Sisters and Twins, but not Twin Sisters

I've returned home from a quick visit to Mom's. I even got to see my aunt, my sister, my "twin" brother and his wife, two nieces a grandniece and a grandnephew... all without leaving Mom's! The others were up to their eyeballs with rocks at a rock show!

Sisters:

Oh, you never knew I had a twin brother? Well, check it out..... we are both 65 years old. Is that cool or what? I cannot imagine it, but Mom says it was no problem having us so close together. (Notice she waited 4 years before having another child!)

Actually, we celebrate 13 days every year that we are the same age, then he takes the lead, as usual!

As different as we all are, there is something special about having family around. We might disagree on many subjects but the importance of the love of family is one thing we all agree upon.

Another special thing for me is that my sister-in-laws are like sisters and my brother-in-law is like a fourth brother. It is as if we were all raised together.... strange, but they do fit so well into the quirkiness of the family.

So turning 65 wasn't as painful as I imagined. Being surrounded by family must have been the magic pill I was meant to swallow.

Now..... I'm working towards 66!!

11.11.11

11.11.11 will be my 65th birthday. I think that makes me an OFFICIAL SENIOR CITIZEN.

Yup, 65 years ago, this beautiful woman, (the one on the left...my sweet niece is on the right), gave birth to me two full months premature on 11.11.1946. The story goes that I was allergic to Mom's milk so I had a black wet nurse. Dad used to tell me that I got my curls from her milk! Then he'd say I got my curls from eating burned food. It came down to the fact that I got my curls from Dad.

65 years. Wow! I honestly thought I would die before my 30th birthday. I seriously believed it. I even had the way I would die all figured out... aka... murder! Oh my! And that was before CSI and all the gore on t.v these days.

So I was wrong. Here I am 65 and Mom is 88. Other than pneumonia right now, she is healthy.

You want to know something? I get to celebrate my 65th birthday with Mom!

I'm hitching a ride with a friend to Washington and will walk, giggle, put puzzles together and love being with Mom.

I don't care if the sun doesn't shine, we shall have three glorious days together.

Bald Faced Hornets' Nest

One thing about the caterpillars eating all the leaves from the trees: we can see the hornets' nests!

Living Stump

A living stump is created when a live tree is cut and its stump remains in the ground. The stump and root system may remain alive for several years if its roots graft to nearby living trees.^[1] A living stump capable of producing sprouts or cuttings is known as a stool, and is used in the coppicing method of woodland management. (Source: Wikipedia)

For 30 years I have known about living stumps. What I didn't know was that they are common. The only one I was aware of is at the Rogue River Gorge. One day, I was walking back from the mail box when I looked over in our woods and saw a living stump. I was so jazzed. Why hadn't I seen it before? I'm always looking for photo ops. Then I saw another one and another one! These photos are of the first one I discovered.

Beware of Gifts...They Might Bite You in the Butt

Sure enough, I gave Jack an iTouch for his birthday so he would have more room for all his music. He can also talk to one daughter who has a smart phone via Face Time. So the two of them talk "shop" all the time and I am clueless. I like being clueless sometimes.

But after this morning, I now know I need to do some research and find out just what this iTouch can do. I found out one thing.... it is a recording device.

Jack called me in the living room. He had his iTouch plugged into our stereo system. I thought I was going to have to stand there and listen to yet another singer he has "discovered"! But what came out of those speakers was not music..... it was me snoring. In Dolby Surround Sound nearly full blast!

Oh great. What was I thinking when I gave him this gift? Oh yeah, I was thinking I'd get his old iPod and I could download French lessons and listen to French all day.

I have to admit, it was funny. He got just about every one of my various snores. I didn't know I had different ones, but I most certainly do. So we stood in the living room and had a glorious comic relief moment at my expense. I just hope he doesn't learn how to post to YouTube or I'm in big trouble!

FOUND in Road

I was walking home after putting some mail out this morning and came upon this Western Pond Turtle in the middle of the road. I don't know where she was headed, but it was a dangerous place to stop for a rest. I picked her up and carried her home with me so I could snap some photos. I have never been this close to one before because they are so timid when we go down to our pond.

They are endangered because of shrinking habitat and increasing predators, etc.

Pretty cool.

Hobbit Land

We are having a new firebreak put into our underworld brush below the house. I love walking through this scrub area as it reminds me of the stories about the hobits. I think they might just have lived here at one time.

I know the fox, coyote, quail, doves and rabbits sure like this area. I hope we don't disturb them too much.