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

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?

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.