Sunday morning hair

I took this picture trying to capture how cute Pug is in the morning. Instead, I captured a picture of the morning hair I get up with every day. I laughed so hard when I saw this! What a beauty I am! Heheheh!

what did did this weekend.

1. I finished fencing in Ruth's carport, which included cutting and screwing a bunch of boards to cover various holes, and making a floor for a cabinet she has that will be a kitty sleeping home. Now she can put 8 of 10 kitties outside.
2. I cleaned up a lot of my front flower beds; dead heading flowers, weeding...you know the drill.
3. I picked up my little housie.
4. Two loads of dishes.
5. Hung a new curtain rod, moved some curtain clip holders around, and rehung my closet curtain with an added lace curtain over the top to soften the look. Turned out quite nicely.
6. Helped Ruth trim a large bush, and cut up most of the wood for my little outdoor fireplace. What I didn't get to cutting, I dragged back to my place to work on later.
7. Harvested some carrots and onions and made a salad.
8. Printed Peanut pictures out for A and spent some time with him, chatting and saying goodbye. Didn't know him well, but really liked the guy. I wish him all the best, and little Peanut, too.
9. Started a bunch of commissioned pieces for a child's 3rd Birthday party. Two pieces down, 3 or more to go (as she keeps adding stuff she wants)
10. sewed up 3 items that have been sitting around waiting for repairs for a while.
11. Mailed 42nd of July pics to Bill and Ls.
12. Watched several T V show episodes.
13. Slept 10 hours both Friday and Saturday night.
14. Worked on several silly little crafts which I shall take pictures of and post when they are finished.
15. Made chicken fried steaks. Yummy!
16. deleted, sorted, and reorganized all my computer pictures in hopes of getting a little more space freed up. No such luck.
17. Quiet time in the mornings, and a nap Saturday. Very nice!
18. Reading each evening for about 15-20 minutes. Super nice!

What I have left to do? Make a lunch and continue working on the commissioned pieces. Then to bed.

Beautiful morning!

I rolled out of bed around 6:30am. I have spent the morning playing with various kitties, trimming up my front flower beds , drinking coffee and watching the sun come up and the world around me wake up. It was a nippy 48F around 7:30. it's now a whoopin' 52F. My sidewalk looks like plants bombs went off, and I am on my second cup of coffee. I truly love lazy, quiet mornings like this, where I can wake up slowly with the world around me, and no one else is up.

Ah! I am home with all the windows and the front door open. The breeze is blowing the cat hair lazily around my floor. I SHOULD sweep, but I think I'll sew up the holes in my pants instead. Yes, folks, the weekend is here!

I just cleaned under my bed. I am surprised all the cat hair didn't meld and rise in the dark of night to smoother me. Esh! I love cats, but not sheding.

The weather at Loon Lake was fantastic. As a matter of fact, as I was waiting to fly to Spokane, I received a message from a friend telling me Vernonia was having a heat warning for the weekend. The lake itself was warm, with a bit of a breeze. It was fabulous! Great for sitting with your feet in the water, or on the porch swing, just a-rocking with your morning coffee.

I spent time with Lisbeth, Bill's lovely wife. This is the first quality time we have ever gotten together ion the 23 plus years they have been married/together. It was fun! She's an amazing woman, full of life and laughter. Smart as all get out and cooks like a pro. Our quiet time chatting in the mornings was the best part of my day. I've missed out on a great person, and hope to make up for that.

I also was glad to get time alone with Bill and his mom. They were a huge part of my life growing up, and being able to chat without others around was awesome. Again, I hope to make up for lost time here.

As the people trickled in I realized how much I had missed them, and the gathering we used to do. However, I must wait for the right time in order to move, and as to where I want to move, I am unsure. Sometimes, I wish hard for that winning lottery ticket. The friends I would visit! and the places I would live.

Clicky on the linky,or cut and paste it.

Here is a link to my facebook photo album of th 42nd of July party. Let me know if it doesn't work, and I'll put pictures here instead.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31932&id=1791798792&l=63827976f4

Let the 42nd of July Party posts begin!

The 42nd of July party was wonderful! I spent 4 days napping, eating, swimming and doing nothing. I knew I was walking back into a bunch of old memories, but I was completely bowled over by the presence of love from Bill's Dad -Jim, and George, their dog. It was thick! Bill and Lis's kids may have never met him, but they are slathered in his love every time they visit that lake cabin. He is there and happy, and it was not what I expected to feel at all. He was buzzing with excitement when I got there, but when the grand kids arrived, he just sat back like a proud Grandpa and enjoyed! It was amazing and wonderful, and apparently I am not the only one who has felt or mentioned this.

We have all gotten older. The wild running around and drinking has slowed to a crawl. The joking, laughing and talking is still what we do in excess now. As if you can have excess for that! I am constantly amazed by this group of people and their ability to see things from different viewpoints, talk about it, and still get along smashingly. And the laughing and jokes! The fun we have, the ease in which we have it, well, I have missed that, especially since moving to Oregon.

Bill and Lis have 3 lovely and wonderfully behaved children who's humor will make you pee yourself silly! There family reminds me of mine; all the jokes and chatter and bonding. I think this is the longest I have been with kids and not been annoyed at any point. The 'three A's' as we shall call them, are 17, 15 and 9. This is my first introduction to one of the 3 As. Littlest A was helping to empty the car, and I came out to the landing to see this. This really made my day!

The 26th annual 42nd of July party

I made it to the 42nd of July party this year. The first I have been to in 20 years. It was held in Spokane at Loon Lake, and I promise you, I will have posties and pictures this weekend. I was in a fog most of yesterday- my first day back at work. I am tired today, and not wanting the last little shred of vacation feel to slip away. Alas; it is a truck day, and it shall be beaten out of me! I did manage to download the pictures I took, and hope to do a quick purge and sort tonight before I collapse into bed. We will see.
Anyhow, stay tuned everyone!

Yep, here I am again with more amazing redneck events for you! Needed a break from weeding the garden, so thought I'd amuse everyone with shots of the mower races yesterday.

By the time the race started, the crowd was double what you see in this picture. Each Mower had to complete 20 laps. These guys have been doing this for years, and you can tell they look forward to it. They all put on a show for us, and it made watching 20 laps worth it. Lots of break downs, stalls, cut offs, passing. It was an event full of excitement, drama, and men on lawnmowers who I am sure were not sober. Ah, the things I do to get out of the things I need to do!
The contestants.

The line up.

Dragster mower.

Jamboree

Now I will pelt you with an overload of pictures from yesterdays fun town event! I started walking around town at 9am. I wanted to avoid the crowds and enjoy the quiet start of Jamboree. Wrong, wrong, wrong! There were throngs of people out already. People were claiming space along the street for the parade, eating, shopping, doing last minute prep on the floats. It was a madhouse, and the energy was amazing! I was grinning from ear to ear, watching these people party as if they were at some big state event! This is quite the thang here in little Vernonia. Quite the thang!

One of the first things I saw walking into town was this shirt. It says "I'd rather miss a note than a meal". I saw many other shirts like this, all with different sayings on the back. Apparently, they were part of this band.

They were VERY good, and full of energy. It was hilarious to see baton throwers and cheerleaders in their 50's and 60's. They loved what they did, and their joy was very contagious!

Outdoor storage!

I inherited an outdoor cupboard from my neighbor when he moved out. Unfortunately, it was rotted out on the bottom, so when I went to move it, I ripped out the hinges on the bottom. Suddenly, I had a new project. I was, however, very motivated to do this one because having outdoor storage would remove things from in my increasingly crammed apartment.

So, wanna see some photos? Good!

First, I had to cut about a foot off the bottom. This involved power tools, which I love to use. I am afraid of them, but when they belong to me, I am not as worried about doing whatever I am doing 'wrong' and messing up the project or the tool. It's mine, so no one else can complain/supervise/ridicule.

I had plenty of fuzzies to check my progress, and they all gave it approval at various stages, so that boosted my confidence.

I then had to prime the inside, all the new cuts on the old board, the new bottom I made, and where the hinges had been. Once that was done (and approved) I put on the bottom and cut the doors down to size. I put on the new hinges and places the doors. Lastly, I had to move part of the latch so I could lock it up. I started on Friday and finished Saturday before 2:30pm. Not bad for a girl who has to wing it. My house id empty of a few space-consuming items, and I am enjoying the cleaner, sleeker look of my living space. Yeah me!

Vernonia Jamboree!

This is a crazy little town I live in. they have events for everything. To many events. However, THIS event is pretty fun-tastic! I mean, really, who can pass up a small town parade where they pelt you with candy. Who can pass up lawn mower races? Who? Not me!There will be pictures, but I am pretty tired and a little listless at the moment. I have been a crazy fool today, finishing up my cabinet, a shelf, walking through town to see all the Jamboree stuff, watching a sloooooow town parade full of old cars, clowns, horses, logging trucks and fire engines (yummy). I am pooped, I tell you. Pooped! I need food, hydration and an nap.But pictures are a comin'!

Mom and Dad, next year you HAVE to come to this!

Knowing the back roads.

I don't really know the back roads around here well. However, I have a thing for maps, and recently I've been peeking at maps of my county, courtesy Google Maps.All this peeking finally came in handy today.There was an accident about 5 miles from Vernonia, in the north bound lane. Actually, it was in both lanes. I came upon a very long back up of traffic. You know it's bad when people are turning around on a road where there really isn't room to turn around. I did a quick inquiry, and decided to follow the crowd and head for McDonald road, which was a few miles back. I wasn't positive I could find my way to vernonia taking that road, but had been looking at the maps enough where I had a pretty good idea of where I was going. Apparently, me and a lotta other peeps decided McDonald road was looking like a nice quick and scenic way home.It was beautiful!I will be taking it again on Monday. It's absolutely gorgeous, with it's fields of hay edged in thistles, Tansy, Queens Lace and Sweet Peas. It smells like country. It has old beautiful homes dotted along it's edge. It has those little groups of trees that when you drive through them, the air turns cool and damp and smells like rich, loamy dirt and the color green. I saw a few places that made me think, "I could live THERE"!I want a map of my county. I like Google Maps, but tend to get turned around when I have to tile the roads together in my head. I want to explore other ways home. I want to see all these beautiful places. I want to know my backroads.

Hey Kool-Aid!

I have been wanting cool refreshing drinkage at home, but balking at paying the high price for Country Time or Crystal Light. For some strange reason, I had forgotten all about Kool-Aid. Now, I figure it has about the same nutritional value as the other stuff, and I can get a
ba-zillionty packs for the same price of one huge container of the 'other stuff'. I am thrilled! I put in 3/4 cup sugar instead of the whole 1 cup, and I still like the taste. I have fun summery stuff to drink now, and I am happy!

Happy busy weekend.

I have been a putzin fool this weekend. I am bouncing between my place and Ruth's, doing this, that, and the other thing. I've been pulling weeds both at her house and mine this weekend, as well as putting fencing up around her carport. We are going to enclose it so she can put the cats out for the duration of the decent weather. This will allow her to get her house cleaned up and beck into some kind of order. hard to keep up with 10 cats. Even harder when you are 85!

My neighbor, Jon, moved into a home, and I have inherited a small storage cabinet of his. He was a bean and rice hoarder, so it didn't take long to empty the thing out.. It all went into the compost bin, and tomorrow I will cut the rotted legs off the bottom and put new 2x4s there. Slap a little Killz on it and place some scrap wood along the front of the door to cover the gap. I will have a place for things like garden tools, tire chains, and other stuff that floats around my home like dandelion fluff on the wind. Very heavy and clutterie dandelion fluff.

I have also spent the day doing various crafts, posts and cleaning. Peanut has been very...um-helpful? She did her book impersonation again, which was quite charming. Never knew books cleaned themselves.

One craft I have been dying to do is a button craft. It is cheesy and tacky and all sorts of fun! I ran out of blue buttons, so I will see what I can pick up tomorrow at work. I might take pictures and post them when I am done, or I might not. Right now, it could swing either way.

Off to do more stuff. Need to make food and a few calls. I can't believe it is only 1pm. Wow!

Wanna buy a purse?

Here is a link to Diana's Etsy store, where you can see the plaid Peek-a-boo purse and her beautiful jewelry.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/52458534/peekaboo-skirt-purse-no1

From three tiny seeds!

I love nasturtiums. They are bright, easy to grow, and you can eat them. Seriously. They also fill space up quite well. This explosion of flowers is from 3 tiny little seeds. It's about 5 feet across. I love it!

Peanut impersonations.

Little Peanut spent the day in my house, snoozing in various places. Here she is, impersonating a book. I had a picture of her curled up on top of my refrigerator on a stack of paper plates, but I have misplaced it in the vastness of my computer.