#211 Crater Lake

This is a panoramic of 5 different photos that I stitched together using a cool, inexpensive photo program from Costco. I thought I'd try posting it to see how it turned out. Not too shabby.

Crater Lake is our one and only national park in Oregon.

#210 Where I Shop

I shop at three main stores: the Big R for all my horsey needs, the Good Will for most of my clothes, and Food 4 Less for most of our groceries. Just about everything else, I like to shop in our tiny town and support the local merchants.

I think it is amazing how much time I actually spend inside of stores when I HATE shopping!

Luckily for me, Jack will do all the shopping once I start back to work; all I have to do is hand him my lists. How wonderful is that?

#209 Hello - Good-bye

Jack and his mom. Once again, we are needing to say good-bye as she leaves today.

This summer has been chocked full of hellos and good-byes and all of the partings have been sad. It has been an incredible time spent with family; the house has been full and the noise level has raised in such a nice way. It is going to seem like a huge house for just two people; it is definitely meant to be shared.
The only plus side to everyone gone is that I will be very busy with checking things off of my lengthy "To Do" list!

#208 Traditions

Traditions are hard to come by so we make up our own. This one is the "Cheers" tradition where every 2 years, (+/-), we four hover over Jack as he makes margaritas then we pose for a photo.

#207 SILS

sil: sister-in-law

Janet Hilda's visit was just way too short.

#206 Covered Bridge

We went pokn' around and visited this old covered bridge. It is very well maintained, stuck out in the middle of no where.
...Here Jack and I are....40 years together and still smiling; (most of the time).

#205 Dead Bug

I know this is a strange photo to post, but I've been relegated to the back seat of our pickup truck as we and company are out and about seeing the countryside. In the cup holder, was this dead cicada. The light playing on its wings and the pattern of the wings fascinated me enough to photograph it. No matter what angle, he was beautiful.

#204 Siblings

Brother and Sister

It's so good to have family around....(sigh) ... we just live too dang far away from all our family!

#203 Our new airport terminal

We went to the Medford airport to pick up Jack's family. We had not been there since the opening of our new terminal so I figured it was worth a photo of the day!

#202 Do no wrong cat....until today that is...

(Taken through the glass sliding door.)

My cat, Hook, has been a "can do no wrong" cat since the day I got him. That changed today when he left me a "gift" of two little bunny ears and a bunny tail. OMG! It was all I could do to clean up the mess. Then I had to go looking for the carcass but couldn't find it. Well, Jack found it and I had just about stepped on it during my search. (I swear sometimes I'm blind to things.)

I'm locking him in at night again; (not Jack, but the cat), some "gifts" are more than I can deal with.

#201 They call me mellow yellow...

I couldn't help but take this photo of my van and the custodian's van.

Today's title? I just love the sound of it, I'm certainly anything BUT mellow and I still like Donovan's old tunes. Old tunes for old people who drive old yellow vehicles.

Day #200 - Seasons of a Road

It's amazing how even our driveway takes on seasons. Although our temperatures are in the 100's, this is the beginning of the falling leaves from those beautiful peeling madrones.

#199 Signs of Grandkids

When the grandkids visit, I like for them to change their artwork on my sewing room chalkboard cupboard doors.

Of course Josh, the 8th grader, decided his art from last year was just fine so he told me I could change the '08 to an '09. (Yes, he has that 8th grade attitude, but the sweet side wants to ooze out too. He does tend to drive his mom crazy.)

Kai's
Jacob's

Jarod's

Zoe's

Now I'm set until their next visits. I get to look at all this love every time I'm in my room. Mmmmm, life is good.

#198 the Plan

Okay, so here' the plan: I signed up with www.MyNetDiary.com and I log everything I eat during the day and all my exercise/walking plus my vitamins, etc. I plunked in a lofty goal weight come February and I'll see what happens. So far it is working great. I actually drink water because I want to check off all those little boxes!

It lets you know how many calories you have left for the day according to your plan.

I just don't want to be so heavy. My clothes are tight on me and I am too cheap to buy more... other than at the thrift stores, of course.

Anyway, this on-line program has a forum, if you are into that kind of thing; there is a nutritionist to answer questions and a review of by NPR says it is working for a large group of people. I don't want to weigh-in at a group, I don't want to leave home to attend meetings and I didn't want to pay Weight Watchers prices for the on-line program.

This was $9 for one month, $8 a month if you pay for 3 months, etc. I figured I'd invest $24 and try it for 3 months.

With my new hair cut, I wouldn't mind a new body shape and that is totally up to me and LESS calories.
Time will tell......

#197 New Doo

So I've been whacking my hair off little by little; I had Dee cut the length off then I cut at it after that, only to make a real mess out of it. So I went to a hairdresser and told the gal to give me a spunky, short doo. I don't know about spunky, but I did get short!

#196 Brood Time

The turkey hens seem to be running with baby chicks lately. Here are two broods that I caught on camera. Click on the photos to see the chicks up close. So cute.

#195 Favorite Shop

This is a garden and gift shop in town that I just love. You never know what kind of "critter" will be hanging around the old truck. Here are two examples.

#194 Fall Colors in Summer

Jack gets frustrated with the madrone leaves falling and making a mess of everything. I on the other hand, happen to love this time of year when the leaves fall and the orange bark peels back to reveal a lovely lime green underneath. As it dries, this green gets darker and darker. I think these are my favorite trees.

#193 Getting Gramie Organized

A visit from my granddaughter means my pins will get organized. Ever since she was about 2 years old, she has sorted them by color then pushed them down into my pin cushion. Now she is 6 and still trying to organize me.

Her next visit, I'm going to have her sewing along side of me.

#192 Different View Point

Visiting a friend, I discovered a completely different viewpoint of our valley.

Too bad all differences aren't this lovely.

#191 Some downtime

Now that company is gone for a few days, I think I'll get out my pastels and try to do a painting. This reference photo has been in my "to do" pile for a long, long time.

#190 Exploring

We've lived here for 18 years and somehow, don't get to explore our own back yard. D&J went hiking and found this incredible bend in the river. The next day, we all took a picnic and played in the ice cold water.

What a great backdrop for a photo.

Trying to decide which rocks they REALLY need to pack home.

#189 Camping anyone?

This homemade camper was at the park; notice the built-in greenhouse in the front.

What a hoot.

#188 Lithia Park - 2 times within a week

She sees anything that goes up and she starts to climb.
No fear.

I just know she is realted to Spider Man.

Monkey at the top!

This is as high as this one would climb.

#187 First Things First

More grandkids and they had one thing on their minds: the Fairy Ring Tree!

Yay!!

#186 Mornings

Diane enjoying the calm of the mornings - with coffee, of course.

Grandpa taking Josh fishing. Tie the flies then throw them in the lake! We are going to miss our boys.