After the 4th

Back to work after one day!! UGH! But the weekend looms. I'd thought to have an HTC team meeting on Saturday, but not enough folks can attend. So, I'll go to the coast instead. I've made a deal with my across-the-street neighbor to water my garden in exchange for some spending money for her. She doesn't work so I think that will be a bonus for Lori and certainly for me as well. Perhaps next Saturday will be better for my team and we'll get to decide some stuff........like who's running which legs.

I though someone might like to see a cute photo of a green tree frog masquerading as a sunflower bud in Mike's neice's yard. I'd thought it was the beginning of a flower and bent the plant to look and the "bud" hopped to the next leaf! There is a wee spider to the right of the frog. I'm sure that arachnid made a tasty mid-afternoon snack for Ms. Treefrog.

The moon was playing hide & seek with the last of the clouds this evening and I tried a couple of night photos with my little Canon A610. Interesting shots, if not good. But I'll include them here as well.

Have a great weekend. I hope to be able to run both days and enjoy my other garden at the coast. Perhaps even mat and frame a few photos as I have a request to "decorate" another Doc's exam rooms at the clinic.

Happy 4th of July

When I bought my home, the former owner told me I had the "best seat in town" for watching the 4th of July fireworks here in St. Helens. Well, he was correct.

I spent the daylight hours gardening and, unintentionally, dog-sitting my neighbor's dog. About 2pm Buster "busted out" of the yard. I stuffed him back in once and re-barricaded the exit-or so I thought. Five minutes later, Buster was out again. The two neighbor girls and I tried to get him back through the fence. We finally dissolved in laughter when Buster went limp and none of us could manage the 110 pound dog. I thought he would stay with them since there were several young folks out. But I misjudged the dog. Going back to my gardening, I soon found a cold, wet, friendly nose nudging me. We spent the remainder of the late afternoon and evening planting roses, edging with bricks and loudly discussing where Buster would roam. When the M8Os would detonate, he would retreat under my deck and whine. If it was only firecrackers or piccolo petes, he would glue himself to my leg or hide under my deck chair where I retreated to have a beer. Buster is a great dog, but I would have no garden with such a beast. About 6:30 Jeff & Carol returned from boating in the river and reclaimed the dog. They had many apologies and gratitude, but I totally enjoyed my afternoon with Buster.

Evening came and the "real" fireworks began. My 16 X 16 deck is certainly the place to be to observe this show. I took several photos that I will include here. The illumination revealed my work for the day. I have planted miniture roses between my larger ones and they look very nice. I also planted Mike's mother's rose against my back fence. I hope it does as well there as it did for Kate and as it has for Mike. It is really a beautiful rose and should climb all over my fence.

The "find" of the day for me was a rose called Bonica. Mike has one at the coast and it is a favorite of ours. It is a shrub rose and has beautifully delicate pink blooms. I found one at, of all places, Wal-Mart. I purchased it and have planted it against my south wall very nearly under Edna's kitchen window. It, hopefully, will do well there and continue to provide those wonderful pink blooms.

Fourth of July

Don't know what I'm going to do yet, even for this weekend, but thought I'd post some fireworks photos that I took last year in Battle Ground at Debbie & Jeff's annual bash.
Enjoy!!

Two Days Off

What a treat! I took 2 days off work and realize I should do this more often.

Tuesday was the 2nd hottest day of our year and a record for June in this area-as was Monday- and I gathered all the necessary stuff to install a sprinkler system in my back yard and bring water to the front. Mike gave me 5 lengths of PVC pipe left over from a long-ago project of his. I was able to actually make a hose bib in the front yard and WATER! I'm sure the plumbing police would disapprove and snicker at my work, but water is water and my plants seemed just as happy as if it conformed to Union standards. Besides, the sky provides most of the water we need here, so this is just for those few days a year that are truly HOT.

Tuesday evening Mike & I went to the Aladdin to see Arlo Guthrie and family. What a treat that show was. We loved it. For my part, I could have been content just to hear Arlo sing Alice's Restaurant in person. I will never forget that.

Wednesday dawned cooler, but still a beautiful day. It was as if the Weather Gods knew I didn't want to dig ditches in 100 degree heat. I prepared the ditch for the PVC, laid out the pattern of pipes, elbows and sprinklers and needed only one more trip to Ace Hardware to complete my needs. Of course, Tuesday I had made 2 trips to Ace and one to True Value, so I guess that's about par for the course. And I only got two or three blotches of blue glue on my body putting the pieces together. Some of the PVC Mike donated was very permanently curved. I was able to work several of those curves into the pattern and had only to cut out two sections. Anyway, the system is in and it works. I have included photos of the exposed pipe in my little ditch and then of the sprinklers actually working. My garden is maturing and I am enjoying the process every bit as much as the results.

By the way, today I even went to Kelso, Wa and got my new truck it's 5000 mile "well baby check" this afternoon. Must keep up that warrenty......I do want to collect on that free-tires-for-life thing.

June 20, 2006

Once again I haven't been attentive to my BLOG. Life tends to get in the way. Graduations, 75th birthday parties and work have taken my time.
My dear friend Karen Whiteaker has moved to Spokane. This is a really good thing for her. She has graduated from PSU with the double major of Business Management and Human Resources and almost certainly has a great job awaiting her. I will include photos of her graduation. This is a crossroads in Karen's life and the move is a good thing. But I will miss her terribly and also will miss her children Alex, Emily & Everett. We have had many a late nights at my house solving the world's problems and many nice dinners at El Tapatio doing the same. I think I will have some haircuts that involve a trip to Spokane in the near future. As I helped her pack last evening, amid the chaos and boxes, she gave me one last haircut. When I related this story to Mike, he recalled the scene in the movie "Oh God" when George Burns told John Denver to do something normal, like shaving, and he would better deal with the unusual circumstances at hand. I think that's what Karen & I were doing with the haircut.......something normal.

Saturday evening many of us from Broadway attended Gladys Wilson's 75th birthday party. I hope I am as vital and active as Gladys is when I am 75. The party was wonderful, held at the Smith Mansion, of National Historic Register fame. A lovely home that is still occupied by a family. A picture of Gladys and Ted is included here.

Summer officially begins at 5:26am tomorrow morning. I wonder if the weather here will magically change!? I doubt it. As Mike's mom used to say "Never expect summer until after the 4th of July." OK, I wont. But I hope it is nice for the CSNY concert on July 28th!!

What a beautiful weekend!!!! While I worked Saturday morning at BMC the sun came out. A few minutes after I got home about 1:30pm Mike arrived in the Jag. We decided the sun was such a treat that we would go for a top-down spin. I had seen a sign on my way to work for several weeks that said "PEONIES, Thur-Sun 11-6." Of course, those hours were not such that I could see what the "PEONIES" were all about. We followed the signs on Saturday, and thank heaven there were signs! If you lived up there you'd need bread crumbs to get to the store and back. I had no idea there were so many varieties of Peonies. Jim & Bonnie Johnson have made a hobby/vocation of growing and hybridizing peonies. They have, literally, hundreds of colors and varities growqing on their considerable piece of land. They have other very beautiful landscaping as well and are extremely personable to converse with. I believe I will order two or three varieties from them to be collected and planted in the fall. I especially liked Coral Charm, Candy Hearts and Butter Bowl.

After the Peonie tour we took the road off of Highway 30 in South Scappoose that says "Mark's on the Channel" and followed it down to Dike Road. In addition to nursery growing farms we discovered a charming little bar/restaurant on the Multnomah Channel (Mark's of course) and sat on the dock having a beer in the warm sun. What a delightful place! I am sure we will return there more than once.

Sunday dawned (I guess-we got up late) warm and sunny again. After reading the paper in the sun on my deck Mike suggested we go to Troutdale and scout out Edgefield where we are to see Bonnie Raiit/Keb Mo in September. Again, top-down trip was enjoyed through Portland to Troutdale. Edgefield is a wonderful place of gardens and olde, restored buildings. We toured the Herb Garden and enjoyed beer and BBQ'd chicken outside in the area called "The Loading Dock."

My lawns needed mowing and, as Mike left to return to the coast, he predicted that I would mow them immediately. He was right, of course, and by 7:30 both front & back we mowed and edged. My garden is growing-we had salad from it on Saturday night- and the front of the house looks very cute with the korbels Mike added 2 weeks ago. I will include some updated photos here of the maturing garden and the front.

Next weekend brings another graduation (Karen Whiteaker's) and Gladys' 75th birthday party. I hope after that my life can be my own again for a while. I'd like to just garden here and at the coast and concentrate onmy running. The Hood to Coast looms ever closer!

Wednesday

Nothing special tonight...just a nice day. Everyone but me in Administration at BMC is on vacation, so, it's "Tag, you're it" for me. But, really, it's pretty much a piece of cake. We have such a good crew that most folks manage themselves quite nicely. I sometimes think that the managers need to meet just to assure themselves of their own importance. But that's probably one of those things that is illegal to BLOG about your place of employment, so, you really didn't read this.
The clear skies and beautiful scenery on my way home belied the icey cold wind that was blowing. I hoped to run again, but I'm not much a of wind runner. I watered my plants in the back yard and brrrrrr, decided to email my Hood to Coast team instead of running. I did eat enough peas from my vines in the garden to delay my desire for dinner for quite a while! How fun.
I think I will just include some photos of the tulips that bloomed so graciously in my front yard this year. I photographed them and have framed them to hang above my bed when I finish painting my bedroom. The warm colors will compliment the Adobe and Yellow I plan to paint in that room.

Tuesday June 6

It didn't rain today! Some clouds this morning but no rain. I actually wore sandles to work and didn't get my feet wet. Didn't even need to put on my jacket.

The weather was so pretty when I got home this evening, and I had been stuck in the office all day, that I went for a run. I ran in a random pattern down through town to the waterfront and along the river to the north end of our marina. There are float homes there as well as boats moored. I was confronted, once again, with what a beautiful place this is. The sky was blue and clear, the air was warm and the river was beautiful. Mount Hood was peaking above the boats in the marina and is still covered with snow. There were boys out riding skateboards (and pretending to run into me as I ran, laughing, at them) and couple out walking their dogs. I feel so fortunate to live here.

I returned home from my run to find the girls that live two houses south of me out in the street flirting with a boy on a skateboard. They said "Hi" and I got to ask if they would cat-sit for me this summer. They both seemed delighted. I think that may work out well for me. I'd like to know them better in any event.

I will include a couple of photos here of our marina in St. Helens. They were taken a bit earlier this year, but the scene is basically the same.

Remiss in Keeping up BLOG-Guilty!

It's Oregon. It's June 1st and it's RAINING!!!!....still, yet, again. Hood Meadows will be open for skiing again this weekend. However, I have both the front & back door of my house open because Michael has installed two screen doors for me and it's not cold. That, at least, is an improvement.
Lots has happened, not the least of which is that Eric graduated from USC with his Master's Degree on May 12th. I returned to So Cal for the first time and, although I loved seeing Eric and family, I am soooooo glad I don't live there anymore. There are way too many rats in the rat-maze down there. No wonder everyone drives 80 mph and is stressed. They're running away and don't even know they're running in place.
I'll try to include some photos here of the graduation, though last time I tried my files were too big to download here.

My garden here in St. Helens is thriving. I have enough peas on my pea vines to have for dinner. My lettuce is (and has been already) edible and the Walla Walla onions look really good. Now that I have "deadlined" the slugs, my flowers are re-growing leaves and blooming. I have green tomatos and the cilantro looks good, but I think everything (including me) could use a little sunshine. Certainly, I would love to de-slime my deck with the 30-minutes I purchased, but it's hard to do in the rain! Hopefully before the Hood to Coast gang arrives I will be able to do that.

Mike has installed some korbels (little ginger-breadie things) on the pillars of my front porch. They look as if they have always been there and really make my house look even cuter than it was. As he says, my little house is so small that it doesn't take much to improve it. But now I REALLY need to repaint my porch. I did finally cut back the spent daffodils and tulips and plant some summer annuals and perennials. My roses in the front are ready to bloom also, especially since the neighborhood deer have stopped munching on the new growth.

My garden at the coast is going well. The logging near the house has apparently scared the elk and deer into another area. A rose is blooming in the lower garden that I have never seen before and the vegetables I planted remain. I will try planting some lettuce this coming weekend. I have tomatos and hot chilis growing the the little greenhouse. Mike made a foundation to raise it up that is just perfect. He has also almost finished the glasshouse under the stairs. I am looking foward to growing some things in there as well. That will also be a good place to "winter-over" some delicate plants. We'll see if that works.

It's the Weekend So it Rained!

It was really pretty nice all week. I sat on my back deck one evening until almost 9pm talking to Mike on the phone and it was 70 degrees. But, as the Pacific Northwest will be, we awoke Saturday morning to gray clouds and drizzle. UGH!
I decided to work in my yard anyway and managed to plant the lettuce I brought home from the coast as well as the onions, sweet basil and most of my various flowers. I turned over the soil (I guess it still is soil when it's clay and basalt) in another section of flower bed and added two bags of compost. Perhaps within a few years I can amend the soil enough to turn it without bringing up a square foot of black, slick clay with each spade. I still did not get my tree-a Green Gauge Plum- planted, but it seems quite happy in its large container for now. I still need to plant the lilac starts that Lana gave me also. They, too, seem content in their little bag of soil on my deck.
When the rain finally stopped late in the afternoon, Mike & I went for a walk. We met a fellow over on 3rd Street, almost directly through, towards the river, from me. He has a wonderful gadrden with, literally, hundreds of dahlias. His name is Howard and he was quite a talker, though very interesting. He is apparently a real "rabble-rowser" at the city council, but his causes seem valid and progressive for our funny little mill town. He also knew some history of the houses surrounding his that I'd like to know about my street. It was neat to meet someone else in the neighborhood.
Sunday was more rainy than Saturday, but Mike persisted in installing my screen door. It rained on him, at one point so hard he came inside, and he was quite soaked at the end. We ended up having to replace the framing around the outside of the door with some wood I had scavenged fromhis burn pile at the coast. My funky old home is put together rather oddly in some places and the modern, vinyl door wouln't quite match what existed. But the wood Mike installed looks better than what was there! And my screen door has a very satisfying BANG when it closes. I think all screen doors should bang when they close, but that's probably just my age and my childhood memories manifesting themselves. No one will be able to sneak out my back door, at least not the first time.
Of course, 15 minutes after Mike left, the sun came out and the late evening was beautiful. It would have been a really nice time for a walk. I opened my front door about 6:30 and saw the sun shining and that it was sprinkling at the same time. I ran for my camera a snapped a photo, which I will include here. There are also photos of my very immature garden, and, of couse, the screen door.

Will it Freeze Tonight?

It was supposed to freeze last night...and I rather believe it may have. I awoke at about 5:15am and the thermometer said 33-ish. Now, the big question is, will it do the same tonight? We have a wind blowing this evening and the temp in only about 55 right now at 10:15. I sure wont be very happy if I don't wrap the tomatos and it does freeze, but I doubt that it will. Gardening here is such a different matter than in California. "When all danger of frost is past" is a phrase that we largly ignored in SoCal, but you sure can't do that here. Plus, we never know exactly when "all danger of frost is past."

Tonight I bought some Solar "Malibu" lights for the back yard. I was duely warned that they can be easily stolen....by someone who lives in the city of course. I don't think there is much danger of anything but a raccoon stealing them from my backyard here. I'm eager to put them in, but I don't think that will happen tonight.

There is a pretty little blue flower that grows wild in the yard at the coast. For some reason I can never remember what it is called. I went to Rain Tree Sunday and saw some for sale. They are called (now don't laugh too hard) "Forget-me-nots." That's knid of like not being able to remember to take your Alzheimers medication. So, I took a picture of them in an effort to remember the name. Ya think that will help?

Weekend

We had really hoped that we would have a Spring weekend that had sunshine and the ability to be outside all weekend. Sure! We do live in Oregon, which we had apparently chosen to ignore. Saturday loomed, at 7am, to be clear. By 9am it was drizzeling and by 10am frankly raining. Even out on Highway 53, where Jeremy lives, it was raining. So, we made meatloaf and retired for the night. Sunday, however had redeeming qualities. Not exactly warm you see, but not raining. Mike painted siding and 2X4s for railing. I ran and planted tomatos, Walla Walla onions, peas, sweet peas and radishes. Of course, the tomatos were under the greenhouse and we had to repair the burst (from the freeze this winter) T-connection for the water to the garden. My run was a good one, but I discovered that they are logging and have made two new roads to cut down more of our beautiful forest on my running path. I hate to see the lovely forest be cut to the ground. We really must stop this insatiable consumption of our natural earth resources. We will all live in a desolate dessert if we don't. What a greedy, spoiled society we have become! Ugh!!!
I took some photos of our lovely garden and area at the coast. What a treat to be a part of this garden. I hope what I have planted this year will flourish. I will attach some photos for you to see.

Spring and Springing back to Drizzle

Spring in Oregon is such a tease. After months and months of rain and snow and really cold days with record precipitation we had a week of wonderful sunshine! My neighborhood was alive with the sounds of mowing, planting and digging. Kids were shooting hoops in the street and zooming around on roller blades and skateboards. The young girls were dressed in crop tops, if not just yet shorts, and the days lasted until late. We planted tomotos, onions (Walla Walla of course), lettuce and my first four rose bushes. Yesterday was a hint of today, with clouds in the morning and sun in the afternoon. Today was right back to drizzle, dark clouds that made the day seem short again...and it was cold. UGH! Perhaps another day of sun will come.
My week of work reflected the weather today. I could swear that, when my back was turned, someone painted a bull's eye on my ass and the world used me as a target. Last week a supposedly trusted employee and one-time friend (or so I thought) left without serving her 2-week notice. She took with her, in addition to the trust and friendship of some staff, some unique knowledge that should have been passed on to her replacement. Her personal demons apparently overwhlemed any professional behavior she might have manifested. I have seldom been as disappointed in an employee as I was in this individual. A lesson learned for me, I suppose, although I haven't quite defined exactly what that lesson is yet. Then, this morning, another delightful young woman on my staff became overwhelmed with personal issues and depression and resigned, effective immediately. She, as opposed the the aforementioned worker, resigned face-to-face with sincere and tearful apologies and hugs all around. My heart goes out to her and I sincerely hope she remains in contact with us so that we may know she is well and happy.
Tonight I am exhausted and have done virtually nothing physical. I hate mental exhaustion. I would rather be totally spent physically than mentally tired. Perhaps I should have been a brick-layer instead of a manager. I am going to the coast this weekend and I want to run, even if I run in the rain. I need to be running much more than I am, especially for the Hood to Coast.
I took some photos of my tulips and my back yard last weekend. They will qualify as "before" photos of my yard very soon. I am just beginning, but it is really fun to create the yard from scratch. It's odd to have purchased a 70 year old home and not have an established yard. I would have loved to have inherited old, old plants, but I guess I have to start from the beginning here. I'll include some photos. The "circle" of dirt in the center of my lawn will be a rose garden. I will plant (have planted 4 already) the roses in concentric rings with something like a fountain or statue in the center. Perhaps I'll bring my mother's White Dove from the coast and put it there.

Wednesday Evening

Another sunny day!!!! I raced home this evening to purchase a Weed Eater and work in my yard. I actually got the back yard mowed before I had to hire someone's goat to pasture out in it. I would not have thought a 33' X 36' back yard could be a challange to mow, but spring in Oregon brings a wonderous growth spurt to grass. I even was able (in semi-darkness) to spread some mulch in the area where I hope to plant the veggies that patiently await in small pots. Tomorrow I will once again hurry home to, hopefully, plant those veggies. I have now collected, in addition to my lawn mower and weed eater, a leaf rake, a toothed rake, a mattock, a forked goodie that does well for mixing mulch and various other small tools. I also have a lovely RED wheelbarrow and several hoses that I will endeaver to link to my front yard since it has no hose bib available.
My new truck is serving me well in transporting all my various garden implements and supplements. I have missed having a truck. Even though the 'Burb was a wonderful vehicle and very luxurious to drive, I had missed being able to toss "whatever" in the bed of a truck. I guess I am simply a country girl at heart. I grew up driving a truck and perhaps that forms you for life.
I have no photos to post for this evening, although I would have taken one coming home this evening had I owned a panoramic camera or lens. Being a clear, warm, day I was able to see Mt. St Helens, Mt Ranier, Mt. Adams and Mt. Hood from Highway 30. I truly live in a beautiful area and feel very grateful for it every day. I don't even mind the commute. It is a new experience each day and always a treat.

Back to Work

It's Monday evening and another week looms ahead. I have got to get back to the gym and run at least three days a week again. The new gym has put me off with it's "meat-market" atmosphere and phoney, glitzy facade. I talked to June DeSimone (one of our Docs) today and she feels the same way. We liked the funky old gym where folks just went to work out and not to posture. Yuk!
I received an email from Eric today announcing his Commencement ceremonies from USC on May 12th. One way or another I am going to be there. Perhaps I'll fly down if Mike can't get away for a few days of sunshine. I certainly cannot pass up watching my son graduate with a Master's Degree from USC! Besides, Eric said if I packed light he'd pick me up in the Porsche! Can't pass that up either.
The weekend at the coast was very restful....especially since it hailed and rained the whole time. But I got half of an afghan crocheted for Emily and will be able to finish it by Saturday I'm sure.
I'll attach a couple of photos that I took Saturday evening from Gordon Matlock's driveway overlooking Haystack Rock at the beach. It was almost sunset and the storm clouds were very pretty. When we first arrived the surf was vicious and disorganized. As we watched, it calmed down and became an orderly procession of wave sets and gave up some nice reflections of the rocks and sun. I hope you enjoy them. If you double click on the photos they will enlarge. Click the back arrow to return to the text.

Easter Weekend

I hope all of you had a nice weekend. I am at the coast at Mike's. It has stormed nearly all weekend and there is still lots of "white stuff" on the ground this afternoon. The white stuff is actually hail, which Mike measured at about 1 inch this morning. We had the most awesome thunder and lightening storm last night that I have ever experienced and all through it the hail was pounding and pounding on the roof and windows! I haven't even gone out to run. Even though we have moments of bright, beautiful sunshine, the rain and hail return quickly and with a vengence. A little light rain is one thing to run in, but this hail....no thanks!
I purchased sweet peas, Walla Walla onions and edible peas yesterday at the local nursery. Thank heavens I haven't planted them yet. They would have surely been beaten flat last night. I'm not sure if I can even plant them today. Perhaps if I make a lean-to of some old glass windows we have it might be OK.
I drove my new truck up to Warrenton and back over Old Lewis & Clark Road yesterday. Even though it was difficult to see through the hail most of the way, my truck handeled beautifully on all the curves. It was quite fun to drive.....much different than my 'Burb. I am enjoying having a stick shift again. Jeremy's new truck is manual as well but he's not too crazy about that aspect of it. I guess I'm just old fashioned....or maybe just old!
Well, here comes the sun again. Perhaps I'll try to go out and plant some of those plants I bought. It's quite cold out though (duh, there's ice on the ground) so I might be easily discouraged.

My New Truck

Here are some photos of my new truck.

My New Truck

I am having trouble coming square with the nice things that have happened to me in the past three years. I moved to a state that is more beautiful than I could have imagined and have a job that I like very much. I feel I am doing well in that position and I love my staff. They are wonderful folks. I am with a fellow that I fell in love with in 1959 and we are doing well and I am happier than I ever thought I could be. I have been able to purchase my own home, and, although it is small, it is so very cute and just perfect for me. And, now I have been able to buy a brand new truck! I cannot imagine why this good fortune has befallen me. It is almost as if I am waiting for the other shoe to drop. Don't get me wrong....I am very grateful and I love my life. I feel very fortunate and I appreciate what I have very, very much.
I spoke with my dearest friend Vickie Sluka last evening. She has recently lost 92 pounds! She says she looks at her reflection in a mirror and says "Hmmmmmm!?" Not in admiration, mind you, but just Hmmmm. I feel that way too. It is a puzzlement to me, and, I am sure to her as well. We are happy for one another....as we have been dear friends for over 25 years. But it is hard to come around as to why this happens.
I managed to mow my front lawn tonight before dark, and even weed the front and part of my elderly neighbor's front planter as well. The back lawn will need to wait for tomorrow as will planting the vegetables I purchased the last two evenings. I have wonderful neighbors on both sides. I am "the middle" in space and age. The Kennedys on the south are in their 80s and the "kids" on the north are 20-somethings.
So, I went to Kelso, Washington this evening and took possession of my new truck. It's really a nice drive.......back to a stick shift for me. It took only one shift for my mind to click back to "stick" mode and I didn't give it another thought. Thanks Dad, for making me drive your 4-speed 3/4 ton truck with compound reverse before I ever was allowed the new Buick. I can drive most anything now.

Well, I did it

I bought a new car today. And I don't just mean new to me. I actually was able to buy a 2006 Toyota Tacoma Extended Cab truck. And, since I am so stubborn about the color I wanted, I have to wait a few days for it to be delivered. Those of you who know me well will have already guessed what that color is, but, for the rest of you, it's RED. Actually, it's called Impulse Red Pearl. A pretty, wine-red, metallic color. With Mike's dogged assistance we searched all weekend and eventually found that even a used Tacoma with 60-80K miles on it was going to cost $17-$18K. For $2K more and much better financing I could buy a new one. So I did. I should have it in the next 3 days. Perhaps a photo will follow.
I was going to plant roses this weekend, but, that didn't happen. Hopefully I'll get home from work this week in time to do some work on that.
No rain today and much warmer, finally. I hope we have some warm days....I'm looking forward to some sun.

Tomorrow I hope to be able to find a new (or new to me) vehicle to purchase. There is a red Toyota SR5 4WD Toyota at Gresham Toyota to look at. Jeremy (Mike's son) bought the green one in Cannon Beach. I'm happy for him. Now I can get one as well. I will truly miss my Suburban and the luxery of the ride. But I cannot support that lifestyle with the current price of gasoline.
I purchased geranium starts last evening and planted them in my large terra cotta pots on my porch. It was 60 degrees tonight so I think they are safe from a freeze now. I will try to get my vegetables in the soil in the coming week. I even bought some roses this evening to plant in my back yard. I love the idea of creating my own gardening space.
If I get anything of any consequence planted I'll take photos to post. I hope my daughter Karen can visit me this summer and see my house. I really miss her. My son & his wife will come in August. Hopefully, by then, I will have some landscaping sone and more of my rooms inside painted. All things in good time.
And, I am tired, so Good night to all. Have a nice weekend.

OK, here are the two photos that didn't transmit with my last post. I found out, you can't upload bmp files...they are too big. SO I had to resave these as jpeg photos.

Enjoy.

This is the last for this evening

I have actually done this for two nights in a row. That's probably because I have given my BLOG site to another of my children....this time my older daughter, Cathy. I have yet to venture into this with my son, the computer Guru of the family. I suppose he would forgive his "elderly" little mother, as he calls me, if I were not very proficient at this. But I'd like to think I could get better first.
Perhaps Eric would post a photo of his new Porsche Cayman on this site for me. That would be cool!
I'll post two other photos here. The first is the outside of my house from the front. The first photo you saw was taken in the snow in December. This one was taken about a week ago when my daffodils began to bloom. I'll take another when the roses bloom. The other photo was taken from the wooded area at the end of my street. 4th street is a dead-end street and dissolves into a small, wooded bluff overlooking the Columbia River and our resident Boise Cascade paper mill. St. Helens is still a mill town and has two mills, both Boise Cascade. One is a tissue paper mill and the other is a veneer mill. Both are very close to where I live. The veneer mill in actually right down the hill and, when they are cutting the fir trees for veneer, I can smell the logs. It actually smells very nice. The paper mill, on the other hand, smells like day-old sauerkraut! I don't often get to smell that, but I've actually grown accustomed to it anyway. But, back to the photo. I was standing on the bluff looking out over the river one evening and happened to see a "cute" little tug boat passing towing a grain barge. This is the photo that I snapped.

These are other photos of the living area. As you can see, I have not too much actual furniture, but it's cozy. My photos are on the walls and my stereo is in an area of its own. And I like red! You can't actually see the area rugs, but they are all red. It seems to go well with my hardwood floors....and besides, I like it!

Some photos of my house

Some of you have asked for photos of my little "cottage" since I have painted. I will include some here. This is my dining and lving room area taken from the entrance into my kitchen. Bear in mind that this area is 27' long and 9 1/2 ' wide. So I have "visually" divided it into three areas. The doorway you see on the right is to my bedroom. There is another door on the right that is too cloe to see and that is my another very small bedroom that masquerades as my office.

I am sooooo bad about keeping up with this. I was bad about writing in my diary as a kid too, so this is not a surprise to me. I was even bad about doing homework until the last possible minute as well. I saw a cartoon recently where a husband was rubbing his wife's shoulders and telling her he would get rid of all the tension she had from trying to complete a project at 2am. When he finally rubbed all the tension from her neck and shoulders she melted and said "But the stress is what held me together, and now I can't work anymore." I sometimes think that is me.
I have told my younger daughter about my BLOG so now I am feeling as if I must keep this current.
I was at the coast over the weekend and it rained most of the time. I don't mind that, I just love being there. But, I do like to run. Saturday I was able to slip in between the rain and actually ran in the sunshine! I met some young folks at the top of Courier's property and talked to them for a while. I guess an "old lady" running is an anomoly and they seemed to take great pleasure in questioning me about what I was doing.......they even cautioned me to be careful on my way down because of the loose rock. GOOD GRIEF!!! I run on loose rock on purpose to strengthen my muscles in my ankles and feet. But then on Sunday the rain was clearly not going to take a breath. So, I put on my rain pants, a shell, a baseball cap with a long bill and my gloves and I went out in the rain and ran 2 1/2 miles. It was a great pleasure. I came back soaked from the outside in and the inside out. Mike had built a fire in the woodstove and the shower was hot. I came back downstairs and almost fell asleep reading the Sunday paper. So much for my rule that I don't care what happens while I am running, but I don't like to go out the door when it is already raining. I guess my feet are webbing and I am truly becoming an Oregonian. We rust, you know, rather than tanning.
OK, I've bored you enough. I have a question for any of you who are reading this. What is your defination of ART? Do you have expectations of beauty? Should it please you or just make you reflect or think? Or is it a way of seeing the world through another's eyes? Let me know how you view art and what you feel it should be.