Raining cats and dogs...

cd

One of the things that most people think about when talking about Washington state is the rain. We have Rain forests, where the rain falls equal more than 150" a year. We never use umbrellas, They just get blown inside out in the wind. We always know exactly where our sunglasses are, because when the sun DOES break through, it is blinding.

We have been so very fortunate, (or not) to have just gone through the driest summer on record. We had very little rain from May through Sept. However it is now October, and man do we have RAIN! It has not stopped in a week! It has rained and rained. We need it though. Our reservoirs are very low. We also need the snow pack in the mountains to keep those reservoirs and lakes full during the next dry spell.

I was very worried about the critters being able to get enough water, as there are no creeks, puddles or lakes around here, just the sound, and it is salt water. SO all summer long, I have kept the birdbaths full. I have tow of them with a board between the two for the squirrels to perch on. Now the bird baths are overflowing, so I guess I need not worry any more.

this morning I heard the very distinctive EEK, EEK, chu chu chu EEK, coming from the alders, which means that the grey squirrels were heading down from the canopy. They are a very social animal, unlike Lola, the Douglas Squirrels, who are very territorial. The grey ones made their way in a train like fashion, down the trees, along the fence top and up into the feeders. 2 young ones and an older one. The young ones are skitterish yet, but the older one knows that when the door knob turns, it means Sadie is loose, so she yells, and runs, and the little ones run up a tree and hide. Sadie was sitting in the window just quivering at them. Tough!

the rain has not curtailed the critters, in fact if anything, they have increased. Maybe they know something we don't. Maybe We ought to take heed and store up for the coming winter. Sposed to be warm and wet, but the way these guys are scarfing it all down, I'm putting my money on COLD and dry! Well maybe...

Technology...

I bought a new printer last month. An HP photosmart 3150, and it is an all in one, scanner, copier, printer. It really is nice, the printing is crisp and the photos are really sharp. BUT the stupid thing SUCKS down a color cartridge in 1 day!! I printed out 36 pictures 3X5 and it is almost 3/4 gone! It was brand new yesterday! My Photoshop 1000 was great too, but I could print forever with one cartridge. COst me 59.00 a shot but It would last. THese are teeny tiny little things, and only cost 21.00 but if it only prints 36-40 pictures, it aint worth it! My other one had over 20,000 pages through it, and the rollers were getting worn out. I had to push the paper into it to get it going. Still works though, may go back to it.

I notice that blogger is really pushing its new version of beta blogger. Has anyone out there tried it? I read it all, and they said if you convert, you cant go back, and I am not sure it will take haloscan. I like my haloscan, I like Blogger, and if they would just get the one they have to work correctly all the time, and take jpeg files like FTP, then it would be perfect! ah well. Let me know what you think if you have tried it.

I stayed in bed until almost noon today. I went to bed early last night, and could not sleep, so I laid there and read, laying on my stomach. My back did not hurt as long as I did not move. I finally fell asleep around 330 AM. Bob said he came in at 845 and Sadie and I were both snoring so loud, that he didnt want to wake us up. Turd did not even make a pot of coffee for me either!

He finally has his stove in and working, but now he is trying to figure out how to build the fires for the different jobs he needs it to do. Cook, heat soup, warm the house, bake biscuits, use the wok, etc. So since he is working with this new toy, I will probably not see him for the rest of the winter. He is worse than Rube Goldberg! comes in handy at times though.

Well the trash is at the road, for the first time in three weeks, (I keep forgetting), the floors are swept, the rugs are vaccumed, The kitchen is fairly clean, SO tomorrow I can do fun stuff. I took on the responsibility of making the kids program scrapbook, so I have to put Alladin in it, then I will be done until Christmas. I still have SHerry's scrapbook to do, but it is really hard when you dont know the people. I will leave her lots of room to put in her own journaling.

I need to go see Tim, probably the weekend of the 28-29! He is on bedrest right now as He got bit by a nasty spider, and his knee is all messed up. Poor baby!

Simpler Times...

In doing the play OUR TOWN, we thought we could put it on fast and cheap, as there is very limited scenery, and all the props are imaginary. The story itself is a plain and simple story of life in a gentler time, life in a small town in upstate New Hampshire, in 1901.





It starts out with a man called THE STAGE MANAGER, walking on stage and telling us to use our imagination and see the town as it is laid out, with the drug store over here, and the bank and post office over here, and the jail and the library over here. Then he takes us down stage, and asks us to imagine the Gibbs’ house and garden with Julia Gibbs’ heliotropes giving off their strong aroma. And then Editor Webb’s house with his wife’s garden just like Julia’s but with sunflowers instead.

The factory whistle blows, and the school bell rings and the kids all run to school before the 2nd bell. The Train whistle blows to let us know that the train is on time. The milkman comes through carrying his imaginary milk bottles, and leading his imaginary horse, 17 yr old Bessie, who wants to keep stopping at the Carter’s, even though they quit taking milk.

The Town Constable does his early morning walk through town, and his late night walk to assure all is well, the Newsboy delivers his imaginary papers, and the Doc delivers twins across the imaginary tracks to an imaginary family in Polish town.




THE costumes are real, the people are real, and before the 1st act is even underway, your mind has taken you there, and the props are all real, the French toast is real, and you can smell the heliotropes and Lilacs blooming. Life was simpler then, There was no Television, no electricity, no telephones, very very few fords, and lots and lots of LIFE!

I sit in the light booth every night running the light cues, while Judy runs all of the Sound cues. We bring that town to life. So much so in fact, that I really put myself right into the story. I start thinking back to when Life was so much simpler for me. Back when I played outside every day, rain or shine. We would play red light green light, until way after dark; we would play Simon Says, Red Rover, Red Rover send Sally right Over, and we would ride our bikes until the tires wore out!



We came in for Supper every night, and sometimes we could go back out to play, but mostly we would play games or listen to the radio until 8:00 which was bedtime. I am not going to tell you that we woke up every morning to a home cooked breakfast, not with our Mother! We would get our own cereal and get our selves off to the bus stop, where we would wait for the school bus to stop and load both high school and grade school children in for the ride into town.

The second act is all about falling in love and marrying, and during one scene Julia and Doc Gibbs are talking and Doc remembers his wedding day, when he saw Julia for the very first time in his life. Julia said it was awful for her too. Mrs. Webb, then tells about crying while thinking about Emily getting married and what she did not know yet, and how innocent they all were, and how awful it was to put our daughters through this ritual.



Imagine, not knowing what was going to happen on your wedding night, and imagine not even KNOWING your husband! Times really have changed, as now days, most couples have actually LIVED together for a few years before they married.




When I first came to Oak Harbor, the population was under 3000, and now it is closer to 45000! We had Parks, and schools and Churches and the Farmers co-op, and a bus station, and three cafes, and an ice cream parlor. We had a jewelry store, and a pawn shop, and two groceries and not much else. Today we have the typical electronic Menu up and down the high way, with both a K-mart and a Wal-mat, a Home- Depot and 4 big box grocery stores. Not to mention all the strip malls and businesses, and car lots! Times really have changed, and not always for the better.

I liked living in a small town where everyone knew everyone, and looked out for each other. There was not much in the way of crime, a few drunks and the local bad boys, that’s it.

The play ends in the Cemetery where life is chronicled on the tombstones, and the Dead all help each other cope with the newness of being no longer alive, and watching their loved ones grieve over them. They have no emotions, and look at the stars and wonder at the beauty of them. No more sorrow, no more joy, just stars. And memories.

You all need to see it!

stuff and such...

WHEEE! WHat a week this is....I have lights to finish, bios to write, lobby wall to decorate, lawn to mow, bulbs to plant,(if Bob ever comes back to finish the bed), a floor to clean, a poster to compose, letters to write, bills to pay, laundry to do, a Day long Dr.s appt. and a son that I should visit.

When can I breathe? The lights are taking more time than I thought they would, as I keep trying different effects to acheive the look on stage that I need. THere is no scenery or props, so all of the DRAMA needs to be done with the lights. I need to go in 2 hours early today to try and get them ready for tonight. We have our first audience, FAMILY night, which is the free show for all the family members of the cast. And we open on Friday night. (BIG SIGH)

One of the bad things about an Off season show is that where you would usually have 6 weeks on stage to finalize everything, we have 7 days! We will make it though, and then I will relax and get through Christmas, and the holidays, and staagain in March when We audition for FOREVER PLAID!

I have been so busy, that I have not had time to watch all the shows that I am recording with my DVR. Cool gadget, but when do I fit it in? I suppose I could watch it between 2 AM and 6 AM huh?

I have also been so pre-occupied that I have totally forgotten to write to my son! I promised him I would write him 2 times a week. and I have not! (not that I am getting many letters either though) I need to go visit him, but I cant until the show closes on Oct 21. So maybe on the last weekend of the month I can take a day and go over.

THe weather has been GORGEOUS this week. COLD at night, and foggy in the morning then up into the high 60's low 70's during the day. S'Posed to stay this way for another week or so. A real Indian Summer! I still need to get over the top and buy a case or two of apples for apple sauce.

So if I am absent for a few days, me time to get things done around here and I will be back blog walking real soon.

Pissed Mommie...

So I am getting ready to go to the playhouse and work on lights, and Lint decides that he wants to play "let me out". This game consists of Lint going to the front door and screaming, so I get up to the door and he runs away, this goes on for two or three times.

Finally I am trying to get Sadie ready to go bye-bye, gather up my gear and slip on my shoes when he wants out again. I told him to wait just a minute. He goes to the door and yells and then runs under the desk.

I get everything ready, and reach down for my purse beside my desk and I notice a puddle. I wiped it up and chewed Sadie out, really chewed her out, because she has not done that in a LOOOOONG time. I grab my purse, and open the door, and Lint damn near knocks me over getting out.

I get everything in the car and drive on in to Oak Harbor. I stopped at the COffee drive thru and order a cup of coffee and a cookie, reach into my purse for my wallet, and right into a purse full of cat pee!!!! THe ASSHOLE BASTARD backed up to my purse and proceeded to fill it with piss, just because I told him to wait 30 seconds.

I pulled out a dripping 5 dollar bill, paid for my coffee and proceeded on my way to the playhouse. When I got home, I took everything out of my purse, and what I could wash off with lysol, I did, and then I threw the purse still fully usable, into the garbage!

I paid my mortgage payment with the last two soaking wet checks in the checkbook.

Sometimes there are no words...

Shine on Harvest Moon...

Last night, The moon was shining big and bright as it came over the alders and lit up the back yard. I had just let Sadie out for her before bed pottie, and decided that wsince it was so still and cold, I would just stand on the deck and drink it all in.

Sadie was lost behind the peach tree, so I was loving the sight of the moon. I started singing, "Shine on , Shine on HArvest Moon, up in the sky" and so did Sadie. I just laughed and sang at the top of my lungs while she did the same. I knew the young family next door was gone, and Lea is dead and her house is empty now, so I seranaded the critters in the woods. Sadie is getting real good at singing with Mommie! She sticks her little nose straight up in the air and puckers her little mouth and howls like crazy! I love it! It is soooo funny!!!

I am just very glad the neighbors were gone, I know they think I am a tad bit strange anyway, and this would have just suitcased it!

THe moon sure was pretty though. THen the clouds came in and about 400 AM the moon was shining through the clouds and had a ring around it. I know it was getting cold, SO I shined my flashlight at the thermometer on the bird feeder, and it was already at 38 degrees! Time to start thinking about bringing in the wood for a fire. And also start thinking about putting the electric blanket back on the bed.

I do love cold crisp clear nights! ahhhhhhh! you can breathe so easy!

Our Town keeps me busy...

emily

Well I am back in the saddle, at least for a month or so. I have been very busy setting lights and doing cues for the play. Yesterday I spent almost 12 hours at the Plyahouse, all the while with strep Throat! I dont have time to be sick

Emily Webb is a young woman who lives next door to George Gibbs, and through the first Act, they are falling in Love, The second act they Marry, and this is a picture during Act 3, where Emily has died during childbirth, and she is at the graveyard, talking to her dead relatives, and trying to understand why she has to be there.

Candice Baker is playing the Part of Emily, and she is only 16, but does it so convincingly! She has been on stage since she was tiny, and now is able to hold a starring role all on her own!


fil

Fil Baca plays the part of the Stage Manager who talks the audience through the whole story, using their imaginations. It is a wonderful story, and Fil is a wonderful actor in the part! He also played Capt. Qweeg in my last play, Caine Mutiny COurt Martial.

So if you do not see me for awhile, come on down to the playhouse, and see the play, and look up in the light booth, I will be there setting cues, arranging things and trying oh so hard not to give in to this damn sore throat.

Update on "Flax"

Several of you know and read Carolyns blog AKA Flax...Well January was the last entry and I sent her several emails and FINALLY got a reply. She has said that I can post it here for everyone who knows her to read. She may come back to blogging soon.


Oh, my sweet Mary Lou You are a dear, dear friend.

There have been a lot of things going on around here so my absence has been caused by a combination of issues. First of all, I am still having problems with my back. The medications the neurologist has given me cause problems of their own. If I take a high enouse dose of Neurontin to control the pain, it affects my concentration and I have no desire to do anything that I once enjoyed. They've tried Lyrica which caused shortness of breath and heart paplitations.

I suppose it goes without saying that I've had a bad case of depression going on because of all of this. My family physician prescribed Lexapro for depression and it worked pretty good except for the fact that I was still in pain.

My neurologist took me off the Lexapro and gave me a prescription for Cymbalta. Thus far, I'm still depressed and I'm still hurting. So..... life goes on.

As for mother, she is still healthy except for pain in her knees. However, her mental condition continues to deteriorate. Her short term memory gets shorter and shorter day by day. A memory of anything that has just happened lasts no longer than 3 to 5 minutes. The questions are constant and I always know what a converation with mother will consist of before we start the conversation.

A recent development in mother's mental condition has me very concerned. She has begun to see children or a child in her home. She frequently asks, "Where is that child I was keeping today"? I know that she is halucinating and it's just another sign of her continued deterioration.

I still handle mother very well but I know that I am sufferng from it. I allow her to do the activities she can still do and I answer her question all day and way into the night without getting irritated. I simply can't get irritated with my mother. She can't help the way she is. But it's not easy.

My sleep schedule is all messed up and I tend to sleep late in the mornings after a late-night session with mom. I take frequent naps during the day either due to exhaustion, depression or from the effect of the medications.

Blah, blah, blah, blah..... I could write a book.

On a happier note, we found a little stray kitten back in May. She was about 5 weeks old and had a terrible eye infection. I took her straight to my veterinarian and started treating the eye infection. However, after the infection cleared, she was left with a lot of scar tissue on her eyes and is partially blind. Nevertheless, that little kitten has worked her way right into my heart. It has been amazing to watch as she learned to get around inside my house. I am convinced that she has some limited sight. After a few near-mishaps, she can now jump up on the couch, run across the back and jump back down just like an ordinary cat.

I named the kitten "Bren" (short for Brenda) and since I am her constant companion she is really smart. A couple of my other cats have helped to socialize Bren into the cat world but most of her socilization into the animal world has been accomplished by our little dog, Sadie - a lab mix. I have spent a lot of time watching those two interact with each other. Sadie allows Bren to jump on her face and bite and scratch but once Sadie has had enough, Sadie will hold Bren down with one big paw and thoroughly wash Bren with her big, soft tongue. *smile*

Another big change in our lives is that fact that my husband's employer moved from Montgomery (a 30 minute trip to work) to Birmingham, Alabama (over a 2 hour trip to work). As an incentive to keep Rick with the company, the company pays the cost of a motel room so he won't have to travel to and from work. Rick leaves on Monday mornings at 3:30 a.m. and I don't see him again until Friday night. Although we talk on the phone and on the Nextel every day, it's not like having him here.

I hope to get back to blogging sometime soon. I just don't seem to have much good to say lately and I don't want a blog full of my moans and groans.

It's 2:00 a.m. and I've done it again. I've stayed up too late but my hips and legs are aching so bad right now, I doubt I could sleep.

Yes, you can post my email and let everyone know I'm still alive. *smile*

Your remedy for easing your pain sounds pretty good. tub. I hadn't thought of trying an epsom salt bath. I'll try that tomorrow night.

I'm going to confer with my family physician regarding the medication my neurologist gave me for depression/pain. It doesn't seem to be working every well. I'm still depressed and the pain hasn't improved. The Lexapro my family physician prescribed earlier seemed to help more with the depression.

By the way, I'm not scoffing at the things mother has begun to see. Maybe her mind is working on a different level and she IS able to see others that exist on a "higher" plane. Interesting, isn't it?

I am so sorry to hear about Chitters. I love all my critters and it always hurts when I lose one. The three mice are due to see the vet this week. Quinn, one of the white mice, is still "king of the running wheel." Miss Twitters, the other white mouse, takes over as soon as Quinn wears himself out. Miss Twitters has developed an abscess behind her right, front paw and should have seen the vet late last week. However, the only vet in this area who handles "pocket pets" has been out of town and is due to return tomorrow.

As for Mr. Pipps, he is his charming self. If I don't spend some playtime with him almost daily, he can get a bit testy. Since he is not a domesticated mouse, he can deliver a nasty bite when he feels he's not being treated fairly. But I've learned how to handle those occasional bites. First of all, don't jerk your finger back. I've learned that by taking the bite without jerking my finger results in just a pinch instead of a full-blown bite. He is still my sweetie and I do enjoy playing with him.

Bren, the little blind kitten is due to see the vet again soon. I hope the eye drops have helped to reduce some of the scar tissue caused by that terrible infection.

By the way, I took the dogs, Ashley (a Belgium Malinois) and Sadie (a Lab mix) for their nightly walk a while ago. Sadie surprised the big, fat o'possum who has been gobbling up all of the cat food lately. Oh Heck!!! I really don't mind the possum. I'll feed him too. *grin*

Mom had a pretty good day today until about 5:00 p.m. She kept wanting to ask me a question and each time, she forgot the question before she could ask it. I've had to tell her numerous times that I've talked to my sisters and they are all doing fine and I've had to tell her many times what day it is -- and the list goes on and on. But all in all, I'm blessed. Mother's condition could be much worst. I must learn to recognize when I'm being blessed.

Love to all
"Flax"

Foggy Day...AGAIN

Friday as I left the house to go into Oak Harbor, I passed the road that goes the backway along the beach, and instead of going Uphill towards the highway I turned sharply to the right as I saw that a fog bank was forming, and the pictures would or COULD be spectacular.



Can you imagine being on a ship in the middle of the strait, depending on the numerous lighthouses to keep you off the rocks, and seeing them all fogged in. We do have backups with horns though.




You can see off to the right how the fog was coming in off the water and crawling up off the land. You can be driving along in full sun and WHAM!! you are in the thick dark grey fog and can not see!



More fog kinda of creeps you out looking up from the beach at this 160 yr old house. This was one of the first ones built by the white man in Washington. And the owner, Isaac Ebey, lost his head to the indians here.

spooky!



This is the same house from up the hill on the prairie, this house was used in the film "Snow Falling On Cedars" GREAT movie!

I LOVE the fog! it shows so many different aspects of the same scene. When You see this house in the sun light, it looks so harmless, but when the crops are gone and the fields are overgrown, and the fog is swirling, it is really CREEPY!

A Keewee Lunch...

I met Keewee for Luch today, and it is the first time we had actually seen each other. We have talked on the phone several times, but never actually met.

One of the questions I like to ask new people is "how did you find my blog?" She found me through GINCO LEAVES. Now how did Ginco find me? I have no clue. I saw keewee in my comments, and checked out her blog and found out she lives right over there ^^^^! I thought Phyllis and I were the only Bloggers on Whidbey because every time I mention blogging people look at me like WHA...?

Any Way Keewee is from New Zealand, and has been here for about 14+ years. (I forgot how long!) Her entire family is still there, but her heart is here and so is she.

GincoLeaves is from South Africa, now, maybe she knows WIndspirit and Vanessa. I love to know how people found me.

Last night I was googling Harvest Moon or something similar, and the #1 hit was LIFE AFTER NEXCOM mentioning both Phyllis and myself. ????? It is so strange how searches go.

Keewee and DIck And Phyllis and I are going to have to all meet for lunch, coffee, tea, or just for fun real soon.

How did you find my blog? All you non-blog writers lurking out there, How did YOU find me? Carla, Mary Lou/Tx and the others...I'm sure curious.

Blogging is such a pleasure, and through it you meet the dearest people! I just wish one of us would win the big lottery so we can all get together and meet in person. Michelle?


UPDATE on CAITLIN:

Some of you know that I have a teenaged friend who found out she had cancer in her leg, and had to go in for chemo last year. Well she has been through it for the past year and a half, and I got this from her Mom tonight!

She's finally DONE with the chemo!!! last one 09/29/2006...Did happy dance with nurses, doc says get outta here. She's sleeping now, have to get the blood counts up by Friday, (have to be able to go to homecoming...) then the following week final scans, central line out, and Oct 16 home!!!
Guess I need to figure out how to cook again.

more later, seems I was in hospital with her this week, forgot to go to work - chatter later!!!
Hope all's well in the various parts of the country

Thank Goodness!! Now she can do her Senior year with HAIR!

Roaming...

When I was a little girl, one of my most favorite things to do was to go roaming with my Dad. We didn’t go anyplace special, we just went. There was no television to rule the spare time we had. And Dad did not like sports anyway, so weekends and evenings were spent roaming around and discovering.

Adventures is what they were. Mom usually threw some bread, bologna and mayonnaise into a bag and off we would go. Mom was usually in her sleeveless sun dress, Dad usually in an old aloha shirt with two pockets on the front. Both pockets were usually crammed as full as he could get them. One held his cigarettes and lighter, and the other held his sunglasses, or pocket protector full of pens. Phyllis and I would have on pedal pusher outfits that Mom had made from left over dresses.

We would pile into the old car, and off we would go. Depending on where we were stationed would set the scene for where we would go exploring. Roads meant nothing to Dad, and we would head where ever he felt the car would go, road or not. We never got stuck, but I sure do remember some pretty hairy roads along high lava cliffs in Hawaii.

We always had scratches on our cars, and I can remember being embarrassed as I got older at how junky the car always looked. IT was full of any and all emergency supplies you could think of. We had axes, and shovels and ropes, and saws, and shotguns, and shells, and blankets, and water bags, and burlap bags and newspapers and anything that Dad may have found lying along side the road. He was a great improviser!

Dad always drove with his left arm resting on the open window frame, and steered with his right hand up at the 12 o’clock position. He always had one arm browner than the other one, and any chance he could get he would have his shirt off and his bare chest would be getting the sun also.

I don’t ever remember my Dad behind the wheel without a cigarette in his mouth. He smoked Pall Mall reds, or I guess in those days it was camels. No filters! Nope! He always had the cigarette in the corner of his mouth, he could smoke the whole thing down with out even touching it with his hand. He would let the ash get as long as it could then he would aim the left side of his mouth out the window and then blow the ash off, still keeping his lips attached to the butt of the cigarette. Needless to say his pockets were always full of ashes too, and all of his shirts had cigarette burns in them.

Saturday afternoon I was driving down along the Keystone Spit, going to the Store in Coupeville, and I had the window open and my arm resting on the open window frame, Not really worried about getting there any time soon, and the sun was nice and warm, but not hot beating through the windshield, and I felt him right beside me. I could smell the cigarette smoke and almost turned around to tell him to put it out! Then I remembered he was gone, but not in spirit. He was there...we were roaming. It felt good.

Our Town

ourtown

The Pulitzer Prize winning play by Thornton WIlder is in production right now. We started rehearsing a month ago, and we open on October 13.

This is a short run becasue it is an off-season show. The season has been chosen, and there was a space that we could stick an easy to produce play into, so DOttie wanted to direct a play and I suggested it be Our TOwn. No set is needed, it is all imagination, the house and bedroom windows are two step ladders.

It is the story of life in a simpler time, New England in 1904. Life, birth, growing up, falling in love and marrying, and death are all seen through the eyes of the Stage Manager. It is a heartwarming play, that almost everyone has either seen, been in or knew someone in during high school.

If you get the chance, go see it, it is an attitude adjuster, and you will be richer for it.

Fall has come with a BANG! Literally!! I was sound asleep and about 230 BAM! then rumble, rumble rumble and then the rain started!! It Poured and poured!! It got down to 40 last night, and with the clouds clearing it just might get to the 30's tonight!

I have been watching my tomatoes try to ripen for the past few weeks, and I got one so far. I have about ten almost blushing and yesterday I saw the Grey Squirrel, Susie, running down the top of the fence line with a big green tomato stuck in her Mouth! THIEF!!!! She was so proud of her self. head held high and tail swishing away she went to her hole in the tree top!

I actually have Lola coming when I call her! SHe wont let me get close, but when I call her and whistle, she comes. COuld it be that she actually thinks I am the one putting out the Sunflower seeds and nuts for her? Foolish squirrel!

I gave Bea a left over corn on the cob the other night and she was so funny eating it. SHe had her back feet on either side of her front feet holding it down, and was munching away just like a typewriter! so FUNNY!!! Then this morning I noticed that the COB was GONE!! She ate the whole THING!!! I hope she can pass it without hurting herself!

She really is having fun running all over the house again. Being caged up for three months was hard on her. I would not let her on the subflooring as it was OSB board, and I was not sure what the glue was, and bunnies do chew.

SAdie is having fun chasing the neighborhood cats out of the yard, and my cats are pissed because they cant get out. After losing chitters, (SOB!!!) I will NOT let them out side at all!

THe grass is starting to grow again with all the rain, so this weekend I will have to get out the mower again. (ugh) Maybe two more times before it is safe to store it for the winter.

I have a big project ahead of me. I asked Bob to rototill me a garden spot, because I just bought over three hundred flower bulbs at Costco and they need to be planted before November. Next Spring I will have some pretty flowers to post about! (IF that is I can get Bob to get it done!) Wish me luck!

Tim...

I left the Island at 845, and made it all the way over to the Hoh Rainforest, and turned off of 101. I drove up Hoh river rd to the rain forest, and did not see the Olympic corrections center, so I figured I must have missed it.

Being the always prepared girl scout that I am, I stopped in Forks at the Olympic National Park headquarters, and bought two maps. SO I pulled over and drug them out and found out that I was on the rd on the WRONG side of the river. SO I head the 25 miles back to the Hiway 101, and headed down it another 5 miles, to the Hoh MAINLINE Rd. Which is not, by the way, signed. IT had a small little sign that said OCC that way. Nothing else. SO I turned on the rd, which was paved nicely, and headed up it. No signs, no mileposts, no mailboxes, no traffic, no houses, NOTHING! NADA. Just about the time I was about to turn around, I saw a faded sign on the trees saying not to pick up hitch hikers, wa. correction center. AHA!!! Getting close!

Nothing else for another couple of miles. THen a really pretty carved sign and a very landscaped area around a big mailbox, which was the place! I turned in and followed the sign to the parking spots, and the visitors center. THere were bunnies hopping all over, and deer munching on the flowers that were planted all around the edges of the green grass.


occ

I went in and they called Tim down. I got to touch him and give him a big huge hug! That felt so GOOD! He has gained about 20 lbs, all from working the kitchen crew at the fire. Sheesh. BUT, He is going back tomorrow, and this time he will be working the fire line, as he came back and passed his "Pack" test, and showed he was qualified to fight fires. He has been on fire watch in the rain forest for the past week. POURING RAIN...and dripping. But he saw a big black bear and lots of elk as he was way up into the forest all most up to Mt. Olympus. He is loving it!

I told him that he was supposed to WANT to get out of there. He laughed. THere are no locked gates, and he is in minimum security, so he is well cared for. I can rest easy, that my baby is safe!

He had his birthday sans presents and cake, but he got to see his mommie! that counted for something. I made it back to the Ferry landing in about 3 hours, which was good, because I got home before dark. THe sun was setting just as the clouds were clearing off, so I got a couple of cool pictures. One of the clouds, and one of the reflections on the water.

Enjoy!!


sunset



water

The Olympic Rainforest...

1

Saturday I went to see my SOn who is on the Olympic Penninsula right smack dab in the middle of the Rain Forest. I snapped a few pictures of a section just off the highway.



2

Take a real hard look at the size of the stumps there. They are bigger than my car was. ANd these are second growth Cedars!!



3

Can you imagine what this area must have looked like when the WHiteman first came here? Trees as big as a house! and thick and dripping with moss. THe loggers had a heyday in the 30's when they first cut it down. and ever since then they have beem clearcutting and raping this land. You can believe what you would like, but in truth, we have GOT to start conserving our natural wildernesses or there will be none left.

THis is what it looks like now on Public land, not protected by the National Park.
It hits you right smack in the face as you drive along highway 101. Yes, weyerhauser and Georgia Pacific and Plum Creek all are doing their part to reforest the land, but it all comes down to the fact that they are doing it fast enough, and they are not stopping the loggers from denuding areas not in the public eye.
Not only are we losing our trees, but we are losing the habitat for the natural wild animals also.

When the loggers cut the trees, the land is eroded into the gravel streams, which then become murky with mud. THe salmon then can not spawn in those streams as they are too clogged with silt to allow them the gravel beds they need to lay their eggs.
SO think about it every time you want to vote for incursion into WIlderness areas. It just is not worth it. SOon there will be no more Salmon, Steelhead, Trout, Elk, Bears, COugars and no more virgin growth forests to wonder at.



4

From Port ANgeles on around on Highway 101 and down to Aberdeen, there is only one town, FOrks, and it is small. so get a map out, seriously, and look at Washington State, and the Olympic Penninsula. and see just how much land there is there, and it is all being harvested.

Now go straight up into Canada and look at the size of Vancouver Island, and realize that it also is being logged and raped. I flew over both of these places on my way to Alaska and the rivers were all running brown with mud, way into the Strait, and into the Pacific Ocean, and all of the Mountain tops On Vancouver Island were denuded and treeless. It is so sad people! Makes you want to cry!

The rain Forest...

Tomorrow I will be off bright and early to catch the first ferry off to THe Olympic Penninsula, and then a 4 hour drive along Lake Crescent, through the edge of the Olympic National Park and through the Indian reservations, and then along the rugged Washington Coast to the Hoh River. The Hoh River is the Home of the Olympic Rain Forest, where there is more rain than anywhere else on the coast.

It is also the trail head of the prettiest trail in the park, and the Hoh River head waters. It is also where the Olympic Correction Center is and my SOn TIm.

Tim passed his Pack test this week, and is now qualified to fight on the fire line, and is on call for the next fire team to go. I told him that if he got called to let me know, as I did not want to get all the way over there and find him over in Eastern Wash again! With all the rain we have had, yesterday and today there shouldnt be any new fires, unless they are started by lightning.

I probably wont be back to blog until Sunday evening, and maybe not even then, as I have a date to meet Barbara for Lunch and then a matinee at the Playhouse. So...Until I post again...Have a great weekend!

BRRRRRRR

Well, Tis time to drag out the electric blanket. I can not build a fire yet, as we have a burn ban on, and besides, no fires and no heat until Nov 1 in this house. At least that is how it HAS been, until this year. I may give up and build one this weekend if it stays this cold.

We have had a Low blow in, and the Jet Stream has dipped way south, so all that cold arctic air is slamming in to us. THere is even SNOW on the higher passes today! WHOA!!

Last night it started raining and it poured for about 3 hours! it smelled so good! Fresh and cool! You could actually hear the plants gulping in all the moisture! It was 44 at 330 this morning! As I turned on the Noon news they were talking about the thunderstorms we were expecting to have. We hardly EVER have Thunder and lightning. We didnt today either, at least not here.

As I drove into Oak Harbor this evening, The thunderhead clouds were backlit by the sun, and they were all edged in bright white, and the clouds in front were dark gray. It was so pretty! I wanted to stop and get a picture, however the traffic was too heavy. So I just enjoyed it while I drove in!

I actually turned the heat on in the car on the way home. I am wearing fuzzy socks everyday because my poor feet just FREEZE! THe heat felt really good on my arthritic toes too! I may have to rethink this no heat until Nov 1 rule. Or live under the blanket!

So will this stay cold like it is or will it clear up and then freeze and then get warm again...a real Indian Summer? Time will tell I guess...What does the Farmer's ALmanac say?

a change is in the air..

THere is a definate change in the air the past two days. It is foggier, it is colder, it is windier, and it is still very very dry. We are expecting a Low to slide down from BC, starting tomorrow afternoon, and hopefully it will bring the much needed and anticipated rain.

Last evening just as the sun went down I heard a loud racket out side, and looked out my bedroom window just in time to see a flock of about 50 Canadian Geese heading NORTH in the typical V formation and honking like mad at their leader! I wasn't sure if they were encouraging him or telling him HEY DUDE, SOuth is THATAWAY!

Sadie almost went through the screen trying to get to them. THey were right over the rooftops! THen as the night wore on it got LOUDER, this time with a great horned owl, and then the barred owls all hooting to establish their own trees. THe COyotes started about then, yipping and cay-yi-ing. No sooner than they all quieted down then Jupiter next door got in a fight with anothe cat, and they sat on the fence caterwalling at each other until I went out and shooed them away! Sadie almost did it again. SHe really thinks that any critter in her yard is fair game.

Tonight it got foggy early, and with the fog, came the chilly wind. Rustling the Dry ALder leaves, and turning the maple leaves a pretty orange and yellow. I expect a frost before October is over!

Weatherman said that it will turn rainy and cold and stay that way for a few weeks. We shall see what transpires. Cant wait to see what Farmers Almanac says. I actually closed all but my bedroom window tonight too!

There are no words....

Another project completed!

Sherri and I finally finished wallpapering the kitchen, so the granny apple green walls are now gone. I liked them but I think I was the only one. So I covered them up with wallpaper. And we ran out, so behind the fridge is still green until I can afford to order another roll. It isn't much, but this month is maxed out with water bill and car insurance. So in October I can finish that little task. We will put up the border in the living room area week after next.

It rained yesterday, however, it was not for long, and now the sun is back and expected to stay around for another week or so. I have a feeling that when the fall finally FALLS, that it will fall hard and COLD! Right now it is down in the low forties. Time to close the windows, and haul out the electric blanket.

Tim called last night, HE is back in forks for a while. They rotate in and out, and as soon as they got back to OCC they were told they would be going out again in four days. No one official has told him that, just prison gossip. He is loving the work he is doing though. He thinks this time they will go to the Tatoosh Complex fire, which is now an international fire. It has burned through the border and now is being fought on both sides, by US and Canadian fire fighters. We have 12 fires going right now, all but two started by lightning! So dry out there.

If any of you out there have Lifetime Movie Channel and get the chance to watch THE MERMAID's CHAIR, DO it! It is a movie that you can lose yourself in. I sat still for 2 full hours watching it and not moving. It is a really good Chick Flick. Leslie, you will LOVE it. So worth the time spent sitting there. I think it is on again tomorrow night. Not sure of the time though, as I have DISH Network, and the times are different than Cable.

Friday night Comics

I thought this was a hoot! But then you all know my sick sense of humor!

tee hee I goofed

This is the yellow caution sign that I mentioned in the post below. I forgot to post it!

Still Burning!!

As you can tell, Our State is still on fire. The moon tonight was absolutely gorgeous coming over the Cascades, but it was bright orange because of the smoke!



Tim is still over at the Columbia COmplex FIre, but there is another one that is growing and has crossed the border into Canada. The Tatoosh COmplex is about to merge with the Tripod Complex just North of Winthrop, Wa. So now the entire Pasyten Wilderness is closed to camping and hunting.



ALl of these pictures were taken by Forest Service Employees, and are awesome!! I especially like the yellow Caution primative road, no warning signs that is all melted.

IF we dont get some rain soon the whole state could go! THe Western part along the coast is fine because of the fog coming in at night, but the humidity is so low in Eastern Washington that everything is ready to burn.

Foggy Bridge...

Today I took my Brother Mike up to Bellingham 2 hrs away to the Pain CLinic. He is trying to find out just wexactly WHERE he back and leg pain is coming from.

We left at 800AM, and the fog was laying really low and heavy in the valleys. As We drove over Deception Pass Bridge, we couldnt see the water, as the fog was so thick. It was like driving into a big white cloud, and trusting that the other end of the bridge was really still there.

We wandered through the dried up fields along the bayview slough, and down Farm To Market Road, to I-5. The fields were all dust powdered dust, we have had no rain for over two months, and it is really really bad out there. Sme of the crops have just withered on the vine. SAD!

as we drove into Bellingham proper, I noticed that the freeway overpasses were all dusty and the brush was as brown as California! I noticed that the light was hitting the road just the same as it did in San DIego. THe traffic was MURDER! Just like So. Ca! ARRGGH! What happened to my sleepy little college town? It grew into a horrendous metropolis, with people all concerned about getting there faster than you and they dont care who they cut off, or hit.

I sat in the car for the two and a half hours he was in the Lab, and then we drove home.

As we were approaching the Bridge, the traffic was slowing way down. I looked over the side and could not see the pass, so I assumed the fog was still there. It was! Only when the fog was there it was moving very fast up and over the bridge, and down again into the channel. It was just beautiful. I told Mike, that if I googled fog on bridge I would find the right picture, and I did, DId not even have to stop and fight the tourists to get the shot either. THere really is nothing as beautiful as a foggy day at Deception Pass! ANd there are a million pictures out there to prove it. Google DECEPTION PASS BRIDGE and see for yourself. JUst please dont move here.
Our island is FULL!

Leah Winn 1945-2006

Good Bye!

LEAH WINN 1945-2006

Farewell Dear Friend, You will be missed!

Ha`aheo ka ua i nâ pali

Ke nihi a`ela i ka nahele

E hahai (uhai) ana paha i ka liko

Pua `âhihi lehua o uka

Hui:

Aloha `oe, aloha `oe

E ke onaona noho i ka lipo

One fond embrace,

A ho`i a`e au

Until we meet again

`O ka hali`a aloha i hiki mai

Ke hone a`e nei i

Ku`u manawa

`O `oe nô ka`u ipo aloha

A loko e hana nei

Maopopo ku`u `ike i ka nani

Nâ pua rose o

MaunawiliI laila hia`ia nâ manu

Miki`ala i ka nani o ka lipo

Lea was my next door neighbor, The very first person I met when I moved in. She lived there with her older sister and her Mother. She was the only one who worked, and she took care of the other two. Her Mom died in 1995, and her Sister died a few years ago. Lea was just coming into her own, had lost a ton of weight and finally was in a live in relationship with Joe. Yesterday afternoon Lea passed away from a massive Heart Attack. She collapsed at work in the Operating Room at Whidbey General Hospital. Not a better place in the world! All of her co-workers worked on her and stabilized her and then med-flighted her down to Everett, but she was too far gone, and Passed Away Yeaterday afternoon. She was just 8 months older than myself.

She will be cremated and then scattered off the Windward Shore of Oahu to join her Father, Mother, and Sister Natalie, in her Native Hawaii.

She will be missed!

Washington Wildfires...and Tim!

columbia complex

Here Is an article about our wildfires, and for those that like to explore, a link to even more information…
Tim’s letter is at the bottom of this..
Growing Wildfire Forces Evacuation Orders

August 26, 2006

By Associated Press

DAYTON, WASH. - Tourists hoping to get photographs of a DC-10 airplane on fire duty and area cabin owners were evacuated Saturday from the perimeter of the Columbia Complex of fires in southeast Washington state.
People had gathered outside the fire line, "wanting to get pictures of that plane," fire spokesman Virgil Mink said. The scattered evacuations came late in the second day the DC-10 was on active fire duty, able to carry as much as 12,000 gallons of fire retardant on one run - eight times as much as anything else.
The area of concern was between local Pioneer Memorial Park and the Umatilla National Forest on the Washington-Oregon border, so far beyond reach of the flames.
"There are a lot of tourists out there," Mink said. "People like to see what we do."
The privately owned DC-10 - available at a cost of $26,000 an hour, three hours minimum - can drop a swath of retardant a mile to a mile and a half of forestland 50 feet wide, he said.
"You can run through with a drip torch" and burn potential fuels on the edge of the fire to prevent the flames from spreading, leaving behind firefighting gear required when drops cover smaller areas.
By nightfall, the fire had charred 70,000 acres, or nearly 110 square miles, fire spokesman Charlie Armiger said.
The fire was about 10 percent contained, Mink said - mostly in the southeast corner "where the Coppei fire used to be" before four fires, all started by lightning strikes Monday, merged into the Columbia Complex.
There were 735 firefighters on the scene Saturday, with more en route. There were 55 fire engines, 16 five-engine strike teams, 15 dozers, three helicopters and 23 water tenders on the fire. Fire commanders were releasing some larger engines that were less than useful in the rough, rugged country, Mink said - they're needed elsewhere in the West this busy fire season.
The weather has been cooperating with fire crews around the state, with cooler temperatures, increased humidity and calm. Hotter, drier and windier weather was expected Sunday and Monday - with highs in the 90s - followed by a cold front late Monday. "That's the good news," said meteorologist Jonathan Fox with the National Weather Service in Spokane.
There could be some "hit-or-miss showers" through the week, he said, but "not enough rain to put out the fires."
In north-central Washington, the Tripod Complex of fires had burned through 135,694 acres, or about 212 square miles, spokesman Greg Thayer said. That blaze was 48 percent contained - up from 45 percent Friday.
"The northern end of the fire had active burning today but so far has stayed within our lines," Thayer said.
There were 2,310 firefighters and support personnel on site, working with 12 helicopters, 78 engines, 26 dozers and 74 300-gallon water-tender trucks, he said. The complex began last month as two fires - the Spur Peak Fire that began July 23 and the tripod Fire that starts July 24. Both were sparked by lightning.
"We have just four miles of fire line yet to be built, so we're coming against that just fine." Thayer said. "If we can keep this thing within itself, we'll be by the end of this week into fairly heavy mop-up. But we've got some really bad burning conditions coming in Monday so we don't want to get people's hopes up too high.
There've been only minor injuries on the fire, he said - bee stings, sprained ankles and the like. Given the rough country, "we're just amazed at our good luck. Maybe we shouldn't be talking about it."
Also in northcentral Washington, the Flick Creek and Tinpan fires had each seared more than 5,000 acres, roughly 8 square miles. The Flick Creek fire, burning on the eastern shore of Lake Chelan in the Okanogan-Wenatchee National Forest, was 40 percent contained.
The Tinpan fire in the Glacier Peak Wilderness was being allowed to burn naturally within preset boundaries.
http://www.inciweb.org/incident/443/


I received a letter from Tim today, telling me that he was over in Walla Walla with the Columbia Complex fire. He is not out fighting the fires himself, as he still needs to be evaluated as far as his skills go, but he is with the Kitchen Crew, feeding the firefighters.
Here are a few lines from his letter:

Hi Mom, I’m doing ok. I’m over in Walla Walla now and will be for a approx. 2-3 weeks. It’s Craxy over here, They have people from Arizona, Montana, Alaska, Nevada, Virginia. There are over 1000 people here. I am with the kitchen crew, which means not much sleep for anyone! Someones got to feed these guys! Approx. 70,000 acres have burned up, homes destroyed. They have a DC-10 doing retardant drops. It’s the first time using them in Washington. We got them for 3 days. They drop 50 feet wide and a mile long! I am in Aw! (sic) We work from 3:00 AM until 8:00 am, then take a 3 hour break, then serve dinner. Not much sleep and Hot as HELL! I have never seen anything like this, Guys come in to eat, Hot, tired, filthy hungry and leave satisfied. I guess we are one of the best field kitchens around. We get fed well. T-bones, pork chops, Halibut…ok gotta go….Love you Mom. Tim.

So I guess I will not be going over to see him this week either…At least I know he is safe and well, and sounds like he is really enjoying his time! LOLOL I must keep reminding him that he is supposed to WANT to leave there when his time is up!

Tim has always wanted to be a firefighter, or work in the woods, and if this is how he will be able to do that then so be it. He really is a good kid! He is just on the wrong path, and hopefully this will put him on the right one. Maybe this will help him see that the life he was leading was harmful to him and to others, and help him back to the straight and narrow. He loved Boy Scouts, and he loved being in the woods and camping, and fishing when went.

The wildfires in this state are really bad right now. The biggest one has burned over 130 square miles, and is just 4 miles from becoming an international fire. The canadian crews are helping from the North, hoping to get it under control.

We had a storm blow through yesterday, which lowered the temperatures a wee bit, and snow fell on the higher elevations, but it is expected to get hot again this weekend. Here is hoping that they will be able to get these fires all under control really soon. IT is so dry and hot over there.

Finally!!

rain

Well I could have told it was raining without even letting the dog out to pee. It took me 30 minutes to upload this picture to blogger! Every time it rains I have a HELL of a time staying on line! I get kicked off every 30 seconds! I even had the phone company come out and replace the line even though they said it did not need it.

ANYWAY...It is finally raining!! enough to get the deck wet anyway. I hope it continues! We need it so badly!

I did something today that I have not done in a long time...I sat in bed and read a book. I was half way through the book The art of Mending by ELizabeth Berg. IT started really slow and then it got to the point that I wanted to get it finished to find out what the big SECRET was. It was ok, a bit anti-climatic and I thought it ended strangely. But it was good. ANd I actually sat in BED and read until 1:30 PM!!

I got out of bed, got dressed, finished my coffee, and moved to the office, where I sat down and have not moved for several hours. I found some software I had forgotten about, Scrapbook Creator...so I have been playing with it for the whole afternoon! I also was printing out and photoshopping my SIL's family pictures so I can finish her scrapbook. SHe came over tonight to verify that a picture I had on my disk was actually her family and not Rusty's in-laws...IT was Sherry's. We were talking about her writing down her memories so I could include them and she got the funniest look and said I dont have any memories of my childhood.

WHAT???

How can you NOT have memories of your childhood. SHe is afraid that she might be repressing some bad memories. I told her that she should talk to her Mom. If she is, it really isnt gonna do her any good to find out about them, other than to find out about them, As she seems to be a pretty well adjusted woman. SHe has stayed with my brother for 30 years. (ummm maybe i better rethink that last remark)

She says she doesnt think there was anything bad that has happened, but she just does not remember. Never had any reason too I guess. I remember LOTS! good stuff and bad stuff, and minutia!! I remember the sack that I kept my rock collection in when I was 7! And the tupperware container that I kept the caterpillar in so he would make a cocoon.

So anyway, I told Sherry that I can continue with her scrapbook, but she should ask her Mom to write some time lines or something for her book. Her Dad, who her mom divorced when Sherry was 13, has sent a full family history from his side, but no pictures! Her AUnt on her Mom's side sent in 7 pages of research on geneology, but NO PICTURES!! I have a whole cruise chest full of pictures of my family, and my ancestors! I have pictures of my great grandparents! I guess some families just dont put stock in remembering. How sad!

I have to get her book finished, so I can finish other unfinished projects before this year is out. Like finish wallpapering the kitchen. and finish painting the trim in the living room, and finish painting the deck. Then I am almost finished completeing my unfinished projects year. I have tons of stuff to do, but I cant start any NEW things until I finish all the ones I have started! I keep this up and I will be booted out as president of the Procrastinator's Club!

Cant have that!

Damn Michael Chiarello!!

I Just absolutely ADORE Mikey!And since I now get fine Living Channel also, I get to watch two of his shows a day. THursday he was cooking t-Bone steak on the grill. It was the BIGGEST t-bone you have ever seen! It had to be 3 inches thick! and Must have weighed 4 lbs! He was telling how to grill it so it would come off JUST RIGHT, THat you should NEVER cook a steak any more done than Med Rare. (I like mine hot, but mooing!) He gave a good close up so you could see the juiciness of the steak, and he put a garlic butter spread on it. OH MIGAWD!! I was wiping drool off of my chin. I called my sister to see if she wanted to go out to dinner because I wanted a steak. I did not get ahold of her in time. She had already taken her Bra off and scratched. (And you ladies KNOW that once you do that, you are done for the day) So I had a sandwich.

Bob came over on Friday morning and wanted to know what I wanted to do that night. (Date night ya know) I told him I wanted to go someplace that had a good t-bone steak. He said "Well the Tyee has Prime rib tonight" No, I want a t-bone steak! SO he pointed to the garage and said "dont we still have some in the freezer?

I went down and looked and we did not have 2 t-bones we only had 1 and several top sirloins and about twenty labeled O-Steak. So I pulled out a chuck Roast and the two steaks, he chose the roast. SO I fixed it and it was good, but it sure was not a t-bone steak!

Saturday night he brought over fresh right of the boat Halibut steaks, and said Here, we can have Surf and Turf. SO I grilled the steaks and the Halibut, and pulled out my Weber Cookbook and tried a recipe for the Halibut. OH MAN WAS IT EVER GOOD> And the T-bone, Which I laid claim to, giving hom the sirloin, was to die for also. I also made some sliced Cucumbers with sliced onions soaked in red wine viegar and chilled. That was the sum of our dinner, and both of us were happy campers.

I also made an angel food cake, and poured blackberries over it for dessert. We called it a night early, and went our separate ways, Me to my bedroom, and him to his tree house. Both fully sated and relaxed.

Michael may have started something but I darn well finished it!! (BURP!!)
OH! EXCUUUSE ME!!! AHHHHH!!

Change of plans...

After taking a good hard look at the length of the trip and the fuel gauge, and my bank account, I have decided to wait until NEXT weekend to go see Tim. If I miss the ferry or get to tired to drive back, I would have to find a motel room, and today I cant afford it. I get paid once a month, on the first. SO I will wait until then. It is gonna cost me a whole tank of gas and two ferry fares of 15.00+ not to mention food and room. So, I went to Albertson;s instead, and spent my last few pennies on food to last until next weekend.

I really wanted to get away this weekend, but I just can't. I also am not sure that Tim is actually there! There are 6 wild fires growing all over the state, and he was gonna try to get qualified to go, so He may be gone already. I sure would not want to get all the way over there and find out he is on a fire line in Spokane! That would really tick me off.

I am not feeling 100% anyway, so I think I will just chill out this weekend, relax, finish my book and just putz in the yard.

Might even rent a good Chick Flick! Popcorn and diet rite, and a good movie, YEAH!

I'll go over next weekend...sorry Tim!

winding down...

I was out back today looking at the plants and Lea's fruit trees. We have not had any rain in almost a month so everything is very very dry. It has been colder than normal here too. My grass is all brown, and looks dead. The roses have seen the last of their blooms for this year I think, and the house plants that I put on the deck during the flood and mess, have all almost died of sunburn. All except for the ficus tree, which has perked right up and says I LOVE IT OUT HERE. I gave all the pothos a big haircut, and hopefully they will recover. I have had the main one for over 22 years! and the others are all grown from cuttings off of it. I never knew they would sunburn so badly!

My apple tree that Dad gave me to plant when I bought the house has decided that it is a crab apple tree, and is growing like mad. It is taking over the front yard. It is so pretty in the spring, just loaded with bright pink flowers, but the crab apples stay really really small, about the size of a small olive. Lea's plum trees, did not produce any fruit of note this year, The wind storm we had just as everything bloomed, blew the blossoms all away before they were pollenated. I was hoping for more white plum jelly. Donnas fig tree has three branches and no figs this year. It had one, but it is gone!

I will go out this weekend and trim back the wisteria, as it is taking over the neighbors house! It gets real invasive if I dont chop it back every other year or so. It is just starting to really bloom well every spring, it is over ten years old now. So for the fall and winter it will be smaller.

I will also prune back the roses in back, and cut down the two unruly rose bushes out front. Maybe move the one yellow one out back, but the floribunda one is too big and wont stay put!

It is time to start winding everything down for the year, and start thinking about getting ready for the winter. Before you know it, the bad westher will be upon us and then all the good intentions will never get handled. Make hay while the sun shines, right?

I am going to go visit Tim this weekend, Visiting hours are only Saturdays and Sundays and State observed holidays from 10-3 PM so since it will take a full 4 hours to get there, I will have to be on the first ferry out Saturday morning. He is on the Hoh River rd. right at the rain forest, and that is on the back side of the olympic penninsula from us, closer to the ocean. It should be a pretty trip, and if the weather holds good, and the traffic isnt bad, I will get lots of pictures of the forest. I doubt I can take pictures in the prison though. (as if he would want any taken anyway) I will try to be on the last ferry back, so that will be a really long day for me. During the Winter, the road will be a mess, as it freezes over there a lot more than here. I want to get this visit over before Labor Day weekend traffic hits, as the tourists hog the ferries, and all rush home before school starts. LAst weekend for camping too. UGH! Lots of motor homes on those winding 2 lane roads. eeek.

Loki is telling me it is time to turn off the lap top and pay some attention to him. Sadie is in her pen snoring loudly and I have classical music playing softly on my bedside radio, and a cold breeze blowing in on my face, so I will close this off, pet Loki, and read some more of Stephanie Plum. Gotta see if she screws Ranger this time.

Summer's end...

I have been sitting here in front of this screen several times the past week.  I have a post just waiting to come out, but once again, I can not get it out of my brain and down into my fingers and on to the keys.  

Last Saturday I made an angel food cake and took it and a bag of frozen blackberries to Donna’s house.  I had never been there before, and I had the opportunity, and the weather was good, so Off I went. It was her 39th Birthday, and Since she did not want anything, I baked her a cake!  Drizzled some key lime glaze over it and stuck some candles on top, loaded it into the car along with my telescope that I am giving to her for awhile, and headed out!

I had a bad feeling about getting on the interstate, so I took all the blue roads.  (William Least Heat Moon called the back roads, blue highways and wrote a wonderful book about the people he met on Blue Highways.)  I had to get on the Highway to cross the bridge, but once I did, I scooted off the hiway and on to the back roads.  I headed East along the water, following Similk Beach Road, and then along the water to where I got misplaced.  I then found Hiway 20 just West of Reservation Rd, so I hopped on it and followed it along until I hit the back way into Conway.  

I had an ulterior motive about using that road, as it is all along the farms and fields and road side stands.  Snow Goose Produce stand was wall to wall tourists, so I passed that one by and all the others were closed, either sold out already, or not in business any more.  The fields all looked like they were being picked, as there were quite a few workers in them.  None of them were offering their products to the public though.  I was just tasting some fresh Cauliflower too.  DARN!  I winded my way around Conway and over to Stanwood, trying to find the back way into Arlington and Donna’s place.  I took a wrong turn and ended up on Pioneer Highway instead of Marine Drive, but it worked out just fine.

I was on a road that I had never been on, and it followed the edge of the Stillaguamish Valley, and around barns and farms and houses that I had never seen.  The day was warm, and the light was a bright end of summer hazy light.  Corn was as high as an elephants eye, and the hay bales were being stacked under the rafters of  century old buildings.  This road went right through some farms, right across their front yards, and the farmers waved as I rolled on by.  Evidently used to the tourists that paving the cow paths years ago brought to them.  

I ended up in down town Silvana, right in front of the Viking Lodge.  A place that when I was a teenager, was the hottest spot in three counties.  There was a dance there every Saturday, and the sailors from the base on Whidbey, and the Airmen from the Base at Paine Field, all went there to meet girls from the surrounding communities.  It was a really vivid moment of Déjà vu!   I would take my six pack of orange crush and the others would take beer, and guess who got to drive home?  I had not been there in over 40 years!!  Not much had changed!  I knew where I was then, and headed over the Interstate overpass, to Smokey Point Blvd, and down it to Donna’s house.  

Coming back, I decided I would try to take a different way back but still stay off  I-5.  I turned off of Smokey Point Blvd and headed West on Lakewood Drive, around Lake Goodwin, Which I had never seen before, and then on to Marine Drive, and along the water to Warm Beach and then Stanwood again.  I turned off of Fir Island onto Fidalgo and turned into La Conner and followed the road on through the Swinomish Indian Reservation, then back along Similk Beach and up to the Pass.  

I love to explore like that, and just let my mind wander, as I drive.  There is so much to see, when you take the time to look, and observe and ponder on what you do see.  I saw that the summer is almost over, the light is coming from a different angle now.  Sooner than in past years it seems.  Trees are turning colors and loosing their leaves earlier than usual.  There is a Fall smell of  drying hay in the air, and it is mixed with the high resin smell of the fir trees, that have gone a long time with no water.  

As the sun was going down, I noticed a crisp feel in the air.  The nights are getting cooler now, bringing to an end the unrelenting summer dryness.  Along with the coolness comes the nitetime fog layer that creeps over everything, keeping a really low profile, as if it was trying to sneak up on you.  The fog wets all of the trees with life giving moisture, which in turn tells those plants that live on, that it is time to start storing up that energy and get ready for the long cool Fall and Winter.  We don’t have it as bad as most do, but we still get ready, and the deciduous trees lose their leaves, and go into hibernation.  The Evergreens start dropping their cones in readiness for their turn at trying to become a tree.  The squirrels are busy running up and down the fence lines stuffing cones, and nuts and seeds into their mouths and stashing them anyplace they can.  (they usually never remember where they put them though).

A Month ago, I was looking out the front Window at the setting sun and the long afterglow, and it was 10:00 PM and still light  enough to see.  Now a mere 28 days later, the sun is down at 830, and it is dark at 9:00.  This will continue until Mid December when It wont be light until 8AM and dark again at 4PM!  

I will miss the long easy days of Summer.  I love the late evenings, and I really enjoy the long early mornings.   Most of our grosbeaks have moved on, and the hummingbirds are gone now.  The Robins have pulled back, but they do not leave just stay in the trees. The Goldfinches are headed down south already, with just a few of the younger ones still hanging around.  

Lola and her ilk, are still here, and The grey squirrels are around, but staying away.  The Owls are hooting and learning how to claim their own territories, and they will each have a tree of their own before too long.

Life is winding down for the summer.  I feel the need to pull in and hibernate myself.  I am thinking that as soon as the tourists leave, I may splurge and go to the coast for a weekend.  The winter rates should be in affect then, and I could just take a good book or two and Sadie, and just go VEG!  It is time.

Nosey Neighbors...

When I moved into this neighborhood 13 years ago, I was the youngest one on the block. I was 47! THe rest of the neighbors were senior citizens, and kept pretty much to themselves except for my next door neighbor Lea. She and I went to school together in Jr. High in Hawaii! We did not know it at the time, but we were talking and discovered it.

Through the years, the senior citizens have either moved or transitioned out of this world and into another. During the 3 years I was gone, several new houses were built, filling in the empty lots. I moved back 6 years ago, and since then the neighbors on the left side of me have changed twice, the ones across the street have changed three times, and the ones right over there twice. I still have the guy across from Lea, and of course Lea that still are the same.

The couple next door is 23, active duty Navy with two small sons. The New people across the street have two or three little kids and the ones in the new house that park their cars in the garage, must have a new baby, because I see baby diapers in the trash that the crows throw all over the neighborhood.

Other than that and Lea, I know nothing about my neighbors. Phyllis told me not to encourqage the new people across the street with the two little kids, as she knows them from church.

THe lady came over the day after she moved in, to borrow my can opener as she could not find hers, so I loaned her mine. THis was three weeks ago And I had not seen my can opener since...until today.

My SIL SHerry came over to help me clean, and she drives a white van just like Phyllis'. I am sitting at the computer typing away and I hear a knock at the door. Sherry is in cleaning the kitchen, so I went to the door.

IT was the lady across the street with a small child in her arms, and in his little fist is my can opener. I said Yes? and stood in the door as she opened the screen and started to walk in. I stayed right there while she said, "We brought your can opener back." (finally) I smiled and took it from the kid who did not want to give it up. He was really cute, except for the snot running down from his nostril onto the hand that he had stuffed into his mouth with the can opener tightly clasped in it.

Mom then stuck her head around the door and peeked into the house, "oh pretty" she says commenting on the new floors. I did not want to invite her in as I was busy and so was Sherry, but she really wanted in bad. I stood my ground and kept the door half open. SHe says " I see Phyllis' is here" No says I that is my SIL's Car, and she kept trying to look around me to see if I was telling the truth. Sherry was in the kitchen oblivious to the uninvited guests.

I still held my ground as She really tried to push her way in. I politely told her that I needed to get back to my work, and she left. (WHEW)

I like to know who my neighbors are, but I have never been one to become really close to them. Learned that lesson a long time ago, when I was newly married. I like my privacy, and I really dont want snotty noses all over my house.

So tell me, are you really close to your neighbors?

August 17, 1967...DONNA!!

39 years ago today I was laying in the labor room of the NAS Whidbey Island Naval Hospital, wondering when I was going to have my baby. I was due July 4th but here it was August 17, and I still had not gone into last stages of labor. I was staying with my Mom and Dad while my husband was on the USS Ranger, in Alameda, California. I needed to have this baby so I could go down and join him and try to make a go of our marriage.

Women came into the labor room, and women left and delivered their babies, but after 3 days, I was still there. Dr. Fairfax finally decided that he would go in and break my membranes and hopefully the baby would come right away. At four PM in the afternoon he took two long bamboo skewers and stuck them up me and popped my embryonic sac. Water whoosed out all over my bed, and the doctor and me and the nurse. It worked though, as within the hour I was in full fledged Hard labor.

You were born at 11:11Pm that evening. THe most beautiful perfect little girl that I had ever seen. Your Grandpa said that you layed there in the baby basinette, naked as a jaybird, with your eyes wide open staring right at him. You were not red, or messy, you were perfect. After all you should have been 6 weeks old by then.
all 7 lbs, 12 oz of you.

You immediately took over the place, and have been doing so ever since. An independent, self sufficient, march to your own drummer beautiful little girl. I am so very thankful you came into my life! I truely believe that you are the reason that I was born. I had to be, so you could be.

I am so very proud to be your Mother, and I am so very proud of you.

I Love You Donna Gayle, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

THis and That...

Everybody be sure to go wish Kim at Jazzi's Place a Happy Birthday! She has had a really rough year, and needs some kind words.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KIM!!!!

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In other news,

Tim called tonight. He is at Olympic COrrections Center, ANd he says it is just beautiful up there. Yeah I'll just bet it is...smack in the middle of the Olympic National FOrest. He did get with Department of Natural Resources, and he is so happy! He says "Mom, the gate isnt even locked!" Uh Yeah TIm, that is called TRUST. AND DO NOT VIOLATE IT! THere were 7 yeams that just came back today from the Spur Peak Fire in Eastern Washington. It is the biggest wildfire in the US right now. He cant go until he passes his PT test. Has to walk 17 laps with a heavy pack, in 40 minutes. Should be able to do that.

He said he has 5 changes of clothes and new boots! What ever makes you happy Son. Remember, you need to want to get away from there when your time is up.

It sure is nice to talk to him every week though! That will change when he gets out. I am after all just a MOTHER!

I am going to try my hand at wall papering my kitchen. I got the wall paper and the borders, and there is not a lot to do, but since I have not ever done this before except for the borders in my bedroom, This should be fun! It sure wastes a lot of paper when you try to match the pattern though. There must be a better way.

The weather is sure acting funny this month. It is warm and dry, hardly any rain at all, but it is COLD in the wind! And as soon as it gets dark, the temp drops fast. Last night I heard the ships in the Strait honking every few minutes, so the fog must be rolling in too. I have a feeling that September is going to be a real Fall, with the leaves turning quickly, and an early frost. We seem to be having our heaviest frosts before December, and warmer after December. SO strange. I would like to see a lot of snow though. It has not snowed very much at all since I retired. And I would like to wake up and see it and know that I wont have to get up and go to work in it. Just sit and watch the birds.

Well back to the wall paper.

AHHHHHH!

I did a big fat NOTHING today! IT felt soooo good. My back has been just killing me, my arthritic knees and my torn ACL's have been really hurt city too. Last night, my feet hurt! deep inside the foot, and my toes were so sore. Arthritis is the shits folks! I am so stiff and sore, and ache in joints I did not know I had. I turned up the temperature on the hot water heater, and I took a HOT HOT bath. Hot as I could stand it! SO hot, I was afraid I would scald my @$#% when I sat down! (but Hells Bells it has not been used in so long it prolly has atrophied so I couldnt feel it anyway)

I lay there in the water until it cooled off and steam quit coming off the water. I was beet red, but it felt so good! My muscles all relaxed, and I felt like a wet noodle when I got out! I rubbed aspercreme on my feet and kneew and back followed by Mineral ice, took 2 excedrin PM and lay there on my tummy reading the latest Nora Roberts book. I was soooo relaxed.

THis morning, I did not even hear Bob come in for his shower. Sadie did not even bark when he pulled into the drive way and unlocked the front door. We were both just POOPED. I stayed in bed until 9:00, got up made a pot of coffee, called my daughter, and then got dressed. I went out to get Cat Food, came home and took a nap.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of me. MY HOUSE IS BACK TOGETHER!! and it's CLEAN too.

So now I am checking email, reading my comments, and then I am heading back into the bedroom to finish ANGELS FALL.

I noticed several new people are visiting my blog, But they are not commenting. I wish you would. I like to meet new people. and Carla, and ML/TX I lost your emails, so I can not say hi! Please send me your email, and if you could, your snail mail addresses. I like to send Birthday cards out to people that are regular readers, but I dont know all your Birthdays. Send info to dreamer(at)galaxynet(dot)com I will then be able to drop you a line every so often.

Flax, are you still reading even though you quit blogging? Let us know how you are please. Wanda, get your butt back on line! Dorothy, are you OK? last I heard you were having tummy pains and were going on vacation.

I will try really hard to get around to all of you this week, in between keeping my new floors all clean and the house neat.

I start a new show tomorrow also. OUR TOWN by Thornton WIlder. I will be producing it.

Time for bed. See ya!

TA DA!!!!!!

Sadie is showing you the new Kitchen Floor!! (Does not show the dirt!!)




This is the Great Room floor, Pergo Laminate, with everything I own plopped right in the middle of it...I am still putting things away!




This is the Utility Room with the offending Washer hose replaced and the New Hot Water Heater installed!




Once again Sadie is showing you how great the new carpets are, she is rolling on them to show her approval. (and also to wipe off some DOg stank on them)

So Once everything is put away, which should be by Monday, then I will be around to every ones blog and say hey! I appreciate the fact that you all are still stopping by. I guess I am like a soap opera huh! Always wonder what is gonna happen next.

Barbara will be here this afternoon to finish painting the LR ceiling, and help me put away things. I dont know what I would have done without her help and her PUSHING me to get it done. I needed someone like her in my life!! I just wish it had not taken the death of her husband to put us back in touch with each other.

So, on to putting crap away! I need a dumpster out front, because there is stuff that I have kept that I have no idea WHY> and it is going away!!

DOWN SIZE NOW people. It is so nice!

WHOOT!!! EEEEEEE!!!!

WHOO-HOO!!! I have FLOORS!! real live honest to goodness floors in all the rooms!! Brand new floors in all but one bathroom, and rugs that still have that new house smell!! Right now Sadie and the cats are sniffing everything over, making sure it is really thier home again.

And as the way things have been going, the Floors Plus people did NOT tell the carpet layers that they were to move everything out and back in. SO they moved everything out into the great room, layed the carpet, and then moved just the big pieces of furniture back in again, and I guess I am to do the rest! I really dont care! At least I will know where everything is and I can remember what all I still have! THere is a lot that is going to the crap shop! I have an old dell computer 486 SX that runs at 26K anybody want it? SLLLOOOOOOWWWWWW!I dont think it even has 1 gig in the hard drive! I think it is too outdated to be any good to anyone at all!

SO I will be putting things away, and dusting furniture, and trying to find pieces to pieces to get my tv's back up and running. You noticed the first thing I got running was the Puter! ANd the office! No dummy me!

THis is where I could use a couple of grandkids...they could fetch and run for me, while I sit and put away. GOt any to spare?

NOw to go find the dust mop!

Global WARMING?

I swear it is Fall already!  It is only the middle of August, and the leaves are turning and falling !  The grass is dead, from the heat last month, and now the nights are getting cooler and the fog is laying out on the Sound, making the  days feel cooler too.  

I sit up high, and the wind whooshes in from The Pacific, narrows as it pushes through the Strait, and smacks right into my house.  This morning we woke up to rain, and wind, and even Sadie stood at the door and said “Nope, don’t have to pee that bad” crossed her little legs and went back to sleep.  

I have had Bea out on the deck during this flooring, and this is the first rain she has ever experienced.  Poor baby Bea Bunny!  She has a nice full long coat of wool to keep her warm though.  I make sure that she has shade and half of her cage is covered, so she can stay dry if she needs to.  Sadie is out there right now laying beside her cage, and communicating as only dogs and bunnies do with each other.  I would love to see just how Sadie would act if she was let loose, however I fear she would be Lunch!  She bounces and plays chase with the cats, but I think Sadie would be way too rough with her.  I will bring her in after the carpets get placed, and she can then run and play to her hearts content, and she will love that.  It has been a rough 3 months for all of the critters, as their home and their routines have really been put to the test.

Bob will be over this afternoon to help me move all of my bedroom furniture into the great room, as that part is my responsibility.  I opted to replace my bedroom rug along with the other rooms, even though that is the only room that stayed dry,.  The carpet needed it and I could get a 15% discount if I did it at the same time as the rest of the house.  I had to have the old rug out, take up the tack strips, remove the baseboards, and clear out the furniture.  SO I will.  

The rug people will do the other two rooms I assume.  The Great room floor is only minutes from being complete.  He is out of transition strips, but that will be here tomorrow.  I still have a ton of work to do, as everything from this room and the Library were stuffed into any space they could find, and now I have to put everything back.  Mean while all the books and shelves from the library will have to be put in the middle of the great room.  

Bob’s well, or pump went South on him yesterday, so he has been coming over here every morning to shower and get ready for the day.  And his hot water heater went out on him too.  We have this cloud hanging over us I swear.  I sure hope it clears up soon!!


UPDATE:

In case anyone out there would care to send a little good cheer to an inmate,
Tim's address is:

Tim CHandler 813840

Olympic Corrections Center
11235 Hoh Mainline
Forks, Wa. 98331

He wont be there for about a week. He would love to receive any mail at all, but I cant guarantee that he will write back. (I am just his mother, so maybe he WILL write back to ya'll)

Thanks!