Shannon will be able to move into it tomorrow!

This is totally amazing.

2009-07-07T11:24:00.001-07:00

via videosift.com

What is that bright light in the sky?

2009-07-06T13:23:00.001-07:00

I woke up about 3:30 this morning and looked outside, as I always do, to see the moon and stars, and noticed an additional bright orb. Putting on my glasses so that I could see, I realized that it was a fire. Wiping more sleep from my eyes, I could place it as covering Black Butte. We got the binoculars and spotting scope and went out on the deck to get a better look. I debated about calling my neighbor, but finally gave in and did - she thanked me! We watched it light up the night sky as the moon set between the Sisters mountains. I was still in awe. Though I knew I wouldn't be able to get a good picture, I did get out my camera and telephoto lens and made a few exposures. The wind was blowing pretty hard, not good for the fire or for my photo. The exposure was 20 seconds.

As it started get light, I made another exposure - I think it was 15 seconds. What you see is flames covering the east flank of the mountain. To give it some perspective, I included the field across the canyon from us. The wind, at this point, was coming from the southwest.
After daylight, the wind direction changed - now it is roughly from the northwest. You can barely see it, but the fire lookout on top is still there. The lower portion of the structure is steel. There was an employee in the tower and he/she left the mountain! The fire was reported at 1:15 at 20 acres and by about 7 had grown to 300 acres.
Black Butte, for those not familiar, is near the town of Sisters, and just north of Hiway 20 which runs from Salem to Bend and Redmond. It is about 15 miles as the crow flies from our house.

Progress!

2009-07-05T21:52:00.001-07:00

It has been a busy weekend in our busy lives. Saturday, all 3 of us spent much of the day working down at the annual Lions Club Buffalo Feed here on the ranch. Dean and Shannon went down about 8 AM to set up (Dean) and begin cooking the baked beans (Shannon). I never got to taste the beans because they ran out twice, but Shannon would have done the recipe a bit differently, I think. Next year, I think we'll do a cook-off style competition and I think it will be more successful.
I showed up a little later and stayed until about 2:30. The parade began a little after 10AM and was really fun. There were lots of horses, floats from various businesses in the area, the Red Hat ladies in their golf carts, and lots of neat classic cars. The Buffalo Feed was extremely busy from before starting time (supposed to begin after the parade) until about 1:30, then things tapered off. I think we did more business this year than any, so that is a good thing. The weather was VERY HOT! When I got home, it was 101º. I rather expected that there wouldn't be as much business because of the heat, but what do I know!
We were going to go into Redmond to watch the fireworks with our neighbors, but all of us were too tired to move. We did, however, watch some of nature's fireworks (lightening) in the sky southeast of us.
This morning, Dean and I went into Bend to church and were honored and blessed to have guest pastor, Cynthia, from a UCC church in Washington. In the photo below is LM, Cynthia's one year old son, checking out Dean's beard. He was quite fascinated - LM, that is! Well, Dean was, too, because he loves the little ones!!
When we got home after some more of the Bend-style shopping trip, Shannon had finished the floor in the "guest house" and was working on the loft-style bed frame. He and Dean worked the remainder of the day on that project.
It's coming along nicely!
The weather was hot again today, but cooled down this evening and promises to be rather pleasant for the next several days. Thankfully!

shhhhhhh....... it's a secret

2009-07-01T08:50:00.001-07:00

I learned a secret this morning when fixing some french toast for the guys and I thought I would share. Fix this and you'll get rave reviews - I did!!

Denny's-Style French Toast
4 eggs 2/3 c whole milk
1/3 c flour 1/3 c sugar
1/2 t vanilla 1/4 t salt
1/8 t cinnamon 6 slcs Texas toast thick bread
3 T butter
Mix eggs, milk, flour, sugar, vanilla, salt, cinnamon. Heat lg skillet, or griddle. When hot, add 1 T butter. If it smokes, pan is too hot. Dip each slice of bread in batter 30 sec each side. Let some batter drip off, put in skillet. Cook each slice 1 1/2-2 min per side til golden.

That's the recipe I got from Recipe Zaar. I wasn't using the Texas toast, only some of the cheap white bread stuff, and I used vanilla soy milk instead of whole milk. I found that with the thin white bread, I needed a little more of the batter because it soaks it up faster - I didn't let it soak for 30 seconds. Also, tip from Shannon who has been a cook, mix the cinnamon with the vanilla before adding to the batter - it keeps it from floating on the top.

If I were a good blogger, I would have taken a picture to post with the recipe, but it was gone before I could think of doing it!!

Try it - and let me know what you think. Or, if I'm really behind the times and everyone but me has been using flour in their french toast batter, like forever, let me know that, too!!

Veggies, Flowers, and Soap(box)

2009-06-29T12:39:00.000-07:00

Gardening
It's what I do this time of the year.
Things are doing better this year - because we hauled in 3 yards of compost - 1 from the landfill in Bend, and 2 of the expensive ones from Redmond Greenhouse. AND, I've been using some of the nice red worm compost that our little pets produce. Our season is shorter over here than when we lived in the valley, so some adjusting to do. Of course, we returned from our trip south too late to get much started in the new greenhouse, so a lot of the seeds were planted in the ground a little late :)
This is the huge culinary sage bush that has been going for a couple of years. It seems happy.
You really can't tell from this photo, but the corn is knee high!!! And it's not even the 4th yet, so we should have some yummy corn this year. I learned the secret to prevent the corn worms - we'll see if it works. Last year, we had to salvage partial ears.The first zucchinis are forming - much to Dean's chagrin! The only way he like them is in bread!
And the tomatoes are looking good - these are the 2 that were in the water walls when the critter ate the other 2. Still don't know what got them. Haven't had problems since, but most of the raised beds are fenced with chicken wire now.
On to the flowers. I have some really beautiful lilies.

This huge moth came visiting last night. He/she was on the screen door when I was going out to the deck. A rather patient thing, it allowed me several photos. This one shows Dean's have for size - he (Dean, not the moth) was inside and I was outside.
Don't know how well you can tell from this photo, but the clouds the other night were really strange. Looked like the ocean. The more distinct ones are at the top, but there are also some faint ones toward the bottom. It was a typical (sorry......) beautiful sunset. Mt Jefferson on the horizon.
With all the "news" taken up with Michael Jackson's passing, you would think that there wasn't a war going on, a health care and housing crisis, people going hungry, global climate change, etc., etc., etc. And, with the closing of Pride Month, Lt Choi goes on trail for "telling" What a shame. Let's evolve, folks. Let's turn into the people that Jesus wanted us to be - loving our neighbors and taking care of them!
End of soapbox.

Goings on in these parts......

2009-06-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

We headed down to Bend last weekend for Deschutes Brewery's annual open house - tours and tastes and new brews. Shannon and Dean are waiting for a pour of Twilight Ale.
Good stuff! We ended up getting our growler filled with Red Chair, though, always one of our favorites. All time fav is the Hop Trip which is brewed in the fall with fresh hops. Amazing stuff and only available at the pub.

We have yet to see any fawns around our place, but this herd came through the other morning for breakfast. We have had several really good sized bucks, traveling together usually since the does kick them out around birthing time. This was one of the first time we've seen both together again - maybe these doe didn't have babies this year.Dean and Shannon have been getting things done around the place. Mostly working on the "guest house" but one trip into the Habitat for Humanity ReStore, Dean couldn't pass up this set of kitchen cabinets for his shop. They are super heavy duty with thick drawer bottoms and metal sides. They went for sheet rock, but had to take another trip into town because they didn't have room for what they went for in the first place! His shop is looking good - now if he could just find some spare time to go play.
The "guest house" is coming along!
The kid is taking it easy after spending a long, hot day working for some friends of ours who are getting ready for their son's wedding at their home here on the ranch. Note the nice sunburn.

It's PRIDE month!!

2009-06-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

All over, it is Pride month. I honor my LBGTQ friends by posting this photo from blog friend Kelly and calling everyone's attention to all the Pride activities going on. Portland had their big parade this past weekend and my friend Jen took her GSA club to join in. Way to go, Jen!
Bend is celebrating Pride all month long, but the Pride Day will be the 27th - across from McMenamins.
Here is a poem from Goodreads that I think speaks to the issue of acceptance quite well.

To the Observant Motorist Who Called Me Faggot
by James Davis

We have names for things we don't even understand.
The Doppler Effect, for instance. You have no idea

how it works, and neither do I, but I'm sure we both
can appreciate the way it splits

words into two clean syllables—
the fag from got, the it from fag.

I like to think of myself as a hyphen.
And as for what you think, well...

There's only so much I can learn
from these kinds of conversations.

Maybe to you I'm a pinata—gaily colored, filled with sugar,
battered open by blindfolded children.

Maybe in your life's game of Tag,
I am, perpetually, It.

Or maybe after all, I am nothing, something
approached, named, and sublimated.

I've thought of names for you—
several, in fact—but without a name,

you become a pair of taillights fizzling just beyond 8th Avenue,
and I remain forever in your past,

which, of the three available options,
is my first and only choice.

Here's to you, my friends!!

The Fire and the Rain, and other stuff

2009-06-11T10:38:00.000-07:00

Yup - we've had both since we have been back home. We had a heck of a lightening storm - well, several, actually. But one was with some dry lightening that started a fire just over the ridge from us. The Forest Service got right on it and held it to a little over 100 acres, but it was looking a little scary for a while from our deck. The wind was blowing pretty hard. You can barely see Black Butte in the photo below.
So, we had another storm which dumped soooo much rain in a short amount of time. Dean measured over half an inch in less than half an hour! This is on the north side of the house where we have done no landscaping yet. The white in the foreground is the drain pipe from the driveway that goes under the blacktop. A little Grand Canyon!Shannon arrived Saturday night - did it in 2 days - he was anxious to get here, I guess. Sage, his best friend/dog and him are sacked out on the couch - watching TV.
The first project to be undertaken was cleaning out the "shed" and turning it into a "guest house" - right now, for Shannon to stay in while he is here so he can have his own space, and eventually for friends to stay in so they can have their own space. All of this JUNK below - and much more - was crammed into the space formerly known as the shed. We won't be parking the Element in the garage any time soon - until we find space for all the "stuff"The guys put a nice window in the West wall of the place so whoever is there will have a fantastic view. This is the "before" photo. More correctly, it is the during photo, but I forgot to take the actual "before" one. Gotta get back in the habit of documenting things for the blog.
The other thing that has occupied Dean and my time was getting caught up on the yard and garden. That was a HUGE job and I truly know what "growing like a weed" means! I weeded 1 bed of the veggie garden just below the deck and this was the result.The plant on the lower left is Dean's hop plant. He planted 3 last year and only 1 made it, but it is doing very well this year. Some of the vines are already up on the deck railing.
The weed pile didn't get burned this spring because they ended burning season a week early because of the dry weather. Of course, since then, we have had a lot of rain, so they should open it up again - but they won't. Unfortunately, this much rain at this time of the year means that the weeds and other vegetation will really grow which will mean a bad fire season over here.
The garden is mostly in, though and I will post some photos as things get going.
We have already harvested some strawberries!

Books, Books, Books............

2009-06-02T20:17:00.000-07:00

Many years ago, when I worked at a camera store, we had a strange character who would come in occasionally with his hands to his head repeating "books, books, books...." Did I say strange? He would just walk around the store, repeating the same mantra. So, when I think of books, I often think of him.
Books - I read a lot of them on our recent trip, so thought I would give a little book revue of sorts.
Here goes.

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Great book! I enjoyed it a lot. A woman's spiritual journey, very honestly told. Reminds me just a bit of Robert Johnson's "Balancing Heaven and Earth" which I read years ago and still place in my favorites.

Endangered Species by Nevada Barr
A great diversion - she weaves wonderful mysteries, but is a less than talented writer, in my opinion

A Place Called Home edited by Mickey Pearlman
Anthology of women writers thoughts of the concept of home. Deep, thoughtful, soul searching, raw, at times, poignant. Highly recommended.

A New Life by Bernard Malamud
A favorite author of "classics". Written in the 60's, captures the mores of the times and is sad, emotional, quiet and bizarre all at the same time. A story of a college professor in Cascadia - the Willamette Valley. A strange book, but very well written.

The Pact by Jodi Picoult
Predictable, but nevertheless has a lot of things to think about. Like many of her books.

Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
A fantastic book. Makes you think - agonize over your own life, run things over in your mind. No spoilers here. Just read it.

Sacred Journey of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman
Read his first in the series before you read this one. Another spiritual journey book. Loved it!

Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich
Depressing. Chronicles her experiences trying to make do on minimum wage jobs. Really makes you think. Written in 2000, I think, so, hopefully, some things have changed - but some things have become even worse. Read it and you'll understand.

Wild Fire by Nelson DeMille
Scary! These things happen. Still. A lot of factual info here that just plain makes you paranoid about the things that go on in the government. Another interesting diversion, but of a differnt type than a "fiction" book!

Along Came A Spider and Maximum Ride by James Patterson
OK, I admit it - I'm a James Patterson freak. More diversion. I think I have now read all of the Alex Cross books, so am starting on other books he has written. You can really tell when Patterson has written the latest ones vs when his "assistant' has taken over. But I still like them for what they are.

partially read:
The Christian Agnostic by Leslie Weatherhead
I'm working my way through this one and enjoying it, but sometimes it is difficult reading.

The Way Things Are - conversations with Huston Smith
I had the pleasure of hearing him speak, along with Marcus Borg, at Trinity in Portland several years ago. A great guy - and a great mind. I like what he says and am enjoying this book.

Also read:
O Magazines!!!

So, there you have it. The trip books. I usually try to read a wide variety.

A Strange Thing Happened........

2009-06-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

Before we left on our "vacation", we bought a DVD recorder so we could copy old VHS tapes onto DVD to take with us. Well, that never happened :) When we got home, we signed up with Netflix because, well, there just isn't much on TV any more and we rarely see movies in the theater - Redmond's only one usually plays kid's movies and it's an hour to Bend. So, we watch our first couple of movies and it's pretty nice. Returned those and got 2 more. Put one in the player and settled down to enjoy a good movie - and we hear this loud - REALLY loud - POP!! And something flies across the room - the DVD - in pieces! The door to the tray is in the middle of the floor and the DVD is scattered. Then it started smoking!! OK - everyone I have told about this says: "no way" - but it really happened. It is a good thing that no one was sitting in line with the DVD pieces! Needless to say, we didn't watch a movie!
So, today, I took the player back to Costco, where we bought it. Told my story and the clerk said, "no way"!!! But, they refunded our money and we went and got another one - the same model and everything. We'll see what happens when we get our next movie. Stay tuned!

2009-05-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

From Shannon's, we went to probably our favorite vacation destination - Southeast Utah. We have spent many weeks in the past exploring the canyons - not the National Parks, but the out of the way spots where few go. Because we wanted to end our Utah time at the east end of Lake Powell, we traveled up through Kayenta, Mexican Hat, and Bluff to the Comb Ridge area. The road on the east side of Comb Ridge is very much 4WD, so we checked out the road on the west side - unhooking the trailer and driving about 8 miles of it in the truck. We probably could have done the whole thing with the trailer on, but decided to not take a chance and drove the long way around, through Blanding. We knew approximately where we wanted to camp - a BLM area along Comb Wash. The northern most end of the previously mentioned road has a couple of undeveloped camp areas with pit toilets, but they were pretty populated and we wanted some "quiet" time, so drove on down the road a ways until we saw a side road. I walked in to check and see if the trailer could make it - then we drove in and found a pretty darn nice spot. In the photo below you can see the side road in and our camp site - marked with the blue arrow - and Mule Canyon - marked with the red arrow. More on Mule later.
This is the spot. Gathered wood for a campfire a couple of evenings. Nice!
We did a lot of hiking while we were camped here - loved the HUGE cottonwood trees. Dean wanted to have some reference as to how big they were. The roots on this one were mostly exposed.
Another view of the same tree - a nice spring came down Mule Canyon - I tried to hike to the source, but never made it. Several miles up the canyon - no trail or just a faint one - I finally gave up because I told Dean I was going to walk "a little ways" - I knew he would worry and I didn't have the walkie talkie with me..........
This was another big tree we found when Dean was gathering bark for his carving projects. All that you see here is from one tree!! Parts have come off and lie at the base of the tree. I found this one on my hike up the canyon along the spring. It is probably difficult to tell from the photo, but the original tree is dead - fallen every which way - and a new one is growing out of the center of the dead trunk. You can tell how big this one was by all the dead branches.One of our hikes. Most of the were cross country - Dean is checking the GPS. Here, we are in the rocks behind our camp site. The green in the middle ground is from the spring.
Abbey is cooling off by lying in the middle of the spring. Smart dog!Here is our camp site from the rocks behind it. The spring flows by on this side of the trailer - the trees in back aren't on the spring.
Campers before us had built this little sweat lodge. Dean's takin it easy. So is Abbey!
Before we left this site, I cleadned up the trailer real good. Here is a couple of days worth of dirt. Home sweet home - for someone, sometime.
Some of the many Anasazi ruins in Mule Canyon.We hiked into this ruin - called House on Fire. We wern't there at the optimum time of day, but pretty close. It is an amazing ruin, but the way the light plays off the ceiling area is just magical. I first saw a photo of it by famous black and white photographer John Sexton and I had always wanted to just see it - being able to photograph it was a bonus!
From Comb Ridge/Wash area, we went to Blanding for the usual dump and refill. While we were at Comb, we met a man who highly recommended going to Hovenweep. Neither of us had ever been there before - it is quite out of the way - but we decided to check it out and we were quite impressed. These are not cliff dwellings, but fully constructed rock structures located on the tops of the cliffs. Notice the workmanship - the rocks are carefully placed so that there are only openings where they wanted them to be. Most of the walls are very "plumb"Thunderboomers building fast, so gotta turn off the 'puter for now - will finish this later.....

OK - it's later and some of the storms have passed - more on the way..........

Back to Hovenweep - it was quite the place. As I said, the workmanship on the rock walls was amazing - compare theirs to the ones later in this post.

On to our major destination - Lake Powell!! We have camped in this specific spot, where the Colorado and Dirty Devil Rivers come in to form the lake, several times and look forward to another. Last time, we camped on the rocks, put in our kayaks and paddled up the Dirty Devil River quite a ways. It's an absolutely gorgeous place to camp - especially in the evening when the light plays off the rocks. So, it is with much anticipation that we drive westward.

As we pass over the high bridge over the Colorado, I notice that the water is VERY dirty - and appears rather low. When we get to the bridge over the Dirty Devil, there is almost NO water under the bridge. As we approach our favorite camp spot, we have good news and bad news. First the good news - BLM have installed several of the nice new pit toilets in the camping area - there were none before.....
And the bad news?
NO WATER!!!!
Granted, it's been a number of years since we had been there, but I was totally shocked! Most of what you see in the photos below was under water the last time we were there.These photos below were taken from the overlook - looking east with the Colorado coming in on the right and the Dirty Devil trickling in on the left. The dark red areas on the left and in the center were the only parts that were out of water before - all the lighter rock and what is green (Tamarisk, or Salt Cedar - a VERY invasive plant) were totally under water.

So, since we didn't want to camp there :( - we headed to another past favorite - Temple Wash - North of Hanksville and near Goblin Valley. We were in for another surprise. BLM had fenced off our favorite camp area there to protect it from the 4 wheelers and other OHV's. Again, they had improved the large camp area with pit toilets, but it was now basically a parking lot for the big toy haulers and trailers. We went up the road a ways and found an "acceptable" spot for the night. Went for a couple of walks exploring the area and picking up nice pieces of sandstone for another of Dean's "projects".
While out exploring, we came across this fallen down rock structure left over from when they mined the area for uranium. Notice the difference in the construction from the Anasazi ruins? And these below are probably less than 100 years old vs. 1200 for the Anasazi ruins. Hmmmmm

From Temple Wash, we headed West - towards home! We did make a stop in the Northwestern part of the Humbolt Forest - in an area that just may have had some gold..... NOT!
We found a place to leave the trailer while we explored - though we didn't get very far because of the snow.
Stopped to check on Rio Tinto - a place I had visited many, many years before. The old school is still there. When I was last there, the settling ponds from the mining operation were red from the chemicals used - the government came in and cleaned up the area a few years ago. Copper was discovered in 1932 and was up to 47% pure. Rio Tinto became a ghost town in the 50's after operations were ceased in 1948.
Nearby, on the highway, is Patsville, another ghost town which was populated during the mining days. There are quite a few buildings still standing, though probably not for long. The Owyhee River was running through them when we were there. The open door to the right of the old washing machine has a river coming out of it.

Well, that's about it for the trip. We left Patsville and drove straight home. In the next few days, I will show you what we've been doing around here. Thanks for joining us on our vacation!

Part 3 of ...............

2009-05-25T18:29:00.000-07:00

If you're just getting back to my blog (like I am - ahem..) as few words of intro
We recently returned from a 2 month trip and I have finally managed to get my photos ready to post. I am doing the trip in order, beginning from a couple of posts back. Hope you enjoy our "vacation" even a little as much as we did :)

We spent another night at our favorite little RV park in Quartzite again - the usual - laundry, showers, dump, and fill. Then we met up with Jim and Janet again headed for gold country - we hope!
We spent a rather "interesting" night in a camp spot near Stanton, Az - home of many gold claims. That's the problem - there is probably gold in the area, but everything is pretty much claimed up. The dirt road to get there was - bumpy, to say the least, so we were somewhat disappointed to find - nothing! Our campsite for the evening was loaded with spent and not spent shells of many sizes. I picked up probably 15 pounds of spent and at least a box of unspent 22 shells and various others. It gave me something to do.......... Strange, I know.
From there, we climbed, and climbed, and climbed some more - gained maybe 3000' through some very interesting country on our drive to Prescott. That's Pres'-cut - - not Pres-cot. Through town - no bypass in this area - and out to Lynx Lake. This area has public mining, similar to that at Keysville, managed by the Forest Service and BLM. We found a site at one of the 2 campgrounds on or near the lake and settled in - we thought for a couple of days, but ended up staying for a week! Obviously, they guys FINALLY found some gold!!! Here is our campsite - a double site with a shelter, nice tables, a fire pit, and dumpster, water and restrooms nearby. Paradise!
The guys are hard at work

A couple of days before we were to leave, the guys met John, a real nice kid from Flagstaff who was up doing some panning for the weekend. He learned from his grandfather and wanted to try his luck. He spent our last day there with us and we had a great time getting to know him. John is in the white shirt in the photo below - Janet to the left and Jim to the right.
While the guys were out finding our fortune (NOT!) Janet and I took Abbey for a walk along the lakeside trail. Again, fishing piers extending out into the lake. I think the fish here would be fine to eat :)
After Lynx and a night in an RV park to refresh, we said our goodbyes to Jim and Janet. They were headed back to Vegas to see the house they bought - a whole story in itself - and Jimbo. We were on our way to see Shannon - Dean's youngest - in Overgaard, Az.
I had no idea how beautiful the area would be. Up on the Mogollon Rim at about 7000' in elevation, the scenery is much like the pine forests of the Pacific Northwest. The night we spent camping on our way to Shannon's was a little chilly, so Dean was looking for his favorite flannel shirt . It was here that I realized that I had left it - and 2 pair of his jeans and one of my favorite shirts - in the dryer at the RV park in Prescott. Woe is me - it is hell to get old and forget things!! I'm sure that none of you have ever done anything stupid like that!

So, we get to Shannon's and get set up in his front yard. Nice! The next day, we went out to see his property which is about 45 minutes out of town - seemingly in the middle of nowhere. He is buying 82 acres of fairly flat land and has great plans to build an earthship someday, so has collected hundreds of tires for the foundation. He has actually lived in the trailer and in the schoolbus you can see on the property as well as in a teepee - since removed.
Dean and Shannon replaced the front brakes on his car while we were there. I think they did as much talking as working though.........
Shannon's dog, Sage, and Abbey became good friends - thank goodness - because Shannon is coming up here to stay with us for the summer as soon as his mother visits him in Overgaard. We are looking forward to having him around - and having his help around the place for some projects that Dean has planned. Dean - projects? Always!We went for a ride one afternoon up Black Canyon and hiked up to an old Indian dwelling that Shannon knew of. Apparently someone else had found it because most of the walls had been knocked over :(Whoever it was, however, left the matate and grinding stone. Someone must have used it a lot because it is very deep.We were fortunate to have been able to get to know several of Shannon's good friends. Twice we went to Betty and Wayne's for dinner. Photo below was a birthday dinner for Betty's Dad - James Bond. Really - that is his name!This is Betty and JamesGeorge Bond, Betty's brother, Shannon, and James. They've adopted Shannon, I think! George and James live near Shannon's property.Betty, James, and Dean. Since Dean's birthday was coming up in a few days, Betty even made him a cake, too!
Betty and Wayne
Thanks to all the Bonds - we had a great time getting to know you all and hope to see you again!

The next installment........

2009-05-25T09:39:00.001-07:00

Since it was terribly windy at Parker and it was coming from the south, we decided to stay an extra day instead of heading into the wind. Good decision! From Parker, we headed down to Quartzite. Since we had been dry camping for several days, we stopped at a nice little RV park for the usual, then the next morning headed to the desert. In January and February, there are gem shows in and around Quartzite and the population swells to almost 1 million, but at this time of the year, the snowbirds are winging their way north, so we were able to find a pretty nice spot to park for about 5 days. The guys went out every day with their detectors - no luck, but they had a good time and got some exercise. Janet and I went for walks and read. The weather was pretty decent.
This was our camp site at sunset one night.
Before heading into civilization, we drove up to Mitry Lake - kind of backwater from the Colorado River which then is sent to canals for irrigation. I had no idea how many crops are grown in the Yuma area! The lake is a haven for wildlife - birds of all kinds - so we enjoyed our days there. Kayaked several times. The lake has about 10 of these constructed fishing piers out in the water - complete with palm trees. During the day, people were using them pretty heavily, but we read somewhere that the fish from the lake are heavily contaminated with fertilizer, pesticides, etc. I don't think I would want to eat them! I took this photo from my kayak - Abbey is wondering what the heck I'm doing!Janet didn't want to get out! Now that we got her in a kayak, we can't get her out of it. There were lots of these reeds and grasses around the lake - very few places to get from land to water - or water to land!All those days in the dusty desert made us long for a nice warm shower, of course, so we found a VERY nice RV park in Yuma where we hung out by the pool (after showering.....) for 2 days. Nicest park I've ever stayed in, for sure!
While at the RV park, we met Ron in the pool - remember Ron Michaels from 910 KISN days? Well, one and the same!! When we went to Los Algodones. who did we run into at the dentist office, but RON! While his wife (whose name I can't for the life of me think of) and Jim were having dental work done, Ron, Dean, Janet and I went to lunch. As luck would have it - there was a resturant that was having their annual birthday celebration - free food and FREE MARGARITAS!!!!!!!!!!!! We started out on the patio - very HOT!Ron took our photo.
We were able to move inside where is was much nicer. There was music, various kinds of entertainment, and excellent people watching. Ron called his daughter and we all talked to her. The ceiling of the resturant/bar was plastered with paper money - from where, I don't know - couldn't get close enough.
Time to head back over the border. This day, we were a bit late, as you can tell from the lines - of cars and of people. We parked on the US side and walked over. Our wait was a couple of hours, but someone in a car said theirs was even longer. The next time we went over, we went early and came back earlier. Very little wait.(I don't know how to move these photos - I wanted them all in a row......)
This little cutie was one of many little kids who were either entertaining the tourists or selling some sort of trinket. They were EVERYWHERE! Walking around Los Algodones is a real experience. Every vendor wants you to buy something from them. I got pretty good at saying no. But this little guy was soooo cute. Blowing bubbles with his gum and playing the little accordian. And looking at all the tourista.

Time to get back on the water. As many of you know, there is not much left of the Colorado River around Yuma. It has been piped all over the place for irrigation and drinking water. More about this in another post........
So, we headed up to Squaw Lake (they evidently haven't got the politically correct message around there yet......) There was a dump nearby at the Long Term snowbird area, so we took advantage of it before heading to the "campground" - which ended up being basically a parking lot. With lines - 1 RV to a spot, just like in a mall parking lot. But, they did have nice, hot showers, so that was a plus. And a lake - again, just kind of backwater from the Colorado River. We kayaked to our heart's content - hours every day we were there. We found a nice channel that ran somewhat parallel to the river and it was a pleasant paddle - until someone on a jet ski came blasting around a corner. Now, I'm sure that they are a ton of fun, but a 10' wide, very windy channel might not be the best place. Just sayin'.

Someone forgot their hat on this paddle!
From Squaw Lake, Jim and Janet went back into Yuma to the fancy RV park, and Dean and I went exploring. First destination - Palm Canyon. "Perhaps the only native palm trees in Arizona are tucked away in narrow, rugged canyons on the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge. The Palm Canyon Trail is a rugged hike and takes you near a stand of these unique plants, called California fan palms, Washingtonia filifera."
We're headed up this canyon
From the top of the trail looking back down to the parking lot.
A VERY pooped puppy! But she is clean - got a nice bath in Yuma and a cute little scarf which stayed on for almost the rest of the trip!
So, we get to the end of the trail and here is the sign..............
And here are the palms - as indicated by the arrow. You can see them, but it would have been a steeper and ruggeder hike to see them up close and personal - so we didn't!The trail - up to the sign - was, indeed, pretty rugged. This is the trail - all the way like this.
Next bit of exploring was Crystal Mountain - where you're supposed to be able to pick up real crystals. Not! We scoured that place - found a lot of quartz, but no crystals. Oh, well, good exercise, huh!
We spent the night at one of the many areas around Quartzite and went out exploring the next morning. Only interesting thing we came across was this "golf course" Had to put these photos in for all you golfers! I guess when there is no course around, you go out and make your own!
To be continued.................

Oh, My Goodness!!

2009-05-24T21:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it has been this long since I last updated!
We left on our big trip on March 13th and returned in mid May. It has taken me this long to:
do laundry, clean up our little trailer - it's amazing how much mess can be in such a small area - , get the photos ready to post, and, most time consuming of all, clean up the yard!! It is not finished, by any means, but I must get back to regular-ish blogging.
So, as I said, we left on March 13th, heading south, of course, for some better weather. First night stop was unexpectedly East of Weed at the Living Memorial Sculpture Garden. If you have never been there, put it on your list. It is a rather obscure stop on the highway - we originally intended on just taking a break, but ended up spending the night. The art is a labor of love of Vietnam Vet Dennis Smith. Quoting the brochure: "His work is specific yet symbolic, monumental yet intimate, patriotic yet cautionary: 'I don't think the purpose of art is to entertain, but to uplift, edify and educate.' " There are 10 large sculptures and/or groups and a memorial wall. I don't consider myself particularly patriotic, but the place really moved me. Here are photos of only 2 of the sculptures.
The flute player - along with a group of dancers............POW-MIA - outside the cage is an arch draped with bracelets, flags, flowers - remembrances of the many, many victims.

It was cold that night - we had to get out the down comforter. The next morning, after a long walk amongst the sculptures, we headed to Weed and south on I5. Not very exciting, I'm afraid. And the rumor was confirmed - California drivers - eech! Sorry, Lori! Driving a trailer in traffic is not pleasant in the first place, but some people just have to make it even more difficult!

Spent the next evening in the Wal Mart parking lot in Fresno. Hey - it's free!
Then to Kernsville/Keyesville mining district - a lovely spot to camp and for Dean to do his gold panning thing.
I didn't take too many photos there, but here is one of my favorites
Abbey and I hiked down the river a few miles and enjoyed the scenery while Dean did his thing with the gold pan. Mostly, just a relaxing few days in great country.
From there, we headed to Ridgecrest to stock up and get a new battery for the trailer - seems the 2 we had were not doing too well. We checked at the chamber office to see if there was an internet cafe and they directed us to a great, funky coffee shop - Casa Java - where we had a nice lunch and checked emails. Also, Dean talked to a fellow at the chamber about prospecting who suggested going out some road south of town (Garlock Rd), so we did. Camped in a pull off for the night. Dean drove up into the hills and used his detector for a while - no luck. Sat outside in the evening because the weather was perfect. A nice bird was perched in a tree singing to us. How lovely! And so many different songs, too! How sweet. How aggravating! It went on - and on - and on! We are pretty sure it was a Mockingbird. Here is the description: "If you’ve been hearing an endless string of 10 or 15 different birds singing outside your house, you might have a Northern Mockingbird in your yard. These slender-bodied gray birds apparently pour all their color into their personalities. They sing almost endlessly, even sometimes at night, and they flagrantly harass birds that intrude on their territories, flying slowly around them or prancing toward them, legs extended, flaunting their bright white wing patches."
Yep, even at night. I can attest to that. It finally shut up close to midnight - and began again around 3:30 AM! Needless to say, we got up early the next morning and hit the road!
Before we left the area, though, Dean took me to an old cemetery up on the hillside. There were maybe 15 - 20 sites, memorials, mostly, I think. Lots of old mining equipment. I found it interesting that people actually had left things there instead of looting them. Good.On down the road. Stayed the next night at a little out-of-the-way spot we found the last time we were in the area a few years ago. Twin Lakes RV Park - east of Barstow. Small, nice and clean, and quiet. I think the nice little lady who runs it actually remembered us. Did some laundry and dumped and filled and charged up.
The next day, we met Jim and Janet in Parker, Az - just over the border. We parked in a casino lot for the next few days while we explored the area. We found a nice spot to launch the kayaks just north of the Parker Dam on the Colorado River in the Bill Williams Wildlife Refuge. We had just started out, heading under this fishing platform when we spotted a heron sitting on the railing. He/she sat there until Dean and Jim just got to it, then flew off. A pretty big bird!
Jim took this photo of Janet, Dean and I. It was a nice day, but quite "breezy", so we headed back before it got worse in the afternoon. Unfortunately, the next few days were even beyond "breezy" so we weren't able to get the kayaks out again.
To be continued..................

The tile and the Oscars........

2009-02-25T08:33:00.000-08:00

It was ladies night out at Margie's beautiful log home. A dozen of us gathered to watch the Oscars and eat and chat and drink a wee bit, too! A good time certainly was had by all. Thanks, Margie!
The main course was a salad bar. Wonderful idea with everyone bringing something to add. We also had some nice warm bread. Some of the men gathered next door and had pizza and beer. And watched a movie. I think the women won this one!
Dean's bug project for the week was installing the tile back splash in the kitchen. Finally! I take most of the blame for the lateness of this project - trying to decide on the tile and the design - well, you know how I am at making decisions! This is the "action shot".
And this is the finished product! Looks pretty good, I think!
I don't want to re-hang the curtains and hide all the beautiful handiwork. The next project will be putting the glass inserts in the cupboard doors........... I've gotten used to not opening them to get something out, so it probably won't be clear glass or I might put my hand through it!

Gee whiz!

2009-02-21T10:34:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I've posted. I don't have any excuse, really, except there were other things which occupied my time!
That being said, here goes a post - of sorts.

We had some pretty good snow before Christmas. The birds were at a loss for food - other than the feeders, of course, so I made up a batch of suet. We tried different ways of offering it to them - since we couldn't locate the suet feeder - I stuffed pine cones - gone in no time! I filled little paper cups on the deck so we could watch them - also gobbled up. We filled a pan with water for them, it froze in minutes. We had a heater for the bird bath, but the wires broke - not the best solution.
When the sun returned, it was absolutely gorgeous!!!
While the weather kept us indoors, Dean went to work on projects in the shop. His brother, Larry, bought his lathe and has been creating pens and bottle stoppers, so Dean designed and made a display rack for him. I think he will have to design a bigger one, though, because he has too many to fit in this one all ready!
Dean also made a trivet out of the wine corks we have been collecting over the years. This one was a Christmas gift for Janet (and Jim)There is a story behind this next project. Dean made a name sign for Colin's door when he was a baby. Colin is the son of our good friends Deb and Jill and they are now caring for 3 of the cutest little girls and hoping to adopt them soon. Dean made each of them name signs and also for Larry's grandchildren, Zane and Avril, and our neighbor's granddaughter, Cydnie.
Autumn especially enjoyed her new name sign because, at 7 years old, she was a bit jealous of Colin's. Now she has her very own!! Here, Dean is having fun reading to Colin and being read to by Autumn.
We were in Vancouver for the holiday, during their foot of snow. This is in front of Jim and Janet's house - there is an open skylite above the Japanese maple that created this huge icicle.

The Year in Review

2009-01-02T08:39:00.000-08:00

2 Days in a Row!!

2008-12-15T16:59:00.001-08:00

Dean got most of the green house finished before the big storm hit. Here are some photos that I took so you know what's been happening there:
Frank (left) and Bill (right) help Dean install the big window - I helped with the little one...Looking over the "almost" finished product. The door isn't in yet, the Hardi siding, and the shelves in the inside, but we'll get there.

Santa in his workshop...............
This had to have been one of the most spectacular sunsets we've seen yet - and we've seen some pretty good ones. Obviously, my little point and shoot doesn't do it justice, but you can imagine!

So, it has been snowing - and snowing! ALL day today! Unfortunately, where the new greenhouse is sited, just below the kitchen window, the snow blew off the roof - gently, of course - and onto the lexan roof! So, even though the snow is the light, fluffy stuff, we decided to get it off the roof before it got heavier. In comes the valuable garden tool - the leaf blower - doubling as a snow blower today.
Rather difficult to see, but there was probably a foot of snow on the roof when we started. Now, it can build up again because we know how to get it off!!

It SNOWED!!

2008-12-14T21:06:00.000-08:00

I am pretty sure I am glad about it. It snowed pretty much all day, but it was the really light, floaty (is that a word?) stuff. And the "breeze" was blowing, so it's hard to tell how much we have. But it's sure purty to look at.
I remember when I was a kid in Vancouver (Washington, not Canada, not DC...) we had a good snowfall every winter. Schools were never closed or on 2 hour late schedule, things just operated like normal. We kids just bundled up and played outside like we always did. No video games or computers back then, and we didn't even have a TV.
The exception was one winter when we were living near Fern Prairie (it was really in the country back then) and it was the winter after my father died. It was my mother, my sister, who was less than a year old, and I had just turned 5. It had snowed a couple of feet - really!! We had no way to get anywhere and all I can recall is my mother pulling us in a sled to a neighbor's house and how deep the snow was. Remember those old sleds that looked like a wooden box on runners? Or maybe it WAS a wooden box on runners! I just remember that for me it was an adventure, but I doubt if that was what my mother was feeling. After that winter, we moved to town.
This year, with the bitter cold here and unusually cold in the valley area, there are a lot of people who are homeless. And more families than ever before. Unemployment is HUGE and there are people who have never before experienced homelessness. Please think of them when you go Christmas shopping this year. When you can't decide what to get someone because they have everything under the sun, buy something for a stranger. Take toys to your local fire department, clothing and blankets to the shelters, food to the various food banks. I know you can think of something better to do with your money than get someone a toaster that also poaches eggs, or some other gimmick.
Just a thought...........

Yep, I know...

2008-12-12T19:45:00.000-08:00

I'm not too good at regular posting. Been kinda busy with gift making since I'm not too flush with $$$ lately :(
I'm not going to spell out what I've been making, but just sayin' - some folks will be surprised!
Weather is going to turn nasty, it looks like. We're supposed to have temps in the single digits by Sunday and a bit of snow, too. If you go back to my earlier posts, you'll see that we were living in a tent trailer while building our house - the upcoming weather sounds very much like what we went through then. It's about time, is all I say. I've been waiting for a snow that I could enjoy!! Went out and got snowshoes after the "big one" and haven't been able to use them yet! Maybe next week, huh!
Well, it's snowing now, so maybe I'll have some fresh photos tomorrow. Until then, I'll just prop my chin on my pillow and look out the window. I'm a sucker for a good snow storm. When my nephew was little, we used to call each other and compare snow depths - we only lived a few miles apart in the foothills, so got more than town did. Now, he's all grown up, has his own home, and I moved 150 miles away. Maybe if he reads this he'll call me tomorrow to see how deep our snow is...........

What Colors Are You?

2008-12-06T22:47:00.000-08:00

Your rainbow is shaded violet.

What is says about you: You are a creative person. You appreciate beauty and craftsmanship. You are patient and will keep trying to understand something until you've mastered it.

Find the colors of your rainbow at spacefem.com.

This is amazingly accurate. Thanks to Lori for posting this first.

For My Politically Correct Friends:

2008-12-06T09:13:00.000-08:00

"Please accept with no obligation, explicit or implied, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. We also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2009, but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere. And without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wishee. By accepting these greetings you are accepting these terms. This greeting is subject to clarification or withdrawal. It is freely transferable with no alteration to the original greeting. It implies no promise by the wisher to actually implement any of the wishes for herself or others, and is void where prohibited by law and is revocable at the sole discretion of the wisher. This wish is warranted to perform as expected within the usual application of good tidings for a period of one year or until the issuance of a subsequent holiday greeting, whichever comes first, and warranty is limited to replacement of this wish or issuance of a new wish at the sole discretion of the wisher."

For the rest of you:
Merry Christmas
Happy Hanukkah
Happy Kwanza
Happy Solstice

2008-12-01T09:38:00.000-08:00

In remembrance and honor of all our friends who have been or are victims of AIDS.

Turkey day was FANTASTIC!

2008-11-30T10:21:00.000-08:00

We hope that everyone had a peaceful and happy Thanksgiving with family and/or good friends, as we did.
We used a new turkey recipe, so thought I would share - it came out soooo good!
We brined it in salt/brown sugar water for about 24 hours - sat it out in the garage - it has been cold enough here! Then, I rubbed it all over with melted butter/olive oil, we placed it breast down in the rack, covered it with a tent of foil and put about 3 cups of chicken broth in the bottom of the pan. I cooked it at 400º for the first 45 minutes, then turned it down till done. Basted it several times with the liquid in the pan. It was super juicy and the taste was amazing!
The only "problem" we had - was the broken leg. The turkey's, that is....... If you notice in the photo above, the lower right corner - the meat is particularly dark - that is the broken leg. We couldn't use any of the meat in that area - the pan we put the turkey in to carve it - well, TMI, so I will stop there.........
Below, Janet is pouring the water. Dean made the nice turkey cut-outs. It was Larry's birthday, so that is a card on his plate.
The happy group - trying to eat while I was trying to take a picture. L to R - Janet, Jim, Dean, Larry, and Carol. The empty chair is mine :)
Janet and Jim are sad that their kids are not with them for Thanksgiving (and so were we.....) Denise was home in Chehalis, and Jimbo was with his uncle's family in Hurricane, Utah (Jimbo now lives in Las Vegas)We were lucky enough to experience a beautiful sunset, too. Another beautiful Central Oregon day!

Thanksgiving

2008-11-26T18:54:00.000-08:00

Pablo Neruda's poem "The Great Tablecloth" gives us a hint of what this celebration may one day look like....

Let us sit down soon to eat
with all those who haven't eaten:
let us spread great tablecloths,
put salt in the lakes of the world,
set up planetary bakeries,
tables with strawberries in snow
and a plate like the moon itself
from which we can all eat...

BRIEFLY IT ENTERS, AND BRIEFLY SPEAKS
Jane Kenyon

I am the blossom pressed in a book,
found again after two hundred years....

I am the maker, the lover, and the keeper....

When the young girl who starves
sits down to a table
she will sit beside me....

I am food on the prisoner's plate....

I am water rushing to the well-head,
filling the pitcher until it spills....

"Dreaming of gardens is something that always elevates my mood.
A single green sprouting thing
would restore me...."

Giving Thanks

For the hay and the corn and the wheat that is reaped,
For the labor well done, and the barns that are heaped,
For the sun and the dew and the sweet honeycomb,
For the rose and the song and the harvest brought home --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the trade and the skill and the wealth in our land,
For the cunning and strength of the workingman's hand,
For the good that our artists and poets have taught,
For the friendship that hope and affection have brought --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

For the homes that with purest affection are blest,
For the season of plenty and well-deserved rest,
For our country extending from sea unto sea;
The land that is known as the "Land of the Free" --
Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving!

~Author Unknown

Join The Impact!

2008-11-19T08:57:00.001-08:00

Here are a few photos from the "Join The Impact" rally in Vancouver this past weekend. We were part of a world wide rally to protest the passing of Prop 8 in California which essentially removed civil rights which were granted in a ruling by the supreme court. The Vancouver turnout was quite good considering the lack of local media support and the short time frame. We had close to 60 people - young and old, gay and straight - join us. We covered all 4 corners of the intersection of Mill Plain and Fort Vancouver Way. A lot of people going by honked and waved, a few gave us the thumbs down, but very few. I was heartened by the conversations which took place.

PEACE!!

2008-11-12T17:10:00.000-08:00

So excited, I got my Peace Globe posted as #1315. If you want to see it, go here. Pretty exciting, huh!!

Yes, I know........

2008-11-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

......it's been a while. I have been incredibly busy with a number of things and I am pretty focused when I get involved in a project, so some things had to take a back seat and this was one of them.
I have just returned home from an amazing weekend which was very emotional, and I am absolutely wiped out and sick, but after watching Keith Olbermann tonight, I had to make a post. The Special Comment tonight really got to the heart of the California Prop 8 issue. (I tried to link it, but it didn't work - go to: www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3036677/#27652443)
I was fortunate to witness the baptism of twins on Sunday morning. Their parents are a lesbian couple who are amazing parents. The twins' big sister was so proud! It brought tears to my eyes to watch this family and know that they cannot be a legal family, yet they are more a real family than many legally recognized ones. Please, watch the Olbermann segment. Then, REALLY think about what he said.
Thank you.
When I feel like sitting at the computer for an extended length of time, I will update with photos. Really, I will.

If you been a missin' me........

2008-10-16T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yes, I know - I am waaayyy behind on posting. I have had a lot of "stuff" on my plate lately - good "stuff" but "stuff" none the less.
Been watching the debates - I find them quite interesting. I am lucky that we have a DVR and I can fast forward through all the political commercials, but when I do see them I am reminded of how much I HATE political campaigns. No matter how much they say they are going to run a clean campaign, it always ends up this way. I, for one, am more likely to vote for "the other guy" because of a mailing or ad than I am to vote for the person who sent it when it contains all the finger pointing stuff. In other words, the ads have a negative impact on me rather than convince me to vote a certain way. If they all could just point out what THEY are going to do instead of bringing up all the negative things about the other person. OK - enough about that!
I don't know if I have any readers in California (except you, Lori) but if you're out there, be SURE to vote NO on Prop 8. VERY IMPORTANT!!!!! Those who know me well know that I could really get on the soapbox on this one, but I will spare you the rants for now.
The weather here has been very fall-ish. We had a low of 22º the other night, so the garden is officially gone for the season. The neighbors put in new, more energy efficient windows in the past few days, so we are taking some of the old ones and building a small green house so we can get a good start on the garden next year. We have been on a healthy eating kick lately and purchasing veggies gets expensive. Next year, though, we WILL have enough to put up and carry us through!! Really, we will!

As soon as I get all my "stuff" taken care of, I will be back to irregular posting.

Don't forget to vote! Vote early and vote for OBAMA!!! Or, the candidate of your choice - who I really hope is OBAMA because we really need improved school funding and standards, energy independence, ethics reforms, fiscal responsibility, we need to fight poverty, bring the soldiers home, maintain a woman's right to choose while reducing the necessity for abortions through improved social programs, we could use the tax break, helping us retired folks, and, and, and......

A slight detour.........

2008-10-03T11:30:00.001-07:00

......from the trip - since I haven't been too good at getting it all on here :( We decided to take one last camping trip, since the weather is going to be turning.
One of our very favorite places to camp and kayak is Hosmer Lake - up in the Cascade range south of the Three Sisters and just west of Mt Bachelor. The lake itself is kind of hour-glass shaped with a boat launch on the south end. The two large portions of the lake are connected by a narrow channel which winds through the reeds. There are 2 campgrounds - very primitive - no water, vault toilets, but they have large wonderful sites and nice people camp there because Hosmer is #1-electric motors only (and there are very few), #2-fly fishing only, #3-catch and release for the Atlantic Salmon (the only place in Oregon), #4-prime kayaking territory.
We got there Monday morning and found our favorite site open - next to the trail that leads to a small dock on the canal portion of the lake. We unloaded and set up the tent - yes, tent! We are really roughing it for this trip.
Then we headed out for an afternoon paddle. That is South Sister in the background.
And Mt Bachelor without snow. This is the primo skiing area in the state. Dry snow and lots of it. I used to ski here - before too many knee injuries made me give it up :(The next morning, we went out early to check out the birds and fish - and dragon flies - making whoopee?The weather was beginning to change - more clouds, but still warm. I took a (walking) trail which goes north along the channel. Beautiful view of South Sister. The trail was about 1 1/2 miles, cut up through the forest among a large amount of blow down. Abby enjoyed the walk.
And, speaking of Abby - she sure did get dirty! She loved chasing the chipmonks through the trees. We never have to worry about her catching one - they are MUCH faster than she is!As I mentioned above, the campground is rather primitive. The picnic tables and fire pits are the only amenities. This site has 2 site # signs, though. Curious. The only one that had 2. And # 13, too. Hmmmm.........During the summer prime time, there is a campground host on duty. His name is Max Peel and he has been there for as long as I can remember. Seems like I once read an article about him stating that he has been there every summer for something like 20 some years. (I looked, but couldn't find any info on him) He brings up a bunch of canoes when the lake is accessible in the late spring/early summer and rents them out, donating the $ to his church. He has quite a neat campsite - across from ours. This is his built up campfire pit. This is a structure he has built - covers it with tarps.
And, another paddle as the sun was going down............
Up early on Wednesday - very cold! Dean built a fire and we sat around to warm up for a while. Abby stayed where it was warm - on Dean's bed! We took our down comforter in case it got REALLY cold.
I paddled down the outlet channel to see if I could spot some otters - no luck. Mt Bachelor, again, in the background. This part of the lake is pretty sterile - no fish and only the grasses and reeds along the shore. The north end of the lake is similar - very shallow and warmer water. There is very limited access to the lake because of the grasses and reeds, so a canoe or kayak is the way to see it. Paddling through the channel, the water is so clear that you can see hundreds of fish. Also common are bald eagles, osprey, lots and lots of birds, deer, and elk.
This is the gate controlling the flow out of the lake. The lava rock dams the lake and the water flows through the rocks to the area shown below, then disappears into the lava rocks until it reappears at Lava Lake, several miles to the south. This is the beginning of the Deschutes River, I believe.
This is Broken Top, which is to the SE of South Sister
Abby is waiting on the dock for Dean to come back from fishing.
Here he comes paddling up the narrow channel to the dock.
While there, we located a Geocache. For those who don't know about geocaching, it is a fun "sport" Using a handheld GPS, you find specific locations by longitude and latitude. The sites are listed on the website. After you locate your target, you log in and report it on the website. People leave various things in the container at the site, depending on it's size. This one was large - an ammo box. Some are very small, like a film cannister (remember those? before digital.....), and some even smaller - micro. Dean found this one hidden in the lava rocks. In the photo on the right is what the location looked like.

So, we had a good time, I read a long book, even got sunburned through the clouds. We came home so we would have time to unpack and clean up so we could watch the debate on Thursday night. I was surprised (disappointed.....) at how well Palin did. I still won't vote for her and it still scares me to think that she could be a heartbeat away (literally) from the presidency. She is probably more qualified than I am, but that's not saying much! Can you really imagine her negotiating with another world leader? I sure can't. Scary thought!

The Mailboat/Jetboat trip

2008-09-25T12:51:00.000-07:00

It was a cold and foggy morning - 8 AM - when we left Gold Beach for our Mailboat trip up the Rogue River. Here, we just left the dock and are headed towards the ocean - before turning up the river. You can tell that people are bundled up pretty well - our "driver", Jon, even handed out wool blankets.
When we broke out of the fog, it warmed up quite a bit. Here are some live oak (as opposed to "dead" oak?) trees on the hillsideWe were able to see a lot of wildlife - harbor seals, bald eagles, osprey, even "Rogue River moose" (cows...) Here is a blue heron that posed for us.
We were able to see a little white water. Jon did several rapids more than once to get us good and wet. We sat at the very back of the boat - in my opinion, the best place. We were able to talk to Jon and get more tidbits of information and the seats are slightly elevated, so the view was pretty good. But the BEST part was that we could stand up for the white water, which made it even more fun. I didn't want to get my camera wet, so this is the only photo I took - not very big rapids, but it was fun.
We stopped for lunch at the little town of Agness. The Rogue sometimes "overflows" it's banks during spring runoff - actually, it ALWAYS does. But back in 1964, there was a warm spell during December which wreaked havoc on the area. A new bridge had just been built over the Illinois River where it flows into the Rogue - it was washed out. There was a suspension bridge to the town of Agness - it washed out - which means you now have to go upriver about 4 miles, then cross ANOTHER new bridge and down a narrow windy road to the town, because "they" decided to not build another bridge. And this wasn't even a "bridge to nowhere"........... The high water marks for various years are indicated on signs on the trees visible as you walk up the path to the Singing Springs Resort which is nestled in the trees in the photo below. The high water mark for 1964 is on top of the roof of the cafe - at the bottom of the arrow. Now, that's some high water!This is Jim and Janet and our driver/guide, Jon.
Jon pointed out many things on the trip, but of particular interest was this section of the river which had a natural "sluice box" in the rocks. Evidently, miners in the early days got quite a bit of gold from the cracks between the rocks. I was on the wrong side of the boat to get a good picture, but hope you can get the idea in the photo below.
On the way back down the river, we finally got to see the otters playing in the sand on the river back. When we pulled over, they scampered to the left and disappeared under some rocks, but I got a couple decent photos - even one in mid-jump!We enjoyed the trip, but it made Janet and I wanting a real whitewater rafting trip. Maybe next year....... From Gold Beach, we went up the coast to Bandon and stayed in a campground with hookups for a night to charge the batteries and take care of all those trailer things (dump and fill) From there, it was over to Roseburg and I5 and the previous post.
The next post will be from the Chetco River out of Brookings.

Let's start at the..........end

2008-09-22T22:30:00.001-07:00

It would take me days to get all the photos ready to post, so I'm going to begin at the end of the trip and work backwards. I'll post the earlier photos and captions a few days at a time.
On our way home, we decided to take the highway out of Canyonville (Hwy 227) that cuts down to the Rogue River Hwy (Hwy 62) rather than go all the way to Medford on I5. We asked at the gas station what the road situation was regarding the fires in the area, which is why we were taking the road out of Canyonville. There was a sign on the road indicating that the "Tiller Trail" road was closed, but figured it was a backroad and didn't concern us. It wasn't till quite a while later that I saw a sign indicating that Hwy 227 and "Tiller Trail" were the same thing! My Oregon map certainly didn't call it anything but Hwy 227. So, rather than backtrack many, many miles, we decided to go on and see what was up. As it was, it was a good thing that we did, because the road was NOT closed and we continued on our merry way to Hwy 62. The map is kinda small, but you can get the idea.
When we got to Hwy 62, we could clearly see that there were several fires in the area and pulled over so I could take this photo. It was a rather dramatic sight. There was another fire behind us and we passed a large fire camp and saw a chopper with a bucket headed to the reservoir to get water. It was about 2 in the afternoon and the fire was really boiling.
We were headed to a favorite site on the Rogue River, but it had been several years since we were last there, so took the "long and scenic way" to get there. Interesting back roads........

The perfect ending to our trip - at our favorite, secret place on the Rogue River, near Crater Lake. We first found this spot when we took a week before my breast cancer surgery in '97. We have been there twice since - whenever we have been in the area - and it is still a very special place. This is the view out my kitchen window.
We could see and smell the smoke - from the camp site - these are not clouds! We thought we could see ash falling and that was confirmed as it was visible on the truck.Dean is relaxing by the river. Photo taken from the door of the trailer. More relaxing............. Listening to satelite radio - Rachel Maddow.
I'm picking on Dean - this is a rare scene - he is reading the directions for his metal detector!!
Looking for gold in the Rogue - unfortunately, it isn't to be found in this part of the river.The river is soooo nice here. Abby learned to swim (finally!) on this trip. She didn't get out in the current here, but was enjoying playing "stick". She would get out in the water and get it, but then chew on it for a few minutes, then leave it in the water and come back for me to throw another one. Must be old age - she keeps forgetting what she went out there for.......
She did have fun! Playing in the water and the sand - and then coming in the trailer and when I said to stay off the couch - guess where she immediately went? It's a good thing that I cover it with an old sheet. But I had just "cleaned house" that morning!!!

So, the next morning, we packed up and headed home. A good trip - relaxing, saw some neat stuff, and just hung out. Our kind of camping!
When we got home, it was incredibly smokey and warm and humid - rare for our part of the state - the humid part, I mean. It rained over night and has been partly to mostly cloudy since.
Spent the last few days unpacking, doing laundry, yard work, and catching up on the computer.
I will post more trip stuff in the next few days.

This is kinda sad............

2008-09-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

for me, anyway. I've really got into this blog thing and keeping fairly often......
So, we're off for another adventure and I won't be around for a few weeks, maybe. If I get a chance to post on the road, I will, but not too likely.
Today was another nice Central Oregon kind of day. A little cloudy in the morning, then turning of sunny for the remainder of the day. I did a few last loads of laundry and was able to hang it outside, so that made me happy. I covered the tender plants again last night, but they didn't need it as it only got down to the low 40's. Picked the zucchinis for the trip, but nothing else coming on, yet. The corn will probably be wonderful while we're gone :(

I was thinking about what to leave you with to ponder while I was gone. I remembered this, from NPR - Morning Edition, December 18, 2006. The feature, This I Believe, chronicles the contributions of listeners in a variety of ways. This is how I was first introduced to Fr Richard Rohr, who I was lucky enough to see and hear in person last year. This is an amazing man, so I invite you to "google" his name and learn more.

Utterly Humbled by Mystery
By Richard Rohr
I believe in mystery and multiplicity. To religious believers this may sound almost pagan. But I don't think so. My very belief and experience of a loving and endlessly creative God has led me to trust in both.
I've had the good fortune of teaching and preaching across much of the globe, while also struggling to make sense of my experience in my own tiny world. This life journey has led me to love mystery and not feel the need to change it or make it un-mysterious. This has put me at odds with many other believers I know who seem to need explanations for everything.
Religious belief has made me comfortable with ambiguity. "Hints and guesses," as T.S. Eliot would say. I often spend the season of Lent in a hermitage, where I live alone for the whole 40 days. The more I am alone with the Alone, the more I surrender to ambivalence, to happy contradictions and seeming inconsistencies in myself and almost everything else, including God. Paradoxes don't scare me anymore.
When I was young, I couldn't tolerate such ambiguity. My education had trained me to have a lust for answers and explanations. Now, at age 63, it's all quite different. I no longer believe this is a quid pro quo universe -- I've counseled too many prisoners, worked with too many failed marriages, faced my own dilemmas too many times and been loved gratuitously after too many failures.
Whenever I think there's a perfect pattern, further reading and study reveal an exception. Whenever I want to say "only" or "always," someone or something proves me wrong. My scientist friends have come up with things like "principles of uncertainty" and dark holes. They're willing to live inside imagined hypotheses and theories. But many religious folks insist on answers that are always true. We love closure, resolution and clarity, while thinking that we are people of "faith"! How strange that the very word "faith" has come to mean its exact opposite.
People who have really met the Holy are always humble. It's the people who don't know who usually pretend that they do. People who've had any genuine spiritual experience always know they don't know. They are utterly humbled before mystery. They are in awe before the abyss of it all, in wonder at eternity and depth, and a Love, which is incomprehensible to the mind. It is a litmus test for authentic God experience, and is -- quite sadly -- absent from much of our religious conversation today. My belief and comfort is in the depths of Mystery, which should be the very task of religion.

Blessings, my friends, until we meet again - in a few weeks. Comments welcome (and appreciated.....)

Movin' to Vegas!

2008-09-01T12:45:00.000-07:00

Not really, but I got your attention!
Saturday night, we were down at "the Hole" dealing blackjack for the Lions club fund raiser Casino Night. What a blast! I had sooo much fun and quite got into the whole facade. By the end of the evening, I was giving away "funny money" so people could bid on the auction items that were donated by local businesses and people. Some things were going for $500,000 and up - having been dealing almost all night, I didn't have that kind of money, though, so gave mine away, too. The place was really crowded - we could have had another half dozen tables. They also had craps and texas hold 'em, but most were around the blackjack tables. It was a rare late night for us and I slept in on Sunday, for sure! Sure do wish I had thought to take my camera along for some crowd shots.
Sunday AM, after I finally got up........Dean went up to get the paper while I fixed some, er, brunch, and ran into neighbor, Bill who told him there was a breakfast going on at the fire hall, so we decided to go down there and support the volunteers and I'm glad we did - their feed was a lot better than what I was fixing! Egg, cheese and potato casserole, huge sausages, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, fruit, etc. My, my - just what my body needed - lots of carbs and protein.
Had to cover the tenders in the garden last night as it got down to freezing. There really are some green tomatoes on the plants, so didn't want to lose them, or the zucchini or basil. The rest of the stuff - who cares! As it was, everything came through it just fine.
We're packing up for the next big adventure - Dean and Jim going on a gold expedition down in Southwestern Oregon. Us gals are going to veg out for a few days! Packing up is always such a deal. Dean is cleaning the truck - must not go on the road with a dirty truck! I'm just packing. We're looking forward to a short visit from sister Karen tomorrow on her way to her yearly camping vacation with her long time bff Nora. They go out to Tumalo State Park and have a great time. We're usually at church camp over Labor Day weekend, so miss seeing her. This year, it will be all too brief.
Speaking of church camp, I'm really anxious to hear how the synchro swimming "talent" was............... I sure did miss being there with y'all!

Schizo Garden

2008-08-29T13:47:00.000-07:00

Well, the herbs are doing pretty well. I wish I had thought to take a photo of one the piles of Basil that I have put up. Twice already! I have been known to give it for Christmas gifts, so if you're wanting some, you might want to get your name on the list........ The way I process it, it tastes just like fresh from the garden. Great in soups or............ In the photo below is the Basil after it's last cutting, so I should get one or two more this season. Difficult to see, but also in the photo are Cuban Oregano, Thyme, and Italian Parsley at the bottom. The huge plant on the right is culinary Sage - with regular water. I also have two more plants of the same that have received absolutely NO water (except for the rain, but not much of that since it is planted next to the house) that aren't as large, but are doing quite well. There is also Chives and Cilantro.This is a bumper year for Zucchini. There are about six or seven plants in this bed and it's strange, but the ones on the right aren't producing much, but the others are going crazy. All were planted from the same package of seeds, and at the same time. I can spot one and the next day it's a foot long. So, I froze 5 packages of 4 cups each from the last harvest. And I made some delicious Zucchini Patties last night for dinner - and enough for leftovers tonight. The whole zucs in the photo are in addition to what I froze. And more today!
The remainder of the garden........well, that's another story. On the upper left is the Corn - we might get some - maybe. Lower left are/were the Beets. The cottontail has destroyed it. We have "rabbit" fence, but this must be a little guy - well, maybe no longer, though. That stuff on the upper right is Butternut Squash - but not some that I planted. It is where the compost bin used to be and must be volunteers from the seeds. When they came up, I decided to see what they were and now there are quite a few squash growing, so I'll take them anyway! Lower right are some stunted Peppers that have produced a few.And these are the poor Tomatoes. Our neighbor down the street, Kevin, runs the garden dept at Lowes and said that a lot of people are having problems with tomatoes this year, so I don't feel so bad. Kevin is actually the one who inadvertently got me into blogging, but he has too busy lately - his last blog is from April, I think. We'll see if he reads this :) And here is the bounty from the rest of the garden. WOW! Looks good enough to eat!

Not really a vacation......

2008-08-26T11:01:00.001-07:00

Before I get to the trip, I want to share a few photos from the Saturday nite before we left when we went down to the Sandbagger (aka "the hole") for a little karaoke (listening, not singing.....)
This is the local gathering spot on the "ranch" for a very wide range of characters - and I do mean characters! This is a very diverse community, which is one of things I love about living here.
This is one of our favorite singers, Dottie who can really belt out a song!

This is our bartender, Makah, who has the personality to match her job. She is a real kick! I have NEVER seen her without a smile! I let her experiment on my drinks sometimes and she does a pretty good job.

And a photo of us and of Joyce and Bill having a good time!

And our karaoke master, Judy, who has a great voice, too.

OK, on to the reason for our trip - another work crew on the White cabin. See my other blog for updated photos from this trip. This is the sign that Dean carved for the new cabin. Pretty nice!
One of the days we were there, we went for a hike to see a waterfall on the Wallowa River. On the way, we went over this bridge at the Boy Scout camp and I had to take a photo for Janet because of the lashed bridge. We were just talking about lashing tables and wash stands, etc. at girl scout camp. We spent the first few nights sleeping on a bed in the Floyd White (Edsel's father) cabin at the local Methodist camp which we shared with friends Gordy and Faye (shared the cabin, not the bed.........) When they had to go back to Vancouver, we moved into the new cabin and slept on an air mattress - which we thought had the leaks fixed. We quickly learned that they were not fixed after all. We got up several times during the night to blow it back up. On top of that, we had our summer weight sleeping bags and one night it got down to 37º and we got COLD! Old people shouldn't try to act like youngsters sometimes! Kent and Sam Landerholm were staying in the old cabin while they were hiking in the area, so when they left, we took their place and had a pretty good nights sleep on the last night we were there. Abby had her own bed, of course, but we found her curled up on our bed the day it was cold and rainy.
The main purpose of this trip, we learned after we arrived, was to install stairs to the loft/storage area. No one had been able to figure out how to make them work, since the total tolerance between the steps could be no more than 3/8" difference in the rise. I think everyone there tried to figure it out with no success. Dean finally went to town and had to buy a fancy square in order to get some instructions for laying out a staircase. Problem was, the directions were pretty complicated - until I finally figured it out!!! Yeah, me! Not to blow my own horn or anything......... well, my brain hurt and I felt pretty good after I mastered those darn things! Here is a photo of the final product. Whew!So, we were able to leave after the stairs were finished. The town of Joseph, at the end of Wallowa Lake, is known for it's artist community - mostly bronze casting. But this weekend, it was known for a big biker gathering. We didn't stop, but saw literally hundreds of bikes on the road on their way to Joseph. Here are some of them. Notice how clean the windshield is.
Abby is getting better and better about riding. Usually she just goes to sleep in back on her bed, but once in a while she has to be closer to us. Is this cute or what!
We took the long way home, traveling down to Baker City and up through the gold country. We'll be going to S. Oregon in another week for Dean and Jim to go to a gold camp - hopefully they will make us a fortune - or at least learn how to get more when they go out panning. We stopped at one mine along a river - at least the sign said it was. We saw no mining activity at all, though.I don't know why, but I have a thing about old power houses, so we drove up to see the historic Fremont Powerhouse near the town of Granite up in the Blue Mountains. I was built in 1907 to provide power to mines and towns in the area at the time and operated continuously until 1967. It cost about $100,000. to build which was a lot of money then. All of the original machinery is still in place, though it was not open when we were there.
Water to the powerhouse was transported 8 miles from Olive Lake through a wooden and steel pipeline. Along the gravel road from Granite to a highway were several mines and residences, many of which had painted rocks next to their driveways. This is an example. Driving from John Day toward home, we encountered a hatch of some sort. Remember how clean the windshield was when we left Joseph? This is what those flying things did! It was getting towards dusk, so I didn't take any more photos, but you can see that it was getting crowded.
So ends the trip. We arrived home around 8 and had a little something to eat and fell into bed!

Too funny not to pass on

2008-08-25T19:19:00.000-07:00

This is taken straight from my blogger friend Lori
This made my day, so thank you, Lori, for:

this list of stupid things NBC commentators said during the Olympics:

1. Weightlifting commentator: ‘This is Gregoriava from Bulgaria. I saw her snatch this morning during her warm up and it was amazing.’

2. Dressage commentator: ‘This is really a lovely horse and I speak from personal experience since I once mounted her mother.’

3. Boxing Analyst: ‘Sure there have been injuries, and even some deaths in boxing, but none of them really that serious.’

4. Softball announcer: ‘If history repeats itself, I should think we can expect the same thing again.’

5. Basketball analyst: ‘He dribbles a lot and the opposition doesn’t like it. In fact you can see it all over their faces.’

6. At the rowing medal ceremony: ‘Ah, isn’t that nice, the wife of the IOC president is hugging the cox of the British crew.’

7. Soccer commentator: ‘Julian Dicks is everywhere. It’s like they’ve got eleven Dicks on the field.’

8. Tennis commentator: ‘One of the reasons Andy is playing so well is that, before the final round, his wife takes out his balls and kisses them… Oh my God, what have I just said?’

OK, my friends, pick yourselves up off the floor. I finished the cabin blog today and, hopefully, tomorrow I can work on my own! I've missed my little blog outlet!

Interesting Factoids - and a surprise??

2008-08-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

In lieu of coming up with something creative on this VERY HOT day, I bring you something to read that is, at least, interesting. I haven't "snopes'd" these, so don't make a big deal if something turns out to be untrue :)

I'll be gone for a few days - going to Wallowa Lake to work on the cabin project and when we get back, I will concentrate first on updating that blog, and not this one :( Be patient, my reader (s?) Stay as cool as you can in this heat wave!!!

If you read all the way to the bottom, there might be a surprise...........

Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only..Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)

The percentage of North America that is Wilderness: 38%

The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400

The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month which we know today as the honeymoon.

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."
It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this custom

Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A. Their birthplace

Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession

Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand

Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All invented by women.

Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey

Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?
A. Father's Day

So, here is the surprise - one of my "interesting" creations from the archives.
Comments?

Photos and more

2008-08-14T15:11:00.000-07:00

It was a dark and stormy day............
This was taken a week ago or so - I tried to get a lightening shot with my point and shoot, but no luck. The clouds were pretty impressive, though.And then it started to hail - and it really came down for a while. With all the storms, we got about .6" of rain. Enough for the garden for a day.......
We decided to take a day off Monday and take the kayaks out for a spin - since we still hadn't taken them down from on top of the car from the last time we went out...............
We drove to Perry South Campground on the Metolius arm of Lake Billy Chinook. A relatively quiet little spot, but full of boaters. We put in and paddled up river - there are quite a few "cabins" on what I assume is lease land from the forest service. The places range from shed type cabins to ones probably worth 1/2 mil.
There is no power to the area, so most of the nicer ones have solar panels - and a cistern for water.
The gooses have found a home. I imagine the folks feed them when they're around.
This is one of the nicest homes we saw. Lots of great big windows, nice deck, several nice boats... Oh, the life! If you can see them.... there are a couple of Great Blue Herons along the shore. Right after I took this photo, they both flew off making quite a racket.
The river starts to narrow here and there are no more ski boats, only fishermen. Really, really pretty.Someone's nest high in a snag - eagle? osprey? heron?So, I'm traveling along, getting a lot of exercise paddling against the current (Dean was fishing)
and I come upon this sign
Presumably - it means motor boats, but I could see rapids right ahead, so I turned around and the wind started blowing - against me - erasing the benefit of the current. Oh, darn!

So, I mentioned that Dean was fishing - he had his pole in the water, anyway. There were fish jumping all around us, a hatch going on. He tried everything he had and couldn't catch one. I was hoping one would jump in the boat so he could "get a fish", but that didn't happen. It was pretty amazing, though, watching the fish come out of the water. And when I say "all around us" - I mean it!

This next series of photos need some explanation. The juvenile eagle in the first photo flew over my head and landed in this tree. He just sat there for a while and I took a few photos, getting a little close (in my kayak) for each one. Then another big bird (no, not THAT big bird....) came along and chased it out of the tree. In the middle photo, I thought I got both of them, but didn't - the lag time in digital cameras is too long for action photos......... The final photo shows the big one who came back and hung around for photos for quite a while. I don't think it was an eagle, but I'm really not sure. It was BIG!

Thought for the day..........

Dance like no one is watching,
Love like you'll never be hurt,
Sing like no one is listening,
Live like it's heaven on earth.

-William Purkey

Words...........

2008-08-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking that my posts have been quite photo heavy - which is to be expected, I suppose, from someone who was in the business for 30 years. But, I've decided to mix it up a bit.
I was doing some updating of documents the other day and, after several pages of cleaning up, transferring information, etc., the program crashed and I lost everything I had done. Who hasn't had this happen on occasion? Well, it's happened to me, and you would think that I would be more conscientious about saving once in a while, but no - I become lackadaisical - and lazy. Whenever this happens, though, I remember this little story:

Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly God was tired of hearing all the bickering.
Finally fed up, God said, "THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from those results, I will judge who does the better job."
So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away.

They moused.
They faxed.
They e-mailed.
They e-mailed with attachments
They downloaded.
They did spreadsheets!
They wrote reports.
They created labels and cards.
They created charts and graphs.
They did some genealogy reports
They did every job known to man.

Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell.
Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured, and, of course, the power went off.
Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed.
Finally the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming:
"It's gone! It's all GONE! "I lost everything when the power went out!"
Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work. Satan observed this and became irate.
"Wait!" he screamed. "That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?"
God just shrugged and said,
JESUS SAVES

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

2008-08-07T08:47:00.000-07:00

Alphabet challenge from Neecer
Birds and Bees enjoy our yard
Camping is something I REALLY enjoy! (Sorry, Lori.....)
Deschutes River is right out my back door - kind of.......
Early in the morning is something I rarely do
Food, good food
Government is pretty scary right now
Hebrew Bible - my favorite NHTS class - who’d have thought!
IKAR - heard about it on NPR (Speaking of Faith) - check it out, I want to go!
Juniper trees
Kennedy - I was in my dorm room when I heard it on the radio and I cried
Lists - I have to depend on them more and more......
Mac is the only way to go, especially if you don’t want a virus
Notes - I am a big time note-taker
Orzo is a fun ingredient
Prayer flags and a Peace banner are in my room
Quotes - I collect them
Rocking chairs are addictive
Six Feet Under was a GREAT TV series and I miss it!
Tequila
Underoos - who thought of that?
Veggies are something I could eat for a whole meal
Whitehaven II cabin project
Xray is something I experienced several times within the past month
Y don’t you try this - it’s fun!
Zucchini - I grow it, I eat it, I like it

2008-08-06T14:32:00.000-07:00

The other morning, I looked out my window upstairs and saw these 3 big bucks browsing just outside the new fence. They are getting pretty hungry this time of the year, so I even had to put a cage around the Hawthorne soon-to-be-tree near the deer on the left. There are a lot of babies on the ranch this year, I hear, though our usual families haven't been around too much. Most of the fawns are twins. There has been some speculation that someone has been poisoning deer because they are a nuisance. Yes, they are, but people choose to live here knowing there are deer freely roaming. If you don't like it, move, or fence your plants like we finally did. It's like buying a home on the golf course and complaining because your window was broken or purchasing a fancy place on the hill that happens to be in a flight path and then complaining because planes go over. Get a life, folks, pick your battles more carefully. Like hunger, world peace, AIDS, and social issues that REALLY impact our lives.
OK - climbing down from soapbox.

On another, more important note, we had church here on Sunday morning. Our little progressive UCC group came all the way out to the ranch to worship with us, and what a perfect day it was.
I was able to get all of them in the photo except Bill who is behind Pris who is standing. In the foreground is Lynda, my friend from Northwest House of Theological Studies who recently graduated from Pacific School of Religion with a Masters of Divinity. She came from Salem to lead us. We had wonderful conversation and wonderful company.
So, it's on to the next project - and the next - and the next......... Stained the back deck railings (yes, again..) yesterday and they're looking better. One more time in the spring and I think we'll be done for a few years. The direct sun and dry heat really take a toll on the wood. Glad we cut corners elsewhere so we could afford Trex for the decking. Would hate to have to do the staining and sanding on it!
The garden is slow, but the zucchini bread is always a hit. I'm sun-drying the tomatoes and we're still eating cole slaw.
I'm hoping for some lightening action this afternoon.

Just a thought..........

2008-07-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Watched "Bruce Almighty" - again - and I was thinking about what I would do with the power. Most likely, not as Bruce did - but.....what would you do? What's on your mind? How does your priority list go? We'll "discuss amongst ourselves" later, OK?
And, also, on the subject of movies - what are the ones that really caused you to stop and think? The ones that may have changed your life? There are a few on my list - yours?

It Hasn't Even Been a Week!!!

2008-07-30T10:50:00.000-07:00

So, we've been busy (surprise, surprise!) working around the house this week. Friend Catherine, who is teaching in South Korea, wonders why it takes us so long to complete a project when "Bob the Builder" gets things done in a couple of days! She watches with her 20 month old, Liam (going on 6.....) Well, we're just old and slow, I guess. Plus, when Dean builds something, half the time is the planning and thinking, and the other half, building. And, of course, it has to be perfect!
So, this is the before photo of the front of the house. Lovely, temporary (over 2 years.....) front porch. When we got our "stimulus" check, we decided to put it into a front deck.
Working on the stringers. And listening to a book-on-tape.
Almost done - the look of satisfaction!The view from the front deck. The most WONDERFUL place to be on a hot afternoon!And, drum roll, the finished product. We're going to get something colorful to put in the planter. NOT plastic flowers, if you were thinking that.........
The next project is to redo the front walk. We gathered relatively flat shale and cemented it in, but it is not a very good walking surface, we have discovered. Sooooo, it will eventually be a cement walkway. Sometime.

Last Saturday was the not-so-big parade for the Jefferson County Fair, and we took part in it. Jefferson County is really suffering - especially lately. Several companies have either laid off workers or closed completely. The new prison that was supposed to bring new jobs didn't really and opening the medium security part has been postponed because, though they had the money to build it, they didn't have the money to run it. Grrr! So, Jefferson County needed a boost, and a parade may have helped. We were aligned with the Jefferson County Democrats. They even had a couple of donkeys, who were a lot cuter than the rest of us.
We were on the "float" (flat bed trailer that was pretty unstable.......). A real musician, Ross, and I provided music. I just kinda played along - he was the entertainer.Now, if you will pardon the heavy "catch up" post, we go back a few more days to the trip Janet, Dean and I took while Jim was playing golf. We went to Lake Billy Chinook which is formed by the coming together of the Crooked, Deschutes, and Metolius Rivers and a dam. We put in near the Deschutes arm and paddled up the river. This is the bridge, about 2 miles up from our put-in.
The rock walls are amazing. These are some of the rock palisades which give the state park in the area it's name - Cove Palisades. Looking up river - the white styrofoam is some of the garbage we picked up along the way.
Dean and Janet - taking their time and enjoying the scenery.Flowers growing in the rocks.
This is a bunch of debris - maybe caused by the current of the river and the prevailing winds meeting? I heard on NPR that there is a several miles long island of debris in the ocean in the middle of nowhere.
Sorry for all the photos of the river - it was just so scenic!This, however, was not conducive to our pleasant day. The ski boats and jet skis were not particularly nice to us. I think they wanted to see us capsize or something. One guy on a jet ski came right at me, then veered off at the last minute. Another guy went around Dean then came to a stop - and watched his wake cause problems....... Grrrr!
There were 2 people on this jet ski and they were pulling a little kid on one of those donut things. Why do they allow people like this to be parents? Or the parents allow this . OK - off the soapbox and ending this post. Y'all take care of the kidlets.

The 2nd Summer Vacation..........

2008-07-25T19:02:00.001-07:00

I'm back again......... Been a long, but good week (OK - more than a week, Becki......) Jim and Janet arrived on Sunday, the 13th and we were lucky that Gary was on a layover in Redmond, so he and Nikki came out for dinner. So, I had (wanted....) to take a 3 generation picture. Nikki is almost 16 and is a pretty neat girl! We're sorry that Teresa couldn't join us because of a previous commitment, but looking forward to their next trip through town. Monday morning, we packed up and went up to Elk Lake. Found a good campsite at a small campground and pretty much had the place to ourselves. Except for Tuesday night when a band of partiers decided to invade. They showed up around 11 and had a good time till about 3 AM. Dean was so tired he slept through it all, but the rest of us were trying everything including covering our heads with pillows and stuffing cotton in our ears. Nothing helped! The next morning, the campground people came through and filled 2 large trash bags with cans and bottles. Arrrggghhhh!! But that was the only "rain on our parade", thank goodness. The mosquitoes were not even that bad.
Roasting peppers on the campfire - veggie packets on the coals. Yummmm!
Little Miss "I'm afraid of water" Abby had a pretty good time, too. She likes to wade and try to drink the lake dry, but anything past her belly is a no-no. Dean coaxed her into his kayak and, though he has some scars from her nails, she was pretty proud of herself!
Way out there in the lake!
She is smiling
Janet and I kayaked every day. In the background (Neecer) is South Sister. Janet is paddling toward the Elk Lake Resort where we tied up next to the sailboats and read for a while, then went "ashore" and got an ice cream cone. Ahhh, the life!Stretching out and getting the feet tanned.
The guys spent their time fishing, but the results were not too encouraging. They did take a pretty good sized fish home for their neighbors. All in all, a VERY relaxing trip. More in the next post.

What We Did On Our First Summer Vacation

2008-07-09T17:34:00.000-07:00

My, oh, my! Has it been a long time, or what!
Well, I have a BUNCH of catching up to do, don't I?
The last time I blogged, we were going to be taking off for Moscow. This is a photos from the trip up - the rolling wheat fields of the Palouse region in Washington. Beautiful at this (or any!) time of year. Some of the fields has been cut, but most not. It was a nice and uneventful trip up.
We connected with friends, Gordy and Faye, and got set up in the "RV park" (ing area....). It was a gravel area next to the road going in to the real parking area at the Kibbie Dome at the U of Idaho. They stuck us waaayyyy out in the hinterlands. But it was a nice (long) walk back and forth to sessions 2 or 3 times a day. The biggest reason I was there was to represent NHTS at the ministry fair. There were 60 - 70 tables set up for everything from individual churches, to an orphanage mission in Africa, to Reconciling Ministries. Lots to see.
Conference was good - legislative and informational sessions, worship services, honoring retirees, and saying goodbye to the Bishop who is moving on - and up - in the organization. He will be missed - what a great guy.
After closing session on Friday, we headed out for Wallowa Lake. Gordy and Faye went to Coeur d' Alene, Idaho to watch their son participate in the Iron Man. The road from Clarkston south - the ONLY road without going 100-200 miles out of your way - wasn't exactly designed for RV travel!! Miles and miles of switchbacks up 1500' in elevation, then down, then up..... you get the idea. Because we weren't making very good time, we decided to stop for the night rather than go all the way. There was a quaint little state park on one of the upper elevations, so we stopped there. The campground host told me about a nice trail to Puffer Butte, so the next morning, Abby and I took a "little" walk. Very nice trail. Here is an animal habitat tree that I came across.
At the top, you could see forever! The photos below actually make a panorama - try and use your imagination........
The area gets a lot of snow - the trails are marked for cross country skiing. The hosts said they had to shovel out their campsite just a few weeks previous. This is a Forest Service shelter, complete with a wood burning stove and lots of firewood.
Going down the other side, I was able to take a photo showing a little bit how the road was. Dean said there were corners that you could read your own license plate.
When we got to Wallowa Lake, we worked on building a cabin for our retired minister. Rather than double post all the photos, you can here to see what we did. The reason that I hadn't updated this blog is because it took me over a week to put together that blog! It was fun, though. I hope people leep checking it because I hope to have more photos, and we are planning on going back this summer to do some more work.

Before we left for Moscow and Wallowa Lake, Jim and Janet came over for a week of R & R. We appreciate them coming because it keeps us from overextending ourselves (and our bodies....) like we usually do. The R & R is for us! We did finish up the garden and watering system while they were here, though.
Jim knows that I am not much on desserts and he had a sweet tooth, so - he baked a cake! Luckily, I had all the ingredients on hand.
Janet had to help, of course.Well, Dean helped, too - cleaning the beaters!Janet is helping again........The finished product - was VERY yummy!!!!!!Janet got to see the full row of irises in bloom. They were gorgeous this year. This is a volunteer in the back by the garden. Does anyone have any idea what it is?
These are some of the cactus in back, just beginning to bloom.
These are in front - some of the ones we brought back from Nevada last year.Remember this plant from the June 2nd post? (I would link to it, but I haven't learned how to link to my own post, yet....)

We have been having off and on smoke from the fires in N. California. This was one of the bad days when we could small it, too. Our mountains are gone! The smoke was actually worse than when they had the fires up by Sisters.And this is what Dean has been doing. He has been trying to get out there in the morning before it gets too hot. Bill had been bringing pickup loads of firewood back from along the road on his job in the valley, and we had to get it cut and stacked. There is now quite a bit of wood for this winter. We still want to get out and get more so we can keep a year ahead. Only problem is - where to put it!So, that kinda catches us up. Jim and Janet are coming this weekend for the big fishing trip to the high lakes - now that we can get to them. They sure were late becoming accessible this year! I will try to post again before we go, but if not, you can look forward (?) to lots of photos when we return. Special thanks to Nora and Neecer for giving me kudos, and to Em for the love! I shall return! Again!

Hiatus

2008-06-16T15:17:00.000-07:00

Yes, folks, due to lack of reader(s), the blog will be not updated for the next week or 2.
Actually, though, we will be out of town - first to the Pacific Northwest District Annual Conference for our church in Moscow (Id) and then to Wallowa Lake where we'll be helping to construct a cabin for our retiring pastor. We look forward to being away because we can catch up on a little reading, kayaking, fishing (Dean), and general loafing. Our garden is just now coming along nicely, though, so that part will be difficult.
Be on the lookout for photos and trip details when we return, however.
Y'all enjoy the weather, K?
Till we meet again...............

I'm Sad.......

2008-06-13T18:47:00.000-07:00

Because no one has commented on my "B" Day post :(
I have this video (courtesy of Kelly's blog and U Tube) which is quite interesting.
Comments?

It's a "B" Day in Bend

2008-06-09T13:23:00.000-07:00

Friends J & J are here for a week and Janet and I got up VERY early so we could be in Bend for the "Balloons Over Bend" lift off at 6:30 (AM). We joined a hundred or so other early risers (most of whom probably didn't have to leave home at 5:30) on a cold (Janet had to scrape frost from the car windows....) morning on a grade school field to watch 4 balloons take off. They were filling this one when we arrived.
Beautiful blue sky was the background for the colorful Balloons.
This lady brought her 3 rescue greyhounds - they were all shaking because they were so cold.
Lift off for one of the balloons
We followed this one to where it landed - turned out to be not a great location, so they lifted off again and presumably found a better spot. We decided to go to breakfast instead of following them.
Breakfast was at the famous Jake's in Bend. We split an omelet that was soooo good (and soooo HUGE) that I forgot to take a photo until there was just an empty plate. After Breakfast, we walked the trail to the top of Pilot Butte, a landmark in Bend. The nature trail winds around the Butte with interpretive markers along the way and occasional benches from which to enjoy the view. Janet insisted on having one photo with me in it, so here I am. Mt Jefferson is in the background.
Looking west towards downtown and the Cascade Range. From right to left the major peaks you can see are - North Sister, Middle Sister, South Sister, Broken Top, and the well known Mount Bachelor. Still plenty of snow on "them thar" hills in June. Our weather has been a bit peculiar, as has everyone's, I think. Today, however, was a bare arm day (and would have been a bare leg day, too, if we hadn't had to leave home at 5:30 AM when it was still burrrrr freezing out!)Janet with the peak name finder display. We're so glad that Pilot Butte isn't covered with Mc Mansions like most of the other hills around the area. (He who builds on the highest hill wins.......) Looking South from the Butte - one of the many, many "round-abouts" that the city has become fond of. The best thing about them, though, is the large art installations in the center of most - all is very creative - some very wonderful - some not so much.....From the Butte, we went to Costco, which is only a few blocks away, to stock up on a few things. While there - we bought bathing suits, but I think we're both going to return them. Then, to the Balloons Over Bend Festival in the Old Mill District. Mostly, it was children's activities and a few commercial booths, but the highlight for us was the chalk sidewalk art on the foot bridge over the Deschutes River. Here are a few examples. This first one is similar to the realistic 3 dimensional looking chalk art circulating on the internet. These people were freshening up theirs because people had walked on it the previous evening.And, of course, I had to take a photo of the Peace Sign., Denise!The ducks and the kayakers share the river. Made us want to go home a get the boats!
The Old Mill District is a mostly posh shopping mall now, but it used to be the lumber mill which was the major employer in the city. They have kept some of the "artifacts" from the mill. The city of Bend has at least doubled in population in the last 10 years. With the population has come the shopping, of course. And the Mc Mansions.................. After we browsed in the posh shops (where I did purchase some unique Barbecue sauce), we went to Goodwill where I bought some bargain books and a blouse and Janet scored on a Donney and Bourke bag (purse)! Then we headed to the Deschutes Brewery on Bond Street for lunch, preceeded, of course, by a taster of brew. We tasted, on this day, the following Brews: Cinder Cone Red, Twilight Ale, Down and Dirty, NW Pale, Chocolate Porter, and Virgilator. We later had a glass of Nitro Obsidian Stout and filled the special Deschutes Growler with 60 oz of Virgilator to bring home.
Oh, yes, we also ate a couple of really good salads..................mine had a Balsalmic dressingHaving had some of the high octane Virgilator and Stout, we decided to take a walk and wandered over to Drake Park at Mirror Pond on the Deschutes near Brooks Street. This couple was feeding the ducks and gave me a piece of bread, so I fed them, too.
These people were doing hula hoop exercises (?) in the park to music! Wish I had a video camera because they were quite good!Looking back toward Brooks Street and downtown.
Looking west - nice homes are on the "pond" - like 1 mil and up. But they have to deal with the duck, goose and other bird poop!Pretty yellow plants - clinging to the rock walls on the walkway along the river
By now, we were winding down - time to head home and spoil ourselves with some balneotherapy (the medical practice of treatment by immersion in baths). In other words - we went out and soaked in the hut tub! Believe it or not, we both got a little sunburn, even though it was after 4:00 in the afternoon. Not long after we came in, the guys showed up from their fishing expedition to Prineville Reservoir. We fixed some dinner, then 3 of us (not Jim......) played some board games. Pretty soon, we were all ready for BED!

WARNING!! - Another Soapbox Post

2008-06-03T20:15:00.000-07:00

Another blog buddy, Lori, has posted about her son. Read it, friends, and try to tell me that this is not a family! Lori writes some of the most heart wrenching posts. They get me all teary-eyed.
She also writes some that have me rolling on the floor.
I get so irritated when people say that a mother and a father are required to raise a child properly. Baloney!
As many arguments as I have with the UMC, they did this one right:
"UMC has made the following statement (altering Paragraph 161 A for those following in their program) “The family: We believe the family to be the basic human community through which persons are nurtured and sustained in mutual love, responsibility, respect and fidelity. We affirm the importance of loving parents for all children. We also understand the family as encompassing a wider range of options than that of the two-generational unit of parents and children (the nuclear family)" Thanks to Bruce Smith for this. It is June - Pride Month - so I am on a roll. I guess if you don't like it, don't read me for a month. Maybe. Or maybe I am finding my voice with this blog and you're not going to be reading just gardening posts........ Your comments?

Lots of stuff - WARNING - photo heavy post ahead!

2008-06-02T20:06:00.001-07:00

Blog friend Kelly shot this photo for Pride Month and I am posting it in honor of him and all my other GLBTQ friends. I truly believe it is no longer a big uphill battle like it has been in the past and that we as a people are on the verge of a fair and "all are created equal" society. I have hope (confidence?) that the young people of today are much more understanding of our differences through the efforts of groups like Gay Students Alliance. Even a small, "red" community like mine has a GSA in the high schools. (Although the school where I used to work in a much larger and "blue" area still refuse to call it GSA in public......) I realize that many may not admit it, but we are more closely following the teachings of Jesus - treating all fairly and justly.
Micah 6:8 -
And what does the LORD require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy
and to walk humbly with your God.
Pretty simple, huh! Why can't we all just get along? I think it is coming, folks. Just a few more months and it begins.
OK - off the soapbox and on to the garden. I have been pulling the cheatgrass out of the cactus - now that is a job! My big heavy leather work gloves aren't even up to the task.
I did get it out of the Mules Ears, though! I decided to take photos of the plants which we have been gifted from others. The Mules Ears came from friend Linda who got them from friend Sharon in Selah, Wa. when she (Linda) was here summer before last.
Sharon is an herbalist who grows comfrey as one of the ingredients in her healing salves. I can vouch for them as I used her Epi-Soothe when I was undergoing radiation treatments and did not get ANY burn! It was wonderful! Below is some of the comfrey which came from Sharon's garden. I'm sure that it has special healing properties. We have divided it several times since we got it 2 summers ago and hope to have it eventually cover this hillside. The hummingbirds were tasting the nectar this morning. In the photo below, Dean is planting our new weeping willow tree. Below is some ribbon grass which has a pretty long history. 4 - 5- -6 - - well, some years ago, friend Linda was moving from her place in Selah to the midwest and we got some of this grass and put it in a pile in our garden in Vancouver. The next year, Dean divided it up and planted it in a neglected area in our front yard. That summer, it spread out and made the area look pretty good. When we moved, we brought a shovelful and put it in some dirt on our place.
Then it was transplanted to this spot on the hillside in the back. Dean spent a few hours this week dividing it again and planting it in the area where the soaker hose is in the photo below. I will post photos later of the new planting. The idea is for it to stabilize this hillside and I'm sure that it will in the not too distant future!
The irises came from various places - some from neighbor, Joyce, some from the garden club here on the ranch. Also in this photo is one of the bird nesting boxes that I built. Someone moved into this one but has since abandoned it. Dean took his new weed eater (the mower type) and cut all the cheatgrass and other weeds from the area around the septic drainfield, which is in the middleground of the photo. This day, the mountains weren't visible - rare day!
Some of the broccoli - doing well, I would say.......One of the cabbage plants has a varmint, I think, though. Something is feasting on it. I haven't found the thing yet, but there was a garter snake in there yesterday and a lizard today, so I hope one of them had a feast on the troublesome thing!
The peas are doing okOn to the front yard. The plant in the foreground - that I can't remember the name of but I call it Achilles heel - sounds kinda like that - it's going bananas this year. The deer munched on it in years past, so it didn't get very large - but this year..........
Frank (aka St Francis...) is guarding over the area and the birds get to eat out of his hand when I remember to put seed out there......) The iris in this area all came from neighbor Joyce's cullings.
The curly willow is from cuttings from the cuttings that we planted in Vancouver. So, they are at least 3rd generation and we have 4th generation branches in water taking root for later plantings.
These various kinds of cactus are from someplace in Nevada from our trip winter before last. The rocks, also.
This (Snow on the Mountain? Snow in the Summer? I always get it mixed up...) is from Janet's garden in Battle Ground before they moved. They came from her mother's garden in Deadwood, South Dakota many years ago. Isn't it wonderful how plants just adapt to whatever condition they are in? Wouldn't it be nice if humans could do the same? Oh, there I go - onto the soapbox again!!!
Many blessings on your days, my friends!

It's Looking and Sounding Like a Bird Refuge!

2008-05-29T10:52:00.000-07:00

Dean has been feeding the birds and they seem to like it A LOT! This is right off the deck in the back of the house. The finches like the black sunflower seed better than the niger thistle, though........And do they ever sing for us. This little guy (girl?) went on for the longest time.
This one and it's mate were chasing each other along the fence - I tried to get both of them, but shooting out of Dean's office window has its limitations..........A while back, I made a bunch of bluebird houses - with Dean's help, of course. We saw bluebirds last year, but none so far this year. The bluebirds like small holes, according to what I've read - 1 1/4" diameter. Dean enlarged the holes on some of the houses, but not this one. This bird kept trying and trying to get its chubby little body through that small hole
And finally managed to get in. I was worried that the mommy bird wouldn't be able to go in and out very easily, so Dean went down and enlarged the hole on this one, too. The birds came back to the house, so they weren't too bothered by the activity.
This house is just outside Dean's "office" (computer room.....) and I've been taking pictures out the window. This looks like the bird is on its back? Not sure - interesting position anyway
Here is the pair - one on top of their house, one putting grasses inside. I'm sure that the one on top is telling the other one how to put the grass in correctly
It's been raining the past few days and I'm liking it. We got .30 in the last day - we need it. Dean contributes to a program that documents rain in micro climates. Every morning, he reads the amount and enters it into a website database along with general comments about the weather. He is enjoying it and I like knowing the weather history. The newspapers and television weather generally report for Redmond or Bend, but our information out here is usually quite different. We are generally warmer in the winter and get less rain/snow. Right now, Bend has just over 2" of rain for the calendar year - normal for this time is over 5".