Tell-tale clock

My clock chimes every quarter hour and I am so used to it that I tend not to hear it. Of late, however, I am made aware every quarter hour that I need a new battery. Ding squawk ding dong, ding squawk, squawk, dong.

Heads up!

As the officer's lights began to flash in my rear view mirror, I pulled over with the assurance of a life well-lived and a youth well-spent, so he could speed by to arrest some crazed drug felon wreaking havoc on the streets of Canby. Instead, he pulled ME over!

He'd been keeping pace with me through a couple of lights coming along 99E on the way into Canby from a very nice trip to Vancouver to play with grandkids. I'd been extremely careful to slow to the exact speed limit and kept it there, yet he didn't go by through the first light or the second. I had to turn left so I stepped on the gas a little, turned on my signal and changed lanes ahead of him and his lights flipped on. My life flashed in rhythm with his lights: I hadn't cut him off, hadn't sped, had used my signal appropriately, was driving with shoes on, had brushed my teeth and was wearing clean underwear. What else could it be?

I rolled the window down as he approached the car and he says "Are you Lynn?" Unbelievable! The name police!

He had run our plates as standard practice because our car is a kind that has made the top ten list of "most likely to be stolen" and discovered that though I was legally driving my car, I was doing so with a license that expired almost a year ago!

I ended up with a citation that will be rescinded when I show up with my renewed license,and the officer let me drive home (since Dick was hopped up on oxycodone) after discussing his relatives and our friends the Abbotts and what a good driver I must be to have been driving all this year with an expired license.

Since that fateful day, I have gotten my license renewed and have to say that the new picture is much better than the old one.

Also, I am positive that I did not get a license renewal form in the mail. I am on top of that kind of stuff. My advice to all of you, my friends, is check your license expiration date. I'm not at all sure that the DMV is holding up their end of things. And, if you have to renew, you need to show a birth certificate or passport and something with your social security number on it.

Memories of Summer

I guess we did have summer:

Tractor races while we were waiting for Mark to arrive in May

 The Rose Festival fleet as well as the huge barges on the Columbia in June.

A trip to the zoo in July as well as Sacramento and Yosemite.

Rocket launches in August and watching the lilies open.
\

Rock hunting and rock painting in September

Home again for a breather!

Would a rose by another name still smell?

It was just brought to my attention that Weedeater is the brand name of a particular type of string trimmer and not an action verb. It's ok to say I need to weedeat my garden, for example. Or, tomorrow I'll need to do some weedeating. But what about yesterday? I weed-ate the front flowerbed just doesn't work. Neither does weedeated. Instead I've been avoiding the whole issue by another comment: Tony loves to weedeat and he sure has been keeping the yard looking nice. That works for me!

It's important what you call things. The right name makes all the difference. I can remember that my mom, who loved to dance, wouldn't dance with a really cute guy because his last name was Junk! Praise God I didn't have Lynn Junk to overcome!

This brings me to Funtime RV from whom we bought our trailer. We left the awning rolled out on the trailer last night so I went out this morning after all that rain we had to retract it. It worked fine but was too wet to leave rolled up so I extended it again and left it out all day to dry. This evening when I went out again to retract it, it didn't retract. When I pressed the button, nothing happened. (I'm a big one on things working when you press the button.) That's the problem that the Funtime folks were supposed to have fixed during the three weeks they had it sitting on their lot and we're not really excited about hauling it clear to the other side of Tualatin yet again. So I find myself asking myself, and now you, where's the fun in Funtime? Perhaps they should have called it Floyd's RV - there's no great expectations there.

Hatari

I was so excited to find Hatari even if it was a video at a garage sale today. I started humming the Baby Elephant March. I love that music. HOWEVER, my joy has turned to sadness to discover that the video was stored somewhere where it drew moisture and has molded into a solid chuck of unplayable tape. If it was me, I'd give me my money back. Hope they feel the same way.

It's too much to catch up with the past two months but a quick recap: Mark Douglas Meyer arrived on May 17th; trailer trip to Vancouver WA for the occasion; another trailer trip to watch the Rose Fleet departure and east to Pendleton, Heppner, Rufus and back; home for a few days then a car trip to Sacramento for the Masters World Track & Field Championships, Yosemite, Reno to see Michael, Sunriver to see Patsy, hit the Goodwill, quilt shop and a pawn shop! Home again for a while.

Fun stuff to do at Gram and Pa's

Mark's joined the family.

Joyce Taylor at the World's in Sacramento.

We watched athletes from 35 to 92 competing. That 92 year-old gal who threw the javelin was something else!

Pops at the River is more than just the Reno Philharmonic playing by the Truckee.

a walk around the yard

While it's true that farmers make hay when the sun shines, this farm gal does yardwork. Used to be that my mom and I would walk around the yard in the evenings looking at all our plants. Mother's Day is coming up so to reminisce I walked around the yard with my camera after a couple of days of hard yardwork.

I planted a clematis (accent on the 2nd syllable is what I prefer) in this tub along with some supertunias, pansies, and a grass thing. Please note the rocks arranged around the hostas which got chopped by the weedeater. If you look very very closely, the white spot on the lower right is a marker indicating where a lily was planted.

I dug a hole and partially submerged the tub that has water plants in it - water celery (if you need some, let me know) a waterlily, marsh marigold, and water iris, two goldfish and my cool insulator on top of a pot. For a long time I've been wanting to put my collection of sedums somewhere that makes sense so I've moved them to the end of this bed on the right. I've got a couple of tomato plants and a pot of lettuce center. Behind you can see some yellow lilies we just planted and part of my yard art. My intention is to spread barkdust lightly, Preen heavily, and then more barkdust in an effort to get some noxious weeds under control.

Sorry that Powder looks blurry - he's wagging his tail. This picture is called Under the Lilac - his favorite place to lay. I wish you could smell this gorgeous lilac. It's so fragrant.

We hired a couple of men to weed and spread barkdust. They did a great job weeding but the barkdust is a little thin. Note the flowerbed by the house. It hasn't looked that clean for several years!

 What do you think about this rhody? I may leave it in a pot so I can easily move it if it doesn't do well there. I'm particularly happy with my aralia to the right. I put it in 2 years ago and it's doing well. We just discovered that the hinges on the screen door are broken so if you come over, come to the back door.

 I like what's happening here. I've moved almost all of my red sandstone rocks that I got from my brother John's house to this bed. More barkdust needed but it's coming along.

To do list: paint fence! Thanks for walking the yard with me.

Here's a cute pair! I like Alex's buzz cut.

Consider the lilies

In an ironic role reversal I ran the weed-eater over Dick’s lilies reducing them to ¼ inch stubs.

He got interested in lilies last summer and in a never-ending desire on my part to encourage any bud of horticultural interest on his part, we ended up with quite a few.  But as bulbs die back and the weeds thrive and life goes on, I wiped them out with a few well aimed but unintentional swipes with the weed-eater.

I’ve lost a few plants over the years to a weed-eater wielding husband who takes anything green as a personal challenge, but it came as quite a shock to have to give an account myself!

Needless to say I’ve had to do a little payback in my flower shopping lately.

Sunny days

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine

You make me happy when skies are gray.

You’ll never know dear, how much I love you,

Please don’t take my sunshine away.

I have fond memories of my dad singing that song to me when I was a girl. I can even remember where we were one time when he sang it. We were driving up the hill past the Ford dealership in Los Gatos, California, on our way home from somewhere. I remember that Ford dealership because I got a green and white yoyo there when the new Edsels came out. It was as big a dud as they were – fell apart almost as fast as the cars!

I’m glad I wrote out the words to that song. It’s made me think about something besides this weather. I’ve found, and I’m sure you have too, that the sunniest days rarely have to do with weather; they’re about relationships. I am tired of rain, but just thinking of this old song and my dad singing it has perked me up.

Hope you have a sunny week!

Marching forth on the 23rd

Hi friends,

I’ve learned more about chickens than I thought was humanly possible since last June when our friend Terry Cain asked if he could lease our outbuildings to establish a life-long dream: Farwest Hatchery. (Take a look at his website http://farwesthatchery.com). He showed up with a dream and about 300 cute little chicks. Nine months later he collects about 1200 eggs a day from 15 different breeds! If one hen lays five eggs per week plus the roosters because they have an investment to make as well - it's into higher math.

Here are some of the pens behind the shop. Incubators go in this weekend.

Our barn has been extended and filled with chicken pens.

This girl is a free ranging escapee looking for a place to lay her eggs.

This rooster is behind bars, so to speak.

 

I remember when we were designing our house in Beavercreek and were debating whether to build a regular roof or a hip-roof. I’d never heard of a hip-roof but suddenly every other house I saw had a hip-roof. I think that’s the way it is when anything new comes around. At least that’s the way with chickens for us now.

The number of references to chickens and all things poultry is astronomical. 

     They’re in the grocery store of course – eggs, broth, soup, pot pies, boneless and skinless, whole or fryers; 

     they’re on the TV – Buffalo Wild Wings, chickens don’t have nuggets, the cute chicks in that new movie coming out, not to mention the Easter candy that’s getting hyped right now; 

     they’re in our speech - don’t count your chickens…, and in the eternal questions: why did the chicken cross the road?…, which came first?…; 

      then home décor – salt and pepper shakers, trays, wallpaper, fabric. It’s endless. 

Dick picked up a stuffed bear at a rummage sale last summer and turned into an instant chick-magnet with all these ladies commenting on how cute it (he?) was 

Chick Magnet

and then, just yesterday he hit the lucky number at Bi-Mart and guess what he won! A package of Peeps! We’re surrounded!

Don’t forget: 

Life’s good – the alternative is endless - choose well, Lynn

Historical - Hysterical

        Every now and then I get a new perspective on an old phrase. That’s what happened last week. Jeff, our son-in-law, was driving our car north to Great Wolf Lodge in Centralia for some family R & R. Like Dick, he drives with a destination in mind while I still tend to think that the journey is part of the adventure. Therefore when I read the sign “Historical Marker Ahead” in a vain effort to imply that we could in fact stop and read about the historical activity that resulted in this location being special, I was not surprised when he sailed on by. However, his observation was a surprise: Do you suppose that Historical Marker’s a really old Sharpie? I’ll never look at Historical Markers the same way again. 

Great Wolf Lodge was a huge success - a nice family-oriented destination. Granted, it took four adults to keep tabs on one 2 1/2 year old. Alex, with his new buzz cut, loved everything - wide-open places to run, water to play in, an arcade filled with buttons and lights, and best of all this huge carved bear chair to sit on. It was a fun place for everyone, we had a great time and will go again.

Hope you have a good week!

Pineapple princess

We watched the Super Bowl yesterday with our friends Todd and Joyce. Our moaning and groaning was only partially because the Steelers lost. It was mostly because we were super-stuffed. We had enough food for an army – we could have had the whole team over!

I tried a new recipe that I thought was delicious – pineapple pie. Lisa had sent me the recipe (http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen-blog/) and I thought, why not? I love pineapple: upside down cake, on cottage cheese, in a fruit salad, one chunk after another from a fruit tray, on ice cream. I craved it when I was pregnant with Lisa but I’d never tried, much less heard of, a pineapple pie. It was so easy and so good.

I took a picture last year on our Groundhog’s day beach trip of a slice of dried pineapple on the counter in one of the bathrooms. Somebody had left it there and someone else had tried to use it as soap probably before they put their glasses on. They said it was frustrating because it didn’t suds up!

We’re enjoying a taste of spring: the snowdrops are starting to bloom and the daffodils are poking their heads up. We’ve been enjoying a few days of nice weather and are thankful that we’re not living on the east coast. Have a good week.

I'm back!

Lisa called to remind me that my Day 1 posting is two weeks old so here's an update on our trip. My intentions were to blog it but my internet access was limited after the first day so I just kicked back and enjoyed myself.

We spent a couple of nights in Grants Pass with Dick's sister Betty. While there we drove out to the ODF&W and I found out that this is the last year that I'll have to buy a fishing license. Next year I'll qualify for my pioneer license. After GP - we drove to Red Bluff turned right and went thru Gold Country to Grass Valley, spent a night, breakfasted in Truckee, had to use the GPS to figure out how to get back on the freeway and pulled into Reno in time to throw in a load of laundry in MIchael's washer and ran to Cabella's. I saw a great T shirt there, just not in my size:

I 

LOVE

it when I catch more fish than

MY HUSBAND

I got a life jacket to wear when I use my kayak this summer. Michael had lasik surgery Saturday and by Sunday morning was back to 20-20. We took off for home Monday morning at 7:15 when he left for work and pulled in the driveway 12 hours later! We really had an enjoyable easy drive north from Reno through Alturas, Lakeview, LaPine, and Sisters. Great weather the whole trip, good roads except for the ruts from snow tires in Bend and from Truckee to Reno, great mileage (32+) for the first road trip in our Camry.

Laundry on Tuesday, a day with Alex on Wednesday, tried to drug myself out of a runny nose with NyQuil on Thursday and took off for the beach for the weekend on Friday with ten close friends.

Back home to more laundry - the never-ending story!

I got the name of a new-to-me author from a book store owner in Grants Pass - Arthur Upfield, who writes mysteries set in Australia. His detective is Napoleon Bonaparte, known as Boney. I found a couple at the library today.
    (By the way, Teri, that's why I was so interested in watching that movie Saturday night about Potatoes because you said it was about Australia but it wasn't - it was about Zulu's and farmers in Africa and I couldn't understand their English and that's why I went to bed - sorry)

I have a couple of purse orders, a couple of books, and a few new songs to learn so I'm planning to stay put for a little while! It's always good to go, but home's the best!

January Get-Away Day 1

Our goal: get away for awhile. Foot-loose, fancy-free, wide open spaces, the wind in our hair - that sort of thing - you know, your typical retirement life. Oh, yes, and sun would be an asset. We packed the car and drove off this morning with really only random ideas of what and where to do and go. We're supposed to be in Reno on Friday to see Michael so are taking our time getting there, heading south on I-5.

First stop was Albany where we had breakfast at lunch time in a little cafe and then dropped by a used book store we like. I had hauled along my collection of Nero Wolfe books by Rex Stout, 35 of them. He's an author my dad introduced me to years ago and I have enjoyed collecting and reading his books over the years. I had talked previously to the manager there about cashing in my collection and we'd talked about the higher price of a collection rather than just the base buyer price so I was thinking my collection should sell for about $100+.  He would be delighted to buy the books he said but, unfortunately, had forgotten our previous conversation and wanted to give me $1 each which resulted in me packing the books back out to the car and us moving on. I'll list them on Amazon and show him!

Next stop Dick's brother Bill's house in Albany for a visit on their deck in the sunshine. We had been seeing so much high water-the Pudding River was Pudding Lake again; every little creek was over its banks and trying to be a big river. Bill and Bev said that both their front yard and back yard had been flooded yesterday but they were dryer today. Water water everywhere.

The Living Rock Museum that we wanted to visit in Brownsville we discovered to be closed on Mondays. Didn't they know we were coming?

We continued south. Our target: a motel with a hot tub, my current idea in lieu of warm weather for Dick's back comfort. The AAA book showed us a Best Western in Canyonville near the Seven Feather Casino - casinos have good food for cheap prices because they lure the people in to gamble and the food is just an extra - that's the rationale. Now Canyonville is not that big - 2 exits and not that much between, trust me we saw it all. The GPS, when Dick finally got Gertie off mute kept saying Best Western was on the right, or recalculate, or turn around, or on the left, but it simply wasn't there. Finally I pulled off the road and called the hotel which, just last month, decided to call itself the Holiday Inn Express, change its signs and of course its rates but neglected to tell us.

I'm rambling on. Suffice it to say that after an adequate meal, adequately priced at the casino we came back to our room to try the hot tub. Dick's bathing suit was about a size too small so it was a struggle but he managed. The jets in the hot tub were so strong that he was grateful for the tight fit as were we all! The hot water did feel good on his back and he's sound asleep after watching some new episodes of Pawn Stars and American Pickers.

We ran out of the rain and I had to put on my sunglasses when I was driving. We're having a good time and will probably be in Grants Pass tomorrow for a few days.

Milestone Monday

One year ago I brought the drum set and the "how to play the drums" videos home. Here's a picture of one of our Christmas gigs complete with antlers and noses. The Grandmas - Siena, Judy, Pat, me and Joyce had a great time and our audience, well, we'll find out if they ask us back next year.

Snow Camo or Fort Holstein?

For Christmas I tried my hand at a tent to go over the card table. I found exactly the right amount of of fabric in my stash which means I didn't have to buy any and try and figure out yardage for an "out of my head" pattern. I had just the right amount, it wasn't girlie, and it was heavy enough to hang well. I have no idea how come I had it in the first place (considering that white Charolais' have always been our breed of choice) but I thought I'd be able to sell it as snow camo.

It was an instant hit but I may have to rename it Fort Holstein.

A Christmas Story

Last summer, like the summer before, we camped on the banks of the Rogue River 7 miles up from Gold Beach on the Southern Oregon almost to California coast. You can see our trailer in the picture I shot from across the river. It's the one in the middle.

When it was warm I'd sit in the shade of the myrtlewood tree in my sister-in-law's camp next door. When it was cool, I'd relax in the rocker and enjoy this beautiful view out our rear window, drink a cup of coffee and work on a crossword puzzle, and wait for the jet boats to roar by.

The only thing that would make life at Huntley RV Park (I've renamed it Huntley-on-the-Rogue) much better would be to be able to get in that inviting water on a sunny afternoon and float from one end of that huge rock bar to the other soaking up the rays, splashing a little refreshing spray, enjoying the flora - reeds and trees bending to meet the water's edge, fauna - buzzards and osprey, seals and salmon.  I've got the picture in my mind, not romanticizing it a bit (note the buzzards - not romantic but interesting to watch as they catch the thermals across the river) but just not the means of transportation.

I could have my loving husband drive me to one end of the rock bar and I could launch out in my ______________ and then float the river down to the other end where he could pick me and my ___________ up and haul us back to camp where I'd enjoy a nice little dinner that my sis-in-law would have fixed for me and spend the evening around a campfire toasting s'mores and telling tall tales. I just don't have a "means of transportation" to fill in the blanks.

Until now!!!!!!!!!!!! For Christmas after opening the robe that I'd picked out and the vest that I already knew about, my wonderful husband surprised me with a KAYAK!!!!!!!!!!!!!! God is good and he's good to me and one of the ways he's good to me is by having my husband get me such a great present! Here's the box:

I don't know how to photoshop my face over that guy's (not to mention my girlish figure!) but you get the total picture here.  Now don't be like Ralphie's mom, teacher and even Santa. (You'll shoot your eye out - remember?) I'm not going to shoot my eye out or even the rapids. I'll float only on calm water. I'll use my Cabella's gift certificate on a life jacket. I'll take every precaution - but I can hardly wait for summer.

1 - 1 - 11

I thought I'd try blogging this year.

On New Year's Day a few years ago I launched what became my "line from Lynn" emails with my sole objective being keeping in touch. I had quite the email list. Then came Facebook so I added my postings there. This year I'm trying something new.

I'm not sure about a blog. My word games don't accept the word "blog" as a real word, however, I thought I'd give it a whirl.

Recently I've been trying to fit the Christmas decorations back into the closet and have rediscovered the wealth of photographs, slides and movies that are stashed there. In addition to what I've generated, I've inherited a wealth of projectors, films and diaries from my parents. I'm reluctant to just throw things away My intention is to deal with them this year by digitizing as many things as possible. There is an appeal to cyberspace. It's vast.

Whoops! Gotta go. My grandson's up and needs me to play with him.