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!