The Hungry, Hungry KILLER Catepillars

Well, the tent catepillars are killing all of our madrone trees. Last year there were only a few "tents" on some trees; this year, there is an epidemic of them.

We can't do anything aobut this because the webs are so strong, nothing penetrates them. Birds can't even get inside to the catepillars. Every week, more and more of the trees are encased. They even wrap around the trunks of the trees.

I noticed that these webs even stay from one year to the next, just shriveled from the weather.

Very sad. These are my favorite trees.



Home, Sweet Home

We had a wonderful visit with Janet, Clay, Mom and Clara, Judy, Shannon and two stop-overs at Danette's. No matter the journey, it is always good to be home.

We were there when they took Clay's barn down to make way for a swimming pool.

Me and Janet.....sils

Old stomping grounds.... Simi

Old friends, Judy and Shannon

Jack and his mom

12 lanes of freeway....6 in each direction. I forget how things flow (or not) in L.A. There were stretches where there were 14 lanes of traffic!



Surprise!

Here we are on the road again. We are just outside of L.A. visiting with Jack's mom and sis. We stopped on the way for Joseph's surprise birthday party. It was a fun day. Thanks, Danette and Kathleen for a great party.

 Jessica & Danette

Zoe

Kathleen

Danette, Kathleen and Ralph working hard in the kitchen.

 ...sampling of the whipped cream frosting!

Question

Just one question and I'd like to have as many people respond as possible because I will "change my way" if enough folks think differently from me.

If you have a double knit (t-shirt type fabric) "polo" shirt with a collar .....do you iron it?

(I'm going to ask this on my facebook page too but I may not figure out how to find responses. I hate facebook!)

A Quick Bite Before the Big Guy Gets Any



New Bracelet: $11.00,

Embroidery Project: $12.00, Ring Stuck on Finger in the Store: almost $5.00, Day Hanging Out With Friend: Priceless !!

Eileen and I went to Jacksonville and visited just about every store in town. One of the hardest decisions was where to have lunch because everything looked so good. We chose well; just don't ask me the name of the restaurant.

 (As a reminder: the one on the left is retired and the one on the right will be going back to school in a few weeks!)

I love the old paintings on the brick buildings.

Jacksonville was a gold mining town so scenes like this one are tucked here and there around town.

 If we would have ridden into town on horseback, it would have felt more natural to me.

The flowers were not only lovely to look at, but some were tasty to eat! Eileen even sampled a petal from a nasturshum. Mmmmm they are so firery, they clear my sinuses!

I want this statue!

The trolly runs around town with a guide telling the history.

I spent just the right amount of money, found everything I was looking for, the weather was perfect, we talked ourselves out and laughed like good friends should.

Thanks, Eileen!!

Aplets and Cotlets oh My

As a young girl, I sold Aplets and Cotlets and Almond Roca for my Camp Fire Girls' group. I used to love selling and I enjoyed even more to eat the yummy treats.

I loved going back to Cashmere, WA if for nothing else but the memory of those little sweet treats. Well, I must have talked about them enough because Sandy sent me a box in the mail.

This isn't just an ordinary box of Aplets and Cotlets; it's a Liberty Orchards 90th Anniversary special edition commemorative collection of Aplets, Cotlets, Grapelets, Strawberry, Boysenberry and Cupcake flavored candies.

I didn't know they made different flavored "lets", but they sure do. I didn't like the cupcake ones, they tasted like cupcakes of all things! Grapelets were good but a bit too subtle for me and the others were great.

Am I sharing them with Jack? Well, they are out on the countertop for anyone to snag one, but so far, I'm the only one with a sweet tooth in this household. (Jack is busy eating his chocolate birthday cake!)

(There aren't as many left now as there were when I took this photo!)

Thanks, Sandy!

River Art Walk

We met with an old buddy of Jack's and his wife and checked out our annual River Art Walk. It was a hot, hot day and being along the river helped tremendously. It was great seeing so many artists in one area. I do hope they all sold their art. We bought some gifts so that was fun to help some starving artists!

The river was like a freeway in the middle of Los Angeles; there were so many rafters spending the day on the water.

The four of us.

Jack is checking out the fly tying demo.

Some of the art booths along the path.

We decided to walk across the bridge and have lunch outdoors on the patio.

Here is the view from Miguel's Guadalajara Restaurant looking across at the River Art Walk.

All in all, it was a great RETIRED day.



A Senior Citizen Lives Here!

It's official: Jack is 65 and is carrying a Medicare card in his wallet. How the heck did that happen?! I'm married to an old man. (Well, for another three months--then I turn 65!)

Well, happy birthday, Jack!

Since I believe whole-heartedly that everyone deserves a homemade birthday dessert on his/her birthday.... I made Jack a chocolate-chocolate cake.

 

 Now comes the challenge of cleaning my "white" grout from all that deep, dark cocoa powder I managed to spill as I made the cake. (He is sooooOOOo worth al the trouble!)

En Plein Air

En plein air is French for "in the open air." Our Upper Rogue Artists' Association has been painting outdoors every month rather than meeting indoors. As long as the weather holds, we'll be outside. The last two sessions were held on Fridays just before we left on trips. I never seem to have everything together enough for me to go and paint all day long. Therefore, I take photos and come back and paint here. I have several to choose from this month as we were on the river.

Maybe I'll start one today. I want to play with my pastels. Maybe the greens won't be so hard with chalk. I'll have to see how it goes.

Well, I had five more photos but they are all turned sideways. So just imagine many lovely options along the river.

Rafting Quilted Wallhanging

I made this little wall hanging quilt a few years ago. It seems it has finally found a home. I'm donating it to the Friends of the Library for a basket to be raffled off. The theme of the basket is Shady Cove. I figured this would be the perfect gift since the raft shop has been here forever. Folks will recognize it for the flip flops hanging from the tree.

The funds go to help libraries with special programs.

I had fun making this quilt and now I'm having fun in giving it away. We can't hang onto stuff forever can we?



A Journey to Say Farewell

Our 1972 Chevy Van.

Basically, I have been the main driver on this van for 39 years. Both girls learned to drive in it and we saw a lot of the USA in it. Great times and wonderful memories. After 39 years, there had better be some good memories. I hauled Camp Fire girls all over the L.A. area in it and the camping trips are too numerous to mention.

When I decided to retire, I realized it would mean the van needs to retire as well. I won't be driving very often and we have a car and a truck. How many vehicles do two people need anyway?

Right about the time I knew I'd have to part with the van, Joshua started learning to drive. What a perfect fit. They can't afford to buy a car for him and my first ride in the van was when Jack brought it home brand new and took me to the hospital to have Kari! So it's gone full circle now.

Kari said "yes" they wanted the van. Joshua was stoked. He has thought of nothing since we told him he could have it if he wanted it.

So begins the journey:

Jack drove the van over the mountains and I drove the Subaru.

Last gas in Oregon.

At a rest area in CA.

Josh, Jarod and Jacob waiting in the front yard for us to pull up with the van.

The handing over of the keys. Of course, we later went to DMV and transfered the van legally.

I guess it is going to get a bath once a week whether Josh drives it or not! He is one very excited young man.

I thought I would cry and get a lump in my throat. I always told Jack he would have to bury me in the van because I didn't want to ever drive anything else.
So how did it come to giving it away? I figured the next best thing was to keep it in the family.

Josh is so excited and Jacob and Jarod are already counting the years until they will get to drive it. So it has made them all very happy and isn't that what life is about? To be happy and to help others to be happy? So I'm not sad.

I just hope they have many safe trips in that '72 Chevy van.

Kickin' Back With the Grandkids - Part II

How can kids grow so fast? From April to August, Jacob grew taller than me. Josh towers over me and I believe he might be a bit taller than Jack. Jarod got taller but we'll have to wait and see where he ends up. They do make me feel like I'm shrinking closer to the earth!

We hung out at the high school pool. Kari was involved in a texting conversation with a friend. What a crazy world! (I don't know why my photos won't flip straight when I upload them here. It may be a new photo program I am using.)

Boys are so different than girls. They eat ALL the time. This is one of the many late night "snacks" Jacob had. He made cheesecake! He ate a piece while it was hot out of the oven then wrapped it and put the rest into the fridge. I don't even want to think of the grocery bill Kari must have!

Jarod was quite the fish in water. He dove for a toy he had brought and that entertained him the entire time.

It was a good trip and we'll be on the road again in 12 days... this time to L.A. to give Jack's sister a break in caring for their mom and aunt. I am so glad I am retired and don't have to worry about squeezing all my projects into this last 12 days before going back to work!