While I Was Gone, the Star Came Out

And some daffodils - the early ones.

You can see the star magnolia, trained as a tree instead of its natural bush, is almost as tall as my two story house.

And look how blue the spring sky is - a rare day here, one I call a "California Day".

More amazing news: tomorrow we are supposed to reach 80 degrees! Wow.

The Year It Was 18 Feet

Most years we all got in the car and drove up to the national forest to cut down our own tree. These were reasonably-sized fresh evergreens and always smelled devine. Then one year, dad found the perfect tree, dwarfed in the woods by the surrounding tall timbers, and when we brought it home, could barely get it through the door. It took a ten foot ladder to decorate it.

Judi was the boss in all these household jobs and she would clap her hands together and say, "I mean it you guys" until we finally did what she wanted for chores. Clifford Thompson took the picture as I recall, a hobby of his.

I don't remember striped wall paper in the living room. I am pretty sure that must be wood.

Goodbye Portland

That little placard crossing the yellow fence stake says, "Garden".

Portland is ahead of us for spring with forsythia, grape hyacinths, plums, azaleas in profusion and just the lightest color of green starting to fill in the stark spaces between tree limbs weathered from winter.

Time to head home and attack the early weeds at our house.

Too bad we live a continent apart. It was great to celebrate mother's 88th!

Legal Conference

The main point was not to take fuzzy pictures.

The legal papers under discussion were just an excuse to thank Uncle John and Mary for helping set the entire State of Washington straight on 5910, Unit 8.

Changes made throughout dinner were signed into a sworn attestation the next day.

We are square with the State. Whew! Thank you Jonmor!

Let's Go To Yakima

Raining in Portland, so let's go take a birthday party celebration to Great Nana.

Dinner tonight with Jonmor and Mary at Gasperetti's.

If we leave this morning, we will make it in plenty of time!

Utterly Amazing

Got up at 3:14am this morning, beating the alarm by six minutes. I was headed West and needed to get up, showered, dressed and up to Baltimore so I could board my flight at 5:30am.

Made it with twenty minutes to spare.

Uneventful flights through Chicago, although bumpy most of the way over the storms.

Arrived to see Judi already for Easter.

Visited with Judy G. and now we are back watching the basketball game. Taxes are already done. Yakima tomorrow.

Not Your Ordinary Tourist

You can only get this picture showing the White House entrance if......you have the Congressional tour tickets and have been inside the White House!

Cool. Thanks, Auntie Martta for saving this memory!

Miniature Mattresses

Jack and Caroline trying out the little tiny mattresses I made for their stay here recently.

Now they are back in Texas and the mattresses are tucked away for the next time they visit.

This Is Why There Is No Blog Tonight

I was listening word for word of the health care debate in the House. Here they reach 216. Final vote 219-212.

Third Cousins

Capstone dinner of the visit was Friday night at our house for BBQ hamburgers, chicken and hot dogs with the Axelsons.

Jack and Anita were delighted with the recliner, shown here in back one click.

When the dinner was over and Jim was changing Caroline to pajamas, she asked, "where did our new friends go?"

They Are Here !

The first thing Marilyn said when we entered the basement was, "I have that exact poster."

We are truly kindred spirits living parallel lives and celebrate birthdays in March six days apart!

Naturally I made a lemon meringue pie for the first night's dinner.

140th Anniversary Celebration

125 gathered to celebration in Northern Virginia at the Willows. Soaking rain the whole day, but the celebration was planned to perfection. All attendees impressed!

Planning the Skit at the Double Z

The planning team meeting for the skit.

Picnic table on the shadey side of the house this year.

Adults could watch from the front window.

Tonight in Maryland, Neil and I are doing some planning too. Like Annie says, "tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, is only a day away." Yes, the company arrives!

Target Acquisitions

No more worries about falling in.

We found the perfect accessory for the younger guests - the Elmo upstairs and downstairs (you carry it between the two) aide for those private moments.

Double Z Fun

Going to visit the Double Z Ranch at the end of Lateral A in the Yakima Valley had an influence on all the grandchildren. Where else could you drive heavy farm equipment, drink unlimited cokes, lick plenty of popcycles, play with Murphy and have Nana's great cooking?

As soon as you could reach the clutch, you could drive the pickup truck to deliver tools ..... as long as you didn't leave ranch grounds!

Oh the endless hours of picking up rocks for a dollar a bucket and the allure of the creek and crossing to the other side.

It Started At 18 Months

Jim became aware of his dad's skill at unscrewing and fixing things around the house, here seen changing the backup lights on the car.

The first time Jim became an interactive toy for Neil was when Neil was cleaning the lawn mower in the garage for spring use. He knew he had taken the carborator screws off and had set them in order on the floor, but the screws were carefully back in place, causing some annoyance because Neil had been ready to plunk the clean unit on again.

Enter one enterprising 18 month old work buddy and mechanically inclined son.

About this time when doing some electrical work, Neil punched out the plug for a box and handed it to Jim and said, "Look Jim, a quarter." Jim did look and handed it back and said, "no face." Couldn't fool him very easily from then on.

Lower Level Footstool

Not a step up from the Sponge Bob footstool upstairs, but a make-do footstool in the lower level bathroom.

Neil made this shoe-shine box when we first got married, along the lines of the stereo cabinet that the kids used as a playhouse well into elementary school, aka, very sturdy.

This will help the little ones wash up for dinner and can be carried to the family room to act as a miniature seat at the coffee table when coloring on the long roll of white paper!

Fresh Basil

mmmm found this in the grocery store and it was just so attractive compared to all the snow we've had, that I got it thinking we could have tomato, fresh basil, mozerella salad one of the meals for guests.

And you can clearly see the matted down grass is now showing on the south side of the house...can spring be far behind?

Question is, will this plant be alive until the company comes and then what do I do, harvest the whole thing and hope it sprouts more leaves?

I am breaking new ground here having a kitchen window sill that holds live herbs.

Ready For Jack

Just one week to go until the company comes.

Time to assemble the brand-new car seat, shown here in the wing back chair.

Now we are ready to pick you up at the airport, Jack!

The bright window is due to the sunshine bouncing off all the snow. We still have some on the north side of the house.

Baby Allen

A blast from the past because I got home late and the movie is starting!

Neil's baby brother when he was a baby.

Snow Update

The same snow pile I measured at 34" in my last blog, is now only 26.5", melting fast!

However, I walked along the sugar path and measured the pile of snow by the new Bradford pear tree. Ah, much better measurement to show you that we still have 34" of snow in some parts.

If it is melting 3" a day, we should still have a trace of snow by the time the company arrives on March 13/14. We'll see.

Quilt Preview

Preview of Miss Kelly's quilt. Center square ties will be orange, red and green depending on the center color in the body of the quilt.

Made for boys. Oh boy!

It will be done Sunday.

Fadin' Fast

We've had a couple of 45-50 degree days and some rain. The alleys of snow lining the driveway have shrunk considerably.

I reached out 20" to put this near the top of the pile below the front door driveway side.

34"

No longer four foot alleyways. Not sure we will have snow if this keeps up for the next ten days!

Bye Bye, Baja

Shocking news from the neighborhood. Baja closed. No one asked me.

Saturday I walked past on the way around the block, and was shocked to see it empty!

I took a picture Sunday on the way to the Mother/Daughter tea in Virginia, and a young man with a six year old boy in tow, crossed the street and asked me, "when did it close?" I said I was just as dismayed as he was. He volunteered, "we just had lunch here last Thursday."

His wife and 4 year old daughter caught up. "What happened?" We didn't know how to answer.

Husband to wife, "now, what are we going to do for lunch?"

I just called King Farm and good news, but seven miles away - Baja is still open there.