Look, Ma, No Chocolate!

I would like to say I am impressed at myself for not having any chocolate stashes in the house; but I'd be telling a lie. I may not have chocolate stashed in every third drawer and every other cupboard, but I'm not shedding any weight due to a lack of chocolate in my diet! I have somehow found something to take the place of chocolate.

Bigger portions? More salty snacks? I just don't know....but the scale does not lie...(dang it!)

And The Survey Says:

Out of about 80 students surveyed, it ended up 50% said they knew what an ironing board was but they didn't all own one. The other 50% didn't have a clue what I was talking about.

(I remember having to sprinkle EVERYTHING with water, roll it up and store it in the fridge. Then iron every bit of it....hankies, overalls, jeans, shirts, dish cloths, table cloths, etc. etc. It never ended with a family of 7. Of course ONLY the females "got" to iron! -- why is that, Mom?!)

I Must be Older Than I Think....

I am filling in for my co-worker at school who is an aid for all the P.E. classes. So I was in the girls' locker room and commented on one of the girl's hair. I asked her if she had ironed her hair on the ironing board. She said, "What's an ironing board?"
None of the girls next to her knew what an ironing board was either. When I told them it's for ironing clothes they just looked at me like I was some kind of alien.
So what? No one irons any more?
Am I really that old?

Today I think I'll take a survey to see how many even own an iron!

(That's fabric hanging on the wall....trying to select what I need for a quilt.)



Rainbow Delight

I have a nice camera but rainbows are hard for me to capture. This one popped out yesterday early evening just before a light hail storm. The colors in this were so bright that you could see each individual band including the indigo and violet which are usually the hardest for me to detect.

Desperate for Coffee!

Murphy's Law #2576: The day you set your alarm early to get more work done before work is the day the electricity goes out!
Sure enough, in the middle of my 5:00 a.m. shower, it all went dark! I got out my light sources and started cleaning my sewing/craft room anyway!

Then an urge for coffee kicked in. Luckily, one pot of coffee lasts me three days; I merely reheat it in the microwave. I got desperate and heated it over my candles. (Hey...it worked!! .. a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do!)





I got to work and power was out there too. Why they didn't cancel school, I'll never know. Kids were stumbling around in the dark, no bathrooms, no running water, kitchen was pitch black so no breakfast, no fire alarms because they are all powered by electricity, no phones...well land lines. We couldn't call out and folks couldn't call in.

After two hours of this, kids were able to whip out their cell phones and call parents. Buses were ordered and kids were sent home. We should have just had a two hour delay to the day but hey.... I'm not the one in charge so I stumbled through the black hallways just like the kids!

So I've been re-gifted some time and I'm going to go put it to good use right this very minute!



'Been Busy Sewing

....sewing Capri Sun packets! I have an assortment to show off at our school assembly this coming week. I will make a few more 3-ring binder covers as I know the kids will like those and maybe some more pencil pouches. I was just trying to save the landfill but at the rate the kids drink this stuff, I don't think all my spare time could make packets into usable stuff! At least they will see what they could do with them.
I have here tote bags, a diaper bag, a clutch purse, some wallets, a book cover, a binder cover, a bow tie (huge one so a teacher can wear it like a clown!), a coffee cup insulator, a skirt....yes, I said skirt! It's for our secretary to wear...she has pink or orange shoes she is going to wear with it! Too cute. I am going to make a belt also so I'll have a few more items to show off come Friday. I really wanted to wrap it all up today, but I'm ready to quit for the day.



My Hunter

(Amy, you might have a house full of hunters, but mine isn't too shabby either!)...

I should have changed my cat's name from Hook to Hunter. He is amazing. This one fat mouse did get away. I don't know if Hook really wanted breakfast or if he just wanted to play. Two times the mouse got away and literally flew off of the deck. Hook would run back and get him. I don't know what happened the third time, but the cat nor the mouse returned to the deck. And it was pitch black outside so I couldn't see over the deck.

Give 'em an Inch....They'll Take a Mile

I discovered one of the trees Jack cut down....I counted the rings and it was at least 140 years old! Some of the rings are so tight together, it was hard to count them.



Honestly, that guy was supposed to cut three dead trees down.....check out what I found near the "two" he cut down......yup, that's six fresh tree stumps! Evidently they "were in the way" and just had to come down. This is one area where we tend to argue more than on anything else at all. I HATE it when he cuts trees down.

Okay, I'm going to go cry in my beer.....

Smile Makers

I have these cute little painted rocks that an artist friend of mine sells. I keep the little rock family in my kitchen on the counter. They make me smile.

I wash them off, rearrange them, and move them around the counter now and again.

This morning, I came downstairs to find this:

Jack had perched my pea-insect-creature on top of my Mama Frog!

Dawg-gone, if it didn't make me smile even wider!

(The pea creature is from my sil, Annette, who gave each of us "gals" some sort of a vegetable creature last christmas. Fun!

Yay, Chile!

I love it when the news is filled with good things happening like the miners in Chile all being saved. Everyone healthy. What a miracle from a tiny hole to drop a camera to one large enough to pull them all out.

It made me wonder if I could fit into that cylinder and make it to the top. Maybe I better start walking today since I've slacked off completely! Not that I plan on going down in any mine in the near future, but I'm in need of shedding some pounds.

I've also been reading a series of fiction books by J.A. Jance where the main character has a blog called "cutloose". She wrote about meaningful things and I just babble. (What else should I do at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning...sleep?) Maybe I should look for a graveyard shift job since I'm walking the floors at night lately. My schedule is off kilter to say the least!

Well, I just wanted to sit here and see if I could say something meaningful....didn't happen so I'm going to go play an on-line puzzle until my alarm goes off!

Have a good one!

Fisher Jack

So now, I married a fisherman! We have had the most gorgeous fall days with cold nights and warm days. Jack and two buddies went up to Diamond Lake and managed to come home with this string of fish. Mmmmm, trout for dinner tonight!

I love it when he has a relaxing day with his friends. I can't wait until I can have these kinds of days with friends.....next year - this time, I'll be so NOT WORKING!!!!

Lumber Jack

Yes, I married a lumberjack named Jack! Little did I know when I gave him his Stihl chainsaw 30 years ago that he would enjoy cutting trees so much! Actually, his back is still hurting him so he got our neighbor to help cut three tricky trees. This one is called a "Widow Maker" because it was so dangerous to cut down.

One old tree was so big, I'm going to count the rings to see how old it was. I think too many years without enough rain is taking its toll on these trees.

In order to fall in the right direction, a wench was used as it fell. Then it ended up lodged in a big madrone. Bill had to cut pieces until it was then hanging straight up in the tree. It had to be pulled out with the help of a truck. A lot of work for one tree and every step was dangerous.

We will have a lot of firewood from these trees and it clears the woods from trees that the beetles attack. It keeps the forest healthy to remove the dead ones. I just wish there were an easier way to do it.

By the way, I figured the trees needed some rain so I washed my van yesterday afternoon. It rained.

Day Out

I won two gift certificates last year: one to a health spa in Ashland and another to some bath gardens and tea house in Ashland. Since Jack's back hurts him all the time, I gave him the spa certificate so he could have a hot tub soak and a deep tissue massage. Yesterday was our day to cash in!

This is where Jack went, across from the historic Ashland Hotel.

 This is where I went, mixed in with a residential area. The inside was more impressive than the outside, same with the spa Jack went to. Very classy.

The leaves are changing and I love the contrast of the vibrant green and the burnt oranges.

My time was supposed to be 90 minutes. I entered, got the tour and started in the showers, then the steam room. I stood at the door inside the steam room for what seemed like ages before I could see that there was a bench to sit on. Just like in the movies! So I sat. I loved the steam. It made my skin feel wonderful. Me, with my dry, dry skin. I had my hair twisted up in a clip but I could still feel it curling from the steam!

I then went outdoors to the serenity pool. It was so nice. A huge orange sail canopy stretched overhead, a beautiful rock waterfall took one corner, bamboo and other plants were scattered around and the pool was of a natural stone. The water was hot, but not boiling hot, I darted across from one side to the other. Then I saw the jets. They were all around the pool. I turned them on for a few minutes and turned them off again. I just enjoyed playing in the water alone.

Later, another woman arrived and I felt I should sit still and relax and be serene. Well, I don't need to tell you how long that lasted. I twirled my feet and hands in the water until I had to get out.

I looked at the dry sauna and decided I couldn't take that heat. There was a cooling pool and one toe-test told me to give that up!

So I just headed back to the showers, got dressed and walked the town!

I managed a full 35 minutes in the baths. The good thing is that it felt like 90 minutes, I was totally relaxed of mind and ready for the world!

Jack arrived an hour later and I talked him into eating lunch in Ashland.

Afterwards, we did some marketing and then toured a huge bath, kitchen and lighting warehouse! We plan on some remodeling projects and we wanted ideas.

Ideas?! Oh my gosh....way too many choices! But it was fun seeing what is out there.

We were home by 4:00.... in time to take down the laundry by the light of the sun!

Great Day!!!

It Would be a New Moon

And just where is the full moon when you need it? I got home from work yesterday and found out it's due to rain this evening. I hadn't done laundry in over a week because we were in Portland last weekend. Obviously, my laundry room was brimming with dirty clothes. I decided to wash and hang them out. Whatever doesn't get dry, I'll use my dryer (which smells like Caprisun juice!)

I have an energy efficient front loading washer. It may be good on the environment, but it takes FOREVER to wash a load. Three loads later, I'm in the dark! Actually, I could see just well enough to find my way back to the house.

I have today off from work as it is a teacher work day, so I'll check them when I get home from Ashland. (More about that later.)

Portland

I took Friday off and Jack and I joined Mom, Sis and bil in Portland. What a grand time!

The murals on sides of buildings always draw me in.

This used to be our favorite breakfast spot but it has changed to an art gallery now. The doorway certainly is inviting for art lovers.

Mom always had a hand to hold.

We headed to the Saturday Market along the river. It had expanded so much we couldn't take it all in.

We did find time to chat with this sweet clown.

And now I'm wondering which one is REALLY the clown?

This was taken at The Spoonman's booth. It is a favorite of ours every time we visit the market. I managed to drop $44 on rings. They make me happy for some reason. They just feel good on my fingers.


On our trip to CA last weekend, I took photos of the wind machines in the hills. I couldn't believe it when I found them on top of skyscrapers downtown Portland! What a great way to generate power. One building had huge rain catching containers....as large as a building itself. The water must have been used for the building as it was an apartment complex. I think folks are getting smarter about using resources.

And this.....is a used book store that takes a complete city block! Powell's Used Books. Not to mention they have other speciality book stores in the neighborhood because they don't all fit in this one building. I love to get lost here.

This is a shot of a partial row. And the smell of books... nothing quite like it.

And what would a trip be without a photo of the group?!

We will be back! There is so much to see and do, we can't squeeze it all into one short weekend, besides, sisters cannot be apart from one another too long.

Recycling

Danette sent me this idea to make a tote bag out of empty Caprisun packets. I told the kids at school to start saving them. After making this, I now want to have a school wide competition and see which class can come up with the best recycling project using the packets.

It was a fun bag to carry and it is quite sturdy. I am going to make as many as I can get empty packets. The only thing is, my dryer smells like fruit juice! (You have to slit the bottoms, wash them out and put them in your dryer for 20 minutes on low....and I don't use my dryer for anything so this was a test that the dang thing still works!)