It Hasn't Even Been a Week!!!

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..........

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.

It's a "B" Day in Bend

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!

Back to Routine - Walks

Yup, it's back to the morning walks and this mornings was an adventure! Took a different trail today, up river (Deschutes) toward Steelhead Falls, then up a game trail to the top. In the photo below, the falls are around the bend at the left.
This is looking back towards the way we came along the river. Pretty, even though the sky is a bit gray.
We took both dogs and they were acting kinda strange - especially Bentley. We decided that she missed having Bill on her walk. She kept running off and being a Beagle, that means nose to the ground ignoring everything else. She would run off, then Joyce would put her on the leash for a while and she would be fine again for a little bit, then run off again. After we got up on top of the ridge and headed down the other side (in the area of "Earl") Bentley took off again and next thing we knew, she was on the other side of the draw - a long long ways away. Joyce called her, but she was headed down a path with her nose down and running like crazy and letting out little yelps as she went. We kept calling and she kept on running. We went down the hill and up the other side calling for her and when we got on top of the next ridge, we split up to look for her. After probably 20 - 30 minutes, Joyce found her. She (Bentley) didn't seem to be too concerned except she knew it was time to be leashed again. Off we headed towards home - a 2 hour "walk" in for the day. Got my exercise!

In honour of St Patrick's Day,

"Those who drink to forget, please pay in advance."
- Sign at the Hibernian Bar, Cork City.
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"Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar, and fat."
Alex Levine
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"When anyone asks me about the Irish character, I say look at the trees. Maimed, stark and misshapen, but ferociously tenacious."
Edna O'Brien
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And a Blessing for your day:
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May God grant you always...
A sunbeam to warm you,
A moonbeam to charm you,
A sheltering angel, so nothing can harm you.
Laughter to cheer you,
Faithful friends near you.
And whenever you pray,
Heaven to hear you.